News: Good Uncle to arrive on campus in mid-March Page 6
Opinion: History education needs Black narratives Page 8
Sports: Women’s basketball prepares for ACC tournament Page 11
Life: The Bachelor’s 23rd season nears its end Page 16
Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 106, NO. 21
T H U R S DAY, M A RC H 5 , 2 0 2 0 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
wfuogb.com
Sanders holds rally in Winston-Salem The candidate spoke in hopes of garnering more support before the primary BY ANDY KILLEBREW Asst. Life Editor killae17@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University Flickr
Students studying abroad in Venice, Italy stayed at Casa Artom (above) until the house was recently closed by the university amid growing concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak.
Casa Artom shut down due to the coronavirus
Students return to U.S. after the university suspended the study abroad program in Italy BY LILLIAN JOHNSON Senior News Advisor johnlg16@wfu.edu
On Feb. 28, the university announced that it was suspending its program at Casa Artom in Venice, Italy, as the coronavirus continues to worsen in the country. The outbreak of coronavirus, also known by the disease it causes, COVID-19, in Italy has been the worst in Europe so far. The virus was first reported in Italy at the end of January and spread rapidly throughout the country in February. As of March 4, the Italian government confirmed that 107 people have died due to the illness — more than in any country other than China — and that 3,089 people have been infected — a number only surpassed by China and South
Korea. The Italian government has imposed restrictions to help combat the spread of the disease, such as the closure of schools, museums and the suspension of large public gatherings. Provost Rogan Kersh announced the closure of Casa Artom in an email to the university community last Friday. Academic operations ceased immediately, and students will be returning to campus March 15, which coincides with the end of spring break. Kersh wrote that this decision came out of the uncertainty of the situation as the disease spreads, with particular concern regarding the students’ ability to eventually return to the United States. “While the health risk to the students and the faculty member in Venice remains low, the decision takes into consideration the uncertainty regarding local and international travel restrictions if the coronavirus continues to spread,” Kersh said in the email. “Such restrictions
Last Thursday, Feb. 27, Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared at the C.E. Gaines Center at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) to campaign ahead of North Carolina’s primary. Sanders is one of the current frontrunners for the Democratic presidential nomination and has notched primary wins in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire. He also won four states in Super Tuesday’s election, in Vermont, Utah, Colorado and California. Sanders’ visit came on the heels of his stop at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., where he spoke with the pastor and social activist Reverend William Barber II following a worship led by Barber.
See Bernie, Page 6
IFC considers Delta Chi and Pi Kappa Phi The process of selecting a fraternity continues under the IFC expansion policy
would affect the study abroad experience for these students and could impact their ability to return to the United States at a later date.” Wake Forest joins other universities across the United States in bringing students back home from study abroad programs in Italy. The 19 students and one professor who were living at Casa Artom this semester had also been notified on Friday morning of the decision and had to arrange to leave Venice by the weekend. Junior Lilli Cooper, who had been studying abroad at Casa Artom, said she and her fellow peers were shocked by the announcement. “There were lots of tears, lots of frustration,” she said. “I think we were struggling to understand how things had changed so quickly and we basically had been given 48 hours to leave. This is not how any of us felt this semester was going to end.”
After narrowing down the potential candidates of fraternities that could be added to campus under the Interfraternity Council (IFC) expansion policy, three remain: Delta Chi (DX), Pi Kappa Phi (Pi Kap) and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI). Following FIJI’s presentation last week, the second and third IFC expansion presentations featured representatives from DX on Feb. 28 and Pi Kap on March 2. The representatives explained the values and policies of their respective fraternities and advocated for why the organization would be a good fit for the university.
See Casa Artom, Page 5
See IFC, Page 4
BY CIARA SOTOMAYOR Staff Writer sotoci17@wfu.edu