at Lenovo Center. The Lenovo Center gave all attendees synchronized light-up wristbands. The Tar Heels defeated the Wolfpack 63-61.
North Carolina Supreme Court race hangs in balance as Griffin seeks to void 60,000 votes
tion officials.
The North Carolina Supreme Court race between Jefferson Griffin and Allison Riggs remains undecided more than two months after Election Day, as Griffin challenges the validity of approximately 60,000 votes in an effort to secure victory.
The dispute centers around voter registration forms that lacked spaces for driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Griffin argues that these registrations violate federal and state laws, potentially invalidating tens of thousands of votes.
The North Carolina Board of Elections rejected Griffin’s initial challenge, prompting him to take the case to court. The dispute has since bounced between state and federal courts, with the North Carolina Supreme Court currently pausing the certification of the election results to Riggs, who appeared to have won the election by 730 votes after two recounts.
David McLennan, a professor of political science at Meredith College, said while the absence of driver’s license and Social Security numbers on ballots is an issue, their votes are still legal.
“[Griffin] claimed that 60,000 people should not have been able to vote because they did not have that validating information,” McLennan said. “He wasn’t claiming in his suit that they voted illegally. They met all the other qualifications, except for proper registration.”
McLennan said if the Supreme Court chooses to void the 60,000 votes, it could potentially have larger implications outside of Jefferson and Riggs’ race.
“They could invalidate those 60,000
votes, which has implications for not just that one race, but other races, and there were other close races in North Carolina,” McLennan said. “If they invalidate all 60,000 votes, then that’s going to put the state board elections into a real difficult situation, because they’ve already certified all the other elections. Or they could call for basically another election, which is rare, but it’s been done.”
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said Griffin’s case also includes questioning the validity of about 300 votes from people registered in North Carolina but living overseas, particularly affecting military personnel. He said current Justice Richard Dietz argued such election concerns should be addressed before, not after, voting occurs.
Orr said while errors in voter registra-
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tion forms occurred, they were purely unintentional.
Elizabeth Lane, an assistant professor of political science at NC State, said these voters likely believed they had done everything correctly.
“These are probably 60,000 votes that these people showed up with their driver’s license and they think their vote is being counted,” Lane said.
The unusual nature of this case — where the North Carolina Supreme Court is deciding on a seat within its own body — has drawn criticism. Lane said it is an inherent conflict of interest.
“They’re essentially picking the person who will serve with them,” Lane said.
Despite these concerns, experts agree on the overall reliability of North Carolina’s election system. Orr said he praises elec-
“I think we have an incredible system in North Carolina ... while there was an error made on the registration form, those things happen — it wasn’t intentional,” Orr said.
However, if Griffin’s challenge succeeds and votes are thrown out, Lane said public trust in elections could be deeply affected.
“These are people who did everything they thought that they were supposed to do right to vote, and now their vote is just not going to count,” Lane said.
Orr said this case is particularly important for students, as he said many challenged votes come from younger demographics.
“Counties where there were younger registered voters, probably a lot of newly registered voters, students on campus, some of them may have just turned 18; they are the group that is being challenged, and so they ought to be interested in sort of advocating for their generation in making sure that their right to vote is protected,” Orr said.
Lane also emphasized the long-term implications for students.
“This decision not only impacts the public’s faith in elections but our faith in our institutions and the people that we have chosen to run those institutions,” Lane said.
As legal proceedings continue on both state and federal tracks, Orr cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
“Let’s let this thing play out … no hard and fast decision has been made on the merits,” Orr said.
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A student and fraternity were referred to the University for hosting a nuisance party and alcohol violations.
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A student was assaulted by a non-affiliated passenger while on a Wolf Line bus.
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Matthew Burkhart News Editor
Student Senate to vote on resolution to protect free speech rights
In response to potential restrictions on student protests by the UNC Board of Governors, NC State’s Student Senate has introduced Resolution 97, aimed at safeguarding students’ First Amendment rights across the UNC System.
The resolution, introduced in the first senate meeting of the spring semester but not yet voted on, comes after discussions at the November Board of Governors meeting about implementing new policies for campus gatherings and protests.
Naila Din, a third-year studying microbiology and a sponsor of the resolution, said some proposed changes include “requiring prior notice for gathering, restrict gathering within 50 feet of a classroom entrance and regulate overnight camping.”
Caroline Miranda, a third-year studying science, technology and society, Student Senate president and the corresponding sponsor of R97, emphasized the historical importance of student protests.
“There’s just so much historical evidence in the library of how student movements on NC State’s campus have been impactful,” Miranda said. “Even our own student government has organized protests for South Africa’s apartheid.”
The resolution cites several landmark Supreme Court cases affirming students’ rights to free speech and assembly on college campuses. It also references the University of Chicago’s Kalven Committee Report, which emphasizes the importance of institutional neutrality to foster open dialogue.
“The neutrality as an institution is its cause, its complement for the fullest freedom of its faculty and students as individuals to participate in political action and social protest,” Miranda quoted from the report.
R97 also highlights recent affirmations of free speech rights by various UNC System institutions, including NC State’s Board of Trustees resolution passed in April 2024.
Maddie Watts, a fourth-year studying political science and a sponsor of the resolution, previously co-authored a bill supporting the adoption of the Chicago principles at NC State. She said the role of student movements in democracy is crucial.
“Student movements have provided some of the most meaningful change in our democracy throughout our history,”
Watts said. “Students’ abilities to express their opinions, express their freedom of speech — this is the fundamental part of our democracy that we need to be upheld.”
The resolution calls on all 17 UNC System institutions to ensure the safety and protection of students exercising their First Amendment rights. It also urges the Board of Governors to safeguard these rights without attempting to limit them.
Chloe Webster, a first-year studying political science and a sponsor of the resolution, said protecting students’ right to free speech and protest is necessary for student advocacy.
“Having that freedom to advocate for themselves was essential to the University environment and maintaining neutrality within an institution,” Webster said. “And being in student government, we’re an advocacy body … it’s not just that we get to advocate for [students], we get to help them advocate for themselves.”
The sponsors emphasized that R97 is not just about student rights but also impacts faculty and staff. Jodie Roberson, a fourth-year Ph.D. student and a sponsor of the resolution, highlighted the importance of academic freedom in the class -
room.
“We teach things that may seem [like] they could become contentious things, but it’s important that we’re able to speak about them,” Roberson said.
The resolution was initially passed unanimously by the UNC Association of Student Governments in November. Din said this demonstrates system-wide student support for protecting free speech rights.
“Every student government across the UNC System, all the students are so passionate about this legislation about supporting students’ individual rights to free speech and organizing and protesting,” Din said.
Miranda said there is a need for clear communication and transparency rather than the blanket restrictions the Board of Governors is looking for in response to what they see as potential safety concerns in protests.
“I think that there probably just needs to be better communication and more transparency about what are the policies, and coming to a mutual understanding is part of this,” Miranda said. “ … Students are going to assemble and protest regardless
of restrictions, frankly, so making sure that students are able to do that properly and safely.”
Miranda said they had shared the ASG version of the resolution with Chancellor Randy Woodson, who acknowledged its relevance to ongoing discussions.
R97 is scheduled for its second reading next week, pending approval by the Student Affairs Committee. The sponsors anticipate strong support from their fellow senators, given the unanimous backing at the ASG level.
As the next Board of Governors meeting approaches at the end of January, the Student Senate aims to pass R97 quickly to demonstrate united student opposition to any potential restrictions on free speech and assembly rights.
Miranda said it is important for students to be aware of their rights and the ongoing efforts to protect them.
“It’s already been shown to some administration folks and that type of thing,” Miranda said. “But I think the really big piece, the second big piece of this, is student body awareness.”
Matthew Burkhart News Editor
COURTESY OF CAROLINE MIRANDA
Anthropology students research substance use disorder, drug treatment courts
the option to enter long-term drug treatment under court supervision rather than receiving a jail sentence.
Gastos’ research aims to amplify the voices of participants in the program. Her methods center around an ethnographic approach, which means immersing herself in the proceedings of the Wake County Drug Court to better understand how it affects the people within its programs.
Students and alumni from NC State’s anthropology program are working to reduce drug-related harm through research and awareness for those impacted. The program’s efforts support harm reduction strategies, which aim to curb overdose rates through services like drug checking and the distribution of life-saving supplies.
The NC Harm Reduction Coalition implements these services along with other programs for harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation and criminal justice reform.
Michayla Gastos, a graduate student studying anthropology, said his research was inspired by volunteering with the NC Harm Reduction Coalition.
“We work a lot with people with substance use disorders, and through them, I got the idea to look at the Drug Treatment Court,” Gastos said.
Drug Treatment Court offers individuals
“There’s not a lot of studies that focus on the people who use drugs’ perspective,” Gastos said. “I want to interview participants and get their say on what the program is doing for them.”
Gastos has been observing Wake County’s Drug Treatment Court since January. Her research involves combining data from both court observations and interviews.
Gastos interviews court staff and wants to interview participants to better understand the system.
“I’m diving deeper into each staff member’s insights into the program,” Gastos said. “There are many positions and they all do different things within the courtroom.”
Many studies surrounding research on Drug Treatment Courts are quantitative, meaning they rely heavily on numbers and statistical analysis. Gastos hopes her research will extend beyond that, contributing data centered around detailed descrip-
tions rather than just numerical quantities.
“It’s going to be great to have a specific example of the court that I’m researching to add to the growing body of research about Drug Treatment Courts,” Gastos said.
But above all else, Gastos is focused on how her research can positively impact the community.
“In anthropology, an important aspect of research is to uplift the community members’ voices and ensure they’re the ones benefiting from the information,” Gastos said.
Dmitri Fisher, a graduate student at UNC Gillings School of Public Health, also seeks to uphold this principle within his studies and research.
Fisher completed his undergraduate degree in anthropology from NC State. While at NC State, he helped Jennifer Carroll, an anthropology professor, research Death by Distribution laws in Haywood County, N.C.
“If someone dies from an overdose, the person who sold, or even just provided, the drug can be charged with a felony,” Fisher said. “The study sought to look at the perspectives of impacted people in the community.”
Carroll facilitated discussions with groups of parents who had lost a child due to an overdose. Fisher helped her transcribe and interpret findings from their conversations.
“We got a sense of their understanding of
both Death by Distribution laws and also the culture and environment surrounding opioid use and overdose,” Fisher said.
The study , published in 2021 in the International Journal of Drug Policy, emphasized these laws negatively impact public health by deterring people from calling 911 when witnessing an overdose. It also calls out the overall lack of studies surrounding these laws, citing that with prosecutions growing, more research is desperately needed.
As a graduate student, Fisher has continued his studies in harm reduction and actively volunteers with the NC Harm Reduction Coalition.
“It’s rewarding to have so many opportunities in research and also being able to participate in the groundwork that actively benefits the community,” Fisher said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
Moving forward, Fisher says he hopes to continue using his role as a scholar and harm reductionist to reduce stigma and bring attention to research that is often overlooked.
“I want to communicate the facts of substance use disorder and overdose with people who are inclined to stigmatize people who use drugs,” Fisher said. “I believe in using research to bridge that gap.”
GRAPHIC BY HENRY O’BRYAN
Kelsey Bohn Correspondent
Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to substance use.
Ryan Emanuel talks intersection of environmental justice, Indigenous communities in new book
NC State University Libraries hosted Ryan Emanuel, an associate professor of hydrology at Duke University, to discuss his new book “On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice” on Monday.
Emanuel’s book is a unique collection of interdisciplinary work. He weaves a narrative bridge between his quantitative academic background in hydrology and the sacredness and respect with which his Indigenous community values water.
Traci Brynne Voyles, a professor and head of NC State’s Department of History, interviewed Emanuel about the vision and research behind his new book. Her perspective as a historian allowed for further exploration of the book’s interdisciplinary nature, which enlightens the inherent relationship between environmental justice and the history of the Lumbee community.
“I wanted to lay out the natural history and human history of this specific place, stopping to dwell on some of the moments that have been especially impactful to the formation of the broader Lumbee community and to other Indigenous communities in the eastern part of what’s now North Carolina,” Emanuel said.
The book developed from a paper that Emanuel wrote for a conference at the American Society of Ethnohistory. He shared that the process of developing the paper included regular consultations at the dinner table with his grandmother, emphasizing the value he placed on including his community’s voice in his work.
“My job is to make sure that the perspectives, concerns and values of the communities that I’m accountable to are firmly placed within the conversation,” Emanuel said.
This essential component in research and policymaking is often ignored.
The lack of inclusion and recognition by agencies on both the state and federal levels is an ongoing problem directly constraining the ability of the Lumbee Tribe and other Indigenous communities to engage in decision-making processes, according to Emmanuel.
“There’s not been any engagement when it comes to environmental policies or environmental permitting,” Emanuel said. “It impacts the way that that sovereignty can
be wielded effectively in decision-making spaces.”
Emanuel’s book provides a multifaceted lens through which outsiders find themselves at the intersection of history, culture, natural sciences and community. It sparks the beginning of a lifelong pursuit to learn to shift the framework with which we view the environment and how we can actively participate in uplifting the voices of Indigenous communities.
The event drew a diverse crowd, with information catered to everyone from retired professors to students freshly beginning their studies. Nora Pierce, a first-year studying environmental science, said she was drawn to the presentation because of the unique perspective that Emanuel’s work provides.
“I thought it was really interesting how he’s able to combine his perspective as an Indigenous person and include his background into his scientific pursuits,” Pierce said.
Interdisciplinary presentations can also broaden the scope of what students and researchers think is possible in their realm of study.
“These presentations give students an idea of the insane range of jobs that people have and things that you can study,” Pierce said. “They can pique your curiosity, even if it’s something you’ve never heard about before.”
Going forward, Emanuel hopes to use his role as an educator to promote knowledge and conversation about the intersection between Indigenous communities and environmental justice.
He highlighted this sentiment by reflecting on a vignette at the end of the novel, which details how he has begun to work with students and post-doctoral researchers.
“It’s time to start turning over this work to the next generation,” Emanuel said. “They represent so many different disciplines, not just hydrology, but education, history, policy, data and governance. Those are all tools and skills that we need to move towards a just world.”
If you’re interested in a culturally moving and scholarly read, Emanuel’s book “On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice” is available now to be purchased.
KELSEY BOHN/TECHNICIAN
“On The Swamp,” a book by Dr. Ryan E. Emanuel sits in D.J. Hill Library on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. The book discusses the intersection between environmental justice and Indigenous Communities.
Kelsey Bohn Correspondent
First Week Jitters
Emma Reid, Staff Cartoonist A fourth-year in design studies
Senior Spring To-Do List
Jordan Ramsey, Staff Cartoonist A fourth-year studying art and design
Feliz Dia de Reyes
Coralys Rivera Soto, Staff Cartoonist A second-year studying business administration
Why your New Year’s resolutions aren’t sticking
Jacob Smith Staff Writer
Picture this, and it shouldn’t be too hard. After the countdown, the clock strikes midnight — it’s 2025. New year, new you, right?
You may have goals that you want to achieve in the coming year — whether they be fitness-related, lifestyle-related, forming new habits in your personal life or updating any other aspect of your life that isn’t to your liking. As that clock strikes midnight, you resolve to do whatever it is that you think will improve your quality of life during and after 2025. You start off fairly strong, riding that high everyone feels when entering a new year. You may make an effort for the first few days to wake up two hours early and head to the gym before work or pass over your usual fast-food stop on the way home in favor of a healthier meal.
However, just a week later, you are snoozing that 5 a.m. alarm, and the employee at
the fast-food joint remembers your face from the last shift they worked. What happened in this short span that led to this major shift?
Just know you aren’t alone. Around 88% of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail within the first two weeks of the year.
At first glance, this statistic seems impossible — how is it that such a prominent tradition fails so frequently?
Many cannot see their resolutions through because their goals are broad and unrealistic. Shooting for the stars is important, but you must have the fuel to get there.
Goals such as “eating healthier” and “working out more” fall under the category of broad and unrealistic. Both can be an end goal, but resolutions should begin as small steps in the right direction until a person feels ready to take the next steps.
SMART goals are often used to help people plan major shifts in their lives. The acronym suggests that a “SMART” goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
If our person who was aiming to “work out more” wanted to turn this broad mantra into an achievable goal, they can create a framework using the SMART acronym.
To begin, the goal must be specific. To that end, the person could adjust their goal to be “I want to exercise three days a week before I go to work in the morning.” This goal has already become much more attainable.
Then, the goal should be made to be measurable. Including traceable benchmarks, such as how heavy the weights are after a certain amount of time, could bolster confidence in continuing to develop a habit of going to the gym.
The goal must also be achievable. No person can walk into Carmicheal for the first time and bench 225 pounds — those numbers come with commitment, perseverance and time.
To make the goal more relevant, the person setting it can think of the big-picture reasons for wanting to work out. Do they want to be healthier, live longer or be stronger? By vocalizing these reasons, the means
to achieve the goal become more reasonable. Finally, placing a goal on a timeline makes it easier to stick to it. Going three days a week already places the goal on a timeline, but combining the previously mentioned benchmarks into the timeline, such as saying you will be lifting at least your body weight two months from now, gives you things to look forward to in the future.
As students, we are also given the perfect opportunity to begin our resolutions early in December as winter break starts. This gives us time to consider what we must do to make our New Year’s goals “SMART.”
If you are always waiting for New Year’s Day to start your life-changing habits, you’ll struggle to change in the other 364 days of the year.
And, of course, it goes without saying that just because your New Year’s resolutions didn’t stick, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start again later in the year. If you want to bring change into your life, you can — any time, any day.
“Dry January” belittles the struggles of alcohol use disorder
Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to addiction and substance use.
January is the month we clean up our diets, implement more rigid fitness routines and vow to spend less time scrolling mindlessly through social media. While fitness centers become packed with eager gym-goers, bars and clubs often experience slower traffic during the month as many individuals partake in “Dry January,” a challenge that undoubtedly trivializes the very real problem of alcohol use disorder.
The 31-day sobriety challenge was created in 2013 by Alcohol Change UK, a charity that promotes mindful drinking to combat incidents related to excessive alcohol consumption.
While I appreciate the intentions behind the movement, I can’t ignore the fact that turning sobriety into a month-long lifestyle challenge reduces the struggles of those dealing with alcohol use disorder to something that can be changed overnight.
Dry January has amassed a large fol-
lowing over the past 12 years, and there are numerous resources available to assist individuals through their month of sobriety. Participants can choose from a host of apps that allow them to track their progress, write reflections and receive support in anonymous forums.
Many bars and restaurants have curated nonalcoholic drink menus to accommodate their guests’ month-long sobriety, and mocktail recipes on TikTok are racking up millions of views.
Various health benefits can ensue from just one month without alcohol, such as improved liver function, lowered blood pressure levels and weight loss. And considering the United States Surgeon General’s recent advisory highlighting a correlation between alcohol consumption and cancer risk, the consequences of drinking are more apparent than ever.
The challenge certainly has its benefits, having helped challenge the stigma that having fun is contingent upon being intoxicated, leading many participants to develop healthier, long-lasting drinking habits. A 2016 study showed that many Dry January participants drank significantly less in the months following the challenge than they did before their month of sobriety.
Essentially, the impacts of partaking in
Dry January shed light on how alcohol can unknowingly affect one’s day-to-day life. Yet, while the challenge might be an inspiration to some, it can be a source of invalidation to others. People who face alcohol or other substance use disorders may feel that this lifestyle challenge minimizes their struggles.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimated that 28.9 million people above the age of 12 dealt with alcohol use disorder in 2023.
Moreover, Dry January grossly oversimplifies the complexity of recovery. If the Dry January challenge claims that anyone can abstain from drinking for 31 days, then why do so many individuals struggle with an alcohol use disorder to begin with?
Dry January also dismisses one of the foundational principles of Alcoholics Anonymous — taking your recovery one day at a time. Putting time constraints on one’s sobriety defeats the idea of focusing on your actions in the present, a core teaching of AA and many other recovery programs.
Sobriety can be incredibly daunting to those who have become dependent on alcohol. While Dry January isn’t marketed as a solution to alcohol use disorder, it sets an unrealistic expectation that anyone can become sober at the drop of a hat and may
belittle the dilemma many face of whether to quit drinking.
It should be more clearly defined that Dry January is not intended for people in active addiction but rather for those who want a new perspective on the role alcohol plays in their lives.
By making a distinction between recovering from addiction and self-reflecting on alcohol consumption, those facing alcohol use disorder may not feel like their sobriety is being turned into a trend.
I admire how Dry January encourages individuals to reevaluate their relationship with alcohol, and I see its potential to alter how society views drinking for the better — that is, with the caveat that a 31-day reset is only realistic for people without alcohol use disorder.
Whether you can commit to just one day or an entire month of sobriety doesn’t matter; what’s important is recognizing anyone can become powerless to alcohol and that being open to change is key to taking back control of one’s life.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, support can be found through Alcoholics Anonymous or Prevention Services.
AJ Toler Correspondent
No shame in an early retirement
Society doesn’t always look kindly upon those who manage to live a seemingly more vibrant life. This holds especially true when most people find themselves on the familiar path of working a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until retirement.
As for the individual blessed with circumstances which allow them to retire at 30, more power to them.
We have to keep in mind that no two people are motivated in exactly the same way. In keeping with that, no two people define success in exactly the same manner. Some use their level of happiness and overall satisfaction as the yardstick against which to measure. Others find it in their progression through a career, a tally of long-term goals they’ve met or how closely their personal life aligns with their plans at a given age.
Climbing the corporate ladder in a mo -
notonous pattern isn’t for everyone. Not to say that that’s how life looks for everyone with a stable job. However, as long as the early retiree doesn’t reach their retirement at the expense of others, it could be a lifechanging move for a good person who happens to have big passions that didn’t align with their career.
By now, we’ve had our fill of major life decisions, open to comments from friends, family and the communities we’re a part of, so we are equipped to navigate disapproval of our life choices — especially as we enter our early careers.
When you don’t share the same priorities as someone, the “constructive” criticism they have to offer on your life choices can be anything but. So it’s important to keep those values at the forefront of your mind and take advice from those who share them.
Despite any stigma around being a young adult who isn’t working in a full-time position, anyone who has the means and flexibility to retire from their full-time posi-
tion early should feel no shame in doing so. In fact, we should be able to celebrate that victory with them.
I’ve always joked that I would gladly borrow a decade of my retirement and line it up for right after graduation. After all, backpacking through the Dolomites or working for a nonprofit in New Zealand would be pretty unrealistic following a late-in-life retirement.
I want to live intentionally and pursue life in abundance while my knees are healthy, my mind is sharp and my energy levels are at their peak. I would trade that decade on the tail end of my career if it meant I could have the freedom to pursue my passions and meet people from all walks of life now. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better to experience all of those things.
Regardless of when you are able to retire, that chapter of life will look different for everyone.
For the retiree leaving their full-time position at 30, it could very well look like get-
ting involved in the nonprofit that they’ve only been able to donate to in the past. It doesn’t have to mean an indefinite heyday or a lazy cop out. It could mean that rather than bailing on friends and family still glued to their 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. jobs, that they actually have the time to go visit their loved ones in far-off places. Maybe they get to help their partner who typically looks after the kids, making it possible for them to take their academic or career goals off of the back burner.
I’ve watched people in my life choose to spend their newfound freedom in fulfilling ways that not only reignite their passions, but also benefit others. Be it part time work, a creative startup or helping a friend with a project, there’s plenty of right answers. This leads me to believe that early retirement, when feasible, is whatever the individual chooses to make of it.
Remember that just because we’re trained to believe life has to look a certain way or follow a specific timeline, that doesn’t make it the rule.
Katie Howell Staff Writer
GRAPHIC BY HENRY O’BRYAN
‘Liberal’ hasn’t always meant the same thing, and here’s
If you pay attention to politics, you may hear the word “liberal” get thrown around a lot. When one thinks of the word “liberal,” a clear and specific image comes to mind, usually associated with progressivism. You may have seen ads from Donald Trump’s third presidential campaign, where he used his platform to label his opponent Vice President Harris as “dangerously liberal.” If you’re like me, you may have wondered what exactly he meant by this.
In a modern context, the liberal position generally favors the expansion of welfare programs and ensuring rights for minority groups through government intervention in social issues, as well as greater regulation of the economy. However, this has not always been the meaning of the term.
The origins of the doctrine of liberalism, what political theorists refer to as “classical liberalism,” differs from the modern definition in many ways. Although a characteristically rich and diverse movement of thought, classical liberalism generally advocates a more relaxed role of government in the affairs of citizens and the economy, emphasizing the role of the individual.
Although political labeling can get exhausting, tracing the history behind philosophies such as liberalism offer an understanding of politics more nuanced than the misnomers and mudslinging that have come to define modern discourse.
To trace the evolution of terms like “liberal” offers a more nuanced understanding of politics and the philosophies that develop to inform it.
The “classical liberalism” I refer to characterizes a rich period of political theory dating back to the 17th century in Great Britain. It was formed and contributed to by numerous diverse thinkers and writers as a part of the greater Enlightenment Period.
To help define this movement and to clarify its difference from modern liberalism, I spoke to Andrew Taylor and Jim Zink, both professors in NC State’s Department of Political Science.
According to them, the central thinkers most representative of this movement are John Locke, an English philosopher from the 17th century, and Adam Smith, a Scottish economist from the 18th century. Locke is one of the greatest contributors to classical liberalism and one of the most influential figures within the Enlightenment,
a transformative intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that promoted reason, individual liberty, scientific inquiry and human progress.
Locke’s notion of rights was truly groundbreaking in his time. He formulated a conception of rights that were natural — inherent by being human — and inalienable, never to be taken away or have their definition changed.
“His work on the social contract and the understanding of natural rights is central to the classical liberal tradition,” Taylor said.
Additionally, “Locke bases an idea of political right on this concept of individual natural rights … a radical transformation from which he constructs his theory of government,” Zink said.
Locke enumerated them as three fundamental principles: life, liberty and property, which likely ring a bell in the American context.
Adam Smith is more known for his contributions to Liberal economics, especially in his work “The Wealth of Nations,” which is one of the most central contributions to political economy in history. He advocated free market economics with little intervention, believing that the market would regulate itself.
On one hand, Locke believed that by laboring over something, like land, we imbue that thing with a part of ourselves. Through this, it is taken out of the community and becomes an extension of the laborer.
Smith, on the other hand, believed that social good is achieved through individuals’ pursuit of self-interest. We cannot expect a stylist to cut our hair or a truck driver to deliver cargo out of the goodness of their hearts but out of their self-interest, their desire to generate good for themselves. It is through this self-interest that we reap the mutual benefits of each other’s labor, through both choice and want.
This brief overview of just two of the key thinkers from this period paint just a partial picture of what their ideas led to. Locke and Smith are foundational figures in the development of republicanism and free market capitalism, both operating within the tradition of classical liberalism.
So why did this definition change so drastically from its endorsement of small government and deregulated markets to its modern, progressive iteration? And why is it important to think about?
At the risk of further overgeneralization, the basic core of liberalism, common between both classic and modern, is the protection of fundamental rights, politi-
why that matters
cal equality and the rule of law. While they agree, more or less, on the ends of political activity, they disagree as to the means of achieving them. The goal is freedom, equality and political participation for the greatest number, operating within an organized political system. The means of achieving said goal, however, is more complicated.
Taylor clarified what the classical liberal’s approach to government is.
“If you need the touch of government, it needs to be light,” Taylor said. “We need to not violate the natural rights of human beings, this is a central feature of what it means to be human. It’s the only thing we come into life with, and it needs to be protected. You create institutional constructs that galvanize this, so that it generates a social value.”
The ideas of Locke and Smith appear to be good, supported by sound logic, although they are much more complex than I’ve represented them to be in one article. These ideas, however, operate under the assumption that through their own ingenuity and activity, individuals can exercise their natural rights without intervention or aid from the government.
Unfortunately, historical reality has not reflected perfect applications of these positions in their ideal forms. The dream of Locke simply does not seem as attainable as the period in which he wrote it. As much as I’d love to move to a hut in the woods, forage my own food and knit my own tunics out of nettles and dirt, it’s no longer realistic to assume that this is possible.
This isn’t necessarily what Locke meant by his theory of labor, but the glaring criticism still stands — that there does not exist a commons large enough for each person to imbue their own part with their labor to fully enjoy their natural right to acquire and keep property and that people would reasonably claim land with restraint to begin with.
“If you’re unfortunate enough to be born in a time when all that property has been distributed, then you don’t have a realistic opportunity to exercise your natural right to acquire property,” Zink said. “The transition from classical to modern liberalism is through working out some problems with classical liberalism assumptions.”
The rights that Locke took to be inalienable are no longer restricted by tyrannical monarchs, but instead by external conditions like class structures and economic conditions. It may help understanding to view our revered “American Dream” as a manifestation of the classical liberal ideal,
yet this concept inspires fewer and fewer people each year.
The Progressive Era, a movement that took place at the beginning of the 20th century in America, is one of the key periods in which classical liberal philosophy conflicted with reality and thus saw a change in definition. This movement aimed to address the defects of liberal capitalism, the very system that Locke and Smith influenced.
During a period in which monopolies gained strangleholds on industries and were able to run rampant without regulation or restriction, the sacred labor of classical liberals was denigrated and exploited. Workers, including children, labored long and grueling hours in dirty, unsafe conditions for close to nothing in return. Muckrakers, reformers and trust-busters emerged, redefining what liberalism meant in the context of American politics.
What this means to me is that a key similarity between modern and classical liberalism is their reactive quality. Political positions aren’t formed in a vacuum or all at once, they arise, are developed, contradicted and disseminated over time. Classical liberals reacted to and opposed alternatives to authoritarian monarchies, seeing them as threats to natural rights. When these monarchies became a thing of the past, liberals like the progressives of the early 20th century turned their sights elsewhere, seeing unfettered capitalism and monopolistic greed as the new threat.
Nowadays, “liberal” is used both as a descriptor or as a pejorative. For instance, although President-elect Donald Trump sought to triumph over the “dangerously liberal” Kamala Harris, according to the Pew Research center, nearly a third of Americans believe Trump has a mix of liberal and conservative views. One’s reaction to these terms should be rooted in proper background rather than simple gut reactions to the first impression of these terms. It suffices to say that definitions in politics are often shifting, and this can at times feel stifling. For example, there used to be a Democratic-Republican party, and the South used to run Democrat with electoral maps like a sea of blue.
Understanding the social and historical context behind changes like these, and changing definitions of political theories, offers a lens through which politics can be viewed with more depth and more nuance. Understanding this history, and the philosophies behind these ideas, is integral to a deeper conception of politics.
Jack Bissette Correspondent
How the House v. NCAA lawsuit could reshape NC State athletics
Colby Trotter Sports Editor
Griffin Cunningham Contributor
Imagine a world where universities pay their athletes directly. A world where there are no longer scholarship limits, but simply roster limits. A world where NC State and the majority of institutions would no longer run their sports teams, but contract a private entity to do so.
It sounds extreme, even absurd, considering college athletics’ bedrock of amateurism: athletes play for scholarships while universities profit from the revenue they generate. That’s how it has always been. Yes, name, image and likeness have allowed athletes to make money from sponsorships and third-party collectives, but the universities are still barred from direct payments to players.
While college sports have remained mostly static for the past century, the preliminary approval of the House v. NCAA lawsuit in October threatens to upend college athletics. Even a university like NC State that prides itself on being exceptional in all 18 of its Division I sports — evidenced by four straight top-25 finishes in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings — will have tough decisions to make starting in the 2025-26 academic year when the rules in the lawsuit are projected to take effect.
“The prediction will be that we have put unprecedented levels of economic pressure on the sports,” said Duke Professor of Law Paul H. Haagen.
The pressure Haagen is referring to applies to high school athletes, college athletes, coaches and executives. At the high school level, the recruitment process is changing. A change from scholarship limits to roster limits would result in fewer opportunities for high school athletes to advance to the next level. Revenue sharing — where student-athletes would be paid directly by universities — could strain institutions financially, force athletic departments to seek new funding sources and potentially lead to the demise of select Olympic sports.
This, in turn, could force schools like NC State to evaluate sports that don’t generate revenue and decide if it’s worth it to keep funding them or not.
“You look at college sports, the majority of them are big losers,” said Clemson Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Kyle Young. “You wouldn’t run a business the way we run college sports,
and so ultimately, my hope is we don’t get 100% business-focused, because if we do, [baseball head coach] Elliott Avent may still have a job at NC State, but it may just be [men’s basketball] coach Kevin Keatts and [football] head coach Dave Doeren that still have programs to run. I don’t think anybody really wants that in college athletics.”
Shifting from scholarship limits to roster caps
One of the most visible impacts of the lawsuit is the shift from scholarship caps to roster limits. Currently, most sports have a cap on scholarships but allow more athletes on the roster than the number of scholarships. With the preliminary approval of the lawsuit, the rule changes are set to take effect at the start of the 2025-26 academic year. Scholarships would become unlimited, but roster spots would be capped for each sport, reducing the overall number of athletes per roster.
This change could significantly reduce opportunities for high school athletes hoping to play at the collegiate level — an estimated 6% of high school athletes go on to play NCAA level sports, a number projected to shrink.
NC State Athletic Director Boo Corrigan predicted the University would go from its current 550 roster spots to somewhere between 480 and 490 spots under the new rule.
Alyssa Turner, a senior at Holly Springs High School, is set to attend Purdue University next fall. However, Purdue was not Turner’s first choice or even her first scholarship offer. Turner committed to Clemson a year earlier with the promise of a partial athletic and partial academic scholarship.
“My dad played football and soccer [at Clemson], so I’ve grown up wanting to go there,” Turner said. “They have a good soccer program and the importance of athletics is big there, so it was always a good option for me.”
Clemson contacted Turner on June 16, 2023, the second day coaches were permitted to begin reaching out to high school sophomores and offered her a spot on the team.
Due to the roster limit provision in the House v. NCAA lawsuit, Clemson anticipated a roster cap of 28 for women’s soccer beginning in the 2025 season, suddenly putting Turner’s dream out of reach. Clemson’s women’s soccer team was projected to be well over that cap, with Turner and 10 other recruits set to join the team in 2025.
Unfortunately for Turner, her commit-
ment unraveled. When Clemson offered her the scholarship, the landscape was different. As it will be for many high school student-athletes, Turner was caught in a system evolving faster than her plans.
“That was really emotional for me, especially just because that was my dream school,” Turner said. “It was kind of taken away from me for something that’s [not] in my control.”
This scenario could become more common at Clemson and other universities.
“I can’t speak to that specific instance, but that is absolutely going to be an issue for the kids coming out of high school right now,” Young said. “There’s going to be some squeezing, there’s going to be fewer opportunities for those kids coming out of high school, even opportunities that have been promised, because when they were committed, the world was different.”
Like Clemson, NC State is home to many Olympic programs that have historically excelled in the ACC and nationally, such as wrestling, swimming, soccer, gymnastics and cross country.
Currently, NC State wrestling has 31 athletes on its roster, but the implementation of roster limits would cap the program at 30 spots next season. Like wrestling, most sports at NC State would be losing spots.
NC State wrestling coach Pat Popolizio thinks the 30 spots his roster would be capped at is a fair number, but understands the impact it would have on high school athletes.
“You’re eliminating five guys who maybe never would have saw the light of day at a program like NC State, but they bring a ton of value outside of the competition side of things,” Popolizio said. “A lot of sports probably lost some roster spots, and those kids are never going to get that opportunity to wrestle [Division I], let alone here at NC State. So that’s an unfortunate side of things.”
‘It could further weaken the Olympic sports’
Although there would be fewer spots in almost every sport, teams could give out more scholarships than before. Almost every sport would see an increase in the scholarships they’re allowed to give — zero sports would see a reduction in this category.
At the same time, if NC State were to use the extra 20 scholarships allotted for football, it would have to comply with Title IX and either take away scholarships from other male athletes or give more to female athletes.
This puts NC State in an interesting predicament — does it go all in on its revenuegenerating sports like football and men’s basketball, offering scholarships equal to roster spots and thereby sacrificing scholarships in other sports?
If NC State goes that route, male Olympic sports are projected to suffer the harshest consequences.
“The most pressure lies [within men’s Olympic sports],” Young said. “If you look at the men’s Olympic sports, those are going to have generally bigger rosters than the women’s Olympic sports. Therefore, you’re going to have to remove more male opportunities than you are going to have to remove female opportunities when you move forward with these new roster limits.”
Corrigan noted the challenges NC State will have to face while remaining positive about the overall outlook for every sport the university houses.
“We’ve got to figure out how we’re going to do it,” Corrigan said. “We got to be creative in the way that we approach this, from finding new revenue streams to continuing to grow the pie. Fortunately for us, we’ve got a great relationship with the Wolfpack Club, who have done a wonderful job with us.”
The Wolfpack Club’s mission is to provide private financial support for athletic scholarships and facilities for NC State University by collecting donations from University supporters. Despite Corrigan’s optimism, the reality is these changes would indirectly target Olympic athletes.
“I think it could further weaken the Olympic sports and the providing of those opportunities,” said Timothy Davis, a professor of law at Wake Forest University.
Like most schools, a majority of NC State’s revenue comes from football and men’s basketball. If it comes down to it, those sports would more than likely be prioritized because those programs fund the athletic department. Men’s basketball and football generated over $97 million of NC State’s $113,339,331 revenue during the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to NC State athletics’ annual report.
Sharing revenue and shifting priorities
If NC State opts into student athlete revenue sharing — as it’s expected to along with every other Power Four school — there would be extreme financial pressure on the University regarding decisions around sports that don’t generate revenue. The goal of revenue sharing is for institu
tions to reward players with direct compensation rather than athletes relying on third-party NIL deals. A lawsuit was filed by former Division I athletes alleging that current NCAA rules are anticompetitive and violate antitrust laws because schools have exploited student-athletes by generating revenue from them while the athletes receive no compensation.
With revenue sharing, athletes would be rewarded for the money they generate for schools. They would receive a share of the broadcast rights and ticket sales the universities generate.
NC State has never shared its revenue with its athletes, and now it’s estimated that schools would be sharing 22% of their revenue with student athletes instead of it going back to the athletic department.
“I don’t think anyone has the funds to do that right now,” Young said. “Everyone’s trying to figure out how they’re going to manage that — even the big rollers in the SEC and the Big Ten, the con ferences that have the biggest payouts — they’re still trying to figure it out.”
Although NC State just had its highest season ticket sales for Olympic sports and surpassed $200,000 in Olympic sports ticket sales for the first time, these programs still don’t generate revenue for the school. And now that at least 22% of NC State’s athletic revenue is expected to be given to student athletes, the Univer sity may have to decide if some sports that don’t profit are worth keeping.
“Because certain groups of student ath letes will be taking a quarter of the rev enues that are generated, there will be less money to pay coaches, trainers, admin istrators, tutors, people who wash stuff and provide food and all of that; there’ll just be less money,” Haagen said. “And so what will happen if there’s less money? You would expect something. They’ll cut sports, they’ll cut positions, they’ll make bigger demands on the rest of the student body through activity fees. Something has to give.”
“In-house, I feel really good, and I know we’re in a good spot, and we have great relationships on campus and with our administration, and they support us,” Popolizio said. “The momentum that we have, and just the people that are passionate about wrestling in Raleigh and across the state, all that weighs in our favor.”
But other sports that don’t have as much fanfare and financial backing as the wrestling program could see their programs cut altogether. In an August press conference, Corrigan discussed the ramifications of the lawsuit, saying, “We’ve got to do what’s right for NC State.”
license tickets. The same procedure will apply to parking permits. Each CarterFinley Stadium parking lot will have a required space donation attached to the parking pass.
NC State calls this initiative “Pack Forward,” and its creation is due to the changes the lawsuit projects.
stance, at NC State, the women’s cross country team had won three straight NCAA Championships from 2021-23, and the University could decide to go all in on that sport by redistributing its funds into that program.
While Haagen said that would be a radical outcome, the lawsuit is going to force schools to look at their athletic programs differently.
Popolizio understands the challenges that NC State would face in determining if a sport is worth keeping or not, but believes he has built a program that is valuable to the University and the city of Raleigh. Last season, the wrestling program sold out seats for three separate wrestling meets. Prior to the 2023-24 season, the program had never sold out an event. Last year’s team also set program records in season tickets, single-game revenue and overall revenue.
“You’ve got to have the right people connected to your program who want to fund scholarships, they want to fund a new locker room,” Popolizio said. “It makes it easier for an administration to know that there’s a reason why they want to keep supporting this because they got a really good backing through alumni and donors.”
In his talks with the athletic department, Popolizio feels confident that his program will be a part of NC State’s future.
So what is right for NC State? Will it they provide to the University.
“In the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, the Wolfpack is on an upward trajectory,” the Pack Forward website says. “Because of those many changes, your support is more crucial now than ever. For our teams to continue to compete at their highest level, we need the support of Wolfpack Nation to rise to another level as well.
“I think it puts us in a competitive spot to keep guys,” Popolizio said. “The talent that we’ve been attracting here, keep them attracted, and to make sure that the guys who do wonderful things for NC State are rewarded and remain happy and know that they’re going to get taken care of. I think it’s a positive for us.”
While it seems like a win-win situation for NC State and student athletes, something is going to have to give if 22% of the revenue starts going to student athletes and not back to the University.
“The way universities and athletic departments run … they run more like charitable foundations, so you don’t just have $20 million extra lying around each year,” Young said. “Typically, what you bring in is what you spend.”
The pressure to come up with these funds has already become apparent at NC State. Beginning next football season, purchasing season tickets will include a required seat donation to the Wolfpack Club. This is required of anyone who elects to purchase season tickets, except for those who have lifetime seating rights and multi-year
‘We will see the continued decline of athletic opportunities’
And while football generates the most money for schools, it also costs a lot to operate a competitive team. Even a school like NC State, which has a passionate football fan base, could decide that it’s not worth it to keep the football team.
There have already been talks about creating a “super league” for college football that would include only the best of the best and be separate from the NCAA. There’s a good chance NC State would not be included in that league because it is not a part of the SEC or Big Ten — the two conferences leading these conversations.
“I suspect that the number of schools trying to compete at the highest levels of big-time football is going to shrink substantially,” Haagen said. “I think we’re going to see a separate regulatory body for football, and that, I think, will happen in the not-too-distant future.”
Haagen mentioned that schools could even start specializing in sports. For in-
“I suspect we will see the continued decline of athletic opportunities,” Haagen said. “At NC State, it might be women’s cross country. NC State’s been really good [at] women’s cross country for a long time; they might feature that and just try to dominate and play [to] their advantage.”
Another extreme change Haagen envisions is that universities could relinquish control of their sports programs, opting instead to let an organization run them as a private entity, contracting with that
It would allow those privatized entities to enter into a multi-employer bargaining unit and put their restrictions in a collective bargaining agreement similar to professional sports leagues in the United States. This would allow universities to avoid antitrust cases levied against them due to the collective bargaining
“We could see that happen and just have these not be public state athletic programs associated with a public school, but it would be a private program,” Haagen said. “That could be the direction the things will go. That’d
The changes being made affect all levels of athletics, from high school athletes to college coaches and athletic directors. Changes would not be immediate, but over time, the landscape of college athletics would look entirely different from what it has ever been.
“It’s not like it’s going to be a big bang kind of shift,” Young said. “There’s going to be a plate tectonic type shift, and I think you’re probably going to start seeing it as early as this coming fall. You may see some programs disappear, and you may see some programs just be unfunded or defunded and eventually disappear.”
On the surface, the changes are supposed to have a positive impact on student athletes. For the first time, athletes would get a share of the revenue they produce and more scholarships could be offered. However, the financial pressures attached to revenue sharing could result in the dismissal of many Division I programs that do not generate revenue, and roster limitations would reduce the opportunity to play sports for many athletes.
“It all depends on what the vision or purpose of college sports are,” Davis said. “Is it for entertainment? Is it for athletic opportunities?”
Debbie Antonelli’s journey comes full circle with induction into ring of honor
Colby Trotter
Editor
Becoming one of the most influential voices in women’s basketball, leading NC State women’s basketball to a sweep of the ACC regular season and tournament titles, raising over $1 million for the Special Olympics shooting free throws — Debbie Antonelli believes none of this would have been possible if her parents hadn’t taken her to Reynolds Coliseum when she was 13 years old.
It was as she sat along a railing inside the legendary arena and watched coach Kay Yow’s team that she discovered women could play college basketball while on scholarship. From that point on, Antonelli watched every NC State women’s basketball game and trained as hard as possible in hopes of becoming good enough for Coach Yow to recruit her. Antonelli’s hard work paid off — she eventually became team captain and a three-year starter on Yow’s squads. When NC State hosts Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Antonelli will watch her name be raised into the rafters, and she will be thinking about that 13-year-old girl who had no idea the impact NC State would have on her.
“It is a struggle for me to share exactly the emotions that I’m filled with,” Antonelli said. “Like Coach Yow used to say, ‘My cup is not half full or half empty, it’s overrunning.’ I’m so blessed and grateful and humbled that NC State would select me for such an esteemed honor to join those that are already in the rafters.”
Antonelli won the Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award and two Emmys. She was also inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, but joining the NC State Women’s Basketball Ring of Honor holds special significance because it’s at NC State, where she grew into the person she is today.
Antonelli is a mother. A pioneer in women’s basketball. A philanthropist. A leader. A person who makes time for everyone no matter how busy she might be. Someone who embodies NC State’s motto of “Think and Do.”
“She’s somebody that we could really be proud of and that we can point to,” said Jenny Palmateer, a former NC State women’s basketball player and CEO of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. “Look who we are, what we’re doing. Debbie is that representation for all of us.”
While NC State is certainly grateful for how Antonelli represents the University, she knows none of it would’ve been possible without having been a member of the Wolfpack.
“I just can’t believe all the things that I have been able to do, and how much NC State has helped me and how much I’ve used NC State to help me,” Antonelli said. “I feel so fortunate. It’s still rooted in good people, and that’s what makes a place successful.”
When Antonelli looks back at her time with the Wolfpack, one person always comes up more than anyone else: Coach Yow. It’s the person after whom Antonelli has tried to model her life.
“She’s got an influence in every aspect of my life, in any role that I’m playing, whether it’s mom or wife or teammate,” Antonelli said. “She’s helped me in all of those roles while she was here. I think there are certain fundamentals in being a good teammate that we learned from her: treating people the way you want to be treated, doing things the right way and then serving others.”
When talking to Palmateer and her former teammate Trena Trice-Hill, it becomes clear that Antonelli is leading a life that her former coach would be proud of. As a lifetime board member of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, Antonelli has used her platform to raise awareness for cancer. Palmateer said she’s been a mentor to her since she became the CEO of the fund in 2023.
What reminds Palmateer most of Yow is Antonelli’s way of making time for everyone and being present in the moment no matter what is going on in her life.
“[You] carved out time for everybody and was such a busy person that it would have been easy to say, ‘I don’t have time for that,’” Palmateer said. “But she put people first and she made time. I see that in Debbie a lot.”
Trice-Hill says it’s common to lose contact with a teammate after their time playing together is over, but Antonelli has stayed connected with Trice-Hill for the last 40 years. Whenever Trice-Hill calls, Antonelli always responds. Trice-Hill recalled a time when her daughter was looking for a job and Antonelli “did everything she could to help her.”
For Trice-Hill, it’s Antonelli’s attitude that reminds her the most of their former coach.
“Your attitude will determine your altitude,”
Trice-Hill said.” Debbie has had a positive attitude throughout her career, and look where she is now. Her positive attitude has given her the ability to have a successful career.”
Because of how much Antonelli has accomplished since she left NC State, there’s a chance you may not know how much of a hooper she was. As a three-year starter and team captain, Antonelli helped lead the Wolfpack to four NCAA Tournaments and a sweep of the ACC regular season and tournament titles in 198485, the last team to accomplish that feat.
While Antonelli credits the talent the team had like Trice-Hill and Linda Page, who both have their names in the rafters, Trice-Hill says Antonelli was the glue of their team and a “pure shooter.” Antonelli took the underclassmen under her wing and led by example.
“She was just that blue-collar worker, that hustler, that one that would just go after balls,” Trice-Hill said. “She was a true leader, but she was also a true competitor.”
Trice-Hill would call her “Debbie Live at Five” and mimic putting a mic to her. The nickname was a nod to Antonelli’s knack for breaking down scouting reports and knowing every detail about the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. Antonelli would always share her insights with the team, and Trice-Hill would hold up her imaginary microphone.
That’s when Trice-Hill knew Antonelli would be successful in anything she chose to do after basketball. Trice-Hill isn’t surprised about all that Antonelli has accomplished because of how prepared she always was.
“She showed that leadership on the court, and I knew that that transition off the court even after she graduated and went on into her career, that she would carry those characteristics and become successful like she is today,” Trice-Hill said.
When Antonelli looks back at her time at NC State, she appreciates what was accom-
plished on the court, but it pales in comparison to what she’s done off. When she got the Reynolds Coliseum court named after Yow, she thought that was her greatest accomplishment. But then, she raised over $1 million for Special Olympics and thought that was the best thing she’d ever done. And then she delivered a commencement speech at NC State, believing that to be her greatest achievement.
But for her, nothing compares, and nothing probably ever will to what she just helped make happen at her alma mater. After three years of meeting with stakeholders, the Board of Trustees, deans and Chancellor Randy Woodson, Antonelli convinced NC State to create the Elevate program.
Elevate is an inclusive post-secondary education program that provides a personcentered campus experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to learn skills while advancing personally and professionally.
It was an idea inspired by ClemsonLIFE, a program Antonelli’s son Frankie, who has Down syndrome, attended. With the help of ClemsonLIFE, Frankie has two jobs and is “living his best life, independently.” Antonelli then wondered why NC State didn’t have a program like this.
“NC State and Clemson have identical land grant missions,” Antonelli said. “Their missions are to serve the population of their state, and NC State wasn’t doing that. I just kept selling, selling, selling, ‘Here’s why we need it. This is the mission of the University. This is going to benefit everyone on campus.’”
In May of last year, the General Assembly of North Carolina appropriated $3 million to start Elevate. When Antonelli heard that number, she said almost passed out because she knew it would be a great help.
The inaugural cohort of Elevate students started classes last week. They will be able to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, with access to resources on campus and in the community.
“I don’t think there’s any other way to leave an indelible legacy or imprint on this community of people that so desperately need opportunity,” Antonelli said. “I think that’s where I feel the most like Kay Yow.”
Antonelli’s legacy is one of purpose, persistence and profound impact. Through elevating women’s basketball, raising cancer awareness and changing the lives of people with disabilities, Antonelli has lived out Yow’s teachings of serving others and doing things the right way. As her name ascends to the rafters alongside the legends who shaped her, Antonelli’s journey comes full circle. A story of a determined young girl who became a pioneer, philanthropist and inspiration.
Her life proves that legacies aren’t just etched in banners but in the opportunities created for others to thrive.
HALLIE WALKER
Debbie Antonelli, NC State women’s basketball guard from 1982-86 and color commentator for ESPN, introduces the halftime recognition of women who have survived breast cancer and their stories during halftime in the game against Louisville in Reynolds Coliseum on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. NC State beat Louisville 77-67.
Sports
COLUMN
Marcus Hill deserves the spotlight in NC State men’s basketball’s offense
Connor VanDerMark Assistant Sports Editor
It’s officially halfway through the college basketball season and NC State men’s basketball is nowhere close to looking like a contender. At 9-7 with a 2-3 conference record, the red-and-white looks far from the team that won an ACC championship last season. Its most recent failure came against UNC-Chapel Hill. but if anything is clear from Saturday night’s bout, senior guard Marcus Hill is by far the Wolfpack’s best player.
Hill transferred to NC State as a highly touted scorer from Bowling Green. As the No. 1 choice on the Falcons, Hill led the Mid-American Conference in scoring with 20.5 points per game and was named to the All-MAC First Team. Recording 19 20-point games and three 30-point games, Hill proved himself as one of the best interior scoring guards in the nation and a true offensive threat.
But on the Wolfpack, Hill is no longer the No. 1 option. Instead, head coach Kevin Keatts seems to view senior guard Jayden Taylor as the go-to guy.
Against Texas, the Wolfpack was down by two points with 54.3 seconds left. With the time running down and the play clock nearly at zero, Taylor took a midrange jumper that bounced off the rim. Luckily for the Wolfpack, Texas missed a free throw to give it one final chance at redemption.
Keatts called a timeout to draw up a play to tie or win the game. The play in question? A Taylor isolation that resulted in a blocked layup followed by a Texas dunk that secured the game. Hill, who was 7-11 from inside the arc
with 16 points, didn’t touch the ball a single time in the final 60 seconds.
Fast forward to Saturday’s match against UNC where Hill was the only NC State player to score in the first 10 minutes. Hill recorded 20 points on 10-19 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, including a career-high six offensive rebounds. He was the hardest working player on the court at all times and was playing with an unmatched confidence.
NC State found itself in a similar situation to the Texas game. Down 63-61 with just 20 seconds remaining, graduate guard Michael O’Connell called a timeout to allow Keatts to draw up the game-tying or winning play. Surely, Keatts would allow Hill to take the final shot as he was by far the most consistent scorer on the floor. But instead, the Wolfpack ran a ball screen, but the play broke down. In a last-ditch effort, O’Connell gave the ball to Taylor, who drove down the lane for the game-tying layup that was blocked in the final seconds.
Once again, the play wasn’t drawn up for the most consistent scorer. Instead, it just used him to receive the inbounds pass.
Now, all of the blame doesn’t fall on Taylor. This team was poorly built from the beginning. It was expected that the Pack would look drastically different in the offseason after losing four of its top five players, but Keatts seemingly kept the team together by both reaching into the portal and raising players off the bench.
The red-and-white lost a defensive menace and excellent rebounder in Mohamed Diarra, but senior forward Ben Middlebrooks has been a true glass cleaner and has already
set a career-high in blocks through just 15 games played.
DJ Burns was simply an anomaly. We’ll probably never see a player with that combination of size, strength and footwork wear a red-and-white jersey ever again. Burns was an offensive juggernaut who made opposing teams completely alter their defensive tendencies when he was on the floor. Senior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield was brought in from Louisville to take his place. Now, it was never expected that the big man would match what Burns did last season, but Huntley-Hatfield hasn’t been the same player that he was at Louisville and eventually lost his spot in the starting lineup to Middlebrooks.
O’Connell was a big reason for last year’s postseason success. As a reliable sixth man, he didn’t have to be a primary scorer. Sub in, help facilitate the offense, move the ball around and maybe knock down the occasional 3-pointer. But now, O’Connell seems to have lost that swagger he found last March. He’s still an excellent facilitator but doesn’t seem to have the confidence or ability to be the scorer that Keatts requires in his new offense.
But the biggest difference? No one has filled the hole DJ Horne left behind — he was a microwave scorer that could give you 25 points on any given night. Yet, through 16 games this season, not a single player has reached 25 or more in one night. The closest player? Hill.
“He’s buying in,” said Keatts after the loss against UNC. “He’s starting to understand what we’re looking for.”
If Keatts is looking for points, Hill has done nothing but provide, leading the Wolfpack in points per game with 13.3 while also averaging
3.9 rebounds and the second-most assists per game with 2.2. He’s led the team in scoring seven times, including the last three games. He’s recorded double-digits in nine straight games. Why not make him the No. 1 option?
“The biggest thing for Marcus is he thought for this team, he had to score, score, score with his ability to get paint touches,” Keatts said after NC State’s win against Rider. “He had six assists tonight. You’re always rewarded when you make the right play, and that’s where his growth is.”
There’s no argument about making the right play, but Hill does have to score for the team to succeed. In games against Power Four opponents, the Wolfpack is 0-5 when Hill scores 14 points or less. His scoring output is integral to the Wolfpack’s victories but isn’t being utilized to his full potential.
Hill is not a perfect player by any means. Though a prolific interior scorer, he isn’t consistent from beyond the arc, making just six of his 24 shots from 3-point range. He’s also not a great interior defender. But Hill has proven that he can be the top-scoring option moving forward. You can’t rave about a player and then not even put the ball in his hands with the game on the line, especially when the current system and play calling isn’t working.
Things need to change quickly for NC State to have any chance at its third straight NCAA Tournament berth, and that means leaning into Hill’s playstyle. Make him the microwave scorer that the team so desperately needs. Last year, the team saw success when it fed Horne and let him go to work. Why not do the same for Hill?
MADDIE ADAMS
Senior guard Marcus Hill guards the basket in the match against Notre Dame at Lenovo Center on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Hill had three rebounds and scored 15 points. NC State beat Notre Dame 66-65.
