RFK nomination sparks protest outside of CDC
By Natalie SaNdlow
aNd GaBriel SymeoNideS
Visual & Web Editor & Contributing Writer
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s U.S. Senate nomination hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), protesters gathered in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) headquarters on the edge of Emory University’s campus on Feb 4. to protest the nomination.
The decision to nominate Kennedy to lead HHS was met with criticism,
as he has promoted anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and disinformation related to public health in the past. However, Kennedy seems on track to become health secretary, with the Senate Finance Committee approving his nomination along party lines and setting him up for a full Senate confirmation vote in the near future.
The small group of protestors outside the CDC voiced their fears about the future of public health in the United States and spoke out against the “fascist” ideology they believe the Trump administration and the Republican Party are implementing. Supporters
‘The country is in chaos’: Korean community reflects on uncertain future
By Jerry SuN Contributing Writer
Instability and insurrection in South Korea have sent shockwaves through its economy and sparked resistance across the country, with Korean students at Emory University feeling the impacts.
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was in court on Feb. 4 for his impeachment trial, two months after he declared martial law to defend the nation from “antistate” forces that are sympathetic to North Korea. The act was met with resistance from both the public and lawmakers alike.
Korean Undergraduate Student Association Freshman Representative Cindy Lee (28C) said that she was taken aback by the news.
“Martial law in a democratic republic, in modern day, is crazy,” Cindy Lee said.
Less than two hours after martial law was imposed, the national assembly lifted it through a unanimous vote. The opposition party soon made motions to impeach the president, the second of which succeeded on Dec. 14, 2024.
Jay Lee (26Ox), an international student from Busan, South Korea, said the political tension has dam-
aged South Korea’s international image.
“It was supposed to be one of the best democratic countries in the world, but then this martial law thing happened, and that got people questioning the democracy in Korea,” Jay Lee said.
Immediately following the law’s announcement, thousands of angry South Koreans flooded the streets of Seoul, South Korea in protest. People gathered in front of the National Assembly Building demanding Yoon’s impeachment, facing off against the police and guarding the building.
Cindy Lee also stated she felt deeply moved by the active roles young women have played throughout this crisis and has faith in the younger generations to continue defending a democratic Korea despite anxiety about the nation’s future.
“I’ve actually heard a couple of my Emory friends talking about being … nervous about holding Korean nationality,” Cindy Lee said.
Cindy Lee discussed this fear in the context of South Korea’s long history with military dictatorships. She explained that the country struggled against a dictatorial government until a democratic uprising caused democratic consolidation in 1987.
affiliated with coalition organization Refuse Fascism led the protest with signs saying, “In the name of humanity we refuse to accept a fascist America” and “No RFK Jr.”
One sign depicted Trump dressed in a Ku Klux Klan hood beneath the phrase “Mein Trumpf,” in reference to Adolf Hitler’s manifesto, “Mein Kampf.” Additionally, protesters chanted and cheered phrases such as “No Trump, no RFK, no fascist U.S.A.,” as cars drove by, some honking in approval.
By JacoB muScoliNo Asst. News Editor
Nine months after law enforcement agencies arrested 20 Emory University community members at a pro-Palestinian encampment, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to deport non-citizens who participated in proPalestinian protests, which a White House fact sheet described as “pro jihadist” demonstrations. One of 45 executive orders, the Jan. 29 directive promises to “combat the explosion of anti-Semitism” by deporting and canceling the student visas of “Hamas sympathizers.” While the legal statuses of the arrestees are unknown, the order outlined has the potential to threaten Emory students.
While Emory declined to provide additional information the Jan. 29 executive order, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Ravi Thadhani and Interim Provost Lanny Liebeskind wrote in a Jan. 28 email to the Emory community that the University is working to understand recent government directives, including Trump’s attempt to freeze federal funding. Thadhani and Liebeskind wrote that they will communicate additional information as it becomes available.
“Many specifics remain unknown,” Thadhani and Liebeskind
Emory Independents club aims to foster discourse
By KimBle Schiller OxSGA Desk
Despite the long history of the twoparty system in the United States, more people are identifying as politically independent. However, unaffiliated voters were not officially represented by any student organization at Emory University. Hugo Rosen (28C) and Benjamin Braun (28C) recognized this fact while discussing political views, which inspired them to found Emory Independents.
The group aims to facilitate political discourse and critical thought about current events without submitting to party ideologies or polarization, according to Emory Independents Secretary Katherine Mombo (28C). She works alongside Rosen, who serves as president, and the club’s co-vice presidents, Braun and Oz Alon (28C).
Mombo expressed her desire to foster an environment where people can share their beliefs with others and be met with understanding and open dialogue.
“The most important ideas don't come from echo chambers,” Mombo said. “They come from conversations, and they do come from disagreement, and we have to confront the difficult conversations head-on if we want to ultimately make progress.”
Emory Independents’ nonpartisan structure sets them apart from clubs
wrote. “We understand that many of you are concerned about the impact of these changes on your academic and research pursuits. We have received your messages and share your concerns.”
Trump’s references to increased antisemitism likely refer to an escalation in antisemitic attacks following the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center on Extremism reported that from Oct. 7, 2023 to Sept. 24, 2024, antisemitic incidents increased by over 200% compared to the year prior.
Eagles for Israel did not respond to The Emory Wheel’s request for comment on the executive order. However, in the larger Jewish community, leaders have both praised and condemned the executive order.
Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of the Jewish educational non-profit Aish, commended Trump’s executive order for addressing the threat of “proHamas” students.
“There is a very real threat posed to U.S. colleges by those who support terrorist organizations like Hamas,” Burg told Fox News Digital. “Many Jewish students have been living in fear for more than a year.”
However, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs Amy Spitalnick contended that actions like this tend to erode democratic values.
“It is both possible and necessary
like the Young Democrats of Emory or the recently restarted Emory College Republicans. As part of the club constitution, Emory Independents will never endorse any political candidate or policy, according to Braun.
Braun said people hold misconceptions surrounding the club’s ideology, mainly due to people attempting to assign them one.
“People thought that I was starting the centrist club, the no strong opinions club, the libertarian club or the Green Party club,” Braun said. “That's not what we are.”
According to Braun, Emory Independents seeks to encourage discourse on campus by creating an open space where anybody can “feel comfortable” engaging with politics without having to agree with a specific set of views.
Alon highlighted that this places Emory Independents in a unique position to mediate debates between the two sides. He also emphasized the importance of objectivity in the political realm.
“The nature of Georgia being a swing state means that there is both a Republican and Democrat presence,” Alon said. “By having Emory Independents run that portion of politics, we'd be better suited to explain those nuances with very little bias in either direction.”
See NEW, Page 3
to directly confront and address the crisis of antisemitism, on campus and across our communities, without abandoning the fundamental democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many others, to thrive here,” Spitalnick said in a statement. Anti-Muslim sentiment also increased in the months following Oct. 7, 2023, with a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) finding that in the first half of 2024 there was a 69% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes. At Emory, the Georgia chapter of CAIR and Palestine Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP) to address potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
ESJP President Ibrahim, who requested to be identified by his first name due to safety concerns, said the executive order was “not a surprise.”
However, Ibrahim said that most ESJP members are U.S. citizens and that international students involved in ESJP are aware of the risk of protesting directly. Ibrahim said the University is working with international students who may be affected by the executive order to ensure they are safe and have a plan if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement visits campus. The Office of International Student and Scholar Services declined to provide
Natalie Sa Ndlow/ViSual & web editor
Protestors rally against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing.
South Korean community discusses political turmoil
Continued from Page 1
“Even though Korea is a democratic country, it hasn’t been very long since we actually became democratic in a true sense,” Cindy Lee said.
The political turmoil has also damaged South Korea’s economy, with major stocks and the South Korean won plummeting to the lowest levels in years.
Jay Lee expressed his frustration about the won’s depreciation. Lee explained that as a result of the won’s plummeting value, his family decided to postpone making a large purchase until the currency strengthened.
“My parents told me to never save on food, but they did tell me to try to save money in general because the Korean won is just so cheap right now,” Jay Lee said.
Reflecting on recent evolutions in South Korean politics, Fulbright Korea Distinguished Chair Suk Koo Rhee highlighted the differences between Yoon’s impeachment with former South Korean President Park Geun Hye’s impeachment in 2016, which both involved bribery cases and sparked widespread public uproar.
“The cause of Park Geun Hye’s impeachment, the reason was that she allowed her confidants to influ ence the affairs of the state. You are not supposed to allow your friends to [influence the state] without offi cial titles, right?” Rhee said. “But this time it’s much graver than that because the president imposed a martial law when there were no grounds for declaring a martial law.”
Rhee explained that martial law can only be declared when the state’s from 33 to 36%, while support for his impeachment has fallen from 62 to is known for using unjust tactics to attack opponents within his party, Rhee expressed his faith in the people to restore democracy, even
additional information.
“There’s always ways that you can be an effective protestor or advocate without taking risks,” Ibrahim said. “But always keep your safety in mind first.” Ibrahim said he saw some students “celebrate” the executive order, which disheartened him. In the context of Trump’s other recent actions regarding immigration, Ibrahim said he was concerned this rhetoric would promote xenophobia on campus.
“I thought that the Emory community has really taken a stance against Trump and against his racist and Islamophobic laws and executive orders and rhetoric,” Ibrahim said. “It’s very disappointing to see some
people endorse that rhetoric when I know these people are anti-Trump, but all of a sudden they’re endorsing one of his most Islamophobic acts.”
Elijah Brawner (26T), who participated in the April 25 encampment on the Quadrangle and various other pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus, blamed former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration for handing Trump a “loaded gun” to effectively pass orders like this. According to Brawner, Biden provided Trump justification to target pro-Palestinian protestors by labeling the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidary network, which some pro-Palestinian organizations support, a terrorist organization.
“It was only a matter of time before somebody pulled the trigger
on attacking the rest of the proPalestine movement for their connection to what was honestly a pretty benign organization,” Brawner said.
Ibrahim and Brawner found it disappointing that the order is angled to combat antisemitism. Brawner argued that Trump should begin his fight against antisemitism by starting with “his first buddy who repopularized the Roman salute,” referencing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s supposed Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration.
Ibrahim shared this sentiment, saying that Trump pardoning neoNazis and censoring students is “hypocritical” to his attempts to combat antisemitism. Ibrahim also warned against associating Judaism with pro-Israel views.
“To conflate a state that commits war crimes with an entire religion that’s represented by hundreds of thousands of people across the world — it’s a very dangerous conflation to make,” Ibrahim said.
Some Jewish people strongly associate with Israel, with the American Jewish Committee reporting in 2023 that eight in 10 Jewish Americans surveyed said that supporting Israel is a part of their Jewish identity. Rabbi and Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College (N.H.) Shaul Magid said in a New York Times article that Judaism and support for Israel are inextricable, describing Israel as a “substitute” for Jewish identity. However, not all American Jews align with
“If the people want it, they will have it back,” Rhee said. “It is just a matter of time. History progresses, it may take a few steps back, but it will — Contact Jerry Sun at jerry.sun@emory.edu
Zionism, with organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace advocating for Palestinian liberation.
At Emory, the protests and divides on campus demonstrated the nuance of so-called “pro-Israel” and “proPalestine” views. While time will tell how Trump’s order will be enforced on campus, according to Brawner, international students have the support of pro-Palestine organizations.
“They have our support behind them, and we’re there with them 100% because those are our comrades, those are our friends, those are our classmates, no matter which decision they make,” Brawner said.
— Contact Jacob Muscolino at jake.muscolino@emory.edu
Saba FaiSal/Sta FF illuStrator
Jack rutherFord/NewS editor
New group to bring dialogue amid political division
Continued from Page 1
Mombo said there is hope that, along with encouraging deep conversation and analysis, the club will promote inclusivity and unity.
“Many of the things that people want, regardless of political belief, are the same,” Mombo said. “People really just want safety, liberty, rights and the pursuit of happiness, ultimately. And by fostering these meaningful discussions, we’re hoping for people to ultimately realize that we have more in common than we don't.”
According to Rosen, the club has submitted their charter application and expects an initial status update on March 7. However, the group already hosted their first meeting on Jan. 28 and has plans for events in the near future. Rosen noted that the club will host a discussion on the history and current situation of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Feb. 12. The talk will feature Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies Geoffrey Levin.
Braun added that the club plans to bring in guest speakers and organize events for the broader Emory community in the future.
For Braun, political non-affiliation means being true to oneself through self-education and critical thinking, even when it is easier to conform.
Mombo illustrated the necessity of empowering students with the skills to bring these values of respectful discussion and open dialogue to Emory “to break down barriers.”
“You can’t refute an argument unless you understand all of the perspectives of that argument,” Mombo said. “Emory Independents is an organization that aims to help students understand all of the perspectives and then come away from those discussions either choosing a new perspective or even choosing to not have an opinion at all and just understanding that each side can have valid claims.”
— Contact Kimble Schiller at kimble.schiller@emory.edu
'Faculty for Emory' group aims to reprioritize academic focus
By hilary BarKey Science & Technology Desk
Some Emory University professors are speaking out against an administrative culture that they believe focuses less on faculty input and more on outside administrative influence. Recently, 11 named professors convened the group Faculty for Emory (FFE), now a collective of 64 faculty members mostly from Emory College of Arts and Sciences (ECAS), which aims to “reemphasize our academic mission and the faculty’s role in it.”
The group seeks to increase focus on teaching and administrative input from classroom educators on University policies that affect academic affairs, according to University Senate Open Expression Committee Chair Ilya Nemenman, who also serves as Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of physics. According to Nemenman, one of the original conveners of FFE, one of FFE’s primary aims is to address the University’s lack of communication across its colleges.
“One of our goals is to just establish this group as a sort of place where faculty from all schools at Emory can share our concerns and develop a collective common vision,” Nemenman said.
Nemenman as well as ECAS Faculty Senate President-elect Clifton Crais, another initial convener of FFE and a professor of history, said that the majority of FFE signatories are ECAS faculty due to difficulties they experienced with communicating with faculty across colleges at Emory.
“There’s no standard way for us to actually [share] concerns,” Nemenman said. “There is no mailing list, no collective faculty meetings where we all can get together and understand what our concerns are, and what [the Emory University] School of Medicine faculty’s concerns are, or Public Health, or Law.”
In the upcoming months, FFE also aims to establish a faculty group to oversee and have a say in University budgets, according to Nemenman.
“It’s very difficult to contribute meaningfully to remaking the institution unless you know what the boundary conditions are — how much money we have and where it’s being spent,” Nemenman said.
Furthermore, FFE wants to work toward a procedure allowing faculty input on policies affecting academics — input which, according to Nemenman, is very minimal at the moment.
The group’s final main goal is to engage more with the University Board of Trustees to explain the differences between a corporate structure and a University structure. According to Nemenman, there are currently no academics on the board.
“Many other institutions, on their boards, have academics who understand very well the value of an academic culture and the importance and the differences between the corporate culture and the academic culture,” Nemenman said. “The Emory board doesn’t have that.”
Richard Kahn, professor emeritus of biochemistry at the medical school, is also a signatory of FFE. As one of four named signatories from the medical school, Kahn said that while he is not a part of ECAS like the majority of signatories, he still resonated with FFE’s position on teaching and how it had become “less and less of a focus at the University” during his 28 years at Emory.
He stated that he feels Emory has become much more “corporate” in recent years, focusing more on grant money and less on teaching. According to Kahn, the biochemistry department, which used to teach three courses but now teaches none, serves as an example of Emory’s movement
away from teaching.
“The only question that gets discussed in annual reviews is how much grant money you’re bringing in,” Kahn said. “Given that environment, it makes it very hard for those of us who are actually really dedicated or want to teach and want to get involved.”
Pamela Scully, Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and African studies, was another initial convener of FFE. She described feeling as though the role of faculty for input at higher levels of the University has been “diminished”.
According to Scully, who worked in various administrative offices at Emory from 2013-2021, Emory used to temporarily hire faculty for administrative roles, but has moved away from doing so — a change she expressed concern with.
“It used to be that the provost office was really staffed by faculty like myself who would take three, four years and work in the provost office and then return to their faculty position, and increasingly, if you look at who’s in the provost office, it’s not faculty,” Scully said.
Another concern of Scully’s that spurred her to join FFE surrounded the reported lack of faculty input in University President Gregory Fenves’ decision to publish an addendum to Emory’s Respect for Open Expression Policy in August 2024.
“The president of Emory … basi-
cally rewrote policies with regard to open expression without consulting the Open Expression Committee of the University Senate,” Scully said.
Kahn described joining FFE due to concerns similar to Scully’s regarding how administrative staffing had changed over his time at Emory. He expressed frustration with staffers, saying that oftentimes, they lack teaching experience yet still dictate classroom practices.
“Every dean that comes in increases the size of their staff,” Khan said. “Why? It’s not that the workload has increased … And yet, often they [staff members] are junior people just coming out of a master’s degree, trying to tell me how I should be teaching.”
Nemenman clarified that the group is intentionally nonpartisan to unite all faculty.
“We are explicitly only focused on these ideas of primacy of the educational mission, of shared governance with faculty, academic freedom, open expression, all the things which we think are essential for the University,” Nemenman said.
Crais also clarified that the group is not against the University administration.
“To be clear, we are not anti-administration in the sense of the word,” Crais said. “We are rather for reimagining the partnership between faculty and administration with the goal of making Emory as outstanding as it can be.”
Since FFE only officially formed at the end of the fall 2024 semester, Nemenman, Crais, Scully and Kahn all said the group has not achieved any of the previously outlined goals yet. However, Crais has written motions about the “importance of financial transparency as well as the more effective management of policies” to be heard before the College Senate soon.
“If we believe in education, which we do, and we really love our institution, which we do, and we really want to give our students the very best education possible, then we have to do something,” Scully said.
Emory did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
— Contact Hilary Barkey at hilary.barkey@emory.edu
Emory students speak out against RFK, Trump administration
Continued from Page 1
An organizer for the event, Charles Abrams, spoke about defending public health and science against Kennedy’s rhetoric.
“RFK is definitely putting forward an anti-scientific approach, and that is really deadly when it comes to public health — not only here but all around the world,” Abrams said. “It goes in line
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Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University in Atlanta. The Wheel is a member publication of Media Council, Emory’s organization of student publications. The Wheel reserves the rights to all content as it appears in these pages, and permission to reproduce material must be granted by the editor-in-chief.
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with Trump’s overall policies of pulling out of the World Health Organization, cutting off funding for USAID and his overall attack on rational thinking.”
Abrams remarked that Kennedy is willing to yield to Trump’s policies no matter Kennedy’s own beliefs or previous views, making him fully complicit.
One protestor read a statement from someone who had contracted polio before there was a vaccine. The polio survivor criticized Kennedy’s stance on vaccines, recalling that the nationwide distribution of the first polio vaccine had “essentially wiped out” polio.
“We cannot have such a person in charge of the nation’s health,” the polio survivor wrote. “It’s worse than dangerous.”
Another protestor read a statement from an unnamed public health professional working at HHS.
“This administration has already backed policies that are anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Black and anti-immigrant,” the statement said.
“Naming RFK as the head of HHS only furthers the harm to the health and
well-being of humanity.”
A group of Emory students found their way to the protest from a flier they saw posted in the Dobbs Common Table. Jesse Stephens (28C) said that Kennedy does not reflect the interests of the people, regardless of political party.
“The purpose of public health is public safety and the welfare of the citizens,” Stephens said.
“It’s supposed to be one of our guaranteed rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Likewise, Colin Connery (28C) criticized new CDC policies under Trump which he said are hurting public health. He added that it was important to protest the Trump administration, calling some of its policies “Nazi-esque.”
“I can’t just stand by idly and watch this happen,” Connery said. “That’s why it’s good to get out, and change happens at the grassroots. So here we are.”
Stephens specifically criticized Kennedy, emphasizing that Kennedy is not “the answer” to the United States’ health issues.
“Someone running our health and taking money away from research that is based in science and taking away from things like vaccines that have … hundreds of years of precedence … it makes no sense,” Stephens said. “It’s lunacy, in my opinion.”
— Contact Natalie Sandlow at natalie.sandlow@emory.edu and Gabriel Symeonides at gabriel.symeonides@emory.edu
k eV iN a N/coN tributiNg Photogra Pher Faculty protest the University administration last semester.
Natalie Sa Ndlow/ViSual & web editor Will Barrett (28C) speaks to protestors in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Emory Wheel Opinion
Dear Doolino, love is not in the air — help!
By Doolino Campus OverlOrd
Dear Doolino,
My Marriage Pact match is a freak — help me find a man before Valentine’s Day!
Sincerely,
Dateless at the Altar
Dear Dateless at the Altar,
Christmas cheer and New Year’s Eve toasts have long since melted away with the short-lived snowfall, and the time has come for a holiday more festive — and brutal — than both Christmas and New Year’s combined. That’s right. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and it appears that you are undeniably and inescapably screwed. However, don’t let your dismal romantic prospects sour your holiday.
Even if your three-month situationship has just ended in tragedy and you have the aura equivalent of Emory University’s Goodrich C. White Hall on a good day, you can still partake in the spirit of the season. While I pride myself on being above all kinds of petty mortal nonsense, I must confess that your favorite skeleton has a soft spot in his rib cage for romance. If I had eyes instead of empty sockets made of bone, they would be filled with hearts and confetti.
Many people are still reeling after the results of the Emory Marriage Pact survey came out last week, and with this day of romance soon upon us, many partnerships and couplings could take the leap from algorithmic banter to official coupledom.
I would have filled out the Marriage Pact myself, but unlike some of you wide-eyed first-years pining over your resident advisors, I do not believe in what the TikTok tropes of today refer to as “age-gap romances.” At hundreds of thousands of years
old, I believe that pursuing a significantly younger beau could introduce an unhealthy power dynamic, and unlike some of Emory’s senior men, I am not attracted to those who are younger and more naive than I am (also, I am simply too far out of everyone’s league). While it seems like you, Dateless, have failed to spark a connection with your freak, some have succeeded.
To these lucky few, I wish you the best of luck on this hallowed day. If you are looking for advice on how to seal the deal, I would suggest reminding your partner of the lie that you certainly told on the Marriage Pact quiz — that you are smarter than 99% of students at Emory. While reality may beg to differ, your supposed brilliance will dazzle your match too much for them to question it.
Unfortunately, the Marriage Pact is not infallible, and it seems as though you were one of the unlucky
students whose match simply missed the mark. Do not despair — all hope is not lost. Maybe you matched with the human embodiment of a red flag (although for some of the more desperate students among us, this may not be a problem). Maybe someone tragically ghosted you after trying and failing to craft the perfect introductory message.
Perhaps you actually did connect with your match, but your lack of flirting expertise combined with their unmatchable freakiness led to a fumble more tragic and painful than students missing their nightly Twisted Taco due to snow closures.
Regardless of your circumstances, you still have time to locate, charm and secure the perfect mate. Hopefully, this will happen just in time for an Instagram hard launch that will make all of your singlefriends deliciously jealous.
It is possible that your match was not made in heaven — or, rather, in
my case, hell — because he is a man. If you are still interested in pursuing a man despite your experience with the Marriage Pact, first of all, my condolences.
If you insist on carrying out this endeavor, I will give you the advice you so desperately desire. My time on this wretched plane of existence has taught me that there are two types of men: Goizueta Business School students and everyone else. Your romantic approach will depend on which genre of man you wish to pursue.
However, I must warn you — if you are looking for a man in finance, your efforts will have to involve a 401k, a human sacrifice and the betrayal of your dignity, morals and self-esteem. Ask yourself, dear reader, is he worth it? The answer depends entirely on your level of desperation.
Perhaps your match’s unfortunate levels of freakiness are a sign that you should try dating women
instead. As a time-defying, genderless skeleton, I stand for equality — unfortunately, it is my duty to inform you that women are just as difficult to date as men, if not more so. However, if a woman at Emory catches your eye, there are still some foolproof methods that you can utilize to grab her attention. If you are in any way artistically inclined, then you may ensnare a woman through the fabulously romantic craft of music.
If you see a woman that you are interested in, pick up a guitar and serenade her, wooing her with a time-honored classic such as Oasis’ “Wonderwall” (1995) or Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” (2014). Personally, I have always preferred tunes that are more applicable to myself, such as Tiësto’s “Feel It In My Bones (feat. Tegan & Sara)” (2009), Kate Nash’s “Skeleton Song” (2007) and Johnnie Taylor’s “Love Bones” (1969).
Whether you are getting engaged to your soulmate this Valentine’s Day or simply hoping for some nervous, touch-starved finger-brushing, I wish you all the best.
Remember, Emorians: Love is a wonderful and mysterious thing, but the one person you should always count on to love you is yourself. So be gentle with yourself, whether or not you have someone to be rough with you.
If that was too vulgar, I apologize — I was recently forced to loom over “Dirty Rush,” and I fear I will never be the same again. Good luck, Dateless, and good luck to the many other would-be romantics. I wish you the truest and purest love around — a love strong enough to wash down the bad taste left by the campus’s contaminated water and replace it with the sweet feeling of contentment. Protect your hearts, dear Emorians, and always remember: Doolino knows best.
Find Doolino six feet under the Quadrangle.
Lola McGuire
sasha emmeriCh/staff illustratOr
Staff article: For Valentine’s Day, turn to the power of words
By opinion staFF
To be an Opinion writer is to love words. Our words, whether in the form of op-eds, editorials or personal narratives, inspire us to seek out different perspectives, contextualize current events and exchange ideas in the hope that good writing will bring us together — no matter how divided we may seem.
Our section’s affinity for words draws us to celebrate this Valentine’s Day with a collection of short love stories, each 100 words or less. Inspired by The New York Times, we have compiled a collection of miniature anecdotes commemorating the people, places and passions that make up the mosaic of Emory University.
While love means more to us than we could ever put into only 100 words, in this project, we seek to share just a glimpse of what makes those things we love so special.
Lola McGuire, Opinion Editor
Every day, I fall in love with the sun. Each morning, the sunbeams strike my kelly green comforter.
I rise as my coffee gurgles and fills up my striped green mug. I watch as the steam refracts the pink, orange and yellow sunrise against the wall — a rainbow is formed.
I walk to my classes, stepping where the sun reigns. The crisp, green grass of the Quadrangle calls my name, and I find tranquility.
I fall in love with peace found under the sun, with comfort found under the sun and with my people under the sun.
Ellie Fivas, Managing Editor
I didn’t learn to love myself until I recognized my similarities to my dad. Everything I love about him, I see shining through in myself.
At every turn of my life, my dad has never stopped looking me dead in the eyes while urging, “Ellie, you can do this. Do not doubt yourself.” When I struggle, he is more than a cheerleader — he’s a coach. College is hard: I have repeatedly struggled with loving myself. But I only ever have to look 121 miles north to remember that I deserve to love myself as much as I love my dad.
Safa Wahidi, Opinion Editor
Sunday mornings at Emory’s Clairmont Campus consist of waking up to the first glimmers of sunlight, drawing the blinds, smelling croissants and hearing the sounds of doors thudding. These mornings are the anticipation of the week ahead and the realization that yet another week has passed.
Sundays are the knowledge that whatever life may bring, there will always be somebody one door down to lean on.
There will always be a window to watch the seasons change through. And, there will always be croissants in the oven. Sunday mornings are real love — and they are worth waking up to.
Olivia Stanley, Staff Writer
When I imagine falling in love with words, a little blue book comes to mind.
As a young reader, I adored my grandmother, Barbara, who published a sky-blue paperback book when I was in middle school. When she suddenly died in 2020, grief stole the drive I
had to follow in her footsteps. Then, I re-read her book. Turning its pages, I watched my grandmother come back to life and remembered my dream.
Barbara taught me that I am a writer, just like her. I am a story unwritten, and I will live until my pages are full.
my living room. Sitting on the couch with my brother, our world shrinks to fast breaks, one-legged LaMelo threes and the blind faith that maybe, just maybe, this time will be different. Hornets fans don’t cheer for parades — we cheer because we can’t help it. We love our basketball team because even after nine straight years without
Nico Mestre, Contributing Writer
When I was 10 years old, I raced my friend at our local ice rink and fell on my face, splitting the skin beneath my lip. I thought I’d never skate again. The 2014 Winter Olympics were the following year, and man, did those figure skaters fly. Over the next five
Chloe Nam, Asst. Sports Editor
As kids, my sister and I would stay up past our bedtime for our dad to come home from work. Sprawled on the couch, we would drift off, heads bobbing with our waning consciousness. When we finally heard the garage door opening, we would jerk awake and race to greet him.
His scrubs always smelled like disinfectant — strange but comforting. After hugging us, he would drop a few coins into our palms. Our goal was to fill our piggy banks. We stopped asking for coins after a few years, but my piggy bank still sits on my bookshelf, almost full.
Hunter Buchheit, Asst. Arts & Life Editor
Driving to Starbucks with my best friend before sitting in our high school parking lot. Walking the halls and embracing the people who moved through adolescence alongside me. Racing through suburban streets at dusk. It’s all gone now. Some people have drifted away, and some drifted closer to me. A year removed from high school, I’m surrounded by new people I’ve found at Emory. But my love for that awkward, messy, angsty and beautiful era of my life has never been stronger. Those years — and those people — helped push me toward myself and toward the life I’ve waited years for.
Ethan Jacobs, Asst. Opinion Editor
Nothing feels more like home than watching my Charlotte Hornets lose in
making the NBA playoffs, it takes just one contagious “Hum diddly dee!” from announcer Eric Collins to have us smiling ear to ear, ready to be back for the next game.
Josselyn St. Clair, Contributing Writer
The skyscrapers are sleek and vibrant, jutting in front of each other to impose themselves over the Atlanta skyline. The first time I saw the buildings, I pressed my face against the glass as my train raced closer toward them. I held my breath out of reverence and awe. The thrill rushed through my body at the thought of all that was possible beneath the glimmering lights, and I felt so free. Witnessing this beautiful collage of creativity and ingenuity is still exhilarating. I am falling into the lights, knowing that my love for this city will never diminish.
Satvika Bharadwaj, Contributing
Writer
My love for words and books began when I was 6, walking to the library with my mom — Ma, as I call her. She borrowed books, and I got to pick two comic books each month. I still remember the stacks of novels and the scent of old paper.
Books have always felt like home, maybe because they remind me of those walks with Ma. Years later, in high school, my mother was my chemistry teacher. In class, I called her ma’am.
But chemical symbols never held the same weight as words, and ma’am was never the same as Ma.
that, I am grateful.
Noble Garcia, Staff Writer
Love is hard for me to define. If there is a feeling of mine that is close to love, then it pops up in conversation. I have dreamed of meeting someone with whom I can talk endlessly about any interest. There were times when someone nearly met that standard, and I’m better for every chance I spend with a person so wonderful. Their humor and talent have been the light that has led me through the most miserable moments of my life. Without this friend, I would not be nearly as present in anything I experience. Thank you to KY.
Davis Swann, Contributing Writer
I love the land that has raised me. Back then, it was my backyard with its towering poplars and the path to school that snaked between sweetgums and wild strawberries. Now, it’s the creek circling my new house, the clover field my father planted where the deer gather each evening, and the powerline clearings I hike with friends. Every November, it’s the Christmas tree farm hills where I’ve played, cried and laughed wildly since I was a baby. Land reminds me that I’m permanent, and that what I create with the gift of my body means something.
Kristen Seo, Contributing Writer
I occasionally reflect on my old journal entries and travel to the past. In my dorm room, I smile as Kristen from the past exclaims, “I got into Emory!” I listen to her ramble about her crush, knowing we are now together.
years, I got used to the dizziness of spinning on the tip of my blade. Who would I be without knowing how to land on my feet? To fall? It was an unlikely love, but I don’t know who I would be if I’d let the scar define me.
Cayden Xia, Asst. Opinion Editor
A black sky, littered with tiny white lights, envelops me. I intently stare at it, tracing an invisible line between the stars and hoping to make out the constellations. My friends are around me, connecting the dots and pointing out the Big Dipper, Orion’s Belt and the brightly shining North Star. The lulling sounds of nature pass by in the background, and tonight, in the secluded woods of Acadia National Park, I’m only focused on the vast and expansive universe.
Experiences like this are rare to come by, but when they do, I love every moment of them.
Alex Kauffman, Senior Staff Writer
I met my first girlfriend on Among Us in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we often socialized with mutual friends on a Discord server. In a haze of sleep-deprived Minecraft gaming, she said she wanted to date me. We met in person one month later. We broke up last December. It’s over, and I don’t regret it. I cherish everything colored by her — the Minecraft server, senior prom, In-NOut milkshakes, the color orange and the rest. I don’t know if I’ll ever experience another meet cute as funny as an Among Us gaming session, and for
As I continue reminiscing, I realize my adventures will one day become pages for future Kristen to revisit. I remind myself that if my worries from the past worked out, then my present self will be OK as well. My journals are a time capsule for my memories as I develop a profound love for my experiences.
Haley Huh, Copy Chief I only see this friend a few times a year, but I carry the embers of her intentionality and firm commitment to life every day. One of my closest friends is now 9,947 miles away, but her curiosity about people and the world feels just as close. My boyfriend and I may not always agree, but we enrich each other’s lives, and he is deeply ingrained in the fabric of my childhood and my story. I am the people dear to me, and I am also a part of the wonderful, ever-changing mosaic that is them.
Asmita Lehther, Contributing Writer
Piping hot mac-and-cheese and cold metal spoons. The first time I burnt my tongue was at my friend’s house. At 6, play dates were a luxury I had only begun to explore. Driving home in our wine-tinged Toyota, the radio softening our sparse dialogue, I fantasized about the meal my mom had prepared. Her words of affection were few, but she sang life into her home-cooked meals. I’d remind myself that, even on the darkest day, her elbow pasta with gouda cheese would light me up (not set me on fire). My mom told me she loved me with pasta.
sasha emmeriCh/staff illustratOr
No funding, no future: Students graduate into hopelessness
We’re less than a month into the semester, but end-of-year festivities at Emory University are already picking up: Seniors are seeking post-graduate employment opportunities, the University is bestowing honors for graduating seniors and students are making plans for their last moments at Emory.
Concurrently, the world is in turmoil. U.S. President Donald Trump, only a few weeks into office, has flipped the country on its head. He withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), issued executive orders banning funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and promised mass deportations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers targeting undocumented immigrants. While this chaos will impact all Americans, Emory students are bound to bear witness to these changes on our own campus in Atlanta. However, even as we enter a discouraging world, graduating students and professionals alike must remain firm in their advocacy, fueled by the imperative to prevent further abuses of justice.
Trump rips away opportunities in public health research for students and faculty
When the Trump administration announced its plan to withdraw the United States from the WHO, universities, including Emory, faced sudden and massive disruptions in their partnerships with the international organization.
The WHO serves as a global authority for coordinating health issues, setting medical guidelines for the world to follow. Emory, having one of the world’s preeminent public health programs, relies on WHO funding to conduct research on vaccines and disease prevention. In February 2024, Emory’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine became the first WHO Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation in the United States. Meanwhile, the Emory Vaccine Center is also active in WHO groups working on vaccine policies regarding polio, measles and rubella — proof of the University’s deep engagement with the WHO to advance healthcare research and treatment.
If the United States remains outside of the WHO, Emory researchers will likely no longer be able to engage in international collaboration with other WHO researchers, which has been crucial to its ongoing projects in epidemiology and infectious diseases. The withdrawal will disrupt the accessibility of critical information to address worldwide public health threats — ultimately weakening the public health field.
Emory’s WHO Collaborating Centre Director Sara Pullen (09PH) criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the WHO, calling it “extremely short-sighted.” According to Pullen, this decision will “directly negatively affect the health of not just our global neighbors but also here in the United States.”
In the long run, this retreat from WHO will render us even more ill-prepared to tackle any impending pandemics and deepen exist-
ing gaps in public health between countries: “What would have happened in, let’s say, January 2020, if we had no connection with the World Health Organization?” Pullen said. “[COVID-19] would have been even more catastrophic than it was.” Pullen warned that Trump’s actions risk “tremendous consequences” that will include “countless lives lost, and then children and adults dying of preventable or at least treatable diseases.” It is an attack on the very foundation of international healthcare and a disservice to the next generation of health leaders who will pick up the pieces.
Looking ahead, cultivating relationships with international partners, WHO among them, is not a nicety — it is a necessity.
On a broader level, the withdrawal signals a deeper message to Americans that the Trump administration does not value scientific progress. The message of instability and diminishing support for international collaboration weakens the drive for future professionals to enter the public health field. With this ongoing uncertainty, undergraduate students majoring in biology, neuroscience and psychology, which are among the most popular majors at Emory, may reconsider their career prospects in this new anti-health age.
Trump’s WHO withdrawal plan laid bare how tenuous such global health partnerships could be. To Emory researchers and students, this departure from the WHO underscores the importance of secure, sustained funding and the ongoing need to advocate for policy decisions rooted in science rather than politics. Looking ahead, cultivating strong relationships with international partners, WHO among them, is not a nicety — it is a necessity for the continuation of medical research and promotion of public health.
Trump’s policies target diversity, equity and inclusion in academia and beyond
Beyond public health, the Trump administration has also set its sights on eliminating projects that have created support for marginalized communities in the United States. This calls into question not only the sustainability of federally funded research, but also the equity of accessibility to such programs — the new administration’s initiative to slash public funding for DEI programs has deeply undermined the security of academic equity for underrepresented students, including those at Emory. Universities across the United States have begun to cut back on DEI programming and
efforts. In fact, some universities have been implementing cutbacks since before Trump’s inauguration — the University System of Georgia announced a sweeping ban on DEI initiatives shortly after his election in November. Under the guise of “institutional neutrality,” these cuts exemplify how universities and colleges are folding to federal pressures.
These changes are not just limited to public universities. Nearly all private universities receive support from the government in some capacity, and Emory is no exception. Emory is exempt from federal income tax and has historically received high amounts of federal funding — including more than $485 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2023. If Emory does not comply with Trump’s policies banning programs receiving federal funding from incorporating DEI programs, such benefits and funding have the potential to be restricted in the future. This would be disastrous for any student, professor or laboratory receiving NIH funding — and not to mention costly for the patients who benefit from such critical research.
Amy Herrera (25C), a biology student currently applying to Ph.D. programs, anticipates that federal DEI cutbacks will significantly impact her pursuit of postgraduate opportunities in healthcare fields. After graduation, Herrera previously hoped to participate in the NIH’s Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), which offered federally funded research scholarships to students from underrepresented backgrounds.
“That funding is gone, it seems, because those programs are designed for underrepresented students,” Herrera said. Research opportunities in STEM fields have been posited as an important method of bringing diverse voices into the field, encouraging innovation and addressing systemic injustices faced by underrepresented minorities — many of which, like PREP, are at risk of dissolution now.
“The NIH website that outlines the diversity components, … that web page is gone,” Herrera said. “So, I don’t think those programs are going to run anymore, which has been kind of scary for me as a senior who’s trying to plan what I’m going to do after graduation.”
Trump has also already imposed restrictions on discussions of topics like race and sexuality in K-12 public schools. While he has not introduced similar restrictions for public higher-education institutions, they remain a possibility well within his jurisdiction. This action would profoundly threaten fields such as African American studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, all of which rely on uplifting underrepresented fields of study and are critical components of Emory’s academic profile.
As an English major who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in African American literature — a field that might be “censored” under Trump’s administration — Halle Gordon (25C) is among the graduating students who remain uncertain about their place
in a Trump-shaken academic sphere.
“As a Black female person trying to go into this field, inherently, it’s incredibly scary,” Gordon said. From the sciences to the humanities, academia will endure severe ramifications as a result of diminishing diversity, and students who plan to enter these fields will bear the consequences. Those who choose to dedicate their work after Emory to study and address systemic injustices now find targets on their backs under a presidential administration that explicitly seeks to quell the progress made by DEI programs.
However, as a private institution, Emory still wields agency over the continuity of its DEI practices. Prioritizing programs like Cox Hall’s identity spaces and Emory’s International Student and Scholars Services, which provide unique support to international students, is the bare minimum that the University can do to double-down on DEI.
Some Emory students fear deportation with new immigration executive actions
Consequences of Trump’s executive actions reach even further than the sphere of academia. Now, Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is driving policy changes, placing these sentiments at the forefront of national political discourse and misleading Americans into believing that immigration is a genuine national security threat.
One immediate concern is the potential for increased ICE activity near college campuses — namely, Emory’s campus. As early as last weekend, ICE raids began in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs as part of a nationwide push by the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants. According to the American Immigration Council, the state of Georgia has over 1 million immigrants, nearly half of whom are naturalized citizens and 36% of whom are undocumented individuals. The Trump administration has gone as far as to allow ICE to detain immigrants in sensitive places, such as churches and schools, in a move reversing a decade-long standard.
Emory students and faculty, along with countless other immigrant academics, should not have to live in fear of deportation.
In the past week, ICE operations have led to the arrest of nearly 6,000 people nationwide, and countless threats to many more, including college students. Recently, Trump signed an executive order to arrest international or immigrant college students using visas who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on campuses. This reality reaches to the
heart of Georgia in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Hall Counties.
The threat of renewed ICE actions on school grounds, especially in the wake of executive orders expanding federal authority, means that students who once saw education as a path toward security may now view it as a risk — and that is unacceptable. While Emory admits undocumented students and provides the same resources to them as any other students, the institution has no ability to protect students from action by ICE. Starting with universities, all the way down to elementary schools, spaces of education must be hallowed and protected from ICE’s assault.
The absconding of educational opportunities — and with them, the chance for self-determination — has become a deeply entrenched challenge in the lives of the American immigrant communities. Lisbeth Vargas (25C), the treasurer of Behind the Glass and a child of immigrants, elucidates the tiresome experience of having vested trust in a system that betrays her livelihood.
“Kids go to school and put all their trust into the adults that are there to protect them,” Vargas said. Yet, safety comes down to an unpredictable reality of odds. In the quest for education, children and young adults are now being forced to, as Vargas says, “always be playing a little bit of defense,” while federal policies chip away at their armor of resilience. Emory students and faculty, along with countless other vulnerable immigrant academics, should not have to live in fear of deportation. Everyone in the United States deserves the same rights to education and the same safe environment to learn within.
Spaces of education have long served as sanctuaries of hope toward brighter futures for immigrant communities, but the actions of this administration are trying to blot out this light of optimism. Emory students, particularly those who are undocumented or are from immigrant families, must reckon with the reality of policies that define them as political liabilities rather than individuals striving for education and professional success. Vargas and countless other students with similar backgrounds are grappling with the fact that their postgraduate lives are being molded in the vision of Trump’s America.
The future is uncertain for Emory students, especially for those graduating into a world that seems hopeless now. Already, some students are reconsidering their futures. However, in the face of oppressive policies and a budding authoritarian regime, students passionate about public health, DEI in academia, immigrant rights and countless other essential fields must not back down.
Vargas says that she is “holding out hope” for her future beyond Emory and expects that imminent change is in store because this issue is “so close … to people’s doorsteps.” Like Vargas, Herrera and Gordon, Emory students and other young professionals across the nation must look oppression in its eyes and continue to advocate for their interests, for the sake of our present and our future.
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, Ethan Jacobs, Carson Kindred, Mira Krichavsky, Justin Leach, Eliana Liporace, Niki Rajani, Josh Rosenblut, Ilka Tona and Crystal Zhang.
The Emory Wheel Arts Life
Poet Maria Zoccola talks transformation, Trojan War, Tennessee
By Catherine Goodman Arts & Life Editor
Ten years ago, Maria Zoccola (15C) stood inside a small stone Orthodox church on the outskirts of Bratislava, Slovakia, listening to the shuffling feet of worshippers and the high-pitched ring of power tools from outside. While construction workers wielded their instruments, blanketed the glass windows with white sheets and spewed grey dust into the air, devotees continued their practice.
Unbothered by the whirl of machinery or the threat of falling debris, worshippers lit candles and prayed. Amid this clash of calm and chaos, Zoccola was on the “cusp of something” she could not yet grasp. She would capture this feeling a year and a half later while writing her poem, “saint somebody’s” (2022), which explores the juxtaposition between man-made mayhem and the peaceful promise of a divine presence. Zoccola’s religious exploration in Slovakia was not an isolated experience; the poet’s best work comes from exploring religion, mythology and self-discovery.
Zoccola, a Memphis, Tenn. native, graduated from Emory University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing. While Zoccola loved reading poetry throughout her adolescence, her primary passion was fiction writing.
At Emory, Zoccola took a “bazillion” fiction writing courses and a few poetry workshops, including one taught by former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey.
During her undergraduate years at Emory, Zoccola studied abroad in New Zealand and traveled to Slovakia, where she found the small stone church. After her transformative abroad experience and undergraduate education, Zoccola decided to study abroad again, pursuing a master’s degree in professional writing with a concentration in fiction at Falmouth University in Falmouth, England.
“I never really thought of myself as a poet,” Zoccola said. “I think all of us write some pretty terrible poetry in high school or some really great poetry… but I wrote some pretty garbage poetry in high school.”
When Zoccola first arrived in Sa-
vannah, Ga., a growing coastal city with a burgeoning arts and culture scene and palpable humidity, her creative interests, even her identity, began to change. In 2017, she joined the Deep Center’s Young Author Project, where she organized and led creative writing workshops within the Savannah-Chatham County public school system. Zoccola recalls her time in Savannah as “some of the greatest days” of her life.
“Being plugged into the arts and culture scene of Savannah on a daily basis, and also the social justice organizing and resistance scene in Savannah as the other half of what we were doing just fed my soul,” she said.
However, Zoccola’s experience in Savannah did more than satiate her soul. It inspired her to dive into a new, intimidating medium: poetry. The “bravery” with which the Chatham County students shared their work prompted Zoccola to question her writing anxieties.
“After maybe a year of being with them, I was like, ‘You know what? If they can do this, if they can be brave enough to go ahead and do poetry, what am I so afraid of?’” Zoccola said.
“So, I started approaching poetry in a serious way, and it just absolutely blew open this new way of thinking and being and existing in the world.”
From that point forward, Zoccola
dove head-first into poetry writing, approaching it with a new appreciation and ambition. “saint somebody’s,” the poem inspired by her post-abroad backpacking trip and the stone structure in Bratislava, would go on to receive a special mention for the 2022 Pushcart Prize, further emboldening her. Zoccola released her debut poetry collection, “Helen of Troy, 1993,” on Jan. 14. The book follows Helen of Troy, the oft-villainized Queen of Sparta whose abduction — or perhaps consensual affair — led to the violent 10-year conflict known in mythology as the Trojan War. Inspired by the “Iliad” by Homer, the collection delves beneath the surface of the woman whose pretty face cost thousands their lives. There’s one catch — instead of imagining the life of a Bronze Age princess, Zoccola imagines Helen of Troy as a disgruntled, dissatisfied and disingenuous housewife in Sparta, Tenn. in 1993. As with her love of writing, Zoccola’s fascination with Greek mythology began when she was a child in Tennessee. Between rushing down the steps of the Memphis public library with stories of great gods and monsters tucked beneath her arm or reading the “Iliad” for the first time in ninth grade at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Zoccola knows these stories like the back of
Written relief: Finding poetry’s healing power at Three Poets event
By hunter BuChheit Asst. Arts & Life Editor
Steam curled from cups of hot tea. Warm introductions and long-awaited reunions drifted through the room. Three poets stood together in the corner of the Michael C. Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall — catching up, complimenting each other’s work and preparing for their joint reading, acutely named “Three Poets: A Reading with Victoria Chang, E. Hughes and Lauren K. Watel.”
A few minutes later Deanna Sirlin holding the microphone at the front of the room. Sirlin herself is an artist— a painter and visual creator whose work has been featured in the High Museum. She is also the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Art Section, a 17-year-old arts journal.
Deanna Sirlin, a painter and visual creator from Atlanta, introduced the poets one by one. First, Sirlin introduced Victoria Chang, the current Margaret T. and Henry C. Bourne Chair in Poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Second, she called E. Hughes (27G), a philosophy PhD student at Emory University who studies the intersection of black aesthetics, psychoanalysis, and poststructuralism. Lastly, she introduced Lauren K. Watel (96G, 03G), whose first book, “BOOK of POTIONS,” is set to release on Feb. 11.
While an eclectic group, these poets were not a random assortment; they are well-acquainted friends as well as contemporaries.
In December, Chang sat down for a conversation with Watel, during which they discussed Chang’s fascination with poetry’s visual power, even just as words on a page.
As Chang ascended to the podium, the crowd murmured in excite -
ment. The attendees were a motley mix — young and old, Emory students and community members. But that night, poetry connected them all.
Chang began her reading by explaining the ekphrastic nature of her recent book, “With My Back to the World: Poems” (2024). Each poem in her collection correlates to individual pieces by Agnes Martin, a 20th-century contemporary artist renowned for the meticulous nature of her geometric abstract paintings. The book’s title poem borrows from Martin’s painting series “With My Back to the World” (1997).
“With My Back to the World” encapsulates Martin’s signature grid style. “The MoMA in New York had commissioned me to write a poem on anything in her collection,” Chang said.
The poem — and all of Chang’s work — explores the pain and beauty of familial relationships, as well as tragedies such as the 2021 Atlanta spa shooting. In her poem, “On a Clear Day,” Chang channels Martin by using a gridlike structure while unpacking the pain caused by the murders.
Ebenezer Agu (30G), who worked with Chang during his MFA in creative writing at the University of Michigan, nodded alongside the poet as she spoke. He found the event by happenstance when his PhD advisor told him that Chang would be reading some of her work.
As a chance to hear Chang discuss her poetic process, Agu thought the event was an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up. Before coming to campus last semester to study in Emory’s English department, Agu founded 20.35 Africa, a poetry journal created to uplift the work of African poets.
See CHANG, Page 9
New Schatten Gallery exhibit highlights Muscogee history, art
By Sophie reiSS Contributing Writer
The third floor of Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library holds many contradictions. In the reading room, students furiously type away on their laptops, silently skim large stacks of books or intently scan their exam materials. In the middle of the floor, groups of friends and classmates gather over the large tables, transforming the space into both a social and studious environment. And on the far end of the third floor lies the Schatten Gallery, which hosts rotating exhibits created in collaboration with the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library Archives and various community artists.
On Jan. 27, the Schatten Gallery unveiled its latest exhibition, “This Land Calls Us Home: Indigenous Relationships with Southeastern Homelands” with a reception in the Joseph W. Jones Room. The exhibition features over 50 works of art by contemporary Indigenous artists with ancestral homelands in the Southeast. According to the exhibition webpage, the show “suggests that these artists return to their or -
igins, spiritually and literally, to reconstruct an identity fragmented by history.”
As 7 p.m. approached, professors, students, artists and residents from the greater Atlanta area filed into the reception where a video of a traditional Muscogee Stomp dance played.
“I feel like having a space [this exhibit] that represents me and Indigenous people on campus is really awesome, and it being in our library is super cool.”
- Hailey Cade
Refreshments and programs in hand, the event attendees mingled with a sense of familiarity and joy. Laughter rang through the room as they greeted each other with hugs and talked animatedly.
After Vice Provost of Libraries and Museum Valeda F. Dent delivered opening remarks, she ushered attendees into the rotunda, a circular space within the Schatten Gallery, to begin their guided tour of the exhibit.
In the rotunda, Rev. Mekko Chebon Kernell, a Seminole-Muscogee scholar who led the project, stood under the words etched onto the ceiling in Muscogee: “This is Indigenous peoples’ land.” Rev. Kernell initially conceived this project for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2020, where it showed from November 2023 through November 2024.
Rev. Kernell created this project out of frustration with the lack of education on Indigenous history in Atlanta. Before Europeans arrived in what is now Georgia, the land belonged to the Muscogee (Creek) people. In 1821, the Treaty of Indian Springs led the Muscogee to cede 4.3 million acres of land. The tribe then relocated from Georgia and Alabama to present-day Oklahoma following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. During the move, which is known as the Trail of Tears, thousands died on their journey westward. In 1832, there were 21,792 Muscogee living in Georgia and Alabama, but twenty years after their “removal,” only 13,537 Muscogee remained in Oklahoma. Rev. Kernell views indigenous identity in the Southeast as part of the present, not the past, according to the exhibit’s webpage. He envisioned an art exhibit that would
weave together southeast Native American history with present ties to Indigenous homelands.
As the exhibit’s year-long run in the airport ended, a member of the project team reached out to Miranda Kyle, curator of the Indigenous Arts of the Americas at the Carlos Museum, inquiring about bringing the exhibit to Emory.
Kyle brought the proposal to her team, who enthusiastically supported the project’s implementation with enthusiasm.
“The logistics of it [were] reimagining what it would look like moving [the exhibit] from a concourse, behind a glass in a very liminal space like an airport, to a space where people could linger,” Kyle said.
During the opening, Alex Vigder (25C) perused the gallery. Vigder is involved with Emory’s Center for Native and Indigenous Studies, which launched in fall 2023.
“In a class I took, Indigenous literature, a lot of the students didn’t feel comfortable sharing or were nervous to participate and afraid of offending people,” Vigder said. “Whereas anyone can walk into an art exhibition and see art and appreciate its beauty and have conversations about it.”
The founding of the Center for Native and Indigenous Studies grew out of Emory’s partnership with the
College of the Muscogee Nation, a public tribal community college in Oklahoma.
Since that partnership began in 2021, Emory publicly acknowledged that the university was built on Muscogee lands and held three annual Muscogee teach-ins. The installation of “This Land Calls Us Home” on Emory’s campus continues these efforts.
Hailey Cade (27C) serves on the executive board of The Native American Students Association at Emory, which was chartered in fall 2024.
“It’s so empowering,” Cade said. “I feel like having a space [this exhibit] that represents me and Indigenous people on campus is really awesome, and it being in our library is super cool.”
The exhibit will remain on the Woodruff Library’s third floor until July 20.
Students can wander through the many alcoves of the exhibit, examining art that transcends themes of southeastern Indigenous histories, cultures, communities and visions for the future.
“Exhibitions like this are like a hug,” Kyle said. “They go ‘There’s more beyond today, right?’”
– Contact Sophie Reiss at sophie.reiss@emory.edu
See HELEN, Page 9
Photo Courtesy of M aria ZoCCola
Maria Zoccola (15C) published “Helen of Troy, 1993” on Jan. 14 and received a positive review from The New York Times.
CAMPUS LIFE
Staff article: Works of art that reminds us love is real — again
By Wheel Staff
“How do I love thee?” Elizabeth Barrett Browning asks in “How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)” (1850). Responding to this rhetorical question, Browning illustrates the extent of her admiration, drawing on the warmth of candlelight, the resilience of faith and the promise of mortality to paint a portrait of unwavering love. In her verse, love is tender, humble and delicate — but that’s just how Browning sees it. Here in the Arts & Life section, we see love everywhere, but most importantly, through art. In the delicate stroke of a paintbrush, the anticipatory drumline in a song or in the end-scene of our favorite films, we seek such solace. So, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we present art that keeps the hopeless romantics hanging on by a thread and the cynics coming back for more.
‘Springtime’ by Pierre-Auguste Cot (1873)
On a wooden swing set framed by overgrown vegetation, lovers gaze into each other’s eyes as a soft wind kisses their skin. Two pairs of legs dangle above the mossy ground while the couple lounges lackadaisically in the soft spring glow, seemingly existing in their own world. The two central figures are a mess of transparent drapery, melting into one another as they fall deeper in adoration. The boy, supporting both parties on the small swing set, looks down on his partner’s face with a tender head tilt. The girl drapes both arms around his neck, casting bright eyes across his face as her cheeks flush pink. When I think of love — especially of the first giddy glances and warm embraces — I think of this couple, immortalized in “Springtime,” a painting by Pierre-Auguste Cot.
This painting somehow encapsulates both the excitement and tranquility of love. As the couple swings, they are suspended in time, capturing a moment of uninhibited intimacy. This is not lustful intimacy, but that of which is found within a single kind glance.
It feels as if the couple might stay there forever, as if the girl’s billowing dress might grow roots alongside the tall tree. The painting’s beauty is not found in the background fluttering of butterflies or the lively landscape, but in the stillness — a sensation I associate with peaceful passion and healthy love.
— Catherine Goodman, Arts & Life Editor
‘Ex Machina’ by Alex Garland
(2014)
The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is coming, so you should watch this romance film, which includes all of the dangers of AI — predicted 10 years early, thanks to Alex Garland’s masterful filmmaking. What seemed like a far-off prediction in 2014 is now a reality. In “Ex Machina,” people began falling in love with AIs. We’re on our way down this path, but today, people have only started falling for primitive AI chatbots, not even the advanced humanoid robots found in this fairytale-like cinematic masterpiece. “Ex Machina” has all of the amazing features of a typical rom-com: The funny ex-boyfriend, the charming young pursuer and the female AI robot who may end up killing you. While this film does not remind me of love, it teaches me about what love will be like in the future. Instead of love between human beings, future love will feature a robot perfectly tailored to fit my every need. Even though this may sound scary, we will surely all soon submit to the ease of loving our perfect AI overlords. Happy Valentine’s Day!
—
Spencer Friedland, Managing
Editor
‘Something in the Way She Moves’ by James Taylor (1968)
When it comes to love songs, this quintessential James Taylor ballad is at the top of my list. The gentle acous-
tic guitar melody perfectly complements the lyrics describing how Taylor’s lover is a source of comfort and happiness in his life. Her presence alone puts him at ease, and a simple look or word from her “seems to leave this troubled world behind.”
Taylor’s lover pulls him back when he falls into negativity with “the power to go where no one else can find me / And to silently remind me / Of the happiness and good times that I know.”
For me, this song embodies the warm, soothing feeling of a loved one’s presence. While Taylor seems to address a female lover, his lyrics describe traits integral to any loving relationship. Whether it’s with a romantic partner, a family member, a close friend or even a beloved pet, love is a place where vulnerability is met with unconditional support that helps us transcend the darkness in our world and reminds us of what is good in our lives.
— Paige Hogan, Film and Live Art Desk
During the film, we see through three different perspectives — a drug dealer in a blonde wig, a manic snack bar worker and two policemen — how we are often afflicted by bad and good memories from past relationships and, most importantly, how those same experiences can shape our perception of future ones. “Chungking Express” reminds us we shouldn’t view love as an idealistic and linear Cinderella story but instead as an ever-changing entity — one that encompasses heartbreak and solitude but also changes and personal growth.
— Clement Lee, Managing Editor
‘How I Met Your Mother’ by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays (2005)
“Look around, Ted. You’re all alone.” These six words, uttered by Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), destroyed the concept of love for me — at least, until the show’s final season, which made me believe in it even more. “How I Met Your Mother” tests
aided by a lone harp. The theme becomes painful by the climax, where accented descending arpeggios from the lower strings repetitively punch you in the gut until everything is suddenly calm again and the violins resolve a B-flat to an A, reaching the tonic. And just like that, the movement is over. It is unbearably beautiful.
Legend suggests that Mahler sent a draft of the Adagietto to his composer girlfriend Alma Mahler-Werfel, who read the score and knew he was in love with her. They married a few months later. Listening to Adagietto transports me to some of the happiest moments of my life and reminds me of the utter joy, fulfillment, friendship and love that I’ve found through music.
— Meiya Weeks, Layout Editor
‘Think of Me’ by Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson (2004)
Undoubtedly, “The Phantom of the Opera” is one of the greatest love stories of all time. There’s a rea-
Etched onto my arm is a tattooed rendition of “Dance,” a painting by Henri Matisse. Five bare bodies, raw and vulnerable, hold hands as they spin in a circle. Their faces stare blankly, undisturbed by the onlooker, remaining connected as they whirl and twirl one another around. The warm orange bodies are electric against the cool blue background — their bond and warmth radiate off the canvas and into the air. My version has just four bodies, each representing my siblings — those who make me full, bringing passion, joy and, above all, love. As kids, we would hold hands and spin each other until the world became a blur and we all collapsed onto the ground in puddles of laughter. My siblings taught me what it meant to love someone from the top of your head to the soles of your feet, to love someone without wavering, without hesitation and with constant grace.
This Valentine’s Day, I look down at my arm and find solace in my love, their love, our love — may love always bring comfort and compassion.
— Lola McGuire, Opinion Editor
‘Chungking Express’ by Wong Kar-wai (1994)
I first saw this film at the end of my freshman year. After finishing my final exams and anticipating handing out The Emory Wheel graduation magazines at 6 a.m. the next morning, I needed the sort of panacea only good cinema can bring, so I watched “Chungking Express” by way of a friend’s recommendation. While this two-part film grapples with larger societal themes such as Western culture’s effect on Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai ultimately presents a chaotic, yet profound exploration of modern love.
its audi- ence, giving the occasional emotional whiplash that pushes the boundary of what constitutes a sitcom. The series shows that love is not linear and characterizes love through our choices and hardships. As Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) puts it, “The great moments of your life won’t necessarily be the things you do, they’ll also be the things that happen to you.”
The repeated symbol of the yellow umbrella, which unknowingly gets passed between Mosby and his future wife, is used as proof throughout the show that every person is connected, no matter how alone one may feel. Furthermore, this symbol reminds us that while everyone may be alone on their path, people’s lives collide. “How I Met Your Mother” utilizes a combination of humor with the brutal truths of life to characterize love as something attainable and inevitable.
— Amelia Bush, Asst. Arts & Life Editor
‘Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor: IV. Adagietto’ by Gustav Mahler (1904)
“Symphony No. 5,” composed by Gustav Mahler, was the last piece I played with my youth symphony, the weekend after I graduated high school. It is my favorite symphony I’ve ever played, and the Adagietto is my favorite movement. By the time this movement begins, the brass and woodwinds — who have spent the past three movements pumping out whirlwind scales, powerful climaxes and one of the most famous trumpet solos in history — must sit and listen quietly, as Adagietto is for strings only.
Much of the movement is a sea of tenderly ebbing and flowing melodies
ciate it with my parents.
Once, we were driving through Long Island, watching the waves lap against the coastline, and my dad glanced at me and said, “This song always makes me think of you.” I don’t know if he remembers telling me that, but it’s stuck with me. I can’t hear McCartney’s stringy guitar plucks without thinking about pure parental love, which is undoubtedly the greatest blessing — and the most powerful love — of my life. “I’ll hold you for as long as you like,” McCartney croons at the end of the song. “I’ll love you for the rest of my / For the rest of my life.”
— Sophia Peyser, Editor-in-Chief
‘Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You) (feat. Outkast)’ by UGK and Outkast (2007)
When the drums arrive on “Int’l Players Anthem” at minute 1:13, UGK and Outkast give the listener a prime example of what makes southern hiphop so exciting. The hi-hats and hard kicks merge with a blissful sample to form a spirited instrumental. UGK members Pimp C and Bun B, followed by Big Boi of Outkast all deliver energetic verses about cars, pimping and being selective with women. While this portion of the song is excellent, it has little to do with love. What makes this one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time and a quintessential love song is what happens before.
André 3000, the other half of Outkast, is our narrator for the song’s first section. We immediately hear him inform one, and subsequently all, of the girls he used to fool around with that he is settling down and getting married. This is an extremely uncommon topic for a hip-hop verse, as rappers are known for boasting about the large number of women they indulge in regularly.
to a musical then a movie, but the rendition of “Think of Me” from the 2004 film adaptation will always be my favorite — perhaps because I first listened to it in the dim lighting of a dear friend’s basement.
When Christine Daaé (Emmy Rossum), a mere chorus girl, begins singing, she astonishes the managers of the Parisian opera house. Suddenly, the scene shifts, and rehearsals are over. Daaé performs to a packed crowd, glowing almost ghost-like under the stage lights. Her appearance evokes the ever-present love of her music teacher and love interest, the Phantom (Gerard Butler).
But just as Daaé hits a high note, the camera pans to her childhood sweetheart Viscount Raoul de Chagny (Patrick Wilson), establishing the film’s love triangle. Even if Daaé and the Phantom don’t end up together, “Think of Me” is a testament to the intensity of their love. “Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade / They have their season, so do we,” Daaé sings. “But please promise me that sometimes / You will think — / — of me!” When I hear this track, I do think of Daaé, but mostly, I think of cold pizza and movie nights with someone who I hope will stay in my life forever. For that, this song is my reminder that love is real.
— Safa Wahidi, Opinion Editor ‘Calico Skies’ by Paul McCartney (1997)
“It was written that I would love you / From the moment I opened my eyes,” Paul McCartney begins his acoustic love song, which he wrote on Long Island, N.Y. during a hurricane that caused a power outage. The track is so quiet and so raw that you can faintly hear his foot tapping the rhythm when you listen closely. Beatles fans speculate that McCartney wrote the song for his wife, Linda McCartney, but I asso-
With the drums absent, all that remains is Andre 3000’s voice combined with the angelic horns and passionate background vocals sampled from “I Choose You” (1973) by Willie Hutch. Andre effortlessly glides over this instrumental, fluidly shifting from one dynamic flow to the next. He delicately inserts charismatic remarks and witty double entendres. Andre’s performance, like many others in his catalog, results in a euphoric, romantic listening experience. This celebratory song, frequently played at weddings, is a vital listen for all hip-hop fans or love enthusiasts.
— Sammy Brodsky, Assistant Sports Editor
‘A Matter of Life and Death’ by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell (1946)
A British World War II pilot (David Niven) should have died in a plane crash. Instead, a celestial error lets him live, and in those stolen moments, he falls in love with June (Kim Hunter), the radio operator receiving him. But the afterlife demands balance, so he must stand trial in heaven’s court to argue for his right to stay on Earth.
Set in the aftermath of World War II, the film also reflects a changing world, where the United Kingdom and the United States are redefining their place on the global stage. Love, like understanding, defies bureaucracy and knows no borders. In a time of recovery from war when nations must bridge divides, the film appropriately reminds us that human connection is the strongest force of all.
In “A Matter of Life and Death,” directors Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell weave fantasy into reality, blurring the lines between the ephemeral and the eternal. Heaven is orderly, symmetrical and monochrome while earth is chaotic, vivid and drenched in glorious Technicolor.
The vast, bureaucratic afterlife, with its towering stairways and distant judges, is impressive but lifeless, a world of rules without passion. True meaning exists below — in the flicker of a lover’s gaze, in the warmth of hands clasped against the uncertainty of fate, in the breathless urgency of a love that refuses to yield to death.
– Jessie Li, Contributing Writer
(1910)
h a-tien nguyen/senior staff illustrator
Helen lives on in poems
Continued from Page 7
her hand. She is particularly enamored with Robert Fagles’ translation of the famous epic.
“It was such a cool moment. I knew as I was reading that translation of Homer that I was falling into a story that would stay with me for the rest of my life,” Zoccola said. “The language and the cadence and the passion and the rhythm of those lines, they stand the test of time for a reason.”
Helen is not the first mythological woman to attract Zoccola’s poetic attention.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoccola wrote persona poems from the voices of sympathetic Trojan women such as Andromache, Cassandra or Clytemnestra. For a year, she ignored Helen.
“I wasn’t doing anything with Helen, because the truth was, I didn’t like Helen very much at that time,” Zoccola said. “I found her to be a frustrating character. ”
In 2021, Zoccola’s aversion to Helen suddenly shattered. All at once, she could not escape the nagging voice of the Spartan Queen. In a “manic daze,” as she describes in the afterword of her collection, she wrote seven poems about Helen in a row. But as previously mentioned, this Helen was not wearing a peplos and dining with the gods. This Helen was standing in Chuck E. Cheese and having absurd pregnancy cravings.
“It was [a] very different voice from the one I had been using at the start of the pandemic,” Zoccola said. “It felt familiar, it felt like my own childhood in 1990s Tennessee. It was this kind of creative wave that passed over me, and I just kept writing into it until the poems were done.”
In “Helen of Troy, 1993,” Helen is apathetic, desperate and “histrionic,” as described by Zoccola.
It is precisely these qualities that attract readers and critics alike. Literary website Debutiful named the collection one of their Most-Anticipated Books of 2025 and the New York Times described it as “a witty and acute anatomy of small-town life and of our own American cultural and spiritual barrenness.”
Zoccola was shocked by the accolades.
“When I started writing these poems, I had no idea anyone would ever read them,” Zoccola said. “I was writing them for me, not because I thought they would ever find an audience.”
Even with the commercial success of “Helen of Troy, 1993,” Zoccola feels a singular disappointment — that the late Molly Brodak, a poet, memoirist and English and creative writing professor at Emory University, did not live to read it. Along with Trethewey, retired Professor Emeritus Jim Grimsley and Associate Professor of Classics Jonathan Master, Zoccola names Brodak as one of her biggest influences. Throughout the publishing process, Zoccola said she often wanted to share the poems with Brodak but habitually remembered that her mentor had passed.
“That’s the mark of a great teacher,” Zoccola said. “That even gone, they still are a part of their student’s process.”
10 years after her graduation, Zoccola’s undergraduate experience remains with her, especially her admiration for the faculty.
The metamorphic experiences inside and outside of the classroom and, of course, the inspiring faculty contributed to her journey as a creative. However, after years of work, Zoccola’s story — much like Helen’s — is perhaps just beginning.
– Contact Catherine Goodman at catherine.goodman@emory.edu
Chang, Hughes, Watel highlight versatility of poetry
Continued from Page 7
“I don’t think I write about a particular thing, but most of the themes I’ve felt like come across in my poetry have had to do with social experiences in suburban areas. And of course, religion and spirituality because I grew up in a very religious home.”
After Chang, E. Hughes took the podium. They began their reading
about our pursuits and about our journeys to the Bay, to the beach, Oakland, San Jose,” Hughes said. “I began to put the pieces together that big tech had sort of destroyed all of that history, along with the routine pursuits of anti-blackness.”
According to Hughes, their most recent collection, “Ankle-Deep in Pacific Water: Poems” (2024), uplifts both their history and that of Mary
by discussing their family’s Western roots, as well as the largely undocumented history of the Black community in California — citing their own education as lackluster in telling stories of Black people east of the Mississippi River.
“When I began to ask my professors about the African-American population in California, I was often met with silence, and then I would have these memories about my grandparents, about my family,
Ellen Pleasant, a 19th-century Black abolitionist who helped solidify California’s Underground Railroad.
“Allegedly she was born in Georgia on the plantation, and she said a smart remark to a white man asking for directions,” Hughes said. “He thinks she’s so clever that he buys her because he thinks she’s too smart for slavery and sends her North to learn to read.”
For Hughes, their collection is a protest against the erasure of Black history and the “routine pursuits
MOVIE REVIEW CROSSWORD
‘Companion’
conspires about connection and control
By mC poWell Contributing Writer
Sci-fi horror comedy film “Companion” arrived in theatres on Jan. 31, where it earned $9.5 million domestically and garnered mixed reviews.
The film, which stars Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid, is labeled as “horror,” but there were no screams or shielded eyes during the film, as the movie theater laughed the whole time.
While being silly at times, “Companion” left viewers pondering the powers of AI, female autonomy and power dynamics.
The movie follows a couple who, while on a weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin, find their trip spiraling into chaos after discovering that one of the guests isn’t what she seems.
The movie, written and directed by Drew Hancock, blends humor with suspense in a high-stakes and isolated setting.
We meet the main character, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), in a grocery store. She’s dressed like a retro Barbie: a cute girl with curtain bangs, a headband, winged eyeliner and a vintage
frilly outfit. Iris soon meets Josh (Jack Quaid), a harmless, quirky guy who begins their small talk by knocking over a display of oranges. A narrator announces that this was one the greatest days of Iris’ life: the day she met Josh and the day she killed him.
As the movie unfolds, chaos brews. Iris discusses her love for Josh with his best friend Kat (Megan Suri), but Kat doesn’t like Iris. To be fair, Iris doesn’t like Kat either and sees her as a threat to her and Josh’s relationship.
The work is split into three acts, each encompassing a different taste of dialogue. The first act feels rocky with its choppy dialogue, but the early choppiness feels fitting as the film transitions into the second act. The third act, I admit, lost its footing and fell into the typical conventions of a thriller — the petrified, jumpy protagonist whose vulnerability creates the film’s suspense and the obedient evil minion doing the master’s dirty work.
However, the movie doesn’t shy away from giving the viewers clues into Iris’s nature, which is evidenced by the narration during the grocery store scene.
Hancock sprinkles subtle hints of her plasticity throughout the film.
Her flawless cat-eye in the shower? Not magic, just design. Her carrying the suitcases? She’s a servant. Her obsessive love for her partner? It’s programming. When Josh tells her to sleep, his words are not those of a caring boyfriend — they’re a command you give to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Despite some bumps, “Companion” was a pleasant surprise. It is a darkly comedic, feminist sci-fi film with a political edge, combining campiness and humor with a real message about misusing technology and misogyny in relationships. The film’s spotlight shines on Thatcher, who nails her role and ultimately personifies a woman who finally breaks free from a toxic relationship. “Companion” highlights the inescapable importance of balance in everyday life: with people, technology, love and dependence.
While the cast is incredible, “Companion” highlights two of Hollywood’s new rising stars, Quaid and Thatcher. Quiad’s portrayal of Josh beautifully walks the line of being someone you love to hate and hate to love.
Thatcher initially plays Iris as dull and lifeless, a perfect primer to the ultimate plot twist. From there, her performance grows until it flourishes as the most memorable aspect of the film.
While I praise “Companion,” if a film discusses sexbots to talk about misogyny, I prefer for it to be written and directed by a woman. There’s an intimacy and understanding that a female perspective could bring to the subject matter, especially since women bear the brunt of misogyny in real life. When men tell stories about misogyny, even with good intentions, there’s an inherent distance. Often, it risks perpetuating certain stereotypes or reducing women’s experiences to mere plot devices rather than fully realized characters.
Overall, “Companion” is a fun movie worth watching. And after it’s over, the average viewer will leave the theater with a newfound fear of ever-evolving AI.
– Contact MC Powell at martha.caroline.powell@emory. edu
against Anti-blackness.”
“This book — “Ankle-Deep in Pacific Water”— was my attempt to try to say that we were there, no longer here, but we were Black women standing ankle deep in Pacific water,” Hughes said.
Watel, who has a PhD in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies from Emory, was last to read. Her poetry focuses on the “smaller, more goofy probing of family” and her relationships with her family and with herself. Discussing her creative process, Watel compared her writing process to running a race.
“You race and you stretch and you race, and what you want to do is finish the run — you don’t even think the stretching is anything,” Watel said. “The writing I do is like the stretching. I didn’t think it was anything but it somehow was helping me.”
When Watel’s reading concluded, the crowd roared with applause. One of these cheerers was Judith Winfrey, founder of the nationally recognized Love is Love Cooperative Farm in Mansfield, Ga. Winfrey sees poetry as a conduit for goodness and “affirming our beliefs and values.”Explaining why she attended the event, Winfrey elaborated on how basking in Atlanta’s poetic community gives her a reprieve from the rapid changes in American society.
“I’m here because I’m interested in poetry broadly, and in this moment, I’m very interested in things that will distract me from politics and remind me of humanity,” Winfrey said.
–Contact Hunter Buchheit at hunter.buchheit@emory.edu
Mini Crossword
By ethan altShul Crossword Desk
Courtesy of eMory university/Photo M aniPulation by ellie fivas
Lauren Watel, Victoria Chang and E. Hughes discussed poetry at the Three Poets event on Jan. 30.
The big easy Super Bowl: Wheel staff predict Eagles vs. Chiefs
By Wheel Staff
The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will face off in a Super Bowl rematch at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. on Feb. 9. While the Eagles will be seeking to avenge their loss from the 2023 matchup, the Chiefs are aiming to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight championships. The Emory Wheel staff have weighed in with their predictions on who will emerge victorious in this high-stakes showdown.
Kansas City Chiefs
Will Peck, Sports Editor
If I wanted to make this interesting, I could talk about how this game will be a clash between two titans. I could go into detail about the Eagles’ star-studded offense and their potent rushing attack led by superhuman running back Saquon Barkley, or how they are sure to be the more informed team thanks to avid reader wide receiver A.J. Brown. I could talk about the playmakers on the Eagles’ defense, including game-wrecker Jalen Carter at defensive tackle, or how Philadelphia’s insufferable head coach Nick Sirianni will attempt to silence his doubters and get his revenge on the team that denied him a Super Bowl win two years ago. I could even take my analysis off the field and talk about the Chiefs’ remarkable win percentage (.86) with Taylor Swift in attendance and the excitement that comes along with tight end Travis Kelce facing off against his brother and “New Heights” podcast co-star Jason Kelce’s former team.
But, as far as I’m concerned, these things do not matter. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is undeniable. The trio of Mahomes, Kelce and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid coupled with some wizardry from defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s group is unbeatable until proven otherwise. I refuse to pick against the Chiefs in big moments unless their opponent’s name is Tom Brady.
KC 34 - PHI 24
Catherine Goodman, Arts & Life Editor
Since her debut in 2006, Taylor Swift has collaborated with artists across genres, including but not limited to Tim McGraw, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey. However, Swift’s collaborations with rappers are few and far between. Kendrick Lamar — the Super Bowl halftime show headliner — is one of the few hip-hop musicians to infiltrate her deep discography. Is it a coincidence that Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, will vie for his third Super Bowl title the same night that her musical companion controls the mic? I think not.
Nevertheless, the Eagles — led by quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley — pose a large threat to the Chiefs’ enterprise. Barkley is on the brink of breaking the all-time single-season rushing yards record, so he’s got more on the line than some bling. The Eagles’ offensive line is strong, even following powerhouse Jason Kelce’s retirement.
Despite these strengths, the Eagles will likely fall just short of
a Super Bowl win, following in the footsteps of the San Francisco 49ers, who the Chiefs narrowly defeated in Super Bowl LVIII. I predict many forlorn Eagles fans will have “Bad Blood” (feat. Kendrick Lamar) (2015) with the Chiefs following Feb. 9.
KC 28 - PHI 20
Spencer Friedland, Managing Editor
Another year has come, and yet again, the Chiefs will be victorious in their quest to achieve the ultimate prize in sports — the Vince Lombardi Trophy. We are witnessing greatness and perhaps a dynasty unparalleled in the sport of football. For the first time ever, a team will “three-peat” in the NFL, allowing tight end Travis Kelce and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid to ride off into the sunset.
Despite their difficulty winning games by a large margin this season, the Chiefs are now firing on all cylinders with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnoulo’s defense saving them just in time to allow quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ magic to come through in divisional and conference championship rounds.
The Chiefs have an abundance of talent with stellar athletes within every position group, as do the –yuck – Eagles. Unfortunately for the City of Brotherly Love, the Chiefs have Mahomes, the most talented quarterback to ever grace the gridiron. Mahomes, with the help of the refs, will propel the Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl win in five years and cement the Reid-Mahomes-led franchise into the upper echelon of American sports dynasties.
I predict that the Eagles will earn a quick lead before Mahomes storms back with the help of the refs in the second half to be crowned world champions.
KC 34 - PHI 31
Philadelphia Eagles
Clement
Lee,
Managing Editor
It’s like déjà vu. This is the same rematch as Super Bowl LVII in 2023: Eagles vs. Chiefs. I won’t offer an indepth analysis or a prediction based on stats. I already know the subservient refs will make bogus calls to get quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce to the finish line (again, again and again – when will it end?!). I’ve said it a million times in these Wheel Super Bowl predictions: It
is not a hot take that the NFL is rigged for higher viewership ratings. But this is the year everything might change. 2025 may be the year of rebirth, so I still have hope in the Eagles. Quarterback Jalen Hurts has had a magnificent postseason, completing 69.6% of his passes, and running back Saquon Barkley has averaged 6.7 rushing yards per attempt in the postseason and accumulated over 2,000 yards during the regular season. This clearly indicates that the offense is “locked in,” not to forget about the offensive line. While Mahomes tends to make incredible plays in clutch time, the Eagles’ defense looks more formidable compared to previous years. The additions of rookie defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have brought more physicality to the Eagles’ defense.
“We are witnessing greatness and perhaps a dynasty unparalleled in the sport of football.”
— Spencer Friedland
However, it’s important to note that nothing will change in your life whether the Chiefs or the Eagles win. You’re going to wake up, and it will be Monday. You’ll proceed with your daily routine, exchange hollow remarks about the game with your colleagues as if “The Big Game” had any significance, and, by noon, no one will care — until next season, when the cycle continues.
PHI 32 - KC 31 (3OT)
Sasha Melamud, Sports Feature Desk
I don’t watch American football. To me, it’s just a WWE version of rugby, and I have no statistical evidence in my football reservoir to pull from. So, let’s make predictions on who will win Super Bowl LIX based solely on key players’ astrological charts.
For those who are invested in astrology, know that I will be using only Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ moons to determine this outcome, not any other transits (don’t come at me). For those that aren’t as familiar with astrology, moons, when reading an astrological chart, directly correlate with emotions.
Kelce was born Oct. 5, 1989, in Westlake, Ohio, making him a Libra
with a moon in Sagittarius. On Feb. 9, our moon may be in Gemini — in direct opposition with Kelce’s moon. Planets in opposition create inner emotional turmoil, so it’s shaping up to be a bad night for the Chiefs — and thank God for that, because I’m really over them. The real question is, will Kelce still propose to Taylor Swift if he has to go home without a ring of his own?
Born in Houston, Texas on Aug. 7, 1998, Hurts is an Aquarius moon with a sun in Leo. He was also born on a full moon! His moon in Aquarius is compatible with a moon in Gemini, so if all align on Feb. 9, the Eagles may have some extra luck on their side.
Therefore, the Eagles have a better chance of claiming Super Bowl LIX. The moon said it, not me.
Sammy Brodsky, Assistant Sports Editor
Due to superstitious reasons, I am unable to give a prediction, but as a lifelong die-hard Eagles fan, I would like to say my piece on why our fans are the best in the NFL. For most fanbases, supporting a team is a hobby, a seasonal practice that results in social gatherings and short-lived emotions. You watch your team, you win or lose and you go about your day.
This is not the case for Eagles fans. There’s a reason why the poles in downtown Philly have to be greased not only before the Super Bowl, but also before the conference championship. There’s a reason why a Philadelphia fan threw shade at the receiving mishaps that led to an Eagles loss earlier in the day while he was being interviewed on the local news about saving multiple babies from a fire. There’s a reason why every morning I wake up to “Fly, Eagles Fly.”
To an average American sports fan, the behavior of Eagles fans comes off as excessive, rowdy and hateful. We don’t want opposing fans in our stadiums. When a player bad mouths our beloved team, best believe they’re getting booed. We threw snowballs at Santa Claus when we lost on Christmas. The thing is, it’s not hate, it’s passion. It’s passion because my dad, and his parents before him, had to suffer through decades of disappointment. It’s passion because before I knew how to read, I knew that birds were good and cowboys were the scum of the Earth. Most can’t comprehend our passion, and that’s fine. The world continues to criticize us, and we continue to not care. Go Birds.
Chloe Nam, Assistant Sports Editor
In 2023, the Eagles disappointed the entire City of Brotherly Love with a crushing loss to the Chiefs. Two years later, the Eagles are back with a thirst for revenge, and you best believe they won’t let a win pass them easily. Despite the Eagles’ success all regular season, with the fewest yards allowed per game (278.4) and the second-fewest points allowed (17.8 PPG), they are still regarded as the underdogs in their rematch against the Chiefs. In less than a week, the Eagles will break free from that label and take on that of the Super Bowl champions.
“Mahomes is a force to be reckoned with, but he can’t carry a team that is incapable of protecting him.”
— Chloe Nam
It’s undeniable that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a force to be reckoned with, but he can’t carry a team that is incapable of protecting him. In the regular season, he was sacked 36 times, the most in his career. On the other hand, the Eagles have arguably the strongest offensive line in the league, which has provided quarterback Jalen Hurts with ample time to pass the ball. The Eagles are already stacked, and I haven’t even mentioned the powerhouse that is running back Saquon Barkley. The stats don’t lie, and Barkley is leading the league with 2,005 rushing yards. It would be a mistake to count the Eagles out.
I don’t care if Taylor Swift is outwardly cheering for the Chiefs – her lyrics in “gold rush” (2020) show where her heart lies: “With my Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door.” I predict the Eagles will win their second Super Bowl and make Philly fans proud.
PHI 28 - KC 24
Madeline Shapiro, Managing Editor
Please don’t let the Chiefs win, Eagles. It’s a story I’m tired of hearing. I know the Chiefs will probably win as they’ve been near perfect in championship scenarios the past few years, but I’ll cast my prediction for the Eagles anyway. Maybe it’s because I’d love to see an “Abbott Elementary” episode where the Eagles actually win the Super Bowl. Or maybe it’s because, like most of America, I’d like to see a less common winner in the NFL’s biggest game.
Lola McGuire, Opinion Editor
Naturally, with Emory University’s aptness for sports and football, Emory’s Swoop will be meeting his cousin, also named Swoop, of the Eagles. That’s right — the name of the Eagles’ beloved mascot is, in fact, Swoop. Standing at 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds, Philly’s Swoop is bound to put Emory’s often-forgotten mascot to shame. If the Eagles’ are able to trump Emory’s athletic prowess, then they are more than capable of beating the lowly Chiefs.
H a- tien nguyen/Senior Staff illuStrator
The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in News Orleans, La. on Feb. 9.
Jackson confident ahead of postseason
Continued from Back Page
The Eagles will continue UAA conference play on the road against Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 7. Looking forward to these upcoming UAA matchups, Jackson said she believes the Eagles can compete with anyone in the conference.
“If you walk into those games not confident, then the game is already over.”
— Misha Jackson
“We’ve got to be ready for a fight and we’ve been talking about ‘swing first,’” Jackson said. “Don’t wait to get rocked. Swing first and make somebody else have to come back.”
— Contact Sasha Melamud at sasha.melamud@emory.edu
Family support is key to Pearce’s success
Continued from Back Page
you’re on the court, you have to be a leader, so you don’t have a choice,” Zimmerman said. “His growth in that has been phenomenal.”
Pearce’s leadership on the court is evident to fans who attend Emory basketball games. Throughout the game, Pearce constantly offers a supportive pat on the back after a missed shot or a celebratory high-five after a made one.
“Everyone’s best when they’re empowered,” Pearce said. “Just continuously telling guys that they’re gonna hit shots, they’re gonna have a big day, to just stay at it.”
Pearce’s leadership also reaches beyond the court. Otto said that he is the best person to learn from, with Pearce often giving him advice on which classes to take and which clubs to join.
In addition to Pearce’s basketball talent and leadership abilities, he also possesses a hidden superpower that drives his success — his family.
“I have to credit my family because honestly, I have the best support system,” Pearce said. “Before and after every game, I talk to my mom, my brother texts me, my sister texts me, my dad texts me — they all text me just encouraging me.”
Pearce’s older brother Max Pearce played basketball at Purchase College (N.Y.) and now plays for the Harlem Globetrotters, while his older sister Jinjer Pearce ran track at Cornell University (N.Y.). Pearce said his siblings paved a road for him to pursue collegiate athletics.
“Just having siblings that have been through that experience, we just kind of laugh together,” Pearce said. “They help me. They’re kind of like additional parents to me.”
During a top-seed matchup that featured No. 2 Emory against No. 4 New York University (NYU) a few weeks ago, Pearce experienced what he described as his favorite memory to date, with his family and friends packed in the stands for the blockbuster game.
With his fans in attendance, Pearce did not disappoint. In the
final stages of the game, NYU cut the Eagles’ lead to four points, but a big-time three from Pearce powered Emory to the win. Pearce recalled the excitement in the stands after making the last-minute shot.
“I wasn’t even thinking at the time, but I just turned and my family was there, everybody was just right there in the middle of the court,” Pearce said. “We were all just celebrating together, and that was the biggest moment for me.”
Pearce finished the game with a season-high 28 points, leading Emory to a 77-65 victory.
Despite a recent tough weekend in which the Eagles fell to the University of Chicago on Jan. 24 and Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) on Jan. 26, the team bounced back to edge out Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) 91-85 on Jan. 31.
Pearce and junior guard and forward Jair Knight each scored 25 points, with Pearce also dishing out eight assists and setting up key shots for his teammates in crucial moments.
Off the court, Pearce plans to pursue professional basketball before transitioning into a career in sports business. As a business and sociology major, Pearce is already gaining valuable experience as the founder and president of the Emory Sports Business Association. In the future, he aims to launch his own sportsfocused company.
But that will all come later, and for now, Pearce and the rest of the team are preparing for the postseason. Amid hopes of a championship, Pearce explained that it has always been about the team rather than his own individual statistics.
“We want to obviously win the conference championship … and then we think we have a legit shot to win the national championship,” Pearce said. “Those are obviously the big goals and if we’re able to do that then whatever individual goals will follow that.”
— Contact Evan Malinow at evan.malinow@emory.edu
SWOOP’S SCOOP
Greeneway is ‘effortless’ in the pool, Celtnieks
Continued from Back Page
able to do it and do it really well.”
Howell also said that while Greeneway is committed to continually getting better, she remembers to have fun throughout the process.
“She’s very serious about what she does, but she’s able to laugh at herself and enjoy it too,” Howell said. “That ability to find that balance between being intense and serious — but also not taking yourself too seriously — is something that’s really important.”
Greeneway’s humble, friendly attitude has also left a positive impression on her teammates. Junior swimmer Penny Celtnieks said that Greeneway is “uplifting during practice” and “an essential part of the team.”
“She’s so funny,” Celtnieks said. “She gets along with every single person ... I’m lucky to be somebody who gets to train with her a lot and gets to know her, but I would say everyone on the team has had an interaction with her and has wonderful things to say.”
Celtnieks also reflected on when Greeneway first broke the 200yard IM record in November, and again in December. She recalled the excitement of the moment and said Greeneway’s movement looked “effortless.”
In a full circle moment, Greeneway’s sister also attended the Emory Fall Invitational, cheering her on while she broke the 200-yard IM record.
“She was so excited,” Greenway said. “My mom was telling me that she was jumping up and down and screaming. She’s definitely my biggest supporter.”
“Just swimming in the water between my events — I feel like it gets me in the zone.”
—
Allison Greeneway
Beyond support from friends and family, perhaps the secret to Greeneway’s success lies in her prerace rituals. The freshman swimmer has a turkey sandwich before every meet and listens to music before her dynamic warm-ups. Still, the water is where she feels most at home.
“Just swimming in the water between my events — I feel like it gets me in the zone,” Greeneway said.
Outside the pool, Greeneway
says
is involved with Global Medical Training at Emory and the Emory Undergraduate Journal Club. She hopes to spend more time pursuing research opportunities at Emory and attain a career in medicine as a pediatrician or physician’s assistant.
Fewer than two semesters into college, Greeneway is only at the beginning of her athletic journey. While it is impossible to predict what the next meet or next year holds, Greeneway envisions a bright future.
“I feel like it’s really hard to see where I’ll be at, but I definitely see myself continuing on the team and just creating new memories,” Greeneway said. “As cliche as that sounds, that’s what’s most important to me — creating those memories and being able to look back in 10 years and be like, ‘Wow, that was such a great time. I’m so appreciative and glad that happened.’”
As for the pressure to continue breaking records, Greeneway intends to continue bringing a lighthearted spirit to the team, taking a “no more, no less” approach to the sport.
“I’m just gonna swim and see what happens,” Greeneway said. “I think that mindset works best for me.”
— Contact Safa Wahidi at safa.wahidi@emory.edu
C ourte
greeneway
Freshman swimmer Allison Greeneway competes during a meet at Emory University. She broke the program record in the 200 yard individual medley this season.
natalie Sandlow/ViSual & web editor
Senior guard Daniella Aronsky dribbles during a game against Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) on Feb. 2.
Sports The Emory Wheel
‘Swing first’: Women’s basketball hopes to take UAAs
By Sasha Melamud Sports Feature Desk
With a 12-6 record this season, the Emory University women’s basketball team is off to a solid start and hoping to continue building momentum into the upcoming University Athletic Association (UAA) matchups. Led by head coach Misha Jackson, the team has gone 4-3 in UAA conference play including wins over No. 21 University of Chicago and No. 25 Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.).
Jackson expects all of her players to be competitive and put up a fight, whether the game is home or away. This season, Jackson has been trying to challenge her players more and meet with them one-on-one to build their confidence.
“Confidence, that’s a big thing — you have to have it to play for Emory,” Jackson said. “If you walk into those games not confident, then the game is already over.”
The Eagles lost to No. 1-ranked New York University (NYU) on Jan. 17 by 31 points. Despite the first quarter being a close matchup, the
SWIM & DIVE
combination of NYU’s strong defense and offensive game overpowered the Eagles’ efforts. Jackson said she gave her players a simple message after the loss: to not be too hard on themselves.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Jackson said. “We don’t need to start over. It’s very simple – get the ball more than the other team and put the ball in the hole more than they do.”
However, junior forward Chloe Kreusser said it has still been instilled in the team to not have a “short memory” after each matchup — no matter if they won or lost — so they can focus on improvement for the next game.
This season, Kreusser has had the most starts of her career at Emory, and she said she is looking to help her team by ensuring they have this positive mentality.
“It’s honestly a mental game of getting in the right headspace and knowing that we all know we have each other’s backs,” Kreusser said.
Graduate guard Hanna Malik is in the middle of her first season as an Eagle after graduating from
Allison Greeneway starts college career with a splash
By Safa Wahidi Opinion Editor
In a sea of talented student-athletes, freshman swimmer Allison Greeneway has quickly found success on Emory University’s swimming and diving team, setting a program record in the 200-yard individual medley (IM) and then shattering her own personal best a month later.
Earlier this season, Greeneway clocked a time of 2:01.23 on Nov. 8, 2024, breaking a 200-yard individual medley (IM) record at the Emory Fall Invitational that had previously been held for seven years. She followed up with a stellar performance at the Denison Invitational in Ohio on Dec. 5, 2024, finishing with a time of 2:00.79 and smashing the record again. Greeneway broke her record for a third time on Feb. 1 at a University of Georgia dual meet.
“It’s kind of rare that we have freshmen that are that quick to adapt.”
— Jon Howell
Originally from Appleton, Wis., Greeneway attributes her love for swimming to her older sister.
“I’d always ask my mom to wear my swimsuit to watch my sister swim because I wanted to be just like her,” Greeneway said. “I’d be at these swim
Washington and Lee University (Va.). Malik said she loves the team and that playing for Emory is an opportunity that she “wouldn’t trade for anything.” She added that she is working hard to make a seamless transition on the court while maintaining her style of play.
“I’m trying to do my best not to have them have to change to me, but me being able to mold to their system and how they’re playing,” Malik said. “Getting to know how my teammates play so I can put them in the best situations so they can be successful … so we can all just work together to be as successful as we can on the court.”
Although it is only her first season at Emory, Malik feels that she has known her teammates her “whole life.”
“You build these lasting connections that are never gonna go away and you definitely see it on the court,” Malik said. “We’re all so close. We all want the best for one another. We know what each other is thinking before they even say it.”
See JACKSON, Page 11
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Ben Pearce shapes basketball’s historic season
By Evan Malinow Contributing Writer
meets being six years old, wearing a swimsuit and just being completely dry.”
Growing up, Greeneway dabbled in cross country, track and field, gymnastics and soccer, but she said no other sport made her feel the same way swimming did — despite how the sport tested her resolve.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of Greeneway’s teammates stopped swimming, which left her struggling with motivation but gave her a new perspective on the importance of being part of a community.
“I stuck through it, and I feel like once I got through that, it made me realize swimming isn’t everything,” Greeneway said. “It’s so important to create those good relationships with that team and that coach.”
Luckily, Greeneway has been able to foster those crucial relationships at Emory. After visiting campus during her senior year of high school, she immediately gravitated toward the swimming and diving team, wanting to take part in the group’s traditions and camaraderie.
“When you’re doing club swim, which is what I did before college, it’s more individual,” Greeneway said. “You’re swimming for yourself and your times, but here, it’s like you’re swimming for a team.”
Head coach Jon Howell said that Greeneway acclimated quickly to training and continues to improve each week.
“It’s kind of rare that we have freshmen that are that quick to adapt to things,” Howell said. “She’s been
See GREENEWAY, Page 11
Impressive — that’s the word that best describes Emory University’s star junior guard Ben Pearce.
With lightning-quick speed, a remarkable ability to cut on a dime and a basketball IQ that will leave you wondering if he has eyes pointing in every direction on the court, Pearce is currently leading Emory men’s basketball to their best season in program history — the team ranked as high as No. 1 in Division III a few weeks ago.
This season, Pearce is averaging 17.4 points per game and 5.6 assists per game with incredible efficiency, shooting 37.9% from three and 85.9% from the free-throw line. During a game against Bowdoin College (Maine) in December, Pearce became the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
But leaving an impact on the court isn’t new to Pearce. Hailing from Tuckahoe, N.Y. — a village of less than 7,000 people 40 minutes north of New York City — Pearce has played basketball for as long as he can remember.
At Rye Country Day School (N.Y.), Pearce was a two-time basketball team captain. He scored over 1,000 points by the end of his junior year and led his team to win the 2019 state championship. Pearce was also a multi-sport athlete, becoming a two-time track state champion and a Metropolitan Independent Football League champion by the end of his sophomore year of high school.
However, Pearce’s path was not as glamorous as one may expect for a talented basketball player. In fact, he said that he often felt “under the radar” because his high school was not in a top division.
When a knee injury cut Pearce’s junior year short and the COVID-19 pandemic canceled his senior season,
his college aspirations and future in basketball were up in the air. Still, Pearce chose not to give up on his dream of playing collegiate basketball and went on to play a post-grad year at the Pomfret School (Conn.). He flourished in Connecticut, earning New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class B Player of the Year honors.
After a year of playing post-grad, Pearce committed to Emory, which had been recruiting him since his senior year.
“It was the perfect decision for me, the perfect opportunity that I wanted when I really figured out what I valued in going to a school,” Pearce said. “Sometimes you can get caught up in chasing Division I … but then I really put it into perspective and I figured that this was the best option for me.”
Pearce burst onto the scene during his first year at Emory, setting a freshman program record for singleseason scoring with 468 points while
starting all 26 games.
Senior guard Albert Fallas said that Pearce was the “most talented freshman” he had seen during his time on the team, adding that his work ethic and mental maturity are an important part of his success.
“He’s a very hard worker,” Fallas said. “Mentally, he does a really good job of staying grounded — doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low.”
Freshman guard Will Otto echoed this sentiment. He said that Pearce often texts teammates to ask if they want to get in the gym to put up extra shots before or after practice.
According to Otto, Pearce’s infectious positivity and energy make him one of the team’s primary leaders. Head coach Jason Zimmerman added that Pearce has grown tremendously as a leader during his time on the team.
“When you’re a point guard and
See FAMILY, Page 11
natalie Sandlow/ViSual & web editor
Graduate guard Hanna Malik moves past a Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) player during a game on Feb. 2.
JuStin wHitening/Staff PHotogra PHer
Junior guard Ben Pearce possesses the ball during a game against Union College (N.Y.) on Dec. 30, 2024.