September 28, 2022

Emory

United Methodist Church fractures, former Glenn members call for full inclusion

By Sarah DaviS Managing Editor

Over the treetops of Emory University’s Atlanta campus, the green steeple of Glenn Memorial Church is a constant reminder of Emory’s roots in the United Methodist Church (UMC). As the national body of the Christian denomination splits over the issue of LGBTQ inclusion, some former members of Glenn’s congregation are calling on the University to challenge Glenn to openly defy the UMC’s rulebook, the Book of Discipline, which prohibits the appointment of openly-gay clergy and officiation of LGBTQ weddings.

While the student body today represents many different religions and cultures, the University’s foundational partnership with the UMC is ongoing. UMC leaders traditionally fill five chairs on Emory’s Board of Trustees.

Currently, North Georgia United Methodist Conference (NGUMC) Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, who has the final say on ordaining and appointing clergy to local churches, sits on the Board.

Emory also funds the upkeep of Glenn’s sanctuary building, where the University’s annual drag show is hosted. Emory’s ownership allows Glenn to host same-sex weddings in their sanctuary, as long as the couple brings in their own officiant. Other churches, whose space is subsidized by the UMC, do not have this ability under the Book of Discipline’s rules.

Glenn is a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a network of over 1,000 UMCaffiliated churches seeking to include LGBTQ people in their ministries to varying extents.

Additionally, Emory’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Life awarded Glenn their “Outstanding Ally of the Year Award” in 2015 “for its creation of

an inclusive, respectful and safe climate for the Emory LGBTQIA+ community.”

Still, some former Glenn members claim that, by abiding by the Book of Discipline, Glenn fails to align with the University’s Equal Opportunity and Discriminatory Harassment

Policy, which states that Emory “will not tolerate discrimination against or harassment of any individual or group based upon gender … sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression … or any factor that is a prohibited consideration under applicable law."

History of the UMC’s fight over LGBTQ inclusion

Over the past 50 years, UMCaffiliated churches’ stance on LGBTQ inclusion has been a source of impassioned debate among national and local leaders alike, but only

COVID-19 leaves lasting impact on young adults' mental health

By Julia laSzcz Science and Research Desk

With the COVID-19 pandemic in its third year, researchers are unraveling a new epidemic in chil dren and young adults — increased rates of depression and anxiety. Emory University experts — includ ing Nadine Kaslow, professor and vice chair of the Emory University School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry and behavioral sci ences and former president of the American Psychological Association — have been outspoken on the pan demic’s exacerbation of mental health problems.

Since 2020, children’s depression and anxiety rates have doubled to 25.2% and 20.5%, respectively.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 44.2% of high school students report ed experiencing persistent sadness or hopelessness, with nearly 20% seriously considereding suicide and

9% attempting suicide within the 12 months prior to the survey.

Home confinement during the pandemic is a major component to the spike in poor mental health, Kaslow wrote in an email to the Wheel. Confinement not only limited social interaction with individuals of similar ages, but also increased occurrences of child abuse.

“Initially, we saw more depression and anxiety in children because of home confinement, exposure to fam ily conflict including domestic vio lence and childhood maltreatment, social isolation from peers, reduced contact with supporters at school, the demands of homeschooling, missing out on important events, fears of get ting sick or dying and grief due to the loss of loved ones,” Kaslow wrote.

Certain groups’ mental health was especially affected by the pandemic.

According to Kaslow, females, older youth, historically marginalized communities and those with preexisting mental health or physical

impairments have continued to to suffer from clinically elevated rates of depression and anxiety symp toms, even after in-person classes returned.

Financial strain was also found to be closely correlated with depressive symptoms. Low income families with children faced higher levels of economic hardship when compared to low income families without children, with almost half reporting difficulty paying for expenses and 16% reporting food insecurity.

“The issue of disparities was brought into even bolder relief dur ing the pandemic,” Kaslow wrote. “What is clear is that for young people to thrive and do well emo tionally, their families need assis tance to meet their children’s basic needs. Having such access reduces the stress of the caregivers, which enables them to better care for their children and promote their well-being.”

Universities’ role in mental health

Some students believe that uni versities should be held account able for students’ decline in men tal health as well as provide more resources for individuals facing mental distress.

Nicole Boakye (24C) expressed her dissatisfaction in how schools failed to address rapidly rising depression and anxiety rates, which she saw while graduating high school and entering Emory during the peak of the pandemic.

“Schools should check in with student mental health periodically,” Boakye said. “They need to under stand it’s a difficult time and exercise patience.”

Creating a supportive environ ment in schools is a key step in addressing students’ mental health concerns, Kaslow noted.

recently has it resulted in a fracture. At the UMC’s General Conference in 1972, the delegates updated the Book of Discipline to state that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Therefore, “self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church” and “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.”

At a special 2019 conference to address the Book of Discipline’s rules regarding sexual orientation, the UMC’s conservative majority passed the Traditional Plan, which set a punishment of a year’s suspension without pay if the Church’s Judicial Council found that a clergy member officiated a same-sex wedding. After progressive and centrist churches pushed back, the Judicial Council placed a moratorium on charges brought against clergy accused of presiding over same-sex weddings from 2020 to 2024.

In response, UMC leaders across the globe who opposed LGBTQ ordination and marriage founded the Global Methodist Church (GMC) on May 1, 2020. At this year’s annual NGUMC on June 2, NGUMC leaders ratified the disaffiliation of 70 churches, about 9% of the churches in the Conference. Not all will join the GMC — some may opt to join other Methodist movements, like the Free Methodist Church U.S.A., while others chose to remain unattached.

This local movement from conservative Georgia churches mirrors a national trend. In Florida, 14 churches have disaffiliated and 106 filed a lawsuit on July 14, asking to leave the UMC immediately without paying required apportionments and pension

Emory's Hispanic student body grows

By Eric JonES Senior Staff Wrter

The Hispanic/Latinx population at Emory University has always been a minority, sitting at 9.2% in 2021, according to Assistant Vice Provost of Institutional Research and Decision Support Justin Shepherd. This year, there are 1,471 Hispanic/Latinx students enrolled in the University, with 665 of those students enrolled in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

Emory trails behind with Latino and Hispanic student enrollment on the national scale — Hispanic stu dents earned 15% bachelor degrees awarded in 2020, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, following a decade of rapid growth in the Hispanic student population. Although college enroll ment among all races decreased by 5% from 2009 to 2019, Hispanic student

Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Courtesy of emory university (top right and top left); soph guerieri/Contributing photographer (bottom)

The Glenn Memorial Church sits on Emory's campus (top left). The steeple towers above trees (top right). A pride flag hangs on the altar in the Glenn Memorial Church (bottom).

Mental health resources scarce at Emory, students report

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She recommended evidence-based prevention programs targeting men tal and behavioral health. These pro grams implement strategies such as behavioral counseling, which has been found to be effective in improv ing mental health outcomes and in expanding mental health services to professors and other school personnel.

Another important factor to pro mote wellness in children and young adults is promoting social interactions through school activities that were sig nificantly changed or completely can celed during the pandemic, Kaslow said. This may include sports and music classes. Despite accessibility to social media, physical proximity and social interactions are important for developing meaningful friendships.

“While the stigma around mental health has improved since the pandemic, it is still something we walk on eggshells around.”

ily conflict, children feeling badly about themselves or ending up losing privileges that surround homework should be replaced with a focus on family connection, fun and emotion al support.”

Arianna Lee (25C) agreed that excessive homework could con tribute to the stress of students, specifically those with depression. While physical illnesses are often acknowledged with accommoda tions given r, she noted that mental health is often considered a second ary concern.

“School gives excused absences when you are physically sick but not when you are mentally [ill],” Lee said. “If a student has clinical depression and a doctor can attest to it, sick days should extend to mental health days.”

Graduating high school during the pandemic, Sadie Murphy (25C) said she felt like she never received an official conclusion to her experi ence due to not having a graduation.

“It almost felt like I didn't have that transition from high school into college,” Murphy said. “It was kind of like high school never finished but there were a lot of things I was still involved in like sports and activities and academics, which I didn't get to experience at the end, which was disappointing.”

Kaslow suggested that professors can promote these social interactions by significantly reducing the number of assignments required for the course.

“Homework just adds to the demands on young people and fami lies in ways that overtax many family units and the payoff is not great,” Kaslow wrote. “The amount of fam

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Executive Director Keilan Rickard said she hopes to bring to light the mental health issues caused by COVID-19 as well as the resources Emory has to aid students. Rickard encourages stu dents to explore ways to nurture their wellbeing at Emory. Rickard noted that CAPS offers various forms

Health Services, which provides psychiatric evaluation and medica tion management. Emory Student Case Management and Intervention Services also provides support for basic mental health needs and followup care.

Despite Emory’s mental health resources, some students reported facing obstacles, struggling to gain

number of therapists for such a large number of students, so it's extremely hard to get multiple appointments,” Murphy said. “They only let you have a certain number of appointments per semester, which is very unrealistic for someone that is needing that help.”

While COVID-19 has sparked a series of discussions on mental health, mental health and wellness

Through the pandemic, many individuals — most notably young adults — called for transparency and honesty about mental health, as well as the importance of acces sibility to mental health resources, particularly through social media.

“While the stigma around mental health has improved since the pan demic, it is still something we walk on eggshells around,” Lee said.

— Contact Julia Laszcz at julia.laszcz@emory.edu

Students celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

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enrollment jumped by 48% during this same period, the National Center for Education Statistics reported.

This trend recently took a turn. Hispanic enrollment fell by 7% between fall 2019 and fall 2021, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. This places more strain on the Hispanic/ Latino population, who have less repre sentation in campus communities. They already have the lowest degree of educa tion for any racial group in the United States.

College enrollment across all racial groups decreased during the pandemic, but the Hispanic com munity was especially impacted. The Chronicle attributes this phenom enon to many Hispanic students’ lower-income and first-generation status, prompting them to put their education on pause to handle family responsibilities.

Latino families were also among the most likely to struggle financially during the pandemic, affecting Latino students’ abil ity to attend college. The Chronicle reports that Hispanic students are less likely to take out loans to pay for their education or view college as a worthwhile investment to get a job, further contributing to recent trends.

Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Hispanic/Latinx people are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. For some students, deal ing with the loss of a family member or

fearing bringing the virus back to their families prevented them from attend ing school.

Schroeder said.

The University is also joining the celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month. There are multiple events planned throughout the month, such as a discussion called “Consciousness is Power,” on Sept. 28, which will recount Emory’s Latino history. There is also a pop-up exhibit on the second floor of Woodruff Library this month, titled “Consciousness Is Power: A Record of Emory Latinx History” for Emory students to learn more about the month.

Yesnely Flores (22PH, 28G) said she hopes Latino groups can honor their culture this month and have their own space at the University.

However, Emory is currently expe riencing an increase in Hispanic/ Latinx students. From 2017 to 2021, the Hispanic/Latinx population at Emory increased from 7.5% to 9.2%, with the population standing at 7.9% in 2018, 8.3% in 2019 and 8.8% in 2020.

The growing Hispanic/Latinx stu dent population helped Kasandra Schroeder (25C) find a community at Emory after being in primarily white spaces in high school and not celebrat ing Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Now, she has gotten a chance to honor her culture.

“Hispanic Heritage Month has been a way to connect with the Hispanic and Latinx community on campus and to connect back to my heritage that I have held for so long,”

“It’s really important for Latinx stu dents to have this month and be cel ebrated, especially at an institution like Emory,” Flores said.

The importance of awareness, advo cacy and understanding is most impor tant, Flores said, noting that she wants other Emory students to take action to be better allies.

“We are here and present and we have always been here,” Flores said. “Making sure that’s clear and … just being a continuous ally with small things and thinking about what the impact is of being a Latinx student in the Southeast. Small things like that can make huge changes in people’s lives.”

Schroeder added that it is important for members of the Emory community who are not Latino to be educated on Latino culture.

“It is important to learn how

being Latinx impacts people’s iden tities and be open to hear any posi tive experiences that come from that,” Schroeder said. “People who are in large organizations on cam pus should continue to support our community.”

Inclusion toward the Latino commu nity should continue beyond Hispanic Heritage Month, Schroeder added.

“It’s not just a month,” Schroeder said.

— Contact Eric Jones at eric.jones@emory.edu

a lly hom/photo editor Centro Latinx was renovated in fall 2021 and serves as a hub for Latinx students and faculty.

“Hispanic Heritage Month has been a way to connect with the Hispanic and Latinx community on campus and to connect back to my heritage that I have held for so long.”

— Kasandra Schroeder

Jainee shah/Contributing illustrator

— Arianna Lee

Abrams falls behind Kemp in election defined by incumbent performance

By MaDi oliviEr News Editor

With 41 days left until Election Day, Democratic gubernatorial can didate Stacey Abrams is trailing her opponent, Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, by over five percentage points in the race for Georgia’s gov ernor mansion, according to Sept. 23 polling data.

But Abrams’ campaign isn’t necessarily the reason behind the gap, Emory University Associate Professor of Political Science Bernard Fraga said.

“Georgia is a close state, and to me, that's completely within strik ing distance,” Fraga said. “It's just a question of whether the dynamics in the state and nationally are going to change in Abrams’ favor enough to help her get over the finish line with a victory.”

Abrams and Kemp last faced off in the 2018 gubernatorial election, where Abrams lost by 1.4 percentage points.

However, the 2022 midterms can not be reliably compared to 2018 given the different political con text of each election, Fraga said. He explained that Democrats will not perform as well in swing states given Biden’s “underwater” approval rating of 42.6%.

“What surprises me is that people are suggesting Abrams is somehow underperforming simply because she's doing worse than she did in 2018, which was a wave election for Democrats,” Fraga said. “I don't think we have a lot of strong evidence to say Abrams is doing worse than we would expect given the national environment.”

Fraga added that Abrams is pri marily bringing in less votes because the gubernatorial election is heavily influenced by incumbency. Each of Kemp’s political decisions in office has shaped voters’ views of him as a governor, pushing voters to either side with or against him. Kemp’s approval ratings stand at about 53% as of press time.

“The vast majority of Georgia vot ers have already made up their minds, and frankly, made up their minds even before we knew who the candidates were,” Fraga said.

Emory College Republicans Chairman Robert Schmad (23C) is one of them. He wrote that Kemp “has consistently been one of the best governors in the country,” noting that he brought more jobs to Georgia and passed the heartbeat bill.

“Governor Kemp … has used his office to pursue policies conducive to tangibly improve the economic condi tion of this state while maintaining a conservative agenda in line with what his base’s demands,” Schmad said. “Kemp is a skilled statesman, Abrams, not so much.”

Young Democrats of Emory Co-communications Director

Virginia Brown (23C) noted that Kemp’s incumbency has been ben eficial so far.

“He was secretary of state, where he literally wrote the rules for the election,” Brown said. “He holds a huge advantage there. He's got name recognition.”

hand, Republican voters will be more inclined to vote Democratic in the Senate race because Warnock’s opponent, Walker, lacks political experience.

As a Black woman running against a white man in the Deep South, Abrams faces further strain on her campaign.

Brown said that because she is a Black woman, Abrams is having to go “above and beyond” in her campaign.

“We aren't in a place in our society right now where we accept women and women of color as equals to white men and just men in general,” Brown said.

If Abrams were to win, she would be the first Black woman to occupy a governor’s mansion in the United States.

“We can't separate out the life expe rience of these candidates from the type of campaign they're running, and the situation that they find themselves in,” Fraga said.

Georgia, they're making assump tions about Abrams, her potential base and the strategies that she's using,” Fraga said. “For people who are living here in Georgia, I think you see a campaign that is, first of all, very well resourced, and posi tioning itself to try and win over those more moderate voters.”

Schmad said that focusing on voter engagement is a smart strategy for Democrats.

“Low propensity Democratic vot ers are vital if liberals want to win in November,” Schmad said. “It was turn out that killed them in 2018 and it very well could be their undoing again.”

Abrams has recently narrowed her focus to Black voters, especially men, who have decreased in their support for Abrams, reportedly due to factors such as Kemp’s COVID19 response and the stability of Georgia’s economy.

In 2018, 88% of Black male voters and 97% of black female voters sup ported Abrams.

The incumbent advantage is also seen in the Senate race between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and his Republican challenger, U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker. Polling data as of Sept. 22 shows Warnock ahead of Walker by two percentage points.

Although this could suggest that Warnock has garnered more Democratic support than Abrams, Fraga said it is also vital to consider their opponents.

He explained that Republican vot ers will likely view Kemp as a good candidate who has stood up against the more “extreme” elements of the Republican party, making them less likely to vote blue. On the other

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Schmad, however, does not believe Abrams’ race is playing a major role in her campaign because “people are far more concerned about kitchen table issues than race and similar social flashpoints.”

Currently, Abram’s campaign is largely based on combating voter suppression and expanding the number of registered voters in Georgia, especially voters of color, Democrats and younger popula tions. Abrams’ voting rights orga nization, Fair Fight, has worked to expand Georgia’s electorate since her loss in 2018, which she attrib uted to voter suppression.

Discussion over Abrams’ cam paign strategy made its way into national conversation.

The New York Times wrote on Sept. 7 that “her struggles have some Georgia Democrats wondering if the Abrams model — seeking to expand the universe of voters to fit her poli tics — is truly better than trying to capture 50 percent of the voters who exist now.”

Fraga deemed this stance “inaccurate.”

“Outside observers who are not doing the work on the ground in

Last week’s polls by Quinnipiac University indicate that Black men’s support for Abrams now stands at 87%, while Black women’s support dropped slightly to 94%.

Abrams’ recent campaign for Black votes is likely part of her plan to rally support from all Georgians, Fraga said. Abrams cannot afford to underperform among any of the voter demographics, and Black peo ple make up a considerably large voter block, representing over 12% of Georgia’s population and 34.8% of registered voters.

Fraga noted that winning the gubernatorial election will rely on high turnout from groups that have historically been considered base voters, such as Black men, and appealing to enough swing voters to pull the electorate in their favor. Swing voters are interested in hear ing about what candidates do differ ently, the economy and issues that the Democratic base typically don’t focus on, Fraga said.

“The economy has been the biggest issue,” Daniel Ren (24B), who is not currently endorsing either candidate, said. “This is personally also one of the … largest factors in whom I decide to

vote for.”

Young Democrats of Emory Co-communications Director Pranay Mamileti (26C) noted that the deci sion to overturn Roe v. Wade and the subsequent implementation of Kemp’s six-week abortion ban has increased support for Abrams.

“It was a shock, but everyone need ed it to show that without these consti tutional protections, this is what's at stake,” Mamileti said. “If Republicans do end up controlling and continu ing to control state legislatures, as well as the nationwide political scene, that's kind of where we're headed as a country.”

However, Schmad maintains that Abrams’ focus on social and cul tural issues, such as abortion, is harming her campaign. He believes most Georgians care more about the economy, which he said Kemp has improved.

“Her focus on progressive [cul ture] isn’t resonating with Georgians,” Schmad wrote.

Kemp is also appealing to swing voters with an “extremely smart and well positioned campaign,” Fraga added. He said Kemp has successfully balanced both Trump supporters and moderate voters who supported U.S. President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.

Kemp garnered national attention in 2020 after publicly refuting for mer U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud and certify ing Biden’s win in Georgia, position ing himself to likely take back the Republican voters who disapproved of Trump, Fraga said.

Fraga said that although Kemp would likely win if the election were held today, a lot can change in the 41 days left until the Nov. 8 election.

“People shouldn't count Abrams out,” Fraga said. “They shouldn't count any Democrat out for statewide office, just given the current partisan split in the state, but it's clear that the Brian Kemp campaign should proba bly feel a lot better about their chanc es than Abrams does right now.”

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu

“I don't think we have a lot of strong evidence to say Abrams is doing worse than we would expect given the national environment.”

— Bernard Fraga, Associate Professor of Political Science

Glenn serves as progressive UMC congregation

Continued from Page 1

liabilities. Candler School of Theology Assistant Dean of Methodist Studies

Brett Opalinski (98T), who served as a minister and a board member on the Florida UMC’s (FLUMC) Board of Ordained Ministry for 12 years, which reviews candidates for ordained ministry, said that he has witnessed a rise in conversation around the ordination of openly gay people in the FLUMC.

Opalinski was appointed as a delegate for the UMC’s 2020 General Conference, which has been postponed to 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As more conservative institutions are leaving the UMC, he said that progressive leaders are hopeful that the Book of Discipline’s wording will be changed during the 2024 conference.

“What I expect is going to happen is that some of what's been referred to as the ‘harmful language’ in the Book of Discipline that speaks to LGBTQ+ persons is going to be removed,” Opalinski said.

Candler Dean Jan Love said that this change would make it legal for UMC clergy to officiate same-sex weddings and for Haupert-Johnson to appoint openly gay clergy, something Love said she believes the bishop will be more than willing to do.

“She is sworn to uphold the discipline, but she overlooks various disobedient acts,” Love said.

In fact, Love said Haupert-Johnson was “very sympathetic” to a Methodist priest who recently came out as transgender and let him continue to serve in the church she appointed him to.

“It was a big deal because he was put at risk by making that public declaration,” Love said. “The bishop we had before Bishop Sue probably would have taken his ordination away … so, gay and lesbian clergy in the United Methodist Church are still still in a category of being vulnerable.”

Until the wording is officially changed, UMC churches across the nation are split on whether to disobey the Book of Discipline’s rules barring openly-gay people from serving as Methodist clergy and officiating LGBTQ weddings. But, in Atlanta, many already are.

At St. Mark United Methodist Church in Midtown, clergy are allowed to preside over LGBTQ weddings on an elective basis, a decision that went into effect immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal in 2015. St. Mark Pastor Joshua Noblitt (04T, 18T) said this was a necessary step, considering that an overwhelming majority — he

estimated between 75% and 80% — of the church’s congregation is LGBTQ.

Noblitt said that not permitting this congregational majority, “the heartbeat of our congregation,” to be married by church clergy “is just not right” and questioned what is accomplished by abiding the Book of Discipline’s rules regarding clerical appointments of LGBTQ persons and same-sex marriages.

“The question I think is important for all of us to ponder is what is the purpose of these rules?” Noblitt said.

“For us to be able, at the end of the day, to say, ‘By God, we follow the rules?’ Or, is our purpose as a church to help people feel empowered, and loved and liberated and like a child of God? I mean, that seems to me that that is our purpose.”

For 15 years, Noblitt was the only openly gay UMC clergy member in the state. He has been a key figure in the global conversation around LGBTQ inclusion over the past 20 years, leading protests on the voting floor before delegates at general conferences with The Love Your Neighbor Coalition, a diverse partnership of 12 UMC Caucus groups “working for a just, inclusive and grace filled denomination.”

“When you know somebody that's gay, and you see their life … a trans person, anybody who's different, once you have a personal connection to that person, we can't help but have our eyes open to some new possibilities,” Noblitt said. “That's what we've been trying to

do, and we did have quite a bit of success around that.”

While Noblitt believes it is likely that the exclusive language in the Book of Discipline will be removed at the 2024 Conference, he said he dislikes the division in the Church.

“It's good that we will see a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of how we deal with this, but also just heartbreaking that we weren't able to come to some kind of new understanding because we're talking about people's lives,” Noblitt said.

Criticisms of Glenn

Chase McKoon (23T), an intern at Glenn, wrote in an email to the Wheel that the last four years he’s worked in UMC institutions “has been nothing but pleasant.” He said that Glenn’s membership in the Reconciling Ministries Network is part of the reason he was drawn to work in the church.

“My religious studies and my work at a wide variety of UMC-affiliated institutions has been extremely formative in discovering and developing an inclusive, affirming and welcoming personal and public theology postured towards the LGBTQIA+ community,” McKoon wrote.

Glenn’s head pastor Mark Westmoreland considers his church among the progressive congregations in the UMC vying for a change in the Book of Discipline’s wording. In the meantime, however, Westmoreland said he will abide by the Church’s rules. However, some

former church members said Glenn is not going far enough to include LGBTQ people.

Emory School of Law Adjunct Professor Nathan Hartman (00C, 06T, 06L, 07B) and Professor of Law George Shepherd left the Church in 2019 after it became clear that Westmoreland was unwilling to disregard the Book of Discipline’s rules.

When Hartman asked Glenn clergy if they would hypothetically preside over his marriage to another man, he said he was told, “Politely, no.”

“What does it mean if every Methodist minister leaves the space?” Hartman said. “That is not their support, that is their contractual obligation with Emory

Church … and if Emory permits this to continue on, since Emory supports Glenn so richly, Emory itself is complicit in the homophobia also.”

Westmoreland said that while he understands people’s frustration that there has not been an immediate move to fully include LGBTQ church members, he believes the call to remove Glenn’s clergy was “extreme.”

Glenn’s relationship with the University is important to Westmoreland. On “Emory-Glenn Sunday” on Sept. 18, Westmoreland gave a sermon titled “We’re so grateful to be able to share a life with a wonderful university.”

“I love Emory, I love being here and we want to be in relationship with the whole campus,” Westmoreland said. “Not everybody wants to be a part of this church — a lot of people don’t even know who we are — but we want to be here for this campus and be in ministry and offer care and grace to anyone who comes.”

Even with the moratorium, Westmoreland said people have still brought cases against clergy. After two non-Glenn UMC clergy gave speeches at a 2021 marriage ceremony between two men in Glenn’s sanctuary, opponents of same-sex marriage asked Haupert-Johnson to investigate. While the clergy members ended up being cleared because they had not officiated the wedding, Westmoreland said this instance shows the risk taken by clergy who choose to defy the UMC’s rules.

Additionally, Love said that if the conservative majority doesn’t end up disaffiliating there could be cases brought retroactively against clergy members who preside over same-sex weddings during the moratorium.

This risk is a part of why Westmoreland chooses to not defy the Book of Discipline. While he said he’s never been approached by an LGBTQ couple to officiate a samesex wedding, he would consider risking his position if he had a strong relationship with a couple who asked to be married.

At the same time, he said that he wants to respect the Book of Discipline so that if the wording is changed, the other side will hold a similar respect for the new rules.

“I don't want to ignore the Book of Discipline; I want to change the Book of Discipline,” Westmoreland said. “In my ministry, I'm not interested in simply doing a wedding in order to make a statement.”

to share the space with other faiths. What they’re saying is I can go to another faith who is not discriminating and ask them to marry me, but they are going to continue to discriminate.”

Shepherd, who was a member at Glenn for decades, has been an outspoken advocate for full LGBTQ inclusion and even circulated a petition asking for Glenn’s clergy to require Glenn to fully include LGBTQ people, garnering 406 signatures. In a 2021 email to Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law Tim Holbrook, Shepherd also suggested Glenn’s clergy be replaced by “chaired Emory professors of international stature,” as Harvard and Yale have done.

“Glenn, by deciding to continue to enforce these policies, is really complicit,” Shepherd said. “They are themselves discriminating. They can't blame this on the United Methodist

With the possible change to the Book of Discipline’s language on the horizon, some UMC-affiliated churches in Atlanta have chosen to move ahead with full inclusion, leaving former church members like Hartman and Shepherd to question where Emory stands in the conversation of LGBTQ inclusion as a financial and administrative supporter of Glenn.

“Emory defends itself and Glenn defends itself by saying, ‘Well, there’s lots of religions that discriminate against LGBT people and women and various minorities’ and the response to that is Emory does not provide outsized financial support to those institutions,” Hartman said. “The difference is that Emory is holding up Glenn by providing them far more financial support. So, it would be a different issue if all the faiths were financially treated equally, but they’re not, and that’s the problem.”

— Contact Sarah Davis at sarah.davis@emory.edu

soph guerieri/Contributing photographer

A cross stands in the Glenn Memorial Church, which follows the Book of Discipline as part of the United Methodist Church.

“I don't want to ignore the Book of Discipline. I want to change the Book of Discipline. In my ministry, I'm not interested in simply doing a wedding in order to make a statement.”

— Mark Westmoreland, Glenn Memorial Church Head Pastor

soph guerieri/Contributing

photographer

The sanctuary of Glenn Memorial Church showcases a pillar.

Retratos:Viviendoentraducción

Spanishasalanguageofoppressionandempowerment

IthinkinEnglish,butIfeelin Spanish.Idon’thaveasinglemother tongue,becauseIlearnedbothasa child.ButEnglishandSpanishhave alwaysmeantcompletelydifferent thingstome.EnglishmeansassimilationandSpanishmeanshome. Maybefiveyearsago,10,Icould’ve pickedonetolivein,butI’mata pointofnoreturn.Bothlanguages areapartofme,completelyintertwined,inseparableandwarring— twinflamesthatburnmealive.

**

There’saChristiantraditionin manypartsofColombia,knownas lasnovenas.Ontheninenights beforeChristmas,peoplewillgather withtheirlovedones,readthestory ofChrist’sbirthandpray.Inmy family,it’satraditionthatthekids readthevariouspartsofthestory,in Spanishofcourse.Istillgetnervous whenthattimeofyearcomes around.IrememberthatwheneverI hadtoread,itwouldtakemetwiceas longasmycousinsandplaymatesto stumblethroughtheantiquated language.Ioftenmispronounced wordsandgotlostinthemiddleof thepage(Iwasrelentlesslyteasedfor it).Icanreaditperfectlynow.Ican readIsabelAllende,PabloNeruda andManuelRuizperfectlynow,too, butIstillgetnervous.

**

MycousinandIweregetting brunchinBogotáwhenwestarted discussingthewordsourfathersuse toaddresseachother.Thetwomost commonones,whichIwon’trepeat, aretheSpanishequivalentsofthe f-slur.They’reusedasendearing termsamongstmostofmymale relatives.Everyonesaysthosewords

liketheymeannothing,butthat’snot true,isit?Thosewordsdomean something,andtheyhurttohear whenevermyfathersaysthem.

**

WhenIgetangry,nomatterwho I’maround,nomatterwhetherornot I’llbeunderstood,IspeakinSpanish.

**

AlsoinBogotá,areallthepeople forwhommySpanishisn’tgood enough.Theuncleswhousemocking gringoaccentswhentheyspeakto

mybrotherandme,thegrandparent whothoughtIwasalostcauseand saidasmuchandthecousinswho, whenIwasakid,toldmeIlivedin theworstplaceintheworldand wouldgrowuptobeadumb,fat American.Theybothliveherenow.

we’dbeen.She’sArgentinian,andwe havethesharedgoalofgoingbackto liveinourhomecountries,buteven thisdreamisonethat’sonlycomfortableinthebubbleofourAmerican accents.

**

**

EventhoughmybestfriendandI arebothnative,fluentSpanish speakers,wespeakalmostexclusivelyinEnglish.Iwenttovisither thissummer,andweorderedour foodinSpanishbeforeswitching backtoEnglishtoaskeachotherhow

Idon’tknowwhatitisaboutTexas thatfelledmyfather.Maybethe burned-browngrassthatinvadesin mid-fall,thenever-endingwebof highwaysortheofficeheworksat, butwhenIheardhimaskifwe shouldstartspeakinginEnglishin public,apartofmedied.“Peoplewill

treatusbetter,”hesaid.

“Quesepudran,”Isaid.Igotmad. Notathim,exactly,butatwhatever thinghadputthatideainhisheadI makeitapoint,now,tospeakin Spanish,readinSpanishandthinkin SpanishwheneverandwhereverI can.Iliketothinkthat I’mtakingupthespace myfatherdoesn’tthink hedeserves,sothatone dayhecanstepintoit, too.

**

“Doyouthinkyou’ll endupmarryinga gringo?”mybestfriend asked.

“Idon’tknow,”I said.“Ithinkitwould bekindofawkward.

Like,IknowwhatI wantmyweddingsong tobe,butwhat’sthe pointifmyspouse doesn’tunderstandthe wordsI’mdedicatingto them?”

“Wellmaybethey canlearnwhatitmeans beforehand.Youcan writealittletranslation forthem.”

“Yeah,”Isaid. “Maybe.”

**

IthinkinEnglish, butIfeelinSpanish. Andalthoughbothlanguagesare essentialtowhoIam,theyarenot equal.Howcouldtheybe,ifevery timeIamhumiliated,everytimeI fallinloveandeverytimeIdance andyellandlaughandcryandgasp, Iamcalledhome?

IsabelCuellar(25C)isfromMiami, Florida.

TheEmoryWheelwelcomeslettersandop-edsubmissionsfromtheEmorycommunity.Lettersshouldbelimitedto300 wordsandop-edsshouldbeatleast500.Thoseselectedmaybeshortenedtofitallottedspaceoreditedforgrammar,punctuationandlibelouscontent.SubmissionsreflecttheopinionsofindividualwritersandnotoftheWheel’sEditorialBoardor EmoryUniversity.Sendemailstoemorywheelexec@gmail.comorpostalmailtoTheEmoryWheel,DrawerW,EmoryUniversity,Atlanta,GA,30322.

IsabelCuellar

Don’tbuyHerschelWalker’sson’srebrand

ATikTokeropensanaccount.The TikTokermaybecontroversialorhave unpopularviewsandfacesbacklashfor thoseopinionsoractions.TheTikTokerisde-platformedandthus “canceled.”So,theTikTokertakesa shorthiatusandreturnstotheplatformwithanewstreamofcontent. DoestheTikTokerfacebacklash?No. Rather,theywelcomeanewwaveof supporterswhoareunawareoftheir pastcontent,ortheyinviteformer criticsoftheircontentwhobuyintothe ideaofthecreatorchangingwhatthey post.Thiscycleisnotnewtothe internet;manycontroversialmedia figureshaveseenashiftinpublic opiniontowardthemoncetheydeliver differentcontent.

Wesawthispatternin2020when TikTokuser@nickvideos,apopular conservativevoiceontheplatform,left TikTokafterreceivingbacklashforhis viewsandreturnedmonthslater, claimingtohavemoreliberalviewsand sayinghenolongersupportedformer PresidentDonaldTrump.Hisnewer content,focusedaroundthegymand someleft-leaningbutultimately ambiguouspoliticalvideos,gainedhim anewdemographicoffollowers,which helostafterherevertedtohisconservativevideos.Thistacticofreinventing one’sonlineimagetoappealtothe masseshascontinuedtoappealto peoplewhodoverylittleresearch outsideofTikTok.

Enterstageright:ChristianWalker. Incaseyoumissedthenumerous onlineparodiesofChristianWalker’s previouscontent,hisStarbucksdrivethrusociopoliticalrants,orhisinfamousrun-inwithsingerKehlani, ChristianWalkerisa22-year-old UniversityofCaliforniaLosAngeles graduateandisknownonTikTokas @officialchristianwalk1r.Hesaw overnightfamein2020whenhis videosequatingtheBlackLivesMatter (BLM)proteststoviolentriotswent viralonhisTikTokaccount;callingthe movement“ghetto”andcontinuedto labelBLMasa“terroristorganization” and“KKKinBlackface”inalater interview.Hecontinuedtosharedhis viewsandbecameaniconofGenZ conservatism.ChristianWalkerisalso knownasthesonofGeorgia’sRepubli-

canSenatenomineeforthe2022race, HerschelWalker,andsomecreators havespeculatedthatChristian Walker’sabruptchangeinTiktok content––hislargestplatform––comesalittlebittooclosetohisfather’s politicalcampaign.

Beforehisaccountwasbannedin February,ChristianWalkerroseto nearly400,000followers.Onhis Twitter,hequestionedifhewas bannedduetonotsubscribingtothe samebeliefsasmainstreammedia.He hassincereturnedtotheplatformwith over130,000followerswithnew content:datingadvice.Hisconservativeviewswerecompletelywipedfrom hisTikTokpresence.Theabruptshift incontenthidesChristianWalker’s previousopinionsfromnewviewers andhasthepotentialtomisleadolder viewerswhoformerlydisagreedwith

changeinhiscommentsectiondemographicscallinghisnewviewersleftists,alludingtotheinfluxofleft-leaningpeoplesupportinghisnewercontent.WhileChristianWalkerhasmade itapointtobehimselfandnotbeseen asabyproductofhisfather’spolitics, hisrebrandmaycreateapipelinefor individualstoforgetabouthisprevious useofharmfulrhetoricandpossibly lookintohisfather’spoliticsunderthe impressionofChristianWalker’s rebrand.ChristianWalker’snewcontentcreatesamoreinvitingspace–datingadvicethattranscendsgenders –newusershavepotentialtobe misguidedandusersofvotingagein Georgiahavepotentialtobemisled aboutHerschelWalker’splatformby extensionofhisson’snewplatform.

Usersnoticedthisrebrandandfew havespeculatedthatChristianWalker

image,canbeusedtojustifythe rebrand,despitehowmuchtheWalkerstrytoseparatethemselves.Thinkof theKennedys,theRooseveltsandeven theRoyalfamily:allofwhichwere public,politicalandceremonialfigures whosefamilymemberskeptaclean enoughimagetoappealtothepublicas awhole.Itcouldbecoincidental,but recentChristianWalker’sonlinepresencehasovershadowedhisfather’s recentscandalsthatallegehehasthree otherundisclosedchildren;theheadlinewasmadeshortlyafterHerschel commentedonabsentfathersinthe Blackcommunity.Witheveryyoung voter’seyesonChristianWalker,there islittleopportunityforthesamevotes todoproperexternalresearch.

ChristianWalkermaintainsthathis politicalviewpointhasnotchanged despitehisshiftincontentwhichis somethinghis newfollowers should consider. Thismay notaffect individualswho sharethe same beliefsas him,butit should concern people offended byhis pastcontroversial statements.

him.TheabsenceofpoliticsonChristianWalker’sTikTokencouragesmore viewersthanbeforetoengagewithhis contentanditpaintsadifferentpicture ofhim;thereisnocontextforhis previousbeliefs,andwiththatviewers whoarenewtoChristianWalker.

ChristianWalkerhasseenaturnaroundinhiscommentsectionafter substitutinghisconservativecontent fordatingadvice.ChristianWalker explainedheleftbehindhisoldplatforminfearofgettingbannedby TikTokagain,andhenoticedthe

mayhavechosentoexecutehis rebrandbecauseofthesenatorialraces occurringinNovember.Herschel Walkerisaformerprofessionalfootball playerturnedpoliticianandnowthe Republicannomineeforthe2022 electioninGeorgia.WhileChristian Walkerhasstatedthathedoesnothave anactivepartinhisfather’scampaign, hischangeinonlinepresencewill influencethewayheisreceivedby young,impressionablevoters.This,in conjunctionwithconsideringhow politicianstrytokeepacleanerfamily

Christian Walker’s newonlineimagedoesnotabsolvehim ofhisintentionalpastuseofharmful rhetoric.Inthepast,ChristianWalker hasfacedcriticismforusingther-slur asa“Frenchderivative”andantagonizingtheLGBTQcommunityduring pridemonthsuggestingthatthemonth ispointlessand“shoves”people’s sexualityinotherpeople’sfaces.He claimstobeexercisinghisinnateright tofreespeechsimply.Butwatchinghis newcontentdoesnotabsolvehimof hispastcontent;newerviewersneedto considerthiswhenengagingwithhis

account.

ChristianWalkerisnotatfaultfor whatviewerschoosetodoasaresultof hiscontent;theincreasinglackof researchoutsideofTikTokistoblame. StevenHeblichfromtheUniversityof Bristolconducteda2016casestudy observingtheeffectsoftheinterneton votingbehaviorinEurope.Politicians haveturnedtothemediaasatoolfor electionsasearlyas1933withRoosevelt’sfiresideradiochats.Heblich concludedthatthenewerageof crowdingoutinformationmakesit difficultforuserstodiscernbetween relevantandirrelevantmedia,and usersleantowardsthemostlow-effort waytoconsumemedia.Shortform mediahasgrowninpopularitysince 2016andhasbecomethemostaccessiblewithmanysocialmediaapps copyingitsform—InstagramReels, YoutubeShorts,SnapchatSpotlight. Animpressionablevoterleaning towardChristianWalker’snewimage maybeinclinedtolearnmoreabouthis father’spoliticalplatform,which includestheanational15-weekabortionban,thedenialofsystemicracism, notsupportingsame-sexmarriages andan.WithTikTokquicklyreplacing Googleasasearchengine,younger votersaremorelikelytobeintriguedby theaccessibilityofinformationon TikTok,nomattertheaccuracy. UsersshouldnotbuyintoChristian Walker’ssuddenchangeofcontent withoutexternalresearch.Whilehis othercontentmaintainshisconservativebeliefs,thepopularizationofTikTokmayinhibitusersfromseekinghis otherplatformstoseetheextentofhis imagechange.Asvoters,weshould remainconsciousofonlinepresence relatedtopeoplerunningforoffice.We donothavetofeedintothebacklash, butitiscrucialtoeducateourselveson aperson’splatformandseparateit fromtheironlinepersonality,orinthis case,theonlinepersonalityofsomeone they’rerelatedto.Evenwithnonpoliticalfigures,itisimportanttoknowifa creatoryouenjoywatchinghasvalues thatdonotclashwithyourown.Donot buyintoacreator’srebranduponfirst glance,especiallyattheexpenseof votinganothernovicepublicfigure turnedpoliticianintoofficeagain.

KaylaRobinson(25C)isfromCharlotteAmalie,St.Thomas,USVI.

Freespeechdebatesdetractfromtheactualissuesathand

JohnWang

Solongasfreedomofspeechis incorporatedintotheU.S.Constitution,freespeechremainsapointof contentionafteranycourtdecision, publicpolicyoracademicresearch.The factthateveryonecanhaveasayand possesstheirownperspectivemakes thisdebatesoubiquitousand inevitablychaotic.

Whentwopeoplewhohavebeen livinginvastlydifferentsocialniches expressfreespeechatthesametime fromplaceswhereterrorismpostsare goingrampantversusaratherpoliticallystableanddevelopedcountry,it willbediscussedbasedondifferent understandings,whichcanoftenlead todisagreementsorindignation. Wheneveranincitingeventhasbeen attributedtoso-calledfreedomof speech,wemustfigureoutwhat freedomofspeechreallymeansbefore layingblameonit.Thisright,disorientedbydifferentpersonalandsocial factors,isbeingusedasascapegoatto covertrueissues,likeracialdisparityor crackdownonhumanrights. Whenwearetalkingaboutfree

speech,wecertainlyaren’tsaying“Ican doanythingunderanycircumstances” or“thecontentofspeechshallneverbe underscrutinyofsocialvalues,norms orculturalpractices,”norisit“the communicationbetweenmeandother peopleareabsolutelyinferiortothe expressionofmyownwill.”The colloquialdiscussiononfreespeech oftenaccompaniesthelong-term stereotypethatthisconstitutionalright canbealwaysexercisedinitsmost radical,completeform.Yes,freespeech hasalotofconnotations,buttheroot ofcontroversyconsistsintheoverextensionofitsdefinitionthatdoesn’t lookintothefactthatfreedomof speechisindeedbothguardedand underregulationsatthesametime.

However,what’smoreimportantis thehotlydebatedideological,political differencesnestedinsidethewords. Forexample,whenUkrainianPresidentVolodymyrZelenskyspokefullof compassiontoaddresstheworld,some Russiancitizenspreferredtosaythe termwarorspecialoperationrather thanthewordinvasion.WhenconservativepoliticalcommentatorHeather MacDonaldspoketoEmorystudents in2020,somepeoplesetupasafety spaceconcurrentlyforstudentswho

weredisturbedbyhercontentious assertionaboutracialbiasandrapefreecampuses.WhentheUnited NationsHumanRightsCouncil reportedontheirinvestigationofthe Myanmarmilitarycoup,thegeneral publicwasupsetaboutthegruesome treatmentofordinarypeoplethere. Emotionswerenotstirredmerelyby theactofexercisingfreedomofspeech. Instead,someRussiansweredistraughtwhenbeingtaggedasinvaders, manyvictimsoftoxiccampusculture atEmorywereshakenbyMacDonald’s negationoftheirexperiencesandalot ofpeopleoutsideMyanmarwere staggeredbythehorrificcrackdownon citizens’humanrights.Inthesecases, weshouldavertourattentionfrom whethertheirlanguagechoiceswere appropriate,andinsteadprioritizethe realproblemsassuggested.Ifwewere toletpeopleabstainfromspeaking theirownideasincollegejustbecause speechesaboutpoliticsorhuman rightscanevokeascorchingdebate,the problemsbehindthemwouldneverbe treatedwithdueattention.

Theattackonfreedomofspeech alsoderivesfromthedeveloping impatiencetowardpubliceventsand thetoxiccompetitionamongnews

outletswiththeiroften-exaggerated headlines.UniversityofCalifornia,Los Angeles(UCLA)professorMaryanne Wolfdescribedatrendingphenomenonthatpeoplearereadingthecontent ofarticleslessandless;instead,they mainlydirecttheireyestotheheadlines.Inturn,newspapersandother mediaoutletsareracingagainsteach othertospicetheirtitlesup.Theyare moreandmorepronetoposting emotionallychargedheadlinesand articles,therebyimpactingpeople’s judgmentonsocialissues.Weare currentlylivinginanerawhendisinformationiscontagiouslyspreading throughtheinternettoeverycornerof theworld.

Interestingly,theNewYorkTimes publishedananalysiscontributingto theconversationaboutcurrentspeech regulationandextremeamountsof disinformationinthishistoricalperiod. Nevertheless,ifweponderonestep further,therootofcontroversyon whethertotightentheregulationof speechrestsonthemisinformation itself.Rightnow,allthedistorted messagesspiralingaroundtheinternet outweighadiscussiononfreespeech forrightnow.

Solelyblamingfreespeechdoesn’t

actuallyhelpwithexercisingfreedom ofspeech.Honinginonthematterof freespeechwheneverthereisprovocativelanguageisnotgoingtofosteran environmentwherepeoplecanfeelfree toexpresstheirideas.

Infact,itwouldbedetrimentalto highereducationinthesensethat universities,asahubfornewideologies andthoughts,arenotsupposedto separatethemselvesfromthecomplicatedworldoutside.Freespeech becomesthestrawmanbearingthe diatribesintendedforproblemsin socialinstitutions.Shiftingthefocusof discussionfromfreespeechtocrooked socialnormsandunrealisticpolicies wouldbemoreproductivetocomeup withapractical,meaningfulproposal insteadofmereanger. Thoughthedebateoffreespeech mightcontinueonindefinitely,with thehelpofpeople—particularly students,atleast—thesocialproblems containedinthosecontroversialviews couldbeeased,andlessandlesspeople willhavetosufferfromtheminthe future.

JohnWang(23Ox)ismajoringin neuroscienceandbehavioralbiology andphilosophy.

TikTokcreatesapipelinefortheusertoformaparasocialrelationshipwiththecontentcreator andseethecreatorinaviewthatismuchdifferentthanreality.

HA TIEN NGUYEN/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

KaylaRobinson

It’stimetopocketgendernormsonceandforall

AtleasttwiceadayIthinkaboutthe momentin“BlackWidow”where Yelena’sfacelightsupwhenNatasha approvesofherutilityvestandspends hernextmonologuediscussingthe numberofpocketslikeanexcitable childwhojustdiscoveredcottoncandy forthefirsttime.

Mendon’tgetit.Theydon’tgetwhy welovetoshowoffthenewfound pocketsofdresses,orunderstandthe happinesswefeelwhenthebuttonon thesideofacoatisnotjustafake sewed-tightlayerofextrafabric,but somewherewecanputourphonesor othertrinkets.Tobeevenclearer, women’sjeanspocketsareonaverage 48%shorterand6.5%narrowerthan thoseofmen.

Pocketsarepolitical;theyare gendered,explicitly-madefashion choicesforwomentobeprettytolook atyetpracticallyinconvenient.

Certainly,pocketsdevelopedwith thesegendernorms.Thepoofy16th centuryhoopskirtsforced“purses”to behungunderneaththeskirts,butby thetimethedressesslimmeddownand huggedourwaists,havinganysortof extrafabricseepingthroughwas strictlysociallyprohibited.Butineach era,thegoalofthesenormsisthe same:keepingthingshidden.Today, mencanstufftheirbelongingsintothe fronttwopocketsoftheirjeansandnot feelsuffocated–thebulgingpockets aren’tfrownedupon.Butforwomen, ourpantsaresometimescinchedso tightlywedon’tevenfathomtrying.At most,ourphonesareheldinourhands orriskilyplacedinourbackpockets.

Ifyouwanttogetintothenittygritty detailsofwhywomen’spocketsare dysfunctionalandmissized,thisPuddingsurveyperfectlyexplainswhy womencanbondsodeeplyover pockets.Thestudyevengoessofarto measurethepocketsfromjeansat20

differentcompanies,aswellasan interactiveplatformallowingpeopleto seehowdifferentitemsfitinmen’sand women’spockets.Itgivesavisual representationon whywomencontinuetosufferwith pocketsizes.The inconveniencesof carryingarounda smallpouchora backpackwhena well-sizedpocket willsufficebewildersme.Sometimes,IwonderifI shouldjustshopin themen’ssection instead.

Thehistoryof thehandbagand SigmundFreud’s psychosexualanalysisoftheitemare extensivelycovered,soIwon’tsit hereandrehashit all.Thepointis, eventheearliest modernhandbag fromtheVictorian era–the“reticule” –wasanovelty. Backthen,people likedit.Nothaving tohidepersonal belongingsanymorewasconsideredrevolutionary.Totingaround visiblehandbags perhapsalso meantshowingoff theirpersonalities andindividual identities.Instead oftryingtostore everythingunder thethroesoftheirclothingandthe shadowsofmen,womenfeltasifthey werefinallyfreetocarryaround whatevertheywanted.

Utilityandfunctionalitygooutthe windowwhenitcomestopockets. Pocketsareaboundarybetweenthe publicandprivatespheresoflife,awall

choice.Womenarelimitedtowhat theycantakewiththem,whetherto holdthingsintheirhands,figureout wheretokeeptheirbagsorto uncomfortablyhavea phonestickingouttheir pockets.Forme,this limitinautonomyis slightlyrectifiedbymy absurdlylargelanyard outfittedwithfartoo manycarabiners.My friendsscornitssizeand weight,mockinglynicknamingitmy“catbell,” butitoffersmethe functionalityIsodesperatelycravefrommy clothes.Perhapsinthe past,theattachmentto anindividualhandbag andnotaskingforaman toholdontoourbelongingswasasignoffreedomandliberation.But thequestionof“Where doIputmythings?” remains.Istillremembermyhighschool graduation,allofus linedupalphabetically, withthegirlsincult-like floor-lengthwedding dressesandtheboysin tailoredtuxedos.With nowheretostoreour phones,Iwatcheda flurryofgirls,myself included,askifoneof theguysinfrontofus couldholdontoour phoneintheirsuitpockets.Theguysinfrontof meopeneduptheirsuit jacketsinlaughter,comparingthenumberof phonestheywere carrying.

Vuitton,HermèsandChanelcould rakeinfarmoreprofitswhenwomen areforcedtobuypursestogoalong withtheiroutfits.Infact,thehandbag industryin2021isvaluedat$49.12 billion,oneprimarilyfedbywomenin direneedofaplacetocarrytheir necessities.Inessence,thehandbag becomesapartofanoutfit,anextra pieceofclothing,whichmustalsobe updatedinaccordancewiththeebbs andflowsofthefashiontide.

Allthisistopointoutthesimplicity ofnonfunctionalpocketsspeakstoafar greaterdiscussiononsexisminclothing.Butitdoesn’tevenbeginto mentionthelackofinclusivityfor gender-noncomformingpeople.Not everyonewillcarryahandbag,atoteor apurseeverywheretheygo,and expectingthemtodosoreeksof privilegeandasininity.

Concealmentisaformofpower,and it’sbeingtakenawayfromus.Women deservedeeperpockets.Wedeserve morepocketsandnothavetopayextra forahandbagbecauseourpockets don’tdothejob.Luckily,thefutureof fashionisturningtowardthisnew direction.Trendsfromthisfallare hypingupbaggierpantswithbigger pockets,atleast,bigenoughtofitour handswhenwedon’tknowwhattodo withthem.

Fashiontechnologyhasdeveloped farenoughtomaintainanaesthetic whilejustextendingtheendseamofa pocketacouplecentimeterslonger,so it’suptoconsumerstokeeppushing forinclusivity.

Thefutureofpocketsisbright,butit shouldn’tbecominginwaves.Options forbaggierpantsanddeeperpockets shouldnotbeonaseasonaltimelineor bythehandsofthefashiongods,they shouldbepermanent.

thatcontinuestobechallengedtoday. Thus,thefreedomtoexpressandto choosewhatwewanttobringouttothe publicisnotalwayscompletelyour

Bagsandpursesmightbecute,but theyaresymbolicofthesexismdeeply entrenchedinourfashionandour economy.LuxurybrandslikeLouis

It’stimetopocketoldgendernorms, andgivewomenthepocketspacewe deserve.

SophiaLing(24C)isfromCarmel, Indiana.

CarsonKindred

Whenweenvisionmeritocracyat work,weimaginesomeonestartingoff asasalespersonandmovingtheirway uptomanager,orapassionatestudent fromanunderprivilegedbackground workingfromparalegaltopartner. Americanstendtoviewhardworkasa necessarysteptowardachievement, believingthatwithenoughtime, sacrificeandheart,anyonecan succeed.

Yetthisidealisticvisionquicklyfalls apartwhenwerealizewearebeing misledbythemirageofmeritocracy,an ideologythatjustifiessocialstratificationanddisregardscollectivemeasures ofsuccess.

Thebeliefinameritocracy—the ideathatpower,wealthandstatus shouldbeallocatedaccordingto deservedness—isoneofthefoundationalideasofAmericanthought. FormerPresidentJamesMadison arguedthatasthenationgrew,voters willelect“menwhopossessthemost attractivemeritandthemostdiffusive andestablishedcharacters.”

Meritisseenassomeunquestionableforce,aqualitythatcanbeeasily measuredandthatwillmakesureonly thebestareinpower.Notonlyareour politiciansviewedasdeservingtheir positionbecauseoftheirindividual merit,butotherhigh-statuspositions —fromcorporateexecutivesto

neurosurgeons—arepaintedasreachingthetopbecauseoftheirown personalstrengths.

Meritocraticlanguageleadsusto makeseveralassumptionsaboutour socialreality.First,itleadsustobelieve thatindividualdeterminationalone causessuccess,anddismissesfactors likesocioeconomicclass,upbringing andenvironment.

Merititselfisuseful;itisameasure ofcompetence,skillandone’sabilityto succeedinagivenrole—weallwant ourleaderstobeorganized,knowledgeable,andtohaveourbestinterests inmind.Meritocracy,ontheother hand,ascribesmoralworthtothat success,urgingustoviewallpeopleof higherstatusasinherentlydeservingof theirposition.

Second,meritocraticlogicforcesus tojustifyimmensedifferencesin wealth.IndividualslikeTeslaCEOElon Muskarepraisedfortheirtalents,with theirsuccessandwealthseenasa reflectionoftheirmerit.Ifweanalyze hissuccessfromthislens,thereis nothingtojustifyanythingotherthan hiscontinuedaccrualofwealth.

ButMuskdidnotgettowhereheis alone:hewasbornintoawell-off family,hisTeslacarsaredesignedby manytalentedengineersandtheyare producedandsoldbyalmost100,000 peoplearoundtheworld.

YetMuskisindividuallygivencredit forthatsuccess,asifhismindsetand workethicwereenoughtomakehim

therichestmanintheworld.Weignore thecountlesshoursoflaborspenton hisbehalfandforgetabouttheindividualswhoworktoproducethetechnologythathassuppliedhisfortune.Musk isanintelligentandhard-working individualbuthisdeservednessisnot superiortothethousandsofpeople whohaveaccountedforhisrise

Thereisanothersideofmeritocracy thatisrarelyexamined:howwetreat thepeoplewhodon’tsucceed.Because ofmeritocracy’sperverselogic,people atthebottomdeservetheirstatusjust asmuchasthoseatthetop.AsMichael Sandel,aHarvardUniversity(Mass.) philosopherandlongtimecriticof meritocracy,argues,theprinciplethat winnersdeservewhattheyreceive necessarilyimpliesthatthosewho couldn’tsucceed,whodidwhatthey couldbutfellshort,deservetheirfate aswell.

Inthisway,meritocracyisemployed tojustifycapitalistexploitation.For example,whenabosschoosestopay hisworkersminimumwage,givethem littletonobenefitsandgivehimselfa $2milliondollarsalaryfromtheprofits thathisworkersprovidedtohimwith theirlabor,wedon’tbataneye.Ifwe assume,asmeritocracydoes,that people’seconomicstatusissolelythe consequenceoftheirownactions,then theworkersdon’tdeserveanymore thantheyarepaid.

Thus,asystemofthoughtseekingto alleviateinequalitybyrewardingthose

whoaredeemeddeservingendsup reinforcinginequalitybyjustifying differencesthatalreadyexist.Social mobilityispresentedasthehallmarkof ameritocraticorder,butthisisa propagandizedmessage:meritocracy doesnotcreatemobility.Ittricksus intobelievingthatpeoplewithhigh statusarefundamentallymorevaluable,talentedandhardworking,blindingustothesocialandeconomic conditionswhichhaveaccountedfor theirsuccess.

Theseideasaffectyoungpeopleas well,shapingtheirviewoftheworldin waysthatcandistorttheirunderstandingofsociety.Inoneofmyclass discussionsonhowsystemicracism hashinderedtheabilityofBlack Americanstosucceed,someonesaid, “But,whataboutKanye?”

Anecdotalexamplesofsuccesslike KanyeWest,LeBronJamesandBarack Obamamakeusclingontothebelief thattheAmericanDreamisonthe horizonforallAmericans,turning decadesofdiscriminationintoathing ofthepast.

Butifweexamineourrealitywith evenamoderateamountofscrutiny, werealizethatwearefarfromalandof opportunity:onlyfourFortune500 CEOsareBlack,therehaveonlybeen11 Blacksenatorsinthehistoryofthe UnitedStatesandBlackworkersmake 38%lessthantheirwhitecounterparts.

Inequalitieslikethesearealsothe caseforwomenandnearlyallother

peopleofcolor,allofwhomonaverage, earnlessthanwhitemen.Meritocracy requiresalevelplayingfieldtofunction;ifthemajorityofplayersareata disadvantage,howcanwecontinueto accepttheresultsofthegame?

Millionsofpeoplearedeniedthe opportunitytodemonstratetheir merit,andmeritocraticthinkingurges ustobelieveit’stheirfault.Notonly doesthisviewdismisstheincredible amountofworkthatpeopledojustto feedtheirfamilies,butitgivesusa reasonnottosupportthem.

Byshiftingtheblameawayfromthe brokeninstitutionswhichhavefailedto supportgenerationsofAmericans,we absolveourselvesfromresponsibility.

Whilecombatingdecadesof entrenchedindividualism,capitalism andclassismisadauntingtask, rethinkinghowweviewpeoplewho havesucceeded—andthosewhohave not—isanimportantfirststep.

Wemustrecognizethatmeritocracy leadsustoblamepeopleforneeding helpinsteadofacknowledginghowwe havefailedthem,questionthesuccess ofthoseatthetopandseriously addresshowwealthisdistributed acrossthecountry.

Changeispossible,butnotifwe perpetuatethemyththatthose endowedwithstatus,wealthand authoritygotthereontheirown.

CarsonKindred(25C)isfromMinneapolis,Minnesota

Women’sjeanspocketsaresignificantlysmallerand shallowerthanthatofmen’s,leavingthemwithnowhereto puttheirthings.

JESSIE SATOVSKY/CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR

SophiaLing

SentimentalAlbums

Musicthatmakesourheartssing

“Artishowwedecoratespace,musicishowwedecoratetime.”

–Jean-MichelBasquiat

ThroughoutourtimeasArtsandEntertainmentEditors,musichas playedapivotalpartofourexperience.Amongthethoroughalbumreviewsandlivelyconcertphotographywe’veencountered,oneofmy favoriteexamplesisalongstanding traditioninthesectionknownas

“TunesTuesday.”Eachweek,writers findtheonesongthey’vebeenlisten-

ingtorecentlyandpostitinour Slackchannelforeveryonetosee. It’sbeenagreatwaytofindcommon interestsand,moreoftenthannot, tofindsomenewmusic,butitespeciallyhighlightsthisconnectionbetweenourindividualityandwhatwe listento.

Musicisamediumthatcanconnect somanypeopleand,atthesame time,bethebackboneforsomany differentmemoriesandemotions.

Thealbumthatremindsyouofthose highschoollate-nightdrivesmayre-

mindsomeoneelseoftheirfirst crush.Thesongthatbringsyouback toyourchildhood,cookingwithyour mom,maytakesomeonetotheir graduation,wheretheworldfeelsalmosttoobig.Musiccanremindusof momentsofloveandheartbreak,of lossandredemption.Thetimes wherewewereatourhighestand feltlikenothingcouldbringus down,thetimewewereatourlowest,yetpushedthroughanyway.MusicisaRorschachtestthatcanhold aninfinitenumberofmemoriesfor

AJJ’s‘BraveasaNoun’capturesmy tribulationsgrowingup

BY ALEXANDRA KAUFFMAN ContributingWriter

SeventhGrade.AgeTwelve.

Shaking,Isentthemessage.

Afterminutesonendofwritingand rewriting,Iworkedupthecourageto askmyclosefriend,whoIwashopelesslysmittenwith,whatherfavorite songswere.Iwashopingtoimpress herbylisteningtothesamemusic.

Shelistedoffsongs,mostofwhich wereobscureandstrange.Among them,“BraveasaNoun”byAJJstood out.Withthecryptictitle,gruesome lyricsandhalf-shoutingvocals,the songwasunlikethesoundIexpected frommusic—palatableballadsabout despairpackagedinthecleansheenof professionalstudiorecordings.No, thissongwasgritty,rawandugly.

Thesongresonatedwiththelittle “torturedartist”IthoughtIwas, thoughlookingbackonit,Idefinitely didn’tfullygraspit.Still,mynewfound appreciationfor“BraveasaNoun” markedafundamentalchangeinthe wayIviewedmusic:notjustassomethingthatsoundsnice,butassomethingthatforcesyoutoconfrontyourself.

EighthGrade.AgeThirteen.

Ididn’tthinkabout“Braveasa Noun”againforawhile.IstartedlisteningtoK-popgroupssuchasTWICE andBLACKPINKtoimpressmynew crush.Musicwasatrustedtooltowin theheartofmycourtees.

NinthGrade.AgeFourteen.

Myhighschoolcareerbegan,dread alreadyfesteringwithinme.

Queer,Jewishandleft-wing,IfeltI didn’tbelonginmyRomanCatholic school.Igrewintoanantisocial,lonely andmelodramaticcreaturestuckina positivefeedbackloopofself-imposed misery.

Iviewedmyselfaslessofatortured artistandmoresojusttortured,asI gaveupmydreamsofacareerinart.I

usedmusictoenablemybadmoods. Consequently,Ireturnedto“Braveas aNoun.”Thelyricsaboutcowardice, misanthropyandalifewastedfedthe gloomIcouldn’tshake.

TenthGrade.AgeFifteen.

Itrudgedthroughninthgradelikeit wassludge.WhenIreachedtenth grade,itdidnotquellmylongingfora freshstart.Myproblemsdidnotmagicallydisappearoverthesummer. Shocker!

ThoughIwasfiercelyinsecure,I managedtomakefriends.Oneof thosefriendsinvitedmetoaconcert forabandwebothliked:AJJ.Iwas overthemoon.Ibeggedmyparentsto letmego,pleadingmycaseasthough mylifedepended.Theyallowedit.

Iwasexcitedfortheconcert,my firstever.Punks,gothsandotherpeoplemoreknowledgeableaboutthe scenewouldbethere.Inthehours leadinguptoit,Iwenttogreatlengths tolookauthenticallycool,notlikeI wastryingtoohard.Icuratedtheperfectoutfit:blackrippedjeans,ablack tanktop,ablackdenimjacket,black spikedbootsandablackleathercollar.

Iwasdefinitelytryingtoohard.

AJJmostlyplayedsongsfrom “GoodLuckEverybody,”their2020album.Iknewnoneofthelyrics,butI triedtosingalonganyway,absorbed bythecrowdoffellowfreaksand losers.Afteraslow,passionateballad, AJJfinishedofftheconcertwithone lastsong:“BraveasaNoun.”

Inanexplosionofenergyand sound,Iwastransportedtoanother worldforone-and-a-halfminutes.In blurry,flashingstill-frames,Icaught glimpsesofthestage,otherpeoplein theaudienceandmyfriendacrossthe room.Gulpingdownbreathsofair,I wassubsumedbytheseaofsweaty bodiessmackingagainsteachother.As Iscreamedthelyricsatthetopofmy lungs,theuproarcarriedmyvoice away.Imeltedintothechaos.

Themostmagicalexperienceofmy lifewastheeuphoriaofbelongingand

thereliefofsurrenderingtothepandemoniumaroundme.Aftertheconcert cametoaclose(waypastmycurfew),I returnedhomebruisedandexhausted, butcarefree.

Lifesucks,exceptwhenitdoesn’t.

EleventhGrade.AgeSixteen.

Istartedgoingtotherapy.Imetmy currentpartner.Idrew.Iformeda solidgroupoffriends,acoalitionof theaterkids,atheistsandanarchocommuniststhatstucktoeachother likeglue.

IfoundthetimetolistentoAJJ’s entirediscography.ThoughIfoundalbumsandsongsthatresonatedwith memoreatthetime,“Braveasa Noun”heldaspecialplaceinmyheart —asmyfirstAJJsong,myintroductiontofolkpunkandasongthatinfluencedsomuchofmyyouth.

TwelfthGrade.AgeSeventeen.

Asadirectoroftwoplaysandthe leadwriterofanoriginal,two-actmusical,IfeltasthoughIdeservedthetitleofartist.

IattendedanotherAJJconcertfor the10-yearanniversaryof“Knife Man,”myfavoritealbum.Iwentwith thesamefriendfrom10thgrade.I heardsomeofmyfavoritesongslive.I witnessedmyfirstbarfight.Itwas trulyanighttoremember.

Collegefirstyear.AgeEighteen.

Inretrospect,“BraveasaNoun”accidentallybecametheanthemofmy youth.WhileIoncerevereditforbeing apessimisttestamenttohumanfailure,Inowseeitasatwistedinspirationalballad.

“Inthislifewelead,wecouldconquereverything/Ifwecouldjustget thebravestogetoutofbedinthe morning”

Igotoutofbedthismorning.It’s timeformetoconquertheworld.

-ContactAlexandraKauffmanat alexandra.kauffman@emory.edu

anyonewholistens. Tohighlightthedeep,personalfeelingsweeachhavetomusic,we askedourwriterstotellusaboutan albumorasongthatholdsaspecial memorytothem.Themusicthat transportsusbackintimeandthe musicthatmadeuswhowearetoday.

Tounderlinethisindividualityeven further,wegaveallwritersthefreedomtoexpresstheirattachmentto musichowevertheydeemfit.Some chosetowritepersonalessays;oth-

ersfoundpoetryandartworktobea better-suitedmedium.Eachpieceis distinctinstyleandsubject,asall ourmemoriesaredistincttous.

Eventhoughthisiscomingoutona Wednesday,letthisbeour“Tunes Tuesday”foryouallandwehope thismusiccanbetheinceptionfor somenewmemories.

BY BRAMMHI BALARAJAN Editor-in-Chief

II’vealwaysfeltperpetuallyunlucky.

Then,duringthefirstweekof myfreshmanyear,myfriendsetup anappointmentwithanastrologer asalatebirthdaypresent.

“Luckwillfavoryou,”shetold measIwastuckedawayinthecornersofaRaoullounge.Until2024, shesaid,everythingIwantedwould cometobe.

In“TheLuckyOne,”Taylor Swiftsings“theytellyouthatyou’re luckybutyou’resoconfused/You don’tfeelpretty,youjustfeelused.”

ThefirsttimeIlistenedto “Red,”Ididn’tlikeit.Butthislyric stuckwithme,sowhen“Red(Taylor’sVersion)”cameout,asadevout Swiftie,Ihadhighhopes.Asusual, shedidn’tdisappoint.

“Red”isaboutnostalgiafor dreaming.Fortheblissofhoping

you’llgetluckyandaccomplishyour goalsbeforeyouhavetolivewith theirrealities.I’vealsobeentoldI’m lucky,butIneverreallybelievedit. “Red”capturesthenostalgiaofrememberingtheblissfultimesyou’ll neverbeabletorelive.

When“Red(Taylor’sVersion)” cameout,thevaultsongsembodied thenostalgiaofrememberingwho youusedtobe.Whenyou’reafirstyear,youcandreamaboutanything. Youcantellpeopleyou’regoingtobe alawyer,anacrobatorachess player,andeverythingfeelswithin reach.

Bythetimeyou’reasenior,everythingfeelsboxedin,andthevault songscapturethatdesperation.

“TheVeryFirstNight”and“Message inaBottle”embodynostalgiaatits core,acallbacktosittingatMcDonoughFieldduringBestinShow andbecomingenamoredwithRaasgarbadanceforthefirsttime.

But“NothingNew”refutesthatwistfulness,noting“Howcanaperson knoweverythingat18andnothingat 22?”Thevaultsongsdon’tjustbuild offtheoriginalalbum;theyarea whisperoflookingbackatsongsyou lovedasachildintheeyesofan adult.

Theoriginalsareahaunting relicofmelodiesyoucroonedasa childbeforeyoufacetherealityof theirwords.Themostevidentexampleis“EverythingHasChanged,”in whichTaylorrecountsasinglemomentofmeetingsomeoneandfeelingtheworldshift.

“BeginAgain”isanodetofresh starts,and“Starlight”isthedreamof amagicalnightdancingthenight away.Ican’thelpbutreminisce aboutseeingtheworldwithfresh eyes.DancingatGarbaorDiwalifor thefirsttimemyfirstyearandthinkingtherewasnothingthatwould everfeelsoelectrifying.

Therearediversions,ofcourse.

“WeAreNeverEverGettingBack Together”bringsoutthestick-it-tothe-manattitudeinallofus.“Girlat Home”and“Babe”aredualsidesof cheatingandheartbreak.

“IBetYouThinkAboutMe”givesus allthecomfortthatthosewhohave

wrongedus,eventhosethatdespise us,willneverreallybeabletoescape us.

TaylorSwiftdescribes“Red”as her“truebreakup”album.Shesaid thatcomparedtoallherotheralbums,“Red”embodied“pure,absolute,tothecore,heartbreak.”For me,itrepresentstheheartbreakof nevergettingtodothingsforthe firsttimeagain.Mylastfirstdayof school,mylastprintissueofThe EmoryWheel,mylasttimedancing atDiwali.It’snot2024yet,butI’m wonderingifmyluckisstartingto runout.

Dreamingaboutlifehasalways comeeasytome.Livingthose dreamsissomethingI’mstilltrying tofigureout.

-ContactBrammhiBalarajanat bbalara@emory.edu

-EythenAnthonyandJackson Schneider,ArtsandEntertainment Editors

‘SayHey(ILoveYou)’exorcises

BY LUCY YATES

ContributingWriter

Thisisastoryofthegreatest battleknowntomankind:a hauntedhouseversusaten-yearoldgirlandherAM/FMradio. Let’smeetthecompetitors.

First,wehavethehouse.You mayhaveanimageofwhata hauntedhouselookslike:perhaps adark,weatheredmansionatopa hill,surroundedbydead,charred trees.Ominousorganmusicplays inthebackground.Nowimaginea moreincognitoenemy,ared-brick housewithastone-stuccoarch aroundafriendlygreendoor.

There’saminivaninthe driveway.Talltreesshield passersbyfromtheintenseGeorgiasun.Inside,thereisalittle frontroomfullofshoes,anoldbut pleasantkitchenwithablack-andwhitecheckeredfloor.Astackable washer/dryerset.Ahauntedhouse indisguise.

Ontheothersideofthering, wehavetheten-year-oldLucy (yourstruly)andherAM/FMradio.Imagineme:brightfreckles, orangehairanddorkyglasses (nowadaysIwearcoolglasses). Thenthere’smypink-and-white floweryboomboxwiththeAM/FM radioantenna.

Theradioisnottheheroof ourstory,noramI.Theradiois merelyavessel.Allowmetoexplain.Justasitsappearancedisguiseditsnature,itscontrolwas subtleandnuanced.Noghosts,no wailingwomeninthenight.Nothingthattangible.

Butatnight,everyoneinthe househaddisturbingdreams.The samestoryenteredmymindasI slept:someonedangerouswas comingdownthehallway.Itried franticallytogetunderthecovers inmydream,wheresafetymust be.Assoonasheenteredmybed-

room,Iwokeup.EverySaturday night,withoutfail,foryears,this dreamreturned.Isleep,andheis inthehouse.Iwakeup;heisgone.

Sometimes,whenIwasall alone,Iwentintomyroomand clickedonthelightswitch,butthe lightsdidnotturnon.Itried again,again.Nothing.Terrorfilled mybody;Iturnedandranupstairs tosafety.Iwaitedanhourandreturned.Thelightsworkednow, mockingme.Thishappenedseveraltimes,allthetime.

Themagicsong hadsomething specialinit.It filledtheairwith joy,makingit impossiblefora humanbodyto remainsedentary.

Themagicsonghadsomethingspecialinit.Itfilledtheair withjoy,makingitimpossiblefor ahumanbodytoremainsedentary.Youmustdance.

Anyfearwasgone,replaced bytheblissthatonlythemagic songcouldinvoke.Thehouse didn’tstandachance.

Therewasonesmallproblem: Ididnotknowwhatthemagic songwascalled.Icouldonlyhope itcameontheradio.Myprotectionagainstthehousewasfinite, inconsistentinitsprotection.

Ispentmyfreehoursflipping betweenstations,waitingtohear themagicsong.Ibegananinvestigationtouncoverthename.I wrotedownthelyricsinadedicatedjournal,searchediTunesfor anypossibletitle.ItriedeverythingIcouldthinkof,withnosuccess.

Thehousecackleddeviously. Somemonthslater,myfriend Lilianacameovertoplay.Wewent tomylavenderroom,andIputon theAM/FMradio.Themagicsong played!Iexplainedthemagicof thesongtoLilianna,andmysubsequentfruitlessinvestigationto finditstitle.

“Wait,”shesaid.“Iknowthis song.IhaveitonmyiPod.”

Um.ThatisAMAZING.

Inthiswaythehouseteached metofearmylavender,sunsoakedroom.Atanymoment,a deeppitoffearmaysinkintomy bones.Achill.Apitinmystomach.

Enterthepink-and-whiteradio.It’sinheritedfrommyolder sister,thoughIcan’tremember whyexactlyshepassedtheradio downtome(itseemslikeavery valuabletokenin2000slore).I broughtittomylavenderroom, tunedtoastationandthisiswhere wemeetourhero.

Beforelong,Ihadthemagic songloadedintomyowniPod; steelyprotectionagainstthe hauntedhousewhichthreatened mypsychologicalroom-safety.

Themagicsongservedas hero,foreverprotectorofmy realm.Evenwhenmyfamilysold thehouseandmovedtoanother (not-haunted)home,Istillhadthe magicsongwithmetoremindme ofmyfearlessness.

ContactLucyYatesat lucy.yates@emory.edu

PhoebeBridgers’music alwayshitsthespot

BY CATHERINE GOODMAN ContributingWriter

Iamalwayscraving,alwaysempty. Yetitisnotmybodythatwrithesinstarvation, itismymind.

Sheisravenous,alwaysyearning. Sheconstantlydemandstounwrapsomedelicacy, totasteinspiration.

Sheisunsatisfied,alwayschattering. Sherequestssomethingsurprising, “more,more,more.”

Shehasonlyoncebeensated. Herincessantpleasonlyoncemuted, justonce,satisfied.

“Feedme.Feedme.Feedme.” Sheimplored. SoIdid.

Bitebybite,Ifedhersomethingnew. FromthespoonslippedthemusingsofPhoebeBridgers. Coatinghertonguewithdelicatemelodies, presentingherpalletwithsomethingfresh.

Shewouldmoansoftlyattheintimacyofthelanguage. Herteethsunkintothecoreofhumaninteraction. Shelickedherlips,savoringtheintrospection.

Shecut“ScottStreet”withaknife. Lickedthecrumbsof“Funeral”fromtheplate. Sheate“Georgia”withherbarehands.

Shesprinkled“Chelsea”withgarlicsalt. Slid“SmokeSignals”downherthroat. Sheeventook“DemiMoore”togo.

“StrangerintheAlps.” Thatwasherfavoritemeal. Amindalwayshungry,finallyfull.

PinkFloyd’s‘DarkSideoftheMoon’ shapestheontologicalexperience

BY NOOR ALDAYEH StaffWriter

I’msittinginthepassenger's seatofacarforthefirsttimeina while.Mydadisdriving,I’monthe auxandPinkFloyd’s“Time”has comeupinmyshuffle.

“YouknowDad,Idon’tremembereverlearningthelyricstothis song,”Isaid.“Ijustknowthemall.” ItwassomethingIhadrecentlybecomeprivytoinmylife—theway certainsongsandalbumsseemed justasmuchapartofmeasmy thoughtsare.

“That’sbecauseyou’vebeenlisteningtothisstuffsinceyouwerein thewomb,”hereplied.“You wouldn'tbemykidifyoudidn’t knowPinkFloyd.”

Thisinteractionreallystuck withme.Musichasbeensofundamentaltoeveryaspectofmylifethat Ican’tnameasinglepointintime whereIwasn’tobsessivelylistening tosomething.Whenaskedaboutthe albumsthathavedefinedspecific erasofmylife,PinkFloyd’sdiscographyhashadasignificantpresence sinceIwasborn.Thememoriesthat Ihaveassociatedwiththemarenot asera-specificasthealbumsthatI beganlisteningtosincebecoming conscious.

ThesealbumsareonesthatI cantransportmyselfbackintime with—justnottoonespecificmemory.Rather,Ifeelliketheyactalmostasalandmarkforeacheraas theyoccurred.Icouldnottellyou thefirsttimeIheardPinkFloyd’s “DarkSideoftheMoon,”butIcan tellyouhowitfelttolistentoitfrom beginningtoendinseventhgrade, 12thgrade,myfirstyearofcollege andyesterdaywhenIgaveitarelistenjusttowritethispiece.

“DarkSideoftheMoon”is,without adoubt,oneofthemosticonicand easilyrecognizablerockalbumsin thehistoryofthegenre.Fromits revolutionaryguitarsolostothealbumcover,whichhasbeenastaple ofthegraphic-teecommunitysince the’70s,it’sfairtosaythatalarge numberofpeoplehaveengagedwith thisworkinsomewayoranother.It wasgroundbreakinginitssongmakingtechniques—usingsynthesizerandelectronictechnologythat noonehadeverusedbefore,andat a

Myfavoritesongs havefluctuated; theirmeanings shiftingalongside theexperiencesI’ve accumulated throughtime.

oftheMoon”isapieceofartthatI don’tthinkIwilleverbeabletofully graspthemeaningof.

EverytimeIconsciouslytunein tothelyrics,listeningtowhatthey aretryingtodiscussatadeeper level,Ifindmyselfatalossforhowa groupofpeoplewereabletocapture suchuniversallycomplexideas.This albumhashadanequalhandin teachingmeaboutthetrialsand tribulationsoflifeasmymentors have,anditcontinuestogainnew meaningasIgetolder.

“Breathe(IntheAir)”hasservedas oneofmymostefficientcoping mechanismsforanxiety.“TheGreat GigintheSky”hasneverfailedto stopmeinmytracks,nomatterthe place,justtoclosemyeyesandlisten.“Eclipse”ispartlytoblamefor mymoonobsession.

ThetimeA$AP Rockyconfirmed thateverything wouldbefine

levelmanystillstrivetoachieveto thisday.

Beyonditscriticalandpopular acclaim,however,thisalbumispure nostalgiaforme.It’scomfortable andfamiliar:somethingthatIcan listentopassivelyfromthetopall thewaythroughwhilestillbeing abletohumalongtoeverynote.My dadhasplayeditsinceIwasachild anddiscoveredthemwhenhewasa youngteeninSyria.Tothisday,it’s oneofthestrongestpassionswe bothshare.

Buildinguponthat,“DarkSide

Time,relationships,money, familyanddeathareallconceptsI wasfirstintroducedtowhenIlistenedtothisalbumasababy.Myfavoritesongshavefluctuated;their meaningsshiftingalongsidetheexperiencesI’veaccumulatedthrough time.Therearelyricsandthemes thatIsimplywouldnotbeableto understandwithoutgrowingup alongsidethisincrediblyall-encompassingalbum,whichhasservedas anontologicalguidethroughlifeitself.

So,althoughIhavehadtofend offmyfairshareofrockhistory quizzerswhothinkIdon’tknowwho DavidGilmouris,thisalbumand bandwillneverfailtobeanintegral partofwhoIamasapersontoday. Itremindsmethat“everyyearisgettingshorter,neverseemtofindthe time…”

ContactNoorAldayehat noor.aldayeh@emory.edu

BY GRACIE EVANS ContributingWriter

ItwastheendofJunein2019.I hadbeeninMoroccoforexactlyone week,thoughitfeltlikealifetime.I washalf-waythroughthethree-hour busridefromRabattoTangier, lookingoutinto thebarrenlandscapeoftheMoroccancountryside,whenasong I’dneverheard startedplayingon mySpotify.

Forthefirst 20seconds,Iwas confused.Why wasthesinger mumblingindecipherablewords aboutkidsover whatseemedtobeaguitar-likerock melody?Asthebeatcamein,Iwondered,whatgenreevenisthissong? Andfinally,whyhadIdissociated fromeverythingaroundme,tothe pointwhereIonlyexistedasasingular,movingentity?

fights(onehappenedinagrocery store!)andwasstillgettingusedto thegenderpowerimbalancesand rolesthatdifferedfromwhatIhad knownintheUnitedStates.

WhileIwasinMoroccothrough agovernmentprogramandknew thatIwasgoingto besafe,itwasdifficulttonotfeel overwhelmedand completelylostat times.This soundscrazy,but onceIheard A$APrepeat,in hissoothingvoice, “Thekidswillbe alright,”Iknew thatI,too,would befine.

EverytimeIlisten,it transportsmetothat momentonthebus;I nowrealizethepower thatmusichasto changeanexperience, mindsetorperspective.

Thesong“KidsTurnedOut Fine”byA$APRockycametome exactlywhenIneededtohearit most.AfterlivinginMoroccoforless thanaweek,Iwasnervousaboutthe restofmytimethere.Iknewthatit wouldbedifficultmovingtoacountrybymyselfwhereIdidn’tspeak thelanguage,howeverIhadnotanticipatedthechallengesthatwould arisewithinmyfirstweekofbeing there.Already,Ihadbeencaughtin themiddleoftwoviolentstreet

Overthenext fewmonths,this songbecamea sourceofcomfortandvalidationfor me;Iwasgrowinginamultitudeof waysandwouldcomeoutstronger attheendofmytimeinMorocco. “KidsTurnedOutFine”hasa catharticandpeacefultonethat makesitfeelakintoawarmblanket. EverytimeIlisten,ittransportsme tothatmomentonthebus;Inowrealizethepowerthatmusichasto changeanexperience,mindsetor perspective.

Ifyoueverneedreassurance thateverything’sgoingtobeokay,go toA$APRocky’sthirdstudioalbum, “TESTING,”andclickplayonthe 11thsong.

ContactGracieEvansat gracie.evans@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Emory Life

Special Edition: Environmental Emory

Fourth student-led climate strike demands administrative action

By Sophie ReiSS Contributing Writer

The sun rose high over Asbury Circle at noon this past Friday, Sept. 23 as over 100 students gathered to participate in Emory’s fourth Climate Strike. Amid the sign painting, excited chatter and festive music, the leaders of the Climate Coalition were prepar ing to get the strike going. The protest would be the crux of over a month of hard, impassioned work.

Student leaders in the Emory Climate Coalition (ECC) organized and led the event. The Coalition is a collaboration of student leaders from Emory Climate Organization (ECO), the Emory chapter of the Climate Reality Project and the Emory Climate Analysis and Solutions Team (ECAST).

The strike was initially planned in response to an allegation that Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) was going to be cut to zerobased budgeting, meaning OSI would have to justify its budgeting for all of its programs.

After it became clear the office’s budget would not be changed, the club decided to shift the strike’s demand “toward transparency” from the

Emory administration, Hill said.

“Mostly, we think these climate strikes are really important for the administration to know how massive the student body support is and how much sustainability and campus envi ronmental action means to all of us,” Hill said.

Many of the Climate Coalition lead ers, such as Jack Miklaucic (23C), shared similar frustrations and demanded a greater commitment from the administration to take action against climate change.

“We need a ton of really transfor mative investment into [climate action initiatives], and we’re not getting it,” Miklaucic said. “The strike today was a really great way to get out some of that frustration and anger to try and make sure that the administration knows we’re really serious about all of these actions.”

With students holding cardboard signs and loudly chanting, the march through campus began.

The route went from Asbury Circle to the Quad, then toward White Hall where College of Arts and Sciences faculty had gathered for an event fea turing a food truck and live jazz music. While students yelled chants such as,

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people ’cause the power of the peo ple don’t stop!” and the White Hall event attendees briefly clapped before returning their focus to the jazz music, which was loud enough to drown out the students’ voices.

The two events happening right next to each other — the student-led climate strike and the gathering of Emory faculty and administrators — became a dramatic juxtaposition of the power dynamics at play in the stu dents’ fight for more climate action on

campus, ECC co-Vice President Will Hutchinson (24C) said.

“It was a pretty perfect juxtaposi tion of how it’s been feeling to us this whole time — that we’re screaming and [the administration] are just listening to jazz and doing their own thing,” Hutchinson said.

The march ended with a procession of speeches from the student leaders on the steps of the Administration Building. Catherine Wang (24C), Outreach Coordinator for the Climate Reality Project and SGA’s Vice President of Sustainability, delivered the opening speech with a loud and clear voice. From southern California, Wang told the Wheel they had wit nessed firsthand how the increasing intensity and frequency of wildfires due to climate change has affected lives.

“The individual cannot outweigh the collective, but a collection of thou sands of individuals has an impact,” Wang said. “We, as students, must use our privilege and push the institution to do better. I believe that when stu dents come together, people in power pay attention.”

The anger and passion of the students who attend the strike has opened the doors for conversations with University leaders and tangible change, according to Clare McCarthy (23C), a founding member of the Emory Climate Coalition and former president of ECRP.

In October 2021, Emory Climate Coalition student leaders met with President Fenves.

As a result of this meeting, President Fenves agreed to join the Race to Zero

campaign and the Climate Leadership Network.

“With our in-person climate strike [in Fall 2021], Fenves started to notice us,” McCarthy said. “He was way more receptive than we expected, and he met our demands in our first meeting with him.”

In her speech during the climate strike this past Friday, Hill laid out a new set of four demands for the Emory administration: transparency regarding the OSI’s budgeting, a writ ten commitment that the OSI will not lose funding for its core programs, additional funding for the OSI to fill important leadership positions and for Emory to prioritize sustainable in everyday actions.

Along with the foundations of anger and mistrust toward the Emory administration regarding climate action, the strike was infused with themes of hope and inspiration.

“I hope [students] take some hope from it,” Wang said. “That you are able to organize a bunch of people together and find the levers of change and pull them.”

Strike attendee Aliyah Cook (23C) said that climate justice “can feel like a really lonely battle sometimes,” but that being in the crowd made her feel hopeful.

“It was really invigorating,” Cook said. “I have a more optimistic outlook on [the climate crisis] now because I recognize how many people in our generation are very serious about pro tecting our future.”

— Contact Sophie Reiss at sophie.reiss@emory.edu.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | Emory Life Editors: Oli Turner (oli.turner@emory.edu) and Xavier Stevens (xsteven@emory.edu)

R ainey Wise/ContR ibuting PhotogR a PheR

Students march along Cox Bridge in Climate Strike for University transparency last Friday.

From climate strikes to sustainable fashion, we examine the University community’s relationship to the environment.

CouRtesy of Joel leR neR

The route took students onto the Quad, where student leaders gave speeches to the crowd.

Adventure in nature: five outdoor destinations to explore in Georgia

By JoRdyn LiBow Contributing Writer

Sometimes, you just crave a change from life on campus. For those times, here are five must-see destinations that offer a change of pace and an opportunity to explore Georgia and connect with nature.

Tallulah Gorge State Park

Tallulah Gorge State Park sur rounds a 1,000 foot deep gorge formed by the Tallulah River. The state park, a two-hour drive from the University’s Atlanta campus, is an ideal destination for the avid hiker.

The gorge itself is two miles long, alone worth the visit, but there are

campus, there’s a scenic garden walk, the Enchanted Trail, that takes you through a path of botanical beauty, featuring all colors, textures and stag es of growth. Rock City Gardens’ name comes from its fascinating collection of unique rock formations, with entic ing names, including the “Fat Man’s Squeeze,” “Needle’s Eye,” “Gnome Valley” and “Mushroom Rock.” These all serve as great photo ops as you make your way through the Enchanted Trail.

The gardens also feature a vast array of sculptures, created by local artists, further enhancing the path’s appeal. Rock City Gardens also pos sesses the impressive “See Seven States” view, 1,700 feet above sea level, along with other scenic view points, including “Lover’s Leap” and a “Swing-Along-Bridge.”

Okefenokee Swamp

and promote the swamps and its envi ronmental value.

The Atlanta BeltLine

This list would not be complete without mentioning the Atlanta BeltLine, which houses multiple parks and trails, serving its mission as one of largest urban redevelopment pro grams in the country to create a more equitable and inclusive Atlanta. The BeltLine is a 20-minute drive from Emory, a quick and easy escape.

Some standout parks include the Arthur Langford, Jr. Park, featuring public exercise equipment, a skate park and open greenery, and the Perkerson Park, containing a baseball field, disc golf course, tennis courts and more.

Amicalola Falls State Park

About 72 miles from Emory University lies Amicalola Falls State Park and Lodge, a nature-lover’s dream turned into reality. “Amicalola” derives from the Cherokee language, meaning “tumbling waters,” a fit ting title for the highest waterfall in Georgia, standing at 729 feet. Located in Dawsonville, Ga., the park offers many attractions for exploration.

For those with an affinity for natu ral history and wild creatures, enjoy a one-hour guided hike that takes you straight up to the falls. The tour guide will reveal fascinating history about Amicalola and teach you about the fascinating species you pass on your journey. The park also features three other enchanting trails—the most notable being an eight-mile sce nic loop on the Appalachian Trail that wraps around Amicalola Falls, with a destination of the Springer Mountain, ridden with rocky slopes and vivid viewpoints.

If hiking isn’t your jam, the park also caters to adventurers with a vari ety of thrilling activities, including ziplining, 3D Archery courses and a self-guided GPS Scavenger Hunt.

roughly 20 miles of surrounding hik ing trails that lead hikers to stunning overlooks with unbeatable views. The most popular trail is the Hurricane Falls Hiking Trail, which crosses an 80-foot-high suspension bridge that sways over the flowing river, allow ing for an up-close and scenic view of Hurricane Falls, one of the gorge’s six wondrous waterfalls.

Another standout trail, for the intrepid hiker, is the Sliding Rock Trail. This is the most strenuous hike offered, but the most scenic by far; it reveals a remote section of the gorge floor with beautiful views of Bridal Veil Falls and stops at a deep swim ming hole for a mid-hike refresher. The state park also features a paved 10-mile path on an old railroad, per fect for strollers and bikes. Tallulah Gorge State Park is one of the most scenic on this list and makes for a great Instagram photo opportunity.

Rock City Gardens

Rock City Gardens houses over 400 different species of plants and trees; there’s constantly something new to see, no matter the time of year. Nearly two hours from the Atlanta

Okefenokee Swamp is comprised of nearly half a million acres of exquisite, reflective waters. It also serves as a safe-haven for many endangered wild life species and an important mark of America’s prehistory. The swamp is about four hours and 45 minutes from Emory, making it a perfect week end escape. This breathtaking natu ral beauty is peppered with delicate lily pads and intricate ecosystems for many species.

The best way to access this swamp is via Okefenokee Adventures, a partner of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR) located in Folkston, Ga. ONWR aims to conserve

This is a must visit for any budding environmentalist, as the ONWR has 353,981 acres of National Wilderness Area in the refuge boundaries, and is named a Wetland of International Importance, due to being one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems.

Okefenokee Adventures has extremely well-trained staff in biol ogy, ecology and Okefenokee history, so visitors can enjoy a guided boat tour catered to their interests. They also offer sunset prairie tours in the evening, as well as extended excursion tours of the swamp by canoe, kayak or motorboat, allowing you to fully relax and soak in the view.

The BeltLine also includes Atlanta’s largest planned greenspace (280 acres), Westside Park. This park is worth a visit just to witness its sig nificant environmental and econom ic function in the city of Atlanta. It has sparked the creation of Westside neighborhoods and houses a crucial backup source of water for the whole city of Atlanta.

The BeltLine also regularly fea tures art and performances from Atlanta locals—an ideal opportu nity for Emory students to become entrenched in Atlanta culture. Additionally, the BeltLine prioritizes the environment and actively engag es with volunteers to help clean up the parks and trails, aiding them in accomplishing their mission to foster community.

— Contact Jordyn Libow at jordyn.libow@emory.edu.

By Sydney Song Contributing Writer

Out of the Closet

Out of the Closet’s bright pink exterior is hard to miss. With over 20 stores across the United States, the thrift chain has quickly become a go-to for avid bargain shoppers. Luckily for Emory students, there’s a location just three miles away.

This thrift store is full of retro clothing, vintage bags and goodquality furniture items. The store highlights the affordability of their fashionable merchandise. Not only is the franchise well-curated and sus tainable, but it provides free HIV test ing and AHF Pharmacy services at the Atlanta location. In addition to this service, Out of the Closet is the perfect place to donate your clothing, furniture and artwork; they even offer sched uled pick-ups for larger donations.

Founded in 1990 to help raise awareness for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Out of the Closet donates 96 cents for every dollar made to pro vide HIV services to locations around the world. And, in emphasizing a safe environment for the LGBTQ com

munity, Out of the Closet employ ees strive to welcome every shopper. When shopping here, your new pur chases can be justified by the fact that you’re supporting an important cause.

The Clothing Warehouse

Spending countless hours sliding the individual metal hangers against the rack to find clothes isn’t everyone’s ideal way to shop. Luckily, The Clothing Warehouse makes thrifting easy, con venient and accessible. Along with an in-person store, they have a website where customers can shop for thrift ed finds without going to the store.

Online, each item of clothing is neatly displayed on a hanger with a description, size and brand of the item.

Once you find something to pur chase, you can simply add it to the cart and ship it right to your home.

The online platform expands the store’s target market, mak ing it easy for non-locals and online thrifters to support the brand.

The Clothing Warehouse prides itself on hand-curated vintage finds, with brands such as Levi’s and Wrangler. The shop buys and resells over 40,000 pounds of merchandise

each month. It is easy to find something that caters to every individual’s taste, and the store carries thousands of items and styles ranging from the ’50s to the ’90s. The merchandise is strictly curated, as The Clothing Warehouse prioritizes quality vintage and, as a result, the clothing is not cheap.

While some people may say that searching through the racks of clothing at the store is the fun of thrifting, The Clothing Warehouse is a great option for those who want the hidden gems with out experiencing the tedious search.

Second Life Upscale Resale

Second Life is a non-profit in Atlanta that has combined two of the best things to exist: adorable, furry animals and shopping for clothes. For most people, there is truly no better combination.

The store donates funds to ani mal rescue shelters and neutering programs with the goal of helping to give homeless pets the opportu nity to recover from their lives as stray animals. Second Life hopes that enabling a safe physical and mental recovery for these animals will give them a chance to find a nurturing home. Additionally, the store uses

thrift store proceeds to educate indi viduals regarding the importance of reducing pet overpopulation. In the 11 years that Second Life has been operating, they have donated over $1.8 million to more than 70 animal res cue groups and neutering programs.

Not only will customers find their typical gently-used clothing items at Second Life, but they can also dis cover The Luckydog Boutique and pets. The Luckydog Boutique is a section of the store that is dedicated to designer and better quality mer

chandise. In this section, custom ers can find brands such as Michael Kors and Free People and sterling silver jewelry. Additionally, Second Life is pet-friendly, welcoming all well-behaved animals on a leash.

For students who are missing their furry friends back at home, Second Life is the perfect place to bump into sweet companions while thrifting for good finds.

— Contact Sydney Song at sydney.song@emory.edu.

CouRtesy of amiCalolafallslodge Com

Amicalola Falls marks the Georgia Trailhead of the Appalachian Trail only an hour and a half from campus.

CouRtesy of theClothingWa R ehouse Com

The Clothing Warehouse in the Little Five Points neighborhood offers curated vintage finds.

CouRtesy of CR eative Commons Tallulah Gorge is a scenic hiking destination.

Nike brand deal to further unify athletes

in the works. In March 2022 the ath letic department announced a brand deal with Nike that went into effect at the beginning of this September. All athletic teams will now be rep resenting Emory with the Nike logo on their apparel. Previously, coaches could choose which brand their team would wear.

Price is at the helm of this change which she believes will inevitably demonstrate a sense of unity among student-athletes and play to the benefit of presentation.

“I think for me, when you talk about excellence, and you talk about com munity and you talk about alignment, which is important to me as an athletic director…that is really tied into our teams being unified, and part of that is having some alignment with the way that we look and how we’re dressed,”

Price said.

Many athletes, including myself, have already seen the impact of the Nike deal. On the cross-country team, all of the team-issued shirts and jer seys are Nike. At the annual Takeoff Event, athletes were told to expect Nike backpacks and sweatshirts from the athletic department to further unify the athletic community on campus.

There will also be multiple incen tives for coaches and teams provid ed through the deal to purchase and receive additional Nike products.

“With this deal there are bonuses where you can get [additional] Nike money,” Price said. “Teams can get Nike money if they make it to the post season, if they win a UAA champion ship [or] if they win a national cham

pionship. There’s a bonus for GPAs— highest GPA for men’s and women’s team [as well as] bonuses for where we stand in our final Director’s Cup standings.”

A well-known company like Nike is also attractive to Emory recruits. Many of the nation’s highest performing ath letic programs, such as The University of North Carolina, Stanford University (Calif.) and Syracuse University (N.Y.), are sponsored by Nike.

“Having a name like Nike to back an athletic program is huge from a recruiting standpoint because it’s just the brand recognition and you want to wear Nike when you’re performing at your highest level. I think it’s a huge win for Emory Athletics” Reaves said.

The athletic department is also looking for more wins on the field. Price is excited for the upcoming con ference seasons and additional proj ects she is working on.

“This year, I’m looking for ward to more UAA and National Championships [that] I know we’re going to win,” Price said. “I’m looking forward to some of the bigger proj ects we’re working on that I think are important, whether it be some facility upgrades, whether it be the historic timeline that should be done by this time next year . . . I’m really looking forward to [it] because it really cap tures our excellence and showcases it.”

But ultimately, the main excitement is, in the words of Price, “[moving] the needle to help our student-athletes flourish.”

— Contact Sophia Arruda at sophia.arruda@emory.edu

Eagles continue to improve as season progresses

working hard and pushing each other from the get-go.

“It was just awesome to see every one working so hard and just getting to hang out with each other during pre-season camp,” Urban said.

Urban and senior captain Spencer Moore emphasized the importance of mental toughness and running as a group during races. Because the teams are scored based on the placements of their top five runners, it is crucial that

want to make such a strong impact,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen added that the freshmen are entering this season with a strong mindset, and despite it being their first season, each one of them is eager to make the largest impact they can. He also added that the freshman gained insight into every aspect about the team during the recruiting process –who they were, what they wanted and most importantly, all the impact they could make.

to go prove themselves against their rivals, Lynchburg University (Va.), next weekend in Bethlehem, Pa.

Although Lynchburg is currently ranked first and Emory second in the NCAA Division III South Region, Nguyen is convinced it will be an extremely close and competitive race. The race should give the Eagles a solid idea of where they stand in the region and how they can improve going forward.

UAA conference competition later in the season is one of the team’s greatest priorities. Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.), University of Chicago (Ill.) and Carnegie Mellon University (Penn.) are the Eagle’s strongest competi tors, with Carnegie Mellon winning the men’s UAA championship and Washington University winning the women’s UAA championship last year.

Moore strives to help increase the teams’ mental toughness and per sistence in order to rise to the top of the UAA.

c ourtesy of daniel Mc cauley

The men’s cross country team huddles before their race at the Julius Johnson Invitational on Sept. 16. The team went on to win first place.

the team works together to remain in a tight pack.

Although the Eagles are enter ing this season with three key run ners having graduated, – John Cox, Shannon Marsh and Bella RacetteNguyen – Nguyen said the freshmen are hungry to step in and compete while the upperclassmen look to improve on previous seasons. The freshmen class has already made a strong showing, positively impacting the team culture and contributing to common goals.

“It is exciting to watch them come in, seamlessly fit into our culture and

Sports boycotts hit South hardest

Page

off states in which the powerful few impose laws that don’t reflect the views of their electorate plays into the offensive, elitist, classist ideas of a hopeless, backwards South.

When MLB pulled the All-Star festivities out of Atlanta in 2021, former Georgia House Minority

the WNBA and its player unions and individuals like National Football League quarterback Colin Kapernick and U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team legend Megan Rapinoe have been incredibly impactful campaigns that have changed the tide of social issues. By no means do I believe they should be silenced.

get caught up in these policies. Not to mention those who work for profes sional sports teams and may not have enough financial autonomy to access healthcare in another state.

As a woman living in a state with limited access to reproductive health resources, I understand first-hand how scary such situations can be, and it’s not a fear I want others to be forced to endure. At the same time, as a West Coast native now living in the South, I know it’s a region worth caring about.

Ultimately, such controversies encapsulate the debate I constantly wage in my own head: who are sports for?

Both teams’ first place finishes at the Julius Johnson Invitational are a testament to the teams’ hard work so far this season. The event was held in Macon, Ga. on Sept. 16, where the men’s and women’s teams competed against seven and ten other universi ties, respectively.

Urban won her second race of the season with her time of 17:44 in the 5k and Brett Lucas won on the men’s side with a time of 25:27 in the 8k. Overall, both teams secured first place finishes in their races, in addition to their indi vidual victories in each event.

The Eagles have an opportunity

“We are looking to improve our mentality in competition — we want to be really tough in order to have a tight pack,” Moore said. “We are focused on being close in everything we do dur ing practices and training to have the tightest spread which will really help us in competition.”

The Eagles are hosting the UAA championship this season so they can enjoy the “home field advantage” and the support of their track & field teammates and the Emory commu nity. With postseason goals in mind, the Eagles will continue to work hard in practice and run their races strategically.

— Contact Jackie Joyce at jacqueline.joyce@emory.edu

Rapinoe looked to as role model in sports

Continued from Back Page

Leader Stacey Abrams, one of the most impactful voting rights advo cates of the last 50 years, criticized MLB’s decision, citing the major eco nomic repercussions it would bring to Georgia families.

The sweeping avoidance of red states neglects the Southern players and fans who understand these politi cal and cultural intricacies and want to represent a hometown team.

In all honesty, I’m not sure on which side of the issue I stand. As an emphat ic supporter of political protests in professional sports, I think listening to players’ opinions is imperative. The recent organizing efforts of the NBA,

But I also believe that providing access to professional sports should be a more communal process. The data shows that representation matters, and all young athletes deserve to wit ness hometown heroes who look like them compete at a professional level.

Sports boycotts are especially tricky because their purpose is twofold: they are both acts of political protest and matters of player protection. And it’s more complex than getting to choose where you play, because many play ers are traded or drafted to cities they didn’t choose. Beyond the players, their partners and families also have to move with them, and inevitably will

In professional sports, there is a constant tug between fans who feel entitled to decide competitor’s lives and league operations and athletes who are autonomous individuals that don’t owe fans their livelihood. But no matter how much power ownership and the front office think they have, the patronage and community of loyal fans fuels professional sports, both financially and spiritually.

Although I’m not sure what we should do about this inherently com plex problem, I know one thing for cer tain: we shouldn’t turn our backs on the markets and players that matter, despite what lawmakers may think.

I hope that when professional sports leagues are looking to expand and inevitably encounter boycott conversa tions, they can find compromises that prioritize the players and fans rather than the all-powerful, out-of-touch bil lionaire owners and politicians.

— Contact Gabriella Lewis at gabriella.lewis@emory.edu

tions that follow her. In March 2019, Rapinoe was at the forefront of the USWNT’s equal pay lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation. After a long and arduous process, the USWNT finally got what they deserved: equal pay. Rapinoe willed this his toric ruling to happen, along with her team mates and those female athletes before her who advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment for decades. In addition to gender equality, Rapinoe has taken part in other human rights movements, such as those supporting LGBTQ+, voting and civil rights. To Rapinoe, a violation of anyone’s human rights is a violation of everyone’s human rights.

For female athletes such as myself, having role models such as Rapinoe is crucial to show girls that not only are their athletic dreams possible, but they can also impact the world in a way that leaves an everlasting legacy.

On that Sept. 19 afternoon, I got to look Rapinoe in the eyes and thank her as my fellow captains and I presented her with an Emory soccer jersey with her name and number. Then I was asked to say a few words to everyone at the reception, so I got up on stage

and told Rapinoe why I looked up to her so much.

I told Rapinoe that she showed the world what’s possible despite overwhelming odds and that she has “shown us that we have to be assertive and refuse to accept the unacceptable.” I said that while facing massive United States human rights viola tions, Rapinoe has demonstrated that we can’t allow ourselves to fall into hopeless ness. Her leadership proves that a strong fight and determina tion can cause needed change.

Those who appreciate the moun tains that Rapinoe has moved on behalf of global human rights know that it was a privilege to have her visit Emory’s campus. As someone who has grown up surrounded by posters of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi and the Williams sisters on my bedroom walls, for me, Rapinoe’s impact and activism efforts trump all of them combined.

Most people never get the chance to meet their idol, but, I can now say that I have. It was a day like no other and one that I will never forget.

Thank you, Megan Rapinoe.

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

[Rapinoe’s] leadership proves that a strong fight and determination can cause needed change.

Michael M aria M/M anaging editor

Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park, the original site of the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The festivities were later moved to Denver, Colorado.

Emory

Meeting Megan Rapinoe: a dream come true

By Grace reyer Staff Writer

I woke up on Sept. 19, 2022 filled with anticipation. I went to the kitchen, made my breakfast like any other day and then I went to classes. However, I could not focus. My head was else where because it was the day I was meeting my soccer idol: two-time FIFA World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe.

Rapinoe’s achievements on the field are incredible, but her accom plishments off the field are even more inspiring and courageous. On July 7, 2022, President Joe Biden presented Rapinoe with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.

Rapinoe is the first soccer player and one of just six female athletes or coach es to ever receive the award.

Rapinoe was the keynote speak er at Emory University’s 41st annual

CROSS COUNTRY

Jimmy Carter Town Hall to welcome freshmen to school. As a captain of the Emory women’s soccer team, I had the opportunity to meet Rapinoe at a reception before her speech. My assistant coach at Emory, Catherine “Cat” Whitehill, a decorated former professional athlete, actually played with Rapinoe on the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT). When Rapinoe walked into the room, she asked to see Cat immediately, and my fellow captains and I got to meet her alongside Cat.

Talking to my idol, I was scream ing on the inside, but on the outside, I tried to be as calm and collected, just as Rapinoe carries herself in all walks of life. Rapinoe was just as I had hoped she would be: naturally kind, funny and relaxed. Rapinoe asked how our season was going, when our next game was and even took a goofy BeReal with us. I could have spent an entire day

Cross country looks to repeat as regional champions

By Jackie Joyce Contributing Writer

Looking to defend their 2021 NCAA South Region Championship, the Emory University cross country teams are forces to be reckoned with this season.

Last season, the women’s team fin ished 19th in the nation and the men’s team finished 23rd, respectively. This year’s teams are determined to contin ue competing at a high level and move up the rankings, with the women’s team currently ranked 28th and the men’s team ranked 21st in Division III polls.

Head coach Linh Nguyen, who is entering his fourth season at Emory, recalled last year when the teams performed exceedingly well while at the front of the race. Moving into this season, Nguyen hopes to increase their intensity in high pressure envi

ronments; specifically, at the NCAA Championships.

“During some of our regular sea son invitationals and [the] regional championship we were at the front of the race and I thought we per formed really well,” Nguyen said. “I think one thing that we are trying to be better at this year is running really well when we are not in the front of the race, like at the national championship.”

The teams kicked off their preseason with a training trip in Dahlonega, Ga. The runners partici pated in fun activities, like playing Spikeball and tie dyeing t-shirts, and ran through rural Georgia to help build team camaraderie and excite ment for the upcoming fall.

Senior captain Annika Urban noted it was uplifting to see everyone

with her and feel like I was just hang ing out with my friends.

Ever since I was young, I looked up to Rapinoe. I remember wearing her jersey as a kid and running outside with an American flag when she won her first World Cup in 2015. I even bought a Nike t-shirt that read, “I want to be like Megan Rapinoe when I grow up.” To this day, I still hold that sentiment.

As a female soccer player, I love watching the USWNT compete for World Cup and Olympic titles. Rapinoe always stands out on the field as an especially creative and technical play er with impeccable passing and scor ing skills. But what makes her stand out to me is what she does off the field.

Rapinoe leverages her athletic suc cesses to push for equality and uses her platform to better the genera

RAPINOE, Page 15

GLOVES OFF WITH GABRIELLA

ATHLETICS

“Moving the Needle” forward for student-athletes

By sophia arruda Contributing Writer

Exciting new opportunities are on the horizon for student-athletes at Emory University. The Eagle Edge program has been a part of the ath letic department since 2018, but the department is making the program a focal point of the student-athlete experience. The initiative provides student-athletes with supplemental resources outside the classroom and away from the playing field. New addi tions to Eagle Edge include in-house Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) counselor Kalyn Wilson, tran sition support for incoming athletes and nutritional services based within the department itself.

In an interview with the Wheel, Athletic Director Keiko Price dis cussed how the program goes beyond the competition.

“The way I look at Eagle Edge is to supplement the athletic experience,” Price said. “Coaches are providing support on the track, in the pool, or on the field. Instructors in the classroom are helping with [athletes’] academic experience. I look at this as the third part of us really making sure that [they are] taking advantage of [their] oppor tunities at Emory.”

To devote more attention and sup port to the growth of the Eagle Edge program, the athletics department turned to a familiar face. Tristan Reaves spent several years at Emory as a strength coach for the athletic teams. Before coming to Emory, he played football at University of Central Florida and was involved in a program similar to Eagle Edge.

“I got involved in a lot of commu nity service and career development events [at UCF], and I really enjoyed it,” Reaves said. “I actually started my own business out of it at the time. I’ve always been very passionate about giv ing back to my community and work ing with athletes.”

Any of the athletes he has trained

can attest to his devotion to the suc cess of those he coaches both on and off the field. As a result, the transi tion to Coordinator of Student-Athlete Success Programs makes perfect sense for Reaves. He describes his new role as “threefold: helping fresh men student-athletes transition into college athletics, making our current student-athletes’ experience here the best [it] can be and ultimately helping our student-athletes transition out of athletics.”

The latest version of the Eagle Edge program will place a greater emphasis on utilization of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Reaves organized an NIL panel in February 2022 to give athletes further information about their opportunities. The panel included Emory Law School profes sor Sydnee Mack, the co-founder of Grit Player Services David Jaffin and the CEO of WalkOn Nation Michael Willett. Additionally, all of the ath letes at Emory are provided with an INFLCR app account, where they can access photos from competition, find opportunities to take advantage of NIL and easily document their use of NIL.

Given how new the concept of NIL is, education will continue in the future as policies and benefits evolve. An NIL event in October will focus on the intricacies of legal protection and distribution of earned funds. To supplement the NIL event, Eagle Edge will also be hosting a financial literacy workshop in November.

Reaves wants the Eagle Edge pro gram to become an important part of Emory’s recruiting process.

“When coaches are bringing recruits to campus, the Eagle Edge is one of the talking points,” Reaves said. “They come into my office because they’re so excited to introduce these [incoming] freshmen to all these amazing oppor tunities to enrich their experience.”

While Eagle Edge is getting remod eled, it is not the only major project

The winners and losers of sports boycotts

By GaBriella lewis Managing Editor of Digital Operations

Despite being beloved as one of the best ballparks in America, Major League Baseball (MLB) suddenly moved its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta’s Truist Park just three months before the first pitch was set to be thrown. The move was in response to the passage of sweeping anti-voting legislation pushed through the Georgia State House by Republican politicians and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. The game was ultimately held at Coors Field in Denver, Co., a state with strong Democratic party ties.

The year prior, the All-Star Game had brought in $89 million for Los Angeles, Calif. Georgia Senate Bill 202, which went into effect in 2021 and targets voters of color particularly in highly populated areas like Atlanta, ended up costing Georgia millions of dollars and an unforgettable fan experience.

In recent months, there have been similar arguments regarding the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) expansion in the post-Roe world.

Politically-motivated boycotts are particularly pertinent to women’s sports. Women’s professional leagues are in the throes of expansion, and their players – women and nonbina ry people who are often more visibly queer than their counterparts in men’s leagues – are inherently more vulner able to the United States’ conservative legislation.

And the first instance of sports leagues protesting political decisions by boycotting that I can remember was in 2016, when the National Basketball Association (NBA) pulled their AllStar Game out of Charlotte, N.C. over transphobic “bathroom bills” passed by Republican lawmakers.

These are just a couple examples of American policymakers’ decisions resulting in sports boycotts, revenue loss and iconic games stolen from fans’

backyards.

In the context of expansion, it begs the question, who gets punished in the wake of out-of-touch lawmakers’ harmful political decisions?

As I established in my previous column, I believe sports have an inher ent cultural importance that every one should have the opportunity to experience. If the NWSL, WNBA or other professional leagues decide not to expand to Republican-leaning states, the exclusion of the American South is all but certain. Therefore, the more than 127 million people who live in the South, a large percentage of whom are people of color, will be excluded from said leagues. They will miss the opportunity to watch profes sional women’s sports because of their lawmakers’ decisions, with which they often disagree.

One could argue that such stand offs between political factions are just a casualty of the American federal ist voting system. However, writing

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 |

Sports Editors: Jenna Daly (jenna.daly@emory.edu) & Claire Fenton (claire.fenton@emory.edu)

grace r eyer/staff Writer

From left: Cole Hendricks, Grace Reyer, Megan Rapinoe, Kaitlyn Price, Kylie Hall, Keiko Price, Alejandro Gomez and Will Tichy pose for a photo at a reception preceding Rapinoe’s speech at the 40th annual Jimmy Carter Town Hall.