4/29/21 Full Edition

News: Inequality conference comes to Wake Forest Page 5

Opinion: Jason Shay shows courage in decision to protest Page 8

Sports: Offseason updates — Men's basketball Page 11

Life: Wayward Fashion presents Earth Day show Page 16

Old Gold&Black

WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 107, NO. 25

T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 21 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”

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University announces new award Named for late great Professor Maya Angelou, the award will honor Wake Forest's artists

BY EMILY TORO Staff Writer toroer20@wfu.edu Wake Forest will create an award recognizing the legacy of its late professor, Maya Angelou, an acclaimed American poet, storyteller, director, singer, actress and activist, among other roles.

A committee will solicit recommendations from the Wake Forest community for potential recipients of the award. To that end, students, faculty and staff will be able to contribute by recommending artists. The committee will determine, based on the opportunities of the potential artists and relationships the foundation has with them if they are worthwhile recipients. “[The recipient will be] somebody whose work is already living in the legacy of her life when she was alive,” according to Associate Provost for the Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies Christina Soriano.

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

The University Counseling Center will lose two more counselors once the spring semester comes to a close, but Incoming Director Dr. Warrenetta Mann is confident the university can fill those positions by the beginning of the Fall 2021 Semester.

UCC slated to lose two more counselors over the summer The University Counseling Center, already short-staffed, sees even more departures

BY ALEXANDRA KARLINCHAK Editor-in-Chief karliae18@wfu.edu In the wake of COVID-19, mental health coverage has become more of a numbers game than ever before. This truth carries over from clinical practices to college campuses — Wake Forest is no exception.

In an article published by the Old Gold & Black back in October, multiple students expressed concern about the apparent lack of full-time staffers serving in the University Counseling Center (UCC).

When all 13 full-time, mental health professionals are employed by the UCC, the ratio of counselors to students at Wake Forest is 1:592. At the University of North Carolina, the ratio of counselors to students is 1:1,200. At Duke, the ratio is approximately 1:1,000.

So, if Wake Forest is numerically outperforming other elite North Carolina universities, why are some students so dissatisfied?

All year, there have been complaints made by students about the difficulty they face in obtaining timely appointments, qualifying for one-on-one counseling and scheduling recurring appointments.

These concerns were kickstarted with the loss of a full-time staffer in November 2019, which eventu-

ally snowballed into the introduction of an interim UCC director (also in 2019) and the loss of two full-time staff members in December 2020.

Assistant Vice President for Health & Wellbeing Dr. James Raper gently pushed back on these concerns, citing quantitative data that suggests students are being assisted at the same rate they were two academic years ago.

“This March, which is our last full, completed month, the number of clients we reached — or our client population — was a little under 1,000. Through March of last year — which was truncated by about three weeks because of Spring Break — it was 1,100, so about 120 off,” Raper said.

See UCC, Page 6

See Angelou, Page 4

Sociology class holds teach-ins Students in a Sociology 390 class will be hosting teach-ins for the community as a final project

BY AINE PIERRE News Editor pierav20@wfu.edu Those who believe in the power of student activism know that it always has a place in society — but certain movements, certain eras, seem to call out for student engagement. Eras like the 1960s, where students from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) waged a peaceful war against segregation — including a famous sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in nearby Greensboro, N.C. With appalling examples of racism and police violence dominating headlines and social media feeds, many say the need for youth activism, especially by university students, is greater than ever.

Enter: Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Brittany Battle and her Sociology 390 class.

See SOC 390, Page 5

OGB

“ Staff deserves more recognition This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board.

With one week of classes remaining before finals begin, the time to move out of our dorms, off of campus and back into our childhood homes is quickly approaching. Preoccupied with thoughts of papers and projects, internships and jobs, summer plans and difficult goodbyes, we students are liable to forget all the hard work that went into keeping us on campus and content for the entirety of the spring semester.

Where would we be without the tireless work of those individuals whose job it is to ensure that the campus we call home remained

... letting individuals know you appreciate what they do or even that you look forward to seeing them are the things that keep us all going." pristine and our college experience the best it could be despite the trying circumstances? Where would we be without the Pit worker who cooks our omelettes in the morning or the custodian who re-stocks the supplies of our hall each week?

Before we pack our bags and lock our doors, let us acknowledge the work that has been done and continues to be done each

and every day behind the scenes to make our Wake Forest experience everything we envisioned it to be. The dedication of staff members across all facets of campus life cannot go unnoticed, and neither can their efforts to keep a smile on our faces and meet us each and every day with a smile of their own.

Opportunities to show support and acknowledgment for these individuals remain abundant.

Grand gestures aren't necessary to show support and appreciation. Learning the name of the lady who serves you coffee at Camino in the morning can go

a long way; letting individuals know you appreciate what they do or even that you look forward to seeing them are the things that keep us all going.

We here at the Old Gold & Black encourage you, before you leave campus, to seize the next opportunity you come across to let one of these individuals know how grateful you are for all they've done for the Wake Forest community. We hope you choose to pay it forward and do your part in facilitating a welcoming community in which we can all thrive for semesters to come.

Old Gold&Black THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSIT Y SINCE 1916 ALEXANDRA KARLINCHAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF karlae18@wfu.edu

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PRINT MANAGING EDITOR conrbd19@wfu.edu

>> NEWS Aine Pierre, pierav20@wfu.edu

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>> OPINION

Connor Mcneely, mcnecb19@wfu.edu

>> SPORTS

Christina DeNovio, denoca20@wfu.edu Essex Thayer, thayse20@wfu.edu

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Jake Stuart, stuaja20@wfu.edu

>> LIFE

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>> POLICIES

The Old Gold & Black is published Thursdays during the school year, except during examinations, summer and holiday periods, by Triangle Printing of Durham. © 2014 WFU Media Board. All rights reserved. The views expressed in all editorials and advertisements contained within this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the OGB. As part of our commitment to reporting news fairly and accurately, we will not remove any previously published content. 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. For more information on our commenting policy, please see our website. We reserve the right to reject advertisements deemed inappropriate. Our full policy, and how to advertise with the OGB, can be found on our website.

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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 karlae18@wfu.edu the Monday before publication. We reserve the right to edit all letters for length and clarity. No anonymous letters will be printed.

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Page 3 | Thursday, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | News

Deacon Profile: Chris Gilliam sible to sing together safely and continue to meet together to study various genres of repertoire and that it is absolutely vital for the students to do so.

Many classes did not choose to meet in person during the pandemic, so singing and meeting together regularly has been somewhat of a lifeline for the students, as well as for me.

BY CAROLINE WALKER Staff Writer walkct18@wfu.edu

Christopher Gilliam is serving as the new director of choral activities at Wake Forest University. Before that, he held the same position at Davidson College. He is also the artistic director of the Winston-Salem based choir Vox Humana and a director with the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus. Gilliam received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas. He is currently preparing Wake Forest's choirs for a concert honoring female composers, which will be released virtually in May.

What are your goals for the upcoming Female Voice in Creation Profile Concert?

Repertoire varies year by year, and semester by semester, but based on the repertoire the choirs studied in the fall and spring, I felt it important to balance our repertoire by highlighting fantastic compositions by women. Our existing choral library already had a number of compositional gems by women in it, so I was excited to share those pieces — many of which I had the privilege to sing when I was in school — with students. But, I also wanted to add to our library a number of new, outstanding pieces by living composers — colleagues of mine whose compositional voice needed to be heard. We had the privilege of actually meeting via Zoom the composer of “Say Her Name,” Alysia Lee, and that was a wonderful workshop for our singers that helped us learn more about the piece and her compositional style.

Why did you decide to come to Wake Forest?

For the past eight years, I had been the director of choral activities at Davidson College, and for the past six years, I have also been the Director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus. The opportunity to be closer to my work at the Symphony and to be able to be a contributing part of the well-respected Wake Forest music faculty was the realization of a dream for me. I am so thrilled to be a part of a thriving department with such talented and gracious colleagues, but the incredible students were, of course, the best reason I had to teach at Wake Forest.

How has your experience on campus been so far?

I have felt warmly welcomed and incredibly supported by my faculty colleagues, the administration and the students. It has certainly been a unique experience to transition to a new institution in such a challenging year, but I believe the outstanding atmosphere that is present at Wake Forest is the best possible environment in which to find oneself. I am looking forward to enjoying the full “campus experience” when things get back to normal, but for now I feel that I have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which is having landed at Wake Forest.

What is your favorite part of being the director of choral activities?

There are so many rewarding aspects that it is difficult to name only one of my favorites. But there is a point along the educational journey when it becomes apparent that a student recognizes they are capable of more than they had originally thought possible. When talent and intelligence merge — both of which our students have in spades — that kind of epiphany happens frequently, and as result, the quality of singing and music-making improves exponentially. That makes being

Photo courtesy of the Winston-Salem Symphony

a part of a musical ensemble like a choir really thrilling. It is really most satisfying.

How have you reenvisioned choral concerts and adopted changes to make them work during the pandemic?

In the summer of 2020, when we were unsure if we would be able to sing at all, I learned that Wake Forest owned a five-octave set of Malmark handbells. We set up the choir room with 10 tables spaced 10 feet apart — and following the guidelines set by the university — we had rehearsals using those, in addition to singing both outside and inside for an approved, specified length of time.

As the semester progressed and COVID-19 conditions improved, we were able to sing for longer periods of time while still rehearsing handbells. We were able to perform in the annual Lovefeast by working with the Office of Communications and External Relations and the Chaplain’s office. In Spring 2021, continuing the rehearsal and performance models that were approved by the university, we worked closely with the Divinity School to sing for their annual Holy Week and Easter Service. Divinity Dean Jonathan Walton made it possible for us to pay for

the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra to accompany us in our performance.

Additionally, we partnered with the Interdisciplinary Arts Center, Wake the Arts, the Program for Leadership and the Character, Slave, Race, and Memory Project and a host of other wonderful campus partners to perform a virtual choir piece composed by Alysia Lee called “Say Her Name” in honor of Breonna Taylor and other men and women who have been victims of police brutality. We were fortunate to be able to collaborate with Maestra D’Walla Simmons-Burke and the Winston-Salem State Singing Rams on that.

Finally, we’re working on a concert entitled, “Still I Rise: The Female Voice in Creation” that features women composers of multiple genres, ethnicities, and representations. All of the concerts, including the virtual choir collaboration, will be available on the Wake the Arts website and on the Music Department social media pages soon.

How do you hope to strengthen and grow the choir program in the coming years?

Why do you believe continuing to hold concerts during the pandemic is so important?

As we have the opportunity to sing and engage together, we hope word will spread regarding the disciplined, challenging but fun work we do in the choirs. My hope is that we attract the students who really want to be challenged in their musicianship and artistry, as well as those who want to learn more about music and how to build their own voice.

Also, there are many students at Wake who were once valuable members of their high school choirs, who know what it is to have fun while making music and singing with like-minded peers and friends. My hope is that they come back to choir.

We developed a website (www.wakechoirs.com) that will soon be merged with the Music Department website, which answers questions for any student interested in joining us. Wake Choirs are open to every student — undergraduate and graduate — no matter their major, and we have a choir suitable for everyone. I would encourage any student to visit the website to learn more.

While we are unable to actually hold live concerts, we have found that it is pos-

Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

SG GENERAL ASSEMBLY

BY JESS SCHMIDT SG Beat Reporter schmja19@wfu.edu

Executive Reports President Miles Middleton shared that he has been meeting with President-elect Ally Swartzberg about the transition for the upcoming year and thanked everyone for a good year. Speaker of the House Ally Swartzberg echoed Middleton’s sentiments and announced that she had begun facilitating the transition of Speaker Pro-Tempore Braden Strackman to become the speaker of the house when the Assembly convenes next year. She also shared that the application for a cabinet position is live and that all students, regardless of whether they

are senators, can apply for a co-chair position. Staff Advisor Shauna McNeil congratulated the seniors and also thanked everyone for a productive school year.

Committee Reports The Academic Committee reported on their meeting with Dean Gillepsie on what the fall may look like. They learned that approximately 63% of students have been fully vaccinated, and over 70% of faculty have also received at least one shot. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee shared that the Faculty Senate voted and passed the changes to the Cultural Diversity Requirement and now it will be going to a higher university vote. The Physical Planning Committee thanked everyone for their help with Earth Week and shared that it had been a successful week.

News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, April 29, 2021| Page 4

Angelou: Program cements a Wake Forest legacy Continued from Page 1

The committee’s concept is that, once an artist is selected, they will work with faculty, staff and students in a selected visual performing arts department and will be involved in and available for the Wake Forest community.

“It’s an intricate puzzle piece but it starts with our community helping make recommendations,” Soriano said.

For example, Angelou pursued her stage career for a period of time in the 1950s as a member of the cast in “Porgy and Bess” and traveled to New York to continue her performance career, according to the Poetry Foundation. In following her legacy, if applicable, the selected artist could be asked to attend a particular production

rehearsal in the Performing Arts Department.

The recipient would not participate in a semester-long residency, though. Rather, they will engage with the community through art and music for a short period of time.

The award plans to highlight the university’s motto of Pro Humanitate, specifically by illustrating its connection to Angelou’s legacy of being a warrior for humanity. Angelou embodied the principles of Pro Humanitate through her social justice work and her passion for learning, according to Soriano.

Angelou, inspired by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message, decided to involve herself in the battle for civil rights and became the northern coordinator of King’s Southern Christian Lead-

ership Conference, according to the Poetry Foundation. She also joined the Harlem Writer’s Guild and eventually wrote six autobiographies detailing difficult subjects such as race, abuse and violence.

Because she faced so much hardship and witnessed so much injustice throughout her life, it took Angelou 15 years to write the final volume of her autobiography, entitled “A Song Flung up to Heaven.”

“I didn’t know how to write it,” Angelou told Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service interviewer Sherryl Connelly. “I didn’t see how the assassination of Malcolm [X], the Watts riot, the breakup of a love affair, then [the assassination of King], how I could get all that loose with something uplifting in it.”

Soriano hopes that the award will bridge the gap between Angelou’s Wake Forest legacy of yesteryears and the Demon Deacons of today.

“The award will be a way for generations of students who never knew her to know how important she was as a member of the Wake Forest community through the lives of artists who embody a little bit of what her life was like,” Soriano said.

Soriano added that when the call to recommend artists comes out in the fall, the committee encourages people to be a part of the process.

“There is transparency about it,” she said. “And we want to help support an artist that our colleagues and students think would be transformational for their work, their growth, and their development as artists.”

Four years in, plant-forward dining is a success are getting really long lately, and just The Pit’s introduction of the the presence of the vegan station has Vegan Station has minimized the added a lot more awareness.”

This popularity is a sign of the iniuniversity’s carbon footprint

BY MARGARET BOLT Contributing Writer boltma20@wfu.edu

Just over four years since the rollout of a new “plant-forward” eating initiative, Wake Forest has built a strong reputation as a national top10 school for vegan friendliness.

When the university implemented the initiative in March 2017, it was primarily aimed toward the small number of vegans on campus, but Assistant Director of Sustainability Engagement Brian Cohen says that the initiative has fostered plant-forward dining on campus.

“It was created in response to a growing demand,” Cohen said. “And it has helped to further that demand.”

A vegan diet is regarded as the “single biggest way” to reduce one’s environmental impact. Researchers at the University of Oxford have found that cutting meat and dairy out of a diet can reduce someone’s carbon footprint by up to 73%.

Though switching to a vegan diet sounds intimidating, several chefs on Wake Forest’s campus have challenged themselves to come up with creative vegan recipes, which has resulted in non-vegan students coming back time and time again.

Wake Forest freshman Anna Barkley eats at the vegan station in the Pit for almost every meal and has seen the vegan options grow more popular over the past few months.

“There have been new wild and crazy concoctions that everyone wants to try,” Barkley said. “The lines

tiative’s success.

Cohen added that the goal is not to make anyone become vegan, but instead to prioritize eating plant-based foods.

“A lot of our communication and education efforts are based around this idea of plant-forward dining,” Cohen said. “It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.”

Cohen also noted that the Vegan Station provides opportunities for Wake Forest’s chefs to engage in a culinary conversation with students.

“The vegan station (and other locations) allows our chefs to feature unique, innovative dishes that help expand the student’s understanding of what ‘plant-forward’ dining is really about,” Cohen said.

Plant-forward dining has resulted in an increase in student demand for plant-based food, along with decreased demand for animal-based food.

The main benefit of the initiative’s success is minimizing the school’s carbon footprint. Even on an individual basis, the numbers speak for themselves. If an individual student ate vegan one day a week for a whole semester, they would stop the creation of 315 pounds of CO2 and would save over 17,000 gallons of water otherwise used for the production of animal-based foods, according to world-renowned author and environmental activist Kathy Freston.

Deacon Dining Health and Wellness Manager Madison Fishler said that anywhere from 50-150 students eat at the Pit Vegan Station during

lunch and dinner (the station is not open for breakfast), a figure which does not include the students eating vegan at other on-campus locations.

In fact, many students are seemingly attracted to Wake Forest for its array of vegan options.

Wake Forest sophomore Khushi Arya has been a lifelong vegetarian, and it never occurred to her that she should be worried about the lack of potential plant-based options until she toured colleges.

“We took a road trip to Wake Forest, and my grandmother told me the South has very few meatless options, so I thought I would be cooking in the kitchen every day,” Arya said.

“I was so relieved to see how many options Wake Forest had, and I was drawn to it as a result” Arya has valued how much Wake Forest values sustainable eating.

“The culture at Wake Forest really promotes ‘plant-forward’ din-

ing, with different challenges each month, and the activities the sustainability office put on before COVID-19,” Arya said.

She and her friends have begun a new tradition of eating vegan every day for dinner, though her friends typically eat meat on a daily basis.

Even small actions like this can increase awareness of the benefits of a vegan or “plant-forward” diet. It can also help to break the stereotypes associated with a plant-based diet, such as that vegan food does not contain enough protein or that it does not taste as good as animal-based foods.

Though Cohen acknowledges that there is still a lot of progress to be made, he gives the vegan chefs at Wake Forest plenty of credit for their creativity, which has introduced many students to the myriad of “plant-forward” options available, both at the Pit and at other campus dining establishments.

Photo Courtesy of Aine Pierre

Plant-based dining has increased in popularity at Wake Forest, especially after the introduction of the Vegan Station at the Pit four years ago.

Page 5 | Thursday, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | News

SOC 390: Class plans a slew of teach-ins Continued from Page 1 The class, formally titled Defund, Transform, Abolish?: (Re)Imagining Justice, has been examining texts on abolition all semester long, but it is the final project that is particularly compelling. Battle, who is the co-founder of the local group Triad Abolition Project, has assigned her students to lead teach-ins for members of the Wake Forest community (and beyond).

Teach-ins, according to Pedagogy & American Literature Studies, are when a person speaks about a social justice topic they have gained familiarity with for the purpose of educating a community (usually of fellow activists). These education sessions helped galvanize the youth-led social movements of the 1960s, Marshall Sahlins wrote for The Nation.

“Part of the practice of abolition is about existing in community and about community education and community engagement,” Battle said. “I really wanted all of the assignments, but certainly the final, to really reflect that process.”

“Teach-ins are something that my organization does a lot,” Battle continued. “A lot of abolitionist organizations and a lot of organizations that are just committed to social justice and racial equality hold teach-ins. Teachins have been happening for a long time and they’re happening now, possibly more frequently because Zoom is the norm now.”

Battle decided to teach the course as an effort to bring abolition into the classroom, where she believes it has been largely absent.

“Abolition is part not only of my activism but my scholarship,” Battle said. “So I

thought it would be interesting to teach this course and have it contribute to the crime and criminal justice concentration in the Sociology Department.”

Junior Chris Cates, whose group is teaching-in about how Wake Forest upholds systems of racism and violence in Winston-Salem, believes that teach-ins are a perfect way to encapsulate the work the class has done this semester.

“All semester, we have learned about the various ways that communities and organizers have gained knowledge from one another in collective ways such as this,” Cates said.

“So what better way to end off our semester than to give back to the community by giving crash courses on some of the material we have covered in this class?”

Sophomore River Cook’s group is leading a teach-in on the role of the carceral, or police state, in academia. They said their biggest challenge in getting ready for the teach-in was preparing for a public speaking role.

“For me, the biggest challenge has been internal,” Cook said. “Because you don’t know a majority of the people listening to you talk, and it’s over Zoom so a lot of people will have their cameras off.”

Senior Eli Krakow took the course because he wanted to dive deeper into issues of abolition that were raised over the summer. He is leading a teach-in on how alternatives to prison often end up reinforcing the same racist systems that prisons do.

“I found that abolition was still on my mind, so I wanted to go beyond the general ideas and more into specifics,” Krakow said.

Cook also emphasized the importance of teach-ins on Wake Forest’s campus and ex-

plained how the experience of bringing abolition out of the classroom — through debate and courses — and into the surrounding world. “[In high school and early college], I primarily engaged in the academic side of abolition; like reading the literature,” Cook said.

“I hadn’t engaged much in the activist community, and partially because of this class, I’ve become much more involved in WinstonSalem and my hometown of Austin, Texas.”

“The biggest thing that I had to be aware of was meeting people where they’re at and being attuned to different people’s circumstances,” Cook added. “Even if I have access to all of these resources, it’s very important to

find ways to demystify academia and make it so that the knowledge being produced is accessible to everyone.”

The other teach-in topic is “Reimagining Conflict After COVID”.

Battle, who advertised the teach-ins on her Twitter feed, noted that the reception has been incredibly positive, with people both in and outside of the Wake Forest community expressing interest. Among the 175 users who have retweeted Battle’s post is Mariame Kaba, a famous modern abolitionist who wrote “We Do This ‘Til We Free Us”.

Wake Forest students are welcome to attend the teach-ins, the flyers for which will be attached to this article online.

Photo Courtesy of Brittany Battle

Teach-ins, which helped galvanize the youth activist movements of yesteryear, are the focus of the Sociology 390 class final project.

New politics class receives NEH grant money Dr. Jack Amoureux’s New Ideas on Imperialism class received a collaborative humanities grant

BY COOPER SULLIVAN Asst. News Editor sullcg20@wfu.edu As teachers and instructors across the globe struggle to properly engage their students through their computer screens, Professor Jack Amoureux had a new idea for his Special Topics in Politics course. Amoureux is teaching New Ideas on Imperialism for the first time and didn’t want to simply assign readings like a typical class.

His ingenuitive plan? Invite the authors of each book to speak to the class and have groups plan for, transcribe and then publish the discussions.

“Normally in a classroom, you are just wondering out loud about these questions that you want to ask the author,” Amoureux said. “Well, here you get to ask the author. And then the author, in a way, gets to update what they’ve done with the book — like ‘what happened last week, last month, or last year?’ They get to talk about the implications of their book for these major events that are significant to us.”

The four authors, each of whom Amoureux had worked beside on panels with, wrote about imperialism in the typical sense: Spain at the height of its colonialism, imperialism’s effect on modern-day Britain with Brexit or even American militarization. Also included were the nuanced ways imperialism seeps into modern life.

Topics examined included energy, the working class and the natural world.

“I wanted to bring some kind of variation,” Amoureux said. “Because no matter why you are taking the class, one of the topics is likely to be of interest to you if you enjoy talking about politics.”

Groups within the class were assigned to each author and tasked to generate questions and interview them. Using the transcription service Descript, the groups have been transcribing the interviews, cutting them down and readying them for publication on an international relations blog. Some groups have podcasts and video clips to upload. Unfortunately, this project came with a price tag, and Amoureux needed to find a way to pay for all of it.

At the beginning of the semester, Amoureux and his students collectively applied for a Faculty-Student Collaborative Humanities Research Grant from the Humanities Institute of Wake Forest, which is funded by a multi-year grant awarded to the university from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

“One way this was unusual was that me and all of my students applied for the grant,” Amoureux said. “Normally, it might just be a professor and one or two students working together, but we are bringing research and teaching all together.”

The $1,686 grant was used to compensate the authors for their time, to subscribe to the transcription service and to use media images.

At the time of writing, not every transcription has been completed, and they most likely will not be done by the time grades are due May 16, so Amoureux has recruited a few students to remain on board with the project after the semester ends.

“One conversation I am looking forward to having with my students is, ‘what does this project look like in the future?’ Amoureux said.

“And I already have talked to some like [junior] Hannah [Coates] and [junior] Katherine Finch, who has her own podcast.”

“Originally I wasn’t going to do a podcast as part of the project — I was just going to do the interviews and the video clips,” Amoureux continued. “But because of Finch’s involvement and the class’s enthusiasm for it, we decided to produce these podcasts. These podcasts are part of a series called ‘Eyes on Imperialism’.”

One thing that Amoureux emphasized was the uniqueness of this type of class format. He

does not know of any other course-based research projects currently happening on campus, but he hopes that will change in the future.

“One of the things we are trying to do is provide some kind of example, how other classes could do this, how other faculty in other departments could do something similar,” Amoureux said. “The next step of the process is to figure out how to share our experience with others who might be inspired to do something similar.”

Amoureux will be teaching this class in the spring semester of the next school year with a new group of authors and will apply for another humanities grant to continue the interviewing and publication process.

Photo Courtesy of Jack Amoureux

Amoureux’s class model involves inviting the authors of class readings to speak over Zoom so that students can ask questions related to the readings.

Old Gold & Black | News

Page 6 | Thursday, April 29, 2021

UCC: Two counselors announce departure Continued from Page 1

“So, the number of specialties and sessions provided from June through March are exactly the same as our last full year, 2018 to 2019. What that says is basically this: we are having more sessions per client.”

These spots were not filled due to the COVID-19 hiring freeze, and the counseling center has been forced to operate at 75% staff capacity ever since.

A temporary, full-time staff position was introduced and increase the number of counselors to assist the student body. With a search for a new director and staff members underway, the UCC depended on group therapy, limited oneon-one therapy and other wellness

measures to provide mental health care to graduate and undergraduate students.

This semester, new UCC director Dr. Warrenetta Mann was hired and onboarded as the search for two open positions continued.

While the search has narrowed, the two full-time positions remain unfilled. Additionally, at the end of this semester, two additional fulltime staffers will be leaving the UCC to pursue other careers.

This leaves four positions open, but Assistant Vice President for Health & Wellbeing Dr. James Raper is confident that these four positions will be filled before the start of the 2021-22 school year.

“I have every confidence that all of those positions will be filled in anticipation of the fall,” Rap-

er said. “Before the fall semester starts, we will have a full office.”

Mann, the newest addition to the UCC, shares Raper’s confidence.

“What we’ve seen in the first search is that we have a great pool of candidates,” Mann said. “I’m very hopeful and optimistic that we will have those positions filled by the fall.”

In response to student concerns, both Raper and Mann hinted that the solution to improving mental health on Wake Forest’s campus is not hiring more counselors, but improving the preventative measures that ensure that mental health crises do not reach dangerous levels.

“Here is the thing with bringing in more people — no matter how many more counselors we

bring on, there’s not ever going to be enough to catch up with what everybody’s needs are,” Mann said.

“We could all benefit from counseling.”

“I think that we will really be strategizing around how to work smarter and how to do things that quickly get to [meet] the needs of students in the community,” Mann continued. “Things that are not necessarily one-on-one therapy.

Preventive and intervening measures are important when it comes to preserving mental health, too.”

According to Mann, these strategies could look like more frequent collaboration between the UCC and the Office of Wellbeing, a more robust offering of group therapy sessions and more opportunities for student leadership.

Two singing groups hold outdoor concerts Minor Variation and Demon Divas performed for students at two separate concerts this week

BY SOPHIE GUYMON Staff Writer guymsm20@wfu.edu

Campus is alive with the sound of music.

In this past week, both Minor Variation (MV) — Wake’s female Christian a cappella ensemble — and Demon Divas — an allgirls contemporary group — held their first outdoor concerts of the academic year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, even before these performances, these women still found incredible fulfillment in the group.

“In the times of COVID-19 where performances are uncertain, MV has another purpose; I believe that purpose of developing community with each other and Christ shone through this year,” freshman Allison Christiano said.

“My involvement in MV has allowed me to develop bonds that will outlast my time in the group.”

COVID-19 safety was carefully observed during all rehearsals, with adjustments made at the direction of the University.

“Our rehearsals are completely masked [and] distanced, and frequent hand sanitizing checks are in place for everyone’s safety,” Demon Divas President Marie Anderson (‘21) said. “Our concert was also distanced and masked, and we also didn’t switch mics like we usually do during the performance. [Rehearsing with these changes is] a challenge that requires more effort, but it was totally worth it to be able to sing.”

Minor Variation’s “Large-ish Concert” was held this past Sun-

day at 7 p.m. on Manchester Plaza, while the Demon Divas held their Spring Concert on the Scales Breezeway at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both concerts were held at limited capacity, with students required to register in advance to attend.

MV performed six of the 11 songs on their 2020 album, Anchored, as well as four additional pieces. Chloe Williams (‘21), Katie Fox (‘23), Maddie Faria (‘22), Lauren Cianfrani (‘22) and Regan Cochran (‘23) were the featured soloists.

“My favorite song that we performed was Old Church Choir,” Christiano said. “Everyone really likes that [piece], and we all got into the music and that our voices meshed well [together].”

Between songs was a short speaking session from MV Chaplain Anna Crumpler (‘21) and a

senior recognition segment for Crumpler, Chloe Williams and MV’s other graduating seniors: Kaley Jessup and Casey Williams.

The event was livestreamed on Facebook for those who were not able to attend in person, which was enjoyed especially by the parents, friends, and family members of the performers.

The Demon Divas performed eight songs in total broken up into two sets of four. Concert RSVPs were closed at 100 to abide

by University guidelines. Featured soloists for the concert were Anderson, Gabrielle Coffy (‘22), Anjali Purohit (‘21), Lillian Holland (‘23), Grace Sullivan (‘22), Sallie Perry (‘22), Paige Edmonds (‘21) and Lauren Carlson (‘21).

“It was truly exhilarating,” Coffy said of her concert experience. “[During my solo, I got] lost in the melodies and my own voice.

It really feels like the world fades away.”

“Our energy was on fire because it was our first performance,” Anderson said. “As a senior, it was very bittersweet to have it be our first and last moment, and I am so proud of the group’s commitment to coming together over our shared bond of making music.

Our greatest challenge was definitely breathing in the masks, but we overcame it [through] practice.”

Apart from their recent concerts, MV and Demon Divas added new members to their groups this year and were able to release music across streaming platforms.

Both groups plan to adapt to COVID-19 conditions as they evolve, with hopes for a greater repertoire of in-person concerts and performances at campus events in the fall.

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

“Our energy was on fire because it was our first performance,” said Demon Divas President Marie Anderson (‘21). The Divas performed in the Scales Breezeway Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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PAG E 7

O n l i n e at : w w w. w f u o g b . c o m E d i t o r s : Aine Pierre, pierav20@wfu.edu

Assistant Editors: Julia Ochsenhirt, ochsja20@wfu.edu Cooper Sullivan, sullcg20@wfu.edu

India confronts COVID-19 disaster Hospitals in India are overwhelmed as the second most-populous country in the world breaks down

BY JOSH SINGH Contributing Writer singjm20@wfu.edu As we enter the 14th month of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are weary of the endless lockdown procedures, the mask mandates and the social distancing protocols. With the introduction of various vaccines, such as those created by Pfizer and Moderna, the Global North is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

As of April 27, the United States has successfully administered at least one dose of the vaccine to roughly 42% of the population. Both Israel and the United Kingdom boast more impressive numbers with 62% and 50% of their populations receiving at least the first dose, respectively. The world’s superpowers are slowly defeating COVID-19 after a long and arduous battle against the invisible enemy, but who is being left behind?

Much of the developing world does not have access to vaccines in the same capacity that nations like the United States do.

Wealthy nations have secured more vaccine doses than needed for their populations, leaving developing nations without adequate vaccine supplies for theirs. In a world where COVID-19 has mutated in ways that make it more transmissible and deadly,

developing nations are dealing with the resurgence of the virus. In these countries, the spread and death tolls are rising to levels previously unseen.

The epicenter of this new surge is in India, where case numbers have risen to record highs of over 360,000 new cases a day. For a period, it looked as if India had tamed the virus, as cases dropped to record lows in February. Social distancing measures relaxed and the Indian government even encouraged activities such as the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in March, despite the second wave beginning to take hold. Even as the nation descended into a state of discord, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, continued to hold rallies for his re-election campaign, for which Indian voters turned up in the thousands.

As of April 27, only eight percent of India’s total population is vaccinated — not nearly enough to offer any true herd immunity against the virus. Medicines such as Remdesivir are being sold on the black market to treat COVID-19 as Indians are being turned away from hospitals in droves, forced to seek treatment elsewhere. As the outbreak worsened, patients lucky enough to be placed in a hospital bed often had to share. As oxygen supplies in hospitals depleted, families often resorted to extreme measures to procure oxygen cylinders for their loved ones suffering from the disease — some have looted cylinders, and others have been forced to pay exorbitant prices.

The Indian National Government has not moved to enforce a lockdown, leaving it up to state governments to decide how to han-

dle the outbreaks. People are dying in their homes and in ambulances as they desperately wait for a hospital bed to become available.

Healthcare workers are being worked to the bone, and one would be hard-pressed to find a family who has not lost a relative to COVID-19. As the United States watches this situation unfold from thousands of miles away, it is tempting to address the issue the same way it addressed early COVID-19 outbreaks in China and Italy. It is easy to feel like this is someone else’s problem — it is tempting to look at the distance between the United States and India and think that the oceans that separate us serve as ample protection.

As early outbreaks of COVID-19 taught the world, this is not the case. A disease that originated in China managed to disrupt the world, and as cases surge in India and the potential for viral mutations rise, it could very well happen again.

One way that the United States could aid India and nations like it is by waiving the intellectual property rights that prevent developing nations from accessing the vaccine formulas that have life-saving potential.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic, and therefore, the global community must work together to find collective solutions to this crisis.

Photo Courtesy of CNN

Many Indians are being turned away from hospitals, as there are no beds left.

Those lucky enough to be admitted to the hospital may have to share beds.

Billions of cicadas will emerge this summer The emergence of Brood X is an entomologist’s Super Bowl, but a nightmare for silence lovers

BY JULIA OCHSENHIRT Asst. News Editors ochsja20@wfu.edu Get ready for noise. In the coming weeks, billions of cicadas will emerge across the midAtlantic and midwest. This particular group of periodical cicadas, deemed “Brood X” by scientists, has been underground for 17 years.

According to Forbes, after resurfacing the cicadas will make a “mad dash” to nearby trees; shed their exoskeletons; mate for fourto-six weeks and then die, leaving their exoskeletons and remains along the bases of tree trunks.

Cicadas are harmless, tiny insects famous for their loud mating call. Alongside the periodical cicadas we will see this summer, a small number of so-called annual or dog-days cicadas emerge every year across North America.

Per Scientific American, these annual cicadas are slightly larger and less vibrantly colored than their periodical counterparts — annual cicadas are olive-colored with black eyes, while periodical cicadas have bright red eyes and orange-streaked wings. It is the annual cicadas’

droning buzz many Americans associate with long, hot July and August days.

Periodical cicadas’ song will be similar in tone but much louder. Scientists are predicting their calls could break 100 decibels, a level in between a lawnmower and a rock concert.

In 2004, when Brood X last emerged, the Baltimore Sun reported on the daily experiences of living with cicadas: employees at the Baltimore Zoo could not hear each other on their walkie-talkies, gardeners had to wear earplugs and homeowners completely missed the sound of the phone ringing.

“It’s like Harleys,” Marian Farabee, a resident of Columbia, Maryland, told the Baltimore Sun during Brood X’s last emergence.

“A few start up, then all of a sudden, they all start up and kind of roar.”

On National Public Radio (NPR), Michael Raupp, professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Maryland, explained the driving force behind Brood X’s periodicity — predator satiation. Cicadas are prey for all sorts of animals, including chickadees, mice, spiders, turtles and meerkats. If periodical cicadas were to emerge in smaller groups, predators would devour the entire brood before they had a chance to mate. When billions of cicadas emerge at once, a small percentage of the brood satiates predators, leaving huge numbers of cicadas to reproduce.

No other brood of cicada will emerge this year — each brood operates on a unique and precise cycle. For example, Brood XXII emerges every 13 years and surfaced last in 2014, per the United States Forest Service.

According to Raupp, it is critical that different broods do not come into contact with one another. If brood X and Brood XXII were to encounter and mate with one another, their offspring would be confused about when to emerge and may venture out in smaller, more frequent batches. This would dampen the effectiveness of the periodical cicadas’ predator satiation strategy.

While cicadas may seem disruptive and annoying to the general public, scientists view their mass emergence as an astounding feat of nature.

“For entomologists, this is our Super Bowl, we’ve been looking forward to this,” Raupp said. “It will be a spectacular event.”

John Cooley, a professor in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Connecticut, encouraged Americans to change their perspective on the cicadas and appreciate the uniqueness of the phenomenon.

“At this scale, there really isn’t anywhere else on the planet where something like this happens,” Cooley told NPR.

Photo Courtesy of Business Insider

According to scientists, billions of Brood X cicadas will emerge this summer.

OPINION

T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 2 1

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Online Editor:

OLD GOLD & BLACK

at : w w w. w f u o g b . c o m

C o n n o r M c N e e l y, m c n e c b 19 @ w f u . e d u

A s s i s s ta n t E d i t o r :

C a p M c L i n ey , m c l i c p 19 @ w f u . e d u

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

Olivia's Outlook

Olivia reflects on time with the OGB Former editor-in-Chief remarks on the tremendous effect the Old Gold & Black had on her college experience

BY OLIVIA FIELD Senior Writer fielor17@wfu.edu

As I’m staring down the barrel of graduation, I can’t help but feel flooded by emotions. The wispy memories of Pit sits and sunbathing on the quad rush into my mind as I reminisce about my favorite courses and the friendships I’ve made along the way. I know that “the real world,” — while different from a college campus — will provide me with many of the same opportunities to find happiness and enjoyment within the cycle of a day. However, there is one irreplaceable thing that I know I am leaving behind in college: the Old Gold & Black.

My four undergraduate years have been defined by this publication in more ways than I can count, and I often forget that being a part of the OGB is such a niche experience.

Not everyone has access to our fifth floor Benson office, where they end up spending enough time with the same 10 people to reach the point of delirium. Working for the OGB is a wild ride, and in an attempt to reflect on this whole experience, I will also try to convince

Photo courtesy of Olivia FIeld

Field poses with her fellow executive editors, Emily Beauchamp and Elizabeth Maline, after the completion of the Fall 2020 Semester's final issue, which was the last issue they were in charge for.

you, dear reader, to get involved with this publication as much as you can.

Though it is probably the most boring thing to bring up, I would be remiss not to point out how much OGB prepares you for “adulting” (look, I know that this word is hotly contested … but that’s a topic for another op-ed). I have acquired and fine-tuned skills as obvious as being able to write and stay organized; as well as others that are a lot more complicated: being able to stand up for myself in the face of authority and learn how to be in a professional space where personal life can make matters complicated. It’s been deeply challenging, but OGB has made me that much more ready to tackle the uncharted territory of life post-undergrad.

One of the worst things about college is how much it sucks up all of your time and energy, leaving very little room for you to express yourself and find spaces in which you can be creative. This is something that I often took for granted about the OGB, but as I am on the way out, I now realize that it gave me a platform to explore my passions. I wrote about music, movies, politics and travel. I created graphics and produced an entire podcast. I made OGB into what I wanted it to be, and I never felt boxed in. Everything I have created through this publication has allowed me to grow on an intimately personal level. If you want proof that OGB is a publication dedicated to the cause of Photo courtesy of Olivia FIeld personal expression, look no further than the Executive editors leave handprints on the wall fact that they are letting me publish what is of the Old Gold & Black after leaving office. essentially a diary entry.

On the other hand, one of the best things about college is making connections, and let me tell you, this is something we are really good at here at the Old Gold & Black. I was able to build relationships with people I would have never crossed paths with otherwise, finding connections within the world of journalism and — more often than not — about things completely unrelated to the newspaper. We made playlists together, played baseball with a rolled up poster and stress ball and watched election results roll in on Tuesday nights. We played iPhone Uno, had March Madness brackets and shared meal swipes. My dear friend Emily Beauchamp and I did this whole thing together. Both timid freshmen in the fall of 2017, we became production assistants, assistant editors, section editors and finally members of the executive board for 2020.

I am so grateful for her.

If I added up the amount of hours I have spent in the OGB office, it might be cause for concern. A lot of important things have happened in that office. I made friends for life. I fell in love. I interviewed for jobs. I cried a lot, but I definitely laughed even more. I’ve stayed up all night, and I’ve slept on the couch. I studied for finals, but I gossiped even more. I’ve eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner there — sometimes alone, (though not often). I consumed more black coffees and yerba mates than I’d like to admit. I said many simple hellos, and lots of meaningful goodbyes.

I wrote my first article, and my last. I lived a lot of life up in that office. A lot of people have. And you can, too.

Opinion| Old Gold & Black

Thursday, April 29, 2021 | Page 9

Jack Portman“tells all in his last ever Opinion article Portman's Final Opinion

Wake Forest senior is pro-reform for the University's parking access and fundamentally against William Poteat

Jack Portman

Senior Writer portjt17@wfu.edu

This will be the last of the 72 articles I have written for the Old Gold & Black between 2017 and 2021. By way of a grand finale, this article will incorporate a chorus of opinions which, owing to laziness and ill-informedness, I have neglected to address in the Opinion section before. I don’t necessarily intend to elaborate on these opinions here; I will — for the most part — only state them in a single, successive burst resembling a stream-of-conscious dialogue. Some of them are more developed than others, and perhaps more serious than others.

Anyhow, here it goes.

I really feel that first-person shooter video games normalize gun violence in some way, and I think superhero movies have a similar effect. Wake Forest tricks students into thinking events like

By way of a grand finale, this article will in- William Poteat, who is credited with corporate a chorus of opinions which, owing formulating Wake Forest’s “Pro Huto laize and ill-informedness, I have neglect- manitate” motto, was a eugenicist — ed to address in the Opinion section before. this calls into question what he means by “for humanity.”

D.E.S.K. and Wake 'n Shake are real vol- Pinterest is a means by which aesthetics unteerism (and even activism), but these are cultivated and commodified (other events are just representative of a cold, media achieve a similar effect). corporate pseudo-philanthropy that is “Public intellectuals,” from Malcolm more oriented toward projecting an ap- Gladwell to Steven Pinker to Gore Vipearance of community engagement dal, generally aren’t very helpful. rather than toward any actual social con- Rent should be canceled at least for the tribution. Wake Forest is disinterested in remainder of the pandemic recession. pursuing actual political change, locally There is so much room for growth in or nationally (see, for example, President the realm of iPhone street photography Hatch’s personal political contributions). and I think the next Robert Frank will Non-human organisms (and even non- shoot on their iPhone. Also, Sean Baker animal organisms) should (to a limited was a visionary when he shot Tangerine degree) possess political rights. There on an iPhone and I’m excited to see this shouldn’t be patents on the COVID-19 style elaborated upon. vaccines or on other important, life-sav- The fields of anthropology and politiing inventions. cal science need to accommodate each The U.S. welfare state systematically other’s theories and perspectives to a disadvantages low-income citizens. greater extent than they already do.

I can’t tell if Colin Powell already deliv- Higher education is racist and classist ered his Face-to-Face presentation at the (this goes without saying, but I never LJVM coliseum or if he will do so at a wrote a piece explicitly about this toplater date, but if he already has, Wake ic).

Forest shouldn’t have invited him. If More academics should embrace activhis presentation is still forthcoming, the ism. Lifestyle changes at the individual university should cancel it (he is a war level won’t stave off climate change and criminal!). environmental degradation (that many

people believe this to be the case seems to be a result of ideological shortcomings). The U.S. should guarantee paid maternity leave. Standardized tests fail to assess exactly what they are intended to assess. Political commentators have fundamentally misconstrued the meaning and implications of socialism.

Wake Forest currently hires off-duty Winston Salem police officers as contractors — they should not do so.

Parking access for students should be expanded on Wake’s campus, and ticketing for parking violations should be less punitive. Expanding investment in the community should be an important component of the university’s efforts to reconcile with its history of racism, especially since the university explicitly sought to exclude Black students from the academy — only reconciling with this history within the academy is unproductive.

These and other opinions might have been developed into a variety of nice articles had I the time to do so. Regardless, writing and working for the Old Gold & Black was an instructive and rewarding experience, and if you haven’t already, I recommend submitting an Opinion piece of your own in the near future.

between persons and social relations between things.” In other words, the labor behind the object is merely seen as a necessity, leading us to objectify people and subjectify objects.

Additionally, commodity fetishism obscures the relations of production and results in the alienation of the worker. We do not see objects as the product of human labor, but as inherently and independently valuable commodities. In other words, we fail to see the class divisions behind the making of the product.

While commodity fetishism illustrates that class division is obscured through a system of generalized exchange, the same idea can be applied to collegiate Greek life. Greek life can also be understood as relationships between objects rather than people.

There is a sense of unity that is produced through commodities. There may be certain clothes or brands that are deemed as necessary to own for acceptance into the community.

For example, during sorority recruitment, individuals who wear specific high-end clothing (e.g. Gucci belts and Golden Goose sneakers) will be given more attention to than

those who are not. Why? Because those objects serve as symbols for entry.

Another example gleaned from Greek life — specifically at Wake Forest — is the color coordination of Converse sneakers to a particular sorority (X sorority members wear red converse, Y sorority members wear blue converse, etc.). The shoes frame a community as constructed through objects, and this gives the objects special powers. The shoes symbolize unity, making it almost seem insulting if someone wears the "wrong" shoes. The color of the shoes are not an afterthought of the social relation, but rather a stand-in for it.

To be wearing the "right" shoes is to be included. It is not so much that inclusion brings the shoes — rather the shoes mark the literal body of the person. The shoes are a physical commodity that are ascribed an arbitrary power that quite literally marks the body for inclusion. This is what Marx was getting at — and was worried about. While we may be the creators of these objects, we are allowing the objects to rule, obscuring their value and social relation.

“ objects to rule relationships Greek life allows Greek Life

Greek life ensures that commodity fetishism stands as a gate to collegiate social life Gaby Gonzalez

Staff Columnist gonzgc17@wfu.edu

Although we may not realize it, there are many forms of mass-produced culture that target and direct how we think, what we like and what we choose to consume. The products we buy have been “fetishized” so as to attract our attention.

In Karl Marx's “Labor Theory of Value”, the concept of commodity fetishism refers to a process of the objectification of social relations. Here, the labor, social relationships and value hierarchies that are necessary for production are obfuscated by an assumption that the value of a commodity is a derivative solely of the commodity itself. In this way, the commodity is an object ascribed a mystical, symbolic power to confer value.

Greek life can also be understood as relationships between objects rather than people. There is a sense of unity that is produced through commodities."

Thus, we can understand commodity fetishism to be when the value of an object is understood as intrinsic to the object itself, rather than said value being ascribed to the object by the social relations that produce and consume it. This leads to the assumption that the object itself has more power than it does in reality.

Further, by making it seem as though the value of an object stems inherently from the object, we fail to see the class divisions behind said object. That is, we fail to recognize the class divisions among those who brought the object into existence.

Insteead, we understand objects as things that gain their value from their relationship with other objects.

Marx expresses this idea by saying, “the relations connecting the labour of one individual with that of the rest appear, not as direct social relations between individuals at work, but as what they really are, material relations

Opinion | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, April 29, 2021 | Page 10

“ Families Plan ignores soaring drug prices Biden’s American Conspiracy of Silence

Despite a strong hold on Congress, the Biden administration excludes healthcare reform legislation Connor McNeely Opinion Editor mcnecb19@wfu.edu

Imagine this: in the midst of one of the more arduous economic recoveries in United States history, President Joe Biden takes the stage at his joint address to Congress and announces legislation that will cut prescription drug prices. The proposal is a slamdunk against Big Pharma’s malevolent, steady price hikes (21% in 2019 alone, per Rx Savings Solutions) and the virtual crowd of officials — including millions of Americans watching at home — get up onto their feet and celebrate. This all sounds great, right?

The issue is that although it could be great news for millions of Americans, this scenario is, well, just that: a scenario and nothing more. Last night President Biden introduced the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, and though he called for drug price legislation, the changes to expand Medicare coverage were ommitted from the plan.

It isn’t as if President Biden will lose any support or backing from his Dem-

... at this moment in our country’s For the Democrats, who have hishistory, I can be shocked by abso- torically been the lesser-funded party lutely nothing and emboldened by with regards to donations from the almost everything.”

PACs of the pharmaceutical industry (46.6% of contributions in 14 of the past elections since 1990, according ocratic constituents in Congress for to STAT), this cannot be seen as anythis move, which is a sad truth in thing other than an under-realized itself. More than 17 Senators and failure of Biden’s first 100 days. I will 80 House Democrats actually sent admit that I have been increasingly a letter to the president that called impressed with his leadership and for this necessary change (Speaker of accomplishments this spring, but I the House Nancy Pelosi included), can’t let such an important problem but for most members of the media slide away uncriticized. and political officials — many of Another set of price hikes for prewhom are bought out by pharma- scription drugs threatens our prideceutical companies — a brief mes- ful notion that we changed who we sage about the issue will suffice. were during the pandemic. In actuIf I were a newcomer to Ameri- ality, the dragon (COVID-19) was can politics, I would say that I am at the door and the king (United shocked about this failure on behalf States government) hired the knight of the Democratic Party. Yet at this in shining armor (Pfizer, J&J, etc.) moment in our country’s history, I to rescue the damsel in distress (U.S. can be shocked by absolutely noth- citizens). This is a picture that looks ing and emboldened by almost ev- fantastic on paper, but has many red erything. The exclusion of this leg- flags upon closer inspection. For islation would appear surprising to example, it turns out that the U.S. any passing observer because of the government hired ATI (Advanced sheer amount of momentum on the Technologies International), a deside of the Democratic Party. They fense contract management firm, to control both the White House and negotiate their contracts with these Congress and are arguably seeing private pharmaceutical companies, more bipartisan support for reforms effectively rerouting the contracts — partly due to the crumbling state from public records. of the Republican Party and partly Granted, this was a measure exerbecause of the dire straits in which cised by the Trump administration’s our country now finds itself than “Operation Warp Speed”, whose ever before. mission speaks for itself. Sometimes

the government must cut bureaucratic corners and restrict public information to save lives. I am merely highlighting something many, including myself, believe to be a dangerous sign.

In truth, I’ve seen a president make Biden’s exact choice to politely disregard these rising drug prices before.

Former President Donald Trump constantly appeared bullish on drugprice negotiation and then came up short of supporting the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act or even negotiating Medicare.

Even though they tried, the Obama administration scrapped legislative changes for Medicare drug-pricing at the conclusion of their second term in a similar fashion.

I believe that it’s perfectly rational for me to demand a fight out of the government officials that I voted to elect. The eight percent of Americans who skip their prescriptions because they can’t afford them (National Center for Health Statistics) deserve a team of officials who won’t concede. Real change on the health front can’t just be statewide, as is the case with Colorado’s law to lower prescription drug costs through Canadian and foreign imports. It is my hope that President Biden will do more than mention the health crisis that has plagued America since long before the eruption of the coronavirus.

sire for socializing and peer networks.

As such, there needs to be significant reform to the Greek system. Or, at the very least, an inquiry into its practices and motivations.

Once we begin to dig deeper it will become clear that the social practices of fraternities and sororities are nothing more than a product of American distraction factories, just as Kracauer suggests. This becomes clear when we challenge the structures that support Greek life itself — whether they be capitalist-driven institutions like Wake Forest that provide a space for Greek life to thrive — or the structure of fraternities and sororities themselves. If we pick apart fraternities and sororities, we unveil the hierarchical system in place that reinforces class division and supports the mass ornament.

How, though, do we take apart Greek life so as to uncover and eventually repair the implications of their ideologies? I would say that the first step is quite simple: it begins with a process of questioning.

This questioning can begin at the individual level: how deeply do you think into your decisions? I don’t just mean the thought process of “I am going to do X thing for Y outcome.” Have you ever thought to question “well, why X

specifically? Why not A, or M?” and “why do I want Y? What is Y’s intrinsic value that makes it such that I will convince myself I should specifically do X to ensure Y?” The second we start asking these questions in one facet of our lives, it becomes natural to inquire more broadly about the way other ideologies affect different aspects of our lives.

We can even fill in the variables to question Greek life: why does Greek life exist? Why participate in Greek life and not other academic organizations? Why do I want to be in Greek life? What is valuable about Greek life that makes me want to be a participant in it?

This process of questioning allows us to seemingly pick apart the structure and see it for what it really is. Once we do this, we can see how well the structure aligns with our own individual values and needs.

The mass ornament forms above the people, and therefore the masses are incapable of truly seeing its totality. Instead, they are each consumed with their partial function within the organizational whole. The same can be said for Greek life — members are most concerned with how they fit into the social scene that they are unable to see what the structure itself stands for.

“ undergo significant, introspective reform Greek life must Greek Life

Question of fraternities’ and sororities’ involvement in class division starts at the individual level Gaby Gonzalez

Staff Columnist gonzgc17@wfu.edu

While it may now appear as though we are overcome by seemingly inescapable ideology, the recognition of these ideologies in practice is crucial in identifying the role we play as individuals and determining if we can ever escape.

Returning to Greek life as an example, fraternities and sororities can be considered “mass ornaments” with routinized traditions, created mostly by rich, dead white people that result in the production of spectacles and can be viewed as a distraction factory. Viewing Greek life as a capitalist ornament explains the spectacular nature that leads to the male gaze and also how and why these organizations train consumerist attitudes.

As such, how can we work to undo these ideologies?

Viewing Greek life as a capitalist ornament explains the spectacular nature that leads to the male gaze and also why they train consumerist attitudes. “ Given that the various relationships that have been analyzed can be understood collectively through the idea of the mass ornament, it seems reasonable to turn to Siegfried Kracauer for a path out of this dilemma.

Kracauer suggests that overcoming ideology “can move forward only when thinking circumscribes nature and produces man as he is constituted by reason. Then society will change. Then, too, the masses’ ornament will fade away and human life itself will adopt the traits of that ornament into which it develops, through its confrontation with truth, in fairy tales.”

In other words, Kracauer thinks we need to rationally understand our historical myths, and only then can we produce a set of social relationships that are based on reason rather than continuing in our patterns of uncritically adopting past customs.

Through analyzing the history and manifestation of the Greek system, we can understand that its express a de-

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Online at: www.wfuogb.com Twitter: @sports_ogb Editors: Essex Thayer, thayse20@wfu.edu Christina DeNovio, denoca20@wfu.edu

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Senior discusses Wake Forest sports Former OGB Sports Editor reflects upon Wake Forest memories

to hear about what the ACC would do.

After a sleepless night planning potential flights home, I drove to Greensboro as I normally do and, two hours

BY SAM WEXLER later, watched the trophy be handed off Senior Writer to the regular-season champs, Florida wexlsn17@wfu.edu State, before everyone put on a ton of hand sanitizer and zoomed away.

This is going to sound dramatic, but Through my roles with sports commy experiences working for and being munications, marketing, football rea fan of the various sports teams at cruiting and more, I got to attend and Wake Forest have been the highlight work so many fun games and events of my collegiate career. It seems fitting throughout my years on Reynolda now, with just a few more weeks be- Campus. fore graduation, that I write one final So, on to the sports memories we article summarizing some of the high- go! Looking back on my time at Wake lights that I have experienced.

Forest, we definitely have to begin From serving as sports editor of the with Coach Clawson’s football team.

Old Gold & Black to interning in ev- In addition to being their number one erything from Sports Communication fan, I also had the honor of working to Development and Marketing, any- in the recruiting office and helping to one who knows me probably thinks sell Wake Forest, the football program of me whenever anything remotely and the 40-year decision you are maksports-oriented comes up. I wouldn’t ing when you come to one of the top have it any other way, and I’m thrilled academic and athletic programs in the to begin my career in sports working nation. On the field, we went to four for Learfield IMG College right here straight bowl games and I was able to in Winston-Salem. If you thought you attend the Belk Bowl in Charlotte in had seen enough of me at Wake Forest 2017 and the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee sporting events, I regret to inform you Stadium in 2019. that you will be seeing much more!

Clawson’s turnaround was nothing To start this article off, I want to short of remarkable, as I have never highlight some of the amazing experi- experienced a losing season as an unences that I was able to have as a stu- dergraduate student — and the team dent, reporter, employee and fan. since is 9-2 at Truist Field over the past two the fall of 2017. For my Introduction years. From working my first ever footto Journalism class in the fall of 2018, ball game for the Sports CommunicaI worked out with the women's golf tion department to streaming games at team at 6 a.m. in McCreary Field 3 a.m. while studying abroad in Spain House before interviewing members in the Fall of 2019, there was nothing of the staff and a variety of players for better than Wake Forest football in the my longest story ever. fall. As dreadful as this year has been In March 2020, I was able to work as a student given COVID-19, the few for the ACC Communications staff at football games we were able to go to in the Men’s Basketball Tournament in the fall were a highlight of the whole Greensboro for two wild days before year. I will never return to my reguCOVID-19 shut everything down. I lar volume level once we don’t have to will genuinely never forget sitting on wear masks. Oops! the press row as the tweets unfolded Looking at basketball, there were defabout Rudy Gobert, the NBA, the initely some highs and lows throughout SEC and the Ivy League and waiting my time at Wake Forest and I am very much looking forward to the future under Coach Forbes. I will never forget the day we beat Duke in double overtime and stormed the court approximately one month before COVID-19 shut the whole world down.

Another highlight was the ACC Championship reunion night, where I was involved in honoring one of the greatest teams in Wake Forest history, including legends like Tim Duncan, Rodney Rogers and Randolph Childress. I had always wanted to meet Rodgers, as he took philosophy with my dad at Wake Forest and this has Photo courtesy of Sam Wexler been one of the stories I remember Wexler was a Demon Deacon fan long most about my dad’s time as a Deac. before she arrived at Wake Forest. Let’s just say they both were not meant

to be philosophy majors, hence the office hours they bonded over.

Speaking of basketball and personal ties to the team, living in South Hall with Gina Conti and Ivana Raca and recently cheering them on in the NCAA Women’s Tournament in 2021 was yet another highlight. Those girls were always the hardest workers, and because things didn’t go their way for the first few years, seeing it come together for their senior seasons before getting drafted/graduate transferring was the cherry on top.

We can’t go any further without discussing the sheer dominance of the men’s soccer team under Head Coach Bobby Muuss throughout the past few years. Aside from Stanford (don’t get me started), this team has been one of the most dominant forces in all of college sports. Last week marked 85 consecutive weeks in the top-25 and 65 weeks in the top-10. Genuinely remarkable.

Another highlight has been watching players my age go on to do great things at the professional level. From South Hall to First Year Seminar to the MLS, it’s been fun to see Machop Chol, Justin McMaster, Omir Fernandez and more make it to the biggest stage.

The baseball team was on a winning streak when I came in as a freshman and hasn’t played as high of a level since, so if I’m a bad luck charm, I am sorry.

Anywho, back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017 capped off with a Super Regional appearance in 2017 were fun to watch. I will never forget the 12-8 victory over West Virginia at the Couch during the 2017 season in which Stuart Fairchild hit multiple home runs in a single game. I feel good things happening again soon for baseball, though, given the outstanding new facilities, and how amazing the Kona Ice Truck is at the games. Hot tip, make sure you get the cream cap on top of your Kona Ice. From field hockey making the final four in 2018 to Jennifer Kupcho winning the NCAA Tournament in golf and then the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur before leading the women’s squad to a runner-up finish, just about every sport you can think of has left me with fond memories over the years. Both the men’s and women’s golf teams have been so fun to follow, which makes sense given that Wake Forest is the home of Arnold Palmer. I have always been a big golf fan — watching with my dad since I was younger — so being able to watch the Wake Forest teams in the ACC and NCAA tournaments has been amazing, too. It’s such a special and unique experience to be able to watch players you had classes with, like Emilia Migliaccio, compete in

Photo courtesy of Sam Wexler

Wexler with the Demon Deacon before the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. huge tournaments such as the Augusta Junior National.

We obviously cannot forget about the sustained excellence of the men’s tennis team. Where do I even begin? They won the ACC Championship every year I have been here (except this year, sadly) and won both the ITA Championship and NCAA Championship in 2018 along with Petros Chrysochos winning the individual title in 2018, too. Not only did the Deacs take the team and individual title, but it was the first individual title in school history — and he won it by defeating teammate Borna Gojo in the finals while in Winston-Salem.

If you’ve gotten to the end of this whole stream of emotional consciousness, thank you. Thank you for reading my stories, supporting me and this amazing publication and probably following me on Twitter for the past few years. I have absolutely loved getting to meet so many people throughout my Wake Forest experience. From classmates to professors to bosses and coworkers in the athletic department and life-long friends, there are so many people that I have met who have shaped my collegiate experience and life to this point. This has gotten really sappy here, which makes sense given my refusal to admit that I will become an alumna in three weeks, but my heart genuinely is so full from the amazing four years I have had at Wake Forest.

There is nothing quite like the Demon Deacon Faithful, and I am so excited to cheer on the Deacs for many years to come. Go Deacs!

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Page 12| Thursday, April 29, 2021

NFL Draft finally kicks off, OGB gives our selections The sports editors predict which draftees will be selected by which professional teams

BY Sports Editors denoca20@wfu.edu, stuaja20@wfu.edu, thayse20@wfu.edu The 2021 NFL Draft begins in Cleveland, Ohio on April 29 at 8 p.m. and ends on May 1. Now well into the off season, teams are looking to add young, talented players to bolster their rosters in the 2021-22 football season and beyond.

The Jacksonville Jaguars finished with the worst record in football last season, earning themselves the No. 1 draft pick. Who will the Bucs, Jags and the rest of the teams bring to their respective cities? Only time will tell, but here’s our prediction for how the first round will go down.

No. 1, Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson No surprise here, as Lawrence is far and away the most polished quarterback prospect in this draft class. He has proven himself against top-caliber competition and on the big stage as a top-notch leader, which should translate to his emerging as a dayone starter. Mel Kiper has the Clemson product as the fourth-highest graded QB prospect ever, behind only John Elway, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. It will be very interesting to see how he works with former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

No. 2, New York Jets: Zack Wilson, QB, BYU After trading Sam Darnold to the Panthers, the Jets are in need of a quarterback.

Wilson not only fits the scheme, but he has already spoken to three former Jets QBs about what it’s like playing in New York.

Wilson shows pocket poise and athleticism and has made tremendous strides as a passer.

No. 3, San Francisco 49ers: Mac Jones, QB, Alabama The first surprise pick of this year’s draft.

Following the 2019 injury to Tua Tagovailoa, Jones took over and shined. He is a pocket passer who set an FBS record with a 77.4% completion rate in 2020. His success with the deep ball is underrated and according to thedraftnetwork.com, “He will need the three P’s surrounding him (playmakers, play-caller, protection) at high-tier levels in order to see his full potential on a consistent basis.”

No. 4, Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida A former quarterback at Temple, Pitts was asked to give tight end a shot at his college’s summer football camp. He is a monster athlete at 6’6” and 240 lbs and exhibits surprising speed, running a 4.44 in the 40yard dash at Florida’s Pro Day. Pitts would replace Hunter Hurst and work alongside one of the top WR in football: Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley.

No. 5, Cincinnati Bengals: Ja’maar Chase, WR, LSU Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow’s number one option at LSU, Chase reuniting with his former teammate would be a scary sight. The wideout set the LSU single-season SEC record for receiving yards and touchdowns. Bengals executive Duke Tobin has said that the team believes that the draft isn’t as deep at the wide receiver position as it is on the offensive line, giving him a slight edge in taking Chase over Sewell here.

No. 6, Miami Dolphins: Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama Many believe Waddle could overtake Chase and Devonta Smith as the first receiver off the board, and given his terrorizing speed and explosiveness after the catch, they may not be wrong. We think he’ll be scooped up by the Dolphins here as they are desperately trying to upgrade their receiving core.

No. 7, Detroit Lions: (Chargers trade up to No. 7) Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon The Chargers will climb up from the No. 13 spot to grab the best tackle in the draft and protect franchise quarterback and former Oregon Duck Justin Herbert. Sewell is quick off the snap and his physical toughness will be key in the run game.

No. 8, Carolina Panthers: Patrick Surtain III, CB, Alabama Surtain is a lockdown cornerback with plenty of size and physicality to cover the NFL’s top receiving threats off the line.

Against divisional stars such as Michael Thomas, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, this is a smart move.

No. 9, Denver Broncos: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Following a stunning trade Wednesday that sent former Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the Mile High City, the Denver Broncos no longer need a quarterback. Parsons adds to a defensive wrecking crew in Denver alongside the recently signed Von Miller, Shelby Harris and Bradley Chubb. Quarterbacks beware.

No. 10, Dallas Cowboys: Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina Horn is a perfect fit for the Cowboys, who gave up the most points in franchise history in 2020. He is the son of four-time Pro Bowl receiver Joe Horn and, like his father, is extremely talented. Horn is highly disruptive in coverage but will need to continue to improve his tackling to succeed at the next level. We give him the nod over Farley, who falls mightily after health concerns.

No. 11, New York Giants: Devonta Smith, WR, Alabama Arguably the top receiver in this year’s draft class, Smith is a perfect fit for the Giants here. He is a route running genius who plays much bigger than his 6’1” size indicates. The Alabama product is sensational in creating separation and fits well opposite Kenny Golladay. He can provide value on special teams as a bonus.

No. 12, Philadelphia Eagles: (Bears trade up to No. 12) Trey Lance, QB, NDSU The Bears make a move to grab Lance here and hope he can be their key to make it back to the playoffs, leaving Andy Dalton as a temporary starter. While Lance may need a year to develop, his mobility and footwork are already at the next level.

Lance and Tarik Cohen would haunt many defenses.

No. 13, L.A. Chargers: (Lions trade down to No. 13) Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern The Lions trade back here and still get their guy at No.13. Our concern with the Northwestern product is that he opted out of the 2020 college season and may show signs of rust. However, Slater was able to shut down 2020 No. 2 overall pick Chase Young, and if this serves as any indication, he’ll be just fine. His clean and patient footwork will be essential at the next level.

No. 14, Minnesota Vikings: Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL, USC

Dalvin Cook will be licking his chops after this pick. Tucker has top-notch athleticism and will be a day-one starter for the Vikings. He played left tackle last season for the Trojans but scouts indicate he could fit better at the guard position.

No. 15, New England Patriots: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State Bill Belichick gets his quarterback for the future here without having to move up, and he couldn’t be happier. The Patriots attended both of Fields’ pro days and have seen how much potential he has. We see him as the quarterback with the highest upside in this draft class, aside from Lawrence. His effectiveness as a passer is next-level, and he can beat defenders as a runner as well.

No. 16, Arizona Cardinals: Greg Newsome, CB, Northwestern At the halfway point of the first round, the Cardinals and Vance Joseph select a cornerback here with the top receivers already off the board. Newsome has the potential to start from day one and has the length and athleticism to pack a punch.

His question mark comes down to durability: Newsome has yet to play a full season.

No. 17, Las Vegas Raiders: Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Darrisaw is a steal here at No.17 and will be a staple for the franchise at the left tackle position. He is a dominant blocker and checks every box, both in pass protection and in the run game. The Virginia Tech star has shown growth every year since starting as a true freshman.

No. 18, Miami Dolphins: Kwity Paye, EDGE, Michigan With a player comparison to NFL legend Everson Griffin, Paye has a high ceiling. He will explode off the line and use his powerful hands and strength to finish the job.

Great pick here.

No. 19, Washington Football Team: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame The Notre Dame linebacker is an ideal match for the Football Team and offers versatility and explosion. He is an ideal threedown defender that can make big plays at high speeds.

No. 20, Chicago Bears: (Eagles trade down to No. 20) Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech Farley has the potential to be the top cornerback out of this draft class, but we have him falling due to his health concerns. The former high school quarterback who began his college career at wide receiver will provide exceptional man coverage skills to the Eagles. If he can stay healthy this is a steal.

No. 21, Indianapolis Colts: Azeez Ojulari, EDGE, Georgia Off the edge, Ojulari provides smooth moves and has been picked over Paye by many experts. He is the best available and has a fantastic first step off the line.

No. 22, Tennessee Titans: Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss Moore is an impact player that fits among the Titans who lost offensive threats in Jonnu Smith and Corey Davis this offseason.

A.J. Brown will be ecstatic to be reunited with his former teammate.

No. 23, New York Jets: Jaelen Phillips, EDGE, Miami Phillips has some health concerns but is worth the risk at the No.23 spot. He is arguably the best edge rusher in this class.

No. 24, Pittsburgh Steelers: Najee Harris, RB, Alabama Harris comes off the board as the only running back to be selected in the first round. One of the best running backs in

Alabama history, Harris has fantastic size at 6’2”, 230 lbs and great vision.

No. 25, Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevon Moerig, S, TCU The first safety off the board, Moerig has outstanding instincts and is a talented ball tracker with soft hands. He needs to work on his open-field tackling and not taking the bait on double moves.

No. 26, Cleveland Browns: Christian Barmore, IDL, Alabama The Browns get an attack-oriented defensive tackle with a big frame and above average quickness. He is a three-down defender that will harass AFC North quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.

No. 27, Baltimore Ravens: Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota The first of the Ravens’ two first-round picks, Bateman will provide Jackson with another weapon in the passing game. He plays with pro-ready hands and possesses NFL size but will need to become more explosive off the line.

No. 28, New Orleans Saints: Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa The former high school quarterback, safety and linebacker lit it up as a linebacker at Tusla. At 6’5” and 260 lbs, Collins is physical and explosive. He’s a perfect fit with the Saints defensive scheme.

No. 29, Green Bay Packers: Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida Toney has a rapid change of direction ability and early acceleration that make him virtually impossible to cover. He battled injuries and missed action in two separate college seasons, however.

No. 30, Buffalo Bills: Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami Rousseau is a value pick here for Buffalo, and at 6’7”, 266 lbs, he is a wrecking ball off the edge. The downside: he has only one season of college ball on his resume.

No. 31, Baltimore Ravens: (Raiders trade up to No. 31) Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky Davis has all the qualities to help him succeed at the pro level. With three interceptions and an average of about 10 tackles per game during his year at Kentucky, there is reason for him to be drafted in the first round.

No. 32, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Joe Tryon, EDGE, Washington The Bucs aren’t in as much need for player talent as other teams, but Tryon is a strong option for outside linebacker. The 6’4” defender would bring the athleticism and physicality the team is looking for.

Matt Cashore/Pool/Getty Images/TNS

Lawrence has been the projected No. 1 draft pick since the fall.

Page 13| Thursday, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Tennis falls to UNC in ACC Tournament Men’s and women’s tennis fall to Tar Heel squads, who advanced to finals and semis, respectively

BY CHRISTINA DENOVIO Sports Editor denoca20@wfu.edu

Men’s Tennis The Wake Forest men’s tennis team came up short in the ACC Tournament this past weekend. The defending 2018 ACC Tournament Champions lost in the semifinals to No. 4 UNC-Chapel Hill this time around.

On April 24, No. 9 Wake Forest took down No. 37 Duke at Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga. Doubles teams comprised of redshirt senior Eduardo Nava and sophomore Henri Squire along with sophomores Melios Efstathiou and Taha Baadi won, while sophomores Siddhant Banthia and Matt Thomson left their matches unfinished.

After picking up the doubles point, the Deacs looked to continue their dominant streak. Squire, Baadi and junior Rrezart Cungu won in straight sets, finishing the match 4-0 before Duke even got the chance to respond.

To the Demon Deacons’ chagrin, their next match would not be as one-sided.

On April 25, Wake Forest lost to the Tar Heels, a match that could have gone the other way if not for a technical infraction. The semifinal match featured two rain delays and a mid-match transition indoors.

Doubles teams Squire and Nava — along with Efstathiou and Baadi — lost their doubles matches, allowing for the Tar Heels to take the doubles point. It looked like the Deacs would make a comeback, however, when Baadi, Efstathiou and Banthia won their singles matches, making the score 3-1.

The Tar Heels crept their way back into the match after Squire lost and Nava had a default. The referee decided that Nava took an unfair amount of time after using the bathroom before returning to the court in between sets, and thus awarded his opponent the match.

With the score tied at 3-3, Cungu’s match went to a tie breaker that kept spectators on edge. After three hardfought sets, he lost the tie breaker 10-8, and Wake Forest was eliminated from the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels went on to lose to the University of Virginia in the finals.

The Deacs look to redeem themselves in the NCAA Tournament this May. Women’s Tennis The women’s team shared a similar fate, losing to No. 1 UNC-Chapel Hill in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

No. 32 Wake Forest cruised past No. 42 Syracuse 5-0 on April 22. Doubles teams — including sophomore Carolyn Campana and junior Eliza Omirou; sophomore Anna Brylin and freshman Brooke Killingsworth; and freshman Campana and sophomore Peyton Pesavento — all won their matches.

Singles proved to be a similar story.

Brylin, Omirou, Killingsworth and freshman Casie Wooten defeated their opponents in straight sets.

The Deacs, however, had to face the eventual winners of the tournament, UNC-Chapel Hill, the next day. The Tar Heels started by taking the doubles point after Wooten and Omirou, along with Anna Campana and Pesavento, lost their matches.

Singles brought no cause for celebration to the Deacs either. The Tar Heels won three straight matches over Brylin,

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics

Taha Baadi defeated his UNC opponent, but the Deacs still fell short.

Omirou and Killingsworth. The Tar Heels then took down Georgia Tech in the finals for their fifth consecutive ACC Tournament win.

Wake Forest is now waiting to see if they will be making an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Basketball moves on with returners and transfers Wake Forest basketball fans can look forward to new talent coming next year

BY CHRISTIAN ODJAKJIAN Staff Writer odjact18@wfu.edu

Player movement has been difficult to keep track of in college basketball this spring. The NCAA is allowing players to transfer and play immediately without a waiver, and every collegiate athlete received a free year of eligibility thanks to COVID-19.

Many changes have taken place since the season ended almost two months ago, so the roster is now likely close to its final form. Assistant Coach Randolph Childress has stepped down, and eight players have left the program. Jahcobi Neath is transferring to Wisconsin, Ismael Massoud is headed to Kansas State, Quadry Adams will play for St. Bonaventure and Emmanuel Okpomo is going to Temple. Isaiah Wilkins, Jalen Johnson and Blake Buchanan still remain in the transfer portal, while Ian Dubose and Jonah Antonio are pursuing professional careers.

Here is a preview of what the 2021-22 roster looks like as of today: Returning Players: Isaiah Mucius — (6’8” Redshirt Jr. Forward): The longest-tenured player on this roster, Mucius will be the emotional leader of this team once again next season. The versatile, high-energy forward bumped his scoring average up

to 10.3 points per game last year, chipping in 5.3 boards as well. Still oozing potential, Mucius could be an All-ACC caliber player next year if he can improve his three-point shooting.

Daivien Williamson — (6’2” Redshirt Jr. Guard): Williamson followed Forbes from ETSU to Wake Forest and was the most consistent scorer on the team last season. Averaging 12.9 points per game, the quick guard sliced through defenses and got to the basket better than anyone else on the roster. In the heartbreaking ACC tournament loss to Notre Dame, Williamson shot 5-5 from downtown.

He should continue to be one of the best players on the team next season.

Carter Whitt — (6’4” Redshirt Fr. Guard): Whitt will likely continue as a starter in the backcourt alongside Williamson next season. The Raleigh native was a high schooler in the fall and arrived on campus in December, and yet he played with lots of confidence when he was thrust into action. The crafty playmaker was very impressive at times, but bad decision making and poor defense displayed his youth. With some experience under his belt and some time to work on his strength, Whitt should be much improved heading into next season.

Ody Oguama — (6’9” Redshirt So. Forward): Oguama found himself in foul trouble frequently last season, meaning he wasn’t able to play as many minutes as the team needed him to. In 22 minutes per game, he averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds. He made big strides in his post game, and continued to be a solid defender and rebounder. Slightly undersized as a center, Oguama makes up for

his stature with energy and aggression.

Presumably, he will continue as a starter next season.

Tariq Ingraham — (6’9” Redshirt Fr. Forward): The big, explosive forward has been in Winston-Salem for two years, but has hardly been able to get onto the floor because of injuries. The “Big Microwave” will bring energy and rebounding to the frontcourt and likely play an important role off the bench.

Arriving this summer: Damari Monsanto — (6’6” Redshirt Fr. Guard): Monsanto is a great addition for the Deacs, whose stellar first season at ETSU earned him Southern Conference freshman of the year honors. Monsanto is reuniting with Forbes, who he redshirted under during the 2019-20 season. The talented scorer was among the national statistical leaders for freshmen, placing sixth in three-pointers and ninth in rebounds per game. He averaged 11.8 points per game and had a five-game stretch in conference play of scoring at least 20 points per game. Monsanto will likely be a starter or the first man off of the bench.

Dallas Walton — (7’0” Gr. Center): Walton played his undergraduate ball at Colorado and won a game in the NCAA Tournament last season. The seven-footer averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game. He should be a good fit in Forbes’ five-out system, as he shot the three ball very well for his size in the limited times that he let them fly.

Jake LaRavia — (6’9” R So. Forward): The Indiana State transfer is leaving his home state to come play in the ACC. He

turned in a solid sophomore season, averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in a solid mid-major conference — the Missouri Valley. LaRavia should be able to carve out an important role for Wake Forest with his balanced skillset of shooting, finishing and defense.

Cameron Hildreth — (6’4” Fr. Guard): If Hildreth wasn’t from Europe he probably wouldn’t be flying under the radar. The 18-year-old has been playing professionally in the British Basketball League for quite some time now. A skilled guard and a natural shooter with deep range, Hildreth is a bit of a wild card but a talent Demon Deacon fans should be very excited to watch develop.

Robert McCray — (6’4” Fr. Guard): A combo guard that can play either the one or the two, McCray is ranked as the No. 39 shooting guard in his class by ESPN. The bouncy and athletic guard from Columbia, S.C. was Forbes’ first 2021 recruit.

Lucas Taylor — (6’6” Fr. Guard): The former Clemson commit from Wake Forest, N.C. decided to come to Wake Forest in mid-April. ESPN’s No. 26 shooting guard, Taylor is an athletic wing who can shoot the ball from deep. In high school, he trained with and became good friends with soon-to-be teammate Carter Whitt.

Forbes and his staff still have two more scholarship spots open, so this roster could look even stronger come summertime. In year two at the helm, Forbes not only has a more talented group of players, but also a roster comprised almost entirely of players he recruited.

Undoubtedly, better days are ahead for Wake Forest basketball.

Page 14| Thursday, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | Sports

NBA distributes mid-season awards to stars As the second-half of the season commences, teams look to lock in a playoff spot

BY MICHAEL PITTS Staff Writer pittmw20@wfu.edu

The NBA is in the midst of the second half of their 72-game season, and the stakes could not be higher. All eyes are on the race to the playoffs and the standings of the top 10 teams in each conference, as a play-in tournament will be implemented for the first time ever featuring teams seeded 7-10. The tournament will determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds of each conference. The winning teams will then advance to the actual playoffs. Teams such as the Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers in the East, along with the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies in the West are battling for those spots right now. With each passing day, we are getting closer to the tournament, which begins May 18 and will conclude on May 21.

Along with the tournament, everyone is focused on the recent super team created in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have joined forces to form one of the greatest offensive squads in NBA history. The Nets are a clear favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and have a legitimate shot to win it all. What’s standing in their way? Lack of chemistry, a defensive mindset and, most importantly, a clean slate of health.

Since coming together in January, this big three has only played a total of seven

games together due to the fact that they can never stay on the court at the same time. Whether it’s Irving taking days off for personal reasons, Durant injuring his legs, or Harden being out indefinitely due to a quad injury, the team has not been able to form the same chemistry and camaraderie that other teams in the East such as the Milwaukee Bucks or the Philidelphia 76ers have. As June grows closer, Nets fans should be worried about the durability of this team. Whether this is going to continue, only time will tell.

Will the Lakers fall out of the top six?

They have been without their star players for quite some time. Anthony Davis has missed 35 total games after the Achilles injury he sustained against the Denver Nuggets in February, and LeBron James has missed a total of 15 games after going down with an ankle injury against the Atlanta Hawks in early March. Since then, the Lakers are 6-8, and are fifth in the Western Conference with a record of 35-23. With the big-time acquisition of Andre Drummond in the buyout market — who was averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds per game while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers — the Lakers should be fine when Davis and James return.

With James out, and Joel Embiid returning just recently from a knee injury he suffered in March, the MVP race is up for grabs. The current front-runner is Nikola Jokic, the Serbian big man from the Nuggets who is averaging close to a 30-point triple-double every game as a center. The last time a center won MVP: Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry have had outstanding shooting seasons and are leading their teams to the playoffs with

limited star power, unlike Jokic, and are still in the conversation as well.

One team that has disappointed thus far is the New Orleans Pelicans. With Zion Williamson, a transcendent talent, and Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Steven Adams and several other prominent players, they should not be where they are right now. Granted, they play in the Western Conference, which is significantly harder to compete in than the East. Still, the Spurs, the Warriors and the Grizzlies should not be ahead of them in the standings. They are seven games below .500 and sit outside the top-10 teams in the West as the 11th seed. Fighting for their playoff lives, the Pelicans know how much every game means, so it will be interesting to see how they respond in this second half of the season, and if they can make a push for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the biggest surprises come from two teams in the Eastern Conference: the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks. The Knicks, who struggled significantly last year, have a 31-27 record and sit at sixth in the Eastern Conference. Forward Julius Randle is emerging as an All-NBA player, averaging a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The Knicks also have the top-rated defense in the league.

The Hawks are sitting at 31-26, fourth in the conference. They are competing with the Bucks, Sixers and the Nets — three of the best teams, not just in the conference, but the league. This speaks to the influence of recently hired head coach Nate McMillan and the leadership of third-year star guard Trae Young.

Thanks to the off-season acquisitions of Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic

and Clint Capela along with some promising young talents, they are a feel-good team. Although they were the thirdworst team in the league last year, the Hawks are a team everyone should be watching as the playoffs roll in around May. It is going to be interesting to see who makes it out of the Eastern and Western Conferences this year. There is a lot of fire power on both sides, all of it gunning for a ring. The real question is, can anyone defeat a healthy Lakers team or Nets team? With James, Davis and Drummond in L.A., and Durant, Irving and Harden in Brooklyn, the talent is going to be hard to stop (assuming they are all healthy). Can Giannis Antetokounmpo finally deliver in the playoffs, and will the Bucks make it to the finals?

Can Utah, Phoenix or Denver — young teams with minimal playoff experience — take down the likes of the Lakers or the Clippers? We will see — and it’s going to get really interesting.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/TNS

Jokic puts up a shot during the 2020 Western Conference Finals.

2021 Kentucky Derby leans toward normalcy The iconic horse race returns to the tracks after being postponed in 2020

BY JAKE STUART Assistant Sports Editor stuaja@wfu.edu May 1 marks the 147th annual Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky. For those unfamiliar with the race, it is a distance of 1.25 miles, or 10 furlongs, and is run on the dirt racetrack at Churchill Downs.

Twenty of the most prestigious horses, each three years of age, will attempt to take the two million dollar winning purse and be crowned champion.

To qualify for the Kentucky Derby, each horse overcame a series of 35 races that took place on top tracks around the world. These horses, which earned points for placing in the top four of each event, were then granted a spot in Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and is followed by the Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes races.

What some call “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” the Kentucky Derby typically draws a crowd of 155,000 people.

Fans were not allowed at the 2020 Derby

in September amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, but Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that a limited number of fans can watch the event unfold this year.

In a dramatic 2020 finish, heavy favorite Tiz the Law was denied a shot at the Triple Crown by Authentic, jockeyed by John Velazquez. Hall-of-Fame trainer Bob Baffert picked up his sixth win, tied for the most all-time by a trainer.

Essential Quality, trained by Brad Cox and jockeyed by Luis Saez, is the topranked horse going into this year’s race.

The talented three-year-old has a perfect win record, which includes a victory at the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keenland in 2020. He will square off in the 14th post, and appears to be battletested, having raced at three different tracks, each with different paces and conditions.

Hot Rod Charlie — son of 2014 Preakness winner Oxbow — figures to be another contender as well. The dark bay colt out of Indian, Miss. won the Louisiana Derby and came in second to Essential Quality in the Breeders Cup at Keeneland despite 94:1 odds.

Known Agenda, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by two-time Derby-winner Todd Pletcher, appears to be peaking at the right time following a victory at the

Florida Derby and will also be a threat to win. Medina Spirit, ridden by John Velazquez and this year’s Baffert colt, enters the Derby never finishing worse than second in five prior starts. As far as longshots go, watch out for Super Stock. Hallof-Fame trainer Steve Asmussen works with the colt, and Ricardo Santana, Jr. will be taking the reins. The underdog has already proven himself, placing first at the Arkansas Derby, with odds of 40:1.

Amidst a talented 2021 field with no clearcut favorite, this Derby shapes up to be another close finish.

The Kentucky Derby features a long list of traditions and is the longest continuously held sporting event in America.

The garland of roses is placed over the winning horse, ever since the first pink and white rose garland was given out in 1896. In 1904, the red rose became the official flower of the Kentucky Derby and master designers undertook a 10-to-12hour construction process the day before.

The garland features more than 400 roses and is 122 inches long, 22 inches wide and weighs upwards of 40 pounds.

As the horses make their way to the starting gate, the University of Louisville Marching Band plays “My Old Kentucky Home” and the crowd sings along. The Stephen Foster ballad was believed to have

originated in 1921 and has been a Derby staple since.

The mint julep has served as the traditional beverage of the Kentucky Derby for nearly a century, and the iconic cocktail features Old Forester Mint Julep, simple syrup and mint leaves.

“Each year, almost 120,000 Mint Juleps are served over the two-day period of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs Racetrack” (according to Kentuckyderby.com).

For perspective, over 10,000 bottles of Mint Julep — along with 1,000 pounds of freshly harvested mint and 60,000 pounds of ice — are required to make all the beverages.

The Kentucky Derby cannot be truly enjoyed without the fashion, or more specifically, the extravagant hats. Since the Derby’s inception, attendees (including many celebrities) along with fans at home have dressed elegantly for the event. Col. Meriweather Lewis Clark, Jr. made sure that the event became an opportunity for the high class to show off the latest in spring fashion. Even today, spectacular hats and outfits are donned by all attendees.

The stage is set for the 2021 Kentucky Derby, so be sure to take your seat by 6:45 — the post time of the race is 6:57, and it won’t last long!

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Page 15| Thursday, April 29, 2021

Deacon baseball continues to struggle in ACC The Demon Deacons scored 14 runs in a win over Western Carolina but just eight in a series against Clemson

BY JAKE STUART Assistant Sports Editor stuaja20@wfu.edu

4/20: Wake Forest 14, Western Carolina 8 In a midweek, out-of-conference matchup, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons crushed the Western Carolina Catamount in Boone, N.C., 14-8.

Following a rollercoaster week that included a pair of crushing losses against ACC foe Duke (-13 run differential), but also commanding victories over Appalachian State and Duke (+23), Wake Forest was looking to continue their winning ways.

The Deacons’ bats came alive against the Catamount early and often, as 14 runs were scored across the first four innings of the game.

In the first inning, Wake Forest scored four runs and forced a pitching change for Western Carolina before a single out was recorded. Freshman third baseman Brock Wilken opened the scoring with a single through the right side that brought freshman Lucas Costello home. His slugging percentage was increased to .612, moving him to sixth place in the ACC. One batter later, superstar senior Bobby Seymour hit a double to deep right-field that scored two more runs. The nation’s 2019 RBI leader leads the Deacs with 35 RBIs, a mark that puts him in fifth in the entire ACC. One more run was added in the inning off a fielder’s choice from sophomore Pierce Bennett, which made the score 4-0.

In the second inning, the Demon Deacons added three runs to their total on just one pitch when Seymour crushed a home run to right-field that brought home Wilken and junior Michael Turconi. Seymour has been hot as of late — the home run was the St. John, Ind. native’s sixth in his last six games.

The third inning was the icing on the cake for Wake Forest, with five more runs being added. The first run was brought home following a pair of singles from junior Brendan Tinsman and Bennett along with a pair of walks from sophomore Adam Cecere and Turconi. With the bases loaded, Wilken launched a grand slam down the left-field line — his 11th home run of the season — and made the score 12-0. The home run moved the third baseman into seventh place in program history for home runs by a freshman and third in the ACC for home runs this season. The Valrico, Fla. native needs just six more home runs to tie the Demon Deacon record set by Jamie D’Antona in 2001.

The Catamount got on the board with three runs in the fourth inning off of a pair of doubles from Pascanel Ferreras and Luke Robinson.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Costello doubled to bring home Bennett and Tinsman and made the score

14-3. The Miami, Fla. native has produced a hit in 16 of his last 17 games, including 10 hits in his previous four games. In that same stretch, the freshman has eight multi-hit games and increased his batting average to .319, the highest mark on the team.

Western Carolina added a run in the seventh inning, but freshman Camden Minacci stepped in and picked up a crucial out with the bases loaded to minimize the damage. A pair of singles from Ferreras and Justice Bigbie in the eighth inning provided three more Catamount runs. Trevor Jones doubled to center-field in the ninth inning to make the score 14-8, and the scoring ended there.

In the win, six Wake Forest players had multiple hits — including three from Seymour — and the Demon Deacons had a total of 20 baserunners.

On the mound, freshman Reed Mascolo picked up his third win of the season (3-1) pitching five innings and allowing just three runs and one walk.

The Seton Hall transfer has an ERA of just 2.22 across nine appearances this season. Junior Brennen Oxford and freshman Teddy McGraw each added a scoreless inning of work. Oxford has improved significantly from his 9.00 ERA in 2020 (4.15 ERA in 2021) and has been a reliable reliever for the Demon Deacons.

4/23: Wake Forest 2, Clemson 5 Despite a superb outing on the mound in the first game of the weekend road stand against ACC opponent Clemson, the Demon Deacons fell 5-2.

Clemson opened the scoring in a peculiar way. With runners on first and third base, Sam Hall stole home to give the Tigers their first run of the contest.

In the fifth inning, the Demon Deacons answered with two runs of their own. Once again, the runs came in unusual fashion, this time off a pair of wild pitches. Cecere and Turconi both touched home plate to wrangle Wake Forest a lead of 2-1.

Clemson regained the lead off a pair of singles from Kier Meredith in the fifth and seventh innings that brought home three combined runs. A throwing error from Lanzilli gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Errors have hurt the Demon Deacons all season long. Another Clemson run was added in the eighth inning off a double and the score was 5-2.

On the mound, junior Ryan Cusick pitched lights-out but picked up his second loss of the season. The Demon Deacons star pitcher lasted 6.1 innings, allowed just three earned runs and struck out seven. Freshman Hunter Furtado pitched a scoreless inning and picked up two strikeouts.

In the loss, the Demon Deacons mustered just five hits, two of which were from senior Shane Muntz, his fifth multi-hit performance of 2021.

The catcher led all ACC hitters in OPS last season, and has been coming on as of late.

“Just gave away a few too many runs, [one] in the first inning to a hitter with 25 at-bats on the season,” Head Coach Tom Walter said. “We gave up three runs early and didn’t get it done offen-

sively with five hits on the day. Not a ton of chances, [and we] didn’t really cash in.”

4/25 (Game one): Wake Forest 4, Clemson 6 With a South Carolina storm forcing a doubleheader, Wake Forest narrowly fell in part one against Clemson, despite a ninth-inning rally.

The Tigers opened the scoring in the first inning with three runs. Caden Grice homered to right-center-field and Davis Sharpe scored on a wild pitch to contribute to the quick start.

In the fourth inning, Wake Forest answered with a three-run home run off the bat of Lanzilli that brought home Seymour and Turconi to tie the game at three. The 2019 College Home Run Derby participant has eight home runs on the season.

Clemson retook the lead with a double from freshman Jonathan French that made the score 4-3.

With one out in the ninth inning, Tinsman hit a clutch home run to leftfield that tied the game at four. The catcher also set a season-high in putouts (13) and assists (2) behind the plate.

Despite the Demon Deacon’s late game heroics, Sharpe stole the show when he blasted a walk-off home run for the Tigers to clinch the series.

Seymour became the 28th player in program history to record 200 career hits on Sunday. The first-team AllAmerican and 2019 ACC player of the year has a career batting average of .315 along with 26 home runs and 112 runs scored. He will be a prime target for many Major League Baseball teams in the upcoming draft.

In addition to Seymour’s multi-hit game (2), six other Demon Deacons produced a hit in the contest.

Two errors hurt the Demon Deacons in the loss and cost the team a crucial run. Wake Forest had an error in each game against Clemson, and a total of five in the series. The team has a fielding percentage of 0.964, 12th in the ACC. Freshman Rhett Lowder picked up the start and lasted six innings, allowing just three earned runs and throwing nine strikeouts. The former No.12 prospect in North Carolina and a twotime pitcher of the year in both the con-

ference and county notched his sixth start with three or fewer earned runs.

Oxford pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and added a pair of strikeouts. Senior Cole McNamee was also perfect in relief.

“Obviously we made a couple bad pitches today that were the difference in the game,” Walter said following the game. “The three home runs, [were] fastballs in the middle of the plate and they didn’t miss them.”

4/25 (Game two): Wake Forest 2, Clemson 3 In the final game of the doubleheader, strong pitching from the Deacon Deacons was not enough to pick up a win.

Wake Forest came out with a vengeance following the walk-off Tigers’ win in the game prior, scoring a pair of runs in the second and fourth inning off a Tinsman sacrifice fly and a Lanzilli home run. The right fielder’s second home run in as many games gave the Deacons an early 2-0 lead.

The Tigers responded with a ferocious sixth inning in which the team scored three runs off a fielder’s choice, flyout and a home run. An error, which led to the first Clemson run, would come back to haunt the Demon Deacons.

Unable to capitalize on the hot start and held without a single baserunner for the remainder of the game, the team lost their second game of the day.

Senior William Fleming had a solid outing on the mound as he lasted six innings and allowed two just earned runs while throwing six strikeouts. He picked up his fifth loss of the season despite only allowing four hits and one walk in the appearance. Following Fleming, Minacci and freshman Eric Adler combined for two innings of shutdown pitching to keep the Demon Deacons within striking distance of the Tigers.

“I thought we pitched okay up and down the day today,” Walters said, “but clearly not enough to get a win. It’s disappointing.”

After the 1-3 week, the Demon Deacons will return to the Couch for a six-game homestand, including an ACC weekend series followed by a trio of non-conference matchups in Davidson, Liberty and Elon.

Wake Forest is in search of momentum as the team has lost their last three ACC series and has just one series win all season against daunting ACC opponents.

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics

On April 20, Brock Wilken hit his 11th home run of the season, putting him seventh among freshmen in home runs in program history.

LIFE

T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 2 1

PAG E 16

O n l i n e at : w w w. w f u o g b . c o m e d i t o r s : S e l i n n a Tr a n , t r a n s n 1 9 @ w f u . e d u

OLD GOLD & BLACK

& M i c a h P o r t e r, p o r t m j 1 9 @ w f u , e d u A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R : J o e C h o , c h o y y 1 9 @ w f u . e d u

Growing roots during unprecedented times Quarantine was a time of uncertainty that has affected students' lives across the nation; one student, Khushi Arya, reflects on her experiences navigating the waters of quarantine

BY KHUSHI ARYA Staff Writer aryak19@wfu.edu

Packing up my bags every few weeks, walking down airplane aisles and befriending strangers in new cities — life as I knew it. Until it wasn’t.

March 11, 2020. I was eating Jell-O in Miami while taking pictures of my friends obnoxiously posing on a boat and stepping on the glass window the captain told us specifically not to step on. The sun’s glare made my phone’s screen almost impossible to see, so I walked down the steps to read the inevitable email from Wake administrators.

“We have decided to suspend all in-person classes, both in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, until further notice.”

Suddenly, the Jell-O in my hand wasn’t so sweet. We all saw it coming, but being in denial had been a comfortable crutch.

“What in the world are we going to do now?” said Amy, my friend who was on spring break with me. “I can’t go back to Illinois without my winter clothes!”

All four of us went back home hoping to come back to campus after a week or two.

Of course, the weeks turned into months, and months turned into what felt like an eternity.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, which was followed by nationwide lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines across the world. In the United States, stay-at-home orders and quarantine mandates drastically changed everyones life.

Summer quarantine was unlike any other.

Instead of looking up hotels and tourist attractions to make extremely detailed travel itineraries for my trip to Hawaii with my best friend, I was writing down an elaborate morning routine in my planner to pass time in suburban Michigan.

“Wake up at 7 a.m., brush my teeth, go on a run, watch three Coursera videos and write in my journal.” One day simply rolled into the next. There wasn’t much to do during a global pandemic. As an extrovert who gets energized by constantly being surrounded by people, life was strange, all alone in the guest room of my aunt’s house. The empty white walls seemed to taunt my loneliness.

The only sound in that room was that of the creaking fan, which I was convinced would fall on me one night. There was nothing I wanted more than to be with my people again. The only place I could imagine myself calling home.

Then the day finally came: against all the odds and I got to move back to campus

Photo courtesy of Katie Fox

Campus life was completely different for returning and entering students for Fall 2020 as restrictions and precautions changed the way campus functioned. in the fall. People were dying, economies were crumbling, yet I found joy in the personal victory of not being alone anymore. I moved into big suite with seven other girls that quickly became my safe haven. A constant stream of human interaction was all that I needed.

There is never a dull moment in Dogwood 409: someone is always laughing, crying, stressing out, or dancing in the living room.

Our decorations are just as diverse as our personalities. There is a framed Wake Forest collage that Celine found in the trash, a giant teddy bear named Joe, random plants by the window, Hanna’s old discarded tarot card tapestries and two soccer balls that we hope to eventually play with.

What we are most proud of, perhaps, is our wall of fame. A wall of sticky notes containing the funniest things we have said in the suite. It all started when Anna said, “my brother has an addiction to laxatives.” We just had to commemorate that somehow.

Without even realizing it, we became a family in isolation, replete with traditions and routines that are now second nature to us.

In the midst of a global pandemic, we cultivated our bubble of happiness.

Snuggling up on our couch to watch Harry Potter movies on a small laptop, going to the pit at 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, singing along to Taylor Swift in red LED lighting, discussing childhood trauma outside the north pit, walking down the poorly lit paths on the Reynolda trail at night and going to soccer games and heckling the op-

posing team have been the highlights of my year.

There are days when I miss late-night street shopping in Bangkok, but I guess going to Hanes Mall in Hannah’s Prius and spending two hours at Forever21 is a close second.

I have always thought of home as a warm feeling that I associate with the people I love. Maybe the idea of home being a physical space as well as the people in it isn’t mutually exclusive after all. A suite in a beautiful building with a custom brick color (deacon blend) on a 340-acre campus isn’t too shabby for a home.

Every night at around 11 p.m, I have a person to talk to about the “craziest thing I read in ‘The Culture Code’ by Daniel Coyle.” My roommate Hanna nods her head in response, then resumes watching Tik Tok videos that are apparently more interesting than the team-building strategies of the U.S. Navy SEAL. The new normal is more than anything I could have hoped for. I am no longer afraid of setting roots somewhere. I no longer have the urge to constantly displace myself to find new places, people, or experiences.

“Anything can be taken away from you at any given moment,” Hanna likes to say. “If you lose every material possession, would you be happy with what you have left?”

Turns out, there is happiness in the ordinary. I have realized that, for me, it all comes down to cherishing the memories I make with the people I love. As the world slowed down, for the first time, so did I.

Page 17 | Thursdsay, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | Life

Entertainment | Virtual Performance

Promoting the arts amidst COVID-19 THE HOT LIST Virtual performances on campus have allowed for live entertainment for students

BY AINE PIERRE News Editor pierav20@wfu.edu If Pablo Piccasso is to be believed and “the purpose of art is to wash the daily life off our souls,” then art has carried a hard and heavy burden for these past 14 months. This is especially true when our already dusty quotidian existence has been mired further by scenes of illness, brutality and a sheer collapse of mental health.

Wake Forest’s many artists and formal art organizations — whether they be choirs, performance groups, photographers or visual artists — have risen to the challenge.

In terms of the musical arts, most performances have moved to a virtual format, including the performance of the Wake Forest choirs at events like Lovefeast and the Easter Sunday service; their Spring Concert will be virtual, as well. The orchestras have also shifted to virtual formats for their performances.

“Many classes did not choose to meet in person during the pandemic,” Director of Choral Activities Chris Gilliam told the Old Gold & Black’s Caroline Walker. “So singing and meeting together regularly has been somewhat of a lifeline for the students, as well as for me.”

Another aspect of virtual performance that has moved online was the myriad of music competitions held every spring by the music department.

“The arts especially provided refuge for me during the pandemic. Bunkered down in my traditional single, I started writing music and dabbling in production under the handle ‘Detro Ali,’” freshman Malachi Woodward, winner of the Giles-Harris contest for best non-music major performance said. “Because of Wake’s amazing studentled organizations, I was given the opportunity to perform these pieces for a live audience. This proved to me Wake’s incredible ability to foster and cultivate the talents of their students.”

Live performances have also started returning. This past week, the Demon Divas and Minor Variations — two a cappella groups -— held outdoor concerts. Two weeks ago, Wake Forest students were daz-

zled by live student performances at Wakechella. Presidential Scholar recitals have also started returning, and senior Claire Griffin will be playing the cello on April 29 in Brendle Recital Hall, according to the Wake the Arts website.

Further, there will be a spring quarter recital in the Scales Breezeway on the night of April 30.

Wake Forest’s theatre and acting groups have also started making a comeback. On April 1, the Lilting Banshees made their academic year debut with a murder mystery dinner, and they were back in action on April 28 with two performances on Manchester Plaza. The Wake Forest Studio Series has also been presenting live theatre with socially-distanced, outdoor performances of William Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and indoor performances of “The Grim Unfolding of Hesse-Kessel” which was written by Wake Forest senior Eliza Drake.

Additionally, there have been many displays of visual art in the Scales Fine Arts Center. A current gallery is open from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Overall, the art community at Wake Forest has been incredibly resilient and continues to inspire both artists and non-artists alike.

Entertainment | Streaming Services

Streaming enhances pandemic entertainment The entertainment industry has provided a month full of releases amidst the pandemic

BY ERIC OMOROGIEVA Contributing Writer omorei17@wfu.edu These past few months of film and T.V. show releases have served as another reminder of how the entertainment industry has largely been reshaped by the pandemic. Other recent events have hinted at this as well. This past Sunday’s Academy Awards show was much different than we are used to, and not just because it took place in L.A.’s Union Station rather than the Dolby Theater, which housed the show for the prior 18 years. This season also presented us with a nomination list that was only made possible by a combination of factors including the nominee’s success, delays of other anticipated films and most importantly, the ways that studios and film have shifted their release format to better reflect current conditions. A major part of that is the use of streaming services, which premiered or currently house many of this year’s biggest hits. This was not the case a few years ago, with Oscar rules being clear about the need for theater runs as a qualification for being nominated.

Many of this year’s winners came from movies that premiered directly on a streaming service. Netflix came out on top of them all with seven wins, while Disney earned five and Amazon Prime

Video won two for their film, “Sound of Metal.”

Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah”, a film that debuted on HBO Max the same day it was released in theater. Disney hit it big with their hit animated film “Soul”, which premiered on Christmas Day on Disney+. These wins came from releases that easily could have been delayed further into next year’s Oscar season had it not been for streaming services operating as a safety net for big releases.

This effect has not only been shown through movies, however but via T.V. shows as well. These have been shaped to give big companies like Disney a way to continue entertaining audiences. What great timing it was for Disney+ to launch less than six months before the pandemic began! Both HBO Max and Peacock have also launched just a couple of months into the pandemic era. These services add to the growing list of services in the ongoing streaming war, and also provide fans with more ways to entertain themselves.

There have been a few highlights of the entertainment scene from this past semester, some of which OG&B has covered in past reviews. “Godzilla vs. Kong” gave fans their first real experience of a globally successful pandemic hit. Fans had the chance to either watch the film in theaters — in which it drew record-breaking numbers that matched the “Monsterverse” series prior to films notched in the box office numbers — or they could view it on HBO Max, which also drew record numbers.

“Raya and the Last Dragon” was a great film as well, featuring an all-Asian cast and telling the adorable story of a girl looking to save her region from dark times with the help of a dragon.

Another method for releases that Hollywood has tried is the pay-per-view route and limited theater runs. A film would release for about 17 days in theaters, and then be available to rent for $20. This method has found success as well, most recently with the exciting short action film “Nobody”, which is about a family man with a dark past who wants to avenge his past failure to prevent his home from being robbed. The film comes from the same producers behind the “John Wick” franchise, which guarantees high-quality stunt work.

On the television side, there has been a list of quality content. The MCU under Disney+ has now wrapped up two seasons of “Wandavision” and “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, both of which are exciting ways to keep up with the studio’s massive superhero universe. HBO’s hit series “Euphoria” released a couple of offseason episodes to fill the gap between season one and their upcoming second season.

The world of crime series has thrived as well with FX’s “Snowfall” and Epix’s “The Godfather of Harlem”, the latter of which is currently airing.

Overall, the industry has adjusted quite well to the pandemic and allowed fans to continue their binging tendencies. There has been no shortage of content and it does not seem likely that there will be anytime soon.

TOP TEN SIZES OF PEN TIPS

1.

0.38 0.4

3.

0.7 0.1

5.

0.2 1.0

7.

0.01 0.8

9.

2.0 0.6

LOCALE OF THE WEEK By: Selinnna Tran

Photo courtesy of Katie Fox ZSR VENDING MACHINE For the final locale of the week, we had to go out with one of the best locales to vist in Winston-Salem. It is on our very own campus and is located in the famed ZSR Library. Find your way to the at the beloved vending machine that offers artisanal, high-quality drinks and snacks that will feed your appetite and quench your thirst. World-renowned brands are featured along with a wonderful environment and ambiance of fluorescent lighting. If you’re lucky, there may even be a seat.

Page 18 | Thursdsay, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | Life

Music | “American Idiot”

Diving into the meaning behind concept albums Concept album like “American Idiot” experiments with allegorical storytelling

BY TAYLOR SCHUTT Staff Writer schutl20@wfu.edu

On Sept. 24, 2004, Green Day released their seventh studio album titled “American Idiot”. The “punk rock opera” placed No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and 225th on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” in 2012.

Little do people know, the entire project is actually a musical, and “American Idiot” is considered a concept album.

A concept album has deeper meanings behind each song in which combine to form a story or message.

“American Idiot” was created as a protest against certain aspects of the political climate at the time, such as 9/11, the Iraq War and the Bush administration.

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the songs to portray an anti-hero named

Jesus of Suburbia who is extremely pissed off with the current state of affairs in the United States. Other characters — such as St. Jimmy and Whatsername — also play a role in Jesus of Suburbia’s intense adventure to leave his small hometown.

Common themes of anger, protest, individuality, freedom and anarchy are highlighted throughout.

“American Idiot” begins with its fiery explosive title song which sets the tone for the remainder of the project. The lyrics and music are angry, gritty and filled with loud drums, shredding guitars and a lot of cussing. The song outlines the overall message of the album: the current political system is tainted and it’s okay to be aggravated and raise a bit of hell.

In “Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” Green Day begins their experiment with transitional songs, which combine two into one. In part one, Armstrong yells anti-war lyrics directed at the Republican President and party, who, ironically hold Christian values.

Armstrong sings, “The shame, the ones who died without a name,” to explain

the morbidity of unknown soldiers dying in Iraq. The song continues into part two, which features a more somber sound and lyrics that describe Jesus of Suburbia’s loneliness and struggle with his inner demons as he travels to the city.

Green Day continues the somber sounds with “Are We the Waiting/St. Jimmy”. The first part of this transitional song portrays Jesus of Suburbia on the brink of losing hope and feeling extremely vulnerable. Rumor has it that St. Jimmy is Jesus of Suburbia’s alter ego, and harbors even more rage.

In “Give Me Novacaine/She’s a Rebel”, the first part describes Jesus of Suburbia fighting inner demons and suicidal thoughts by taking drugs to numb the pain. This feeling doesn’t last long as the song turns to describe Whatsername, the girl who is the remedy to Jesus of Suburbia’s problems. This song influenced the album cover with the lyrics, “and she’s holding on my heart like a hand grenade.”

Many people know the track “When September Ends” with its heart-wrench-

ing lyrics and depressing music. This song seems to be a bit different than the theme of “American Idiot” because it describes the death of Armstrong’s father.

After his father’s funeral, Armstrong ran home crying and locked himself in his room. When his mother knocked, he said, “wake me up when September ends,” hence the title.

Green Day ends their punk rock opera with the crescendo-like tune, “Whatsername”, in which Jesus of Suburbia is back home and struggling with the effects of his breakup with Whatsername.

All he has are the memories of being with her and his experiences living on the streets. He doesn’t want to forget his lessons, but does want to forget Whatsername and the pain she caused him.

“American Idiot” not only became a controversial album, but it also demonstrated experimental and out-of-thebox compositions from Green Day. The album was louder, more political, and even angrier than Green Day’s previous albums. Make sure you don’t become a total St. Jimmy when listening.

Campus Life | Zoom

COVID-19 pushes students to their limit Students are overwhelmed with the strenuous effects caused by virtual learning

BY ANSON WALLDORF Contributing Writer wallaw20@wfu.edu

I wake up to my 9:30 a.m., alarm and hit snooze for another 15 minutes of rest in preparation for a long day of Zoom (and maybe a mid-day journey to the Pit).

15 minutes later, I wake up to my second alarm. Blurry-eyed, I force myself out of bed and to my desk to finish any last-minute German homework that I could not muster up the energy to do the night before.

I make my way to my one in-person class of the week, feeling more unmotivated than ever. With no long weekends, only two wellness days (in the middle of the week) and no Spring Break the semester has begun to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”. This repetitive routine has become all too familiar for students like myself.

Obviously, the last year or so has been the opposite of normal. With the start of COVID-19, everyone’s world turned upside down. We have gradually adapted to the new normal of life — Zoom meetings and computer screens — but students have begun to reach their breaking point. With so

few breaks throughout this academic semester, one word comes to mind: exhaustion.

Exhaustion is continuing to mount for students as the year drags on and we begin to approach finals season.

“It’s been tough,” sophomore Landon Burton said. “It was strenuous to stay in school for so long and not have a break or not be able to go back home.

It’s been a lot of consistent work and I think that’s been a little unhealthy.”

Other Wake Forest students can easily relate to this feeling of constant anxiety and stress about school. Adapting to the new lifestyle of school online drastically changed so much about us students.

“As an environmental science major, it’s really difficult taking online classes because I feel like I should be outside for the majority of my stuff,” sophomore Ryan Godfrey said. “In reality, I’m stuck inside all the time. All my classes are online, too, so it’s been difficult.”

Life through Zoom has led to a significant decrease in motivation. Finding any sort of determination in school is difficult when I may have never met a professor in person or if my schedule never forces me to leave the comfort of my room.

“I take the majority of my classes in bed and I usually sleep about 12 hours a day,” Godfrey said. “All I really do

is sleep, hang out with my friends or complete schoolwork. So, days are incredibly repetitive and mentally exhausting.”

Personally, I have started living with the constant fear that I have forgotten to submit an assignment or complete some homework for a class. Turning in all my assignments online and trying to keep up with several different classes and all their random due dates through Canvas modules can feel overwhelming.

For example, I have a class that meets on Mondays, yet I often will have assignments due at 5 p.m. on a Friday (I have forgotten on more than one occasion to submit assignments for that class).

However, some students have learned to adapt well to these new methods of learning via online classes.

“I think Zoom classes are kind of nice because I do not think I could attend a regular class for 50 minutes or an hour and 15 and stay focused for that long,” Burton said. “On Zoom, it allows me to be more comfortable and learn how I want to learn.”

Whether you like Zoom classes or not, it is impossible for anyone to truly enjoy all the other changes and restrictions that this year has brought. But, as warm weather and the excitement for a long-awaited summer have finally arrived, there is a renewed sense of hope.

Students are adding anything to their daily routine in hopes of breaking up the consistency that they have felt trapped by for much of the semester and year.

“At the beginning of the semester every day was the same and every weekend was the same thing,” Burton said.

“Toward the end of the semester I have tried to find new things to do and just be more spontaneous to brighten up my day.”

With a widespread vaccine rollout on campus and the return of other small things that we have missed so greatly — such as the ice cream machine in the pit — it is beginning to feel like there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

I think it hit me for the first time that we are so close to the end of this nightmare when I logged on to WIN for pre-registration for the fall and realized that all of the offered classes were in-person.

As we gradually return to a somewhat normal life, I hope that we do not forget this time. I hope that people reflect on the last year or so with gratitude for all the little pleasures they have noticed. I hope to be thankful in the future for all the twists and turns in my normal daily life because we have all learned how mentally straining it is to live a monotonous, repetitive and boring life.

Life | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, April 29, 2021 | Page 19

Campus Life | Reflections from a Freshman

Freshman reflects on pandemic experience Student Taylor Schutt reflects on a year of twists and turns as she learns how to navigate the pandemic and her experience as a freshman in unfamiliar territory

BY TAYLOR SCHUTT Staff Writer schutl20@wfu.edu

I still remember my last day of high school.

I remember what I was wearing, how I felt that day and the amusement behind “the coronavirus.” Our last day of high school was Thursday, March 12, an early date imposed by our principal who took the initiative to sanitize our school. The day started rough but ended well with a win against my rival high school in my final lacrosse game. The entire school was bustling with excitement to have Friday off, because who wouldn’t be excited to have a day off? Little did we know this day would be our last day of the year.

For the next two-and-a-half months, my senior class struggled to maintain motivation while taking classes completely online.

Grades were waived across the country and seniors barely got through AP exams.

When I received my acceptance letter to Wake Forest toward the end of March, I was ecstatic, yet a part of me began to worry even more about what the future would hold. At the time, my brother was a senior at Wake Forest — also struggling to stay motivated since he felt that his final semester of college was ripped from his hands. I couldn’t help but wonder what was in store .Would all my classes be online? Would I be able to live on campus? How am I going to make friends?

Will I ever get the true college experience?

Will things be this way forever?

I’m grateful that my summer was incredibly fun, but that feeling was soon diminished when my time at home came to a close.

When August hit, I was hoping to spend the last two weeks with my best friends and family. Like a punch to the gut, Wake Forest announced that all students had to quarantine at home for two weeks before moving in. I was happy to be living on campus, but the mandatory quarantine made my transition to college even harder.

I moved in on Aug. 17 with butterflies and bees zooming in my stomach. I couldn’t wait to make new friends and interact with strangers again. On the other hand, I was terrified by thoughts of COVID-19 restrictions, living on my own and succeeding in my classes. As a social person, I make friends quite easily, but something about living on campus during a pandemic made doing this extremely difficult. We were only allowed one guest per resident in each room, had to maintain social distancing and always wore a mask when we weren’t alone. To be honest, the guidelines were always confusing.

Everyone had to follow these rules, but most of the older students had already established friend groups and roommates. We tried to make friends safely without getting into trouble, and very quickly, freshmen began forming groups or cliques that made it difficult for those not involved to find friends. How were we supposed to so-

Photo courtesy of Katie Fox

The atmosphere of campus was different for incoming students who navigated through different and often confusing COVID-19 regulations.

Photo courtesy of Katie Fox

The return of warm weather brought optimism back to campus as students were hopeful for a return to normalcy with classes and events.

cialize when nothing social was going on?

The university attempted to provide a freshman orientation through socially distanced and virtual events, but it wasn’t the same.

We wanted real Deacon Olympics, club and intramural sports; regular Pit dining and a true involvement fair.

I am lucky to have experienced Wake Forest before COVID-19 struck when I visited my brother, but most freshmen have not had the same privilege. Most do not know what Pit sitting is like, what the library is like during finals or what the Quad looks like when it’s rolled.

After the fall, I still held on to the hope that things would go back to normal and campus would have more in-person activities and classes. As winter break came to a close, I realized that college would not be normal in the spring, either. In January, I rushed a sorority, and that process was held completely online. Coming back to campus, I was afraid that, even though I joined a sorority, I would be unable to connect with my new sisters. When campus transitioned to Orange operating status, I lost almost all hope I had previously had held about the spring semester. I spent 10 days in isolation with COVID-19, fell behind in many of my classes, saw a decline in my mental health and felt that I would never get to meet my new sisters.

Boy, was I wrong. Over the course of my pledging, my pledge mom and older sorority sisters made it one of their primary duties to make us newbies feel welcomed. Although many events were online, my sorority opened an enormous door for me to reach out and meet new people. Through meals and coffee dates, I found my best friend and grew even closer to friends I already had.

When spring began to feel like spring, I saw a change in campus life. On warm days, everyone was outside and college felt a bit more normal. Students gathered on the Quad, at picnic tables and around the Manchester fire pits to soak up the sun. Then, the vaccines finally arrived. I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine on March 5 and my second dose on April 5. As students, staff and faculty began getting vaccinated, Wake Forest graciously lessened restrictions and allowed for more social interactions.

Today, I feel comfortable going off campus. I feel comfortable hugging someone.

I feel comfortable seeing my family. I feel confident that things will indeed return to normal. Slowly but surely, Wake Forest will return to what I once experienced it to be.

We will have tailgates. We will have games.

We will have in-person classes. We will have in-person philanthropy events. We will have an in-person rush. We will have Pit sits. We will have parties. We will have lots of toilet paper on the Quad. We will have graduations. And we will have good ole’ Wake Forest, the way it should be, once again.

Page 20 | Thursday, April 29, 2021

Old Gold & Black | Life

L I F E : Letter from the Life Editor Hi, readers of the Old Gold & Black. It is your favorite editor, Selinna Tran, writing to you for the last time this semester on page 20. Don’t get too tearful ;). First off, I want to acknowledge the amazing Life team and give a shoutout to our amazing assistant editor, Joe Cho, who has helped Life on countless late nights of editing and production. He puts up with all of my crazy ideas and I am thankful to have such an amazing co-worker. Also, my awesome co-editor Micah Porter has been a joy to work with this semester as well. Together, the Life team has been a lil’ family that has worked hard to put out content for campus weekly. Beyond that, the Old Gold & Black team of producers and editors has been incredible to work with (despite their endless bullying of my hot takes [looking at you, Will Zimmerman and Ben Conroy]). The entire team has provided laughs, banter and a true community and workspace of passionate individuals that I am thankful to be a part of. With this final page, I’d like to highlight some of my favorite Life articles, writers and my overall appreciation for this team and this section!

THANK YOU WRITERS! The Life section would be nothing without its amazing writers. From senior staff writers that write almost every week (shoutout to Eric Omorogieva!) to new writers that have continually provided exciting stories (Taylor Schutt!), Life is so thankful to have an amazing group of people to send us articles and every contribution to this section is appreciated.

Photo courtesy of Selinna Tran

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Elly Honaker never fails to deliver with her thoughtful reflections and reviews of music. Her review tells a story that encapsulates so many emotions, and Life can always count on an amazing reflection of music from her. Rains Draper, dubbed “Bagel Boy,” has provided a unique column featuring their fun reviews of bagels. However, Draper’s expertise does not stop with bagels, he has also provided a review of the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. Draper’s food reviews are remarkable. Always good for a laugh, Tommy Murphy has contributed some amazing humor columns that have truly been an amazing part of the Life section. His use of wit and satire provides a light hearted reflection of campus and society. Life would be nothing without Murphy. Cooper Sullivan’s range of writing has always been a welcome relief to the Life section. Sullivan’s ability to craft a wonderful satirical piece is matched with their reflections of music and campus. Sullivan has now joined the production team of the Old Gold & Black. William Liu has been a welcome contributor to the Life section with his insightful reviews on tea and the exploration of tea culture. Liu leads the World Tea Association on campus and helps to share the story of tea on campus through his experiences.

Some very real testimonials sent to Life of these people’s own free will....

Photo collage courtesy of Selinna Tran