Emory University has agreed to implement corrective measures to address discrimination after reaching an agreement on Jan. 16 with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concerning antiMuslim discrimination allegations. The agreement has left advocates and students mildly enthusiastic about the results, which addressed concerns but failed to determine whether Emory violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIRGeorgia) and Palestine Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint on behalf of Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP) in April 2024. The complaint centered around alleged violations of Title VI, which bars programs that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating based on race, color and national origin.
ESJP President Ibrahim, who requested to be identified by his first name due to safety concerns, said the complaint came after students submitted bias reports to the University after they had been harassed, doxxed and had their memorials vandalized.
Oxford early graduation steadly rises
By KyLe Chen Special Projects Desk
More than one in three Oxford College students matriculated early to Emory University’s Atlanta campus this spring, marking the highest early matriculation rate in six years.
In total, 166 of the 493 students who entered as Oxford’s Class of 2025 — 33.7% — left the campus after three semesters, according to data from Assistant Director of University Communications Rachel Smith.
the number of students matriculating to the Atlanta campus early this year compared to last year, with the Oxford Class of 2024 having a 28.4% early matriculation rate.
By siya Kumar Asst. News Editor
A day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, an unknown person took to the Clairmont Campus field to share their thoughts on the president’s political comeback, writing “F*** Trump” in the fresh snow. In addition to feeling mixed emotions about his election to the White House, Emory community members are also considering the impacts of a second Trump term on their futures.
Compared to 2016, the political landscape Trump navigates now is less restricted, according to Associate Professor of Political Science Andra Gillespie.
degree. Oxford made this change to “ensure that the quality and rigor of outside coursework meets university standards,” according to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Valerie Molyneaux.
In an interview with The Emory Wheel, former Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda said that Emory made the change “to make it more likely that they experience the four semesters at Oxford.”
Oxford has seen a rising percentage of students graduating early, with an average of 23.7% of students doing so from 2018 to 2023. There was a 5.3 percentage point increase in
This year will likely be the last year with such a high early graduation rate, as Oxford rolled out a change in credit policy that starts with Oxford’s Class of 2026. The new credit policy allows first-year students to transfer eight credit hours from Advanced Placement Exams, International Baccalaureate Exams and outside institutions, including other colleges, toward their Associate of Arts degree. Previously, Oxford allowed students to apply up to 18 outside credits toward their
Smith wrote in an email to the Wheel that Oxford is committed to helping students succeed.
“Oxford is designed to be an immersive experience over four
See OXFORD, Page 3
Students condemn racist incident amid investigation
By Lauren yee News Editor
Content Warning: This article contains references to hateful language and slur use.
The Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance has launched an investigation into the events that occurred on McDonough Field on Jan. 10, when an unknown party wrote large letters spelling out the N-word in the snow. The department is tasked with upholding the University’s Equal Opportunity and Discriminatory Harassment Policy, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of “race” or “color.”
This comes after Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond told The Emory Wheel on Jan. 10 that the Emory Police Department was reviewing security camera footage of the incident. However, there has been a lack of updates as the investigation continues.
“Over the past few days, I’ve gotten the chance to talk with members of our community, especially student leaders,” Fenves said in a Jan. 16 statement. “I’ve heard how shocked, horrified and hurt they are. This hateful act is heartbreaking to me,
and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. There is simply no place for racist language on our campus. It is counter to our most precious values, and we must do better.”
Meanwhile, students have grappled with the ramifications of the incident for the past two weeks.
Student organizations condemned the act as “vile,” saying the incident creates an atmosphere of fear and division.
Emory Black Student Alliance (BSA) publicized a statement addressing the act in a Jan. 13 Instagram post, calling the writing a “chilling act of hate.”
“The frequency and severity of racist incidents on this campus are escalating, yet the administration and Emory Police Department have failed to take meaningful action,”
BSA stated. “The lack of stronger security and accountability measures leaves Black students vulnerable and unheard.”
BSA requested that the University conduct a “transparent investigation” into the incident, take accountability for the “lack of security and safety measures on campus,” and enact more safety measures for Black students and marginalized communities.
Young Democrats of Emory
reposted BSA’s statement on Jan. 14 “in solidarity with Black Emory.” Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP) reposted BSA’s statement on their Instagram story, calling on University administration to hold the perpetrators responsible.
“ESJP stands with BSA and vehemently condemns this blatant act of racism,” ESJP wrote. “We shall continue to challenge white supremacy wherever it rears its ugly head whether that be in Israel or in the United States.”
Emory Revolutionary Students Collective, formerly Emory Stop Cop City, also reposted the statement, urging people to stand with the University’s Black community.
“Emory’s consistent brutalization of Black student organizers and their silencing of those who speak out against anti-Palestinian racism in their institutions has boldened anti-Black racists on our campus,” the organization wrote.
Following the statement, the Emory National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and BSA hosted an emergency Black Caucus assembly on Jan. 16. Around 40 attendees gathered in White Hall and over Zoom.
Emory NAACP President
By Catherine nan Oxford Events Desk
In fall 2023, students gathered on Asbury Circle to paint signs, march through campus and demand that the Emory University administration approve a comprehensive climate plan.
This fall, though, climate strikers were noticeably absent. With no on-campus climate strikes since September 2023, leaders of green organizations on campus are left to speculate about the cause of the inaction. For some, a lack of specific environmental issues to advocate for are to blame.
In previous years, the Emory Climate Coalition (ECC), a student organization advocating for taking action towards environmental issues organized climate strikes. The ECC formed in 2019 during the global youth-driven climate movement as a combination of multiple campus organizations: the Emory Climate Organization, Emory Climate Analysis and Solutions Team, and the Emory Climate Reality Project (ECRP). The group held its first strike that fall, beginning an annual tradition of climate strikes that lasted for five years.
Previous climate strikes have urged Emory to join Race to Zero, an international campaign for non-state actors to
“What’s different about this second term for Trump, as opposed to the first term, is that he’s operating in an environment where the recent Supreme Court decision defines presidential immunity,” Gillespie said.
Trump’s inauguration marks the beginning of a presidency that many Emory professors and political organizations expect will have significant policy and cultural impacts, particularly on younger Americans.
Gillespie emphasized the economic challenges young people face as a key challenge for the Trump presidency, including inflation and employment.
PRO-PALESTINIAN, Page 3 Emory College Republicans, professors refect on Trump's presidency
achieve zero carbon emissions, which University President Gregory Fenves joined in 2021. In 2023, students demanded revisions to Emory’s climate policies, including adopting the Climate Action Plan.
In previous years, the ECC used the climate strike to advocate for the Climate Action Plan and joining Race to Zero — actionable, specific demands that Emory could fulfil. However, according to ECRP President Dakota Taufeeq (26B), these strikes have become less specific over time.
“Our strikes are Emory-focused,” Taufeeq said. “If there isn’t a specific kind of environmental issue or reasoning why [we’re striking], then it becomes counterintuitive to have one.”
ECRP Climate Action Chair Sarah Orozco (25C) shared a similar sentiment, noting the lack of a specific callto-action for a potential climate strike this semester, compared the climate policy issues that inspired strikes in previous semesters.
“Emory has pretty good policies on paper, and the challenge is the implementation and the transparency around the implementation,” Orozco said, noting that it’s difficult for students to track Emory’s progress in implementing updated climate poli-
Faculty focus on economy in Trump's frst days
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“He’s going to have to prove that he’s capable of reducing inflation,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie also noted potential policy changes related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), which could affect both public universities and private institutions like Emory.
“That is something that I will be paying attention to, to see whether or not we see executive orders that might actually put pressure on universities who accept federal funding — which is just about every college or university — to change their DEI practices,” Gillespie said.
Trump has made his intention to target DEI clear. On Jan 21, he signed an executive order ending “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing” and race-based hiring within government agencies in the name of forming a “colorblind” and “merit-based” society.
Additionally, Associate Professor of Political Science Zachary Peskowitz highlighted the fact that some of Trump’s economic policies may harm young Americans.
“The challenge for Trump on the
economy is a lot of the economic policies potentially could exacerbate that inflation and increase the cost of living,” Peskowitz said.
Emory College Republicans President Si Kai Feng (28C) is also considering the impacts of Trump’s ascension to the presidency, describing the mood within the organization as optimistic.
“I’d say we’re all relatively happy at the peaceful transfer of power and, obviously, the Republican president ascending to the highest office,” Feng said.
Feng noted a sense of passivity among students when he described the mood on campus following Trump’s inauguration.
“Most people, at least to my understanding, and among the people I’ve spoken to, recognize that even though Trump says many things and the Republicans say many things that are very different from the Democrats, the majority of times, neither party really radically overhauls the entire country,”
Feng said.
Feng acknowledged that some students may be apprehensive about Trump’s presidency. He explained that
some students at Emory have undocumented parents, which leaves their families at risk under Trump’s plans for mass deportation.
“Obviously, that’s a major source of stress and concern for them,” Feng said.
However, Feng added that many fears, including the deportation of undocumented immigrants, surrounding Trump’s policies are unsubstantiated.
“He’s a president in a very wellestablished democratic system with checks and balances, so even if you strongly dislike Trump, there’s no need to worry about your safety or your family’s safety in a new administration,” Feng said.
Despite what students and professors think of Trump, his ideal for the United States is clear: glory and power. His vision is evident in the promises he made during his inaugural speech.
"We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” Trump said at his inauguration.
— Contact Siya Kumar at siya.kumar2@emory.edu
Climate organizations move away from strikes
Continued from Page 1
cies. “ …There’s no single message right now to push across with regards to climate policy at Emory.”
Taufeeq shared concerns about transparency, questioning the effectiveness of a climate strike when the general Emory population may not know about the University’s specific climate policies.
“When we were striking about the Climate Action Plan, we also realized that not everyone even knows what the Climate Action Plan is,” Taufeeq said. “Because there was this degree of removal, it was less impactful.”
Oxford College Student Government Association Environmental Sustainability Chair Muram Dafalla (25Ox) agreed that she wants Emory to be more transparent about its climate efforts, but said that she does not see why a lack of transparency should deter a climate strike.
“If anything, it’s a reason for [a strike],” Dafalla said. “Students can call out for wanting to have more transparency from the institution about what exactly is going on.”
Dafalla stated that the lack of a climate strike is “concerning,” mentioning that Emory has received criticism for the execution of its sustainability goals, such as its disposal of waste.
Although the University aimed to
divert 95% of its construction and nonconstruction waste away from municipal landfills by 2025, Professor of German Studies and Linguistics Hiram Maxim claimed in the fall that that waste diversion has dropped to 51%, over 20% lower than pre-COVID-19 levels.
“Seeing the protests at the end of the last school year and everything, it’s shown that there are students who are willing to have some sort of movement and make some type of change in this school if they have a certain problem,” Dafalla said.
Orozco said that ECRP is focusing more on educating students and engaging in local climate initiatives this semester.
In place of a climate strike, ECRP is holding two events this semester: a documentary screening and an educational event on current environmental policies and initiatives in Georgia.
“Local action and policy is incredibly important and incredibly impactful with regards to almost all issues, but climate is one of them, and in all contexts and especially when the national government, or even the state level government here is not very receptive, you can have a lot more,” Orozco said. “You can still have a lot of impact.”
— Contact Catherine Nan at catherine.nan@emory.edu
Clubs denounce 'blatant act of racism'
Continued from Page 1
Guyberson Pierre (25C), Emory NAACP Second Vice President Tyler Martinez (26C) and Emory NAACP Advocacy Chair Halle Bereket (26C) led the meeting. They discussed an open letter with a list of demands to the University, future plans for the BSA house and Black History Month events.
BSA and Emory NAACP drafted an open letter requesting that Emory take accountability for Black students being “subjected to violence and intimidation” when law enforcement shut down a pro-Palestinian protest on April 25, 2024 and the recent “act of hateful bigotry and racism” in the snow.
“While the physical remnants of such acts may have been removed, the legacy of pain, fear and disregard for Black students remains deeply ingrained in our campus,” the letter stated, as read by Martinez during the meeting. “What should be a home away from home has instead become a source of distress and hardship for Black students. Black students are exhausted from continually enduring these acts of hate and violence without adequate or proper recourse from the University.”
The groups addressed the letter to University President Gregory Fenves, interim Provost Lanny Liebeskind, Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye and Executive Vice President for Business and Administration Christopher Augostini.
“Your failure to take meaningful action in addressing the pressing issues within your university has the power to enable harmful behaviors like that of Jan. 10, especially as we transition into an era shaped by the Donald Trump administration,” the letter stated.
Attendees collaborated to workshop the open letter. The drafted letter
demanded that the University release the Jones Day report with investigation results into the events of April 2024, rename residential spaces and buildings currently named after Confederate slave owners, provide transparent updates on the investigation into the McDonough Field incident, regularly meet with Black student organization leadership, and allocate an endowment for Black studentled initiatives and events. Additionally, the draft requested that the University respond in writing within 48 hours.
Martinez said he hoped to collaborate with the administration regarding the letter. Bereket agreed, saying she hopes Emory NAACP can work with students and administration to “bridge a gap.”
In a Jan. 17 Instagram post, Emory NAACP wrote that they delivered the letter to the administration.
Additionally, the Student Government Association passed a resolution condemning the incident on Jan. 15. The resolution sponsors plans to implement a Campus Climate Committee and advocate for more resources to address bias on campus.
Emory does not have information on the individuals or groups that committed the act, the University wrote in a Jan. 16 statement. On Jan. 21, Diamond wrote in an email to the Wheel that the University has nothing to add beyond the information provided in the original Jan. 16 statement.
If you or someone you know experienced hateful language or slur use, you can call the Emory Police Department at (404) 727-6111 or reach Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services at (404) 7277450. You can reach the Atlanta Police Department at (404) 614-6544.
— Contact Lauren Yee at lauren.yee2@emory.edu
Emory continues remote classes into 3rd day
By Lauren yee News Editor
Emory University campuses, including Oxford College, entered a third day of remote operations today because of ongoing winter weather conditions that left campus blanketed in snow. Students took advantage of the days off from in-person classes, playing football and building snowmen.
“The combination of snow and cold temperatures makes it dangerous to drive or spend time outside,” a Jan. 21 email from Emory Communications read. “The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of metro Atlanta, including Emory, and we encourage everyone to remain at home.”
The decision comes after Gov. Brian Kemp announced a State of Emergency on Jan. 20 due to “freezing temperatures and winter weather.” The State of Emergency will continue until Jan. 28.
Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Joanne Brzinski wrote in a Jan. 21 email to Emory College of Arts and Sciences students that they should continue to check Canvas announcements and their email for updates from instructors. University community members also can use the Emory Safe app to view updates and additional information, according to an email from Emory Communications.
— Contact Lauren Yee at lauren.yee2@emory.edu
DeKalb County officials also declared a State of Emergency on Jan. 22 after the storm left some roads icy even after being salted, causing safety concerns for drivers. DeKalb emergency services were left to respond to hundreds of calls as the temperature plummeted, but faced slow response times due to the road conditions.
Jack rutHerford/newS editor
Students protest Emory University's lack of climate action.
ginna nebrig/Staff illuStrator
ivana cHen/ viSual & web editor Snow covers the statue of Dooley after the storm.
Pro-Palestinian organizers accuse university president of Islamophobia
Continued from Page 1
“In concluding this process Emory voluntarily signed a resolution agreement outlining steps that the university agreed to take to clarify and improve its policies addressing discrimination,” Emory wrote in a statement published in Atlanta News First.
Ibrahim said the resolution is a step in the right direction in holding the administration and law enforcement accountable for their actions during last year’s protests.
“This definitely is a victory because it addresses the concerns that we had reported on, especially when it comes to the arrests that happened on the encampment during April 25,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim added that he was disappointed in the lack of student involvement during the process.
“My only complaint … with this resolution is that it did not take any student input,” Ibrahim said. “This complaint was filed by ESJP and a number of students, and this agreement was solely made between OCR and Emory. Our input was not taken at all.”
CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Azka Mahmood said the University had taken measures to avoid being
cited for a Title VI violation. According to Mahmood, the OCR simply needed to organize some evidence before Emory cut their process short with the settlement.
“They did this by asking the OCR to go through a resolution process,” Mahmood said. “So the resolution itself, the letter that was sent to [University President Gregory Fenves], says that the University asked us to go into this agreement before we could conclude our investigation.”
Ibrahim agreed with this sentiment, saying he hoped for a more direct stance on whether or not Emory had violated Title VI, calling it “absurd” that OCR had reached a settlement before concluding the investigation.
“The University requested to resolve those allegations prior to OCR making a determination as to whether or not those allegations raised Title VI compliance concerns,” OCR wrote in a letter to Fenves.
OCR will monitor Emory’s compliance with certain measures to counter discrimination to “ensure the University does not engage in unlawful different treatment in violation of Title VI.” These include revising nondiscrimination policies, campus protesting policies and improving anti-
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Editors-in-Chief Madi Olivier and Sophia Peyser madi.olivier@emory.edu sophia.peyser@emory.edu
Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the fnancially 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 refect those of the Wheel Editorial Board or of Emory University, its faculty, staf or administration.
The Wheel is also available online at www.emorywheel.com.
Jack rutHerford/newS editor Pro-Palestinian protester, Daniella Hobbs, delivers a statement at a press conference held by the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on April 30.
discrimination training among faculty.
Emory Revolutionary Students Collective, which was formerly Emory Stop Cop City, member Elijah Brawner (26T) said that the issues presented by the complaint touch on the broader issue of anti-Muslim and other alleged biases within Emory’s administration, which Brawner described as “a long history of very strong discrimination.”
“There’s this historic injustice that
needs to be addressed,” Brawner said.
“But then in the modern day, they’ve come a long way, but there’s still places to go.”
These sentiments were also echoed by Mahmood, who attributed antiMuslim discrimination to top officials at Emory and other institutions.
“A lot of universities and at Emory University in particular, the antiMuslim sentiment is coming from the
very top,” Mahmood said. “It’s the top leadership that’s setting the tone and the tenor of how the rest of the university then addresses these incidents and these complaints.”
Mahmood said she aims to continue combatting on-campus discrimination at Emory and elsewhere. She added that the resolution shows that universities, such as Emory, are not above the law.Ibrahim, however, doesn’t feel that the Emory administration harbors conscious Islamophobia. Instead, he feels that anti-Muslim discrimination from Emory higher-ups is primarily driven by President Fenves’ concerns about anti-semitism on campus and unconscious biases.
“I believe that the majority of the administration is not consciously Islamophobic or anti-Arab, or any of that sentiment,” Ibrahim said. “I believe that it’s honestly mostly President Fenves. He’s stuck in this fearful state where he believes that any Muslim or Arab activism is somehow a threat to Jewish students on campus, which I think is very far-reaching and kind of implicates his own internal Islamophobia or Arab hate.”
— Contact Aarush Kumar at aarush.kumar@emory.edu
University Senate hopes for 'shared governance' with new policy
By spenCer FriedLand Managing Editor
After months of discussion and controversy, the Emory University Senate’s Committee for Open Expression drafted a new Respect for Open Expression Policy. The proposal advocates for strengthening the First Amendment standard, which would clarify what speech is allowed on campus, ensure the free speech rights of the Emory community and help the University “resist” groups that attempt to “stifle speech.”
The current open expression policy already endorses the First Amendment standard. However, the new policy differs in that it “more explicitly affirms the University’s ability to restrict expression when necessary to avoid interference with the normal functioning of the University,” according to a memo the senate sent to University President Gregory Fenves on Jan. 21. Additionally, the new policy would
require the University to hire an independent consultant to create a report within 60 days of arrests and remove the requirement to consult the Open Expression Committee chair before any arrests.
The new policy also includes that temporary structures on University property are permitted unless they violate the law or “substantially interfere” with the rights of Emory community members or the University’s normal functions. The policy also makes clear that building takeovers are not permitted.
University Senate President-elect Noëlle McAfee said the senate will discuss the new policy and possibly amend it during their next meeting on Jan. 28 before voting on it in the coming months. She added that if the senate approves the new policy, it will be sent to Fenves, who can choose to accept, reject or alter the proposal.
This comes after a year defined by tense discussions about open
expression. Last year, police arrested 28 protestors and tased at least one person while shutting down a pro-Palestinian encampment on the Quadrangle. At the beginning of the fall 2024 semester, Fenves codified a new addendum explicitly stating that the current Respect for Open Expression Policy did not permit encampments, igniting controversy on campus.
University Senate President George Shepherd said that the open expression committee has worked on the new policy for several weeks, and McAfee added that she was “very proud” of the group’s work.
“I hope that this could be a good example of shared governance with the administration too, that we can work something out that satisfies the administration and any concerns that they might have,” Shepherd said.
— Contact Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu
Oxford looks to address high early matriculation rate
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semesters that offers students multiple opportunities to thrive and flourish,” Smith wrote. “While some students complete their Oxford degrees in three semesters, the overwhelming majority remain for four semesters. Our goal is to help students flourish at Oxford and continue to thrive in Atlanta and beyond.”
Early graduate Sunny Tian (25Ox) believes the change in credit policy was “reasonable,” as Oxford’s goal was also to decrease the rising percentage of students graduating early.
Although Oxford expanded its course offerings with the introduction of Corporate Finance in spring 2024 and Process and Systems Management in spring 2025, Tian decided to matriculate to the Atlanta campus early because of the stilllimited number of business and economics classes offered at Oxford.
“Especially my second half of freshman year, I found that there were limited courses here as a business student and economics student
that I felt I had the option to take,” Tian said. “Matriculating to the business school earlier on would allow me to have more options in terms of what classes I wanted to take.”
Max Fischer (25Ox), who graduated early, shared the same sentiment as Tian. Fischer decided to graduate early because of the more advanced psychology courses available on the Atlanta campus. However, he found his time at Oxford to be a rewarding experience.
“The sense of community here is great,” Fischer said. “You meet a lot of people, a lot of professors. You get a lot of connections that are needed further down the road.”
Oxford Student Government Association Vice President Kieran Rafferty (25Ox) finds that while Oxford offers enough courses for him personally, it lacks higher-level courses.
However, Rafferty said he sought to take advantage of the explorative freedom at Oxford.
“I came into this college thinking
with a liberal arts perspective of just ‘I want to really try out everything,’” Rafferty said. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So I came here thinking maybe I wanted to pursue physics or computer science. And then it didn't work out, but I redirected myself.”
Rafferty added he understands why some students decide to graduate early, as it often depends on their major and the diverse opportunities on the Atlanta campus.
Fischer believes increasing class availability at Oxford is the key to addressing the trend of students graduating early.
“The solution to the problem is having more advanced classes offered at Oxford that people are [currently] only able to take at the Atlanta campus,” Fischer said. “If you have more advanced classes, then there wouldn’t be a reason for people to graduate early.”
— Contact Kyle Chen at kyle.chen@emory.edu
The Emory Wheel Opinion
Administration neglects diversity in N-word response
Content Warning: This article contains references to hateful language and slur use.
Hateful rhetoric has no place at Emory University, yet the University continues to struggle with addressing acts of racism in a meaningful way. On Jan. 10, an unknown individual wrote the N-word in the snow on McDonough Field, sending a chilling and hateful message through the Emory community. For Black students, this act of vandalism is more than an isolated incident: It is a painful reminder of the broader political climate that emboldens such behavior. Yet, while students have expressed feelings of fear and hurt over the incident, the University’s response has been frustratingly lackluster in their delayed and limited statements. Despite being a threetime Higher Education Excellence in Diversity-recognized “Diversity Champion,” Emory practices selective outrage when it comes to hateful speech. The administration should be held accountable for its shaky commitment to supporting the Black community during its times of need.
“This hateful act is heartbreaking to me, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” University President Gregory Fenves said in an Emory News Center update. “There is simply no place for racist language on our campus.”
However, this announcement only appeared as a quote in a short article nearly a week after the incident — not in a campus-wide email with the full force of Fenves’ support and signature. In the past, Fenves has shown that he is willing to publicly, immediately and directly condemn hateful speech. In October 2023, Fenves criticized the chants of a pro-Palestinian protest in a university-wide email, labeling them as “antisemitic.” Similarly, last spring, in the midst of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus,
Ethan
Fenves sent a series of direct emails denouncing the protest rhetoric as “deeply disturbing” and “unacceptable” to the Emory community, the first coming only hours after the protests began. Eight years ago, during President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, students protested pro-Trump chalkings and were granted a meeting with then- University President Jim Wagner, who promised changes made to Emory’s “bias incident reporting and response procedure” in a letter to the students. Yet, in the wake of this blatant racism on McDonough Field, many students are left wondering why this act did not warrant the same decisive response as the protests last year or the pro-Trump chalkings. This is not the first time that Emory’s commitment to protecting marginalized students has come into question. In April 2024, Palestinian Legal and the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a civil rights complaint against Emory on behalf of several student groups alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint included allegations concerning harassment and discrimination against students of certain backgrounds, including Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Black students. According
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to OCR’s investigation, Emory failed to respond to “a hostile environment” for Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students. Most recently, on Jan. 16, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) wrote a letter stating that Emory would be settling the complaint and will be implementing corrective measures. Combined with the administration’s inadequate response to this recent N-word incident, these concerns show that Emory’s commitment to diversity is less substantive than what one would expect from a “Diversity Champion.”
For Emory’s Black students, the administration’s response to this act of racism is a disservice. Despite 13% of Emory’s students self-identifying as Black or African American, many Black students and organizations have voiced that they have not been afforded enough institutional support during moments of crisis on campus and that resources to address incidents of racism remain insufficient.
“The frequency and severity of racist incidents on this campus are escalating, yet the administration and Emory Police Department have failed to take meaningful action,” Emory’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Emory Black Student
Alliance (BSA) wrote in an Instagram post. “The lack of stronger security and accountability measures leaves Black students vulnerable and unheard.”
Black students at Emory deserve the same institutional reaction for hateful acts directed at them as other marginalized groups, such as Jewish students. In 2014, when offensive graffiti, including swastikas, were found on the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity house, a Jewish fraternity, the Emory Police Department involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the incident. Additionally, university religious leaders and Campus Life officials provided continuous support to the affected students. Fenves should follow the example of Wagner, who improved DEI initiatives and resources on campus in response to hate, while investigating the incident on McDonough Field. By delaying its statement, University administration invalidates the unease felt by Black students following the incident and diminishes the gravity of the situation. Fenves and other University administrators have a responsibility to directly, strongly and quickly condemn hate against Black students as part of their professed commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Furthermore, the University must be more transparent about its investigation into this act of racism and implement enhanced safety measures to prevent future incidents. According to Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond, EPD is reviewing security footage to identify the perpetrator. Emory’s Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance is also currently investigating the incident. While the university is taking steps to address the situation, it is insufficient to soothe the worries of students hurt by this incident. While organizations like Emory NAACP and Emory BSA have offered students support, they
are led by and composed of Black students, demonstrating how the burden of care is often left to members of the targeted community — even when it should be the University. With a more robust and timely statement of condemnation, Emory and Fenves could have shown their support for the broader Black community at Emory and would have exemplified true championship of diversity. While there is no remedy for the University’s decisions about this incident, ensuring transparency following the investigation and more attention to similar hatred in the future, Emory can start moving past simple performance. By investing in more DEI initiatives like the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation initiative at Emory, community members can begin to directly tackle racial discrimination on campus. Administrative actions become especially crucial under Trump’s administration, whose previous presidency led to an increase in reported hate crimes. The rise of anti-DEI movements align with the spike in hate crime incidents following Trump’s 2024 victory. Legislation dismantling DEI in higher-education institutions has gained ground, particularly in the South. Georgia implemented new public school rules on DEI, and Alabama enacted a law banning DEI offices in public colleges. This increasingly common rhetoric is worrying, especially as Trump enters office. To prevent history from repeating itself, Emory must stand up for its Black students — not just in response to incidents, but as an ongoing priority.
If you or someone you know experienced hateful language or slur use, you can call the Emory Police Department at (404) 727-6111 or reach Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services at (404) 7277450. You can reach the Atlanta Police Department at (404) 614-6544.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is composed of Editor Marc Goedmans, Asst. Editor Carly Aikens, Hunter Buchheit, Allie Guo,
Jacobs, Carson
Mira Krichavsky, Justin Leach, Eliana Liporace, Niki Rajani, Josh Rosenblut, Ilka Tona and Crystal Zhang.
ivana Chen/a sst visual & WeB editor
Toxic extracurricular culture is killing students
By JosseLyn st cLair Contributing Writer
Content Warning: This article contains references to suicide.
The student body at Emory University never ceases to amaze me. As I scroll through my LinkedIn connections, my mouth gapes at what my peers accomplished before college — everything from an internship with the United Nations to the President’s Volunteer Service Award and researching with an esteemed medical school. I cannot comprehend how any student could fit such commitments into their high school schedules. But then I remember that this was me too. Reflecting on the years before I came to Emory, I recall nights when I would not come home until late evening, my day crammed full of extracurriculars.
High school students are being depleted of joy from these exhausting schedules, fighting to compete with other students who are equally as tired. College applications often expect students to fill every day with activities, barely allowing any time to rest or make meaningful connections with others. However, we continue to endure the stress because of the increasing pressure to look good on paper. Overachieving students, including myself, aim to use our extracurricular experience to boost the chances of admission to increasingly competitive institutions like Emory. Originally, I hoped to frame this piece as a call for students to stop viewing extracurricular activities merely as a means to gain acceptance into higher education. Instead, I wanted students to view them as an extension of our service to the community. However, I soon realized that this perspective would only be blaming the victim of this system. The toxic extracurricular culture in higher education admissions is neglecting student well-being. We must demand that colleges change their expectations for students’ extracurricular involvement to promote a shift in how students view and prioritize their well-being.
I did not attend a competitive high school. I busied myself with activities, but my participation in clubs and other activities was not contingent on that of my classmates — it was my choice alone. However, I have heard horror stories of students who drive one another to the brink of insanity, each student piling on more extracurriculars than the next in an attempt to frame themselves as a more competitive applicant. This pressure to be involved leads to stress, tearing down students’ mental health and driving too many to the point of suicidal ideation. I thought this pressure would desist after sending off undergraduate applications, but it didn’t. At Emory, it feels as though this competitive culture persists, with students shifting their eyes to focus on gaining admission to top-ranked graduate schools. Every day, I watch my peers struggle to balance their mass commitments, trying to reap the benefits of the experience they already worked so hard for. With this, we are setting our future doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs on the wrong path,
jeopardizing our society as a whole.
There are a few safeguards during the admissions process, such as a ten activity limit on the Common Application, but institutions have not done enough to halt the destructive spiral students fall into when piling up extracurriculars. It does not matter whether colleges endorse this workload or remain silent: Any action short of denouncing overinvolvement speaks that they will reward applicants who will overwork themselves. When looking at profiles of successful applicants to top colleges, I wonder how much they had to sacrifice to boast such packed resumes. The solution to the extracurricular crisis is not to ask applicants to place limits on their involvement. Rather, colleges must lead the fight to pull their applicants out of unhealthy, overloaded schedules by encouraging them to focus on what they’re passionate about. Students only wish to obtain the best future, and it is not their fault for straining themselves to have a higher chance of succeeding.
College applicants are not the only victims of lacking restrictions on extracurriculars — groups benefited by a student’s artificial community outreach have the potential to be harmed, too. Suppose a student dedicates time to tutoring lowincome elementary schoolers on the weekends for their college application — without passion or drive outside of admission to college, they potentially lack the motivation to do their job well or consistently. If that student only joins for their appearances on paper and neglects their service due to spreading themselves too thin, then those elementary schoolers will lack the necessary services. Neither party deserves to be in that situation.
Several people I knew from other high schools championed incredible work in the nonprofits they founded. From leading intercultural exchanges to providing translation services, these students were model volunteers — but tossed those goals in the trash when they were accepted to their dream colleges. Communities lean on these services, but to the founders of those nonprofits, they were only an afterthought.
Students need to refocus on the passion that should lie at the center of extracurricular engagement. Rather than stuffing our days full of activities we don’t truly care about, we should be investing time in activities that both feed our souls and the souls of those around us. When I came to Emory, I quit this competition and refused to participate in activities I was not genuinely passionate
Dare to disagree: Reclaiming dialogue at Emory
By noah stiFeLMan Contributing Writer
about, even if they didn’t amount to as much as what others pursued. Yet, I understood that I may be trading my chances at a top graduate school. This is a decision I made personally, knowing that not everyone has this luxury.
To make this change, both in students’ minds and institutionally, we can start by halving the number of activity slots fillable on the Common Application to five and creating a minimum of hours that applicants can list per activity — two changes that would create a muchneeded safety net, preventing applicants from extending themselves to a point that they lose their sense of joy just to fill boxes. Colleges have already shown that they are capable of being more in touch with students: The test-optional and test-blind policies enacted by many schools reveal that they are not completely oblivious of the toll of their process. Now, colleges must apply this same thought to the non-academic sphere. In reviewing applications, I urge Emory admissions counselors to not prioritize over-involvement, and instead focus on activities that applicants’ hearts are actually in. We must be able to enjoy activities — as colleges claim they wish for us — but that is only possible when we are not working ourselves to the bone. In an age requiring students to stretch themselves thin to reach our dreams, college admissions systems must be designed to allow us to find passion in extracurriculars, starting with these tangible ways.
I am terrified that a system that should be helping us to craft our futures is only poisoning them. Glorifying overloaded extracurricular schedules prevents us from seeing activities as an opportunity to actually enact change and disallows us from giving help to those who depend on it. I do not want to see another one of my brilliant peers churned through this vicious system that chews up passions and spits them out as chores. We must fix extracurricular culture — our futures depend on it.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, you can call Student Intervention Services at (404) 4301120 or reach Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services at (404) 727-7450 or https://counseling.emory.edu/. You can reach the Georgia Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at (800) 273-TALK (8255) and the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24/7 at 988.
— Contact Josselyn St. Clair at jmstcla@emory.edu
When I arrived at Emory University as a first-year student in fall 2023, I carried a certain vision of what college would be. I imagined a place where ideas openly clash, where students and professors alike test old texts and radical notions for truth and relevance and where spirited debates deepen students’ understanding of each other and the world. I expected late-night dorm conversations that pushed everyone beyond their comfort zones and classrooms that wholeheartedly welcomed controversial opinions. If any environment were suited to intellectual risk-taking, I felt it should be Emory — one of the top liberal arts universities in the world.
Yet, I soon discovered a campus hesitant to face the political divisions of our time. During my first semester at Emory, I took Jimmy Carter Professor of History Joseph Crespino’s class titled “Great Books: History.” We discussed some of history’s most provocative texts, including Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto,” Charles Darwin’s “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,” Max Weber’s “Protestant Work Ethic” and Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations.” These works should have challenged us by sparking debates about capitalism versus communism, the role of religion in the West and the dangerous legacy of social Darwinism. But despite our professor’s best efforts to foster discourse, my classmates and I treaded carefully, hyper focused on avoiding offending each other. What could have been a lively intellectual battleground felt more like a carefully choreographed dance around the elephant in the room — our modern political issues that quite literally originated from these texts. There was a pervading sense of fear. No one wanted to say the wrong thing and be canceled, labeled a bigot or, alternatively, dismissed as a left-wing extremist.
A liberal arts education should invite us to test our arguments, risk being wrong and emerge wiser from it. If we neglect this principle, students will simply continue to echo the prevailing opinions of their hometowns and, in many cases, the campus political majority. Worse still, we risk stunting our capacity for civic engagement as the next generation of leaders becomes uneasy with dissent and hesitant to engage with anyone with perceived ideological divides.
In an effort to restore this spirit, Crespino and I created a new one-credit discussion course on political polarization last fall semester. No viewpoint would be off-limits. I knew that without conservative voices — including those of President Donald Trump’s supporters — class conversations would remain incomplete. At first, conservative students approached the class warily, fearing tokenization or
ridicule. Progressive students also hesitated, unsure about sharing a room, let alone a candid exchange, with those whom they saw as endorsing policies threatening their rights and dignity.
To break through the initial barriers and walls that we had all constructed, the class began with personal stories rather than political creeds. One student shared how disappearing factories hollowed his hometown, once a thriving community reliant on manufacturing, and his neighborhood struggled under the weight of crime. Another student from Alabama explained the complexities of his family members’ choices to vote for Trump. He noted that, as Black Southerners, their votes were not an endorsement but rather a desperate wager — votes against the institutions they felt had been failing them for decades. The vast majority of the students in the class shared the feeling that established government programs meant to help, provide for and protect Americans were repeatedly falling short. Moreover, it became clear that as we fell deeper into cultural wars on campus, our political conversations had drifted away from these sorts of domestic issues most affecting students and their families.
As we continued to share our stories and experiences in our discussions, the classroom dynamic began to change.
We stopped seeing each other as pure caricatures of opposing ideologies and instead started to recognize the individual narratives and experiences that shaped us. With an established sense of empathy, we finally dared to confront tougher questions about economic policy, immigration rhetoric and the fragility of our cherished democracy.
I want to expand this work from our classroom to the whole University. I am now working to establish a new club, Emory’s Union, which will be exclusively dedicated to fostering unfiltered dialogue between students, faculty and other community members. We will work with existing political groups and clubs on campus — including Young Democrats of Emory, Emory College Republicans and Incubate Debate — to invite speakers who challenge our assumptions and stage debates that refuse easy answers.
Our goal is to model the kind of discourse that allows American democracy to maintain one of its best qualities — the flexibility to incorporate new ideologies that best serve and represent all Americans.
As a community committed to inquiry and intellectual growth, we must stop mistaking silence for civility and recognize that discomfort and open debate are integral to learning. These conversations may not be comfortable, but they might just be the only way to move forward — together.
— Contact Noah Stifelman at noah.stifelman@emory.edu
sasha eMMeriCh/staff illustrator
Surveillance threatens the freedoms of Emory community
By Jericho BroWn, DaBney evans, gyan panDey
anD teD sMith
Contributing Writers
A few months ago, a reporter at The Emory Wheel asked one of us in an email about Emory University professors’ views on “the new levels of surveillance on Emory’s campus, including the addition of cameras on the quad and changes to the signage policy.” While the article is not yet published, we, four professors across Emory’s schools, wanted to state our views on the additional surveillance in the more sustained form of this op-ed. We hope and expect that more representative bodies will make more formal statements on behalf of larger groups of faculty.
The Emory News Center noted on April 30, with an update on May 3, that the University had “added more lighting and additional cameras covering key campus locations.” It added that “these cameras are monitored 24/7 by the Emory Police Department.” We know of no broadbased deliberative process, like a consultation with the University Senate, that led to this decision to expand surveillance. The only formal justification that we have heard is that surveillance was expanded “to further enhance the safety of our community.”
This rhetoric of safety has flowed through official University announcements in recent months. In the wake of police action against those gathered on the Emory Quadrangle on April 25, Emory President Gregory Fenves stressed his commitment to campus safety in statements on April 28 and 29. Both the Emory News Center’s April 30 update and
Fenves’ May 6 letter to the community invoked language of safety in explaining things like increased police presence and expanded surveillance, as well as in explaining why commencement exercises would be held in another county. Months later, he reiterated this concern for safety in a letter on the first day of classes, acknowledging the need to create space “for a respectful and productive exchange of ideas” between people with diverse views. He concluded, “that also means focusing on the safety of everyone who lives, works, and learns at Emory.”
The repeated appeals to “safety” fit with a broader pattern on campuses throughout the United States and in other parts of the world, in which administrations have invoked safety to justify expanding surveillance and taking other actions that can suppress the free intellectual inquiry and debate that are central to the purpose of higher education. In seeking to make the university safe, they threaten its very raison d’etre.
Some level of surveillance for the sake of safety may be necessary in universities — as it sometimes is in government buildings, and other offices, schools and homes. However, prior to any expansion of surveillance, we must ask these questions: What is the nature of the “safety” this surveillance is designed to promote? Whose safety is being protected, and to what end? Who decides how the apparatus and rules for its maintenance are put into place? In what ways is the system of surveillance accountable to the community it claims to protect? Who has access to the data collected, and why? These questions need to be considered in forums that are accessible to the full
Emory community.
We are especially concerned that new surveillance measures may protect buildings, lawns and public image while threatening the core character and purpose of the University, for surveillance can exert a chilling effect that impedes upon the free exchange of ideas it is supposed to protect. We are also concerned that expanded surveillance will place already vulnerable members of the Emory community at greater risk rather than serving to protect “everyone who lives, works, and learns at Emory,” as Fenves described.
Any surveillance at Emory should be designed, limited, administered and accountable in ways that promote the kind of safety that is necessary for the life and mission of a research university. Public deliberation around surveillance and other security measures is particularly necessary in the wake of the April 25 police actions that involved excessive force against students and faculty and subsequent criminal charges. These charges are proceeding without objection from the University. In this case, actions undertaken in the name of campus security have contributed to the lack of safety of Emory students and faculty. They have powerfully discouraged exactly the free exchange of ideas they are supposed to protect. They therefore put a significant burden of proof on any expansion of surveillance and other security measures.
The threat of surveillance to the core purposes of the University, including teaching, inquiry and the free contest of ideas, is especially acute when cameras are trained on the Quad and other public gathering spaces. We see no demonstrable need for surveillance on the Quad. The
Quad does not have a history as a frequent site of violent crime. Instead, it has served as an important space for teaching, learning and debate. Even if surveillance on the Quad marginally reduces the risk of property damage, it threatens the free inquiry and expression that the property — and the whole University — exists to sustain.
The risk of a chilling effect by surveillance is compounded by the doxxing and other forms of online and inperson harassment that faculty, students and staff have faced. Without proper limits, surveillance can become a resource for those who seek to engage in this kind of harassment — and so further suppress the free exchange of ideas through threats or harm to Emory community members. It can undermine the free exchange of ideas in more subtle ways, too. Surveillance mechanisms allow administrators to observe and direct responses to members of the community without actually engaging them.
With these risks in mind, we call upon Emory’s senior leaders to implement a process for public deliberation about surveillance on campus. Surveillance can only support the free exchange of ideas if it is itself subject to the free exchange of ideas. As a first step toward re-establishing the trust that is necessary for this public deliberation to have legitimacy, we ask for the removal of any surveillance that has been installed to monitor the main quadrangles on the Atlanta and Oxford College campuses.
We further ask that any surveillance at Emory be announced in the spaces being surveilled with clear signs — as is standard practice in democracies around the globe.
The legitimacy of this proposed deliberative process would also be
strengthened if the University made it clear that any surveillance would be for the sake of supporting the free exchange of ideas among all members of the community. More statements cannot do this work: Only actions can. We therefore ask Fenves to formally announce that the Emory administration requests that all charges against faculty and students related to the events of April 25 be dropped by the Office of the Solicitor for DeKalb County. A statement from the president of the University asking that the charges be dropped would surely influence the deliberations of that office.
Regardless of one’s perspective on those events, whatever infractions of the Respect for Open Expression Policy might have occurred on that date were not sufficient to warrant such aggressive police action, including mass arrests and criminal charges against students and faculty. A formal request that the charges be dropped would make a material difference in the lives and prospects — and safety — of the Emory students and faculty who were arrested. It would help create the conditions in which public deliberations about surveillance could be possible. It would also signal the administration’s commitment to the free flow of ideas, information and worldviews that are the life-force of any great university.
- Jericho Brown, Dabney Evans, Gyan Pandey and Ted Smith are professors at Emory University. Contact Brown at jerichobro@emory.edu, Evans at devan01@emory.edu, Pandey at gpande2@emory.edu and Smith at ted.smith@emoryedu
Trump’s tarifs will terrorize American pocketbooks
By pierce McDaDe Staff Writer
You do not need an economics professor to tell you that tariffs are generally poor economic policy. Despite that, the downsides of tariffs — including deadweight loss and possible retaliation — were a daily topic of conversation in my economics class, Global Trade and Finance. So, you can imagine my shock when President Donald Trump, who made massive tariffs a centerpiece of his campaign, won the 2024 presidential election in which 31% of voters named the economy as their most important issue in exit polls.
During the campaign and in the lead up to his inauguration, President Trump promised a 60% tariff on China and 25% tariff on both Canada and Mexico if their governments did not stymie the flow of drugs and migrants across the border. He later threatened Denmark with tariffs if they did not give up control of Greenland. However, since the inauguration he has balked on his threats, refusing to give a clear timeline for tariffs on China while pledging to place tariffs on Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1. While these threats have clarified what Trump’s tariff regime may look like, the current delays have also given some credibility to the theory that his tariff threats are not meant to be put into place but rather serve only to elicit concessions from countries. Either way, these tariffs will be bad for our country. If Trump enacts
these tariffs, they will not only harm American consumers and global markets, but also the continual threat of tariffs damages the discussion surrounding free trade.
Almost any tariff that Trump chooses to impose will undoubtedly harm American consumers. Estimates have shown that Trump’s proposed tariffs would cost consumers $1,200 on average in purchasing power, decreasing the amount of goods that consumers can afford. In Georgia, tariff payments would increase by an amount of over 2% of the state’s gross domestic product, directly affecting spending and consumption in the state. Tariffs would also have a negative impact on American businesses and jobs. Retaliatory tariffs, which Mexico has already threatened, will only further hurt American consumers and companies through increasing prices and decreasing trade. If Trump really wants to put pressure on Canada, Mexico or Denmark, he must find a mechanism that will not harm the American people.
While Trump repeatedly made tariff threats both during the campaign and as president-elect, observers were quick to point out that during his first administration he threatened many more tariffs than actually imposed. By moving the goalposts from inauguration day to Feb. 1, it seems like this trend is only continuing. On the campaign trail, Trump claimed tariffs would revive U.S. manufacturing by protecting manufacturers and bring-
ing their production and jobs back to the United States as well as generate substantial federal revenues. Now that his attention has turned toward using tariff threats to elicit concessions, as in the case of Mexico, Canada, and Denmark, it is possible that just like in his first term, widespread tariffs will not actually be imposed — even in the name of promoting U.S. manufacturing or reviving America’s heartland. Even if this is the case, Trump’s tariff threats and anti-trade rhetoric are harmful and antithetical to finding solutions to help displaced workers and communities.
While Trump blames free trade for declines in American manufacturing and the plight of unemployment and poverty facing rural communities, that is not the full story. In reality, both trade advances and technological changes have contributed to manufacturing’s decreasing share of total U.S. employment. While trade creates net benefits for participating countries, its benefits are not always distributed equally. American manufacturers and their employees have been bigger losers from American free trade than other groups. However, a revival of pre-globalization manufacturing through tariffs is not the best way to help those negatively affected by trade. In fact, a study found that the tariffs the first Trump administration enacted — which were originally meant to restore the washing machine manufacturing industry — actually cost consumers $815,000 per job created.
While the tariffs created 1,800 jobs, the tariff cost consumers $1.5 billion annually. With that being said, trade has created new and better opportunities for American workers, which the government can help workers attain. Thus, rather than ballooning tariffs, the solution to helping workers and communities is through redistributing the benefits gained by trade.
If Trump truly wants to help Americans, he must invest in job retraining programs. For example, reviving the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program or creating a similar initiative would assist unemployed workers with retraining, healthcare and job searches. The program stopped accepting applications in 2022, but reviving it could help workers who have lost their jobs due to trade. Trump could also help workers transition into higher-paying jobs generated by trade by investing in higher education. Additionally, outside of training and skill attainment, it is essential for Trump to tackle the opioid crisis facing America, as it disproportionately harms the manufacturing communities which Trump claims tariffs will help.
There are effective steps which Trump can take to help workers and communities affected by trade — but tariffs are not one of them. By placing tariffs on foreign goods and services, Trump backstabs the working class that helped elect him into office. Even if Trump’s tariff threats are only threats, they still serve to distract from actual solutions
which will help Americans. As long as the public debates the merits of tariffs to revive American communities, it will fail to pay attention to real and effective solutions. For example, Trump’s threats to axe the U.S. Department of Education fail to recognize the role that the department could play in investing in the rural and disaffected communities impacted by trade. In the absence of productive discussion surrounding how to distribute the benefits of trade, caused by an overreliance on tariff-related rhetoric, these futile and hypocritical actions will only continue.
Luckily, Trump’s cabinet pick for the U.S. Department of Labor, Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oreg.), has already pledged to invest in training and apprenticeship programs. Additionally, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has announced his intention to bring more attention to the opioid crisis in the United States, drawing upon his past experiences of addiction. The pieces are in place for Trump and Congress to take effective action but only if the conversation turns away from tariffs and toward actual solutions. Trump’s tariff threats, if carried out, will be disastrous for the American economy. Even if they are not implemented, their looming shadow in domestic development discussions will impede economic progress.
— Contact Pierce McDade at pmcdade@emory.edu
Welcome back from the Lord of Misrule
By DooLino Campus Overlord
Greetings, Emorians.
By some miracle, you bumbling imbeciles have managed to make it to yet another year. While I am sure your hometown escapades over winter break were positively thrilling, the time has come to leave the past — and your high school ex — in 2024. A time of new beginnings has commenced, and so far, Emory University’s spring semester has already made quite the splash — although, given this month’s frigid temperatures, “avalanche” may be a better term.
My infnite wisdom tells me that this semester is going to be one for the
books.
Though I know even the most puttogether students among us will be bombarding me with asinine questions and pleading for advice soon enough, let us begin this semester with a simple recap from yours truly. After all, I know you all are desperate to hear my comforting voice. With 2025 comes the winds of change. However, I cannot help but wish that the winds were not blowing quite so strongly, as they seemed to carry a particular odor that has grown worse with each passing day. I was not at all shocked to hear that DeKalb County experienced a major water main break last week — those pipes are older than I am. As many know, the county instituted a boil water advisory, and rumors of a zombie apocalypse sent campus into a panic. Administration provided bottled water to students in lieu of tap water, but that only caused environmental science students to wail and gnash their teeth like a group
of well-intentioned ghosts outside of any facility serving food or drinks. However, some students continued drinking tap water despite the warning, insisting that whatever chemicals are in the water could not possibly be as hazardous as the food provided at the Dobbs Common Table. I was unaffected by this debacle — since keeping my bones strong is of paramount importance, I only drink milk. But after word got out about contaminated water, some students took hydrophobia to the extreme and avoided showers entirely. Body odor on campus increased exponentially, making the air hazardous along with the water. The only unaffected demographic was Emory’s computer science majors — since they are entirely unfamiliar with the concept of personal hygiene already, they have been training for this moment their entire lives.Frozen water made a splash on campus alongside contaminated water, as students arrived in Atlanta to a winter wonderland (I was not present for this snowfall, as I was busy warming my weary bones in the fires of Hell).
While the Georgia heat quickly melted the snowy campus, chilly temperatures have lingered long after the snow melted. Southern students are heavily bundled in knit caps, gloves and ski jackets, hurling merciless complaints about the windchill to Emory’s small army of New Yorkers, who in turn are insisting that anyone affected by the cold is “a putrid, sniveling, pathetic excuse for a human being.” What do you think, Emory students? Is Atlanta’s January weather pleasantly warm, or should we break out the parkas and snowshoes? With more cold on the horizon, weather-related discourse may not be dormant for long.
While the weather may be cold, things are certainly heating up when it comes to Greek life at Emory. The Emory Panhellenic Council hosted formal recruitment the week before the first day of classes.
Desperate first-year students from all majors and walks of life made bloody bids for coveted spots, clawing
Foreign aid isn’t reparation: It’s colonialism
By Zayn BanDUKWaLLa Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump made his “America First” policies a focal point during his campaign, commenting in February 2024 that he intends to end foreign aid that is not structured as a loan.
Although this sounds drastic, Trump’s plans are not always as outlandish as they may sound. Throughout U.S. history, foreign aid has often camouflaged ruthless conditions that maintain the country’s own economic profits and global interests. Even though the United States only spends a fraction of its annual budget on foreign aid, it has an outsized impact that can fundamentally sabotage the status of developing nations.
illustrator
and fighting for what many people define as the quintessential college experience. I have watched for hundreds of years as students put on their cutest outfits and flirted with their soon-to-be sisters, and yet I still find the entire exercise quite mortal, and, at times, rather incestuous. Personally, I have never felt the need to pay for my friends, but to each their own. I wish all of the new Greek cult members the best in this stressful time and remind them that if they are ever looking for another cult to join, I am always accepting new loyal followers.
Personally, I have never felt the need to pay for my friends, but to each their own.
As I gaze out at my kingdom, I cannot help but look forward to the ridiculous shenanigans and plot twists you silly mortals will get up to this semester. Maybe you are occupied with hunting down students enrolled in your dream course with a battle axe and a burning desire to take their spot before Add/Drop/Swap ends.
Maybe you are hitting Midtown’s fittingly mid bars and trying to make the most of your time on campus before syllabus week turns into finals week (if this is you, I must request that you avoid walking by my statue post-party.
My cape was dry-cleaned over winter break, and I simply will not abide some uncultured undergraduate vomiting on it). Maybe you are just trying to make it from one day to the next. If this is the case, good luck. My infinite wisdom tells me that this semester is going to be one for the books.
Have an excellent 2025, Emorians, and never forget: Doolino knows best.
— Contact Doolino six feet under the Quadrangle
In 2023 alone, the U.S. government allocated 63 billion dollars in aid to resource-strapped and crisishit countries around the world, from Ukraine to Ethiopia. The United States’ prominent role in organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) means American policymakers wield significant influence when it comes to determining how aid is dispersed. U.S. foreign aid has world-changing potential due to its sheer magnitude, but the consequences of U.S. aid are anything but humanitarian. This reprehensible practice is deeply rooted in the legacy of imperialism and intentionally reinforces global inequality. Disillusionment about global power dynamics leads some to believe that World War II slammed shut our world’s chapter of uninhibited imperialism. However, today, instead of military subjugation, developing nations are intertwined in a modern system of control through foreign aid contributions. Western powers funnel influence through institutions like the IMF, which offer conditional loans that cripple struggling economies enforcing ill intentioned rules and regulations. Measures like structural adjustment programs require unreliable austerity measures, which are harsh policies that reduce budget deficits, and this approach is often detrimental to development for these nations.
Historically, there has been no correlation between foreign aid and economic growth in developing countries. Alternatively, economic freedom and economic growth have strong correlations. If the goal of foreign aid is to restore stability and promote development, it should be considered a complete failure.
It is clear that aid serves another purpose, which becomes evident when examining how foreign aid is defined and implemented. Developed nations continually misrepresent what counts as aid, with nearly 15% of foreign aid going back to rich countries. Funds that are actually provided to developing countries are conditional and often do not trickle down to the people who need them most, such as marginalized individuals and communities in extreme poverty Requirements that Western nations enforce, such as market deregulation and privatization, which are often prerequisites for aid to be given, are shown to have no impact on countries’ market-oriented policies. Despite this, Western nations continue to impose significant restrictions on aid distribution, which are obviously engineered to enable further exploitation of the developing world. Mali serves as a notable example
of how foreign aid, despite being presented as humanitarian assistance, is exploited to uphold inequalities and hinder independent development. Since gaining independence in 1960, Mali has dealt with political instability and a struggling economy. Currently, the nation is amid a civil conflict that has put millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance. Unfortunately, foreign aid from Western nations and the IMF has only exacerbated the crisis, with politicians redirecting the funds toward corrupt political figures and unpopular issues — actions made permissible by the international community’ lack of safeguarding for these aid processes. Data finds that foreign aid completely failed to improve the quality of life for most Malians, when the aid was originally meant to provide food assistance, education and infrastructure development. Instead, the funds enabled and helped platform corrupt governance by channeling a disproportionate amount of money to the Ifoghas Tuaregs, an ethnic group that misused the money to elevate their own platform. Experts speculate that this aid could be directly responsible for the civil conflict and political crisis that is currently occurring in Mali. Mali’s case study exemplifies the destructive nature of some foreign aid, but that is not to say that genuine progress isn’t being made in the developing world. Even in the face of the West’s exploitative behaviors, global conditions are improving. There has been a substantial decrease in global poverty in the past 30 years and several deadly diseases, from HIV to polio, have been largely neutralized or at least severely mitigated. Some progress in these areas can be attributed to aid, but it is hard to ignore that the reason these issues were rampant in the first place is due to destruction perpetuated by imperialism. Moreover, efficient and well-intentioned foreign policies — like those preventing exploitative measures — would enable developing countries to build self-sustaining economies and improve quality of life.
Foreign aid is simply a new wave of colonialism, one part of the vicious cycle of imperialism imposed by the Western world for centuries. To see developing countries prosper, their governments must be able to break out of this cycle, which begins by completely reevaluating the concept of foreign aid.
Foreign aid is not charity — it’s a deliberate effort to influence other governments and economies, stalling self-sufficiency. To create an equitable global society, the United States and other developed and highly industrialized nations must end their exploitative practices — instead, these governments and their partners need to take accountability for their role in international inequality. By offering actual reparations, debt forgiveness and fair trade policies, developing countries can grow independently instead of being tethered. A collaborative international system is hard to achieve, but the first step is empowering everybody, and that starts by respecting national autonomy.
— Contact Zayn Bandukwalla at zbanduk@emory.edu
sa Ba faisal/staff
The Emory Wheel Arts Life&
Marina Cooley shares love of digital storytelling
By Saanvi nayar Deputy Editor
If you’re an Emory University student, you’ve likely been the target of Assistant Professor in the Practice of Marketing Marina Cooley’s marketing strategies — or at least a viewer of her and her students’ TikToks. In fall 2022, Cooley’s digital content marketing class started a collective TikTok account that amassed 10 million views and 1.8 million likes in 30 days, earning the new professor renown beyond Goizueta Business School. Cooley is a jack of many trades and a master of quite a few.
A pioneer of marketing pedagogy, Cooley previously served as senior brand manager for Honest Tea at the Coca-Cola Company, founded a peanut butter company in her twenties and most recently became a sort of influencer, showcasing a weekly hobby to her thousands of Instagram followers.
The New York Times recognized her work for integrating TikTok into the marketing curriculum and assigning student TikTokers who amass 25,000 views an A grade. Born in Latvia, Cooley’s path to academia wasn’t linear. As an only child raised on “scarcity,” she felt the weight of her parents’ dreams pressing upon her shoulders and headed to New York University’s Stern School of Business.
At university, Cooley quickly found her love of culture and people channeled through sociology, but she chose to study marketing consulting to combine passion and practicality.
She felt the sector was “closer to culture” than finance, but nevertheless a field in which she could make money. While Cooley loved the concepts of building a brand and carrying a vision through, consulting fell flat for her in terms of cultivating impact and pivoted.
“I thought that I could find a way to not love the job, but love the things that came with it, like being comfortable,” Cooley said. “It turned out that I was wrong, that I have to be deeply interested in what I’m doing — and I don’t think everyone is wired like that.”
Feeling unfulfilled, Cooley did “something ridiculous.” In 2010, as the natural food movement emerged alongside the early days of blogging, Cooley wrote a grant proposal, quit her consulting job and started Better Butter, her own peanut butter company.
“I created the brand, the story,” Cooley said. “I moved from New York to Philadelphia because it was a lower cost of living, and I rode my bike everywhere. Those are the most romantic days of my life.”
Through this venture, Cooley realized her passion for repairing the American food system.
With a “layer of peanut butter” on her at all times, she began production in commercial kitchens, communicating with bloggers to review her product and shipping jars through FedEx.
Propelled by her newfound energy for “building brands,” she earned a Robert W. Woodruff Scholarship from Goizueta with a plan.
Letting go of the “scarcity mindset,” Cooley went into her graduate education with her sights set on working for the Coca-Cola Company post-graduation to enact change in the private sector.
Reflecting on six years at the company, Cooley examined the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of her early career.
“There were a lot of really unhealthy things about the organization that I was a part of at Coke,” Cooley said.
Driven by passion as an evolving force, Cooley said that her scholarship provided her the privilege to act on this passion. After giving birth to two children, she was surprised to see an email from a former professor at Goizueta asking if she would be interested in a faculty position opening in 2021.
“I read that email, and I just knew immediately, no matter what the pay cut was, ‘this is what I wanted to do,’” Cooley said. “A true moment of clarity.”
In August 2021, as uncertainty surrounding teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic increased, Cooley stepped into her new job. Deeply aware of the pandemic’s effect on internet reliance and media
usage, Cooley realized how strongly internet culture had begun to translate through social influence, and began her teaching career with that in mind.
She credits Emory and Goizueta for allowing her to be a “non-traditional hire” and, consequently, a non-conventional teacher.
Cooley celebrates storytelling as the central tenet of marketing.
Despite having no teaching experience before Emory and “throwing a dart” with her syllabus structure, she found that teaching how to build a strong narrative — with TikTok as one vessel — is the fundamental truth of marketing.
“You should always be asking yourself, do I believe, and what would it take for me to believe?” Cooley said.
Cooley believes that in the digital age, storytelling has never been a more accessible skill.
“We’ve democratized creation, but the arc of a story has always been the same,” Cooley said. “As a consultant, as anyone selling anything, what’s the story?”
Cooley’s love of storytelling and her realism regarding the internet’s power is rooted in her foundational love for sociology. Effectively, her class prompts students to question the narratives built into Emory’s culture, building marketing strategies off of the colloquialism “the Harvard of the South” or comical digs at “finance bro” culture.
Cooley is constantly seeking ways to innovate her curriculum with the ultimate goal of teaching her students how to wield power over their platforms.
This past semester, she instituted a social media cleanse in her content marketing class from three to seven days and a reflective essay to chart students’ emotions regarding this change.
“In some of the writing, I could feel the anger oozing off the page,” Cooley said. “And then by day four or five, they’re like, ‘I think I was addicted.’”
Cooley expressed the transformative power of a liberal arts education, which reshapes the way one thinks beyond grade metrics or job offers.
When Sarah Cassell (25Ox) arrived at Oxford College in August 2023, she saw something missing on campus. She was suddenly surrounded by students who were preoccupied with STEM and pre-professional tracks like pre-medicine and pre-business. Remembering her high school experience working at the New York Citybased fashion magazine Primadonna
Zine, Cassell felt like a similar creative space needed to be brought to Oxford to highlight student artists. So, Cassell took matters into her own hands. One semester later, she led the production and release of the first issue of Eternal Magazine — Oxford’s first student-run fashion magazine and Cassell’s brainchild. “I loved working with all these different kinds of creative people, and that’s why I wanted to bring it to Oxford,” said Cassell, who serves as
See CASSELL, Page 10
Despite delays, sorority bid day brings new community
By Hunter BucHHeit
Asst. A&L Editor
The front yards of Emory University’s sorority lodges buzzed with energy on the morning of Jan. 18. Outside the entrances of the brick townhomes, members held up hair dryers to freshly painted stylized signs and ran in and out of the front doors with questions and excited greetings.
Members of Gamma Phi Beta donned matching dark red sweatshirts, while Sigma Delta Tau members sported matching pink pajama sets.
Pi Beta Phi members also had paper cutouts of berries strung around their necks, representing their newest class of best picks.
The occasion? Bid day, a moment when Emory’s sororities inform new members of their acceptance into their new lifelong communities.
The practice dates back decades — to the establishment of Emory’s sororities in 1959, a few years after the University welcomed its first co-ed class in 1953.
As preparations wrapped up at the lodges, sorority members congregated, picked up cutouts of their respective Greek letters and walked together to McDonough Field, where the potential new members (PNMs) were waiting to open envelopes with cards that
told them which sorority they would be joining.
For both the leaders and participants in the rush process, this year was especially unique.
A Georgia snowfall on Jan. 9 prevented the rush process from operating on its regular schedule, causing the second day — normally dedicated to the sororities’ philanthropies — to be combined with the first. Further, bid day was moved from Jan. 12 to Jan. 18.
The rush process began on Jan. 7 with convocation, in which PNMs met their Rho Chi groups. A temporarily disaffiliated sorority member guided each group of PNMs through the rush process.
Raina Sachdev (27C), who served as a Rho Chi this year, said it was “fun” watching PNMs move through recruitment.
For Sachdev, being a Rho Chi was a decision that reflected the exertion of participating in recruitment directly.
“I didn’t feel like I had the social battery to go through rush every day,” Sachdev said. “So, I felt like this was a much more removed position that I felt was better suited to me.”
Suzann Donovan (25C), who served as a Rho Chi alongside Sachdev, shared a similar sentiment and expressed the importance of Rho Chis throughout the recruitment process.
“It’s kind of complicated, so it’s helpful to have someone who’s been through it to ask questions to,” Donovan said.
During the first official days of rush, PNMs participated in various events, such as learning about the sororities’ values and philanthropies.
Then, on Jan. 9, participants logged onto their rush app, PNM Companion, at 10 a.m. to see what houses selected them to advance to the sisterhood round. During this stage, participants could visit up to five houses for 45 minutes to learn about the relationships between members.
As Friday’s and Saturday’s rounds were rescheduled due to snow, rush resumed on Jan. 12 with the preference round, in which participants got to visit up to two houses for one hour each. At the end of the day, participants submitted two, one, or zero houses for final consideration.
Then, on Jan. 18, dozens of PNMs who had waited nearly a week for their final decisions lingered on McDonough field. Jaire May (28C) noted that she already feels connected to the wider Emory community through the recruitment process, including with students who joined different sororities.
“Even a lot of the sororities I know I’m not going to be in, if I talk to a girl who’s in that sorority, I’ll still say ‘Hi’ to her if I see her out,” May said.
Dheyala Simrin (27C), a transfer student who arrived on Emory’s campus at the beginning of last semester, said that the recruitment process had
CAMPUS LIFE
courtesy of eternAL M AgA zine/PHotogr APH y By griffin Byrd Sarah Cassell (25Ox) poses for an Eternal Magazine photoshoot.
Music talks, poetry listens in collaborative Rita Dove reading
14. Hansel’s sister
20. TV host Meyers
23. American frontiersman Daniel
24. Good grade
26. Soak (up)
27. Singer Yoko
28. Where to get bread and dough?
29. Music, shows, comics, etc.
31. Irate
33. Burn lightly
34. Apple drink
36. Organ with a letter removed from its function
38. Utter
39. Recipe amt.
40. Test for HSers
42. Test for future atty.
44. Liquid waste
45. Novelist McCullers or QB Beck
46. Questioning question
47. The Wizard of Menlo Park
50. Plastic wrap brand
51. Kagan on the court
53. CNN anchor Burnett
55. Twirl
56. Unlike this crossword
57. Commedia dell’___
58. Loch ___ monster
60. Highest superlative prefix
61. Her partner
By Safa WaHidi Opinion Editor
An old adage attributed to Hans Christian Andersen states “Where words fail, music speaks.”
Despite the axiom, on Jan. 17 in Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, words and music worked in tandem to transcend time and explore the relationship between two virtuosos turned from allies to adversaries.
Dove’s dress shimmered under the stage lights as she captivated the crowd with her poetry and delivery, using lilting intonation to mimic the tempo changes of the violin and piano.
A collaboration between former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove and the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA), the event alternated between readings of Dove’s “Sonata Mulattica” (2009) and performances by Hannah White on violin and ECMSA Artistic Director William Ransom on piano.
“Sonata Mulattica” features a collection of poems and a short play about the friendship and fallout between violinist George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower and maestro Ludwig van Beethoven.
The performance marked the first event in ECMSA’s 2025 concert series after a previously scheduled show was canceled due to inclement weather.
Dove’s dress shimmered under the stage lights as she captivated the crowd with her poetry and delivery, using lilting intonation to mimic the tempo changes of the violin and piano.
“A lunatic angel has descended on
Vienna,” Dove said, recounting Beethoven’s initial reaction to hearing Bridgetower play the strings.
She elicited gasps and chuckles from audience members as she spoke about the pair’s alleged quarrel over a woman — a disagreement that prompted Beethoven to rededicate his “Violin Sonata No. 9,” which was originally titled “Sonata Mulattica” in an outdated reference to Bridgetower’s biracial parentage.
The sonata eventually became known as the “Kreutzer Sonata,” leaving Bridgetower largely unknown to history.
Although the real-life bond between Bridgetower and Beethoven may have been fraught, the on-stage relationship between the performers was anything but.
Ransom’s piano accompanied White’s violin synergistically, every note enveloping the grand hall.
Both musicians also listened intently as Dove spoke. Similarly, Dove smiled in observation while Ransom and White played, demonstrating a shared appreciation for different art forms.
Together, Dove, White and Ransom illustrated the breakdown of a friendship, inviting listeners to revisit music history and reimagine the inner musings of two talented musicians.
Dove concluded her reading with a chapter called “The End, With MapQuest.” Influenced by her attempt to locate the place where Bridgetower died, the final poem posed the question, “How does a shadow shine?” These words left the audience with a lingering query as palpable as a musical fermata.
Sophia Chenault (23Ox, 26C) said that she came across Dove’s work as a first-year student at Oxford College in a course led by Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing Tameka Cage Conley. Chenault attended the performance with her former professor and noted that she found Dove’s poetry “life-changing” and “poignant.”
“Her work is musical in its wording, but also accompanied with the ‘Kreutzer Sonata,’ is just perfect,” Chenault said.
Katherine Mombo (28C), a freshman who plans to double major in history and music on the violin performance track, said that while she was unfamiliar with Dove’s work before the show, Friday’s event successfully piqued her interest in reading “Sonata Mulattica.”
“I really loved how they combined the poetry and history with the music, and I think the historical aspect made the musical experience so much more immersive,” Mombo said.
While Dove has made several visits to Emory in the past — including to deliver the keynote address at Commencement in 2013 — the performance marked 22-year-old violinist White’s Atlanta debut.
In addition to playing the “Kreutzer Sonata” on Friday night, White led a violin master class open to the public on Jan. 18.
The performance attracted a vast audience of fans and unfamiliar listeners, students and visitors alike. Thays Morgan, an attendee from Brookhaven, Ga., drove to Emory specifically for the chance to see the former poet laureate speak.
“To see the representation on the stage was very moving for me,” Morgan said. “And also seeing the age differences, generationally… I just thought it was such an inclusive experience.”
Together, Dove, White and Ransom illustrated the breakdown of a friendship, inviting listeners to revisit music history and reimagine the inner musings of two talented musicians.
Evidently, in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, words never fail, music always speaks and shadows can indeed shine.
– Contact Safa Wahidi at safa.wahidi@emory.edu
Crossword
By etHan altSHul
Crossword Desk
sA fA WAHidi/oPinion editor
Hannah White, William Ransom and Rita Dove take the stage in the Cherry Logan
Corbet explores artistry, immortality in ‘The Brutalist’
By alex gerSon Arts & Life editor
“The Brutalist” (2024) is a mammoth work of art. Director Brady Corbet’s new film runs over three hours, including a 15-minute intermission. The movie was shot using VistaVision, a practically defunct process of filming that uses 35mm film stock to capture the images. The movie is an artistic undertaking comparable to the intricate Brutalist structures designed by the film’s main character, László Tóth (Adrien Brody).
The film follows Tóth, a Hungarian immigrant who escaped Europe during World War II and navigates life in the United States.
Shortly after arriving, Tóth meets Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), a wealthy benefactor who commissions him to build a large-scale community center.
“The Brutalist” explores themes of artistry, the immigrant experience in the United States and how wealth functions within those straining systems. It’s a difficult task to adequately address those heavy themes while still producing an entertaining film, yet Corbet does so deftly. He balances the heavy material with subtle humor — often making fun of Van Buren’s lack of intelligence — while maintaining seriousness and high artistry throughout.
At times, it feels that “The Brutalist” is just as much about Corbet as it is about Tóth. Tóth is a tortured artist who strives to create a building whose
legacy will last far beyond his lifetime. However, to ensure his immortality through art, Tóth has to sacrifice much of his humanity. Though Van Buren facilitates Tóth’s goals, he is also a malicious presence in the architect’s life. Throughout the film, Van Buren manipulates and, at times, subjugates Tóth. Van Buren uses his power to exploit Tóth, knowing that the architect is dependent on him to create a successful life in America.
The film also reads as an allegory for the relationship between filmmakers and production studios who finance their art. On one hand, art would be almost impossible to make without wealthy benefactors. On the other hand, these benefactors can use their monetary influence to exploit the artist and get in the way of a filmmaker’s vision. It’s not hard to imagine that Corbet, who argued in a speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month that more directors should have the final cut, sees himself in Tóth.
With “The Brutalist,” Corbet, like Tóth, strives to create a work of art that is bigger than himself. In doing so, he nods to other great American epics throughout the movie. One of the film’s opening shots shows Tóth’s upside-down view of the Statue of Liberty as he arrives in New York. The shot references the iconic statue shot when Vito Corleone arrives at Ellis Island in “The Godfather Part II” (1974). By overtly referencing other legendary films throughout “The Brutalist,” Corbet clearly states his desire to create a work that belongs in the pantheon of
Cooley talks career growth
She also emphasized how at its best, social media is a tool that can be controlled, whether to generate profit or reevaluate its presence in one’s personal life.
“The real trick is you have to create this part of yourself you’re willing to share, and to do this well you have to save a part for just you, for your family, for the people that actually know you,” Cooley said. Her teaching philosophy has expanded to reframe social media as an immutable staple in her students’ daily routines.
In doing so, Cooley imbibes her perspective on marketing as being founded in culture, making students question the role of digital storytelling every time they see an advertisement, like a post or read a headline.
Reflecting on the many hats she has worn, Cooley said she prioritizes ongoing new experiences both in the classroom and her personal life.
“If growth is one of the key ways of being happy, I live in growth,” Cooley said.
– Contact Saanvi Nayar at saanvi.nayar@emory.edu
Excitement grows at bid day
Continued from Page 8
been a “little overwhelming” but a good experience.
For Simrin, rushing was both a way to meet new people and engage further with students she had already met during her first semester on campus.
“I’ve found a lot of friendly faces on campus in even sororities I’m not doing recruitment for,” Simrin said. “I see them on campus, and it’s really nice to see.”
At 1 p.m., PNMs opened their bids, and celebratory screams rang across the lawn.
After a few minutes, they raced across the field toward their new sisters, who ran with them up the stairs behind McDonough Field toward the sorority lodges. Ansley McCaffrey (28C), a new mem ber of Alpha Delta Pi, reflected on how those first moments felt.
“It was definitely very overwhelming,” McCaffrey said. “It was a lot, but very fun at the same time.”
Rebecca Lesser (28C), who is now
film history.
That ambition is commendable — and “The Brutalist” reaches those heights quite often — but, due to the film’s clear allegory and references to previous movies, it can’t help but feel that Corbet is, at times, trying too hard to create a film that will be revered and studied for generations. I would, of course, always prefer to watch a movie aiming for such high achievements, but “The Brutalist” spends a lot of its runtime telling you what it’s trying to do. While its themes and goals can at times be overt, “The Brutalist” is still a remarkable accomplishment. The film is incredibly well-paced — its two-part structure and scene-to-scene movement make the three-and-a-half-hour runtime fly by. While shooting the movie in VistaVision is an extravagant risk, it pays off profoundly. The film is beautifully shot, capturing wide vistas in stunning detail while also portraying more intimate scenes with incredible care.
In both the film’s text and its production, “The Brutalist” focuses on artists’ desires to solidify their immortality through art. Despite the massive undertaking and his seemingly extreme goals, Corbet is often much more successful than not. Only time will tell if Corbet’s work will transcend generations and be remembered as he wants it to, but for now, “The Brutalist” should be celebrated as a massive accomplishment.
– Contact Alex Gerson at alex.gerson@emory.edu
part of Gamma Phi Beta, described her first few days in her sorority and the budding friendships between new and current members.
“All the girls are super friendly, super welcoming and they all just really want to get to know us,” Lesser said. “The events they’ve been hosting have been really cute and everything too.”
With bid day over, the most stressful part of the semester for many new members is behind them. Now is when both sides of recruitment — PNMs and current members — can reap the rewards of their effort. Dinners, socials and bonding events lie ahead.
More importantly, in the next few months — amid the dozens of fresh faces, names, stories and untold hours spent in the lodges — countless new lifelong connections will form, and bid day will be remembered as the moment those friendships first began.
– Contact Hunter Buchheit at hunter.buchheit@emory.edu
Cassell captures fashion on Oxford’s campus
Continued from Page 8
Eternal’s editor-in-chief. “I wanted to start it literally from the second that I came here.”
Last month, Cassell and other undergraduates gathered in the Oxford Student Center to celebrate the release of the magazine’s second issue.
That day, the building was adorned with soft blue and purple lighting and a huge red carpet-esque sheet of paper was spread across the floor for students to draw on. Other arts-focused organizations and students lined the walls, with some selling jewelry and others composing poetry on typewriters.
Eventgoers, including Stephanie Kola-Ogunbule (25Ox) found the event “inspiring” and “eye-opening.”
“Even though I am one of the least artistic people I know, I have to respect it,” Kola-Ogunbule said. “It’s beautiful to see how they’ve come up and I’m excited to see what they are doing next semester.”
As a fashion magazine, Eternal intentionally incorporates several other artistic mediums into its issues, including, but not limited to, photography, filmmaking and writing. The second issue, titled “Introspection,” was a collaboration between over 100 creatives on campus.
“What I like about Eternal the most is that fashion is only one part of it,” Cassell said. “It also provides opportunities for discussion about things happening in the real world or things that you’re passionate about.”
This collaboration, which defines much of the magazine’s work, also shapes the theme of each semester’s issue.
The first issue, “BREAKOUT!,” reflected upon the experience of coming to a new environment and pursuing self-discovery. The second edition builds on the first, encouraging readers to reflect and see themselves as just one part of a larger picture.
Eternal members such as Executive Beauty Assistant Amelia Mevers (26Ox) felt drawn to the theme “Introspection” as a creative inspiration and a principle to incorporate into her everyday life. Mevers believes that introspection is a “lifelong task.”
“When people are asked to think about looking in, they feel like that means that they are flawed,” Mevers said.“I would say, ‘Yeah, we are all flawed,’ but that doesn’t mean that you need to fundamentally change who you are. This issue really highlights that because it encourages you to engage with yourself in some really unique ways that are really exciting.Going forward, Cassell hopes
to introduce Eternal to the Atlanta campus. Nonetheless, she wants the magazine to keep the spirit of Oxford.
“I don’t want Oxford to get left out of the loop, because that’s something that happens a lot,” Cassell said. “It’s always Oxford kids going to Atlanta and never Atlanta kids coming to Oxford, which is unfair and creates a really big gap between the two campuses.”
To safeguard the position of Oxford students as the stakeholders of Eternal, Cassell hopes to establish clear guidelines as she graduates and moves to the Atlanta campus. Though she believes that bringing the magazine to Atlanta might help bridge the gap between the two campuses, she wants the leaders of Eternal to be from Oxford.
“I’m going to put in a rule that notes that the editor-in-chief can only be an Oxford continuee that has been involved in the magazine,” Cassell said.
As she looks to the future, Cassell is optimistic about the growth of Eternal and remains steadfast in her commitment to the arts.
“Arts really matter and that’s why I wanted to start this above all else,” Cassell said. “The bravest people are always the ones that are the artists.”
–Contact Anya Agarkar at anya.agarkar@emory.edu
PHoto M A niPuLAtion
By A Lex gerson
Hunter BucHHeit/A sst. A&L editor Members of Sigma Delta Tau wait for their new sisters to open their bid cards.
courtesy of eMory university
Professor Marina Cooley teaches marketing at Goizueta Business School Continued from Page 8
Penn State coach demands more consistency
Continued from Back Page
double-overtime thriller, clearly justifying their place in the bracket despite plenty of doubters.
Another benefit of the 12-team format is that fans can be confident the best teams are in the playoffs. Following the controversy in 2023 where some seemingly qualified teams, like the undefeated ACC champion Florida State Seminoles, were left out of the four-team playoff, with 12 teams making it every year, it is highly unlikely that a top-tier team will be left out again. Similarly, some power conferences, namely the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Big 10, have argued for a playoff expansion — including a set number of guaranteed bids for their members — because of a skill gap between themselves and other conferences. It is clear from both the underwhelming performances of the supposedly almighty SEC in playoff games and this year’s bowl game slate that any proposed expansion to the bracket that includes quotas for certain conferences is baseless.
Despite the benefits of the 12-team format, there are still some glaring issues that need to be resolved in the future, many of which stem from a lack of consistency across the sport’s conferences. Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin touched on many of these issues in a press conference before his team’s semifinal game on Jan. 9. He argued that all college football teams should be in a conference, meaning Notre Dame would have to give up its cherished independent status, and that teams should
play the same number of conference games. This seems like a logical fix to strengthen the validity of the rankings and a step toward making sure all teams have an equal playing field.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the egregious concurrence of the winter transfer portal window and some of the first playoff games. This overlap means that players on playoff teams who are looking to transfer have to choose between preparing for those important games with their teams or searching for better career opportunities elsewhere. For example, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula, who was utilized in the team’s offense in various situations, left the team seeking a transfer before their first-round matchup. This is a simple issue that the CFP committee can fix by changing the transfer window time frame to after the playoffs, so there is no reason this should still be a problem next year.
Another change I would like to see is the quarterfinal games being home games for the conference champions receiving first-round byes. Currently, the quarterfinal and semifinal games are played at neutral sites because they are both the traditional New Year’s Six games and playoff games. It is possible that as a newer college football fan, I do not appreciate the history of those games as much as some diehard fans. However, using this year’s Fiesta Bowl game as an example, why couldn’t they have still called it the Fiesta Bowl and played it at Boise State instead of in Arizona? Giving some non-powerhouse schools like Boise State the exciting opportunity to host a playoff game as a reward for winning their conference far outweighs the need to have these games at their traditional locations.
The CFP still needs work to ensure it remains fair for all teams and conferences, and there are opportunities available to increase the excitement surrounding these games, especially regarding the non-regulars that now have clearer paths to make the postseason. It is also impossible to create a system in which no team feels like they got snubbed. However, this current iteration of the bracket ensures all the best teams get the opportunity to compete and appropriately rewards conference champions, offering more entertainment for fans. As far as this current 12-team format goes, college football is on the brink of finding the sweet spot for the ideal playoff bracket.
— Contact Will Peck at will.peck@emory.edu
Veteran players lead team in historic season
Continued from Back Page
scoring.”
Despite the Eagles’ success, the team still needs to fill a few holes.
Knight said that the team needs to stay more disciplined defensively.
“When we get in foul trouble and they’re in the bonus, that changes the way we play defense,” Knight said. “We need to work on learning how to play defense and stay aggressive without fouling so that we’re not giving teams too many free throws and getting guys out of the game for the first half sitting with two fouls.”
Senior forward Logan Shanahan stressed in-game adjustments and not getting down early as key aspects of the game that need improvement.
“When one of our guys doesn’t have a good game or things start going wrong, we need to just keep it together and need other guys to step up,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan scored 27 points on 58% shooting from the field in the Eagles’ last game against Brandeis University (Mass.) He later said that the team has greatly improved in terms of adjusting, and that players have begun to step up when others are having off games.
The confident Eagles team have had a near picture perfect season so far. Along with their 13-1 record, both Knight and his junior backcourt companion Ben Pearce have reached the
1,000 point milestone. Knight did so recently in thrilling fashion, throwing down an emphatic slam against Brandeis. Zimmerman also recently won his 300th game as the Eagles’ head coach, the only coach in Emory men’s basketball history to reach that total. The team has earned wins against ranked opponents, including a gutsy win against No. 6 New York University and a 15-point victory against No. 24 John Carroll University (Ohio). Of their 13 wins, five of them have been by a 20 or more point margin. The Eagles were optimistic about success last year, and heading into the second half of this season, this optimism has morphed into an unwavering confidence.
“Knowing that there’s a chance that we could win every game, that gives us confidence to not be surprised on our performances this season.” Knight said. “It’s no longer like, ‘We can beat these guys.’ It’s more like, “If we play how we’re supposed to play, there’s no reason we shouldn’t win.’”
The Eagles will continue their journey towards the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship at home against two UAA rivals, the University of Chicago on Jan. 24 and No. 11 Washington University of St. Louis (Mo.) on Jan. 26.
— Contact Sammy Brodsky at sammy.brodsky@emory.edu
The NBA is facing a crisis: Here is how to fx it
By Spencer Friedland Managing Editor
The swan song is drawing near for the NBA’s glorious king, 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, leaving the association with an uncertain future. James, alongside Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant and Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, led the NBA to an unprecedented media rights deal earlier this year — yet despite this, the NBA is in a ratings crisis. National game ratings are down 25%, and as James’ retirement approaches, the NBA is unable to find a star to pick up the mantle. The NBA needs someone to take Lebron’s place on the throne in order to save the fledgling sport.
This isn’t the first time a major sport has struggled with ratings. MLB faced its own crisis half a decade ago. When the average age of its fans increased and the league struggled to market its star players, MLB’s situation in the late 2010s mirrored today’s NBA. The NBA should follow MBL’s lead by making changes to improve gameplay and centering a new star as the face of the league.
MLB bounces back after pandemic
After the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB saw record lows in attendance and viewership. As a last-ditch effort to avoid the fate of boxing or horse racing — going from a can’t-miss event to a niche sport — MLB instituted rule changes throughout the early 2020s. These changes consisted of decreasing overall game time, increasing pace-ofplay and creating rules that incentivized exciting gameplay.
Many older fans begrudged changes such as a pitch-clock, banning the shift, ghost runners in extra innings and bigger bases. However, changes such as a three-batter minimum for pitchers, decreased time in between innings and a cap on the amount of
mound visits per game were nearly universally applauded.
As a result, fans per game increased by 2,500, with a total of over six million more total fans attending games in 2023. Attendance continued to increase this past season as well. On top of the millions more people attending ball games each year, MLB saw a rise in average viewership among all weekly nationally televised games, as well as an increase in viewers overseas in Japan and Korea.
The rule changes were not the only reason for this success, though.
Seven seasons ago, Shohei Ohtani, a Japanese-born player with out-ofthis-world talent, made the transition to MLB from the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League. Ohtani was the first player in over 100 years to take the mound every five days as a pitcher and start as his team’s designated hitter. Last offseason, Ohtani signed a $700 million deal to join one of MLB’s biggest teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Having such a superstar join a big team was a blessing for MLB — and the league took full advantage. For
the first time ever, MLB marketed a foreign-born superstar as its most popular player, posting Ohtani regularly on Instagram and counting down batters until he batted in the World Series. The two-way superstar became must-see TV in 2024, when he made it to the playoffs for the first time in his career. Ohtani is a television draw, unlike any player since perhaps Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. MLB is not yet satisfied, though. The league continues to look into improving gameplay by instituting possible robot umpires and rules that would incentivize traditional starting pitching. This continuous improvement brought MLB a precipitous increase in ratings and attendance over the past few years, reversing the trend of what some called a “dying sport” in the early 2020s.
The NBA should follow MLB’s lead
The NBA has a lot to gain from examining MLB’s position from a few years ago.
If you ask almost any NBA fan what
they think of the current state of the game, they will say that games consist of too many three-point attempts and that every team plays the same. Currently, three-point shooting is so efficient that the average team attempts 37.6 threes per game. In the 2014-15 season, the year that Curry won his first MVP by revolutionizing three-point shooting, teams averaged 22.4 threes attempted per game — with Curry’s Warriors averaging 27 threes attempted per game. Conversely, the Boston Celtics, who lead the league in threes attempted per game, average 49 threes per game through 43 games this season.
If you turn on any NBA game this year, you will see that critics of this style of play are justified. Teams play an NBA2K brand of basketball, driving to the rim for an easy layup or kicking out to take a three-pointer. Gone are the days of distinct basketball styles — the math shows that to score points most efficiently, you must be right under the basket or taking a three.
Despite these issues, teams can not be expected to put themselves at a
disadvantage to make the game more appealing for fans. This puts NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in the same predicament MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred faced years ago. In order to address sinking ratings, changes to gameplay rules must be implemented in the NBA.
Like banning the shift in MLB, moving the three-point line further away from the basket may be met with initial dismay but will eventually improve the game. This is because as the difficulty of the three-pointer increases, the three-point percentage will decrease, making the shot less valuable.
Secondly, like MLB with Ohtani, the NBA was blessed with an absolute freak of nature in 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama. The second-year French center has the skills of a point guard and can make three-pointers at an efficient rate, and he is one of the tallest players in the NBA this year. While NBA historian Bill Simmons claims that it is impossible for the NBA to succeed with a foreign-born player such as Wembanyama as the face of the league, he is wrong. To back his claim, Simmons points to current superstars such as Denver Nuggets Center Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who despite winning MVPs never became the face of the association. Yet these are not fair comparisons; Antetokounmpo’s best years came when James, Durant and Curry still dominated the league, and Jokic is more interested in spending time with his horses in Serbia than playing basketball.
Wembanyama is coming up at a time when there is no clear best player in the world, and his skill set, like Ohtani’s, has never been seen before. If marketed correctly, the NBA could solve its star player problem and have its next glorious king.
— Contact Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu
C ourtesy of Wikimedia C ommons/Chris Gillespie
The Georgia Bulldogs were one of the four teams with a first round bye this year.
C ourtesy of Wikimedia C ommons/erik drost
Forward LeBron James has played 38 games in his 22nd NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sports The Emory Wheel
‘The team that everybody wants to be’: Swim and dive celebrates Senior Day
By SaSha MelaMud Sports Feature Desk
Cheers rang out through the George W. Woodruff Physical Education Center as senior members of Emory University’s swim and dive team ran under a bridge of their younger teammates’ arms. The swimmers’ parents greeted them at the end of the tunnel, paralleling where their careers as an Emory Eagle started — four years ago, when they were talented high school swimmers being recruited by a Division III powerhouse.
The athletes, who have since grown into valuable members of the team, honored their final season at Emory during their Senior Day meet on Jan. 18. They celebrated their contributions to the team and celebrated Emory for shaping them into the people they are today, with senior swimmer Sarah Daly even donning a Swoop-themed onesie during her entrance.
The deck was a sea of flowers and embraces, made all the sweeter when the Eagles left the meet victorious over Berry College (Ga.) and the Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.).
Captain and senior swimmer Jada Chatoor recalled how the team’s Class of 2025 began their first year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emory was still under COVID-19 protocols, which made the season difficult. However, Chatoor believes that it was because of those uncertain times that the senior class was able to bring the joy that they are now known for to every practice and meet.
“From the beginning, there was just so much infectious enthusiasm
that made the toughest practices more enjoyable,” Chatoor said. “You would see the worst set ever and someone would crack a joke and it would just become so much more of an opportunity for laughter and encouragement, but at the same time leaning towards success.”
The underclassmen notice and admire this quality in the seniors.
Freshman swimmer Allison Greeneway described how the seniors’ constant support and effort helped her break two records during her first semester at Emory. Greeneway said
she was particularly motivated by the high standards senior swimmer Jeff Echols sets for himself in practice.
“He is the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life,” Greeneway said. “I remember before I swam my [200-yard individual medley] and broke the record, I saw him and he went crazy and I was like, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”
Greeneway said her biggest takeaway from the senior class is how important it is to enjoy her time on the team because they are “never going to be able to experience this
Emory men’s basketball fres on all cylinders
By SaMMy BrodSky Asst. Sports Editor
The Emory University men’s basketball team has started their 2024-25 season in dominant form. Through the halfway point of the regular season, the team has attained a 13-1 record, going undefeated in conference play and sporting an impressive 5-1 record against ranked opponents. Compared to last year’s underwhelming 15-10 final record, the team has undergone a drastic change in a one-year span.
The roster is made up of mostly the same players as last year, with the main rotation consisting of returners.
Jason Zimmerman, who has led the Eagles for the past 16 years, remains the head coach, and the team continues to rely on their fast paced, floorstretching offense. Even with all of these consistencies, there are several major differences from last year that have contributed to the team’s success.
Junior guard Jair Knight noted the improved veteran presence on the Eagles’ roster as an explanation for their dominance, noting the team’s perseverance
“Everybody’s congratulating us on all these accomplishments and how well we’re doing this year, but we see it as one big timeline of last season to this season,” Knight said. “Now is just our opportunity to capitalize on what we did wrong and really make sure that we’re going after guys.”
Knight has been the most prominent scorer for the Eagles this season, averaging 19.6 points per game while contributing solid perimeter defense. He is currently ranked third in points per game in the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference.
Last season, the Eagles’ roster consisted of young talent, with all regular starters being second or third year players. Now with an older team, the roster is seeing more consistent production across the board. Eight of the nine players who have played over 100 minutes this season were in the rotation last season, leading to a continuity that is evident on both sides of the court. This synergy was on display immediately as the season began. The Eagles won their first 10 games and achieved a No. 1 ranking in the nation Men’s Basketball for the first time in program history in December 2024.
One of the biggest growths from last season is three-point shooting. The Emory offense has always been focused on getting up shots beyond the arc, but this season in particular, the team exhibits a stark emphasis on winning the long-distance battle. In their 14 games played, the Eagles have connected on 10.1 threes a game while only giving up 5.8 to their opponents — a significant decrease from the 8.6 threes per game they gave up last season.
A combination of defending three pointers well and leading the division
with 7.5 blocks per game has been the Eagles’ recipe for defensive consistency. Coach Zimmerman agrees that winning the three-point discrepancy is a critical aspect to their game.
“One of the strengths in modern basketball is the amount of threes that have been shot,” Zimmerman said. “Our goal is to score more points than they do and if we can do that by shooting more threes, we do it.”
The Eagles also put a big focus on moving the ball and playing unselfishly. From the first offensive play, the Eagles like to play with pace, space the court and create mismatches for their prominent scorers, and they avoid keeping the ball in one player’s hand for too long. This strategy is evident in the team statistics, as the Eagles are currently 14th nationally and third in the UAA in assists per game with 18.3. The team also is eighth in Division III in their stable 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio. Whether the notable amount of assists is due to better chemistry between players or a greater coaching emphasis, this collaboration has served as a pivotal aspect of the team’s progression.
“We’ve had three different guys in three different league games lead us in scoring, and there’s not one guy on the team that gives a rip about it,” Zimmerman said. “If we can win the game, it doesn’t matter who does the
again.” Further echoing this message, Chatoor said she hopes the freshmen continue to follow in her wake and “find fun in every moment.”
Head coach Jon Howell described how competing during the COVID-19 pandemic was not the only experience unique to the class of graduating seniors. Captains were elected much later this year than usual, but he believes that the team’s senior leadership stretches beyond the captains and that they all lead with their love for the sport.
“They’re very close and they work
really well together,” Howell said. “It’s not just a captain-led leadership, it really is a senior class-led leadership system and they’ve really embraced that.”
This year was particularly special for sophomore swimmer McKee Thorsen, as this will be his last season swimming alongside his brother, senior captain Crow Thorsen. McKee Thorsen looks up to his older brother and is glad the other underclassmen also see him as a role model. However, McKee Thorsen said every senior has played a part in making the team what it is now.
“There are a bunch of different quiet leaders in the senior class that are very, very willing to put in the hard work every day,” McKee Thorsen said. “They’re doing the right thing when nobody else is looking and that attitude has shaped, especially the men’s team, over the past few years into what it is today — which is, I’d say, the start of a dynasty.”
The Class of 2025 will graduate at the end of the year, but Chatoor said she hopes the underclassmen remember to have a team-first attitude even after she’s no longer on deck.
“Be the team that everybody wants to be,” Chatoor said. “Remember whenever you’re down on yourself, or whenever you feel like you can’t do it, or whenever you feel like you’re struggling or the world is against you, you have been chosen to be part of such an amazing, phenomenal team, and you are competing for something so much greater than yourself, and that’s something that you should be really proud of.”
— Contact Sasha Melamud at sasha.melamud@emory.edu
The new CFP format needs work, but it should stay
By Will peck Sports Editor
The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 on Jan. 20 in the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, marking the ending of the 2024 college football season and the inaugural 12-team playoff bracket. The playoff’s new format, which had expanded the previous four-team bracket, has been the topic of much debate throughout the season, and for good reason. The criteria for making the playoffs has changed, leading many to question the system for awarding the first-round byes. But despite all the talk, one thing is clear to me: The 12-team bracket is the optimal CFP format. Under the new setup, the five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic bids to the playoffs, with the top four of those teams receiving first-round byes. The rest of the non-bye teams are seeded five through 12 based on their national ranking. Opponents of this arrangement say that it favors weaker, lower-ranked conference champions, allowing them to still qualify for
the postseason ahead of others in the field. For instance, this year the Clemson Tigers qualified as the No. 12 seed despite finishing at No. 16 in the final rankings thanks to their win in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship. Critics of the new CFP format might also point to the fact that none of the five conference champions won a game in the CFP tournament this year as proof. Personally, I do not buy into this argument. I believe winning conference championships proves that teams are battle-tested for the playoffs and teams should be rewarded for rising to the occasion in those important moments. Additionally, three of the five playoff games featuring conference champions this year easily could have gone the other way. No. 1 seeded Oregon Ducks lost to Ohio State but had beaten them earlier in the season, and No. 2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs lost to Notre Dame — partly because they were without Carson Beck, their starting quarterback of two years, due to injury. The Arizona State Sun Devils nearly beat the Texas Longhorns in a
natalie sandloW/Visual & Web editor
Three swimmers dive off the block during the Senior Day meet at Emory University on Jan 18.
