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Evan Tritt | Oct. 16, 2025
MVNU Survivor: Alliances Form, Community Strengthens
Who wouldn’t want to live on an island with little more to eat than a bag of rice, with no access to showers or toilets, all while around 20 other people try to backstab you for $1 million?
Stay in the Loop
MVNU Survivor: Alliances Form, Community Strengthens
by Evan Tritt, Staff Writer
Who wouldn’t want to live on an island with little more to eat than a bag of rice, with no access to showers or toilets, all while around 20 other people try to backstab you for $1 million? Over 49 seasons, hundreds of contestants have signed up for this exact scenario on the reality TV show, “Survivor.” This past weekend, 18 MVNU students competed for the winning title of “sole survivor” in the on-campus event MVNU Survivor.
As a fan of the show, Trent Smith, the Resident Director of Oakwood, coordinated MVNU Survivor to encourage students to engage in MVNU’s community. “I was just looking for something to have on the weekends, so students were encouraged to stay and be part of the community here,” he said.
The event got off to a fast start on Friday evening, as the three tribes built shelters, competed in challenges and voted off fellow contestants. After making it to the tribe merge and winning an individual immunity challenge, Abby Almodovar was voted out, placing sixth in MVNU Survivor. For Almodovar, preexisting friendships further entangled a game already full of distrust and suspicion. She explained, “It definitely complicated the game and made it all the harder for people to vote each other out. I remember seeing several teary eyes after tribal councils, just because we’re not complete strangers.”
At the end of the grueling competition, Jordon Reesman rose to the top as the winner of MVNU Survivor. Describing his mindset, Reesman said, “I would have been fine with being voted out at any point. Yet once the game got down to the top 10, it got more real for me. I was still there to have fun, but I wanted to win at that point—which is where the exhaustion started to set in.” Despite his dwindling energy, Reesman’s performance earned him the title of “sole survivor” and the winning prize of various gift cards and goodies.
Over the course of the exciting weekend, MVNU Survivor challenged students to dig deep while forging new friendships among a wide range of MVNU’s community.
Saying Goodbye: Thorne Library Director Seeks New Opportunities
by Zoey Hover, Assistant Editor
Professor Tim Radcliffe has been at MVNU for a long time—working 12 years in many different roles, including resident director, professor of theology and his current role as director of the library, a position he held for six of those 12 years. And shortly before beginning his diverse, long-time campus career, Radcliffe was a student here, graduating in the 2010 class. Now, after all these years and many roles, he has decided that it is time to say his bittersweet goodbye.
Radcliffe joked that he would miss Happy Bean the most; but really, he said he was going to miss the people, especially his library staff. The staff, too, will miss the bike-riding, Lord of the Rings-loving library director as he moves to his new position as a librarian at Ohio Dominican University.
“I’m gonna miss his little inside jokes with us, and I’m definitely going to miss his willingness to teach us and show us new things, whether it be about the library or just insight about life,” said student library assistant, Ellie Wolfe. Both Bethany McClain and Lilly Croft, also student library assistants, remarked on Radcliffe’s sense of humor as well, and Croft recalled a time he even got involved in a prank to wrap his former assistant library director’s office in wrapping paper. Not only is Radcliffe funny, they said, but he is also very caring—something else they’ll deeply miss about him.
It is currently unknown what MVNU will do regarding Radcliffe’s position after his departure. Until their decision is made, assistant library director Christy Taylor will take charge of Thorne Library’s functions.
Artistic Adventures
in Allegheny County
by Olivia Wood, Staff Writer
A French painter sits down with waterlilies. A craftsman mutters in Latin while sculpting his emperor. A woman paints dots on the ground of an old mattress factory. What do these people have in common? Their work made its way to the famed “City of Steel” in Allegheny County—Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, students from MVNU’s Art and Design Department were able to view these works and more with their own eyes.
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This was not the first time the art department went to Pittsburgh, but this time students from many majors taking art classes came along for the trip. The idea was to take students and faculty to the world-renowned Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, as well as the contemporary art museum known as the Mattress Factory, for a full day of sightseeing.
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However, the art faculty intended this trip to go beyond merely sightseeing, as they recognize that a student’s education, especially when studying and practicing artistic techniques, is incomplete without exposure to the greats. Art professor John Donnelly, who organized the trip, explained this sentiment himself: “You know, it’s one thing to look at something in a book and then the other is to experience it firsthand and see it in person.”
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While on the approximately three-hour drive to Pittsburgh, students expressed many of the same feelings as Donnelly. “I thoroughly enjoy art, and I would love to get to see some of the greatest works in person and be able to study them with my own eyes,” said sophomore graphic design major Dakota Flory, explaining her reasoning for going on the trip.
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After the students returned from Allegheny County, the general takeaway from the trip seemed to be best summarized by Nicholas Cline, a junior graphic design major, who said “It was a good way to see art, and it was a nice break from classes.”
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Exposed to the beautiful and thought-provoking works of the Carnegie Museums and the Mattress Factory, MVNU’s students left this trip with a better appreciation for art and plenty of inspiration for the long weeks of creating to come. Perhaps someday, the work of one of MVNU’s very own will make its way to those gilded halls in Allegheny County.
