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SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

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Wake Forest falls out of the top 30 in latest US News rankings 7KH 1R UDQNLQJ UHÀHFWV FKDQJHV WR WKH QHZV RUJDQL]DWLRQ¶V PHWKRGRORJ\ MADDIE STOPYRA & AINE PIERRE News Editor & Online Managing Editor The U.S. News & World Report ranked Wake Forest No. 47, down 18 spots from 29 in 2023, on its list of 2024 U.S. News Best National Universities released today. This is the first time the university has been ranked out of the top 30 since 1996 and its lowest ranking since joining the National Universities list.

Wake Forest tied with five other universities for the No. 47 spot — Lehigh University, Texas A&M University, University of Georgia, University of Rochester and Virginia Tech.

According to Vice President of Communications & Chief Communications Officer Brett Eaton, 17 of 19 measures used in this year’s list are different from last year.

U.S. News did not consider small class sizes, instruction by professors with a terminal degree, alumni giving average, graduate debt and students’ high school standings in this year’s ranking. These five measures had a collective weight of 18% in last year’s algorithm.

“Private universities that prioritize undergraduate teaching, small class sizes and faculty who are top scholars and experts in their fields, like Wake Forest, lost ground in the rankings,” Eaton told the Old Gold & Black.

Many public universities saw significant improvement in their ranking. More than a dozen public schools rose at least 50 spots, and 21 of the 29 top-50 universities whose ranking improved are public.

“U.S. News no longer takes into account some of the key features of the Wake Forest experience. It would be a mistake to confuse ranking with quality,” Eaton said.

“We know we can improve in some areas but we won’t change to chase the rankings.”

The algorithm added seven new indicators — four related to faculty research, two related to first-generation graduation rates and one related to graduate income.

It also considered the number of students who received Pell grants. With 10% of the freshman class receiving Pell grants, Wake Forest is ranked No. 271 of 287 schools on the New York Times’ Top U.S. Colleges With the Greatest Economic Diversity. The list average is 21%. According to the Times, the share of Wake Forest students receiving Pell grants has decreased by four percent since 2011, compared with a two percent average decrease among schools on the list.

See Rankings, Page 3

What's Inside NEWS Jell-O shot competition leads to donation Page Five

FEATURES The Barons are back in town Page Seven

ENVIRONMENT Community takes on urban farming

Page Nine

OPINION Wake falls in ranking and it's your fault Page Twelve

SPORTS The cost of the college football spotlight Page Sixteen

ARTS & CULTURE Life through the lens: Ameera Moinuddin Page Twenty

Old Gold & Black This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Executive Editors

Pursue change — but not for the numbers The talk of campus this week was the university’s fall from top-30 glory.

The decline was largely due to U.S. News’ overhaul in its methodology. The news organization did not consider small class sizes, instruction by professors with a terminal degree, alumni giving average, graduate debt or students’ high school standings— all hallmarks of a private, liberal arts education.

U.S. News’ college rankings have long faced criticism. One of the main concerns is that U.S. News often tinkers with its metric and some colleges “game the system” to improve certain facets of their school just to raise its ranking.

Another common criticism is the peer assessment score, which carries the most weight in the rankings. The score is calculated from

ratings that U.S. News receives from top university officials like presidents, provosts and deans of admission. A criticism offered

by Malcolm Gladwell in a New Yorker essay is that these administrators often don’t have an insight in the quality of another school, therefore relying on the only source they do have — U.S. News.

The Old Gold & Black recognizes that the U.S. News rankings is a flawed system. While the U.S. News rankings are a magazine’s marketing gimmick to gain new readers, it is undeniable the grip that these rankings have on the world. Many students use the list to determine where they’ll apply or attend. The university and students have long touted our top 30 status — the university in promotional materials and students in job interviews.

The rankings also are an annual reminder of our obsession with status. As Joe Nocera wrote for the New York Times more than 10 years ago, the rankings “exacerbate status anxiety.” This still rings true today as Wake Forest students fret if they chose the right school, and seniors worry what employers will think.

This year’s new methodology placed greater emphasis on social mobility and equity for students by giving more weight to first-generation and Pell Grant graduation rates.

With 10% of the freshman class receiving Pell grants, Wake Forest is ranked No. 271 of 287 schools on the New York Times’ Top U.S. Colleges With the Greatest Economic Diversity. The list average is 21%.

Instead of dwelling on the change in rank-

ings, Wake Forest should take this time to reflect on what it can change to serve its students and community better. The Old Gold & Black commends the university’s latest initiative to create an early action application option specifically for first-generation students. We now urge the university to increase its economic diversity by striving to admit more students who receive Pell Grants.

We encourage these changes not for the sake of a number. The methods will inevitably change, and the numbers will shift.

This work is important not for the world’s perception of Wake Forest but for our own flourishing. For too long and for too many, Wake Forest’s gates have been unreachable.

That must change.

Old Gold&Black THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SINCE 1916

CHRISTA DUTTON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF duttcd20@wfu.edu

BREANNA LAWS

AINE PIERRE

MARYAM KHANUM

SOFIA SCORDLEY

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR

MULTIMEDIA MANAGING EDITOR

BUSINESS MANAGER

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>> NEWS Daniel Parolini, parodj20@wfu.edu Maddie Stopyra, stopmf21@wfu.edu Assistant: Claire O'Brien, obricc22@wfu.edu >> FEATURES Natasha Heisenberg, heisng20@wfu.edu Isabella Romine, romiie21@wfu.edu Assistant: Eli Leadham, leadey22@wfu.edu >> ENVIRONMENT Una Wilson, wilsui20@wfu.edu Bella Ortley-Guthrie, ortlbs21@wfu.edu >> OPINION Shaila Prasad, prassp21@wfu.edu Lauren Carpenter, carple21@wfu.edu >> SPORTS Cooper Sullivan, sullcg20@wfu.edu Aaron Nataline, nataae21@wfu.edu Assistant: Sean Kennedy, kennsm21@wfu.edu

>> ARTS & CULTURE Adam Coil, coilat21@wfu.edu James Watson, watsjc22@wfu.edu >> PHOTO Virginia Noone, noonvc21@wfu.edu Evan Harris, harres22@wfu.edu >> VIDEO Asheton Ayotte, ayotag20@wfu.edu >> SOCIAL MEDIA Lucy Roberts, robels20@wfu.edu >> COPY CHIEF Josie Scratchard, scraja20@wfu.edu >> DESIGN CHIEF Oliver Hale, haleop21@wfu.edu >> WEBMASTER Christina Tran, tranth21@wfu.edu >> ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Ava Cofiell, cofiac20@wfu.edu

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>> POLICIES Our job as a newspaper is to be a platform for all voices, not just the ones we agree with. However, we reserve the right to reject advertisements that are vulgar, inaccurate, obscene or violate Wake Forest’s policies on nondiscrimination, diversity, equity, and inclusion as they pertain to student organizations. We will also reject any advertisements that promote illegal activities according to the state of North Carolina.

Not only do we hold our newspaper and its contents to a high standard, but we also expect that those who choose to use us as an outlet for their ideas, opinions and skill hold themselves and their content to a high ethical standard.

The Old Gold & Black is published Thursdays during the school year, except during examinations, summer and holiday periods, by Triangle Web Printing of Durham. The views expressed in all opinion pieces and advertisements contained within this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Old Gold & Black. As part of our commitment to reporting news fairly and accurately, we will not remove any previously published content online unless it is retracted. If an error in either our online or print content is brought to our attention, we will revise the originally published article with an appended correction. In order to facilitate thoughtful and appropriate debate, profane, vulgar, or inflammatory comments on our website are not allowed and will be deleted. Comments which incite violence, target individuals in a form of cyber bullying, or which promote ideas which vilify marginalized communities will be deleted, and proper authorities may be notified and involved. >> SUBMISSIONS The OGB welcomes submissions in the form of story tips, columns and letters to the editor.

Letters to the editor should be fewer than 500 words, and columns should be around 500 words. Send yours via e-mail to duttcd20@wfu.edu the Monday before publication. We reserve the right to edit all letters for length and clarity. No anonymous letters will be printed. >> ONLINE MEDIA Web: wfuogb.com Facebook: facebook.com/ogb1916 Twitter: @wfuogb Instagram: @wfuogb TikTok: @wfuogb Sports Twitter: @wfuogbsports

News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 3

Rankings: U.S. News alters methodology Continued from Page 1 Vice President for Enrollment Eric Maguire voiced concerns in the press release about U.S. News’ new methodology.

“Wake Forest has a long-standing commitment to social mobility and serving Pell-grant eligible and first-generation students, through programs such as Magnolia Scholars and First in the Forest,” said Maguire. “The new U.S. News indicators fail to recognize our commitments. Enrollment size appears to disproportionately benefit larger institutions.

Wake Forest is very focused on increasing access and affordability for all students, and lowering barriers to access for lowincome students especially.”

Wake Forest President Susan Wente reiterated in a press release that the university’s decisions will not be affected by U.S. News.

“Wake Forest has never made decisions or determined University strategy based on chasing rankings such as those from U.S. News. We do not intend to start

now,” said Wente. “We will remain steadfast in our stated commitments, goals and vision for the university, and continue striving to provide the best possible educational opportunities. We are committed to providing real data and success metrics to demonstrate the value of a Wake Forest education and its impact on the lives and careers of our students.”

The U.S. News annual college rankings have long been used by high school students to determine the quality or status of a university, and it often influences their decision of where to apply or attend.

Wake Forest University has long touted its top 30 ranking in promotional and admissions material.

Before the complete list was published, each university’s profile page was updated with their new ranking late Sunday night.

Students quickly voiced their concerns on the anonymous social media app Fizz.

Posts ranged from humorous to serious in tone, but a vast majority of users voiced the concern that their degree would no longer be as valuable or that their tuition

was no longer worth it.

One of the top posts on the app right now is a screenshot of Wake Forest’s U.S. News profile with a caption that reads “How the fuck we become #47 on us news.” That post received 1,700 upvotes at the time of publication.

“If the ranking goes down, tuition should follow,” another post read.

Other students were more sympathetic, like this Fizz that read: “Wakes (sic) the same school. US News just tweaked the algorithm to completely screw private schools. We are the epitome of a private school.”

The U.S. News and World Report, in an explainer on its new methodology, said that the shift in algorithm was made explicitly to center outcomes and to focus more on data that is “universally reported” by schools.

Some changes were made to offset the removal of certain categories — for example, the weight of student-faculty ratios increased from one percent to four percent because class size is no longer

considered.

Wake Forest was also ranked in the following categories: No. 64 in Best Value Schools (23rd last year) No. 31 in Best Undergraduate Teaching (21st last year) No. 88 in Economics No. 301 in Top Performers on Social Mobility No. 25 in Accounting No. 38 in Undergraduate Business Programs No. 34 in Undergraduate Psychology Programs On other top ranking lists, Wake Forest is also ranked outside of the top 30.

Wake Forest currently sits at No. 61 in the Wall Street Journal’s 2022 rankings and No. 86 in Forbes’ 2023 rankings.

Christa Dutton contributed reporting to this article.

Contact Maddie Stopyra & Aine Pierre at stopmf21@wfu.edu & pierav20@wfu.edu

Campus reacts to drop in U.S. News rankings University leaders respond to student concerns about job opportunities and graduate school admissions CLAIRE O’BRIEN Assistant News Editor Wake Forest’s significant drop in the U.S. News rankings has dominated conversation this week, both on campus and social media. University leaders assure students with concerns that the lower ranking is unlikely to impact their marketability.

After the rankings were announced, students were quick to voice their frustrations on the anonymous social media app Fizz.

“I’m f*cking transferring, I’m not paying 84k a year for a school ranked #47” read one post with 1,600 upvotes.

“It’s funny for wake forest to say rankings don’t matter when they foster an environment that makes students care about rankings and numbers,” read another post with 1,100 upvotes.

Other individuals expressed concern that the university’s drop in ranking could negatively shade the value of their Wake Forest education.

“I feel like it retroactively diminishes the value of my degree,” alumna Emma Galante (‘22) told the Old Gold & Black.

Despite these concerns, some students and faculty remain unalarmed by this change — expressing that rankings don’t define Wake Forest; rather, it’s the community and learning environment that attracts students here.

“We will remain steadfast in our stated

commitments, goals, and vision for the University - and continue striving to provide the best possible educational opportunities,” said President Susan Wente and Provost Michele Gillespie in a campuswide email.

Some students also believe that this ranking won’t affect Wake Forest’s reputation.

“I’m a bit disappointed, but it just goes to prove that the numbers are just that, numbers,” freshman Esther Desroche told the Old Gold & Black.

“I know Wake Forest was the right school for me, and I didn’t make the choice to come here based on where Wake stood in a ranking,” said senior Megan Tibe. “There’s so much that this school offers that is important to me, whether that’s closer access to my professors with the small student-to-faculty ratio, or the campus and the location. I know I’ve gotten a high-quality education here.”

Andy Chan, vice president of innovation and career development, explained how the U.S. News & World Report ranking may not consider certain aspects of the university that are most valued by students and employers.

“We think of college as being all about having an experience of personal environment, knowing your teachers, being able to have small class sizes — a place where mentoring really matters,” Chan said.

“I think that the U.S. News & World Report metrics aren’t measuring any of

those things. They seem to be measuring things that are about the size of endowments, size of their graduate programs, amount of research being done, and things like that.”

This year, U.S. News restructured the ranking system so that it no longer considers factors including small class sizes and instruction by professors with a terminal degree. The new ranking system also added seven new indicators — four related to faculty research, two related to first-generation graduation rates and one related to graduate income.

Chan also addressed how much value employers may put in this ranking, and if they’ll prioritize it during the hiring process, noting that many employers prioritize experience and knowledge over the prestige of a university.

“It’s clear what employers are looking for is skills and experiences,” Chan said.

“The better you’re able to describe the skills that you’ve gained whether it be through classwork, or through extracurricular work, or through clubs and other types of things, even certificate programs, that’s what they want to see.”

In fact, employers may place even less emphasis on rankings than students may think, according to Chan.

“When deciding to recruit talent from colleges and universities, recruiters prioritize several factors, but media rankings are not one of them,” Chan said.

“In a Gallup-Strada survey, about 9 out

of 10 employers said they do not focus on college rankings when making hiring decisions. Employers are much more interested in a university’s past success in producing talented graduates who are able to excel in their careers.”

Tibe thinks that her Wake Forest education would mean more to employers and graduate schools than a ranking would.

“I should hope that anywhere I would be applying to grad school would understand that just because this ranking changed, it didn’t change the school, its alumni and everyone that works at it overnight,” Tibe said. “So nothing about Wake Forest has actually changed.”

Chan also pointed out that rankings don’t matter as much to employers because they prioritize their own criteria instead.

“I think that what happens is that employers themselves and graduate schools don’t really look at [the U.S. News & World Report ranking] because they use their own criteria to measure the quality of the candidates, not based on what some media outlet is telling you is good or not,” Chan said.

Despite the drop in ranking, Tibe stated that Wake Forest remains an academically strong school.

“I don’t think anybody can take away from the academic caliber of Wake,” she said.

Contact Claire O’Brien at obricc22@wfu.edu

POLICE BEAT • • • • •

Unknown subject(s) removed items from beneath an unsecured tent while tailgating before the football game. The victim stated that a cooler with contents, a sweatshirt and a hat were missing. The report was filed at 10:48 a.m. on Sept. 9.

Unknown subject(s) took a secured bike attached to a metal railing on the first floor breezeway of Deacon Place No. 3. The bike was taken between 5 p.m. on Sept. 10 and 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 12. The report was filed at 4:04 on Sept. 12.

Unknown subject(s) took an unsecured bag that stored field hockey equipment. The report was filed at 6:34 p.m. on Sept. 12.

An individual was intoxicated, fell and hit their head while exiting a vehicle. The individual was transported to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The report was filed at 12:31 a.m. on Sept. 15.

Unknown subject(s) removed unsecured AirPods from the victim’s desk. The report was filed at 4:32 p.m. on Sept. 15.

Page 4 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Old Gold & Black | News

Panhel’s ‘Bonny Shade’ event is met with backlash Students voice concerns about the Panhellenic Council’s mandatory speaker event

VIRGINIA NOONE & NATASHA HEISENBERG Photo Editor & Features Editor Wake Forest’s Panhellenic Council hosted a mandatory lecture on Monday with sexual violence educator and speaker Bonny Shade. The event drew criticism from some Panhellenic members because of its mandatory nature, the lack of space for the event and the absence of Interfraternity Council (IFC) chapters.

“I need you to show up and care about this topic differently than you ever have before,” Shade said to the crowd of nearly 600 undergraduate women gathered in Brendle Recital Hall on Sept. 18. “I’ve heard some rumblings in the streets — why do we have to go to this?

Where are the men? Can I be excused?”

According to her website, Shade “is changing the lives of student leaders and professionals through in-depth keynotes, workshops, custom curriculum and education.”

She has a leadership certificate in “Design Thinking,” a human-centered approach to problem solving. She has won multiple awards from inter/national organizations for her work with fraternity and sorority members and college students, focusing on holistic development.

During the event, Shade shared her own experience with sexual violence, statistics about high rates of violence in Greek Life, the spectrum of sexual violence and tangible ways to intervene.

Panhellenic Council President Sarah Haugh described the event as essential and empowering for women in Panhellenic chapters.

“I think we have an obligation to talk about the hard topics and to work to create a safe environment for everybody on campus,” Haugh said. “I think talking about it and understanding how we can better support each other as women, in the different spaces we choose to involve ourselves in, is really important.”

In the 2023 Campus Climate Survey, commissioned

by Wake Forest at the urging of Student Government to address concerns surrounding sexual misconduct, close to 70% of undergraduate women respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment — the highest rate of any group on campus.

Respondents also reported high levels of awareness of campus resources and high levels of prior training regarding sexual assault prevention through the survey.

Despite the fact that sorority members enjoyed the speaker, the event as a whole was met with backlash.

Some Panhellenic members voiced frustration with the mandatory attendance policy and excuse system.

Virginia Noone/Old Gold & Black

Roughly 200 members of Panhellenic chapters were excused due to a lack of seats.

Virginia Noone/Old Gold & Black

Nearly 600 undergraduate women gathered in Brendle Recital Hall for a mandatory speaker event featuring sexual violence educator and keynote speaker Bonny Shade.

The only way to be excused from the event was to submit proof of a time conflict due to work or class, or to email their chapter’s president and CC Panhellenic Council’s Vice President of Accountability, Harriet Middleton, with explanation as to how the conversation would make you feel “unsafe.”

The Panhellenic Council promised confidentiality and emphasized the difference between feeling “uncomfortable” and feeling “unsafe” due to personal experience regarding the speaker’s content. Still, Panhellenic leaders expressed that members of the audience were free to leave the event at any point if they felt “unsafe.”

When the mandatory requirement was met with backlash from members of sororities across campus — concerned with confidentiality and sensitivity — Panhellenic Council and chapters clarified that members did not have to share any details in their emails other than that they felt “unsafe.”

“Even if it was after the deadline, every single person that submitted an excuse that said they were unsafe [was] excused,” Middleton said. “No exceptions to that.”

Additionally, roughly 200 members of Panhellenic chapters ended up being excused due to a lack of seats in Brendle Recital Hall. Members who were part of the overflow had their student I.D.s scanned and were marked as present, then excused to leave.

“I was embarrassed by the way the event was planned and executed. I felt that the lack of planning toward such an important topic was inexcusable and took away from the messaging,” said the president of a Panhellenic chapter, who the Old Gold & Black granted anonymity due to concern of possible repercussions from the Panhellenic Council.

In addition to the attendance policy, another source of criticism came from the fact that members of the IFC chapters were not required to attend the Shade discussion and had not planned a comparable event of their own. This sparked controversy among sorority members — who make up the majority of undergraduate women.

“I think that Bonny was a great speaker and it was a valuable experience,” attendee Anna Wexler said. “However, I can’t help but wonder why we are still discussing ways for women to avoid being assaulted rather than trying to modify the behavior of the male perpetrators of sexual assault.”

Other members from different chapters echoed this grievance.

“There needs to be a conversation on both sides about consent,” Panhellenic member Alyssa Eaton said. “Not just one or the other.”

Haugh agreed with this sentiment, but further explained that Shade’s event was specifically tailored to show women how to support other women. Haugh asserted that having men in the audience would change the atmosphere in a negative way.

“If you have 300 men sitting in the back of the room, you don’t know who they are, you don’t know what their thoughts are,” Haugh said. “It’s a community that you’re not involved in — and all of a sudden, it makes the conversation feel very different.”

Haugh expressed how Panhellenic Council’s identity as a community comprised entirely of women lends itself to prioritizing events directed at sexual assault prevention. “[Panhellenic Council] is in a slightly different boat [than IFC], because in many ways, it’s been happening to us,” Haugh said, “I think that invites a different response in terms of how a community sees it, if that makes sense.”

IFC offered assurance that the issue of sexual violence was of their utmost concern, as well. In an email to the Old Gold & Black, IFC President Emory Horton wrote that “sexual conduct and men’s mental health at Wake are the two most pressing and pertinent priorities of IFC currently.”

Horton also said that IFC has planned two events for IFC Week, Oct. 29-Nov. 4, that directly cover issues associated with consent and sexual assault. He reiterated the need for culture changes within the Wake Forest community.

“Our approach to the issue of sexual misconduct is a response to the current campus climate; female members of our community often don’t feel comfortable in social situations,” Horton told the Old Gold & Black.

“We decided to create intentional educational programming this fall to challenge this culture.”

When asked by the Old Gold & Black about IFC’s involvement in the Sept. 18 event, Shade reaffirmed Panhellenic Council’s decision.

“I think this is powerful that the Panhellenic Executive Board set this event up specifically for women, because they didn’t want to have to worry about planning it for the men,” Shade said. “If men want to have this type of conversation, they can plan it. This conversation specifically was just for women for those reasons.”

Shade said she would be willing to return to campus and speak again to Panhellenic Council, IFC or both organizations as long as her message gets across in a positive manner. When asked about having a joint conversation in the future, Haugh remained optimistic but stated her belief that there’s still a plethora of separate work to be done.

“I definitely think it would be beneficial to open up that conversation with IFC, to encourage a more honest communication between both councils,” Haugh said. “I think both of us as councils have to start having those honest conversations with ourselves before we can get to a place where it makes sense to have that with each other.”

Contact Virginia Noone and Natasha Heisenberg at noonvc21@wfu.edu and heisng20@wfu.edu

Page 5 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Old Gold & Black | News

Ǧ ͅ͹ǡ͸ʹʹ donation to Campus Kitchen Campus Kitchen received a dollar for every Jell-O shot taken at Rocco’s Pizzeria and Cantina during the Omaha College World Series in June.

RYLEE MULHOLLEN Contributing writer Campus Kitchen received a $7,622 donation from Rocco’s Pizzeria and Cantina thanks to Wake Forest fans participating in a Jell-O shot competition at the bar during the Omaha College Baseball World Series in June.

Demon Deacon fans made their return to the stands of Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Neb. in support of the Wake Forest baseball team in the College World Series in June for the first time since 1955. Peanuts and CrackerJacks were not the only concessions purchased, though.

Just a few blocks over, Rocco’s hosted its annual College World Series Jell-O Shot Competition.

The competition, which has become a storied College World Series tradition, challenges fans to purchase Jell-O shots on behalf of their fanbase. The game is simple — the fanbase with the most shots purchased wins.

The competition also has a philanthropic spin. For each Jell-O shot purchased on behalf of a fanbase, Rocco’s donated one dollar to that campus’s food bank.

This year, Rocco’s raised $142,464 total.

Wake Forest took third, with 7,622 Jell-O shots sold.

Back in Winston-Salem, Campus Kitchen was “pleasantly surprised” this summer when a check for $7,622 appeared in their mailbox, says Brad Shugoll, director

of service and leadership in the Office of Civic and Community Engagement. This student-run initiative located in Kitchin Residence Hall targets food insecurity by receiving food donations both on and off campus and distributing them to those in Winston-Salem experiencing food insecurity.

Shugoll explained that the donation from Rocco’s will help Campus Kitchen allocate more resources toward the partnerships they have already built.

“Right now, we have a network of more than 10 nonprofits that we work with,” Shugoll said. “The funds will help support and bolster our existing programming.”

Campus Kitchen currently works with community partners and aid nonprofits such as Anthony’s Plot, Azalea Terrace, City with Dwellings, Faith Health NC, Hope 2 Thrive, The Parenting Path, Samaritan Ministries, The Shalom Project and Latino Community Services. Each of these community partners has a unique mission targeting a specific community in Winston-Salem.

Shugoll also said that student leadership will work to determine how the funds can help Campus Kitchin cast a wider net.

Seniors Samantha Martin and Raahim Khan, who direct Campus Kitchen with the support of a 40-person student leadership team, will play a large part in making those decisions about where the funds will go and deciding where the funds will make the most impact in the local fight against

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

Campus Kitchen will use the funds from Rocco’s Pizzaria and Cantina to support their current community partnerships. food insecurity. our outreach work, but we really rely on “There is no set formula for a specific day the time and energy that college students in Campus Kitchen,” Martin said. “Each bring,” Shugoll said.

More information about Campus Kitday has a lot of movement.”

Shugoll emphasized that the funds will chen can be found on their Instagram @ impact Campus Kitchen’s mission for se- campuskitchen_wfu or at communityengagement.wfu.edu/students/campuskitmesters to come. chen/.

“The donation from Rocco’s really will help us elevate the work we already do Contact Rylee Mulhollen at and gives us an opportunity to enhance mulhrl23@wfu.edu

Matt Clifford to serve as interim dean of students after Adam Goldstein’s departure The university plans to announce a search in January for a permanent dean AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor Dr. Matthew Clifford, former dean of Residence Life & Housing, has been appointed as interim dean of students after Dr. Adam Goldstein resigned at the end of last academic year, according to Vice President for Campus Life Dr. Shea Kidd Brown.

“I am grateful for [Goldstein]’s service to our students, faculty, staff and families, and for all he did for the Wake Forest community,” Kidd Brown told the Old Gold & Black by email.

Goldstein’s resignation was announced to Campus Life staff and other campus partners on May 16, the day after the Spring 2023 undergraduate commencement ceremony, according to Kidd Brown. Student Government was informed of Goldstein’s departure and Clifford’s new position during its public Senate meeting on Aug. 30.

For Clifford, this is a return to the Dean of Students Office, where he was associate dean of student conduct from 2016 to 2019.

From 2010 to 2016, Clifford was director of residence life. “[Clifford] has gained significant experience in the field of student affairs on various campuses and has spent the past 12 years at Wake Forest,” Kidd Brown told the Old

Gold & Black by email. “He is a trusted partner across the campus and has extensive experience with campus crises, student conduct and creating transformative experiences within our residential community.”

As of publication, no formal announcement has been made to the student body.

According to Kidd Brown, the university will announce its plans regarding a search for a new dean of students in January.

“We…did not share it more broadly because students were not in session,” Kidd Brown told the Old Gold & Black. “Our plan was to share a broader message when we share our plans for a search in January.”

As Clifford steps into the role of dean of students, Stephanie Carter-Atkins will serve as interim dean of Residence Life & Housing. In addition, during the interim period, Vice President for Wellbeing Dr. Warrenetta Mann will be responsible for the dean of students’ case management programs, and Associate Vice President Andrea Bohn will oversee student organization finance.

Many students know Clifford from his time as the dean of Residence Life & Housing, but Clifford expressed that he is ready to forge relationships with students in his new role. Clifford also said that he still will work very closely with Residence Life & Housing and Carter-Atkins.

“I want to be able to help students if there are concerns related to housing,” Clifford

said. “I work really closely with Dr. Carter-Atkins, and so [if there is a] student and there are concerns related to housing, [I’d want to] help and navigate that.”

Additionally, Clifford believes that as interim dean of students, it is his responsibility to help students feel like they belong at Wake Forest.

“I conceive the Dean of Students Office as sort of the front porch for the student experience, in the sense that we want to [be] a place where all students…feel that they can come and sit and feel welcomed,” Clifford said.

Clifford also said that for some students, the office — and Wake Forest generally — has not been welcoming.

“We’ve got to do extra work to…be extraordinarily cognizant that some students might not feel welcome on that porch,” Clifford said. “That space may not be welcoming for them, even though we want it to be. So that’s work that we need to do, and I really believe that is the work of everybody at the institution. But it’s extraordinarily important, I think, from a dean of students’ perspective.”

Clifford also emphasized his background as an educator and the importance of making sure the entire campus — not just classrooms — is a place where students can learn. This is an idea that, much to Clifford’s delight, was emphasized heavily in the university’s strate-

gic framework. Clifford identified three areas in which the Dean of Students’ Office helps educate students — the conduct process, case management and student organizations.

“It’s really a series of rich learning environments that we create for students,” Clifford said. “Those are some things that jump off the page of that framework, and I certainly think are important — and have always been important to the Dean of Students’ Office. It’s nice to see those reflected in the framework.”

When asked what he wants the student body to know about their new interim dean of students, Clifford spoke at length about how much he cares about students.

“Despite busy days, I want to be open and available to students,” Clifford said. “If they want me to come to an event, or if they have a concern that they are seeing that I might not be, I want to be available to hear that.”

Clifford continued: “If they want to sit down and have coffee and tell me about the cool things that they are doing in the classroom and in research and the things that they are learning in their campus job, I want to hear about those things. And I also want to hear and make myself available to a student who needs help and doesn’t know where else to go.”

Contact Aine Pierre at pierav20@wfu.edu

Page 6 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Features

Remembering Omar Benjamin Benjamin, who recently passed away, leaves behind an enduring legacy of compassion and inclusion AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor

It is a crisp, fall afternoon in 2017, and the LGBTQ+ Center is bustling. As you walk by, you may notice the distinct smell of baked macaroni and cheese and the unmistakable sound of roaring laughter. If you walked by on another afternoon, you may have heard an intense conversation about queer issues dissolve instantly into a passionate discussion about Paramore.

That is how Antayzha Wiseman — then a freshman at Wake Forest, now assistant director of its LGBTQ+ Center — remembers it. And central to those memories was one Omar Benjamin (‘20), who began working as a student staff member in the center that fall.

“This space is always going to be special to me,” Wiseman told me as we spoke in the Center. “I can’t talk about it and not think about [Benjamin] and the relationship that we had. I definitely think a lot of people who were deeply invested in the Center…share those same sentiments.”

By the time he graduated, Benjamin had left his mark, not only on the LGBTQ+ Center, but on nearly every brick of Wake Forest’s campus, from the volleyball court to the Japanese classes to the Student Union.

So it rocked many to their cores when Benjamin passed away earlier this year. An informal memorial Zoom was organized shortly before the start of classes this semester, and plans for a more formal memorial event are forthcoming, but it is evident that Benjamin’s legacy — and those who are committed to honoring it — are everywhere.

that meant on a larger scale around racial politics and family history and roots and things like that.”

Lisenby-Denson remembers Benjamin as someone who was ceaselessly authentic and marched to the beat of his own drum. “[With Benjamin,] it was like, ‘I’m gonna show up.

I’m going to bring what I’m good at, and I’m going to do what I’m interested in, and if you’re cool with it, cool, and if not, okay,’” Lisenby-Denson said.

His ability to be himself was contagious, said Wiseman.

“I was nervous [as a freshman] because everywhere I went at Wake [Forest], I was like, ‘there’s nobody that looks like me and that has my same identities just as far as being a queer person of color.’ And then I met Omar, and so I think that kind of gave me solid permission that I could exist in a lot of ways.”

Benjamin’s ability to be himself also showed in the equipment room, where he worked frequently with Assistant Athletic Director Roxann Moody.

“He became a friend…,” Moody said. “I always felt like he was a great and amazing person.”

That authenticity also led Benjamin to pursue his passions across campus, including the Japanese classroom, where he met Dr. Yasuko Takata Rallings, who described herself as Benjamin’s “school mom” to the Old Gold & Black back in 2020.

“Every day, he was so excited and motivated to learn…,” Takata Rallings said. “You could feel that he [was] so interested, speaking up all the time and working together with other students.”

Benjamin followed his passion for Japanese to become a delegate to a Japanese-American student conference, which involved traveling to Japan, meeting with government officials and learning more about Japanese culture.

“I think he really [sought] to build community [by] reaching out to the people,” Takata Rallings said.

And it was like that everywhere. At the Center, Benjamin’s passion for connecting with other queer students led him to revive Spectrum, the then-dormant queer-straight alliance on campus. “[Under Benjamin,] Spectrum was really involved,” Wiseman said. “They showed up every time everywhere, and they were a place for a lot of students who didn’t feel like they fit into other student organizations or that they could find community in other ways.”

Wiseman, who is now the adviser of Spectrum, continued: “As a student organization…Spectrum is capable of so much, and I saw that under Omar.”

Leaving a Legacy

Courtesy of Omar Benjamin

Shining in Many Spectrums Kayla Lisenby-Denson also met Benjamin in 2017, when Lisenby-Denson was assistant director of the Center (they are currently the director) and Benjamin was starting as a student staff member. As Benjamin established himself as an integral part of the Center’s team, the two became closer.

“He would take you places you didn’t know you were about to go in conversation,” Lisenby-Deson recalled, “and especially [with him having]... history in Alabama, we bonded a lot over being from the Deep South and our love for Alabama football, but also like what

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spectrum briefly fell dormant again, but in 2022, a group of queer students, largely belonging to the Class of 2026, revived the organization. Now, Spectrum’s leadership, along with Wiseman, must grapple with how to honor Benjamin’s legacy — both formally and in everyday life.

And what a legacy it is. While the Old Gold & Black did not attend Benjamin’s memorial Zoom out of respect for the privacy of the space, those who were there remember how many people from many different corners of campus came to remember Benjamin.

“When we had his memorial call, we had folks from [the] Japanese [department] who were on who I’d never heard of, but who were super close to him,” LisenbyDenson said. “And then we got an Instagram message from someone who wants to plant a tree in his honor on campus, who’s like, ‘I was one of Omar’s best friends from such and such,’ and I’m like, ‘I didn’t even know he was involved with [that organization].’”

In the Japanese department, Takata Rallings says that Benjamin’s legacy was his passion.

“I tell all my students to not just do [work] to get by, just to finish the assignment or to finish the course so you can get credit, but to be passionate about what you do and cultivate interest and do your best,” Takata Rallings said. “And I think that’s his legacy.”

As an example of that, Takata Rallings recalled Benjamin’s advice to incoming students in the 2020 Gradu-

ation Edition of the Old Gold & Black.

“He said, ‘Make Wake Forest part of you,’ and that really showed — he wanted to be engaged…and his message to us was to be a contributing member of Wake Forest. And I suppose I just want to send that message to [a lot of] students.”

In his work with the volleyball team, Assistant Athletic Director Roxann Moody spoke of Benjamin’s work ethic and his work teaching the next generation of student managers. “[As an upperclassman manager,] you become a leader of that manager group for the team, and I know that he did a really nice job,” Moody said.

In the LGBTQ+ Center, Benjamin’s personability and love of reaching out to people continue to inspire Lisenby-Denson.

“As we were preparing to have our welcome events this year, I was like, ‘you know, the one thing we can do, the best way we can honor his memory now is to welcome new students,’” Lisenby-Denson said. “And so even when I [thought], ‘I’m such an introvert,’ I was like ‘hey person, where are you from?’”

And to those who were his friends, Benjamin’s legacy is the love and care he consistently showed. Everyone I interviewed who knew Benjamin recalled his love of cooking — and not just cooking, feeding his loved ones. That the Center sometimes smelled like macaroni and cheese because he enjoyed bringing it in.

“If Omar cared about you, and you were really friends, sometimes he would feed you, and it was kind of like his love language,” Wiseman recalled.

Wiseman continued: “Ever since he passed, when I’m at home, I’m thinking about [him when] I’m making meals for my partner, and it makes me want to put more love into it — because I remember how much I really needed that and how it made me feel to be invited over to a friend’s house and for him to say, ‘I’m gonna feed you.’”

Benjamin left this legacy despite financial and personal hardships throughout college.

“I think we…saw how strong he was, due to his pride,” Moody said. “He was willing to do it again and do what needed to be done…and he met his commitments.”

Gone, But Only in Some Ways When someone with such an enduring legacy passes, it can be hard to believe they truly have left.

“It’s still hard to process,” Lisenby-Denson said, tears in their eyes. “It’s still hard to process that he won’t be coming back for Homecoming or just popping in to visit because he happened to be driving through town… [with] a tray of macaroni and cheese that he brought to leave in the fridge.”

Though Benjamin will not be present at Homecoming, he will be honored in the event’s annual Service of Remembrance on Oct. 20, 2023, according to the LGBTQ+ Center. But that will not be the only event to honor Benjamin.

Sophomore Nick Beckom never met Benjamin — the latter graduated two years before the former matriculated at Wake Forest. But as Spectrum’s presidents, and students responsible for reviving the organization, the two are linked through time.

Beckom and other members of Spectrum’s executive team are currently planning a memorial banquet for Benjamin — to pay homage to Benjamin’s love of cooking for people. There is no set date yet, but Beckom hopes that it will be some time in October, to honor Queer History Month.

“I definitely feel this responsibility to really try and put myself in his shoes and try and bring Spectrum back up,” Beckom said. “I feel like after [Benjamin] passed, my eyes opened, and I was like, ‘wow, he did do so much for Spectrum.’ Especially after my conversations with [Wiseman,] I was like, ‘I gotta honor that in some way.’”

Contact Aine Pierre at pierav20@wfu.edu

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 7

Features | Old Gold & Black

The Barons are back in town A deep dive into Wake Forest’s favorite band

VIRGINIA NOONE Photography Editor

The sun was blazing when Peyton Alley woke up in the Walmart parking lot in Winston-Salem on Saturday, Sept. 2. The lead singer of The Barons had played at Auburn University the previous night in southern Alabama and then drove eight and a half hours overnight with his bandmates in order to make it in time to play at the Labor Day weekend party hosted by Chi Psi, Lambda, SAE and Sigma Chi at Wake Forest.

It was 83 degrees by 3 p.m. when Alley and his fellow band members, Josiah Ragland, Kirtland Gray and Mathes Glymph, played through the grueling heat as students sported their red, white and blue attire.

State-hopping isn’t unusual for The Barons. They have toured across America on their own and as a supporting group for artists such as Judah and the Lion, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Barns Courtney. Alley says touring has allowed them to experience so many different types of people and places, which has been a huge inspiration for their work, specifically their EP, “rock! or go to the association,” which was released June 2.

Their most popular song, “American High,” is an alternative rock ode to American youth culture that is in line with the band’s motif of exploring the ups and downs of mental health in your twenties through writing music.

“It’s purposefully written as a confidence boosting song,” Alley said. “Sometimes when we try to love ourselves, it can come across as prideful or arrogant.

But at the end of the day, we all still need to love ourselves.”

The band has been performing all across the United States, especially at Southern Universities such as

UVA, Clemson, UNC and, of course, Wake Forest.

The band has been playing at Wake Forest since 2019 and frequently plays for Greek life events. Last year, The Barons played at Wake ‘N Shake and revived the tiring crowd in the event’s final hours.

Wake Forest students Kaia Paulsen and Mary Caroline McCormack originally saw The Barons together at a Greek life event off campus but then traveled to Charlotte to see them perform again. The band recognized them in the crowd and ended up giving them free band shirts and stickers for coming to the show.

“They’re just so genuine,” McCormack said. “They

Photo courtesy of Anna-Louise Cecil

Photo courtesy of Josh Satterly

always are willing to stick around after shows to take pictures and just chat with everyone. They put so much into their music and give off such awesome energy.”

Bridging the Gap The Barons have a way of bridging the gap between students involved in Greek life and those who aren’t.

Their original songs ring true to the experience of being a young adult who’s confused about life, which resonates with their youthful audience.

They’ve built a large fan base within the Wake Forest community that supersedes social divisions. Ultimately, after a long week at “Work Forest,” everyone just wants to hear some live music and be outside with their friends.

“There can definitely be that stereotype of fitting into different cliques or different groups,” Alley said.

“I think that’s kind of misunderstood with us sometimes, because we do play a lot of Greek life stuff, which can be seen as cliquey and cliche for colleges.

But I’ve really experienced a lot of love and support from students. They get along and all come to our show, which I think is really neat.”

In an age where live music is on the decline, and the gap between famous bands and smaller bands is expanding, The Barons provide an environment where the focus is on rock music rather than just partying.

Alley notes that the intimacy of smaller audiences is what enhances the experience for the band in a way that larger stadium shows can’t provide.

“There’s just something special about seeing somebody do their craft in the same way. Instead of going to a McDonald’s, you go to a nice restaurant where you can tell the chef takes pride in his work and in his food” Alley said. “You can taste that love in their food, right? And in that way, we want our music to be palatable to all types of people.”

Paulsen credits The Barons for bringing Wake Forest students together through live music. “It’s nice to see people coming out to support the arts and hear live music rather than just standing in a backyard and drinking,” she said.

The Barons look forward to continuing their tour of the East Coast with their newest band member, Jack Peacock, and showcasing their newest single, “Gator.”

The Barons will return to Wake Forest on Oct. 21. Alley says their ideal gig would be to play at The Ramkat in Winston-Salem.

“Whoever is listening on the other side — get us there,” Alley said. “I think we’ll sell our tickets if we play there, and it’ll be a really good time.”

Contact Virginia Noone at noonvc21@wfu.edu

Old Gold & Black | Features

Page 8 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Umbrellas: Wake Forest’s biggest faux pas?

An unusual trend at Wake Forest leaves some students drenched and outsiders high and dry JIMENA ELMUDFI & BAILEY HARDEGREE Contrbuting Writers

North Carolina weather can easily be compared to the mood swings of an average high schooler — unpredictable and unreliable.

But there are some things that are simply wellknown. Storms roll into Winston-Salem like clockwork every summer, yet neither broadcasted storm announcements nor the natural warning signs of a deep gray sky will make a Wake Forest student carry an umbrella.

By prescribing to a wider campus trend, students have — in a way — shamed umbrellas on campus.

On this campus, social trends often arise from the indirect pressure of fitting in. When one person kicks off an idea or behavior, it naturally trickles down and is picked up by a wider population. In a relatively small and closed campus like Wake Forest, trends are bound to spread like wildfire.

Whether you knew it or not, umbrellas are not cool.

“That’s weird, why are you using an umbrella?” senior Katherine Liontis recalls thinking when spotting an umbrella last week. “Those who do use an umbrella, they’re almost like an outsider.”

Although covering up from the rain seems like a logical choice, Wake Forest students seem too worried about standing out to stay dry, and would rather get soaked to blend in. Students like Liontis don’t deny that using an umbrella can be useful — it’s the implications that come after using one that becomes a deal breaker for most.

Senior Ian King believes that there isn’t any stigma around umbrellas on campus. But the aversion to umbrellas stems from the emphasis placed on uniformity at Wake Forest, he said, and not because of a natural dislike or inconvenience.

“There is kind of a tendency for groupthink to be more common here than there would be at a bigger public state school,” King said.

Wake Forest is often referred to as a “bubble” with-

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University

in Winston-Salem — a completely different world bounded by University Parkway and Reynolda Road.

But it doesn’t mean that everything that happens on campus isn’t applicable to the outside world. The trends that are seen across the student body are often representative of a universal set of behaviors.

“I don’t think a lot of people anywhere welcome change…nobody wants to be the odd man out,” senior John Peterson said.

Freshman Vivian Cardona agrees that, even with her short time on campus, social tendencies have al-

ready started among those new to the forest. Cardona emphasized that students are very socially aware and would rather not use something that they need to prevent feeling humiliated around campus.

“Before coming to Wake Forest, I didn’t really dress up as often as I do now,” said Liontis, a WinstonSalem local.

Freshmen on campus are hyper-aware of their new surroundings, careful not to stand out as they find their bearings in Winston-Salem. According to freshman Delia Hansen, “everyone was wearing the exact same outfit” during orientation — as if a dress code memo had been circulated on move-in day.

“I feel like there are some people that probably don’t use [umbrellas] really just because others don’t,” Liontis said. “I could see if we started using umbrellas people would probably be like, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll start using it, now it’s fine.’”

Last week, King found himself in a situation that most Wake Forest students will recognize: conflicted between blending in or getting soaked.

Keeping your clothes or your reputation dry — that’s the question.

“I don’t own an umbrella,” King said. “I think the only time I’ve ever used an umbrella on Wake Forest’s campus was when I made one of my good buddies let me share an umbrella with him during that torrential downpour that occurred last week.”

Occasionally, those brave souls who choose to stay dry are — quite possibly — secretly appreciated by the umbrella-less students.

“I feel like if there was someone with an umbrella, people would look at them a little weird but at the same time people would want to get under the umbrella,” Peterson said.

“Find your umbrella, stick out,” Peterson advised, hoping — perhaps — to start a new trend.

Your friends will surely thank you.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University

Contact Jimena Elmufdi at elmujm20@wfu.edu and Bailey Hardegree at hardbe21@wfu.edu

Old Gold & Black | Environment

Page 9 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Winston-Salem couple and Wake Forest alumna take on urban farming The White Family Urban Farm provides hydroponic microgreens and locally grown mushrooms to the Winston-Salem community BELLA ORTLEY- GUTHRIE Environment Editor

Cedric and Allison White (‘09) lead the way down the carpeted steps towards their basement in the Ardmore neighborhood of Winston-Salem with their two small children in tow. While some people use garages to store cars or rusty bikes, the White family harnesses their garage as a hydroponic microgreen and mushroom farm.

Opening the garage door, you’re met with a meticulous and full operation — equipment, freezers, tubs and marker boards line the walls.

On 0.28 acres of land, the White family makes use of every square foot for urban farming.

Tarps section off different operational stages and harvests. A humidifier and fan lightly blow the curtain surrounding trays of colorful hydroponic microgreens. Purple, red, yellow and green sprouts pop up under lights on silver racks lining the room.

These colorful seedlings are the microgreens — the young seedlings from plants and veggies that are harvested within a short germination and harvest window. Hydroponic farming doesn’t use soil, but instead a water-based n u t r i e n t solution to help with the

growing process. This makes it accessible to grow within a variety of places, including the indoors. Microgreens are known for their different aromas, textures, flavors and rich nutrient level in foods.

Cedric White, with a degree in botany from NC State, has maintained a love of the outdoors since childhood. The idea for the microgreen farm stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Whites said they wanted a way to secure food for their family and create a sustainable lifestyle as prices rose and supply chains varied throughout the pandemic. Cedric White said another factor stemmed from walking around the Cobblestone Farmers’ Market in 2020.

“It was the first time [I’d] ever been,” Cedric White said. “[Allison] took me there, and I just thought it was the most amazing thing to see local food. I was walking around… and I noticed there were no microgreens. So, the second time I went, that’s when I kind of fell upon microgreens on YouTube.”

In the 8-9 months following, Cedric began researching hydroponic microgreen farming — looking at the different methods, price points and the right tools before sprouting the seedlings.

As a USDA-approved farm, the White’s microgreen farming works in stages within a 7-14 day period. Using brown coconut coir pads and stainless steel

mesh plates, Cedric places coconut or steel plates into black and green hydroponic bins.

Taking a handful of seeds previously soaked in nutrient-solution water, he equally distributed them across the pads, making sure to leave room for aeration. Then, he sprayed the seeds with a mixture of water and 3% hydrogen peroxide.

“This is another step that maybe traditional farmers may not have to do because of the hydroponic and microgreens growing conditions,” Allison White said, “but you have to make sure that [the plates are] sterile to prevent mold.”

The bins containing the seeds are then stacked on top of each other in a climate controlled room in “blackout” for 1-2 days. Then, seeds germinate for 3-4 days under lights.

“They stay under the lights for 12-13 hours a day, and then they sleep at night like the rest of us!” Allison said.

The microgreens can get 1.5-3.5 inches tall and are harvested at the “true leaf stage” — when microgreens begin to grow a set of leaves. According to Cedric and Allison White, harvesting the microgreens at the “true leaf stage” ensures that the microgreens retain not only their flavor, but their nutrient density.

From there, they are cut straight from the tub into the mouths of hungry customers.

In the basement, Cedric opened a green tub. Inside, yellow sproutlings popped up from the steel plate. Even after 36 hours of germination, the yellow mustard is aromatic.

See Urban Farming, Page 10

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 10

Environment | Old Gold & Black

Urban Farming: Wake Forest alumna grows microgreens Continued from Page 1 As “How To with John Wilson” airs its final season, we’re reFrom mustard and china rose radishes to red acre cabbage, Cedric and Allison White bring 8-9 blends from their 23 microgreen varieties weekly to the Cobblestone Farmers’ Market. In their booth, they stack the tubs vertically for customers to taste, smell and purchase the microgreens. After purchasing, the microgreens can be used in eggs, avocado toast, smoothies, salads or as a garnish. They even offer seasonal microgreens, like pumpkin and corn for the autumnal season.

The White family’s commitment to sustainability and regenerative farming practices extends beyond their business — it’s their lifestyle.

“We really want to limit the amount of things coming in,” Cedric White said. “Our idea is to use everything that we have here that we possibly can, to make this [urban farming] work. Because…it’s all about price. Affordability is our main goal. We want to make this operation to where everything we do is making a difference somewhere else.”

In addition to microgreen and mushroom farming, the Whites have their own chickens, use recycled sawdust for their coop and gather wood chips from trees to make their own soil for their garden.

In the community, Cedric White is working towards making an exclusively Black-farmer-supported community agriculture box of produce and has even partnered with Sourdough Microgreen Cracker.

For Cedric White, he finds meaning in growing his own food. As one of the only Black farmers at Cobblestone and now one of North

Carolina’s first Black USDA mushroom farmer, he takes pride in helping his family stay healthy and to teach others the importance of health through safe, clean food-sharing.

Cedric White told the Old Gold & Black that watching family members battle health problems as a child changed his perspective on health.

“Being able to find a source of good food — and clean food — is very important to me,” Cedric White said. “I think ever since then [as a kid], I’ve been on a mission to change the world for health — to do what I can to make that happen.”

Allison White, who operates the business side, echoes his statements.

“I think it’s powerful for other people, kids particularly, but other adults as well, to see Black men farming [and] growing food,” Allison White said. “For me, as a mother, I love the idea of really taking control of my family’s food supply. And if it’s not something that I can grow, I love that there are other farmers just like us that are making that possible, bringing it to market and giving me the highest quality possible option.”

The White family’s urban farm highlights that, with the right tools, dedication, patience and time, growth and delicious produce can stem from the most unexpected places.

White Urban Farm Microgreens and Mushrooms are sold at Cobblestone Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8:30-12:30 p.m., or until they sell out. They also offer virtual urban farming consultation, and their microgreens can be purchased online from Wild and Woven Farm or via a subscription service through their Instagram or Website.

Contact Bella Ortley-Guthrie at ortlbs21@wfu.edu

Bella Ortley-Guthrie/Oldd Gold & Black

Finding great places to learn in the great outdoors 'LYHUVLI\ \RXU VWXG\ VSDFH E\ FKHFNLQJ RXW WKHVH ¿YH RXWGRRU VWXG\ VSRWV BELLA ORTLEY-GUTHRIE Environment Editor

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

The field by ZSR hosts multiple picnic tables for students to study at.

Are you tired of spending your days on the fourth floor of the ZSR library? Does sitting under your dorm room’s fluorescent lights make you squeamish? While Wake Forest offers numerous indoor study spaces, there are also several outdoor study spots on campus.

Whether you’re looking for a new study nook or just trying to find a way to connect with nature, here are some outdoor study spots to consider.

Picnic Tables outside of ZSR and near Salem Hall: These picnic tables may not be much, but they do offer a chance to sit outside in full sunlight. Between the ZSR Library and Salem Hall are three picnic tables, two on the grass and one near the entrance of Salem Hall, which almost always are in full sun. After grabbing a drink from Smith’s Café, head to these tables, and take a minute before diving into work. What’s great about this spot is its central location on campus. Whether you’re headed to a biology lab in Winston or to a communication class in Carswell, it only takes five minutes to pack up and move.

Davis Field: If you’re feeling adventurous, grab a blanket and your laptop and head to Davis Field. Under the swaying trees, you can feel the grass and enjoy a sliver of nature away from the business of Hearn or Manchester Plaza. The best part about this field is the fact that there’s so much space. Whether beside Scales or closer to the ZSR Library, there is an abundance of room from which to choose.

Tables between Babcock and Luter Residence Halls: Grab your accounting book and take a hike toward four tables smack dab in between Babcock and Luter Residence Halls. While a little out of the way from the Hearn and Manchester Plazas, this spot is another quiet escape to do some reading or hop on a Zoom meeting. With four tall trees centered behind the tables, you can rest in the shade while listening to the birds or catching a glimpse of a squirrel. While you’re there, make a loop around Freshman Land as a study break or a way to experience the outdoors outside of hanging out on the quad.

Hidden Tribble Courtyard: The hidden courtyard is a secret treasure on campus. With two courtyards behind Tribble, you can swing by outside for a little break between humanities classes. The great thing about this study spot is the seclusion. With minimal foot traffic coming in or out through the back, you can type away to your heart’s content with little to no human interaction.

Picnic Tables outside Farrell Hall: If you haven’t found them already, these are a popular outdoor study spot. They have the most tables, aside from the picnic tables on Manchester Plaza. With close proximity to Starbucks, this is the perfect place to work either solo or with a large group of friends. In front of the looming School of Business, under the trees and on the adolescent mulch, it is a good

place to lock down and study.

Whenever you’re debating your next study spot or fighting for a table at the ZSR Library, consider these options and outdoor spaces as not only a moment to unplug from the indoors but to enjoy nature.

Contact Bella Ortley-Guthrie at ortlbs21@wfu.edu

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

In the small enclave within Tribble’s walls, tables await students hitting the books.

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 11

Environment | Old Gold & Black

A greener way to conduct a business school The Wake Forest School of Business creates new director of sustainability initiatives position NATASHA HEISENBERG & BEN LANE Features Editor & Contributing Writer

On Oct. 15, the Wake Forest School of Business will officially welcome a director of sustainability initiatives as part of a broader effort to further integrate sustainability into the university’s coursework — a first for the business school.

The decision to create this position was not made in isolation. Instead, the School of Business leveraged the collaborative network that has grown between the university’s environmental program and other departments across campus. Central to this network is the Wake Forest University Center for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (CEES), aimed at increasing the accessibility of sustainability and translating scientific research and technology into actionable solutions.

“CEES’s role is to be a cross-connector across the entire university,” said Dr. Stan Meiburg, the executive director of CEES and former acting deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. “Business is critical to the future of sustainability, and we’ve been working over the last several years to increase our connections with the business school.”

Understanding the intersection between business and sustainability has gained traction in recent years, reinforced by professionals in the business sector who emphasize its importance.

“People in the business world recognize that sustainability is something they have to focus on,” Meiburg said. “And by the same token, the changes that we need in the larger society of sustainability are not going to happen without business support.”

This is a relatively recent standpoint that Wake Forest has adopted, especially given the School of Business’s historical resistance to sustainability. In a 2018 article published by the Old Gold & Black, student Isabella Korntisky wrote of tension between the School of Business and the idea of prioritizing the environment.

The article went on to include a quote from Dedee

Johnston, Wake Forest’s Chief Sustainability Officer at the time, stating: “The business school has some funding streams and has made very explicit strategic decisions to align itself with a particular political thought.”

According to Dr. Norma Montague, the Senior Associate Dean of Academic Programs in the School of Business, this sentiment has shifted.

“There’s a real demand for business people to have knowledge of sustainability reporting, either to engage in that reporting or to interpret it,” Montague said.

“We have prospective employers who have said, ‘We want your students to have more sustainability education.’”

To achieve this, the School of Business aims to make related courses accessible to students regardless of their degree or school within the university.

“There are two sides,” Montague said. “The market is demanding that students have knowledge and skills related to sustainability, and we also think it is important for business students and for creating a more sustainable world.”

She highlighted the increasing number of positions in the corporate world requiring sustainability-related skills. In today’s job market, firms seek individuals who can interpret or audit sustainability reporting — the process of disclosing a company’s environmental goals and practices.

Wake Forest offers majors in environmental science and environmental and sustainability initiatives, as well as a minor in environmental science. The four undergraduate business majors have long lacked sustainability-related curricula in their programs, but faculty are hopeful that the director of sustainability initiatives will be integral in improving this.

“I expect our new director for sustainability initiatives will be a great help in terms of getting more curricular initiatives off the ground as well as fostering collaboration with other departments across the university,” said Mark Evans, the Associate Dean for Accountancy at the School of Business.

Montague agreed.

“While Wake [Forest] students have the opportunity to pursue sustainability education through the undergraduate college and the Master of Sustainability (MAS) program, there is a strong connection with business that necessitates sustainability education across all our programs,” Montague said.

The university has previously made efforts to enhance sustainability course offerings. The MBA program tried to crosslist MAS courses to allow business students the chance to partake in sustainability curriculum. However, they encountered roadblocks when class schedules clashed, making it difficult for students to register for both their mandatory classes and sustainability courses.

“Ideally, we would like to see students with different majors in the same classroom,” Montague said.

The director of sustainability initiatives will address these challenges and lead the effort to introduce sustainability coursework into the undergraduate business school. According to Montague, sustainability curriculum is expected to be integrated into the School of Business by the fall of 2026.

This move reflects a progressive step in the global culture shift towards sustainability.

“It’s consistent with the university’s mission — Pro Humanitate — it’s consistent with the school’s mission to create a better world,” Montague said. “Why now?

Because the market is demanding that the students have skills in sustainability.”

The creation of the director of sustainability initiatives position shows that both Wake Forest and the School of Business are committed to the mission of sustainability. Faculty are optimistic about the promise of this role and all that will ensue as a result.

“We’re really excited about this,” Montague said. “I think it’s really important for the business school and the university to partner on sustainability initiatives.

It’s good for everybody.”

Contact Natasha Heisenberg at heisng20@wfu.edu and Ben Lane at lanebg20@wfu.edu

Evan Harris /Old Gold & Black

ǯ ϐ ǡ Ǧ Ǥ

OPINION

PAGE 12 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Shaila Prasad, prassp21@wfu.edu

Lauren Carpenter, carple21@wfu.edu

The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board

Drop in rankings enforce America’s ongoing attack on liberal arts education VIRGINIA NOONE Photography Editor

Liberal arts education is under attack— and the changes in The U.S. News & World Report Rankings prove this.

On Monday, Sept. 18, our campus awoke to find we had dropped in The U.S. News & World Report Rankings twenty spots to tie with Virginia Tech at No.47. President Wente cites in her message to the school that the abrupt change in criteria, “seventeen out of nineteen indicators,” as the cause for the steep drop.

Robert Morse, chief data strategist for U.S. News & World Report, has worked at the company since 1976. This year’s criteria for ranking universities changed more this year than it has in forty years.

He claims that a greater emphasis was placed on outcomes measures.

New additions included examining how many graduates earned more than those with only high school diplomas, metrics on research productivity of faculty and enrollment of first-generation students.

Factors removed included alumni giving rate, class size, class standing of admitted students, proportion of students with debt and proportion of faculty with terminal degrees. It is important to note that alumni giving rate is not calculated by amount of money given, but instead percentage of alumni that donate even in the smallest of amounts.

Factors receiving added weight include amount of Pell Grants given and graduation rate performance.

Many of the changes were intended to reward universities that prioritizes diversity and affordability, which is admirable, but as a result penalized private, liberal arts colleges which is an anecdote of a dangerous shift in America’s vision of what higher education should provide students.

Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are ranked identically in the report, despite these vast disparities in institutions according to statistics published in The U.S. News & World Report.

Wake Forest has a 37% lower acceptance rate than Virginia Tech.

Wake Forest’s Student-Faculty ratio is 10:1 versus Virginia Tech’s 17:1 ratio.

Wake Forest has a 2% higher First Year Student Retention Rate.

Wake Forest has 33.4% of students apply for need-based aid with 89.5% receiving it.

Virginia Tech had 64.9% of students apply for need-based aid with 13.3% receiving it.

Higher education is not meant to produce and supply machine part workers to pump into the workforce, but instead nourish well-rounded individuals in critical thinking to better society. Prioritizing outcomes rather than the process of learning is an unfortunate by-product of changes in our country’s priorities.

In February, Marymount University voted to eliminate majors in art, English, history, philosophy as well as others.

From 2013 to 2016, 651 foreign language programs were closed according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. West Virginia University recently made nation-

al news for cutting their foreign languages and threatening to cut their jazz studies, world languages, linguistics, creative writing and more.

WVU President, E. Gorden Gee, told The Washington Post that the cuts are essential to free up resources for programs in higher demand such as forensics, engineering and neuroscience. “We are going through an existential crisis in higher education,” Gee says.

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ budget in 2022 was $180 million. Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation’s budget has doubled in the past two decades and is now 50 times larger than the National Endowment for the Humanities’.

Far-right politicians such as Wiconsin’s Scott Walker, Kentucky’s Matt Bevin and notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are part of the force behind the standardization of practical, vocational education.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has recently worked to transform the small liberal arts New College of Florida, based in Sarasota, FL., into a conservative institution. By removing and then replacing nearly half of the college’s trustees, forcing out the president and removing ideological filters.

Additionally, the changes removed class size from consideration which goes against multiple studies that link a higher quality of education with smaller student-faculty ratios. The West Chester University of Pennsylvania study also found higher student satisfaction with smaller class sizes.

These changes ultimately reward state schools with large research departments, large class sizes and low alumni involvement—which is what they transparently

intended to do.

The changes in criteria promote the notion that education and knowledge is only valuable if it produces a tactile result—this is a regression of a structure of learning that has been around since Socrates and Aristotle.

Humans are natural scholars and our minds are worth more than what objects we produce and earn monetarily. Having complex conversations centered around abstract concepts that often do not have clear answers is worthwhile. The importance of these dialogues is not derived from finding a result—it comes from the conversation happening in the first place.

As scholars and humans, we should not require concrete answers to merit conversations.

With the rise of AI Technology, the logical response should be to foster free, human thinking rather than putting greater emphasis on STEM and production of material goods. The value of the liberal arts education is that engineers can also be well-versed in philosophy. Neuroscientists can be creative writers. Journalists can also study biochemistry. Both spaces can co-exist and should.

A quality higher education values the furthering of free-thinking, well rounded citizens who at a fundamental level believe in bettering themselves and humanity. If Wake Forest falls eighteen spots on a list online because of these values or decides to remove themselves from the rankings as other liberal arts universities have—so, be it.

Contact Virginia Noone at noonvc21@wfu.edu

Wake falls 19 spots in the college rankings, and it’s all your fault ALEX MOJICA Staff Writer It’s Sept. 16, 2023. You woke up and learned that the U.S. News overhauled its methodology to create their 2024 Best Colleges rankings and, as a proud Wake Forest student, you’re about to see where the Demon Deacons stand. Upon checking the new list, you find that Wake Forest University is ranked No. 10.

Congratulations! Your institution just improved 19 spots from its 2023 ranking.

What’s your initial reaction? Are you thrilled to be enrolled at a top-10 university? Are you surprised? More motivated?

Well, don’t be.

Profoundly little has changed about your school in the last year. Seriously, it’s like upgrading to the next iPhone. The things that matter — your textbooks, classrooms and school’s values — only change at the margins each year. On the other hand, adding La Sabrosa and some renovations to the ZSR Library won’t do much for you, and they certainly don’t justify a 19-spot boost in Wake Forest’s ranking.

And you know what? None of those things justify a 19-spot drop in Wake Forest’s ranking either.

You probably don’t need me to outline the ways U.S. News revamped its college rankings methodology. There’s a good chance you know they put more emphasis on the success of first-generation students and less on small class sizes and terminal degree faculty.

Most importantly, you’ve probably discovered that the Demon Deacons are rather butthurt about it.

One of Wake Forest’s largest draws for students is the interpersonal and tailored inclass experience it provides. Its relatively small class sizes and experienced professors allures students who want to establish strong connections with their professors. Although the US News values those assets less on this year’s rankings, they boost our education’s quality in a fashion most larger schools cannot match.

Wake’s plummet down the rankings reflects a separate issue: its overrepresentation of students from upper-class income brackets.

According to the New York Times, 71% of Wake Forest students are from the top 20% in family income, and 22% are from the top

1%. This structurally impedes its ability to demonstrate support for first-generation and working class students.

My point is not that Wake has been unwilling to support structurally disadvantaged students. Its First in the Forest program, for example, provides academic and career support for first-generation students. This demonstrates intent to change yet is not a panacea. Since such programs cannot immediately overhaul the institution’s socioeconomic demographics, reflections in its US News ranking could remain limited in the coming years.

What is lost in this reaction to the rankings is that the quality of Wake’s instruction and institutional support has not dropped. The rankings do not suggest that Wake students will be worse off in the future than previously expected. Daksh Goyal, a first-year at Wake, said the rankings have “not changed my perception of the school… nothing has fundamentally changed about the school itself, just what US News as an organization values in a college.”

Everyone came to Wake for a different reason; everyone is entitled to their take on its new ranking. My point is not that certain

takes — including that of the US News — are incorrect, but that they are self-fulfilling prophecies. For those who have been paying close attention to each school’s track record with first-generation students, the new rankings will not surprise you. If Wake’s drop does surprise you, it demonstrates that such data was not your biggest concern when coming here.

Trusting the U.S. News National Universities rankings is like plugging a power strip into itself and expecting infinite power. By judging Wake based on these rankings, you are turning the US News’ think-piece into gospel.

If you came here for the features that made Wake a top-30 school last year, then you’re still essentially attending a top-30 school.

If you’re dropping $80k on tuition, try not to have an existential crisis. No university has a true ranking; the ranking’s don’t predict your future success. If one of your determining criteria in choosing your school was its spot on a list that exists to garner views and generate profit, the joke’s on you.

Contact Alex Mojica at mojiag22@wfu.edu

Opinion | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 13

University must focus on improving our rank OVAL OFFENSE The U.S. News rankings are integral to Wake Forest’s reputation HOPE ZHU Staff Writer

I vividly recall the winter afternoon when I first learned that Wake Forest University had granted me early admission. It was during my senior year of high school, and I was thousands of miles away from Winston-Salem in my hometown of Zhejiang, China. In the eyes of many in my community, the pinnacle of American education was embodied by just a handful of institutions: Harvard, Yale and perhaps Princeton. So, when I received the early decision acceptance to my dream school, I could only share my elation with a small inner circle that included family, teachers and a few school friends who were more globally aware.

You see, Wake Forest wasn’t a name that resonated with anyone beyond that select group, it almost sounded like a school dedicated solely to forestry.

Back then, my secret weapon was the U.S. News ranking — a globally recognized tool for evaluating colleges. It had Wake Forest listed among the top30 universities in the nation. Whenever the question of where I was pursuing my degree arose, I’d casually drop the “top 30” label. It wasn’t something I relished; I never believed a set of statistical metrics could capture the diverse academic experience, the global student community, vast resources and alumni network that Wake Forest offered. But, much like standardized tests, it served as a quick and straightforward way to validate the journey that had brought me here — financial sacrifices for language training, taking AP courses abroad and weighing more affordable alternatives. All this to enter Wake Forest, renowned for its exclusive liberal arts education and the abundant resources of a large university.

Choosing a college isn’t a one-size-fitsall endeavor. For many local students, factors like proximity, reputation in the community and affordability weigh heavily in their decision-making process.

I realized this first-hand last year in my journalism class when I brought up a change in a college’s ranking during a news discussion. My professor scoffed, asking, “Who even pays attention to rankings from a mediocre journalism platform trying to boost its profile with these ridiculous lists?”

But here’s the thing: a college’s ranking matters significantly to international students. According to Study International, many of us don’t have the luxury of visiting a campus before enrolling, so having access to unbiased, objective information about an institution becomes crucial. Moreover, international students often face higher tuition fees than their domestic counterparts. This drives us to seek schools that offer the best value, not just during our time at university but also in the opportunities that lie beyond graduation.

On the evening of Sept. 17, U.S. News dropped a bombshell: the 2024 Best College rankings. In the tight-knit international student community around me, the reaction was swift. We quickly learned that Wake Forest’s ranking had taken a nosedive, plummeting from its long-held position in the high-20s to a humbling 47.

We Have a Lot to Work On Before coming across Wake Forest President Susan Wente and Provost Michelle Gillespie’s message on the morning of Sept. 18, my stance on Wake Forest’s ranking was clear: it’s just one piece of the puzzle. And that’s a fact — with Columbia University opting out of the ranking game and the ongoing criticism about how rankings oversimplify academic rigor, student profiles and reputation, skepticism is well-founded.

I had a shift in perspective after reading their message. Rankings, it seems, hold a kernel of truth — to some extent.

They mirror Wake Forest’s unyielding identity as an exclusive, selective institution for the academic elite, a narrative that isn’t as popular in today’s educational landscape.

Do I cherish my two years at Wake Forest? Absolutely. Do I acknowledge that the dip in our ranking under this revamped ranking system highlights areas where Wake Forest can strive for improvement? Undoubtedly. While Wente and Gillespie contend that U.S. News no longer evaluates the aspects that define Wake Forest, like class sizes and faculty expertise, it also sheds light on some metrics where we lag behind — even when compared to institutions like Vanderbilt, Dartmouth and NYU, which the message cites as a parallel among universities with lower rankings this year.

Consider the metric of social mobility — an indicator that evaluates how effectively schools assist economically disadvantaged students in achieving graduation success. Despite Wake Forest’s concerted efforts, including initiatives like First in the Forest and the Magnolia Scholars aimed at supporting first-generation college students, the university grapples with a deeply ingrained reputation as an exclusive, expensive institution that predominantly caters to affluent white students. In the fall of 2020, 145 new first-generation students were welcomed, comprising 10% of the incoming class. Similarly, less than 10% of students receive Pell Grants.

While it will be hard for Wake Forest to shed its identity as an elite, high-cost institution, it is imperative to confront this reality. Repeated affirmations of a commitment to delivering a transformative education experience seem dissonant when the average cost before financial aid escalates to a staggering $79,886 — well above the national average. This stark reality underscores the pressing need for more robust financial aid, and while the current assistance levels are fair, they shouldn’t be hailed as exceptional.

reputation and neglect the international aspect. Despite a consistent international student population of around 400 in recent years, outreach programs to wellknown high schools and universities in other countries remain rare. Cultural awareness activities seem to feature more in enrollment advertisements than in practice, and resources to support the international community remain stagnant and institutional, lacking in meaningful personal connections.

The messaging from undergraduate admissions and Wente is that we shouldn’t care about rankings. But the truth is, we do care. Back when we were in the top 30 spot, that number was proudly featured in the university’s automated hold messages for phone calls and in press releases, championing the university’s excellence each year. Wake Forest never hesitated to acknowledge the prestige of being in the top 30, as recognized by some “moderately regarded journalism platform.” This distinction attracted thousands of out-of-state and international students who had never heard of Wake Forest before. But now that we’ve slipped to No. 47, why does Wake Forest suddenly not care? And what actions will be taken — like a more comprehensive evaluation of the university’s resources and new recruitment strategies — to address this public relations challenge? As of now, it seems there will be no changes.

Though ranking systems like U.S. News may have their flaws, it is unwise for the university’s leadership to disregard them. As long as prospective students still turn to rankings as a primary means of assessing whether their dedication will be met with a quality education, these rankings retain some significance.

U.S. News has adapted its criteria to align with evolving metrics for gauging student success — an area where Wake Forest seems to be progressing slowly.

While we’re in the midst of shedding our exclusive and contentious narrative, it’s clear that the pace of change isn’t keeping up with the increasingly globalized education landscape. We must take steps to ensure we don’t fall behind.

Contact Hope Zhu at zhuq21@wfu.edu

North Carolina ϐ 2024 election DILLON CLARK Senior Writer As the 2024 Presidential Election approaches, presidential candidates are focusing more and more on North Carolina. Historically, it's always been considered a swing state but tends to swing towards the Republican party. This election, however, will be different.

In 2020, Republican nominee Donald Trump won the state’s 15 electoral votes by a mere 74,000 votes out of 5.5 million casted. This is much less than anticipated as when Trump won North Carolina in 2016 by 173,000 votes – displaying that his margin of victory shrunk significantly from 3.6% in 2016 to 1.3% in 2020.

How and why is North Carolina voting more blue? North Carolina cities such as Durham, Charlotte and even Winston-Salem are seeing a shift in demographics – the growth of younger and more diverse populations. Back in 2000, Gore won the popular vote in the Raleigh-Durham metro area by less than a point. In 2020, Biden won the same area by a margin of 27 points. Similar trends occurred in Charlotte: an area that once voted for Bush by a margin of 3 points in 2000 voted for Biden with a massive margin of 36 points in 2020. With more of a shift expected by 2024, there is little doubt that North Carolina will be amongst the closest races in the general election.

Candidates are taking every opportunity they get to gain more popularity within the state. Biden has made more than 6 trips to the state for voter outreach and community events. DeSantis and Trump have, similarly, touted their great success and appreciation for the state during campaign rallies this summer.

In the end, however, North Carolina’s swing to red or blue will be determined by a multitude of factors – voter turnout, the economy, demographics, campaign strategies and national trends. Its 15 electoral votes could quite possibly be the deciding factor in the presidential election.

Contact Dillon Clark at clardj22@wfu.edu

Why Administration Needs to Care About the Rankings One aspect that has come to light this year, thanks to the rankings but not traditionally part of Wake Forest’s branding, is its international reputation and inclusivity — a key reason why international students place importance on rankings.

While the new U.S. News methodology has propelled larger, research-focused, public flagship institutions to higher positions, that doesn’t mean that Wake Forest should rest content with its local

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

Page 14 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Opinion

Emotional truths meet hard reality Hasan Minhaj’s fabrications hurt people of color, starting with himself SHAILA PRASAD Opinion Editor This morning, I read Clare Malone’s article in the New Yorker: “Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Emotional Truths.’’” In the article, she exposes the popular comedian and former host of “The Daily Show” for hyperbolizing many critical aspects of the stories he has told in his specials, specifically traumatizing ones about racial discrimination he and his family have experienced.

I came across the story because my older brother texted me, “Did you see the whole ‘emotional truth’ thing about hasan minhaj?”

He told me to read the article and let him know what I thought. Our texts were an honest exchange of fear and sadness that could not be constrained to little blue bubbles on our phones that would be forgotten when the next “scandal” rolls around.

Because the fact is, this isn’t just a scandal. Unfortunately, I believe that Minhaj, while his intent may have been pure, is currently playing a role in helping the United States take steps backward in the fight against racism.

We rarely see brown people in popular media. We rarely hear their stories.

We rarely talk about their stories. Now, thanks to his fabrications, we will barely believe their stories.

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Minhaj’s Methods To argue in support of his actions, Minhaj introduces the idea of the “emotional truth” to Malone.

“Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” Minhaj said. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70% emotional truth — this happened — and then 30% hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”

Essentially, Minhaj believes that these inaccuracies were justified because of the point he was trying to convey, which was usually in line with supporting people of color.

“The punchline is worth the fictionalized premise,” Minhaj told Malone.

These are lines you don’t cross. Telling audiences that your infant daughter was exposed to white powder in an envelope and rushed to the hospital in fear of it being anthrax is not a “punchline.”

Minhaj admitted to Malone that while he had received a letter that contained white powder, his daughter was not exposed to it, nor was she rushed to the hospital. His family was unharmed. I can’t imagine how difficult it would’ve been for him to receive that letter in the first place, but it doesn’t make amplifying the story for emotional impact moral, or even sane.

While tailoring his reputation and stories around being a Muslim Indian in the U.S. post-9/11, early on in his career, Minhaj aligned himself with a traumatized cross-section of this country after the terrorist attack –– an experience I could never claim to understand.

But, in an attempt to use empathy to gain the support of his listeners, Minhaj was foregoing the trust they had in him, and in turn, the trust they had in the stories of people of color.

I will acknowledge that I take most of the stories I hear from my favorite comedians with a grain of salt. While I think Malone was a bit too worried about whether Minhaj’s viewers felt cheated by his lies, what I’m concerned about is the impact this has on Muslim and Indian communities around the country.

It’s already so difficult for these communities to speak out against possible discrimination, but it will be 10 times harder since one of the only Muslim In-

dians that represented them lied — and is being rightfully called out for it.

The Importance of Representation When Minhaj joked about what it was like pursuing comedy with Indian parents, it was obvious his content stemmed from popular Indian stereotypes — which was funny, but it was also empowering.

Minhaj’s incredible storytelling abilities magnified the households he was able to reach. He not only weaved his American culture with his Muslim Indian side, but he also “made it” in an unforgiving industry while bearing this identity on his chest — helping to create a new “normal.

As a 20-year-old woman of Indian descent, this type of representation has always meant a lot to me. I humbly shout out “Lemonade Mouth,” the 2011 Disney Channel original movie (or should I say masterpiece) where Naomi Scott, who is of Indian descent, plays Mo –– the coolest girl in school.

While it seems childish, watching this movie is the only memory I have of growing up where I saw myself in a character I looked up to. Until recently, Indian actors in Hollywood, women especially, were either never the main character, or if they were, had personalities that made it impossible for audiences to like them.

And on the off-chance that neither of the above is true, the fact that the character was Indian was so intrinsically a part of the plot that you couldn’t separate their race from who they were as a person.

But it’s true, Minhaj allowed me to see someone who looked like me on screen in the latter half of my childhood. He was witty, charismatic and his fame was only building with each passing day.

Hard Realities My problem with the hyperbole of his stories isn’t that the message is incorrect.

Rather, it’s that with the release of this truth, people may feel like accounts of racism shared by Muslims and Indians are contestable.

“Our stories dealing with racism are always first met with doubt,” my brother texted me. “So this doesn’t help at all.”

Attending a predominantly white institution like Wake Forest University comes with its challenges. I have seen women speak out about racism on this campus and be met with harsh judgment. The stark racial imbalance is acknowledged and yet every day I see reasons why Wake Forest is stuck in place.

While I’ve always been averse to sharing my experiences with racism on campus, Minhaj’s fight against racial discrimination was inspiring. But learning that his most powerful stories were not entirely true only increases the likelihood that important discussions about race will not occur on campuses like this one.

Why ‘Emotional Truths’ Aren’t Good Enough I appreciate that Minhaj had positive intentions. He wanted to make people understand the depth of what he felt. In many cases, the only way to do that was to make it sound worse than it was –– in other words, “emotional truths.”

“The emotional truth is first. The factual truth is secondary,” Minhaj said to Malone about his stage shows.

What I don’t think Minhaj realizes is that these two are not mutually exclusive — especially not when you’re the son of immigrants.

If Minhaj wants this “emotional truth” to be impactful for his audiences, he has to base it on “factual truth.” Otherwise, the emotions associated with his stories will fall away quickly, and all that will be left are feelings of anger and doubt — and maybe a revival of fear.

Minhaj used to stand with the kids who felt like they weren’t seen because of the color of their skin. Today, he is unintentionally standing in the way of their path toward building awareness and selfbelief. That is what I believe makes the fabrication wrong –– not some comedian rulebook.

If he stays on this path, Minhaj’s quest for “emotional truth” will only turn around and hurt the community he is trying to lift, starting with himself.

Contact Shaila Prasad at prassp21@wfu.edu

Joining clubs is hot, but the involvement fair doesn’t have to be AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor The beginning of the fall semester is often a time of great excitement. For first-years, the experience of being away at college — and all the newfound freedom that comes with it — is still fresh. The excitement is generally no less palpable for returning students; a new academic year brings the promise of new opportunities and adventures.

It is against this backdrop that one of my personal favorite events of the year takes place — the fall Involvement Fair. There, most student organizations on campus try to grow their ranks by signing up swarms of — mostly — freshmen for this email list and that GroupMe. It shows the breadth and depth of opportunities for Wake Forest students to get involved — you could join the campus literary magazine, the newspaper, the Ballroom Dancing Club, the Aviation Club, Campus Kitchen…or the campus literary magazine or

the newspaper.

That said, I do have one qualm with the fall Involvement Fair, and that is its location.

While Poteat Field is centrally located and certainly has enough space for the hundreds of organizations that attend the fair, it has minimal shading. This would be easily overlooked if the Fall Involvement Fair did not take place during one of the hottest times of day in the throes of summer, but alas, it does.

The latest fair, on Sept. 5, saw heat indices reach 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, according to an EMS volunteer I asked, there were no calls to emergency services about heat exhaustion, but many involved in the fair, myself included, were suffering in the heat. Nearly every student at the fair, on both sides of the table, was soaked with sweat. The most common answer I got when I was tabling and asked “how are you?” was some variant of “hot.”

In all fairness, the Office of Student Engagement did well to manage the event on what was a very hot day. The handheld fans

that it provided were life savers and very widely used, especially by those tabling for student organizations. But there should never have been a need to mitigate the effects of weather.

Yes, some student organizations are all about performing under pressure and staying in the kitchen when it proverbially gets hot, but the blazing heat is probably not the best place to consider which organizations will shape the next X years of your college career. As such, I firmly believe that the fair should be moved to an indoor location (or locations).

There are distinct advantages to holding the fair inside. The heat is one thing, but something like a thunderstorm or even a rainstorm can (and did last year) postpone the fair, meaning student organizations have to readjust their recruiting schedule and make sure that people are free on the new date to table at the fair.

All of these unpleasantries can be avoided by simply holding the fair inside.

In terms of where the fair could be held, there are several options. I recognize that space

is an important factor here and is probably the reason why the fair cannot be held solely in Benson, like the fair in January (fewer clubs attend the spring Involvement Fair because many clubs only recruit in the fall). I think the Sutton Center’s multiple basketball courts, one of which is frequently used for student organization events, would work well and would at least keep all of the organizations in the same building.

But do student organizations need to be in the same building? The involvement fair already divides student organizations by category (e.g. service organizations, media, music, etc.). I could see a situation working where half of the organizations table in Benson and half table somewhere else. This option would also make the fair more manageable for students who may be overwhelmed by seeing all 200+ student organizations all at once (and again, in the blazing heat).

Contact Aine Pierre at pierav20@wfu.edu

Cooper Sullivan sullcg20@wfu.edu Aaron Nataline nataae21@wfu.edu Sean Kennedy kennsm21@wfu.edu

SPORTS Follow us on Twitter @wfuogbsports OLD GOLD & BLACK

PAGE 15 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Men's soccer extinguish Flames Wake Forest scores three goals, three points against Liberty AARON NATALINE Sports Editor A physical match between the No. 14 Demon Deacons (4-1-3, 0-1-1 ACC) and the Liberty Flames (5-2, 0-0) on Tuesday night at Spry Stadium resulted in a 3-1 victory for the home squad.

With Wake Forest players draped in green jerseys to raise awareness for those with mental health struggles, the clashes with Liberty’s red kits brought color to the contest’s action.

Officials dished out four yellow cards during the game, with the home team receiving one and the Flame three. One of Liberty’s warnings came after their forward, Lucas Kelly, got involved i n a scuffle with several Demon Deacons.

Bella Parlioni/ Old Gold & Black

Just before the second-half scuffle, the teams exchanged scores over a span of six minutes. Down 2-0 with just four shots — compared to Wake Forest’s 10 in the first half — Liberty took advantage of a corner kick in the 53rd minute, and Kelly headed in their first goal of the match. The Demon Deacons responded when sophomore Vlad Walent floated the ball over a cluttered 18-yard box for Sidney Paris. The junior allowed himself one touch with his chest before chipping the ball off of the goalkeeper and into the netting.

The scoreboard read 3-1 for Liberty’s kickoff, and less than a minute later, the video monitor displayed players from both teams shouting and shoving on the far sideline. The crowd, which had a sizable Liberty contingent, became animated at the sight, especially after Kelly received his team’s third yellow card of the game.

Both teams embraced the physicality of the game, but Liberty (23 fouls to Wake Forest’s seven) brought a style of defense that was particularly energetic.

The Flames’ Leo Conneh and Gabe Findley challenged every buildup Wake Forest mustered, no matter the direction in which the ball was moving.

Liberty moved the same on offense, which was all breakaways. On one counterattack, they would have earned another goal if Jahlane Forbes hadn’t caught up to the Flame in a race down the field that brought spec-

tators to their feet. While the defender managed to interrupt a potentially lethal cross, both Forbes and the Liberty player went down on the play. Forbes did not return but walked off on his own power, however, not before he waited for a trainer to help his opponent off of the field, an act of sportsmanship despite the intensity of the game.

The Demon Deacons struggled to cross the field with the pressure on their fullbacks for the first 10 minutes, but junior Roald Mitchell took advantage of the eager defense twice in the first half.

In the 13th minute, senior Colin Thomas fought off two defenders at the right side of the six-yard box to turn and skip the ball across to sophomore Cooper Flax, who had his shot repelled by a defender. The ball flew at junior Roald Mitchell, who volleyed it straight into the right side of the goal for Wake Forest’s first score.

Mitchell secured his brace and his seventh goal of the season in the 28th minute. Redshirt junior Cristian Escribano gave the Flames’ left flank a change of pace and beat them to the attacking third. He slipped the ball forward to Mitchell, whose dribbling split one pair of defenders and whose low shot split another pair to land in the right corner of the goal.

The scoring opportunities on which Wake Forest capitalized came in large waves. The Demon Deacons outshot Liberty 16-11, and 10 of those shots came in the first half. Wake Forest’s control of possession came down to ruling the pace of the midfield, where freshman Liam O’Gara often settled the offense before buildups. Senior Hosei Kijima took the lead from there with

crosses that accelerated the Demon Deacons’ attacks.

In the last 20 minutes, Wake Forest chose to settle defensively and sit on their two-score lead. Junior goalkeeper Trace Alpin totaled four saves, with two diving plays in that home stretch.

He pinned the last shot of the game with just 20 seconds remaining.

With the Demon Deacons having defeated the leader of the Ohio Valley Conference, they now look ahead to Clemson (5-2-1, 1-0 ACC). Wake Forest will host their conference rival at home on Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.

Contact Aaron Nataline at nataae21@wfu.edu

Bella Parlioni/ Old Gold & Black

Volleyball set for success, growth Head Coach Randi Smart brings stability to once-scandaled program LUCY ROBERTS & ESSEX THAYER Staff Writers If you had stumbled into Reynolds Gymnasium a few years ago for a women’s volleyball game, you would have seen a few spectators scattered across the stands. This year, if you walked in a few minutes late on opening weekend, you would be turned away at the door due to a sold-out crowd.

After years of coaching-related disruption, the Wake Forest women’s volleyball team has finally come to a place of stability. They have also seen a large increase in spectators and fan interest that reflects a growing appreciation for women’s sports nationwide. With more eyes comes more pressure, but this team is ready to rise to the occasion.

Until recently, most of the cheers that volleyball players heard was from their teammates. As one of the older players on the team, Franke remembers a time when there was much less fan engagement.

“We used to have smaller crowds when I first got here…this year, we really made a shift,” she said. “Our opening weekend we had to turn people away from the door because we didn’t have enough seats…which has never happened since I’ve been here.”

“I think this has been years in the making,” said Head Coach Randi Smart.

“The players in the past who graduated, some who are still here, have started putting in that work toward building the chemistry of this team.”

This chemistry has played a role in the team’s 9-2 start to the season, with a perfect blend of veteran and young players that support and learn from one another.

“Our team is really close knit, and that really helps in games,” said freshman middle blocker Dior Charles. “This is what my coach said — we pack a parachute for everybody else on the team.”

“What our culture boils down to… is unconditional and hard work,” Smart said. “I think you see things like the winning, the crowds coming because they’re starting to see it’s a culture that they want to be a part of.”

This was not always the case at Wake Forest. Prior to Smart, two coaches left the Demon Deacons’ program in tur-

moil. As previously reported by the Old Gold & Black in 2016, Coach Ken Murczek resigned following the newspaper’s investigation of a Title IX complaint regarding alleged verbal and psychological abuse towards players — with a losing record to show for his three seasons as head coach.

In an interview with HBO’s Bryant Gumbel, former player Maggie Sinkler claimed Murczek called team members “f*cking r—ds,” among other choice words.

“I hated [practice]; I was scared,” Sinkler said in the interview. “We had girls crying in the locker room after every practice. Everyone was terrified.”

See Volleyball, Page 17

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Page 16 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Football completes comeback against Monarchs 'HPRQ 'HDFRQV RYHUFRPH SRLQW KDOIWLPH GH¿FLW WR UHPDLQ XQGHIHDWHG RQ WKH VHDVRQ COOPER SULLIVAN Sports Editor

Heading into the half with a threepossession lead over Wake Forest, it looked like Old Dominion would once again play spoiler to an ACC team.

The quick-tempo ODU offense had more than double the yards of Wake Forest’s (277-127); the just-as-quick defense recorded three sacks, forced two fumbles, including an 80-yard scoop and score, intercepted one pass and dropped many others; the kicker missed two field goals, and yet the Monarchs were still up by 17.

“We’re very lucky,” Head Coach Dave Clawson told his team during the break.

“Guys, this is only a 17-point game. Really, the way we played, we should be down 28.”

It was already going to be tough to flush out the memories of the first half, let alone readjust and put enough points on the board, but Saturday wasn’t the first instance Clawson had been in a similar situation. Clawson reminded the team of the 2017 Demon Deacons, who fought back from a 17-point deficit to a 19-point victory over Syracuse, winning

64-43 on the road.

“That team made a decision they were just going to play the next play,” Clawson said. “We just had to get into it, play by play by play and not panic. If we did that, we would give ourselves a chance to get back into the football game, and fortunately that happened.”

Fortunately for Clawson and the Demon Deacons, it happened again.

“The great thing about this team in the face of adversity no one folded,” said wide receiver Taylor Morin. “Everyone stayed positive [and] optimistic.”

Even Mitch Griffis (25-for-42, 312 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT, 2 FUM), who was struggling at quarterback in the first half, was ready to go back out.

“We just didn’t quit,” Griffis said. “I played horrible, but I just kept telling the guys: don’t quit the fight.”

Immediately after the break, the Demon Deacons showed their resilience and orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a wide-open touchdown by Morin (6 rec, 112 yds, 2 TD).

A quick defensive three-and-out put the ball right back in the hands of the Wake Forest offense ready to strike again, but nothing positive ensued. ODU’s

pass rushers quickly disrupted the young played great the whole game.”

Wake Forest offensive line, forcing Griffis Griffis echoed the praises for the deto quickly get rid of the ball to avoid fense, saying “got to give all the credit a sack. This hastily thrown floater was to those guys. The defense played their picked off by ODU’s LaMareon James ass off.” and returned for a touchdown, his secAfterwards, Clawson was proud of ond of the day after the fumble return. how his quarterback responded to the That would be the last time the Mon- early struggles, and Morin said it was archs scored as a Wake Forest defense led “no question [Griffis] would bounce by linebacker Jacob Roberts (13 tackles, back.” Griffis was still hard on himself 3.0 sacks, 4 TFL) and defensive end Ja- — perhaps harder than the ODU pass sheen Davis (5 tackles, 3.0 sacks) forced rush — but ultimately proud of the defour punts, a turnover on downs and a termination his squad showed. fumble on a strip sack — by the former, “You can teach assignments, you can recovered by the latter — setting up the fix mistakes,” Griffis said, “but you can’t go-ahead score by wide receiver Jahmal teach heart, you can’t teach toughness, Banks (9 rec, 81 yds, TD). you can’t teach balls, you can’t teach grit.

The Wake Forest defense was able to You just have to have it, and we showed get to ODU’s Grant Wilson (11-for- that today.”

26, 233 yds, TD, INT) easily, sacking The 27-24 victory keeps Wake Forthe quarterback a program-record of 10 est (3-0) undefeated on the season. The times. After allowing three massive 40+ Demon Deacons will return home to yard plays in the first half, the Demon face Georgia Tech (1-2) on Saturday, Deacons smothered the Monarchs, lim- Sept. 23. The Demon Deacons open as iting them to only 23 offensive yards in 6.5-point favorites, according to USA the second half.

Today’s Sportsbook Wire. Kickoff is set “Our defense played their tails off,” for 6:30 p.m.

Clawson said. “Other than the one play on the double move that we gave up Contact Cooper Sullivan in the first half, I thought our defense at sullcg20@wfu.edu

The Cost of the College Football Spotlight Former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman shares untold struggles of being QB1 CHRISTINA DENOVIO Senior Writer

The path to success is anything but simple. At least, that was the case for Notre Dame starting quarterback Sam Hartman.

Hartman, who spent the last five years at Wake Forest, many of them as QB1, announced that he was transferring to Notre Dame back in January. His decision to leave Wake Forest wasn’t a shock but still broke the hearts of Demon Deacon fans.

Many thought the 24 year-old was heading to the NFL, but instead, he decided to take advantage of his last year of NCAA eligibility. Financial compensation in the form of NIL money may have sweetened the deal, but Hartman says his main motivation was the opportunity to play for one of the most legendary college football programs of all time.

While Hartman has had plenty of time to enjoy his successes as a Demon Deacon and has so far shown that his starting spot for the Fighting Irish is well-deserved, the native of Charlotte, N.C. has seen his share of difficulties.

“My career was anything but a straight line,” Hartman told Wake Forest professor Justin Catanoso’s sports journalism class on Monday, Sept. 4 when talking about his gratitude for Wake Forest’s continuous support.

He could have been referring to any one of the challenges he faced during his football career in Winston-Salem.

From losing his starting position in the 2019 season to a 2022 blood clot that nearly kept him from ever stepping on

a field again, Hartman is no stranger to adversity.

Even when he was healthy and playing, the Wake Forest offensive strategy took a toll on his body.

“I would say I don’t miss getting hit all the time,” Hartman said as he reflected on the differences between the Fighting Irish and Demon Deacon playbooks. “The beating you take in that [Wake Forest] offense is always challenging.”

But the difficulties are more than just physical beatings in the pocket.

“All the leadership aspects, all the challenges you face. Trying to stay on top of school, studying the playbook, staying healthy, trying to lead guys.

The spotlight,” Hartman said about his juggling act.

These responsibilities are now accompanied by a larger spotlight in

South Bend, Ind., home of one of the country’s most famous college football teams and most devoted fan base. How could anyone handle the pressure coming from so many different directions?

Hartman found solace in prioritizing his mental health and seeking a therapist. By opening up about his mental health and advocating for more conversation about the topic among athletes, Hartman has shown a vulnerability that is rarely seen among college athletes — football players in particular.

It was when his adoptive older brother, Demitri Allison, took his own life back in 2015 that Hartman started his self-reflection journey.

“It’s not always the guy who’s sad and upset,” Hartman told the class. “It can be the guy who’s smiling but who’s carrying the heaviest weight on his shoul-

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

ders, and he’s just really good at hiding it. I’m sometimes that person.”

This vulnerability, unfortunately, has given ammunition to those who want to see the quarterback fail. Hartman says that invasion of privacy occurred during his last season at Wake Forest when his phone number got leaked.

The quarterback told Catanoso’s class that he woke up the morning of the highly anticipated Clemson game to hundreds of messages from people waging personal attacks on him and his loved ones.

Hartman’s strategy to detach himself from the negativity that exists in the depths of the college football fandom is simply staying grounded.

“If you hold on to the compliments, then you also have to hold on to the complaints, and that’s not going to take you very far,” he said.

Hartman credited his Wake Forest coaches and teammates for teaching him one of the greatest life lessons he’s learned.

“Water always finds its level.”

In a world where Hartman can’t control what people say about him, he chooses to maintain focus on what he can control.

Putting his best foot forward and giving his strongest efforts each week, Hartman pushes past the outside noise and bumps in the road to show up for the people relying on him — his family, friends, teammates, coaches and fans, be they at Wake Forest or for one more season, Notre Dame.

Contact Christina DeNovio at denoca20@wfu.edu

Sports | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 17

Men’s basketball loses team captain Junior point guard Jao Ituka to miss 4-6 months COOPER SULLIVAN Sports Editor

Wake Forest point guard Jao Ituka will miss the beginning of the 2023-24 men’s basketball season with a knee injury, Head Coach Steve Forbes announced on Friday, Sept. 15.

Ituka will be out 4-6 months after suffering a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee during practice last week. The junior underwent surgery the same week and has begun the rehab process.

“We are heartbroken for Jao,” Forbes said. “He worked so hard to rehabilitate his injured right knee that ended his season a year ago. All his hard work and perseverance put him in position for playing time this upcoming season. [Ituka] is a

resilient young man, and I know he will overcome this latest setback.”

Ituka is in his second season with the Wake Forest basketball program after transferring from Marist College. The 6-foot-1 point guard averaged 15.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 1.6 apg during his one season at Marist, where he was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Year and second-team AllMAAC. Ituka was named a team captain and appeared in six games for Wake Forest last season, averaging 8.5 minutes and 3.0 points per game, before being medically redshirted in December 2022.

Contact Cooper Sullivan at sullcg20@wfu.edu

Volleyball: A new culture Countinued from page 15 Just years later, Coach William Ferguson became embroiled in the “Varsity Blues” scandal that involved wealthy families paying their children’s way onto teams at elite schools they would otherwise be unable to attend. Ferguson was arrested and indicted due to his connections with the scheme, which investigators said enabled one student to gain admission to the university as a volleyball wait-lister.

It was then that Smart was named the interim head coach by Athletic Director John Currie. Since then, the program has turned forward with high hopes of longterm success and the continued cultivation of a supportive team environment.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum and energy,” senior middle blocker Olivia Franke said. “Putting all that energy and effort into cheering and hyping each other up makes a world of difference.”

This change at Wake Forest reflects a broader shift seen across the nation. Just weeks ago, University of Nebraska volleyball set the world record for women’s sports attendance, with almost 92,000 fans filling up football’s Memorial Stadium. To those already invested in the world of women’s volleyball, the enthusiasm for the sport isn’t surprising.

“It’s growing nationally, and people are realizing how great a sport it is and how

these female athletes are competing at amazing levels,” Franke said. “Nebraska being able to do that was amazing for Nebraska, but it was amazing for volleyball, for female sports.”

At Wake Forest, the team knows what its role is when it comes to furthering the sport.

“We need to put a good product on the court because nobody wants to go watch bad volleyball…the more and more the word gets out, the more people we get,” Smart, whose team went undefeated through its first six matches, said. “Once we get them in there, then it’s our job to keep them there.”

The team swept a season-opening invitational that it hosted. The Demon Deacons then swept Central Florida’s 2023 UCF Challenge the following weekend.

And the team’s performance this season has fans coming back for more. Recently, Smart was stopped by two fans who told her that they loved watching the team and asked her when the next home game was. That’s never happened before. Weeks ago, Wake Forest Basketball Head Coach Steve Forbes mentioned the team’s success in a press conference.

“A lot changes, but the goal is the goal,” said Smart. “This program has never made the NCAA tournament, and we want to be the first. We will be the first to do it.”

Contact writers at robels20@wfu.edu & thayse20@wfu.edu

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

Jao Ituka drives to the basket during a Dec. 14, 2022 game against App State. Ituka played six minutes, recording one point and one assist.

FOOTBALL

FIELD HOCKEY

AP Poll rankings in parentheses; as of Sept. 17

NFHCA Coaches Poll rankings in parentheses; as of Sept. 18

ACC W-L (Conf.) PF PA Duke (18) 3-0 (1-0) 108 28 Florida State (4) 3-0 (1-0) 142 66 Louisville 3-0 (1-0) 116 48 Miami (20) 3-0 (0-0) 134 43 UNC 3-0 (0-0) 102 64 Syracuse 3-0 (0-0) 148 27 Wake Forest 3-0 (0-0) 100 61 NC State 1-0 (0-0) 93 66 Clemson (25) 2-1 (0-1) 121 59 Pittsburgh 1-2 (0-0) 72 51 Virginia Tech 1-0 (0-0) 69 76 Boston College 1-2 (0-1) 84 86 Georgia Tech 1-2 (0-1) 105 100 Virginia 0-3 (0-0) 62 127

ACC W-L (Conf.) GF GA Duke (3) 6-1 (1-0) 23 7 UNC (5) 5-1 (1-0) 15 7 Boston College (8) 5-2 (1-0) 19 4 Louisville (1) 6-1 (0-1) 12 7 Syracuse (18) 6-1 (0-1) 32 10 Virginia (6) 5-3 (0-1) 20 10 Wake Forest (13) 3-2 (0-0) 6 6

MEN’S SOCCER United Soccer Coaches rankings in parentheses; as of Sept. 17

Atlantic W-L-D (Conf.) GF GA Clemson 5-2-1 (1-1-0) 17 8 NC State 4-3-0 (1-1-0) 13 10 Syracuse (7) 3-1-3 (0-0-2) 10 4 Louisville (10) 5-1-1 (0-1-1) 15 6 Wake Forest (14) 4-1-3 (0-1-1) 17 8 Boston College 2-2-3 (0-1-1) 5 7 Coastal W-L-D (Conf.) GF GA Notre Dame (15) 4-1-3 (1-0-1) 12 5 Pittsburgh 3-2-1 (1-0-1) 16 9 Virginia Tech 1-2-3 (1-0-1) 7 13 Duke (11) 4-1-1 (1-1-0) 15 5 Virginia 4-2-1 (1-1-0) 9 8 UNC 3-0-3 (0-0-2) 12 5 WOMEN’S SOCCER

United Soccer Coaches rankings in parenthese; as of Sept. 17

ACC W-L-D (Conf.) GF GA Florida State (3) 6-0-0 (1-0-0) 18 4 Pittsburgh (22) 8-1-0 (1-0-0) 28 7 UNC (1) 6-0-3 (1-0-0) 19 4 Notre Dame (10)5-1-2 (1-0-0) 19 8 Duke (16) 5-2-0 (1-0-0) 10 8 Miami 2-3-3 (1-0-0) 8 7 Virginia (22) 5-0-3 (0-0-1) 19 4 Louisville 1-4-4 (0-0-1) 8 11 Wake Forest 6-1-1 (0-1-0) 19 5 Clemson (8) 6-1-2 (0-1-0) 25 6 Virginia Tech 3-3-3 (0-1-0) 10 6 Courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics Boston College 3-4-2 (0-1-0) 12 13 2-6-1 (0-1-0) 9 14 Wake Forest volleyball embraces in celebration during a 3-0 win Syracuse 1-5-3 (0-1-0) 10 17 against Toledo on Aug. 25 in front of a record 721-person crowd. NC State

VOLLEYBALL AVCA Coaches Poll rankings in parenthese; as of Sept. 18

ACC W-L (Conf.) PTS/SET NC State 10-1 (0-0) 16.98 Virginia Tech 10-1 (0-0) 16.74 Georgia Tech (13) 9-1 (0-0) 17.96 Louisville (5) 9-1 (0-0) 17.86 Duke 9-2 (0-0) 17.18 Pittsburgh (8) 9-2 (0-0) 17.75 Wake Forest 9-2 (0-0) 16.05 Boston College 11-3 (0-0) 17.62 Clemson 9-3 (0-1) 16.05 Notre Dame 6-2 (0-0) 16.34 Miami 7-3 (0-0) 18.11 Virginia 7-3 (0-1) 17.81 UNC 6-3 (0-0) 16.71 Florida State 6-6 (0-0) 18.23 Syracuse 2-8 (0-0) 12.35 DEMON DEACONS AT HOME THE NEXT TWO WEEKS Field Hockey vs. North Carolina Friday, Sept. 22, 5 p.m.

Field Hockey vs. Miami (OH) Sunday, Sept. 24, Noon Football vs. Georgia Tech Saturday, Sept. 23, 6:30 p.m.

Women’s Soccer vs. NC State Thursday, Sept. 21, 8 p.m.

Women’s Soccer vs. Virginia (22) Sunday, Sept. 24. 2 p.m.

Volleyball vs, Miami Friday, Sept. 22, 7 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Florida State Sunday, Sept. 24, 1 p.m.

ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 18 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Adam Coil coilat21@wfu.edu James Watson watsjc22@wfu.edu

OLD GOLD & BLACK

A pair of poetic evenings break political, artistic boundaries The Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series brings four poets and performers to campus BREANNA LAWS Print Managing Editor Footsteps reverberate across the concrete floors in the Hanes Art Gallery. Whispered voices ascend the staircase, and people of all ages and backgrounds begin to take their seats. Beside me, someone’s mom texted them a GIF of a man dancing with the words “You got this” spelled out along the bottom. Here… is where poetry lives.

The Wake Forest Department of English, in conjunction with the Interdisciplinary Arts Center, hosted a two-part poetry event from Sept. 13-14. The event was part of a larger series dedicated to bringing writers and other creatives to campus, the Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series, which has hosted artists such as Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi, Charles Bernstein and John Yau. The Sept. 13 event was a poetic performance entitled “Variations in the Dream of X,” followed on Sept. 14 by a poetry reading event featuring four different performers — Ken Taylor, Dr. Fred Moten, Lynn Book and Vic Leon.

The Sept. 14 poetry reading was hosted in the Hanes Art Gallery. Vic Leon, a drag king out of Louisville, Ky., kicked off the night.

Several of his poems focused on gender identity and the art of understanding oneself. He says that his work, both in the drag scene and in his writing, is inspired primarily by music. “[Drag is] acting in lots of ways,” Leon said. “I try to emulate the feeling in the music and bring it to life on stage.”

For his poetry, the music is what guides him through the writing process.

“The imagery and feeling I get from listening allows me to translate my thoughts and emotions into poetry,” Leon said. “I like to mull over an idea I have and listen to music that I can identify with. The melodic mood and tone [are] comforting and guiding, and I try to put it on paper.”

Dr. Lynn Book, the former director of the program for creativity and innovation at Wake Forest, presented some of her work at the poetry reading, as well. The trans-media artist put on quite the show — blurring the line between poetry and theater.

This is a concept that Book taught to her students during her time at Wake Forest. She views creativity as a cross-discipline subject — one that can be found in every department.

“Within the classroom, the sociology [student] is sitting next to the student from biology…next to [an] English stu-

Vic Leon

dent…an art history student…a business and enterprise management [student]...[a communication] student, and so on,” Book said. “So how in the heck do you find common ground there? Creativity.”

A poem of Book’s that particularly struck me was “Scenes from an Unfinished Film” — which is actually based on one of her unfinished video projects.

“I’ve really been working on this video for a long time, and I've done tons of writing — there's hundreds of hours of footage,” Book said. “So I thought ‘Okay, this notion of scenes seems like a really wonderful way to poetically frame some of the language [and] shots.”

Book wasn’t the only notable figure of higher education present at the event. Moten, a professor at New York University in the departments of performance studies and comparative literature, presented several poems.

Moten teaches courses on Black studies, poetics and critical theory, with additional interests in visual culture and music.

You could see a lot of these elements in his poetry, much of which felt conversational or stream-of-consciousness style.

My personal favorite of his was entitled “revision, impromptu” — a series of transcribed notes he took at a conference back in 2018. Moten frequently travels the country for various conferences and events, but he does have roots here in North Carolina.

Moten told me that he was formerly a part of a community poetry group in Durham, N.C. It was here that he met Taylor, one of his fellow performers at the event.

Dr. Claire Crawford, a new assistant professor in politics and international affairs and African American studies told me that she wanted to attend the event after seeing Moten’s name on the poster. Her work, much like Moten’s, revolves around aesthetics and its role in Black studies. According to Crawford, poetry and aesthetics are integral pieces of Black political interventions and thought.

“I incorporate poetry as an aesthetic into the way we think about politics,” Crawford said. “In my class, we…consider aesthetics [as] one of the main places for expressing political thought…a huge part of that gets missed.”

Taylor, who presented his poetry on Sept. 13, spoke often about his family — both in his personal interviews with me and in his poetry.

His daughters, Sally and Minx Taylor, are both artists themselves — with Sally Taylor being a poet like her father, and Minx Taylor being a physical performer and photographer.

Lynn Book

Ken Taylor

“Their mother is an actor, director and writer, so they were steeped in the arts,” Ken Taylor said. “Sally was on stage in the womb in the LA production of my play, ‘Looking for Grace,’ and Minx was born during the run of my other LA-produced play, ‘The Name of the Bar is Heaven.’ I feel, in many ways, my daughters raised me.”

According to Ken Taylor, his “Variations in the Dream of X” project had been over 20 years in the making.

“It is the merging of two projects that were floundering at different times…both were abandoned for a long time,” Ken Taylor said. “I’m happy that I found a way to combine poetry and theater in one piece in a way that seems to work.”

“Variations in the Dream of X” walked a delightful line between poetics and comedy. It has been performed across the country and will soon be available in print through John Yau’s Black Square Editions.

One attendee, Alex Mullen, told me that he has kept up with the Dillon Johnston Series for quite some time. Mullen, who is also the manager of the Wake Forest University Press, the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America, graduated from the Wake Forest Masters Program in English in 2016.

“Even after I graduated from the program, I was still in town, [and] I was still trying to keep up with [the] events,” Mullen said. “I’m a big fan of the writers that [the facilitators] bring, so I've been looking forward to this for a while.”

And a while it has been. The last visit for the series, from Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi, a writer and assistant professor of English and creative writing at Western Washington University, occurred last February. While Wake Forest does bring in its fair share of artists and writers throughout the academic year, Book believes that there needs to be a more permanent establishment of artists on campus. Events like these are a small part of what makes this a reality.

“This is really what should be happening [at Wake Forest],” Book said. “...Artists, creative thinkers, scholars, intellectual scientists, all of these people who are really pushing the envelope in their respective areas — they need to be at Wake [Forest] for longer periods of time.”

For additional information on upcoming writing events and performances, you can visit the Wake Forest Department of English’s website and view their calendar.

Contact Breanna Laws at lawsbn21@wfu.edu

Breanna Laws / Old Gold & Black

Fred Moten

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Page 19

Arts & Culture | Old Gold & Black

How to end a series

John Wilson’s street-documentary series concludes with a revealing, personal 3rd season LYDIA DERRIS Contributing writer As “How To with John Wilson” airs its final season, we’re reminded that when it comes to wrapping up a series in style, John Wilson is an undisputed master. In a world full of the mundane and the lackluster, Wilson has a talent for transforming life’s most pedestrian moments into a mesmerizing picture of the bizarre and the brilliant.

Wilson, the intrepid creator of the HBO television series “How To with John Wilson,” embarks on journeys that take him across New York City and beyond. In an attempt to capture the human experience, Wilson succumbs to the detours and diversions that lead him to uncover the unexpected — sometimes verging on deviant — stories of the people he encounters along the way. Whether it is exploring the intricacies of tracking packages, striving for physical fitness or delving into peculiar obsessions like 9/11-themed bodybuilding, Wilson’s adventures often take unpredictable turns.

Trying to explain an episode of the show is like trying to nail water to a wall. Wilson’s farewell season is a conceptual tour de force that consistently ponders life’s peculiarities.

Viewers are left with the indefatigable urge to embrace the art of living in a beautifully bizarre world.

The terminal quality of the final season allows Wilson to peer over the walls of restraint that were previously placed upon him — either by himself or the network. He could use any b-roll shots stored in the show’s carefully organized archive, or he could slip in loftier messages that point out the absurdities of late-stage capitalist consumerism.

While most of the scenes are candid shots captured by the series’ extensive camera crew, Wilson reveals to Bruce, one of his subjects, in the second-to-last episode “How to Watch Birds,” that he has lied on the show at various times to enhance the established narrative. Wilson details how certain shots were meticulously constructed to create the illusion of organic continuity, and subjects were paid for particular replies that enhance the storyline he attempts to craft.

The decision Wilson makes to film himself paying his subjects for interviews, particularly in the context of the episode on documentary ethics, underscores the show’s complex relationship with the transactional nature of documentary filmmaking. In a turn against the illusion of authenticity, Wilson exposes the inherent artificiality of the medium itself. The continued presence of artificiality in Wilson’s work seems to create an unshakeable internal discord, becoming increasingly apparent toward the series’ end, possibly driving the show’s conclusion. Wilson acknowledges that he wants viewers to believe they are witnessing reality, and in doing so, he blurs the boundaries between documentary and entertainment.

In the final episode of the series, “How to Track Your Package,” Wilson embarks on a detour into the world of pizza deliveries. His foray leads to a heartwarming encounter with a couple who rely on these deliveries to survive the stresses of parenthood. These candid, emotionally charged moments have always set “How To” apart from the typical how-to video parody format, as they offer a glimpse into the beautiful disarray that is real life.

Later in the same episode, Wilson dives deeper into the

absurdity of organ transport (of the musical instrument variety) and stumbles upon a cryogenics enthusiast named Mike. The show’s final interview turns out to be a strangely poignant conversation with Mike, as the two discuss Mike’s desire to evade death by preserving his head in cryonic suspension. This prompts Wilson to explore the ethical and functional implications of Mike’s decision.

Here the series takes its most unexpected turn, as Mike reveals a lifelong commitment to celibacy as a result of his teenage act of self-castration. Wilson’s unflinching approach to Mike’s deeply vulnerable confession, devoid of shock or humor, allows Mike’s story to unfold organically.

The final scenes of the show play out at Mike’s home in Scottsdale, followed by a wistful sunset homecoming to Wilson’s native New York city, culminating in what feels like an abrupt but emotional farewell to viewers.

The deliberate decision to end the show arguably at its peak is Wilson’s exercise in artistic restraint, recalling the idea that restraint often heightens desire — an underlying theme that runs throughout the series. Or in this case, the longing for more episodes, more stories, more unexplored horizons afforded by Wilson’s signature structure…

In the final moments of the series, as the episode draws the curtain, Wilson narrates, “This is John Wilson. Thank you so much for watching my movies.” With these final words of gratitude, Wilson leaves an indelible mark on the documentary medium, and perhaps most critically, “How To with John Wilson’’ successfully threads the delicate equilibrium between what is revealed and what is withheld.

Contact Lydia Derris derrlf23@wfu.edu@wfu.edu

12 years of my favorite movie: “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” PRARTHNA BATRA Staff writer Twelve years ago, Indian directors Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti took India by storm with their film that lives to be one of the best productions of Bollywood even today — “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.”

This movie has always had a special place in my life, as I have seemingly watched it during every stage of my life.

Every year, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” makes just a little more sense to me. Now, as a somewhat adult — a 19-yearold trying to maneuver through friendships in what I know as my adult, independent life — this movie is more special than ever.

“Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” is a cult favorite even today for a multitude of reasons. It encompasses the amazing ensemble of Hrithik Roshan who plays Arjun, Abhay Deol as Kabir, Farhan Akhtar as Imran, Katrina Kaif as Laila and Kalki Koechlin as Natasha. The killer soundtrack and music, the scenic locations of Spain where the movie is shot and — at its core — the journey about friendship, growth and life that leaves a lasting impression all come together to craft an unforgettable piece of art.

It has a directorial trope that a lot of audiences treasure: men written by a woman. This particular niche in entertainment and writing has always been my favorite. These men are sensitive, understanding and defy the stereotypical norms of masculinity.

The contemporary setting, modern-day problems and juxtaposition of characters are still relatable to a young, modern-day audience 12 years later. The film finds its niche audience in young adults who are looking for that comfort and sense of familiarity to help them maneuver through young friendships. The characters are all flawed, and so are the relationships they share. They bring a unique sense of vulnerability that usually isn’t seen in films — especially those that are led by three males.

“Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” also explores the ideas of expectations versus truth.

The movie has all the makings of a wild bachelor trip. After all, it is the reunion of three school friends that was years in the making. The three friends — Kabir, Imran and Arjun — all choose an adventure sport on their trip to Spain.

Each one keeps the activity a secret until the last minute and surprises the rest (the movie was so popular, it resulted in a massive increase in tourism from India to Spain). The much-awaited, adventure-packed trip begins as an opportunity for the three friends to show off their masculinity before the wedding.

There are many scenes throughout the movie where they have childish displays and pull pranks. This emphasizes the ties of their childhood friendship and the fact that, underneath the complex problems of their adulthood, they are all just the young and playful kids they once were. If you look outwardly, the trio appears to be fulfilling the traditional concepts of masculinity.

Kabir’s defining characteristic throughout the film is his fiancè and his upcoming marriage. London-based Arjun continues to brag about earning money through his business and not caring about his personal life. Even on a longawaited trip with his best friends, he can’t bear to leave his computer and spend time with his friends. Finally, Imran will flirt with anyone of the opposite gender or burst into

Photo courtesy of IMdB

The cast of the film pose for a picture at the annual La Tomatina festival in Buñol.

dance at any given point — he is my favorite. He barely takes anything seriously, but this is just a cover for the hardship he experiences from difficult familial relationships.

All of these adventurous and thrill-seeking activities aren’t so much a display of how masculine these characters are, but a vehicle through which these men can understand themselves a little better and rediscover their friendships.

For years, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” has been the epitome of the statement “You only live once” — or the perfect ad for a bachelor’s trip to Spain with scenic views and a great soundtrack to accompany — but it is so much more than that. This film still stands strong in the way it portrays gender expectations. In Bollywood, it is a rare depiction of healthy male friendships that steers clear of stereotypical masculinity.

One scene that stands out to me is when Arjun and Laila are on a romantic walk, and she tells him, “Seize the day, my friend,” as she persuades Arjun to let go of his uptight mindset that constantly revolves around his professional life.

This is what this movie is about to me. It’s about living in the moment, letting go of the adult responsibilities and worries that we often let be the definitive parts of our day and reminding ourselves what our purpose is in life.

We were all put on the face of this earth to live, chase our dreams, make memories that make us smile and remind ourselves that we are here to live, not just exist. The character arc of Arjun goes from someone who is unable to have a good time or relax to someone who learns to enjoy the small gifts that life has to offer. I aspire to be like Arjun at the end of this movie.

The soundtrack is something that I often return to in order to find solace. “Khaabon Ke Parinday” is my tried and tested song that I listen to every time I am anxious — the piece of music that will never fail to calm my nerves. “Sooraj Ki Baahon Mein” is my go-to hype song. No milestone in my life is complete without its upbeat tune. It reminds me that no matter what, there will always be light and joy worth celebrating.

Lastly, I play “Dil Dhadakne Do” every time I am scared to try something new that is outside of my comfort zone. It reminds me that life is too short to not try all that you desire and that everything is worth a shot. I love the tropes surrounding friendship that this movie offers, but more than that, this movie is about discovering the person you are and the joys of life.

Contact Prarthna Batra at batrp22@wfu.edu

Page 20 | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Arts & Culture

LIFE THROUGH THE LENS

AMEERA MOINUDDIN

Freshman Ameera Moinuddin shares her experience acclimating as a third culture student AMEERA MOINUDDIN Contributing Writer

While some define a third-culture kid as “someone who was raised in a culture other than their parents,” I have a different definition. To me, a third culture kid is someone who has had the fortune of being exposed to the richness of more than one cultural environment and has let the best parts of each shape them into the person they are today.

When I got to Wake Forest, I noticed three things.

One, everyone greets each other with a warmth that would lead one to think they were childhood best friends. Two, the state you come from apparently conveys everything you would want to know about a person. (Unfortunately for me, I do not yet know what being from New Jersey would tell me about a person.)

And three, everyone talks extremely fast. Now combine that with the rhythm that freshman small talk usually takes, and an introductory exchange can take place within a single breath.

People want to cover the bases quickly. They want to meet the maximum number of people in the minimum amount of time, like scrolling through an online shopping website and seeing which person would be a good addition to their cart (read: life). Name? Check. Major? Check. Why Wake Forest? Check. Where are you from? Check. My answers usually tend to be a mouthful, and I am not surprised when I have lost the other person in the middle of my lengthy ramble.

Where I am from is important to me, so each stage of my life is included in my answer because, to know me, you must know all of the many places I come from. I was born in Iowa, though my cloudy newborn memory doesn’t permit me to remember much. I then lived the first half of my childhood in Pakistan — a country that is next to but is not a part of India — which is where I’m from from, if you wanted to get into the technicalities. At the age of eight, I moved to Oman, and after a couple of years I moved again, this time to Qatar, where I have spent the past eight years of my life. Both of these are countries in the Middle East (because the Middle East is not a single country!). Now I’m here — a freshman at Wake Forest.

The transition to college is hard for everyone. That is a universal truth and something I had been prepared for by everyone around me. I had cousins reaching out over text or through phone calls, wishing me luck and offering wisdom many college seniors seem to possess. I had my aunt and uncle, not so far away in South Carolina, reassuring me they were only a three-hour drive away.

My parents, of course, were full to the brim with anxiety over leaving me in a foreign place across the world, coaxing me that December was just a blink of an eye away. My friends, who seemed to be the only ones who knew the struggle of leaving behind a whole different world for a new one, were there and continue to be there for me as much as they can with the abominable time difference. And then I, of course, jittery at the thought of being alien to every aspect of life here, was already looking forward to when I could go back home to what was familiar.

Somehow, maybe due to my naivete, I had thought that adjusting to a different cultural environment would be a piece of cake for me, as that is all I had been doing for the past 10 years of my life. Moving schools, feeling like an outsider, then finding people that made me feel at home there — all this was routine to me by now, and I didn’t see how this would be different.

Then the culture shocks hit me, one after the other and unannounced. I grew up in places where I never needed to make much of an effort to find another South Asian person, often turning the corner and greeting someone in Urdu, or being able to find a great number of cultural similarities to the Arab and North African friends that

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

I had made over the years. From this, to coming to a place where your origins were difficult to even verbalize to others, was something entirely unknown to me.

Where most people were familiar with the culture of the place in which I had found myself, I was still looking around trying to find my bearings, adapting to yet another culture.

When the clusters of high-rise buildings, palm trees, blazing sun and searing heat were all that I had known for the past 10 years, the almost unnatural silence and darkness of the evenings here startled me. The fact that the signboards only possessed English letters made me realize not only the emptiness the Arabic characters left behind but also everything else that I had left at home.

While it does not possess the familiar sounds or sights that I associate with either one of my homes — Pakistan or Qatar — I am sure that, soon enough, the brick of the buildings, the sound of students’ chatter rising above the tops of the thick trees and the people that I will get to know and care for will make this place home.

Contact Ameera Moinuddin at moina23@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of Ameera Moinuddin