March 24, 2021

The Emory Wheel Since 1919

Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Volume 102, Issue 5

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Printed every other wednesday

Biden, Harris Visit Draws Large Crowd

Univ. Extends Vaccines to All Students, Faculty, Staff

By Matthew Chupack News Editor

leaders “heart wrenching.”

“Hate can have no safe harbor in America,” Biden said. “It’s on all of us, all of us together to make it stop.”

University President Gregory L. Fenves called Biden and Harris’ visit to Emory “an honor,” in a March 23 statement to the Wheel.

“In this moment of mourning and grief in Atlanta, we must speak out against hate while forging strong part-

Emory University will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all students, faculty and staff beginning March 25, according to an email to students and staff from Associate Vice President and Executive Director for COVID-19 Response and Recovery Amir St. Clair. The March 23 email included a link to a vaccination sign-up form offering appointments in March, April and May. The University’s message follows Gov. Brian Kemp’s March 23 announcement that all individuals aged 16 and older can receive a vaccine starting March 25.

“We’re seeing a lot of demand still in metro Atlanta, but we have a lot of resources heading here,” Kemp said in an address to Georgia residents.

“We’re starting to see senior populations … level out. We don’t want any doses sitting in freezers anywhere, so we’re opening it up on Thursday.”

Georgia will join a small cohort of states offering vaccines to all adults.

Only West Virginia, Alaska and Mississippi have allowed all adults to get vaccinated as of March 23. Georgia will become the fifth state on that list, as Utah’s governor announced that the state plans to grant all adults aged 16 and older vaccine eligibility starting on March 24.

Georgia’s eased eligibility restrictions follows a nationwide trend. Texas will expand vaccine eligibility to all adults on March 29 and Indiana on March 31, with more states following suit in April.

“As we said before, we know when we take steps like this, it’s going to create a lot of demand, especially in the metro Atlanta area,” Kemp said.

Georgia received 450,000 additional vaccines earlier this week and is expecting more Pfizer and Johnson &

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See EMORY, Page 5

Isaiah Poritz/Editor-in-Chief (Top and Bottom R ight). Matthew Nails (Bottom Left)

A student looks over a the quad from the upper landing of the Michael C. Carlos Museum (Top). A student watches President Joe Biden’s address from a cellphone (Left). U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock greet walk to greet students.

By Matthew Chupack and Sarah Davis News Editors The day that President Joe Biden comes to visit, the quad is almost unrecognizable. Hridansh Saraogi (24C) is shocked; he’s never seen such a crowd on campus before.

Each time the door to Convocation Hall opens, a hushed silence falls over the chattering crowd. They peer eagerly over shoulders and poised phone

cameras in anticipation before resuming their conversations, eyes still glued to the entrance.

The night before, news broke that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would visit campus following the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16 that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian American women.

Before delivering their speeches, the president and vice president visited the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and met with Georgia

Asian American leaders at Emory University. The president was scheduled to visit Atlanta on March 19 to promote the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, but he postponed a rally to address the shootings that happened only days before.

In his speech, which was live streamed from Convocation Hall, Biden condemned the violence against Asian Americans and called the conversation he had with Asian American

Shootings Devastate Asian Community

By Anjali Huynh Executive Editor When Julianna Chen (23C) first saw that six East Asian women had been killed by a white man across three Georgia spas on March 16, she felt “numb.”

Like many around the country, Chen had seen a spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans reach national media recently, as images of elderly Asian individuals being pushed down or beaten in cities from Oakland, California, to New York City flooded her social media feed.

But she didn’t think it would happen so close to her — she lives just a few miles from Aromatherapy Spa

and Golden Spa, two of the shooting locations.

“I envisioned a lot of my own death, and that did horrible things for my mental health,” Chen said of the days following the attacks, as information about the victims was released and the pain sunk in. “I recognize the chances of actually being shot are very slim, but I’m not going to not think about that.”

Police statements, family members and acquaintances of Aaron Long, the shooter, indicated that Long’s “sex addiction” contributed to the murders.

In days following the deaths, representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police forces said the attacks did not appear to be “racially motivated,” with one officer

stating that Long “had a really bad day.”

Emory Asian American students and faculty, however, believe that ignoring race as a factor working in tandem with sex and class only further harms Asian communities, given that the shootings occurred at three Asian businesses.

“People have been talking about this for years, and there have been multiple cases of anti-Asian racism dating back to when Asian Americans first started immigrating to the US,” said Jane Wang (22C), co-chief of staff for the Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American Activists (APIDAA). “It’s

NEWS BLM Co-Founder

EDITORIAL Stand

A&E Poetry Honors

Talks Successful Activism ...

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Against Anti-Asian Violence PAGE 6 ...

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Indigenous History ...

Isaiah Poritz/Editor-in-Chief

A 21-year-old gunman killed eight people accross three spas in the Atlanta area, six of whom were Asian women.

EMORY LIFE Finding SPORTS Why Emory

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a Major That Aligns With Lacks School Spirit ...

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‘I’m Exhausted’: Asian American Students Feel Unheard

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really frustrating to not see our issues pushed to the forefront until people are getting killed.”

History of Mistreating Asian Women Violence against Asian Americans isn’t new. From internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s to Vincent Chin’s murder in 1982 to the spike in hate crimes against South Asians after 9/11, it’s all-too-common, said Assistant Professor of History Chris Suh, who specializes in Asian American history.

This harm can manifest differently against Asian women. The U.S.’ history of fetishizing East and Southeast Asian women dates back centuries to the Page Act of 1875, a law that prevented Chinese women from coming to the U.S. unless they could prove they weren’t prostitutes.

Throughout World War II, U.S. soldiers occupying East and Southeast Asian countries were often provided with women for sex work purposes, Suh noted.

American popular culture also exoticized Asian women, ranging from movies starring Anna Mae Wong in the early 20th century to the popular 1989 musical Miss Saigon. Media that portrays Asian women as submissive or hypersexual persists to this day.

Views of East and Southeast Asian women in the U.S. today are influenced by these historical factors coming together, Suh explained.

“It has a legal dimension, it has a military dimension but it also has a cultural dimension, and I do think that all three really shape the way we—and

Phrases like the “Chinavirus” and the “Kung Flu” perpetuated by political leaders have directly linked the disease with Asian countries, which Zhang noted is not a historical anomaly.

“People are so ready to blame Asian communities and accept this narrative of Asian Americans being diseased that we’re essentially just rehashing narratives that have come up before,” Zhang said.

As discussions about race have become mainstream, Asian American perspectives have often been excluded.

This is in large part due to the model minority myth. The concept, founded in the late 20th century, positions being Asian as proximate to whiteness. Asian people are thus associated with having more privilege and being predominantly well-educated and wealthy—an assumption that often enables racism to go unchecked.

“The model minority myth, as well as class bias, has really shaped the lives of these people, not only the people who are murdered but the people who survived too,” Suh said. “It’s really tragic that Asian Americans are often seen as this monolithic success story, when in fact, it’s so easy to prove that that’s not true.”

The myth operates under the belief that Asian people are homogenous when in reality, the broadly-defined race consists of people with different cultures and phenotypical appearances. As such, these subgroups face varying experiences in areas like academics and employment.

Differences are exemplified in the wage gap among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women. A March 2021 report showed that the pay of an AAPI woman ranges on average from $0.52, received by Burmese women, to $1.21, received by Indian women, compared to $1 a white, nonHispanic man receives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated violence and discrimination, as China has been villainized as the cause of the pandemic and those with phenotypically-East or Southeast Asian features became scapegoats.

The Stop AAPI Hate reporting center received 3,795 hate crime reports from March 19, 2020, the pandemic’s early stages, through Feb. 28, 2021.

Of those incidents, women reported crimes 2.3 times more than men.

Asian Americans were more likely to report negative experiences because of their race or ethnicity since the COVID-19 outbreak, a June 2020 Pew Research study showed.

Wang recalled an instance when she brought kimchi fried rice onto an Emory shuttle bus, only to receive negative remarks from the shuttle driver who questioned what “other weird foods” she ate and commented that China caused COVID-19 because of “unsanitary conditions.”

Stereotypes about East and Southeast Asian countries have only contributed to anti-Asian sentiments.

him “hit the ground” running his first year as he transitioned to Emory.

“When you come in, you already have a group of people set there and you don’t have to go searching,” White said. “BMI allows … all the Black men to come into this space and feel like they have something to cling onto.”

The National Center for Education Statistics recorded a national increase in Black male enrollment rates from 25% to 33% between 2000 and 2018. Emory’s Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support reported that enrollment numbers for Black males in the College have steadily increased since 2014 from 533 to 716 for the 2020 cohort.

Out of an average class size of 1,400 students, the number of enrolled Black men ranged from 23 to 39 students in the past 10 years, with the largest group being from the class of 2023.

By contrasting, the class of 2023 features 120 Asian male students and 232 white male students.

“Being able to attend a college like Emory is a very privileged thing,” said BMI participant Kristopher Wallen (24C). “If you look at any metric, there are not a lot of Black males at colleges like Emory. I think an important part of that is numbers that discuss how many Black males enroll in college or their rate of retention.”

The retention rate for Black male students at the College has fluctuated, with a 100% retention rate for the 2010, 2011 and 2017 cohorts but a record low 89.7% retention rate in 2019.

In a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report from 2017, Black men had the lowest college completion rate (40.0%) and the highest stop-out rate (41.1%), starkly contrasting other groups like Asian women, whose completion rates were 75.7%

paired with an 11.2% stop-out rate.

When students are admitted to the College, Taylor receives a list of all students who identify as Black males and reaches out to them. Admitted students can also engage with their peers through programs like ESSENCE and CORE that are geared towards introducing prospective or admitted firstgeneration students to Emory.

“To be in the living space with the other Black men at Emory, it’s a great way to start off your freshman year,” Julius Pugh (24C) said. “The idea of the BMI floor is to bring together more Black men to build this community of strong leaders.”

Because of the limited capacity in on-campus residence halls and virtual learning environments this year, there are only five Black male first-years and one SA in the floor program this year.

“The pandemic has definitely affected the program in a lot of ways,” Taylor said. “COVID-19 does affect the Black community more than other identities.

Having another virtual experience for students was probably not the best thing for engagement but they knew where to go. They knew they had advisors like myself and other Black men at Emory.”

Wallen echoed Taylor’s concerns about integrating into the BMI community after he and other first-years began the year entirely virtually.

However, programming events and mentor check-ins have helped maintain engagement.

“We’re obviously missing out on personal face-to-face connection through Zoom chats, but it’s a great community to have and they really adapted well to the online environment,” Wallen said. “I can talk to some upperclassmen who are in BMI and ask them any questions about Emory or questions about any struggles being

a Black male on campus.”

The program has also transitioned almost all events online, like meetings with upperclassmen mentors but some limited in-person events have been available for students. The program organized a grab-n-go brunch on the College’s first rest-day, Feb. 17.

Students also had a chance to grab any essential items like laundry pods or cleaning wipes for their dorms.

In February, there were Black History Month questions of the day to encourage “dialogue” in the BMI group chat. The program also spotlights two Black men each week in the chat so seniors and underclassmen can learn more about each other.

Looking towards the future, Taylor is hopeful for BMI’s expansion.

“I think we have curated a space where Black men have recognized each other,” Taylor said. “Their leadership, their excellence and overall presence, all those things have grown over the past four years.”

Taylor and current students in BMI are also looking forward to the program’s continued progress and growth.

“From my first year, we only had six boys living on a floor, the following year we filled the floor up with 22 boys,” White said. “That was a great experience to see that BMI theme take off and be a safe space for the Black men who were living on campus at the time.”

Taylor aims to “explore the options of reaching out and expanding” to the Oxford College campus. Latting’s office could not provide the number of Black male students on Oxford’s campus as it is “reported separately to the U.S. Department of Education and they track retention and graduation separately.”

One of Taylor’s goals is for Oxford men to maintain community as they

when I say we, I’m thinking about Asian Americans themselves as well— think about Asian women,” Suh said.

This phenomenon is experienced by numerous Asian American women at Emory, including Stephanie Zhang (22C), co-chief of staff for APIDAA. “As an Asian American woman, I’m so used to my identity being hypersexualized and fetishized,” Zhang said.

“The shootings that happened to these women is literally every woman of color’s worst nightmare, but it’s always expected.”

Chen expressed similar sentiments, saying, “Asian women, including myself, will sometimes be approached, and people will assume that they are more promiscuous than they actually are … It really changes how you perceive yourself.”

Stereotypes Suppress Voices

Solutions Start With Acknowledgment Moving forward from this tragedy is an uphill battle. Because Asian American history and struggles are rarely covered in school curriculums or popular culture, Suh said that achieving racial parity needs to start with basic steps: acknowledging that Asian people in the U.S. face racism.

“In order for there to be change, we need to recognize the problem first,” Suh said. “Events like these really heighten that actually no, there are problems that Asian Americans face, and some of them are actually similar to what other major marginalized communities face.”

Still, despite increased media attention, many are hesitant to believe that real change will come after years of Asian American struggles being sidelined.

“With so many of these things, people are mobilized on social media for a week, ... then the next week, you’re back to your regular lives,” Wang said.

“Except for some of us, our regular lives are just this, just hearing about anti-Asian violence.”

Suh echoed her thoughts, saying, “With decades of violence, it’s just like,

when will we ever change? It seems like it’s the same over and over and over again. I’m exhausted.”

Despite reservations, Emory students believe education is key to reducing anti-Asian hate. Groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Asian American Journalists Association work to provide mental health relief for Asian individuals and educational resources for those who wish to stand with the community.

At Emory, APIDAA has organized fundraisers for women’s groups and advertised therapy events for hurting Asian students, Wang said.

In coping with mental effects of the attacks, Chen took to social media to voice her thoughts about the fetishization of East and Southeast Asian women, discuss the intersection of class with race and sex and promote a personal fundraiser for Red Canary Song, a “grassroots massage parlor worker coalition.”

She’s since raised over $1,000 from peers that she plans to split between organizations supporting Asian women and destigmatizing sex work.

However, she says true change won’t occur without allyship from those outside the Asian community.

“Ultimately, I think white people have to come to terms with the fact that they are the problem,,” Chen said.

“I cannot think of a different way to say this: We should not be asking Asian Americans to have to fix the problem of which they are the victims.”

— Contact Anjali Huynh at alhuynh@emory.edu

Black Men’s Initiative Expands During Pandemic

By Ulia Ahn Assistant Multimedia Editor Despite being in the majority Black city of Atlanta, Black males make up just 1.7% of the Emory College students as of 2019, according to Dean of Admission John Latting.

In an effort to improve this number and foster a tight-knit community of Black male students, the University established the Black Men’s Initiative (BMI) community in 2017. The offices of Residence Life, Sorority and Fraternity Life, Student Leadership, Racial and Cultural Involvement and Transitions Engagement collaborated to form the group.

Headed by Assistant Director of Residence Life Des’mon Taylor and three other Campus Life administrators, one of the program’s main features is an all-Black male living experience in Hamilton Holmes Residence Hall.

“We started to notice a lack of belonging that was coming from our Black male community across campus,” Taylor said. “We wanted to create an initiative that would promote excellence, professionalism and belonging for the Black men at Emory.”

Black men remain one the smallest groups at Emory, making up just 2% of the student population as of 2020. This severe underrepresentation prompted “hard work on the recruiting side and some policy changes” to increase the pool of Black male students applying to Emory, Latting said.

Among the Emory College class of 2025 applicant pool, 1,123 prospective students identified as a Black male, an 18.5% increase from the class of 2024’s 931 Black male applicants.

Students like Matthew White (22C), a former Sophomore Advisor (SA) for the BMI floor, said the program helped

Hamilton Holmes Hall. Ulia A hn/A ssistant

transition to the Atlanta campus. His goal is to reach out to Black male students at the campus through the “student lens” rather than an “administrative” lens.

“Making sure that I have someone there or a group of people here who can connect to my specific experiences and know how to help guide me through it is really important for making sure I feel welcome at Emory,” Wallen said.

BMI is open to all Black men on Emory’s campus and White hopes that in the future, the program will be as supportive and useful to him as it is to new students. He also hopes that Emory might elevate this program to a “larger scale” by having BMI floors in more residence halls.

“Our objective is to retain Black men and support Black programs,” White said. “We don’t get enough recognition and BMI helps facilitate that process. Whoever’s leading it will continue to grow and flourish it, and we will have more Black men represented at Emory University.”

— Contact Ulia Ahn at ulia.ahn@emory.edu

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Ding, Kumar Head to Runoff in SGA Election

By Jareer Imran Contributing Writer The Student Government Association (SGA) presidential candidates Rhea Kumar (22C) and Rachel Ding (20Ox, 22B) and vice presidential candidates Amon Pierson (22C) and Nick Paschetto (20Ox, 22B) will advance to runoff elections after no candidate received over 50% of the vote.

The results were emailed to the student body Friday night after the voting period ended at 8 p.m.

The top two candidates in the threeway race for both SGA’s presidential and vice presidential spots will move to a runoff, which will take place from March 23-25. In total, 2,299 votes were cast in the SGA presidential election, representing a turnout of 30.9%, which is 14.5% higher than last year’s turnout of 16.4%.

Kumar won a plurality of the vote share, garnering 1,059 votes (46.06%).

She will face Ding in the runoff, who finished second in the election with 809 votes (35.18%). Mo Singhal (22C) finished last in the runoffs, earning 362 votes (15.74%).

“I am extremely humbled by the fact that my platform, ideas, and efforts resonated with so many students,” Kumar wrote in a statement to the Wheel. “Ultimately, I want to serve the student body and create a version of Emory they are proud to be a part of. I’m thankful for the opportunity to move onto the next round, and there is much more work to be done.”

Ding also expressed her appreciation for the support she received from and connections she made with the Emory community while campaigning to become SGA president.

“I am so incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support and am also exceptionally proud of all the hard work the other two tickets have put into

The Emory Wheel

Biden’s Speech Condemns Anti-Asian Hate Continued from Page 1

Courtesy of R hea Kumar and R achel Ding

Rhea Kumar (22B) (R ight) will face Rachel Ding (20Ox, 22B) (Left) in a runoff election for SGA president. this election over the past two weeks,” Ding wrote in a March 23 statement to the Wheel. “We’ve learned so much about the Emory community and we are excited to hear from more of you and look forward to the next few days!”

In the vice presidential election, Paschetto, who ran on a joint ticket with Kumar, earned a plurality of the votes, winning the votes of 1,065 (46.32%) students. He will face Pierson, who finished second with 30.96% and who campaigned jointly with Ding.

Alyssa Stegall (21Ox, 23C), who campaigned with Singhal, finished third with 18.31%.

Kurupassery Wins CC Presidential Election Emory students elected Akash Kurupassery (22C) to serve as the next College Council (CC) president, with Kurupassery defeating opponent Megan Yang (19Ox, 22C). He earned 930 votes (56.29%) to Yang’s 464 votes (28.08%). The remaining 258 votes (15.61%) were votes of no confidence.

A total of 1652 votes were cast for the

CC presidential elections.

Kurupassery, who previously served as Residence Hall Association President for the 2020-2021 year, pledged during his campaign to increase engagement in student government and to promote accessibility of student organizations on campus.

Mehta to Serve as Next CC Vice President Riya Mehta (22C) will serve as CC’s next vice president, running uncontested for the position. Mehta, who currently serves as CC’s vice president of communications secured 1,341 (81.32%) votes, with 308 (18.67%) students casting a vote of no confidence.

During her campaign, Mehta pledged to include Oxford and transfer students in first-year traditions such as songfest and the Coke toast and promised to make COVID-19 safety her number one priority with an initiative to include mask dispensers around campus.

— Contact Jareer Imran at jareer.imran@emory.edu

nerships to make progress and build understanding,” Fenves wrote.

After hearing that Biden was planned to speak at the University at 4:40 p.m., students began gathering on the quad outside of Convocation Hall as early as noon.

Angel Hailemariam (24C) said that she was “happy” to hear that Biden was coming to campus, as it would allow for students to be “united in a time of mourning.” While she was hopeful that Biden might make an appearance in front of students, he never did.

Aditi Mishra (22Ox) was also disappointed that she did not see Biden after waiting for four and a half hours on the quad, stating that she “thought that he would address us and perhaps have a short photo session.” However, other politicians made appearances on the quad, including U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), former Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams (D-Ga.), Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D-Ga.) and Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen (D-Ga.).

Eric Kovarsky (24C), who engaged in conversation with both Ossoff and Warnock and took a group photo with Abrams, called the experiences “incredible.”

Emory College Republicans President Jasmine Jaffe (22C) described the day as a positive one for the University’s community.

“It was an amazing experience to be able to watch the motorcade go down

Clifton Road, and see so many politicians that I have only seen on TV,” Jaffe said. “Though I disagree with those individuals politically, it was very uplifting that the Emory community was able to experience the whole event together, when it has been very difficult for us to find unity recently.”

While the majority of students on the quad were masked, some expressed concern for the potential the large gathering had to spread COVID-19.

At least two students protested at the event, holding self-made “Abolish ICE” signs. Jacob Chagoya (21C) said he saw the event as “an opportunity to make a statement” about Biden’s deportation plans and children still being in cages.

“For all of the talk that he’s said about no more kids in cages day one, he hasn’t really lived up to that, and I feel that people are overlooking it because he’s not Trump,” Chagoya, who is Mexican American, said.

While Chagoya used the gathering to protest a social issue close to him, Anish Nashine (24C) saw Biden’s visit as an important way to unite the Emory community.

“It’s very meaningful … because it’s with a community that’s been very separated because of COVID,” Nashine said. “People coming together for this in solidarity with the Asian families as well, it’s a very cool thing to see.”

— Contact Matthew Chupack and Sarah Davis at mhchupa@emory.edu and sgdavi4@emory.edu

Emory Leads SlaveVoyages Consortium with Harvard

By Grace Lee Staff Writer

Emory University’s SlaveVoyages database has expanded into a nationwide organization, partnering with five other leading institutions in African American history to maintain and develop the existing database.

The consortium includes the Hutchins Center at Harvard University (Mass.), the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Omohundro Institute at the College of William and Mary (Va.), Rice University (Texas) and joint membership among three University of California (UC) system campuses: UC-Berkeley, UC-Irvine and UC-Santa Cruz.

The SlaveVoyages project combines three databases: the Trans-Atlantic Voyages database, the Intra-American Voyages database and the African names database, which record 85% of all transatlantic voyages, SlaveVoyages Co-Founder and Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of History David Eltis estimated. The databases also provide historical documentation such as ship logs, bills of sales and recorded names of freed African people.

SlaveVoyages Contributing Member and Assistant Professor of Social Foundations at Clemson University (S.C.) Nafees Khan (13G) emphasized the importance of having multiple partners collaborating on the project.

“You can’t always rely on one institution,” Khan said. “That’s not as sustainable as having a consortium, in this case having six institutions that will take turns and will all contribute to sustaining it going forward.”

While Eltis helped establish the database during his time at Emory

and supported the project since its conception in the early 1990s, Khan got involved in the SlaveVoyages project as a doctoral student at Emory in 2006. He currently serves as an operational committee member, attends educational workshops and collaborates with members from the genealogy community.

“My orientation has been ‘How do we share this? How do we disseminate this?’” Khan said. “I was always interested in that outward-looking component. This is not just for historians …

It’s also for everyone else, so how can we make this as engaging as possible?”

The consortium came to fruition after two years of planning and creating partnerships between institutions that Emory had already built connections with through past projects, alumni networks and financial sponsors.

“Bringing on the National Museum of African American History and Culture was such a phenomenal thing because it meant that it wasn’t just higher-ed institutions, it was also a museum, and a preeminent one that has garnered so much attention,” Khan said.

The consortium features one host institution that rotates every three years, Khan explained. Rice is the current host institution and is tasked with maintaining day-to-day operations and facilitating ongoing development of the database.

“If there’s a new idea that needs to be implemented or something needs to be changed on the website … it would be through the host institution that maintains it,” Khan said.

The SlaveVoyages consortium stands as a model for other large-scale projects because of its trailblazing

framework, Eltis stated.

“As far as I know, it’s never been tried before,” Eltis said. “The innovation is not just in the subject matter — slavery and slave trade. There’s also an organization in it.”

The consortium financially supports the database, with each institution donating around $9,000 a year to support the site, Eltis added.

“It’s much easier to get money to start a project than it is to keep it going,” Eltis said. “We came up with this consortium idea where essentially, there would be no single university [financially] responsible for the project.”

Before the consortium was established, Eltis explained that the majority of his work focused on transferring the database from CD-ROM format to the web. The project formally started in 1992 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Eltis said. This money enabled production of the CD-ROM beginning in 1999.

Eltis credited the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship with reconstructing 3D visuals of ship designs and restoring information from the archives to the site.

“The key factor of this database is its attempt to give context to the history of the transatlantic slave trade, which is the largest forced migration in history,” Khan said. “It’s a digital memorial to those who endured that hardship.”

While the current website contains lesson plans geared toward middle and high school students, as well as tutorial videos and time lapse animations, Eltis expects future database developments to incldue more 3D videos of the vessels and greater focus on other forms of slave trade.

Courtesy of SlaveVoyages Consortium

Emory’s SlaveVoyages database includes 3D visualizations of slave ship designs.

Going forward, Khan detailed his desire to create a more diverse narrative within the SlaveVoyages database.

“We need to focus on the language, but also the inclusion, equity and diversity of voices as part of the consortium,” Khan said. “We want to be more mindful of bringing in scholars

of color, women scholars and being as intentional as possible that these kinds of projects and institutions as they progress, we don’t narrow who’s part of those conversations.”

— Contact Grace Lee at grace.lee4@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel Volume 102, Issue 5 © 2021 The Emory Wheel Alumni Memorial University Center, Room 401 630 Means Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322 Business (404) 727-6178 Editor-in-Chief Isaiah Poritz iporitz@emory.edu

Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University in Atlanta. The Wheel is a member publication of Media Council, Emory’s organization of student publications. The Wheel reserves the rights to all content as it appears in these pages, and permission to reproduce material must be granted by the editor-in-chief.

The statements and opinions expressed in the Wheel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Wheel Editorial Board or of Emory University, its faculty, staff or administration.

The Wheel is also available online at www.emorywheel.com.

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Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Emory Vaccine Site to Remain at Northlake Mall Talks Successful Activism Continued from Page 1

By Claire Fenton Associate Editor Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza spoke about her activism experience and broke down the keys to social justice organization during a conversation hosted by the Office for Racial and Cultural Engagement and College Council on March 17.

The event, the second in the threepart series “Activism and Mobilization: What Anti-Racism Can Look Like,” centered around Garza’s current projects and provided advice for people beginning their activism journey.

Her book, “The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart,” provides activists with the guidance she desired as a self-described naive college student interested in social justice.

“The kind of change that we’re trying to make is not just stopping bad things from happening,” Garza said.

“We are trying to change the way that power operates, and we are trying to change the balance of power so that we have ... we have more access to the things that we need to live well.”

In addition to clearly defining their objectives, Garza recommended that activist leaders find like-minded individuals to build community around a movement. Meaningful activism can be lengthy and arduous, and it is crucial for activists motivated one another when progress slows, Garza said.

“Figure out what it is that you care about, find other people who care about those same things and join them,” Garza said. “One thing that I think is a big barrier to staying inside of social change

work is cynicism and despair. It is very easy to get disappointed or frustrated with the pace of change.”

While Garza admitted that focusing on destroying current policies can “galvanize” people around an issue, the momentum often dies out quickly. She suggested leaders mobilize movements around building a better future rather than reacting to a broken present.

“It is so easy for us to get caught up in slicing with the tiniest scalpels — all of the things that don’t work — but it’s a lot harder to start to talk about how it should work instead,” Garza said. “You engage [people] in the fight because they’re fighting for something.”

Garza encouraged the audience to embrace the “messiness” of activism and be forgiving towards others when mistakes occur.

“It’s inevitable that somebody is going to disappoint you, that you’re going to make a mistake,” Garza said.

“The number one thing that is important in terms of sustaining social movements and building power over the long haul is being able to move through that, understanding that there is no perfect place but that the way we make it more perfect is by continuing to engage in it.”

Garza holds leadership roles in several social justice initiatives: she spearheaded the Black Futures Lab, works closely with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, hosts the “Lady Don’t Take No” podcast and is launching a YouTube channel. She stressed, however, that failure is a necessary part of activism — especially racial justice — and warned the audience not to “collapse” at their first misstep.

“If you’re too afraid to mess up, you’re going to be too afraid to do big things,” Garza said. “Be thinking a lot about how to practice doing it better the next time.

Being anti-racist is not just an action, it’s an ongoing commitment, and part of it is about accountability.”

Garza also reflected on how identity shapes activism engagement, arguing that people do not have the ability to “take off” their identity at will. Rather than competing in “oppression Olympics,” Garza suggested that people engage in productive discussion about their identities to find common ground.

“Identities are categories that we have been placed in as a way of mapping power,” Garza said. “I need to do the work to get to know you better, and to see you as a full human being.”

Addressing the recent shootings in Georgia that left six Asian American women dead, Garza warned against becoming complacent under the BidenHarris administration. She called on the audience to “keep holding their feet to the fire,” stressing that Black and Asian communities can work together to achieve greater equity. “[There] is this tendency that we can have when we’re under attack to go towards just protecting ourselves without thinking about the expense or impact on anybody else,” Garza said.

“We have to be cognizant of the fact that our communities have a long history of struggling together and fighting together, and oftentimes that history gets lost, but it’s 100% there.”

— Contact Claire Fenton at claire.fenton@emory.edu

Johnson vaccines next week. However, Georgia has only administered 68% of available doses, 10% lower than the U.S. average as of March 23.

Only 19% of Georgians received at least one shot as of March 23, the lowest first-dose rate among all U.S. states. Approximately 11% of residents are fully vaccinated, only ahead of Utah, where just 9.7% of the population is fully vaccinated.

“We appreciate the efforts of the state and governor to make all Georgians over the age 16 eligible for the vaccine,” St. Clair wrote in an email to the Wheel. “We encourage all members of the Emory community to get the vaccine once they are able.”

Faculty and staff must sign into their Employee Health Portal and complete a COVID-19 vaccination consent form to register for a vaccine.

They will then receive an email with a link to schedule their appointment, St. Clair wrote.

Students can register for a vaccine by completing a self-attestation form, consenting to the vaccine and scheduling an appointment through a system similar to the one used to schedule COVID-19 screening tests, found on the Emory Forward website.

Currently, individuals can only receive a vaccine through Emory at Emory Healthcare Clinic at Northlake Mall. Emory community members who need transportation assistance to the vaccination site can schedule a shuttle appointment by calling 404-727-7555

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Shuttle appointments must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, St. Clair noted.

According to the Emory University COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling form, the Northlake Mall vaccination site administers either the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine.

Those who receive the Pfizer vaccine should schedule their second dose for 21 to 35 days after their first dose, while those receiving the Moderna vaccine should schedule their second dose for 28 to 42 days following their initial dose. Students can schedule their second dose after they receive their first dose.

According to the vaccine scheduling form, students, faculty and staff must bring their appointment confirmation email containing their QR code, an Emory Card or government-issued photo ID and a face mask to their appointment.

To prepare for the vaccine, the form suggested that individuals wear clothes that allow easy access to their arms and eat or drink only before arriving at the vaccination site, as food and drinks are not allowed within the vaccination site.

The email also stated that individuals will be observed for an allergic reaction 15 to 30 minutes after receiving the vaccine.

— Contact Matthew Chupack at mhchupa@emory.edu

Crossword: Art Institute of Emory

By Aidan Vick, Senior Editor

Across

Down

1. Non-reusable coffee container 5. Steam room 10. Martial arts and meditation site 14. Federal agency founded by Eisenhower 15. Source of death in “The Waste Land” 16. North Carolina private school 17. “___ ___ and I will!”

18. Homeric name for Troy 19. Ice cream titan 20. SGA decides the cost of this 21. Text-only message 22. Daily grind 24. Political philosopher, stuffed tiger 26. Inhospitable soil 27. Series of games in tennis 28. Architectural style of White Hall 31. Not go according to plan 34. Double-reeded instrument 38. Creator of beautiful things (Fr.) 39. Buzzes in on “Jeopardy!”

42. Portent 43. Came to play 44. Statue replica at the entrance of Carlos Hall 48. Oft-dropped object 51. Exclude 52. Wide-leafed lilies 56. Fall 2020 pop-up art installation on campus 58. Discord 59. Step between “ready” and “fire” 60. “___, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio” 61. Russian revolutionary 63. Tactical military video game 64. “The View” host Haines 65. Metaphorically, an extra-sweet bonus 66. Oscar-winning fantasy trilogy 67. “Oh goodness!”

68. Pathos, logos, ___ 69. Rutherford split one

1. Jewish baked good 2. Mesoamerican cash crop 3. Military aviation garrison 4. Mischievous Greek god 5. Needed commodity for spring break in Miami 6. Legal education network 7. Bladder disease 8. Nerve-related 9. Italian fashion brand 10. “The Killing of a Sacred ___” 11. “___ ___ dirt” 12. Irish author whose death mask is in Woodruff Library 13. Inception, commencement 21. Feudal laborers 23. Scores in football 25. Legendary blues musician 26. Frat house with lion statue 29. Basketball slang for three 30. Emory dorms: Clifton, Clairmont 31. Animated Pixar short 32. Give weapons to 33. Condition caused by head injuries 35. In travel, partner of breakfast 36. Upset Ohio State in March Madness 37. i.e. telepathy 39. “Eureka!”

40. Whisper sweet ones 41. Feel faint from attraction 43. Suggestion for receiving bad news 45. Common texting acronym 46. 2001 French rom-com 47. What Billy Wilder and traffic cops do 48. Theory of three primary diseases 49. Place inside, in crafts 50. e.g. a rabbit’s foot 53. Cartomancy 54. Intend 55. An obnoxious version of 50-down 57. “Don’t I get ___ ___ in this?”

58. Prehistoric land-lumberer 62. Medical research agency 63. ___ mode, with ice cream

The Emory Wheel

O������

W��������, M���� 24, 2021 | Opinion Editors: Sophia Ling (sophia.ling@emory.edu) and Yun Zhu (yun.zhu@emory.edu)

EDITORIALS

Stand Against Anti-Asian Violence On March 16, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, who is white, killed eight people in three different Atlanta-area spas. Prosecutors charged Long with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. Six of his victims were Asian and seven were women.

This act of violence is just another example of white supremacist radicalization. It has led to bloodshed and anti-Asian hate crimes that American society has overlooked for centuries.

The first shooting took place at Young’s Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., where Long killed four people before driving nearly 30 miles into the city of Atlanta to Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, only minutes from Emory’s campus, where he killed four and injured one more. Long was arrested 150 miles south of Atlanta on his way to Florida, where authorities believe he intended to target more spas. Long has said that his actions were not racially motivated.

Instead, he claims he suffers from a sex addiction and murdered his victims solely to rid himself of temptation.

While they have condemned anti-Asian and anti-Asian American violence, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have not explicitly stated whether they consider Long’s shootings a hate crime. Instead of following the government’s stance of neutrality, we need to take a more unequivocal stance against anti-Asian violence and condemn it as the hate crime it is. Given recent surges in anti-Asian violence, standing against it now is especially urgent. Since COVID19 struck last year, a watchdog group Stop AAPI Hate reported nearly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate, 68% of which targeted women. Last week’s shootings are not isolated events. Long and other white supremacist perpetrators who thrive off of the victimization

and fear of minorities must be held accountable. Six out of the eight shooting victims were Asian women.

Long attributed his homicide to his attraction to the victims, but we cannot ignore the intersections of race and gender that led to the shooting. Asian women have been sexualized throughout American history; separating sex and race when determining criminal motive negates Asian women’s experiences and the ways in which the intersections of their identities impacts them.

Nancy Wang Yuen, a scholar of race and ethnicity in film, television and new media at Biola University (Calif.), recently noted in an interview with NPR “that removing racism from the conversation ignores the history of hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women in the U.S.” If not for the confluence of their race and gender identity, the violence perpetrated

against these Asian women would not have happened. Race and gender are impossible to separate, as making that distinction unfairly reduces the onus on Americans to contend with vicious, deadly prejudice. The ties between race and gender necessitate a broader conversation about the historical relationship between the Asian community and the U.S. We cannot discuss anti-Asian hatred without acknowledging state-sanctioned violence against Asians. The U.S. government initiated numerous wars in Asia during the twentieth century, rooted in the notion that Asia was a place for the U.S. to dominate. While overseas, American troops also began to associate Asian women with sex work, ingraining the belief that Asian women are sexual objects. As such, Long’s shooting is not an un-American violence, but instead the latest example of one that the U.S. has perpetrated over and over for

centuries. We must understand, address and rectify this reality as we move forward with the Asian community and help them heal and recover from this horrific violence. We must take steps to promote awareness of the issues faced by the Asian community on social media and in civil discourse, as well as educating ourselves on improving our allyship with Asian Americans. We need to actively combat the harmful stereotypes involved by speaking out and condemning racist ideology pertaining to Asian Americans. We stand in solidarity with Emory’s Asian community. There is nothing we can say or do to undo the violence or heal the wounds, but we can offer our hearts as we listen to the testimonies of Asian students, faculty and staff. Now, more than ever, we must come together with empathy and understanding in a society divided by hatred and violence.

Renaming the Schwartz Center Unnecessary, Performative Last week, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves refused to change the name of the Donna and Marvin Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. This announcement followed a vote from both the Student Government Association (SGA) and College Council (CC) in favor of doing so. Both organizations encouraged administrators to change the building’s name after discovering that donor Marvin Schwartz, the Schwartz Center’s namesake and one of its largest benefactors, sponsored conservative commentator Heather Mac Donald’s visit to campus over a year ago. We find SGA and CC’s efforts misguided. Because the Schwartz family decided to sponsor an event approved by Emory’s Open Expression Policy, the Schwartz Center should not be stripped of their name, and SGA and CC should not have spent valuable time calling for it. Instead, they should use their limited time and resources to directly help students who may have been harmed by Mac

Donald’s speech with mutual aid funds, nurture affinity spaces, find solutions to food insecurity and follow through on actionable plans to guarantee the Emory Student Bill of Rights. The two resolutions, supported by The Young Democrats of Emory, led Fenves to respond that renaming the building would be an act of retaliation against Schwartz for sponsoring Mac Donald, which goes against the school’s commitment to free expression. Fenves also reminded the Emory community that disagreement is not a valid reason to rename a building, as it undermines the University’s commitment to intellectual freedom. Though Mac Donald’s words were deeply hurtful and illinformed, it is a false equivalency to suggest that Schwartz’s name directly represents all of Mac Donald’s rhetoric or its effects. Schwartz was well within his rights to work with student groups to sponsor Mac Donald. Rebuking him by renaming a building that he made possible would discourage future

events with speakers on both sides of the political aisle. It would also undermine the open discourse that should be occurring between students with opposing views. As Schwartz told the Wheel following Mac Donald’s speech in January 2020, he wanted to see a diversity of opinions at Emory, which is a predominantly liberal space.

Sponsoring Mac Donald was a viable way for him to bring conservative ideas to campus. The Emory Wheel Editorial Board wrote in February 2020 that Mac Donald’s speech was meant to inflame the student body rather than initiate good-faith discourse and discussion. However, we reiterated that free speech is important to respect and uphold “even in the face of divisive and bad faith arguments.”

Schwartz, whether or not he agrees with Mac Donald’s views, was not operating outside the bounds of the Open Expression Policy. The Young Democrats of Emory were misguided to make Schwartz’s donation a major

issue in the first place, and SGA and CC’s respective resolutions were understandable but ultimately ineffective.

Acting on this issue now, over a year after it occurred, is performative. The symbolism of renaming the Schwartz Center does not address the sexual assault or racial and socioeconomic inequities on our campus. Mac Donald’s words were harmful. They were incendiary and cruel, and she should not be the standard of “good faith” discourse at the University.

Despite her abhorrent language, we cannot punish the people who funded her if we wish open expression to remain valued on campus. We disavow Mac Donald and her views in the strongest terms, but we stand in favor of free expression. If this ever becomes an issue again, Emory administrators must adhere to this precedent and refuse student demands that do not align with an environment of free and open expression. Most importantly, student leaders who pushed for

this change should learn from administrators’ unwillingness to bend to their demands and turn their attention to more immediate issues facing the school and students. A college campus is a place where students should encounter opposing views through discourse mediated by the University and student interactions alike. Discomfort at those views and the individuals who hold them will generate counterproductive controversy. Attacking Schwartz for endorsing Mac Donald provides more fodder to conservatives who see these sorts of campaigns as attacks on free speech and open discourse. Instead of arguing about the funding of a building, SGA and CC should push to introduce resolutions advocating for students who have experienced sexual assault and providing resources for low-income and BIPOC students. Student concerns need to be addressed, but we need to focus on building a stronger future rather than fixating on the past.

The above editorials represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board is composed of Sahar Al-Gazzali, Viviana Barreto, Rachel Broun, Jake Busch, Sara Khan, Sophia Ling, Martin Li, Demetrios Mammas, Sara Perez, Leah Woldai, Lynnea Zhang and Yun Zhu.

The Emory Wheel Volume 102 | Number 5

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The Emory Wheel welcomes letters and op-ed submissions from the Emory community. Letters should be limited to 300 words and op-eds should be at least 500. Those selected may be shortened to fit allotted space or edited for grammar, punctuation and libelous content. Submissions reflect the opinions of individual writers and not of the Wheel’s Editorial Board or Emory University. Send emails to emorywheelexec@gmail.com or postal mail to The Emory Wheel, Drawer W, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322.

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OPINION

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Abolish the Monarchy? It’s Complicated.

Aayush Gupta Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step down as senior British royals, the Windsor Family is now plagued with accusations of racism, insensitivity and elitism. Calls to abolish the monarchy have gained traction as Britons and the rest of the world recognize the archaic institutions and ideals it upholds, particularly their perception of ethnic minorities and historically marginalized groups as being unworthy of royalty status. But the royal family is unlike any other celebrity family in the West.

Aside from being the official Head of State of the United Kingdom — a major responsibility in itself — the Windsor family has deep roots in British culture. The notion of simply abolishing the monarchy is highly reductionist and oversimplified. To be clear, Harry and Meghan will merely be stepping back as senior members of the royal family, not fully abdicating from the monarchy. There is recent precedent for this: Prince Andrew resigned

from his duties in 2019 after his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein became public. The term "senior royal" has no official definition, but it typically refers to adult relatives of the British monarch near the top of the line of succession.

They are full-time, working members of the royal family who perform regular duties in the Queen's name. They are highly visible representatives of the monarchy both in the U.K. and abroad. In their January 2020 statement on the issue, Harry and Meghan said they “intend[ed] to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.” Yet 95% of their net worth comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, a private portfolio of real estate and other financial investments belonging to Prince Charles. The remaining 5% comes from the Sovereign Grant, a taxpayerfunded pool of money earmarked for official royal businesses, travel and security. Per a Forbes estimate, Harry

and Meghan will need an additional $3 million to cover the expenses of activities formerly provided by the Sovereign Grant. Given that their recent deals with Netflix and Spotify to cash in on the royal brand are worth up

coverage of Meghan proliferated in British tabloids as well. The royal family’s traditional indifference and apathy to the press is unjustified in the face of racism and discrimination against people of color.

The Windsors’ yearslong silence on the racist abuse Meghan suffered indicates a profound disregard for not just her plight, but also of the millions of people of color.

Their silence is a tacit endorsement of the discrimination she experienced. Currently, the British monarchy holds a profound cultural significance.

However, the royal family stands at the precipice of slowly ILLUSTRATION BY AMY XIA falling into irrelevance, alienating Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. people of color with their silence on discrimination and racism.

Does this mean we should to $125 million, the notion of their abolish the monarchy? Not quite. decision stemming from a desire to be Lifestyles and social customs evolve. financially independent seems rich. Yes, the royal family is out of touch However, given that certain members with reality, and it needs to embrace of the royal family allegedly inquired racial equality and social justice in about how dark their then-unborn behavior instead of pretending they child’s skin would be, their decision to exist in a world reminiscent of their leave the family is quite natural. Racist colonial past. Tradition is not valuable

just because it is traditional; it must change to remain relevant and inclusive. But perhaps it’s time to accept the realities of living in the modern world: one that is empowering historically marginalized people of color. Rejecting today’s multicultural, globalized society will only accelerate the royal family’s demise.

The celebration of our diversity must not just come from them, but from the common people too — the working and middle classes that put these monarchs on a pedestal. Becoming enamored with the highfalutin royal lifestyle is easy, but we must remember that they are people too, and flawed ones at that.

Because as Meghan admitted, “what [we] know about royals is from fairytales.” The first step in addressing a problem is to recognize that there is one. Perhaps it is time to admit that the monarchy is flawed, but instead of tearing it down, we need to push it to change, to do better and protect our culture by evolving in tune with society.

Aayush Gupta Singapore.

(22B)

is

from

Revolutionize Pizza Delivery Boxes An Asian American on Sophia Ling Since the onset of the pandemic over a year ago, the restaurant industry has sustained devastating losses. By December 2020, the National Restaurant Association reported that 17% of restaurants permanently closed. As a result, restaurants feel pressured to undergo massive transformations to adapt to the new lifestyle by reducing the number of dine-in customers and adopting pick-up and delivery methods to mitigate their losses.

Stringent COVID-19 regulations may prevent restaurants from operating at full capacity, but it hasn’t stopped people from craving pizza. The one store I miss above all others is Bazbeaux’s. A local artisanal pizzeria in Carmel, Indiana, Bazbeaux’s houses fond memories of indulging in custom meat-lovers pizza and stealing breadsticks from my friends at our postorchestra concert dinners. All fresh pizzas at Bazbeaux’s are delivered to your table in a takeout box with hot steam still billowing away from the waiter. In a time of such rapid flux, we have a prime opportunity to revolutionize pizza delivery for the future. Now, the cardboard pizza box is undeniably a quintessential part of American culture. It is a paper product that harnesses the power of childhood nostalgia. In fact, the opening of a pizza box is so salivating that Pizza Hut created a bottled perfume to mimic the scrumptious smell. In my mind, pizza holds high cultural significance, second to chocolate, of course.

The pizza itself, having earned the title of most instagrammed food, is the ideal comfort food — made to be eaten at any time, anywhere. Though the food industry is slowly beginning to recover, food delivery will still remain immensely prevalent in our lives.

Because of that, we need to have a long overdue, serious conversation about the pizza delivery box. Before we get into the failures of the box, however, let’s first talk about pizza and why it is America’s favorite comfort food. When pizza first comes out of the oven, the crust is light, not too thin or thick. As the waiter brings the pizza to your table, you can almost taste the crackling and smoky texture of the crust before even touching it. I know the

perfect pizza is subjective. But, I venture to say that most would agree that an impeccable pizza involves a mouth-watering cheese pull, a slightly scorched crust where the dusty flour still flakes onto your fingers and full coverage of the pie with cheese, sauce and the ideal toppings of your choice.

Named the most devoured food of 2020, pizza is tied to inextricable bonds of social connection and memories of simpler times.

Now, due to the pandemic, American eating habits are reverting back to that source of comfort to heal and cope with the uncertainty and stress that is constantly weighing on their minds. However, the cardboard box ruins it all. The longer the pie spends in the box, being shaken as it races across the city to reach your home, the moisture from the sauce and toppings begin to soak into the crust,

reversed the order, lathering the sauce over the slices of mozzarella instead, ensuring the bottom crust stays dry during longer durations of transportation. To allow the moisture of the sauce to evaporate, Sheridan lowered oven temperatures and increased the amount of protein in his dough. These engineering decisions caused the dough to be stronger, holding its shape throughout delivery.

In a second example, Dan Kluger, owner of Washington Squares, a New York pizzeria, got his inspiration from the grandma pizza and adapted the classic pie to fit his needs. Originating from Long Island in the early 20th century, the grandma pie is a thinner, square sliced pizza that also places the cheese beneath the tomato sauce, which is ideal to retain the flavorful crackle of the crust during pandemic times. Kluger’s crust is sturdy but not thick, strong enough to support a slew of toppings without forgoing the structural integrity of the final product.

Arguably, maintaining a highquality crust is fundamental, as it guarantees a proper balance of flavors from the sauce, the rich, gooeyness of the cheese and the salty umami of the dough. What sets Sheridan and Kluger apart from many other local artisanal pizza businesses is commitment to ILLUSTRATION BY ALLY HOM their redesigning and potentially Bazbeaux’s pizza delivery box. even reinvesting in equipment relinquishing its original crispiness and to increase the portability of their texture. The pizza becomes cold and pizzas without sacrificing the delectasoggy, a truly disappointing sight. For ble taste. so long, we have taken the diminishing Even though the pandemic has quality of pizza delivery for granted, or caused many to incur irreversible perhaps our culture has acquiesced to losses, it is still worth considering the the exposure of pizza to harsh weather silver lining: we need to capitalize on conditions and inevitable traffic jams the opportunity to revolutionize the art with a measly cardboard box as its only of making pizzas and delivering them. support.

More restaurants will begin to To combat the aforementioned utilize delivery apps, integrate virtual issues, Brooklyn pizzeria, Wheated, waitlists to manage limited capacities completely remodeled its services and in their restaurants and pivot their its pizza-crafting style to maintain their marketing strategies to rely primarily high quality, artisanal pizzas. When on technology. But who says this customers order, the pizzeria asks should just be restricted to digital them when they will consume the pizza technology? Pizza is serious business, — either in their car or at home — and it needs to be treated that way. This which will determine if the pie is sliced is a chance to alter the course of pizza or not. Next, owner Dave Sheridan delivery by redesigning ergonomic found that wedging a paper mat in pizza boxes. Let’s make pizza last between the pie itself and the takeout longer and make soggy takeout pizza’s box allows steam to escape from the existence fade into history. crust while maintaining the pizza’s classic crispy texture. Instead of Sophia Ling (24C) is from Carmel, putting the cheese on top, Sheridan Indiana.

The Atlanta Shootings Jane Wang “Please don’t go to Asian market in the near term.”

“I know.”

I am not angry when I send this reply to my mom. Mere miles from me, a gunman has just killed eight people — six of whom have Asian faces like me — and I am too tired to summon the rage that this godless act deserves. My friends and I have just finished watching John Oliver lambast Tucker Carlson for his particularly insidious brand of race-baiting, so the news of this shooting feels absurdly poetic. I do not know what to do about Carlson, nor do I know what to do about this violence against my people. But I fleetingly wonder if the gunman watched Carlson or Fox News. Carlson may not have pulled the trigger, but I wonder nonetheless if political commentators like him could have prevented such senseless death by fanning the flames of division a little less. The thought of Carlson’s inflammatory talk show doesn’t anger me though. It makes me want to cry tears that I am too weary to cry. I ache because I know that this story will play out in the same way it already has, like clockwork, a thousand times over.

University administrators and human resources departments across the U.S. will hold anti-racism seminars and diversity, equity and inclusion panels, to be attended by the same 25 people. Our deans, professors and supervisors will send emails with their condolences, messages of solidarity and resources for counseling, and then it will be business as usual within a week. On social media, a wave of infographics and demands awaits us: sign this petition, donate to that fundraiser and read this book — “if you don’t speak up, you are part of the problem!” I will support all of these efforts and tell myself that it’s better than nothing. But what does it really mean to speak up? Does it mean reposting, retweeting and texting friends who have already seen, heard and agreed with everything that I have seen? Reiterating the same statement of shock, grief and unity? I’m not sure what difference it makes anymore. I harbor such doubts because at the other end of the campus quad or the office breakroom, there are Americans

who will say it was about sex, not race.

Yet the fact remains that this gunman’s primary instinct in response to his sexual urges was to target a string of Asian spas and businesses. Whether his racism manifested consciously or subconsciously does not matter. Eight people are dead, the majority of them Asian, and now the fear in my community feels very real. Some will concede that even if this crime has a racial component to it, the reaction is still overtly political, a ploy to advance the agenda of one party over the other.

Maybe they’re right. If there is one thing that many minorities are familiar with, it’s the feeling of being used by political establishments. But right now, the claim that “it’s all political” feels like a deflection.

Yes, it is true that I desire change and want desperately to channel my emotions into something greater, but that doesn’t make my anxiety any less real. Besides, what else can I do? My choices are to either work with those who will at least acknowledge the hate against me or burn everything to the ground, and I would rather not do the latter because I live here, I love it here and I call this country my home.

Of course, others will say, think and do nothing at all because the story just doesn’t hit close enough to home and hasn’t registered as a priority. I know that Tucker Carlson will not lose any sleep over this shooting, whereas I still wonder how to respond to his pernicious rhetoric. In fact, I’m not even sure I fully know how to respond to the less extremist Americans who nevertheless seek to ignore race in the equation. How do I talk to, exchange experiences with, be understood by and live alongside people who don’t want to or need to think about race, all while hoping that someone doesn’t shoot me along the way for the crime of being Asian?

Rationally, I know that getting shot is a slim possibility. I know that there is still so much good in every corner of our society and that speaking up and reaching out is, and will continue to be, a meaningful enterprise. It’s just irrationally difficult to believe and do these things right now.

So, I process my thoughts in writing, I pray for peace in my community and I thank you for listening.

Jane Wang (22C) is from Chandler, Arizona.

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Arts Entertainment Wednesday, March 24, 2021 | Arts & Entertainment Editors: Saru Garg (saru.garg@emory.edu) & Stephen Altobelli (saltobe@emory.edu)

Snyder Cut Does Justice to Director’s Vision

By Aayush Gupta Staff Writer

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is, in many ways, a historic film. Its release is the culmination of a four-year campaign created by the fans and embraced by the stars of the film in defiance of Warner Bros.’ release of “Justice League” in 2017.

After director Zack Snyder’s daughter, Autumn, tragically took her own life, he took a step back from the project, and the studio brought in director Joss Whedon of “Avengers” to finish the film. The result was a critically panned mess of a movie, which prompted fans, who believed it to be the fault of the new director, to demand the release of a “Snyder Cut.” What began as a pipe dream gained momentum as news surfaced of massive studio interference and Whedon’s major reshoots, attributing only 10% of the original film to Snyder’s vision and footage. Additionally, the film’s cast made accusations of abusive and unprofessional behavior against

Whedon, which further rallied public opinion against the original cut, leading to louder demands for the Snyder Cut. Fans were delighted when in May 2020, Snyder announced that his full vision for the film — a four-hour-long behemoth — would be released on Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Snyder’s film is divided into six chapters in a Tarantino-esque fashion, and each chapter tells its own contained story.

The viewer can easily pause and take a break during this four-hour-long epic.

The core of the film remains the same as its 2017 version; it depicts Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) seeking out three Mother Boxes that would allow him to turn Earth into a satellite of his home world, Apokolips, and bring his master Darkseid’s (Ray Porter) armada for an invasion so that he can end his exile. The Snyder Cut provides more depth to Steppenwolf’s character, as his relationship with Darkseid is quite strenuous. The character redesign not only portrays him as an intimidating villain, but also allows him to display a wider

Courtesy of HBO Max

The Justice League, assembled. range of emotions, which heightens the stakes compared to the theatrical edition. Additional dialogue and character motivation for Steppenwolf adds much-needed gravitas to the action set pieces, particularly in the beginning

when he attempts to steal the first Mother Box from the Amazons and toward the end as he faces off against the Justice League.

The DC Trinity — Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Superman (Henry Cavill) — all come into their own with subtle improvements that bring them closer to their comic-book roots that fans know and love. No longer is Batman a wisecracking billionaire like Tony Stark; instead, the film focuses on his role as the team’s strategist. No longer is Wonder Woman unnecessarily sexualized; instead, she’s the fierce warrior queen with a touch of kindness. No longer does Superman have a god-awful CGI face to remove a mustache; instead, he finally becomes the beacon of hope his character is supposed to be after “Man of Steel” (2013) and “Batman v Superman” (2016).

This film radially departs from the 2017 theatrical version in how it treats the newcomers to the DC Universe, particularly Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher).While Aquaman (Jason Momoa) has his moments to shine, both comedically as well as poignantly, Flash and Cyborg were largely sidelined in the original film. Flash mainly served as the comic relief, and Cyborg was portrayed as a mere plot device rather than a character with any substance. Now, in addition to providing moments of levity, Flash has a stronger dynamic with his father and plays a major role in the resolution of the final conflict in the Snyder Cut. Cyborg, however, is the “heart of the film,” as claimed by Snyder himself before its release. The character is an injection of pure, raw emotion into the film, and he drives a redemption arc for the entire League. With a comprehensive look into his backstory, Cyborg becomes a character that can tug at the audience’s heartstrings as he overcomes his internal emotional struggles and finds himself leading the charge against Steppenwolf. Despite its length, the film rarely feels like a drag. It moves along at a brisk pace from character to character as the League assembles and prepares itself for the grand finale.

There are plenty of Easter eggs referencing the rich history of the DC Universe for comic fans to get excited about as well. A healthy mix of humor, action and heartfelt charac-

ter moments makes the Snyder Cut a far superior version of its predecessor. That said, the film is still full of Snyder’s typically divisive aesthetics: muted colors and excessive slow motion.

This style may, perhaps, lack the widespread appeal of Marvel. Though the movie has significantly more humor and color than some of the previous DC films, it is very tonally different from Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. For the most part, it succeeds in delivering an entertaining yet heartfelt film that does justice to its iconic characters. Beyond serving as a cathartic experience for fans who were left unsatisfied with the original version of the film, the Snyder Cut has the potential to have tremendous repercussions for the film industry as a whole. While director’s cuts of films have been released in the past, they usually include additional footage to an already coherent film, and hence, do not significantly change it. A studio has never permitted the use of an extra $70 million to finish reshoots and visual effects for an unfinished version of the film to be released years after the original. Furthermore, the ability to distribute longer films on streaming services makes it an attractive prospect for filmmakers.

This could potentially cause filmmakers to prefer a release on streaming platforms rather than theatrical runs for their films, as the former allows them more creative freedom and flexibility with what they can include in their movies. “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” comes at a critical time in film history. It also lights a fire in the war between streaming services and movie theaters. All the while, it aims to tell a story of some of the most iconic fictional characters while introducing several other heroes to establish a DC Universe on film. While opinions may vary on the degree to which it succeeds in meeting all of its goals, it is undeniably a vast improvement over what we have seen in the past. The Snyder Cut provides enough vindication to the director’s creative vision, the efforts of the cast and crew and the millions of fans whose love and faith willed it into existence.

— Contact Aayush Gupta at aayush.gupta@emory.edu

11

A&E

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Emory Wheel

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo Brings Joy to Emory

Courtesy of Library of Congress Life United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

By Zimra Chickering Senior Staff Writer The capacity that words have to move the soul is extraordinary.

Something as simple as a few letters put together can cause a stir of emotion in the listener, an understanding between people and an acknowledgment of our own existence.

Words can claim space and tear it apart. Words can create peace and start wars. If anybody knows this great power of words, it is current United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, a performer and writer known for using her

poetry to address Indigenous identities and presence.

On March 20, Harjo read a selection of her poems during a live-streamed event hosted by the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library. This reading was part of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series, one of the longestrunning events of its kind, which celebrates the powerful place poetry holds at Emory. The background music of the livestream’s welcome screen, which was sampled from Harjo’s new musical album “I Pray for My Enemies,” perfectly described this creative, emotional poetry experience, as she sang, “The door to the mind should only open from the heart.”

Harjo is the 23rd poet laureate of the United States and has held that title for an amazing three terms since June 2019. She is also the author of nine books, a musician, an Oklahoma Writers Hall of Famer and the winner of the 2017 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Harjo’s presence at Emory carries a deeper meaning as well because she is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and belongs to Hickory Ground, and Emory was founded on the historic lands of the Muscogee people. Land acquisition often has a dark history; the U.S. acquired land from the Muscogee Nation through an 1821 treaty, which

pushed many Indigenous Americans to move from Georgia to Alabama. In Alabama, they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears.

Craig Womack, author and associate professor of English at Emory, honored this history by beginning the event with a land acknowledgement and singing a resonating Muscogee prayer. He implored the audience to acknowledge Emory’s responsibility to this Muscogee land, and he also took this time to address the lack of representation of Atlanta-based Indigenous and Black Americans in the Emory student body. Womack chose to discuss these ongoing issues of dislocation because they mirror points raised by Harjo’s poetry. Harjo engages with ideas of removal, loss and resilience, empowering readers to heal and situate the voice and culture of Indigenous Americans in the broad American narrative. The profound ways that Womack and Harjo use their platforms to raise awareness of land displacement issues and Indigenous American history is moving.

Mandy Suhr-Sytsma, director of the Emory Writing Center and senior lecturer of English, also introduced Harjo. Suhr-Sytsma described the modes by which Harjo’s poems position us between the past and the present, helping us to understand

Bieber Continues to Gush on Souless ‘Justice’

By Noah Gentry Contributing Writer In a social media landscape still grappling with the ramifications of the #FreeBritney movement, the thought of ragging on Justin Bieber no longer holds the same cultural allure. As we reckon with the way that American media vilifies young stars, it’s important to remember that no matter how fun it was to make memes of a prepubescent Bieber, growing up in the public eye is taxing.

While this doesn’t excuse some of the reprehensible behavior he has exhibited since stepping into the limelight, it begs the question as to how faithfully Bieber’s image in the media has reflected who he is and who he wants to be.

The title of his sixth studio album “Justice,” released March 19, embodies the discrepancy between his public and private reputation. When promotion began for the album’s first single, “Holy,” in September 2020, Bieber and his management team spent a week teasing fans about an approaching “new era.” Perhaps this album is meant to be a form of justice for himself, acting as a long overdue reclamation of both his musical and public personas. However, if this is Bieber’s intention, the message is largely lost amid recycled love songs and misguided attempts at political commentary.

The first voice on the album is not Bieber’s but rather that of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Backed by what seems to be an emphatic gospel choir, King declares, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

These are rich words, charged with history. Unfortunately, they leave the listener with a sour impression, as King’s statement is promptly followed by “2 Much,” a soulless piano ballad about the wonders of being Hailey Bieber’s husband. The song is remarkably middle-of-the-road; not enough lyrical or sonic decisions result in either a pleasurable or disturbing listening experience. It’s the same kind of soft-spoken pop ballad we’ve already heard from the likes of Lady

Gaga, Beyoncé and countless others.

However, the pairing of King’s words with a song about a white supermodel is, at best, tasteless.

“Justice” is receiving both Target and Walmart exclusive releases, which is no surprise due to the commercial nature of the songs “Deserve You” and “As I Am.” These tracks are the kind of music you would likely encounter while walking through a mall or watching a trailer for the next “Minions” movie.

The songs sound like they were scrapped from an album meant to capitalize on the style of electronic pop music popularized by the likes of DJ Snake and The Chainsmokers back in 2017. Even Khalid, who features on “As I Am,” sounds disinterested in the painfully formulaic style of these tracks. His verse is delivered in low, almost slurred murmurs, to the point that it’s hard to imagine him recording the song with his eyes more than halfway open.

These tracks are the kind of music you would likely encounter while walking through a mall or watching a trailer for the next “Minions” movie.

Although Bieber has never been revered for his songwriting, “Justice” is plagued with particularly impersonal love songs. On “Somebody,” he sings, “It’s the way you light up every room just being who you are,” and on “Holy” he tells his partner that “the way that we love in the night gave me life.” For someone who is so public about his affection for his wife, these songs deny Hailey of any individuality. If one were to try and get to know her through Bieber’s lyrics, the most they would learn is that she loves her mom and has nice hair.

Still, there are some memorable moments on the album. The song “Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar

and GIVĒON, is poised to become one of the album’s bigger hits, which is ironic given that the song’s design isn’t a natural fit for radio. All three artists effortlessly croon over smooth drums and overlapping strings that are practically begging to ooze out of sandy speakers come summertime.

Much like his 2020 hit “Yummy,” the song benefits from Bieber’s brief decision to take a break from trying to quantify his love for his wife. Instead, he refocuses his energy on their chemistry in bed, allowing himself the rarely afforded space to play and experiment with his voice amid breezy production.

A similar sentiment can be expressed about “Lonely,” which, while not nearly as carefree as “Peaches,” also sees Bieber dialing back his romantic side. Instead, he turns inward and reflects on the harrowing experience of growing up in the spotlight. He wails, “Everybody knows my past now,” and, “Like my house was always made of glass.” The pain he’s expressing is something that has always been a part of his public narrative but has never been addressed in this way. While “Lonely” is still not the most lyrically sophisticated work, this is a haunting turn for Bieber, and its placement at the album’s end makes you wonder just how free he is from this press cycle at 27 years old.

King enjoys an extended appearance on the album’s seventh track, “MLK Interlude.” It’s an excerpt from his rare “But If Not” sermon, and he speaks about working against our own fears in pursuit of what is right. On its own, it is strikingly powerful, but in the context of “Justice,” the sermon sounds almost performative.

Here, Bieber is reducing King’s words to resemble those of a fortune cookie, offering everyday life advice to those who are down on their luck.

On “Justice,” Bieber does to his own marriage what he does to the words of Martin Luther King Jr., as he chooses to interpret the world around him as mind-numbingly universal instead of touchingly personal.

— Contact Noah Gentry at noah.gentry@emory.edu

historical consequences and identify the meaningful reparative actions we can take in the present. Suhr-Sytsma encouraged viewers to join Harjo in honoring this land and the power of poets.

After the speakers’ introductions, Harjo began reading. Despite the lack of physical imagery, Harjo painted an entire world through her poems.

It would feel disrespectful to quote mere bits or pieces of her works when she created such complete, complex narratives out of her poetry. Line by line, she built a house of words that described the beloved Earth and the ways the Muscogee people have fostered the health of the land. While her sentences and word choice may be relatively simple, her style is complicated by the powerful metaphors and native histories she utilizes.

Before reading each poem, Harjo briefly described why she wrote it and the meaning it carries for her. For example, before reading “Speaking Tree,” she spoke about her friend and colleague Sandra Cisneros, a Chicana writer, whose quote, “I had a beautiful dream I was dancing with a tree,” is the first line of Harjo’s poem. Learning the background of these writings enriched the audience’s listening experience and opened the door to an honest,

creative retelling of the past.

Harjo also read a newly-written poem entitled “Somewhere” in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a racist terror act in which white residents attacked Black residents and businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She said her poetry “stands naked in the truth of racism,” releasing the pain and reality of that history.

Her use of words to not only recognize the pain of her ancestors but also the struggles of fellow minorities was a beautiful and pertinent example of how marginalized communities are stronger when they stand together. This was not an oppression competition, but a unified cognizance of shared struggles.

One commentator on the YouTube livestream acutely described their feelings at the end of the event, stating that there was “so much beauty here … too much to take it in easily.” There are so many layers to Harjo’s words that one could listen to them three times over and still take a different lesson from them each time, latching onto new imagery and realizing creative connections between the past and present.

— Contact Zimra Chickering at zimra.chickering@emory.edu

Celebrate Passover with Art

By Zimra Chickering Senior Staff Writer As I write this, I am listening to “Eli Eli,” a quintessential Seder song that my family sings each Passover. I can feel the notes vibrating through me and the Hebrew words resounding within my heart. Passover is my favorite holiday, and the arts associated with Passover, whether visual, culinary, musical or performing, consistently fascinate me. I can feel the energy in the air — the artistic power of this Jewish holiday season conveyed through the work of five contemporary Jewish artists.

Passover is an essential spring Jewish holiday, which happens from March 27 to April 4 this year. It revolves around the retelling of the Passover story, which follows the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The holiday kicks off with two Seders, which are large events during which Jews commemorate the Israelites’ liberation by eating symbolically significant food and reciting prayers or songs. While not all Jewish artists directly convey this story or these Passover traditions, many of the themes subtly addressed in their artworks provide insight into this holiday and into our lives.

Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian Jewish painter and sculptor known for his unique elongated portraits painted with empathy and emotion — which were not always well-received during his lifetime. His “Seated Woman with Child (Motherhood)” and “Gypsy Woman with Baby” paintings, created in 1919, are prime examples of his elongated portraits that simplify the human form. In the Passover story, Yokheved, the mother of Moses, takes brave actions to protect her child from persecution, as the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered all Jewish baby boys to be killed. Her protective tendencies are mirrored in the mother’s loving grip in Modigliani’s “Motherhood.”

One of the most famous Jewish artists of all time, Marc Chagall was an early modernist who demonstrated an impressive array of skills, creating everything from large stainedglass windows to oil paintings. His

artworks, no matter their medium, often feature prominent Jewish imagery that explores the common theme of liberation. One of his most overtly Passover-themed artworks is “The Tribe of Benjamin” (1964). The image centers around an abstract rendering of a Seder plate, which holds six symbolic foods to be eaten and displayed at the Seder meal. Chagall’s top-down rendering of this plate evokes the image of a flower and the geometry of a wheel, emphasizing the springtime significance and cyclic beauty of the Passover holiday. The vivid colors and bold animal life surrounding the Seder plate also suggest the revival of nature that occurs during this holiday, as Passover marks the beginning of the harvest season. The same natural motif surrounding the Seder plate is depicted in Chagall’s mosaic “Four Seasons” and sits in the springtime section of the four-sided artwork.

Eva Hesse was one of the most influential minimalist artists of her time, known for her revolutionary use of space and material. Hesse also survived myriad traumas, escaping the Holocaust on a Kindertransport.

Hesse recalled and acknowledged these generations of trauma, as Jews do on the Passover Seder, through her art. A prime example is “Sans II” (1968). She created simplistic sculptures that suggest chaos underneath, reflecting the emotional turmoil she and others underwent. There is an inherent tension between order and chaos in this work, as the outward grid shape is contained and structured in contrast to the delicate world of texture and imperfection visible underneath the translucent fiberglass. The internal texture may represent the inner turmoil produced by centuries of trauma, as the fibers appear vulnerable in their fragility and confusing in their pattern. These imperfections are placed under a seemingly methodical, translucent grid, allowing the viewers to only barely see this chaos underneath the order.

— Contact Zimra Chickering at zimra.chickering@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Emory Life

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 | Emory Life Editors: Lauren Blaustein (lblaust@emory.edu) and Kaitlin Mottley (kaitlin.michelle.mottley@emory.edu)

ALUMNI FEATURE

Alum Chris Van Dusen Reflects on Creating Hit Show ‘Bridgerton’

By Lauren Blaustein Contributing Writer

It was not so long ago that alum Chris Van Dusen (01C) sat in awardwinning Loren Ghiglione’s journalism class at Emory University. But 20 years later, he currently stands as a wellknown name in the world of television after creating, show running and being the executive producer of the infamous Netflix series “Bridgerton.”

The television show is set in the Regency period (the early 19th century) in London. The show follows main character Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and her family as she enters the marriage market. It first premiered on Dec. 25, 2020 and Van Dusen said his aim was to create a sense of escapism for streamers in an extra challenging time. This certainly rang true for 82 million viewers and positive reviews by The New York Times, NPR and other well-known publications.

Chris Van Dusen (01C)

Courtesy of M att Sayles

His journey to the film world, however, first began at Emory. During his time as an undergraduate, Van Dusen majored in economics and journalism where he first discovered his love for writing.

“Emory was an amazing place,” Van Dusen said. “The teachers, the professors and just [the] sense of community there I think they really fostered this amazing creativity.”

Even before coming to Emory, Van Dusen expressed an interest in television and other art mediums

throughout his childhood, he said.

Connecting his passion for writing with his interest in film ultimately led him to his current career.

“I was always a writer in some form or another. The journalism program there was amazing. And I was always writing… I thought I was going to go down that road,” Van Dusen said. “I found that it wasn’t really scratching that creative writing side, that creative writing edge for me. And so that’s why I transitioned into writing for television.”

After graduating in 2001, Van Dusen attended the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California. After earning his Master of Fine Arts degree there, Van Dusen started his job search in the film industry and stumbled upon an assistant job for the screenwriter of a new medical drama show. That series happened to be “Grey’s Anatomy,” and Van Dusen would go on to assist Emmy-award winning writer Shonda Rhimes at her television production company Shondaland.

“I stayed in Shondaland, and I worked my way up,” Van Dusen said. “I wrote whenever I got the chance. I was looking for any and every opportunity to show other people that I could write and that this is what I wanted to do. Eventually, I ended up writing for ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ working on a number of other Shondaland shows [like] ‘Scandal.’”

While Van Dusen worked in Shondaland as a writer for around 15 years, he knew he wanted to lead a project himself which is when Rhimes introduced him to the British book series “Bridgerton.” After devouring every book in the series, Van Dusen recognized the great potential of its adaptation to television.

“For me, [it] was really about escapism,” Van Dusen said.

“Considering how everything was

going at the time and how everything is happening in the world right now, escapism was what I was looking for, and I think it’s what a lot of people are responding to.”

The creation of “Bridgerton”, however, was no easy task; Van Dusen’s job differed day-to-day. In the initial stages of production, Van Dusen collaborated with a team of writers to create a storyline along with characters for the first season. He was often rewriting the script, interacting with the production designer or working with others involved in the show.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, though, Van Dusen and his team were forced to begin the editing process virtually. While they had already finished filming the first season before the onset of the pandemic, there was still more work to be done. Van Dusen’s team began using virtual tools such as Zoom and Google Hangouts to host meetings.

“In post-production, after we wrapped, almost all the editing of the show was done virtually,” Van Dusen said. “Now that we’re in pre-production [for season 2], there’s a whole slew of new challenges to consider in order to make sure we’re handling the most important thing and that’s really everyone’s safety.”

As Van Dusen continues his work on the “Bridgerton” television series, he has not forgotten the experiences that brought him to this point. “[With] ‘Bridgerton,’ I wanted to escape to this lush, beautiful, cinematic world, and I wanted viewers to come along with me,” Van Dusen said. “But I also wanted to explore real issues and real topics like gender, class, race and sexuality — topics that are really relevant and important today.”

— Contact Lauren Blaustein at lblaust@emory.edu

Courtesy of Netflix

A bove: Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) sits on her throne while sipping a cup of tea on the set of ‘Bridgerton.’

Below: Main characters Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) dancing with Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page).

DECLARING YOUR MAJOR the intention of taking it solely for GER credit, but it might become one of your favorite classes you are taking that semester. In order to find your passion, be open to trying out classes that might be out of your comfort zone.

You never know what class may spark your interests.

Talk to Professors

Illustration By A lison Barlow

Searching for Majors that Align with Your Passions

By Avery Verona Contributing Writer Within the first two years of college, students are tasked with the decision of what direction to take their academics in. Choosing a major can be a daunting task, especially while adjusting to a new social scene, a new living space and most recently, a pandemic. When I first came to Emory, I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life, let alone what my major was going to be. But after much trial and error and taking multiple introductorylevel courses, I found the curriculum that most spoke to me and a world of

opportunities to match. Below are five pieces of advice to help in declaring a major that will make the decision process less overwhelming.

101 is Meant for Beginners Introductory classes are perfect for getting your foot in the door with a variety of subjects. With 86 majors offered at Emory, there’s never a shortage of new courses to try even if the subject matter may be new.

Looking to improve your dance skills?

Try out some classes under the Dance and Movement Studies major. Want to try your hand at debating sociopolitical conflicts in class? Check out

the International Studies major. You can enroll in as many introductory courses as you’d like, and you may even be able to discuss the major further with the TAs for the course or the professors. If you’re already an upperclassman, these classes could be perfect for picking a second major or maybe even a minor.

Take Advantage of General Education Requirements General Education Requirements, or GERs, are productive avenues to widen your horizon when it comes to finding interesting courses at Emory.

You might start out in a class with

If I’ve learned anything during my time at Emory, it’s that professors love to talk about their specialty. If you’re still unsure about your major, speaking to an expert in that field of study could give you that extra push to pursue a certain type of coursework.

Professors can help you visualize what can come of a specific major, aid in the decision-making process and discuss what you’ll be able to learn throughout the major.

Every Major Offers Something Different Every major at Emory has value; if they didn’t, they would not be considered majors. As a student, it is important to explore courses in topics that might be foreign to you.

Even if you have never heard of a topic or major, it doesn’t mean that you should avoid taking those classes.

You may stumble upon a subject that could become your major, so have an

open mind when browsing different classes, even under majors you may be unfamiliar with.

Consider Your Previous Courses While taking new courses is great, there may be value in the classes you have already completed. There is a chance that courses you’ve already taken count toward the same major requirements. When deciding which major to choose, it can be very beneficial to see what you’ve already invested a lot of time into. This can help shave off courses for a specific area of study. If you’ve already taken a number of courses in a specific area, take a look at what that department is offering the following semester. Not only will this strategy save you time when enrollment comes around, but it also may help you find your next favorite course.

With all that said, declaring a major is still one of the most grueling challenges you will come across during college. From talking to advisors to trying all kinds of classes, trial and error can feel impossible. But it is important to remember that a major doesn’t have to choose your future path but it can instead be a baseline for your learning.

— Contact Avery Verona at avery.l.verona@emory.edu

13

EMORY LIFE

Wednesday, March 24 , 2021

STUDENT BAKER

The Emory Wheel MAKEUP PRODUCTS

Your Guide to March Makeup Launches

By Sophie Gern Contributing Writer

With a new, hopeful season upon us, there comes a dewy and fresh few months of spring and soon, summer.

But most importantly it means the launch of new beauty products. While makeup has been stored away and replaced with Zoom’s beauty filter, the warmer weather and increasingly vaccinated world calls for a dip back into our wands and liners. If you’re looking to ripen your beauty selection, below is a list of seven new and exciting makeup items launching this March.

Wet

Courtesy of K irwan Carey

Carey’s Delicious Smore’s Bars (Left) and Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie (R ight).

Kirwan’s Kitchen: A Rising Baked Goods Business

By Esther Kim Contributing Writer

Confined to our homes, many of us weathering the pandemic have taken on a wide range of skills and hobbies. Yet, few of us can say that our newfound passions have turned into a business like Kirwan Carey (23C).

Just three weeks ago, balancing a double major in political science and English as well as playing for the women’s volleyball team, Carey began her small baking business, Kirwan’s Kitchen. Yet Carey was not always fond of baking, but she has always been a fan of sweet foods. When the pandemic began last year, Carey, like others, had extra time on her hands. She pushed her old feelings aside and decided to take up baking.

“I love baking,” Carey said. “It’s my favorite way to spend time, especially when we have to spend so much time in our apartments.”

Carey’s passion for baking escalated to the point that her apartment, where she moved last fall in an area central to the Atlanta campus, became filled with baked goods, from s’mores bars to apple cider donuts, “Me and my roommate and my friends were overwhelmed with the amount of baked goods that I had.”

While she was preparing to sell her goods, she was unsure of how many customers might be interested in buying. Still uncertain, Carey created an Instagram page that features photos of her products. Instagram is the sole platform she uses to sell her treats. The response was shocking, she said.

“I started this page, and I just posted pictures of what I had made, and then was like ‘I’ll cross the selling bridge later,’” Carey said. “And then people started messaging me and were like ‘Can I buy these?’”

Since Carey lives near campus,

there has been no shortage of loyal customers. Although she does not have a car, both her roommate and friends do, and they help her deliver made-toorder treats, approximately 4-5 orders per week, to the Emory area.

Carey said that orders through her Instagram page have been lucrative.

Kirwan Carey (23C)

Courtesy of K irwan Carey

Clienteles simply use the Direct Message function to place their orders after which she bakes, packages and plans her next delivery run.

Her top sellers include s’mores brownies, chocolate chip walnut cookies and glazed lemon loaves. Yet the creation for some of her items are inspired from bakeries outside Atlanta. Her chocolate chip walnut cookie is inspired by Levain Bakery in New York City.

“I’ve come up with a copy-cat recipe of them because those are my favorite baked goods,” she said. “So I started experimenting with that recipe, and I came up with a pretty close one.”

Creating a business, though, has come with a learning curve. When Carey first started the business, her initial sales came from close friends or people who wanted to support her, she said. However, because she had personal relationships with these customers, Carey ended up charging them at discounted rates.

“I think that because they were close friends, I undercharged people,” Carey said. “So I think that’s something I honestly haven’t mastered yet — coming up with fair prices and also not being scared of having [those] conversations with people.”

While setting the price of her baked goods has been a challenge, Carey has enjoyed all the benefits to running a business.

“It sounds really really cheesy, but it really has been making people happy and I love doing that,” Carey said.

“That’s why I started doing it in the first place — giving baked goods to my friends and loved ones was what I really liked doing.”

Izzy Munson (24C), a customer and friend, has been amazed at Carey’s success, having supported her since the business launched.

“When she started Kirwan’s Kitchen I immediately ordered the Levain Style Chocolate Chip cookies, which were so good,” Munson said. “She’s so well deserving of it and is the perfect example of someone who is doing what they love and can still call it work.”

Another customer of Carey’s, Pia Phillips (22C), applauded the overall presentation of the business.

“My first impression was the cute packaging. It only got better after I actually ate the blondies I bought from her. They were absolutely incredible, and within 20 minutes of inhaling my first brownie I bought more to expedite ship to my sister in New York,” Phillips said. “Turning a passion into a small business in college isn’t an easy task, but she’s making great stuff and seems to be selling a lot.”

Carey added she’s always excited to bake something new for her fanbase.

As she continues to experiment in the kitchen, the students that provide support are always on her mind.

“It’s been so fun for me, and it’s really bringing me so much joy,” Carey said.

— Contact Esther Kim at esther.kim3@emory.edu

Illustration by A ngel Li

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The product is also vegan and priced at just $6, so there’s no ethical decision to hold back your purchase.

eight colors to choose from, all infused with curative oils such as jojoba and sunflower. If you’re looking to give your lips some extra love, this is an excellent option.

Tarte Surfer Curl Waterproof Gel Liner, $20 Tarte’s newest release is an exciting vegan, waterproof, glide-on liner. The waterproof formula is ideal for wet summer days or sticky summer nights, and the algae rich formula allows for a tug-free application. This gel liner is a perfect addition to the makeup bag of even the most amateur makeup enthusiast, not to mention the precise tip and accompanying sharpener make for an easy wing application.

Supergoop! Sheerscreen SPF 30, $38 Although this product is technically sunscreen, its lightweight feel and traceless presence make it a perfect springtime primer underneath makeup. It compliments all skin types, and the primer even helps shield skin from blue light, which has become an ever-present concern with increased

Illustration by A lison Barlow

ColourPop Cheek Dew Serum, $7 ColourPop has decided to hop on the liquid blush trend with a lightweight, easily- blended cheek serum. The thin texture of this product is an excellent match for the sticky, sweaty summertime weather that tends to melt powders. The product also contains hyaluronic acid and Vitamins C and E which help hydrate the skin. There are 10 different colors available, making the product applicable to a variety of skin types. If you’re looking for a natural, no-stress application blush, this is a great option.

Fenty Beauty Body Sauce, $48 Queen of all things beauty, Rihanna just released a new body luminizer essential for summer. The product is great for those warm summer nights when your tan needs a little extra shimmer. With a silky, transfer-free and sweat-resistant formula, the product is easy to apply and does not drip over time. The Babassu Oil and Vitamin E help moisturize the skin for a shine-from-within effect to create the ultimate summer glow.

NYX This is Milky Gloss Lip Gloss, $8.50 A new hydrating, shiny and vegan lip gloss has now entered the market from NYX. Released in early March, the NYX Milky Gloss is the essential everyday lip product. It’s infused with vegan milk and yet smells like a nonvegan vanilla milkshake. There are

online activity during the pandemic.

The Sheerscreen works just as well on its own as it does under makeup, making it an appealing product for both makeup lovers and those who like a bare-faced look alike. Its vegan and cruelty-free formula are the cherries on top.

Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Sticks, $26 The new one-swipe eyeshadow product — released by Urban Decay on February 28th— is the ultimate lowmaintenance product. The twistable stick eliminates the need for a brush, so it is the perfect to-go make-up essential.

With 15 matte, shimmer and metallic shades, one can explore new funky and fun eye looks.

The caffeine-infused formula allows for an effortless glide, and the Shadow Stick can also serve as an eyeliner.

If you’re looking to ditch the effort of palettes and brushes, this is a top choice.

Whether you’ve been wearing makeup through the pandemic or are just starting to use it again now, this list is a great path towards sprucing up your look. Go colorful and fun with a shadow stick or natural and light with a liquid blush.

Either way, you’ll look fresh as the weather begins to warm and the world begins to heal.

— Contact Sophie Gern at sophie.gern@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Sports

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 | Sports Editor: Michael Mariam (mmariam@emory.edu)

EMORY ATHLETICS

University Resumes Intercollegiate Competition

By Andrew Feld Staff Writer

For almost a month now, Emory University’s athletic teams have been holding official practices. Last weekend, the men’s golf, softball and baseball teams competed against other schools for the first time in over a year, taking the next step in the University’s plan to ramp up athletic competition.

With this change, athletes are excited and thankful for the opportunity to compete amid the pandemic. For junior men’s golfer Logan Ryan, returning to competition after so much uncertainty was an amazing feeling. “[Emory Athletic Director] Keiko [Price] and a lot of coaches put a lot of hard work [into] putting plans out there for us to get back to playing athletics this spring,” Ryan said. “But it wasn’t always certain that we were going to be playing. To finally get back to competition got us all excited.”

While players were grateful to resume practice and begin intercollegiate competition, the University’s road to this point had been a common source of frustration among athletes.

Price stated that plans had been in place at the beginning of the semester to allow teams to resume competition in the spring. However, the athletic department waited to implement these plans because teams had only just started practicing. Price also explained that the spike in cases at the University a few weeks ago caused further delay and even doubt as to whether games could even be played.

“In full transparency, we did not tell the student-athletes they were going to be able to compete until we saw the surge numbers come down a little bit,” Price said. “So they were not informed until last week because there was some concern with the numbers — the numbers had me concerned, they had our campus concerned.”

Price stated that if cases did not decrease, she would not have

Courtesy of Emory Athletics

First-year Page Nellis prepares to swing against Covenant College (Ga.) in a March 11 game. Nellis and the Eagles’ softball team are required to wear masks in the dugout but wearing them on the field is optional. moved forward with intercollegiate competition.

Fortunately for athletes, cases have decreased since then and competition has resumed, albeit with some changes from pre-COVID times.

For one, Emory teams are currently only allowed to play away games. With the exception of golf — which plays weekend-long tournaments out of state — teams cannot stay overnight in the cities in which they play.

When teams travel, they must take buses large enough for players to socially distance. In addition, players are required to wear masks and are not permitted to eat on the bus. For softball junior first baseman Mattie Ryan, these guidelines produced at least one memorable bus ride.

“It’s kind of funny,” Ryan said. “We stopped to get Panera [Bread] on the way there as our pregame meal, and we had to sit outside of Panera on the side of a road. We had to eat outside because we aren’t allowed to eat on the bus or in the restaurant.”

While all athletic teams must follow strict protocols, Ryan noted that Covenant College’s (Ga.) players, coaches and fans did not follow similar guidelines when the teams played a doubleheader on March 11.

“It was kind of surprising seeing how they treated wearing a mask and social distancing,” Ryan said. “They weren’t wearing masks, and they weren’t socially distancing amongst themselves.”

The softball team is required to

wear masks in the dugout but players are given the option to wear them on the field, Ryan said.

While there are few differences in game play before and during the pandemic for softball games, the men’s golf team faced one huge change in how they traditionally compete.

Before the pandemic, golfers would play their daily 18-hole rounds alongside two opponents. Due to current COVID-protocols, Emory golfers are only allowed to play with their teammates.

“When you’re playing with your teammates and not your competition — and especially playing with five players in one group instead of three — things take a whole lot longer,” Ryan said. “But those are things you

are going to deal with and you get through.”

Price said the University’s first weekend of intercollegiate competition in over a year all went according to plan. While she is uncertain if Emory will be able to host home games in the near future, she plans to direct her focus towards making sure teams are able to compete frequently and as safely as possible.

“Right now, we’re just going to continue to focus on making sure that they’re able to travel safely and they’re able to compete safely,” Price said.

“That’s all we can really ask for right now.”

— Contact Andrew Feld at andrew.m.feld@emory.edu

MARCH MADNESS

Threatening Messages Illustrate Dangers of Social Media

By Grace Reyer Contributing Writer

The 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, more popularly known as “March Madness,” tipped off March 18. During the first round, the No. 15 Oral Roberts University (Okla.) Golden Eagles upset the No. 2 Ohio State University Buckeyes 75-72 in overtime on the second day of the tournament.

The end of the Buckeyes’ season was definitely disappointing, as they became only the ninth No. 2 seed in the history of the men’s tournament to lose to a No. 15 seed.

One of the Buckeyes’ best players, sophomore forward E.J. Liddell, missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw with 37 seconds left in regulation, giving the Golden Eagles the chance to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Despite missing, Liddell played very well, scoring a team-high of 23 points to go along with 14 rebounds and five assists.

After the Buckeyes’ loss, howev-

er, Liddell received two threatening messages from fans on Instagram, which Liddell then posted on Twitter.

One of the fans threatened to find and physically attack Liddell. Another wrote “You are such a f---ing disgrace.

Don’t ever show your face at Ohio State. We hate you. I hope you die, I really do.” In response, Liddell tweeted “Honestly, what did I do to deserve this? I’m human.”

Shocked by the news of one of his players receiving threats, Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann took to Twitter and stated “Recent social media comments to EJ Liddell, while not from or representative of Ohio State fans, are vile, dangerous and reflect the worst of humanity.”

In response to his own tweet, Liddell commented, “Comments don’t get to me but I just wanna know why. I’ve never done anything to anyone in my life to be approached like this.”

The messages sent to Liddell demonstrate a larger issue of inhuman-

ity on social media. The internet provides an easier outlet for individuals to harass others as they are able to maintain their anonymity behind their screens.

“Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?

I’m human.”

— E.J. Liddell, Forward, Ohio State University

Some 59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online, and a similar amount says it is a major problem for people their age. At the same time, teens believe that teachers, media companies and politicians are failing to address this issue.

The threats that were sent to Liddell also reflect the cruelty that exists

in society. College athletes endure high amounts of pressure daily from their academics and sports without pay.

No amount of an athlete’s mistakes make it acceptable for fans to send such brutal messages. Beyond sports, humans have the obligation to treat each other with kindness rather than viciousness.

Unfortunately, Liddell’s incident is not the first of its kind in either professional or collegiate sports, and cyberbullying has led many to leave social media platforms altogether.

In the MLB, Toronto Blue Jays catcher Josh Thole stopped using Twitter in 2011 due to its toxic culture.

“It was just constant negativity,” Thole told USA Today Sports.

“As a team we weren’t playing well.

Personally, I wasn’t playing well. So it was becoming a grind. Every time you opened your phone up, you had all these Twitter notifications, and it was, ‘You stink,’ ‘You suck,’ ‘You should jump off the bridge.’ I don’t need that.’’

In May 2019, 23-year-old Addison Choi was sentenced to 18 months in

prison for sending death threats to college and professional athletes on Instagram.

At the time, Choi was a member of the Babson College (Mass.) soccer team. Choi was involved in sports betting and would threaten athletes who hurt his chances of winning money.

Brackets, bets or other investments should never be a reason to threaten others. Athletes are human, after all.

Some athletes actually fight back against their haters on social media.

In the NBA, Brooklyn Nets All-Star Kevin Durant has fun using burner accounts to comment on hate posts about himself.

As social media maintains an enormous presence in everyday life, it is important to understand the dangers of online attacks, such as the threats directed toward Liddell, and the need to denounce such actions. No 20-year-old should ever log into social media and be threatened with death.

— Contact Grace Reyer at grace.reyer@emory.edu

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

SPORTS

The Emory Wheel

15

Student: Teams Lack Promotion SWOOP’S

SCHOOL SPIRIT

By Sofia Himmel Associate Editor

I have learned many things during my time as a student at Emory University, one being that school spirit is not a selling point for the University.

While the Emory football team maintains its undefeated legacy, school spirit remains defeated.

As a non-athlete or NARP (nonathletic regular person), I can safely say that spirit toward Emory sports is lacking. While this is not a shocking fate for a Division III school, especially one not known for its rah-rah spirit, a little more pride from the student body would not hurt.

I’m guilty of this myself. As I round out my sophomore year at Emory, I have only attended one sports game.

My first week of freshman year, I sat underneath the scorching Atlanta sun and watched a men’s soccer game.

While there was spirit oozing from the bench and on the field, I was one of the only fans in the student section. I left the game early, and I have not returned for another men’s soccer game, or any other athletic game, since that day. Don’t get me wrong, the athletes were very impressive. But, with

no sense of community at the game, there was not a whole lot encouraging me to stay.

With that being said, I did not come to Emory because of its game-day tailgates and roaring student section. The lack of school spirit has therefore not had a drastic influence on my college experience thus far.

When trying to figure out where I wanted to go to college, I did not expect Emory to have massive crowds.

While I will never see a football stadium packed with Emory students, not a day goes by where I do not see students showing off their Eagle gear or talking about how much they love their Emory experience.

Yet, Emory athletes represent their school with an unmatched passion and frankly deserve more support from their classmates. Coaches and trainers put immense amounts of energy preparing for their seasons, rendering it a shame that the athletics programs do not have more support from the Emory community.

To combat this, Emory Athletics could actively promote their teams more. Freshman year, I recall walking through Asbury Circle and being greeted by Swoop standing by a giant

WELLNESS

Trainers Double as Contact Tracers

By Jessica Solomon Managing Editor

A common theme throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been adapting. While students experience college online, professors have had to adjust their curriculum to better suit the virtual platform. Athletic trainers, too, have had to take on a new role as contact tracers.

When Emory University transitioned online a year ago, campus life as we knew it was upended, and this extended to Emory’s athletics department. With the cancellation of the spring 2020 season, athletic trainers looked for new ways to be useful to the University during an unusual time.

Last spring, the University’s athletic trainers partnered with Student Health Services (SHS) as they anticipated it would need extra support.

SHS assigned athletic trainers to serve as contact tracers.

“We eventually found out that we weren’t going to have athletics which was hard for us,” athletic trainer Karli Dill said. “But we all kind of had the sense of wanting to be helpful and serving on campus as much as we can.”

While contact tracing during a pandemic is a new responsibility for athletic trainers, they are already familiar with handling disease outbreaks within teams and treating sick athletes, contact tracing during a pandemic was a new responsibility. Dill said this experience made the transition fairly smooth.

“We take care of our athletes with all of their health care needs,” Dill said. “So that part of it is not new and that even leads into our relationship with [SHS] and how we built that over the years because of that.”

As the year changed drastically, so did the athletic trainers’ roles as contact tracers. In the fall, they spent a majority of their time contact tracing and assisting at the Student Health Respiratory Clinic while athletics were postponed for the remainder of the semester. When sports did resume in January, though, athletic trainers resumed their traditional responsibilities while still contact tracing as needed.

Since athletic trainers have returned

Courtesy of K arli Dill

Athletic trainers Sarah Coronel (Left) and Jake Forker (R ight) at the Student Health Acute Respiratory Clinic.

to their normal roles, SHS has been working to hire personnel designated for contact tracing, Dill said. But, even so, athletic trainers are still contact tracers for athletes who test positive for COVID-19.

For Peyton Robertson, a sophomore defender on the women’s soccer team, it was helpful to have her athletic trainer, Holli Dawson, as her primary point of contact throughout her recovery after she tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this semester.

Because Robertson has worked with Dawson in the past, it was nice to be able to speak with someone with whom she was already comfortable, she said.

“It was a really nice thing to know she had my back and it wasn’t some random person that I didn’t know,” Robertson said.

Robertson also received calls from SHS a few times during her quarantine, but she mainly spoke to Dawson, who also scheduled her required tests as part of Robertson’s return to the team.

As of March 10, intercollegiate competition was allowed to resume for away games as Emory Athletics moves into their next recovery phase. Even with athletic activity increasing this semester, though, Dill is not concerned about potential spikes in cases.

“We have protocols in place for a reason,” Dill said. “And that’s been one of the most important processes for us to be able to get our student-athletes back playing and doing what they love and allowing us to be able to do what we love as well.”

— Contact Jessica Solomon at jessie.solomon@emory.edu

screen showing a promotional video for Emory Athletics. The event without a doubt captured my attention, but this was also in a time where in-person events were possible. This experience should be emulated in other ways, such as creating more promotional videos, trying to excite students and fans.

Teams could also self-promote and better utilize social media. Creating more active accounts for each team could excite the fan base and draw larger crowds to games and events.

While there may not be attendable events this spring, promotion in the present could ensure an enthusiastic crowd in the fall.

If there was a more enthusiastic student body, athletes may feel more appreciated and supported. The enthusiasm would also help Emory students feel a part of not just an academic Emory community but a spirited one, too. ESPN GameDay may not make an appearance at Emory anytime soon, but more students in the stands could certainly have a lasting effect on the Emory community and generations of students to come.

— Contact Sofia Himmel at sjhimme@emory.edu

SCOOP Sport

Friday March 26

Track & Field

Opponent

Time

@ Hilltop Classic

All Day

Saturday March 27

Softball

@ GA Gwinnett

2 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.

Sunday March 28

Baseball

@ Maryville

2 p.m. & 5 p.m.

Friday April 2

M Golf W Golf Track & Field

@ Golfweek Inv. @ Golfweek Inv. @ UAB Spring Invite

TBA TBA All Day

Saturday April 3

M Golf W Golf Track & Field

@ Golfweek Inv. @ Golfweek Inv. @ UAB Spring Invite

TBA TBA All Day

Sunday April 4

M Golf W Golf W Tennis

@ Golfweek Inv. @ Golfweek Inv. @ GA Southern

All Day All Day 1 p.m.

Tuesday April 6

Baseball

@ Piedmont

7 p.m.

DISCRIMINATION

Leaders Discuss Black Women in Sports

By Mia Han Contributing Writer

On March 18, Emory University hosted a panel of female athletes of color who spoke about the prevalence of racial inequality in sports and their personal experiences as Black female athletes. The panel highlighted the struggles they’ve endured throughout their careers and the hardships they continue to face. The University’s history department sponsored the event.

The webinar Q&A session was moderated by Associate Professor of History Carl Suddler and Emanuelle Mottley (22C). Suddler initially came up with this idea for his Sports in U.S. History class, and his proposal to moderate quickly gained attention from the University and the athletics department.

The panel consisted of four Black female professional and former college athletes. Current Emory athletic director and former University of California, Los Angeles swimmer Keiko Price and former beach volleyball player and rower LaNita Campbell represented the University.

Campbell now serves as the director of the Office for Racial and Cultural Engagement.

Also on the panel was former Olympic weightlifter Elisabeth Akinwale and Atlanta Dream co-owner Renee Montgomery, a social justice reformist and former WNBA All-Star.

Though each panelist provided a different perspective to the conversation and have achieved great success, they each noted a lack of female representation as they climbed in their respective industries, specifically minority female representation.

There is currently minimal representation of women of color in sports which leads to a lack of minority female role models for young girls.

Each panelist discussed how they got involved in sports, hoping their stories resonated with the attendees. Many of the panelists mentioned that having older siblings to look up to helped them enter the world of sports.

For instance, Akinwale’s older sister inspired her to try gymnastics. While she loved the sport, she noticed that she was typically the only Black person in the gym and was always looking for gymnasts of color in a setting where nearly all the gymnasts were white.

Thanks to gymnasts like Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas, who are huge role models for young gymnasts of color, there are now multiple Black women on the U.S. olympic gymnastics team.

Akinwale’s goal is to continue to raise the bar and push for change so that women of color have opportunities to participate in the sport they love following role models who share their experiences as women of color.

Not only are there not many female athletes of color, but females in sports leadership roles are also lacking. Price noted that only 7% of leadership roles in Divisions I, II and III in the NCAA are filled by ethnic minorities. There are also only two Black female athletic directors in Division III, including Price, compared to over 100 white females in the same position.

Akinwale attributed the discrepancy to the lack of role models in upper leadership. As Price entered the professional world, the reduction of women to stereotypes in college administration quickly became evident. She noted that women in administration are groomed as caretakers to tend to student-athletes but are rarely invited to the decision making table.

The panelists also discussed the current state of women in sports.

Montgomery detailed an experience she had in the WNBA to show the

progress that has been made just in the past few years. Montgomery, who was playing for the Minnesota Lynx in 2016, showed her support of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who repeatedly knelt during the national anthem to draw attention to racial oppression and police brutality. Her team wore shirts that said “Change Starts With Us.” After the Lynx and other WNBA teams continued to wear the shirts, though, the Minnesota police refused to provide the team security, and several teams were fined for wearing the shirts.

Four years later, all WNBA jerseys depicted social justice messages.

Despite the long journey ahead, Montgomery believes that “the future is women and you can definitely see it happening right now.” She plans to utilize her role as a part-owner of the Atlanta Dream to make change by seeking out Black, female and minority-owned businesses to support her team.

While underrepresentation of minorities, specifically Black females, is pervasive in American sports, the panelists said these conversations are an important step to create a more equitable future.

— Contact Mia Han at mia.han@emory.edu

Wikimedia Commons/SusaLesch

Former Atlanta Dream point guard Renee Montgomery spoke on a panel at Emory to discuss discrimination in sports.

The Emory Wheel

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