Former NFL player to speak for Xavier Alliance
Kelly Shaw
Campus News Editor
www.canton.edu
Esera Tuaolo played in the NFL for nine years before retiring and coming out.
Being one of three NFL players in history to publically announce that he is gay, Esera Tuaolo has been the focus of much controversy among current NFL players.
Tuaolo will speak at Xavier at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Schiff Family Conference Center. The event is free to students and the public, and there will be a Q&A as well as a book signing after his lecture.
Tuaolo was born on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and grew up on a small banana farm as the youngest of eight children.
In order to get better exposure as a football player, he moved to California when he was in high school. He then played for Oregon State University, where he became a first-team All-PAC 10 selection, and won the Morris Trophy.
For nine years, Esera Tuaolo played in the NFL as a defensive lineman. Though spending most of his seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, he played for five different teams and went to Super Bowl XXXIII with the Atlanta Falcons.
Though he was a successful player, many players have commented about how things would have been different if he had not retired after coming out.
“He would have been eaten alive and he would have been hated for it,” said former Packer receiver Sterling Sharpe on HBO. “Had he come out on a Monday, with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices, he’d have never gotten to the other team.”
Other NFL players, such as Todd Steussie of the Carolina Panthers, are not of the same opinion. “I really don’t see it as being that big a deal,” he said. Steussie played with Tuaolo in Minnesota from 1994 to 1996. “It might make some people uncomfortable, but to me it’s a non-issue.”
Tuaolo states that his decision to retire has made him happier than he was while he was a player with a secret.
“I wanted to be happy,” he said. “They didn’t know who Esera Tuaolo is. Now they’ll know me for who I am--a gay NFL, well, former NFL player. I feel wonderful. I feel like a burden has been lifted. I feel like I’ve taken off the costume I’ve been wearing all my life.”
The Xavier Alliance, in association with groups including BSA, ResLife, the Intercultural Programming Funding Board and Peer Leadership, believe it very important to sponsor Tuaolo speaking on campus.
“My mission in finding someone to speak about gay, lesbian, bi and transgender (GLBT) rights on campus was someone who would break stereotypes. Esera does that,” said sophomore Patrick McNearney, the President of the Xavier Alliance. “My other goal was to find someone with mass appeal. Whether you’re straight or gay, a man or a woman, into sports or not, and whether you agree with gay rights or not, Esera’s message is one worth hearing because he deals with creating tolerance and understanding something we should always strive for here at Xavier.”
In accordance with the Alliance’s speaker coming this week, they gave away 500 free T-shirts on Tuesday which read “Gay? Fine by me.” Fine By Me Inc. and the Alliance believe it is easier for GLBT people to come out of the closet if their friends and allies publicly come out against homophobia, too. “Gay? Fine by me” is a national program which has produced over 60,000 shirts since 2003.
“Xavier is an educational community dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, to the orderly discussion of issues confronting society. What bigger issue is facing the world today than homosexuality?” said McNearney. “It’s time to start making things right. And I can’t think of a better place to do it than Xavier, and I can’t think of a better time than now.”
Students get more than a break
Colleen Bott
Contributing Writer
Wearing red shirts with bright white arrows pointing to the left to symbolize the continuum from being a volunteer to becoming an active citizen, nineteen Alternative Breaks trips headed out last Saturday, March 3, to locations as close as Tennessee and Virginia and as far as the Ukraine and Jamaica. After an eventful send-off party on Friday night, students, staff and faculty spent a week doing service.
Sophomore site leader Jess McCoy went to Catalina Island, California, the site of last year’s mystery trip, to focus on environmental issues. The location was one of the highlights of the trip.
“The beauty of the island that was mostly untouched was wonderful. It was just us in the middle of nature. We reflected out under the stars. I’d never been this close to nature,” she said.
Closer to school, another Alternative Breaks trip focused on Appalachian poverty issues in West Virginia. They had a chance to meet and work with residents in the area.
“The passion for their work that we saw in some of the people that lived in Appalachia was inspiring,” senior site leader Andrew Cleves said.
His fellow site leader, senior Amanda Lattanzio, wants to bring what they have learned back to campus.
“We’ve become more conscious of conserving and aware of the impact of simple things. We want to check out the companies Xavier invests in. For example, we learned how some big coal companies are using mountain top removal methods to mine coal, which is destructive to both the land and the people in the area,” Lattanzio said.
Adviser Drew Peters, a member of the Peace and Justice Programs staff, hopes participants bring back a greater sense of awareness.
“They’ve experienced the joy of doing something for others. Students bring back a sense that there is something greater than themselves and how their experience at Xavier can affect the world and the community. It really gives students a sense of what Xavier says its mission is all about,” he said.
Senior John Goodwin participated in his second Alternative Breaks trip to Arkansas this year to learn about issues of global hunger.
“No matter how insurmountable a problem may seem, a small group of sincere and dedicated people can make a difference,” he said.
A slide show of the trips will be held on April 1 and applications for Alternative Breaks board are available for next year. Three trips are planned during summer break to go to El Salvador, Arizona/Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Police Notes
Feb. 24, 8:59 p.m.—Cincinnati Fire and Rescue transported two underage students and one underage non-student to Good Samaritan Hospital for possible alcohol poisoning. All three were at a party where they each consumed 14 shots of vodka within an hour.
Feb. 28, 6:31 a.m.—A student reported the theft of their computer charger from the GSC.
Feb. 28, 8:02 p.m.—A student worker in the GSC reported damage in the lower level restroom.
Feb. 28, 8:25 p.m.—Five students residing in the 1500 block of Dana Ave. reported being victims of a home robbery. The incident involved a suspect who was possibly armed with a gun. Campus Police and Cincinnati Police searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. Security bulletins were posted in all campus buildings as a warning to students.
Mar. 9, 5:52 p.m.—Four non-students skating on the academic mall were cited and sent on their way.
Mar. 9, 9:51 p.m.—Campus Police investigated the report of four subjects who were in the process of moving a large landscape boulder from the South lot onto Dana Ave. The subject was gone on the authority’s arrival and the boulder was moved off the road with the assistance of Cincinnati Public Works.
Police Note of the Week
Mar. 11, 10:06 a.m.—An officer on patrol discovered 20 marijuana roaches outside one of the rear entrances to the Cohen Center.
Katie Rosenbaum
Campus News Editor
Senate elections
All students who are interested in running in the Student Government Association Senate elections are asked to attend an informational meeting which will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14 Tuesday, and 7:30 and 8:30 on March 27 and in the SGA Office (GSC 210). For questions, call or email Julio Minsal-Ruiz, Board of Elections Chairman, at x8166 or minsal-ruizj@xavier.edu.
Relay for Life
If you or someone you know is a cancer survivor, please let us honor you at the Xavier University Relay for Life on April 20 and 21 on campus. Anyone who has somehow been touched by this terrible disease is welcome to participate (students and non-students). Come enjoy a catered meal and fun activities. Go to the link on the MyXU Portal to sign up. For more information, email Jamie Gentile at gentilejl@xavier.edu.
Publish your work
Would you like to be published? Please submit your original prose, poetry or artwork to the Athenaeum by Thursday March 15. Articles can be submitted to the SGA Office, Hinkle Faculty Services Desk or to groenta@xavier.edu. Contact Tiffany Groen at groenta@xavier.edu for more information.
International photo contest voting
Voting has begun for the first annual student international photo contest. Visit the Faces of the World Lounge (second floor, GSC) or visit the MyXU Portal link to vote online. Voting is open to any student, faculty or staff member and will end on Monday, March 19. Your banner ID number is necessary to vote online. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30. The contest is sponsored by the Romero International Center, Student Development, Marketing and Publications and the Department of Art. For more information, contact the Romero International Center at x2864. A reception to recognize the photographers and to announce the winners will be held on Friday, March 30. For more information, call or email Katherine Hammett at X2864 or hammett@xavier.edu.
