The Cowl

September 2, 2025

Providence College's Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935

Nov182024Friars Basketball: A Fan’s Perspective

Providence College men’s basketball has returned to the AMP, formerly known as “The Dunk,” giving its undyingly loyal fan base…

Brendan Maguire ’25

Photo courtesy of Providence College

Apr282023Ryan Incubator Launches in School of Business

Sarah McLaughlin ’23 and Emma Strempfer ’24

Nov182024The 2024 Election’s Gender Gap

by Mariel Surprenant on November 18, 2024

Young Men for Trump, Young Women for Harris

While tapping through Instagram stories on the morning of Nov. 6, I noticed a trend. With some exceptions, mostly men were reposting pro-Trump posts and mostly women were reposting pro-Harris posts. Looking back, the data from the 2024 presidential election aligns with the trend I observed on my own social media feed. Young men aged 18 through 29 shifted 28 percentage points to the right from 2020, voting for Donald Trump by a 13-point margin. Young women also shifted to the right, but remained far enough left to vote for Kamala Harris by a margin of 18 percent. This trend begs the question; why was there such a large gap between the voting behaviors of young men and young women?

Why the majority of young women voted for Harris rather than Trump seems obvious. Harris promised to focus on several issues that directly impact women: abortion, reproductive healthcare, childcare, domestic violence, and protection in the workplace from gender-based discrimination. Trump, on the other hand, has been found liable for sexual assault, accused of rape, and has bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy.” Policy-wise, he’s promised to decrease women’s access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, and will allow the current realities of childcare, domestic violence, and workplace discrimination to remain unchanged. Young women’s motivation for voting for Harris and against Trump appears evident. But what about young men?

Policy-wise, many of the men who voted for Trump cite concerns like the economy and immigration, but these concerns exist for women too. The difference is that the stakes of a Trump presidency are much lower for men. Neither candidate plans to regulate their body and their reproductive system, so young men have the luxury of voting on the other issues that matter to them.

Another major reason that men have cited as a reason for voting Republican is simply their dislike of Harris and Democrats. Disregarding any possible sexist origins of these claims, these young men are voicing the reality that the Democratic Party has failed to appeal to them. As Dave Portnoy expressed in a three-minute Instagram reel posted the morning after the election, the “moral superiority” of the Democratic Party turned a lot of potential voters off. Within the Harris-Walz campaign, many young men could not see themselves or the policies they cared about reflected in the campaign’s messaging. Trump, on the other hand, appealed directly to the people young men idolize. For example, Trump has been endorsed or promoted by Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys, Theo Von, Elon Musk, Adin Ross, and the Paul brothers.

The recent overall sentiment from intellectuals and experts, like those at the Wall Street Journal, is that young men have “fallen behind” in terms of things like share of the labor market and education. Young men likely hear and feel that sentiment and reality, and as they look for a candidate to recognize their selfhood, masculinity, and their role as men. Trump arguably embodies and promotes some of the classic traits of masculinity, such as strength, assertiveness, and self-reliance. His blunt communication style, “self-made” origin story, and tough, “winner” personality appeal to what young men think masculinity embodies. 

Obviously, all young men did not vote for Trump, and all young women didn’t vote for Harris. In fact, according to NBC exit polls, 37 percent of young women aged 18 through 29 voted for Trump. In reality, there are many intersecting and complex reasons why a voter of a certain gender chooses to vote for a certain candidate. Nonetheless, the large gender gap between young voters represents a widening ideological gap between genders and their lived experiences. If the Democratic Party wants to avoid making the same mistakes in 2026 and 2028, they need to take notes from the Trump campaign and appeal to the country’s young men.

Nov102023Athlete of the Week: Brendan McSorley ’24

by Justin Bishop ’24 on November 10, 2023
Sports Co-Editor

     Providence College men’s soccer team is 7–4–3 overall this season, and an astounding 5–0–1 in their last six matches. This recent stretch can be attributed to this week’s recipient of Athlete of the Week, Brendan McSorley ’24. McSorley has hit his stride during these recent games, which includes the match on Oct. 14 where he had two shots against then No. 5 Georgetown University where the Friars upset the Hoyas 1–0 on Chapey Field. The senior forward’s playing was also stellar last week in matches against the University of Connecticut and Butler University. In those two games, McSorley from Randolph, NJ totaled three goals and one assist, and the Friars won both of those games.

     McSorley’s first goal of the three came in the match against UConn. During the 17th minute, Nathan Messer GS ’23 crossed the ball across the pitch to McSorley who then headed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. This goal quickly put the Friars up 2–0 against the Huskies as Messer had previously tucked one in in the sixth minute of the game. The next goal that McSorley knocked in came later in the same game during the 70th minute. Pearse O’Brien ’27 had a corner kick that McSorley ran to the near side post and headed the ball into the goal past the goalkeeper. This second goal for McSorley extended the Friars’ lead over the Huskies to 3–0. The team would concede one goal late, but ended up winning the game 3–1. The Friars closed out their home game schedule with the win and ended with a 5–3 record overall in the comfort of Chapey Field.

    In the following game, McSorley and the team traveled to Indianapolis, IN to take on the Butler Bulldogs. The team took care of business winning the game 3–0 thanks to the one goal and one assist performance from No. 9. The last goal McSorley would score for the week occurred in the 65th minute. He two-touched a pass from Gevork Diarbian ’24 that snuck in at the near post. The goal put the Friars up 1–0, but the scoring did not stop there. McSorley dished a through-ball to Bruno Rosa ’26 and he put one past the Butler keeper, which expanded the Friar lead to 2–0. McSorley also had six shots and three shots on goal when the horn sounded at the end of the game, which were both the most on the team.

     The team has qualified for the Big East Tournament with their win against Butler and they will look to McSorley to lead them in scoring, as he evidently has found his game after explosive games to end the year and leads the team in points up with a total of nine goals and one assist for a total of 19 points. He also leads the team in shots with 38 and shots on goal with 19. It is clear that the offense starts with McSorely. Look for him to be the go-to guy when the Friars need a goal down the stretch.

The Friars finish up their regular season on Saturday, Oct. 28 in South Orange, NJ against Seton Hall University.

Nov72024SNL Season 50 Episode Five Recap

by Sarah McCall ’26 on November 7, 2024

Sarah McCall ’26

Hosted this week by John Mulaney and featuring musical guest Chappell Roan, episode five of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season was a hit. Airing mere days before a historic election, there was pressure to deliver great sketches and a memorable cold open following the political theme this season’s cold opens have maintained. Episode five had a surprise guest appearance from Vice President Kamala Harris to kick off the episode, where she gave a pep talk to Maya Rudolph’s depiction of Harris through a mirror. This tried and true approach, also used in episode three of season 50 by Ariana Grande for the Jennifer Coolidge “Maybelline” sketch, was key in introducing Harris. Rudolph’s strikingly accurate portrayal of Harris has created significant online discourse which created the grounds to include the self-talk mirror bit as an introduction. The wait until the end of the segment to introduce Harris allowed Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan, Dana Carvery, Bowen Yang, and James Austin Johnson to continue their political figure depictions without being overshadowed by the vice president’s appearance 

The best sketch of the night has to go to Mulaney’s “Port Authority Duane Read.” While nothing could ever top the original musical-themed sketch “Diner Lobster,” Mulaney knocked it out of the park with a fifth musical-themed sketch, featuring parodies of songs from The Lion King, Hamilton, and The Sound of Music. Pete Davidson is featured again as the catalyst customer, this time at a Duane Read in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Mulaney, as the cashier, is upset by Davidson’s choice to buy milk at a Duane Read in Port Authority. Playing on the experiences of New Yorkers in Port Authority, the situation becomes a musical production, featuring songs from multiple Broadway shows. Mulaney, now a six-time host, continues his legacy as an SNL writer from 2008–2012.

Weekend Update, hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che, is the best segment for memorable one-liners and this episode was full of them. There was a primary focus on the election, as there consistently has been throughout this season. Che decided not to engage with a headline mentioning the New York Yankees’ loss in the World Series, but did make some controversial jokes, noting he was going to “get a lot of letters tonight.” Heidi Gardner made an appearance at the Weekend Update desk as Reba McEntire giving her endorsement, or lack thereof, for president. Gardner, always a consistent cast member, had a solid portrayal of McEntire and delivered as well as always. Marcello Hernandez and Jane Wickline were the next feature at the desk, portraying the “Couple You Can’t Believe Are Together.” Wickline, a new featured cast member, took this sketch and ran with it. After a shaky first appearance on Weekend Update, her second feature gave her the opportunity  to show more of her range while staying true to her consistent monotone delivery. Hernandez, who has created a lot of public attention with his recent SNL sketches, has become a fan favorite, and this sketch with Wickline emphasized both of their comedic abilities.

Roan’s performance of “Pink Pony Club” was one for the books. Her engagement with the audience and the crowd’s singing along made this a stellar performance. After her breakout year as an artist, Roan’s SNL debut was just what she needed. Episode five was a fairly solid episode, with hard hitting sketches and a great outlook for cast members like Wickline as well as musical guest Roan. On Nov. 9, Bill Burr will host with musical guest Mk.gee, followed by Charli XCX, who will host and perform Nov. 16.

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2022 College Football Season Preview

Why the To-Go Boxes Shouldn’t Be Seen as an Inconvenience

In spring 2022, PC Dining announced its plans for Eco To-Go, a program that allows students to use reusable to-go boxes in Ray instead of wasteful single-use containers. While the initiative is supported by many students, others complained that it is inconvenient. Considering the significant environmental impact of paper and plastic, which these containers are made of, this is an ignorant complaint given our current ecological state. 

While some may argue that these boxes aren’t environmentally harmful because they can be recycled, this is not the case. It is important to reduce our consumption before recycling, which is why the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” is in this order. First, we’re supposed to reduce, then reuse, and finally recycle, meaning that recycling is not the solution. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018 only 8.7 of plastic was recycled, leaving plastic in landfills and oceans. There is a significant impact of plastic pollution on our marine ecosystems. It’s estimated that every year, eight to 10 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans. The effects of this are devastating, as plastic breaks down to form microplastics, which many small organisms mistake for food. This is also an issue in terms of biomagnification, as organisms who consume these organisms indirectly ingest this plastic. This is one of the reasons why scientists have recently discovered microplastics in human blood for the first time. 

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Dec82022A Totally Unnecessary Rant About Hallmark Movies 

by David Salzillo Jr. ’24 on December 8, 2022
Opinion Staff

This article might be upsetting both to regular viewers of Hallmark movies (if such people really do exist) and to children who still believe in Santa Claus. To the latter group, I offer my sincerest apologies.  

Ah, Christmastime—the season for caroling, hot cocoa, and…bad Hallmark movies. Why humanity must suffer through that last one is a mystery. Yet here we are: the filmmakers (one uses that term VERY loosely) behind these cinematic travesties are at it again.  

Technically, they were at it again long before now. Hallmark’s chief executives seem to believe that Halloween marks the first day of the Christmas season. Forget waiting until after Thanksgiving; forget about waiting until the first of November. These people have managed to outdo those infamous radio stations that play Christmas music 24/7 from November to January. Ugh. Doesn’t Hallmark have any sense of shame?  

Now, if the movies were halfway decent, maybe some of this shove-it-down-your-throat-until-you-die-in-a-Christmas-induced-coma consumerism could be forgiven. But alas, trying to find a halfway decent Hallmark movie is like trying to catch Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Where does one even begin? How about with the filmmakers’ complete lack of effort? Seriously, do they care about what they are doing, insofar as it is not bringing them a paycheck? Don’t they understand that snow on someone’s clothes will melt after a few minutes, as opposed to staying there for an entire scene? And don’t they understand that people generally swallow after drinking coffee? If you ever have the displeasure of watching some of these movies, you will be able to find countless other egregious errors like these. It does not take a Francis Ford Coppola or a Martin Scorsese to get these things right.  

Then there’s the incessant presence of hot chocolate, cookies, and bake-offs. The bake-offs in particular irk me: I have never seen nor been to a bake-off in my life, yet somehow they always manage to be a central plot point of Hallmark’s Christmas programming. They would make you think that bake-offs are a fixture of the average American’s life. They have to keep up that small-town aesthetic.  

This brings up another falsely represented aspect of Hallmark movies: their inane platitudes about small-town life. To be sure, I don’t hate small towns, nor do I hate people who like small towns. Living in a big city is not paradise on Earth. Yes, big cities have pollution, traffic, and, worst of all, people. But must their messaging be so clumsy and obvious? By the way, where are the homeless people in these small towns? Where is the trash? Most people have been to enough small towns in their lives to know that they have not eradicated poverty and garbage. 

And don’t get me started on those corny love stories or that stupid derivative rom-com music that plays whenever the main love interests of the stupid plot first meet in the stupid way that they always do. Couldn’t these writers come up with a better way for the true loves to meet, without the clumsily concocted pratfalls? Hallmark characters appear more accident-prone than even the worst of klutzes.  

But why bother getting so upset about this? Because I am upset for you, dear reader. I am upset that you must be subjected to this for the next three months or more. As the great writer Ralph Ellison said, “who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”  

Or maybe not. In that case, try to develop better taste in movies.