Loyola’s Sodexo employees have won the petition to move forward with their unionization after almost a year-long struggle, according to a union representative at the labor spring event held on-campus.
Although union organizers have secured the majority necessary to unionize, they are working to get more signatures to secure a larger mandate and increase their leverage during negotiations. By April 28, the union’s cards will be counted and the union will be instated, allow-
Myles Burns, who was a part of the team at Loyola that won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men’s Basketball Championship last year and named MVP of the National Tournament his senior year here at Loyola, used his last year of eligibility to play at the University of Mississippi for the 2022-2023 season.
“The coaching and the environment, it’s a much bigger stage against much different competition,” he said. “Bigger, stronger guys [who are] more athletic from all positions.”
Myles expressed how hard it was to go into a new environment with so many different new factors after being at Loyola for four years. He had to have more mental solitude which took hard work and discipline to push past the new challenges he was faced with, he said.
One of the challenges was dealing with a larger social media presence.
“If you sneeze wrong in the game, or, you know, have the game you aren’t supposed to have, people are going to
criticize you for it, and there is no way of avoiding it,” Burns said. “You kind of just have to be mentally sound.”
Looking back, Burns said he experienced a lot of people criticizing him at Loyola, but at Ole Miss, he received “twice, three times, maybe four times as many people doing that on a totally different level.”
“If you win or lose a game, people sometimes will send you death threats,” he said. “Or people place their bets, and you got all these betting pages tagging you on social media. And you can’t respond, obviously, because you can get in trouble or get suspended or possibly lose your scholarship.”
Burns said that he was not in a good mental space because he wasn’t used to all the backlash from social media and from the coaching he received at Ole Miss. According to Burns, his new head coach did not give the team positive reinforcement, and showed love by giving the least amount of compliments he could. He said that his coach was old school, and when things didn’t work out, he was on their heads.
See ATHLETE, page 4
English junior Crow Carson was choosing their fall 2023 courses when they realized that no classes were being taught by African-American studies professor Scott Heath, the only Black professor in Loyola’s English department.
Initially, Carson said they thought Heath made the decision to leave Loyola, but later found out from a letter that Heath sent to students that explained the reason for his absence was that the university did not renew his contract for the fall semester for reasons the English
department has not yet clarified.
Loyola’s chapters of the Young Democratic Socialists and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, alongside many of Heath’s students, like Carson, joined forces to advocate for Heath’s reinstatement.
Together, they wrote an open letter and created a petition to support Heath’s reinstatement that was shared via social media. To date, the petition has over 600 signatures from students to people across the greater New Orleans area.
See HEATH, page 2
ing the workers to collectively bargain with Sodexo.
Samantha Henry, a Loyola Dining employee, said she is eager for the union to be instated.
“I’m excited, I’m ecstatic,” Henry said.
Henry said she is hoping to use the collective bargaining that a union provides to get better benefits and better pay.
“We don’t receive any benefits when school is closed for the summer,” Henry said. “As far as pay, we’re doing a lot of work with no pay,”
Additionally, Henry said she’s hoping to see a better workplace environment.
“And maybe they’ll just respect you a little bit more,” she said. “I just believe
that we need to be treated more fairly.”
Charles Casrill, general manager of Loyola-Sodexo, said that Sodexo respects their worker’s rights to unionize.
“Sodexo respects the rights of our employees to unionize or not to unionize,” he said.
But workers have said that Sodexo has used tactics to limit unionization efforts. For example, Sodexo’s operations director Robert Heidingsfelder posted a Maroon article about the union on his door, which workers said was an effort to intimidate the workers and organizers who discussed unionization efforts and met with the newspaper.
See SODEXO, page 2
Wendi Cooper, a local transgender rights activist, was arrested and registered as a sex offender under Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature by Solicitation laws, and for the ten years that Cooper was on the sex offender registry, she said that this status limited her ability to access employment, housing, and even evacuation assistance during natural disasters.
Crime Against Nature by Solicitation outlaws anal and oral sex for profit but carries a higher penalty than straightforward prostitution, Cooper said. Specifically, people arrested under this law are required to be registered as sex offenders and often face jail time.
“I just felt like my life was never private,” she said.
No matter where she went, people knew she was registered as a sex offender and treated her differently because of it, Cooper said.
Cooper’s experience is not unique, as historically, these statutes have been used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities, specifically, Black transgender women engaged in “survival sex work.”
Cooper used the term “survival sex work” to explain the conditions under which people have no alternative means to support themselves. Status as a felon only enhances these conditions, she said.
Cooper spoke to the Loyola community about her experience, as well as some of the positive outcomes that have come from her activism at an event hosted by Loyola’s Jesuit Social Research Institute.
Throughout the month of April, JSRI has hosted events in honor of Second Chance Month that are designed to educate the Loyola community on ongoing issues with the United States criminal legal system, as well as the work that is being done in response to those issues.
The event, at which Cooper spoke, consisted of a documentary film screening titled “CANS Can’t Stand” and a panel discussion with local transgender rights activists, including Loyola Law Professor Bill Quigley.
According to Quigley, sex offenders are unable to evacuate to standard shelters in case of emergency. This puts these individuals at significant risk.
And, she said, this is symptomatic of an overall lack of support for these communities.
LGBTQ+ youth are much more likely to experience homelessness, making up 40% of all homeless youth while only making up 9.3% of the United States population.
In the past 40 years, hundreds of people have been convicted and silenced under CANS, Cooper said. Although 700 of these people had their records expunged and been removed from the official sex offender registry following a legal settlement in 2012, these laws are still “on the books” in Louisiana, she said.
Cooper said that expunged records are still visible in legal paperwork. The only real difference is that they are now labeled “expunged.”
Local union leaders, workers, and Loyola faculty gathered in a Monroe Hall lecture room to discuss the ongoing history of collective labor organizing.
The event was introduced by sociology professor Cody Melcher and included delegates from labor unions such as Unite Here, the Workplace Justice Project at Loyola Law, United Teachers New Orleans, Painters and Glaziers union, New Orleans Workers Assembly, New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee, and union nurses from the downtown Tulane Medical Center.
Delegates and workers discussed topics ranging from labor law successes to the possible closure of Tulane’s downtown medical center.
The labor spring event comes at a time when union membership has reached a historic low, with only around 10% of workers in the United States being members since 2021. The decline in union membership, Melcher showed, was directly contrasted with income inequality, which is at its highest since 1940, insinuating that when union membership is low, income inequality increases.
Melcher used Starbucks as a prime example of the growing interest in union membership across the country and
subsequent corporate crack-down on organizing. Melcher said that in August of 2021, zero Starbucks were unionized. By May 2022, 250 locations had unionized, including the Starbucks on Maple Street, the first Starbucks in Louisiana to unionize.
The Starbucks on Poydras Street could also become the second unionized Starbucks in New Orleans. Additionally, he mentioned the Rutgers University faculty strike to illustrate the
Loyola University is undergoing a process to potentially replace its current dining provider — Sodexo.
The process is called a request for proposal, which means the university is inviting a number of companies to submit formal bids to win the contract to operate the dining facilities on campus for the next few years.
power unions have. Melcher said that their strategy was as simple as relying on the fact that a university can’t teach without teachers.
Today, unions have the highest public approval rating since 1965. From rapid unionization efforts of Starbucks and Amazon warehouses across the country to the Smoothie King Center here in New Orleans, unions are becoming more and more active and militant.
See LABOR, page 8
“If the university can use [Black students] for their pictures, to plan their events, to increase their diversity, then we deserve an education where Black students can feel welcome,” Toney said.
Senior Cynthia Russell, who is currently on medical leave, returned to Loyola in support of Heath.
Russell said this is part of a pattern of Loyola rewarding and supporting professors who lack passion and don’t care about their students and punishing the ones who do.
“Loyola uses their Black, Indigenous, and Latino students as trophies,” Russell said. “Then, they get rid of the professors who actually care and try to push us forward.”
Cruse said while this is an issue at Loyola, it goes beyond the university.
This comes as Sodexo employees in Loyno Dining have been dealing with the ongoing unionization process, which they hope will result in higher wages and better labor practices.
In October of 2022, students at Loyola began supporting Sodexo employees in their attempt to unionize.
Workers said they are underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated.
During the summer, Sodexo employees don’t receive health benefits, causing many to go months without health insurance.
Sodexo employees just received a 3% raise, one of the few perks the employees have received in the past several years.
In 2021, after layoffs from the pandemic, Loyola’s dining services struggled to find enough staff to cover the full capacity of the campus. This left student employees saying they were overwhelmed and overworked. This same issue led to longer wait times and fewer food stations in the Orleans Room, the campus dining hall affecting students.
Students have also expressed frustration with the food provider selection. They have reported on the lack of dietary options, specifically affecting vegan and vegetarian diets. Students claimed that even though there are options in the Orleans Room, it is limited, and they have to eat the same thing for days on end.
Loyola Vice President of Marketing and Communications Rachel Hoormann said Loyola could not comment on the RFP process at this time.
Continued from page 1
The Loyola chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held a listening session with Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Kedrick Perry, academic affairs, and other campus leaders to share their concerns about Heath’s firing.
However, organizers complained that no faculty members of the English department were there to actually hear their concerns.
After the petition was shared with the English department and upper administration, President of Loyola’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists, Carson Cruse, said the university did not respond, which led to the organization of the demonstration.
“We wouldn't have done the demonstration if the university said they were in the process of evaluating the decision or
said something at all,” he said.
History freshman Olyvya Boatright said it's disgusting that students had to protest in order for their voices to be heard.
“I think that we took every precaution to be able to peacefully express our desires to reinstate Dr. Heath and try to do this as civilly as we possibly can,” she said. “But Loyola has continually ignored us, so we have to get a little louder.”
Loyola’s NAACP chapter president and junior pyschology major Akilah Toney said it’s unfair that Black students have to fight to have Black studies considered a priority by the university.
“Our education is not negotiable,” Toney said. “We won’t take no for an answer because we need an African-American studies department in a majority Black city.”
Toney said Heath’s class was the first time she’d felt welcomed and enlightened in a classroom.
“This is a systemic issue that's in all colleges. And at a legal level, states, especially in the South, are already passing laws that are outlawing Black studies,” he said. “And instead of standing up to the challenge and doubling down on their mission, Loyola is caving even before laws are put into place in Louisiana.”
Freshman Olivia Zachary said that Loyola directly contradicts the Jesuit values they’re supposed to uphold.
“How are we, as a Jesuit institution, going to claim that we fight for the poor and oppressed when we are outlawing and silencing Black educators?” she said. “How are we going to go forth and set the world on fire, like St. Ignatius told us to, if our Black voices are being silenced?”
Boatright said organizers and supporters of Heath expect a response by Friday, April 28, or they’re going to “raise some more hell.”
Interim President the Rev. Justin Daffron S.J. met with student organizers after the protest.
The Maroon reached out to the university and the English department for comment following the protest, but they did not respond in time for publication.
Continued from page 1
Nonetheless, Sodexo employees like Henry remain hopeful for the future now that the workplace has voted to approve unionized.
“I’ll be really looking forward to the next school year and seeing what happens,” Henry said.
Throughout the unionization process, the employees said they have felt supported by Loyola students and faculty through their efforts, showing solidarity with stickers and raising awareness on social media. Henry said this support has fueled her to keep fighting for a union.
“They make me want to get it more for myself,” Henry said.
After the counting of union cards on April 28, Henry hopes to bring the community together for a celebration of overcoming this hurdle.
“I hope we can have a party,” she said. “Throw up some confetti, announce it, and everybody just be happy that we have crossed one part of this little milestone here.”
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As graduation approaches, many student-athletes are looking forward to their next steps while reflecting on some of their unforgettable experiences at Loyola.
Brittany Cooper, a mass communication senior who is on the indoor and beach volleyball teams, said she is excited to see what the future holds for her and where this new chapter takes her.
“It’s both exciting and then also scary at the same time, you know, leaving behind what I have come accustomed and used to the last four years,” Cooper said.
“It makes me really love that I came to Loyola and was given this opportunity, and I’m really grateful for it,” Cooper said. “I definitely couldn’t have achieved any of it if it weren’t for all my teammates and my coaches who have continuously encouraged me and been there, and been my cheerleaders for me.” During her four years, she said she has watched her teammates grow on and off the court, bonding through thick and thin. Traveling with the team allowed them to create a strong family bond. Just this past year alone, they were stranded and then had to sleep together in the airport, which only strengthened their connection, Cooper said.
Their relationship shined as the athletic department added its first official beach volleyball team in the 2023 season. She said that being a part of this team, and placing third place in their first Sun Conference tournament, made a statement for the program.
Cooper finished her career at Loyola with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs, putting her 9th in the Wolf Pack record books with exactly 1,358 digs. She also finished in the top 25 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in service aces and aces per set.
While she does not see herself continuing to play professionally, she will play the sport she loves just for fun. Cooper has been coaching at Pelican State and wants to continue that journey. As a coach for younger children, it has been her pleasure to watch them grow into better players and people, she said.
“I’m just trying to teach the game I love to younger kids and really help them find that passion that I have for the game,” she said.
Taylor Thomas is another graduating senior, but she plans to stick around for one more season. Student athletes in the NAIA were given an additional eligibility year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a finance and management double major on the women’s basketball team, she said she will be using her last year of eligibility to foster long-lasting relationships.
“I think I am just going to enjoy my fifth year. You know, it is going to be my last time playing basketball competitively, I think, after this year,” Thomas said. “I don’t really have any plans to go play professionally, so I am just going to cherish every moment because I won’t get this back.”
In the 2022-2023 season, the women’s team had a record of 27-3. Thomas earned her 1,000th career point and finished this season with 1 80 steals in her career, the 10th-most in program history. She was named Southern States Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year her junior season.
Thomas expressed how important it will be to build relationships next year with the incoming recruits. Her contribution to the game was the result of her hard work and the chemistry she developed with previous teammates.
The women’s team was upset over their defeat in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament, but Thomas said she is using that to motivate herself and the team next year to keep working hard.
Her genuine care for her teammates with the highest standard, sets the bar for them to achieve their goals, she said.
“I know that you can do better, and I can do better, we all can do better,” she said.
Going into the next season, Thomas has made it clear what her goals are, “I don’t want anything but a championship ring for my last season. That's all I want. I want to win,” she said.
Michael Harden, a graduate transfer from Southern University and A&M College, has used up all of his eligibility but plans to continue his education at Loyola to finish his Master’s Degree in finance and minor in accounting.
He knew he was presented with a great opportunity that he couldn’t pass up to play for the defending NAIA men’s basketball national champions, he said.
Harden said he never doubted himself and felt prepared from his previous years of playing. His hard work and confidence drove him to achieve his dream goal of playing college basketball.
“I just wanted to accept the challenge. Seeing those guys do what they did, it drove me to want the same thing. I just wanted to be a part of something like that,” he said.
Harden earned SSAC All-Conference first team and finished with the eighth most steals in a single season in Loyola history with 61. He said it was reassuring knowing that he’s capable of doing something and able to go out there to accomplish it.
At Loyola, he created close relationships with the coaches and players. He shared that he and head coach Donald Reyes have a lot in common. Reyes was in his corner, having Harden’s best interest in his heart. Assistant coach Javan Felix brought their team to the next level by teaching the team based on his past experience of playing basketball professionally. And assistant coach Andrew Fava winning the NAIA National
Continued from page 1
“We are already hard on ourselves (as players), and then you got him being hard on us, then you got fans and everybody being mad about the previous season,” he said. “So they are trying to get on us about being better this season, and it was a lot to go through.”
He brought up that athletes are not as open to posting their mental health struggles on social media as much. According to a survey conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2020, the data showed rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety, and depression in student-athletes have remained one and a half to two times higher than identified before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burns said he is not sure if he has totally recovered from his mental health issues but is progressing and feels it made him stronger. He pointed out how important it is to be able to express emotions or feelings toward a situation in a productive manner. His method is stopping players from arguing all the time because everyone will continue to be in a bad mental space, looking over their shoulders for when the next fight is going to happen.
“It’s okay to not like each other, but I think there is a way to have a healthy relationship even if you don’t agree with each other’s perspective on things,” he said.
The mental health of student-athletes
has been an ongoing issue in college athletics. Toward the end of the season this year, Burns said he would turn his phone off to help himself recover. He expressed how the public does not often realize how physically and mentally taxing it can be as a student-athlete. But he said he believed that the right tools were out there to address his issues.
“I just didn’t utilize them because I didn't grow up that way,” Burns said.
69% of female athletes and 63% of male athletes either agreed or strongly agreed that the participants knew where to go for their mental concerns on campus, according to the NCAA survey.
“Everybody, depending on how they were raised, has this wall that they put in front of them and has an opening to where they can make something happen, but they just are not comfortable with doing that,” Burns said.
Transferring to Ole Miss, Burns said he felt that he did not have the same connections with people as he did at Loyola, and he was not comfortable opening up about his emotions and the adversity he faced.
“I felt like if I had a whole day where I could go talk to my therapist, I probably would have done it, but I don’t know,” he said.
In the NCAA survey, the participants responding to the mental health support questions showed less than half of the athletes agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they felt comfortable
enough to seek support.
Moving to this new environment pushed Burns out of his comfort zone to adjust to different personalities and build his leadership skills more, but he said that the process of becoming a leader in the setting at Ole Miss has been difficult for him.
Burns said that coming in, he was viewed as the underdog and in a position where he wasn’t viewed as a leader because most people he encountered had no prior knowledge of the NAIA level of basketball. He had to prove that his resume spoke for itself and translated on the court.
“I have always been at a disadvantage, even coming from Loyola and winning a national championship,” Burns said. “People were ignorant to this level of play, so they don’t really know how good the competition is.”
However, Burns said he used his story to his advantage and emphasized that if the right people listen to the story, then everything will work out the way it needs to be.
“My story is showing that I and my game can translate from any level no matter how big the jump,” he said.
Burns felt that playing at Ole Miss gave him more recognition and a bigger platform. Whether people came to see his team or their opponent, they were able to watch him do what he does best at a higher level, he said.
“I ended up being the shock of the
Championship in 2022 placed the needed materials on the table to achieve that same goal.
“Having those types of guys in your corner and actually wanting the best for you and wanting to see you succeed is priceless,” he said.
He feels that he can call his teammates his brothers, and the controversy
they faced only made them closer. Harden said he looks forward to seeing what they achieve next season. Moving forward, Harden said he is going to prepare for any opportunities to continue his career in basketball professionally. Coach Reyes and Felix have pointed him in the direction of agents to get that process started.
league that all the coaches were talking about,” he said. “They were super surprised that I ended up being the type of player that I was and ended up being one of the top players in the conference.”
While this journey for Burns has been something he never expected, he knew that the challenges wouldn’t stop him
from achieving at the highest level and reaching his goals.
“I am going to declare for the draft soon. I am about to sign with an agent,” he said.
Associated Press
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis added more wins to his agenda targeting the LGBTQ+ community as a state board approved an expansion of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law Wednesday, and Florida's House passed bills on gender-transition treatments, bathroom use and keeping children out of drag shows. In Baton Rouge, anti-transgender bills, House Bill 466 and 81, passed the House of Representatives.
The Board of Education in Florida approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the law that bans those lesson up to grade 3 at the request of DeSantis as he gears up for an expected presidential run.
The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4-12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that stu-
dents can choose not to take. That’s the time when students are becoming aware of their sexuality.
The proposal will take effect after a procedural notice period that lasts about a month, according to an education department spokesman.
The DeSantis administration put forward the proposal last month as part of the Republican’s aggressive conservative agenda, with the governor leaning heavily into cultural divides ahead of his looming White House candidacy.
He previously directed questions to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who said it was meant to clarify confusion around the existing law and reinforce that teachers should not deviate from existing curri`culums.
“We’re not removing anything here,” Diaz Jr. said on Wednesday. “All we are doing is we are setting the expectations so our teachers are clear: that they are to teach to the standards.”
The prohibition has drawn intense backlash from critics who argue it marginalizes LGBTQ+ people and has vague
terms that result in self-censorship from teachers. Democratic President Joe Biden has called it “hateful.”
It’s not the only issue upsetting LGBTQ+ people in Florida. Also Wednesday, the House passed a bill to make it a felony to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender minors, another DeSantis priority.
“In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. Folks this is rock solid, irreversible, validated by science and our medical community. Period,” said Republican Rep. Chase Tramont. “You are either male or female. This is not subject to one’s opinion. It is demonstrable fact.”
Democrats argued that ignoring gender dysphoria in children can be psychologically harmful, They said parents and doctors should make decisions on treatment, not government.
“Trans people are already dealing with the feeling of not feeling wanted, not being accepted, not being loved, not belonging. Do we want to treat them like they are worthless?” said Democratic
Rep. Marie Paule Woodson. “This is a territory that we have no right of stepping into.”
As they debated, a group of protesters shouted against bill sponsor Republican Rep. Randy Fine, chanting, “Racist, sexist, anti-queer, Randy Fine get out of here.”
“We know that these are all just part of the governor’s agenda to attack our community and to take rights away from people disguised under parents’ rights,” said Salvatore Vieira, a field manager for Equality Florida, who led the chants. “I fully believe in an equal and a beautiful Florida for everyone.”
Florida's House sent DeSantis another bill that bans children from an adult live performance, a proposal aimed at the governor’s opposition to drag shows. A trend recently seen in Tennessee as well, leaving an impact on local New Orleanian LGBTQ+ groups.
The legislation would allow the state to revoke the food and beverage licenses of businesses that admit children to adult performances. The DeSantis administration has moved to pull the liquor
licenses of businesses that held drag shows, alleging children were present during lewd displays.
The House also passed a bill that will ban people from entering bathrooms other than their sex assigned at birth. It requires bathrooms in public places to be listed as Men, Women or Unisex. DeSantis has made culture wars a priority as he gears up to run for the White House. Former President Donald Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls have been increasingly attacking DeSantis’ leadership, including an ongoing feud with Disney, one of the state’s largest employers and political donors. The entertainment giant publicly opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation last year, and, as punishment, DeSantis pushed lawmakers to give him control of a self-governing district that Disney oversees in its theme park properties. Aron Boehle contributed to this story.
The Starbucks on Poydras operates on April 23, 2023. This will be the second Starbucks in New Orleans to unionize. Aron Boehle/The Maroon
As Loyola’s Sodexo employees win unionization here on campus, workers at the Starbucks on Poydras Street and St. Charles Avenue have recently filed a petition to unionize with Starbucks Workers United to the National Labor Relations Board.
In a video introducing several baristas and why they are unionizing, the workers said that the inconsistent working hours, lack of workers despite record sales, and customer harassment are their motivators. If the petition is successful, it would be the second unionized Starbucks in New Orleans.
Spirit Hutter, a barista at the Starbucks in the Danna Student Center, said he felt a connection to the other Starbucks workers.
“It’s really about solidarity with your fellow human beings at the end of the day,” he said.
Hutter said there is a parallel between the Starbucks petition and the on-campus Sodexo unionization effort, as poor working conditions are what has led to both of these efforts.
At least here on our campus, Hutter said he was hopeful about the on-campus unionization effort.
“It’s looking like we’re gonna win,” he said, proven right a few days later.
One in three college students report having visited non-consensual nude-sharing sites, called revenge porn. To combat underage revenge porn and over 29 million reports of images and videos of child sexual exploitation online, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Website created a new tool called “Take It Down.”
The tool is funded by Meta platforms and partners with six companies – Facebook, Instagram, OnlyFans, Pornhub, TikTok, and Yubo to remove explicit images following a report. No one else will see the content that gets reported, as the tool transforms them into a hash, which is something like a digital fingerprint that they use to track down where the image or video was shared. The website is user-friendly and features guiding illustrations, as they strive to provide a comfortable environment that keeps its vulnerable user base in mind.
A drawback, however, is that the six participating companies do not cover the entire scope of social media and online pornography because there are countless porn websites out there. “Take It Down” also does not work for encrypted media, such as direct messages.
Loyola’s Chief Information Officer Alan Schomaker said that once images have been shared, they no longer are un-
der your control.
“It’s like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube; you are never going to get it all,” Schomaker said. “With the internet, apps, phones, etc., there is no magic wand that can totally eliminate everything. Technology has allowed a different way to view explicit content than what was available in the past. This is much different than viewing magazines like Playboy, because of the ease of access and sheer volume of content.”
The unrealistic nature of pornograph-
ic content affects how porn viewers treat others in real life, leading to behaviors such as porn addiction, revenge porn, and sexualization of minors and women, according to the American Psychological Association.
In response to these issues, tools like “Take It Down” have become a viable yet incomplete way to remove unwanted explicit content because of their advanced technology that can reach a wide but not fullscope.
Music industry sophomore Julian Weinheimer, artistically known as Juleser, released his first EP subsequent to his debut single “Oami” from last fall. While he was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas by parents in the music scene, Weinheimer said his own interest and ambition led him to become the selftaught artist he is today.
Nonetheless, Weinheimer opened up about the occurrence of imposter syndrome and being your own worst critic during the music-making process.
“A lot of it has been learning about letting go and not being a perfectionist,” Weinheimer said. “I sometimes have trouble liking what I make because I’ll sit with something for a while and then hate it. So, I basically just had to cut myself off for a lot of the songs I made for this project.”
There are multiple routes musicians take to piece together a project or even just a singular song. When Weinheimer makes music, lyrics materialize after production.
“I’ve never actually sat down to write lyrics for a song without music first. I’ll usually begin by producing and finding melodies that match the vibe I’m looking for,” Weinheimer said.
The EP, “Juleser is Shy”, delivers five alternative indie-pop songs, including his debut single, “Oami.”
This past November, “Oami” received recognition from the music publication Lyrical Lemonade. Staff writer and music critic Sam Morrison expressed his impression of the up-and-coming artist.
“The guitar-powered song does a great job of creating an undeniable vibe throughout its entirety while Juleser adds his catchy melodies to an already impressive piece,” Morrison said. “I can’t say enough good things about this one, so I guess you all will just have to listen to it for yourself.”
Receiving acknowledgment for his debut single showed Weinheimer the possibilities and potential that come with putting your heart and soul into doing what you love, he said. In his case, that’s making music.
Weinheimer hosted a release party to celebrate his EP, where he performed his songs live with Loyola musicians Deven Raval, Giovanni Ventello, and Gary Giofreda. The group was accompanied by a performance from Loyola music group “Vipersnapper”, along with a DJ set from music industry junior Maddy Kelly.
“Juleser is Shy” is now streaming on all platforms.
The Crescent City Film Festival has once again offered an opportunity for theater and film students to collaborate and network alongside others in the industry.
The Crescent City Film Festival, a student-run event, returned to Loyola for its fifth year from April 21 to 23. The festival receives and displays both international and local submissions, with the goal of elevating and making visible the work done by marginalized filmmakers both at Loyola and around the world.
Film Festival Programming is the elective course film students take to manage or contribute to the production process of the Crescent City Film Festival.
This year, the course was jointly taught by the Loyola music and media dean’s assistant Caleigh Flynn and theater arts professor Ann Mahoney
Being versed in the film industry and working at the Maryland International Film Festival for five years, Mahoney expressed the importance that Crescent City Film Festival plays in terms of cross-pollinating departments that don’t always work together.
“To me, it’s a natural partnership, and this is the essence of networking,” Mahoney said. “These film students are the producers, writers, filmmakers, and directors of tomorrow and these acting students are the actors of tomorrow. I want to foster a community where they go on to do bigger and better things, and know who their best teammates can be in that process.”
This was the first time Flynn has taught the class despite being an attendee in the past.
“I love seeing what the students do with an event as film festivals can be
tricky to plan,” Flynn said.
Flynn has had her fair share of managing and working film festivals. Outside of her position at Loyola, Flynn stands as the current community director for Overlook Film Festival and has previously worked for the New Orleans Film Festival.
This year, the festival’s executive director was digital filmmaking sophomore Oliver Parker. This position grants him the opportunity to set the festival’s objective, as well as collaborate with peers. As stated by Parker, film festivals are the bread-and butter for independent indie filmmakers.
“It’s a low-risk, high-reward way to get your work screened in a cinema-grade setting and a great place to start in getting familiar with how festivals operate,” Parker said. “You also get to meet super cool people making super cool work.”
The Crescent City Film Festival commenced with an art market put on by the student staff, along with a screening of New Orleans native and queer filmmaker Lynn Sylvan’s “If You Need Directions Maybe Don’t Go”.
Saturday consisted of submission screenings ranging from comedy and drama to experimental and documentary.
To conclude the weekend, the senior showcase was held at the Broad Theater.
“We’re all really excited to have so much great work to show off, and to be able to enrich the community with some incredible low-budget independent cinema,” Parker said.
By Arianna D'Antonio asdanton@my.loyno.eduThe Theatre and Dance Department’s production of “Comedy of Errors,” directed by assistant professor Helen Jaksch, opened with the hopes of showing audiences Shakespeare in a broadly accessible way.
Director and writer Sara Holdren wrote this adaptation of “Comedy of Errors”, as well as co-founded the theater company Tiltyard where she adapted several other Shakespeare plays.
Jaksch requested to put on a production of Holdren’s “Comedy of Errors” at Loyola, which Holdren agreed to since her adaptation was crafted with young actors in mind.
“What I wanted to do when I set about creating this adaptation was to take the idea of a ‘comedy of errors’ and mesh that as an external structure with the plot of the play,” she said.
Holdren said she hoped that her adaptation would offer opportunities to the actors at Loyola because it is a production that both offers and demands a full-bodied ensemble investment.
“It’s a celebration of the ensemble and community, a group coming together against all odds to pull off this wild, ridiculous feat,” she said. “You can’t do this show unless it’s full collaboration there in the moment supporting your partner, catching the balls thrown to you… that to me was an important part of my college experience, and I was excited to see whether it could create that for the Loyola ensemble too.”
Both Holdren and Jaksch agreed that Shakespeare feels inaccessible to most audiences who fear it is not for them, not relatable, or too geared toward the more educated.
“I hope that people leave saying, ‘wow. I thought I hated Shakespeare, but that was kind of awesome.’ Shakespeare's work is just material, and we can rip it apart and put it back together however we want,” Jaksch said. “Some plays invite us to think, some call us to action, some help us express the grief and pain of our
world. This play gives us permission to laugh together,” Jaksch said.
Theater arts senior Asta Balakauskas, who plays one of the Dromio twins in Comedy of Errors, said a lot of people have misconceptions about Shakespeare's work since it's old and isn't the language we use nowadays.
However, she encourages audiences to engage with his work, especially his comedy. She said this adaptation is a great way to do that.
“I feel like it is so universal that even if you might not be a huge fan of Shakespeare, you'd still understand it and laugh at it,” she said. “It's important because we get to take Shakespeare down from the pedestal a bit and feel like his work is accessible to everyone, which is how we should feel all the time.”
Jaksch said it was rewarding to watch the actors grow in their confidence with Shakespeare’s verse and with the physical comedy the show requires. It has been years now since the department last produced a classical play, Jaksch said, and they hoped to offer that experience again.
Jaksch congratulated the team of student designers and leaders as well, who helped guide and build the world of the play.
“It's clear that everyone in the ensemble comes into the room to take care of each other and of the show, and I can't really ask for more than that,” they said. “Comedy is hard. It's all about timing, precision, and being willing to look absolutely ridiculous, but I love that I can be surprised and delighted every day.”
“These film students are the producers, writers, filmmakers, and directors of tomorrow and these acting students are the actors of tomorrow."
— Ann Mahoney Loyola theater arts professor
This fall, there’s going to be a new mode of transportation hitting the sidewalks of Loyola.
The university has partnered with Go X Scooters to provide accessible transportation on campus, according to the Director of Student Life and Ministry, Dale O’Neill.
The scooters will be available 24/7 on the main campus and the Broadway campus for students to rent by downloading the Go X app and paying a fee.
“Our Broadway students are going to love being able to easily get to the main campus,” O’Neill said.
Business sophomore Areina Walker, who lives on the Broadway campus, said she is excited to have new means of transportation to her classes.
“I don't have to worry about the shuttle being late anymore,” she said. “All I gotta do now is scoot on down St. Charles.”
As a safety precaution for students, the scooters will have a speed limit and will not be able to travel on highways, O’Neill said.
Despite being excited about the new transportation option, Walker said Loyola should’ve done this much sooner.
“All of these other schools have bikes, scooters, even cars,”
she said. “They’re really late to the game. Why did they wait?”
Walker also expressed concern about how the scooters will be monitored, specifically about how damages will be assessed and if Go X or Loyola will handle those matters, whether insurance will be provided, and if the scooters would be able to meet
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The Unite Here union at the Smoothie King Center recently signed a deal to significantly increase wages. Additionally, the Sodexo unionization effort on campus has reached a majority of the workplace signed onto the unionization petition, according to the delegate at the event, meaning they can now hold a proper election to unionize. This, however, has not deterred them from attempting to secure an even larger majority to further secure the union’s existence and legitimacy.
Melcher began the event by giving a brief history of labor and desegregation at Loyola, specifically by highlighting Father Louis Twomey, Loyola graduate and leader of the labor institute on campus. He is also a candidate proposed by the Street Renaming Commission to replace Calhoun Street.
decreases unionization rates by 4% and wages by 1%.
“I see this labor spring event as the reigniting of the flame of Loyola’s institutional dedication to the labor movement,” Melcher said.
Erika Zuker from the Workplace Justice Project also spoke at the event and discussed labor law and the National Labor Relations Board. Zuker highlighted section seven of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the right to unionize and to engage in other “concerted efforts” to improve working conditions.
Zuker said it is important to protect a worker’s right to organize by forbidding employers from obstructing worker organizing, regardless if it is to unionize or not.
the demands of students on campus. The Maroon reached out to Student Life and Ministry for a response to these questions, but they did not get back in time for publication. Still, Walker said she hopes students will use the scooters appropriately and not misuse the much-needed resource.
Twomey refused to follow racist Loyola policies of segregation and held interracial courses at the institute. This became the first instance of integrated education on a college campus in the deep south since Reconstruction and helped lead the university to desegregation in 1952. Twomey was instrumental in the unionization of Black sugar sharecroppers in Louisiana. He also helped organize an agricultural workers union and played a major role in the repeal of the state's right-to-work law, a law that
One of the other delegates to come speak was a worker from the Smoothie King Center, which recently secured a wage increase because of their union. The delegate said that the union provided support for the workers.
“You sign with us, we’ll back you up,” the delegate said, remarking how the union spoke to her.
Additionally, she said the union provides a voice for those who are afraid of speaking up.
“The union stands behind you and gives you a voice. If you can’t speak for yourself, you have support for when you try to speak,” she said.
“All I gotta do now is scoot on down St. Charles.”
— Areina Walker Business sophomore
anticipated ones to date.
MATTHEW RICHARDS Mass communication, sophomore mlricha2@my.loyno.edu
As the Women’s National Basketball Association prepares to begin its 27th season on May 19th, the popularity of women’s basketball has reached a record high.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Tournament set numerous attendance records this season. The National Championship Final between the LSU Tigers and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes averaged 9.92 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s college game ever and the most streamed event in the history of the ESPN+ streaming platform.
It’s only natural to wonder if this increased attention and popularity will translate toward the professional ranks of the sport.
As an avid follower of the WNBA for more than 10 years now, this season certainly appears to be one of the most
A stellar rookie class is led by for mer South Carolina star and two-time National Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston, LSU’s star point guard Alexis Morris who turned in several noteworthy performances during the team’s run to a national championship, Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist who led the nation in points per game with 29.2, and Stanford’s Haley Jones who was named the Final Four’s Most Outstand ing Player in 2021 and was the center piece of one of the biggest programs in the sport from the moment she arrived there in 2019.
As for the more es tablished talent in the league, the era of su perteams has officially begun with the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces signing big names in this year’s free agency.
The Liberty won the biggest prize of free agency, getting the hotly contested sweepstakes for Bre anna Stewart’s sig nature. The 4-time All WNBA first-team selection and two-time Finals MVP announced her decision after sending social media into a frenzy after NBA su perstar Kevin Durant tweeted his pitch to bring Stewart to New York.
With the signing of Stewart and the acquisitions of the 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vander sloot, who’s led the league in assists four
country and world. The reason I keep it at Southern hospitality is because the relationships of the region are complex and unique, and it is something those who are from or have lived in the South are all familiar with.
ly strangers, we certainly are not strangers to the struggles of the working class in this country as allies and friends.
Southern hospitality is the stereotype of the South that the people are welcoming, warm, and friendly. This idea of “Southern hospitality” has harsh, narrow, and exclusive roots from an impactful legacy of slavery and high-class plantation-owner extravagance. Now, its image mostly evokes inclusive over-thetop invitations and gatherings, but after acknowledging its history and observing the state of it today, it means something more, and I feel it is applied on a larger scale, not just the South. Southern hospitality, though it seems paradoxical, is a characteristic that isn’t just seen in the South, but all over the
The stereotype of Southern hospitality is now a unique and inclusive signifier of camaraderie among multiracial working-class people. Worker solidarity, what I characterize as Southern hospitality for our understanding and because of the unique relations in the South, is an incredibly important phenomenon that exists and must be furthered.
“I see Southern hospitality today as a symbol of solidarity between workers that must transcend racial constructs.”
So why does it matter that Southern hospitality is solidarity mostly between workers? It’s because, deep down, we are conscious of our place in the world. We, the people, the workers, are both the driving force for change in the world, and we bear the brunt of that change. If we fight amongst ourselves like crabs in a barrel, we end up being vulnerable to being hurt by things that are best handled as united.
I see Southern hospitality today as a symbol of solidarity between workers that must transcend racial constructs. This allows two humans and workers to look across the cash register and acknowledge that though we are personal-
So next time you see a worker cooking your food or pushing your cart, ask them how they’re doing and respect them. After all, they are the builders of our world. Pay for your meal with your money. Pay them respect with solidarity and empathy.
ARON BOEHLE Political science, freshman atboehle@my.loyno.edu
“With so many intriguing storylines and a regular season that has been extended to 40 games from 36 last season to go from May to September, this upcoming WNBA season promises to be one worth watching.”
As Loyola issues its request for proposal for its next dining services operator, the university should take this opportunity to reflect on how Sodexo has had a continuously negative effect on both staff and students here on campus.
The company has shown its distaste for unions, something both students and workers have expressed passion for.
As a Jesuit university, we have a commitment to maintain and uphold our values not just in our academics, but in our values as an institution.
Sodexo’s attitude toward
unionization is contradictory to these values. Dignity and respect for workers is one of the foundational principles of Catholic social teaching which the Jesuits strive to uphold in their mission.
Specifically, the formation and solidarity of unions is seen as a way to promote the dignity of work and protect the rights of workers, especially those who are marginalized or oppressed. By forming unions, workers can act in solidarity with one another to advocate for their rights and improve their working conditions.
Several of Sodexo’s employees earn their living from this company, and a 3% raise, equal to only around 30 cents an hour for some, is insulting, to say the least.
Many of these issues began to come forward after there was a struggle to hire new employees after the pandemic in the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. This caused workers, especially student workers,
to be overwhelmed and overworked to compensate for that.
Not only did this affect workers, but fewer workers led to longer wait times for places like Subway or Smoothie King and fewer food stations available in the Orleans Room.
Students with dietary restrictions have openly expressed frustration with Sodexo’s lack of accessibility for vegan or vegetarian diets. This issue, which was reported in October of 2021, still hasn’t seen much change by the company.
If Loyola considers another dining option, it should not displace the frontline workers. Rather, they should keep their jobs, just under a different company. A company that actually values their work and their rights to unionize.
As Loyola takes a look at the new proposals, they should consider looking for a new company that would benefit both the workers our community loves and the students they are meant to care for. This consideration needs to be grounded in our mission to maintain the dignity and rights of our workers in full alignment with our Jesuit values and the beliefs of our namesake – St. Ignatius of Loyola.
HOWL to student leaders
GROWL to odd numbers
HOWL to Pop-Tarts
GROWL to the corporate class
HOWL to unions
GROWL to caffeine pills
HOWL to women's basketball
GROWL to fever blisters
Macie Batson & Jackie Galli
Cristo NiswongerDulom
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be animated or live-action.
Over comic books’ storied history, they’ve become so popular that some of the top-grossing movies of all time are comic book adaptations, like “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”. Suffice to say, comic book movies draw large audiences.
the Wasp: Quantumania” as an example. I’ve heard people draw his likeness to George Lopez’s character in the 2005 film “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” They’re not too far off, frankly. But why are we expecting anything better?
Here’s the point: it is very possible to enjoy something that is bad.
I consider myself an avid comic book fan. I have a collection at my parent’s house, and I make it my mission to see every single major comic book adaptation that comes out in theaters and streaming services. I’ve also done my best to see most of the adaptations that came out before my time, whether they
As comic book movies and shows have become more popular over the years, fans of them have become increasingly critical of each release. Popular complaints I come across are that the stories are too childish, too goofy, or that they just suck. I’m used to hearing this from film critics, but to hear it from the fans themselves is a little jarring.
Take M.O.D.O.K. in “Ant-Man and
I don’t see any universe in our wide multiverse where a giant head with a giant face and baby arms and legs could ever look good. Look at any M.O.D.O.K. version in the comics, and you’ll see he looks pretty bad across the board. Even the Marvel’s Avengers game, published by Square Enix, had a goofy-looking M.O.D.O.K. Sure, the character was intimidating in the story, but the very premise of the character is ridiculous.
I think of enjoying a comic book, movie, or show like eating food. A lot of times, watching a Marvel movie is like eating fast food. Sure, it may be greasy or cheap, but it’s what you want sometimes. And then other times, when watching one, you get the three-star Michelin experience that makes the fast food look like garbage.
Richard Grant’s portrayal as Classic Loki in the “Loki” streaming series is a perfect example of this. He was in his original comic book costume with the signature green and yellow leotard and absolutely ridiculous helmet. It was bad. It was accurate. It was perfect.
A high-quality movie should not detract the value from a middling-quality one. Sure, “Avengers: Infinity War” was pretty damn awesome, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the silly “Ms. Marvel.” And it certainly doesn’t mean that it is okay to review bomb upcoming shows and movies.
The same goes for the comics themselves.
There are those goofy characters like Squirrel Girl and Multiple Man in the comics, and they’ll be just as goofy on the big screen when they make their debut. So, please, comic book fans: manage your expectations, enjoy the ride, and look forward to what’s to come.
When I was 14, my eating disorder started.
I was checking the back of every package of food. I was counting every calorie that entered my body. I was scrolling on Tumblr, seeing every girl with a thin body bragging about only eating 300 calories and crying because I just wanted to look like them. I was forcing myself into a state of hunger to look like those girls, and when I couldn’t hold it back and binged, I was sitting on the floor of my bathroom, fingers down my throat, and tears down my face.
I’m 19 now, and I wish I could say I’m fully recovered. I wish I could say that there was some happy ending of me growing out of that mindset. But the truth is, you can’t exactly “fully recover” from an eating disorder.
Every time I go to a restaurant, and I see the calorie number beside the order, I can’t help but flinch. When I eat too much, I can’t help the thoughts that linger about sitting on the bathroom floor of my dorm hall.
Every little thing has the potential to kick me into that old mindset of being the scared little freshman in high school.
I look back at pictures of myself during that time, and I wish I could say I feel happy it’s over. But it’s not over because when I look at those photos, this small voice in the back of my mind can’t help but whisper that I should go back to that time. The voice tells me I need to relapse because even if I wasn’t happy, I was thinner.
And the sad truth is, that small voice
will never go away. It’ll be there for the rest of my life, taunting me. It will always be there, lingering like some childhood nightmare I just can’t shake.
That’s why I’ve never liked the word recovery when it comes to my eating disorder. Because yes, technically, I’m considered recovered. But this doesn’t feel like recovered.
Using the word “recovery” feels like a lie because it doesn’t feel like that in the slightest. If I recovered, I wouldn’t easily be pushed into a full relapse resulting in weeks or months of the same agonizing emotional and physical turmoil that was there at 14.
That part of me, as I have learned, will always be there. I’ll never have that feeling of being “fully recovered.” And even if it sucks, I’ve come to accept it. I’ve learned to cope with it.
Most of the time, I’m okay– great, even– but that little voice will always be there holding me back from having that “fully recovered” sense of euphoria.
