Pepperdine Graphic 3-19-2020

THE PEPPERDINE GRAPHIC VOLUME XLIX

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ISSUE 17 | March 19, 2020

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3/11/20

3/1/20

1/28/20

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4,400 cases

87,200 cases

Shanghai program suspended

Heidelberg, Lausanne to return home

2/27/20

118,400 cases All Malibu classes move to remote, on-campus students must leave campus

3/10/20

82,500 cases Florence program to return home

3/13/20

113,900 cases

136,900 cases

BA, London to return home

Bible lectures cancelled

Pepp MOVES ONLINE: Students React Austin Hall S taf f write r Kay iu Wong Di g i tal E d itor It’s been six weeks since Pepperdine suspended the Shanghai international program, the first in a succession of major decisions the university has made to prevent a community outbreak of coronavirus. Wednesday, that saga reached its peak when the university announced all students must leave campus and finish classes online.

After less than a month of reacclimating on the Malibu campus, Shanghai participant Mason Chin is having to pack his bags once again.

“I just drove back out here from Iowa,” Chin said. “Now I have to drive back because I don’t really have any other choice.”

President Jim Gash sent the community-wide email at 8 a.m.

Wednesday, stating that students must move out of their on-campus housing by Sunday, March 15, and that the university will begin remote online classes Monday, March 16.

Chin said he feels his class is equipped to handle the situation after last year’s Woolsey Fire and Borderline Shooting, followed by the recent suspensions of all abroad programs with the exception of the Washington, D.C. “I would say partially I’m numb to it at this point,” Chin said. “This is the fourth biggest thing that’s happened recently, so I’m sure the students will keep rolling with the punches.”

With seven weeks left in the spring term, students said the abrupt ending makes them feel like the rug was pulled out from under them.

“We’re all scrambling, trying to figure out what to do,” senior Luke

Whartnaby said. “Because it’s, like, if you live across the country like I do and like a lot of students do, do you just go home and say goodbye to everyone?”

Whartnaby is one of thousands of students who had to pack up their on-campus residence last weekend.

He filled out the university’s exemption form to petition to remain in his Seaside dorm to complete his senior thesis and have more time to figure out his plans.

For seniors who were hoping to have an eventful finish to their college career, the news hits especially hard. “[It’s] my last two months, so it was a time I thought I would enjoy more, that I would see friends, that I would explore more of California,” senior Lorraine Nuñez said.

Nuñez is from Puerto Rico and says figuring out her travel plans while having to pack and finish

schoolwork is taxing.

“I’m trying to stay calm, but it’s been tough,” Nuñez said.

She also applied to stay in her on-campus housing, since traveling to Puerto Rico is a difficult process.

If she doesn’t get the exemption, Nunez said she would have to fly home.

“I have nowhere else to go,” Nunez said.

Senior Chase Manson said he is caught between feeling safe and having closure.

“I’m having mixed emotions, honestly,” Manson said. “On one hand, I get to go home and be with my family, and I think that’s a blessing. But on the other, I have to cut my time here pretty short with my friends. I think there will always be a part of the book that’s left unwritten.

Manson, a resident advisor in Drescher, was caught off guard by the email and said it put him and his

Housing and Residence Life (HRL) colleagues in a frenzy.

“While I applaud the university for taking steps to protect our safety, I think that it came very abruptly,” Manson said. “I was in the middle of an HRL meeting, and it was just a mass pandemonium because no one knew — not even my boss. It kind of blindsided everyone, and I wish that there was a way to transition into this a little bit better.”

The sudden end of the semester is hard to take in for some after the back-to-back disruptions the Pepperdine community has faced.

“I just can’t believe it,” junior Aileen Blomdal said. “Year after year, there’s something going on campus, and it’s just kind of hard to process still.”

AUSTIN.HAL L @PEPPER DINE.EDU K AYIU.W ONG@PEPPER DINE.EDU

A look inside the Emergency Operations Committee Ky l e m c cabe Ass i s tant news e d itor Pepperdine’s decision March 11 to cancel in-person instruction and move students off campus came in an email from University President Jim Gash. Although the email bears his name, Gash said it was a team of university leaders who made the decision to move to remote classes.

The Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) and its Infectious Disease Task Force had monitored the spread of COVID-19 and concluded that remote classes were an appropriate response. Pepperdine’s Chief Operating Officers Gary Hanson and Phil Phillips serve as the co-chairs for the EOC. “During times of emergency, we convene this committee, which is made up of all the senior leaders of the university so that the whole university is represented in one space,” Phillips said. “You want to all be in one place so you’re getting all the information that is relevant.”

Gash meets with the EOC as one of its members. Phillips said when important decisions need to be made during emergencies, the EOC and Gash have the final say.

“We work to a consensus,” Phillips said. “If someone’s got a concern about a direction we’re going, we try to work through it as a group.

[Gash] wants to hear what other people are saying, but of course we put a lot of weight on what he wants. It’s ultimately his responsibility.”

When the EOC comes to a decision, there is no formal vote. Phillips said the committee addresses all the concerns presented by its members until they reach a consensus on the best course of action.

The topic of how long to conduct remote classes came up a lot in the EOC’s COVID-19 meetings. Some schools, like the University of Texas at Austin and UC Berkeley, expected students to return to campus after two or three weeks.

“We really went back and forth with, ‘What if we did two weeks?’” Phillips said.

“Most of the schools that are doing two weeks don’t have a calendar like ours. Most of the schools that did it are still on spring break.”

On March 15, UT Austin extended their March 16-21 spring break to March 30, and on March 10, UC Berkeley suspended in-person classes until March 29. Both schools

S tay u p t o dat e w it h: the thewaves wavesreport report

have since gone to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester.

Phillips said the logistics of making students leave campus for a few weeks and then come back did not make sense for Pepperdine.

“Imagine if we do that, and the students leave all of their stuff in the dorms, and we say, ‘You’re going to come back to us,’ but you can’t,” Phillips said. “They might not be able to get back here, or you have to buy another airfare to get back here.”

Phillips also said the EOC deliberated a lot over when to begin online instruction.

“We came to a decision [that this is] the right thing to do because we don’t have a crisis on campus,” Phillips said. “We think it’s important that we act before [there is a crisis].”

The EOC’s desire to act before a coronavirus outbreak had a chance to occur on campus contrasted with Philip’s description of the importance of in-person education.

“It’s not something we want to just give up without some real good reason to,” Phillips said. “If we wait until someone in the campus community gets infected and then we do it, it’s super rushed.”

The decision to move stu-

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Milan Loiacono | Photo Editor Early Ending | A majority of students leave the Malibu campus as classes go online and as students are encouraged to work remotely. The decision to go remote was made by the Emergency Operations Committee. dents off campus aligns with what Phillips said was the EOC’s goal: to have as few people on campus as possible. Pepperdine’s restrictions on visitors to campus, announced in a March 12 email from the Public Relations Office, lasts through March 31 and reflects the goal of limiting the campus’ population.

“The whole idea is to reduce the density and have as few people here as possible so that we can get the benefits of that and help curb the spread of the virus,” Phillips

Th e p ixel

said. “The more people who want to be here, then the less we get that benefit.”

The EOC will now turn most of its attention to the summer abroad programs that are expected to happen as originally scheduled.

Phillips said the EOC has already talked a lot about the programs, but the only one of which they came to a decision was Shanghai, canceled Feb. 17.

“We won’t make one decision for all of [the programs] at the same time because we

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want to wait as long as we can to see if things get better,” Phillips said. “Our hope is to have it, obviously. Until we see [the trend of cases] really flatten out, it’s going to be hard to make future plans.”

In a March 13, email to IP summer students, International Programs Executive Director Beth M. Laux wrote that they plan to make decisions about each summer program by April 1.

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Our podcast and email newsletter will be increasing production to get you the latest news on everything COVID-19 and Pepperdine.

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THE DPS REPORTS

COVID-19 can bring us together

Check out pepperdine.edu/publicsafety for the DPS Reports every week

1 K y l e Mcca b e a s s i s ta n t n ew s e dit or With professionals working from home and students studying online, COVID-19 affects nearly every aspect of American life. The realities of social distancing can make people long for normalcy.

A bright side to the current situation is the compassion that companies and celebrities are showing for those affected by the coronavirus.

Grocery stores are offering special shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable shoppers. Target, Whole Foods, Safeway, Albertsons and Dollar General, among others, all have some form of special hours.

Several companies are helping students move back home and transition to online coursework.

U-Haul is offering free 30 days of storage to students, Adobe is giving free Creative Cloud to displaced students, LinkedIn is offering free online classes on working from home — and Loom, a software that allows you to record your face and screen at the same time to improve workflow, is making Loom Pro free for educators and students forever.

Internet providers are helping students work from home as well. Spectrum and Comcast are offering free internet service for 60 days for families of students in need. In addition, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Comcast are giving their customers free unlimited data for 60 days.

Stars in the sports world, including Zion Williamson, Patrick Mahomes, Rudy Gobert, Russell Wilson and Ciara, pledged to donate money to food banks and stadium workers who are out of work during suspended sports seasons.

Musicians, such as Charli XCX, Miley Cyrus, John Legend, P!nk, Diplo and many more, have been doing live concerts on social media to help entertain fans quarantined at home. Every day, actor Josh Gad has read children’s books on livestream for his younger fans, now stuck at home due to school cancellations.

Many restaurants are offering free delivery. The list is once again extensive and includes many popular chains. Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees for more than 100,000 independent restaurants.

To help people stay active, gyms like Planet Fitness and CorePower Yoga are offering free online exercise classes.

All of these special offers could be, at least in part, marketing ploys to improve company image and bring in new customers. Some offers, including U-Haul’s and Comcast’s, are for new customers only.

But at some level, they reflect the idea that the best way for Americans to get through the spread of COVID-19 and its effects on daily life is to support each other, even if we have to keep our distance.

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3/6/20 1:16 p.m.

Crime: Vandalism Location: J. Pengilly House

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3/8/20 12:12 a.m.

Crime: Vandalism Location: Drescher Parking Structure

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

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A week after the University announced remote classes, COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the United States. With uncertainty of when things will return to normal, students still have unanswered questions for administrators.

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Crime: Extortion Attempt Location: Malibu Campus

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Crime: Alcohol-Related/ Non-Criminal - Individual(s) Drinking or Intoxicated on Campus Location: Seaside Residence Hall 3/16/20 3:16 p.m.

Crime: Larceny/Theft - Theft from Building, Burglary Location: Eaton House

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The last to leave — Buenos Aires program suspended ashley Mo wreader Abr oad Cor r e spon de n t r O WAN tOKE Abr oad Cor r e spon de n t Though the news was shocking, the announcement was not a surprise.

“In the beginning of the semester, I thought for sure we were going to get sent home,” sophomore Bryce Crane said. “But in seeing how Argentina’s coronavirus [cases weren’t] moving very fast, these last four or five days, I really came to terms with [the fact] that we were going to finish the year.”

The Buenos Aires international program (BA) was suspended as of March 10, and students studying abroad spring 2020 were sent home starting March 14. The BA program is the last of Pepperdine’s International Programs to be sent home, with Shanghai

the first in late January and Florence, Heidelberg and Lausanne in quick succession. London received notice as well March 10.

“I did not see us not going to the EFT [Educational Field Trip] ever happening,” Crane said. “Or especially [the situation] happening the way it’s happening right now.”

Emotional reactions have varied between students.

“I feel very sad,” junior Jacob Segoviano said. “I feel like I’ve lost a once-in-alifetime opportunity.”

Segoviano was one of the academic year students in the program and said he went abroad for the opportunity to travel. He’s not the only one.

“I’m just disappointed,” sophomore Melinda Colbert said. “The abroad program was a huge part of the reason I chose Pepperdine, and Argentina is a place

I’ve been wanting to come to since I was 14, so it’s just really sad to have our time cut short.”

Spring students especially felt the time cut. The spring semester began Jan. 17, leaving them less than two months to experience living abroad in South America.

“I’m feeling upset because I don’t have time to do all of the things I wanted to do,” sophomore Natasha Flaten said. “I’m feeling stressed out about how to spend the last few days here.”

Other concerns were more urgent, like finances and where return to in the United States. The spread of COVID-19 throughout the U.S., leaves many students worried about traveling home.

“I’m mostly just relieved,” said sophomore Annabel Marshall. who said she felt stressed about

flights and was worried about potentially going into quarantine.

On March 13, the students attended an all-day event at an estancia (a ranch) in the Buenos Aires province and had a final banquet with their homestay families.

Director Travis Hill-Weber encouraged students to continue to enjoy Buenos Aires and to make the most of the time they had left.

Segoviano said the students did just that.

“It was unique,” Segoviano said. “As soon as we had the bad news, instead of dwelling on the sadness, they made it something to celebrate the rest of the time together. Jumping in the pool, playing music, having fun. I think it best encapsulates the group. No matter what, we’re a family and we have fun.”

The students left Saturday, March 14, at the earliest

and Monday, March 16 at the latest. Students flew to their permanent homes to finish the rest of the semester through online courses.

In the meantime, some students approached the situation with humor.

Before she left, junior Alina DeMeyer asked how much “chori,” a quintessential Buenos Aires food, she could fit in her suitcase.

For now, the students are enjoying the city, packing up and making plans for their time at home. Proposed plans included ski weekends, road trips, exploring the U.S. and visiting family.

ASHL EY.M OW R EADER @PEPPER DINE.EDU R OWAN.TOK E@PEPPER DINE.EDU

Social media fuels movement in support of non-returning Creative Writing professor v er nie c ovarrubias new s assista n t When alumnus George Kovalenko heard that Creative Writing Professor Jeffrey Schultz would no longer be working at Pepperdine University next fall, Kovalenko said he knew he had to do something.

Kovalenko (2014) was Schultz’s student in two courses, but Kovalenko said he considers Schultz a life mentor as well. Six years later, he still speaks of Schultz’s impact. “[Schultz] is able to balance rigorous work — meaning he is not going to allow you not to work to the best of your ability — and to help you in doing that with a compassionate, human approach to education,” Kovalenko said.

Though Schultz declined to comment, he confirmed in an email that his contract will not be renewed at the end of the academic year and that he will appeal the decision.

Humanities and Teacher Education Division Dean Stella Erbes declined to comment on this story because it is a confidential personnel matter.

Schultz’s lasting impression caused Kovalenko to turn to social media for support.

“If you’ve met, studied with, been moved by Jeff, and are interested in showing support, or have questions about the situation, please DM me,” Kovalenko wrote in a tweet.

Kovalenko gathered testimonies and almost 300 names of current students, alumni and colleagues in support of Schultz. He displayed the names in a tweet tagging the official Pepperdine account and Seaver deans.

Kovalenko said he will deliver the completed list to the members of administration both in person and through email.

On Instagram, alumnus and former Graphic staff member Rachal Marquez Jones (2017) shared a post with the caption: “Received word that one of the most impactful, loved professors @pepperdine was let go on seemingly unfounded, biased grounds. The Pepp community is going through a lot, but #ProfSchultz deserves better.”

Marquez Jones said she wanted to call out what she felt was a significant issue.

“So the intention with that post was to bring that awareness to Pepperdine staff and administration as well as to raise awareness among fellow alumni,” Marquez Jones said. “I wanted to do it in a

Vernie Covarrubias | News assistant Justice for Jeff | An anonymous student hung a QR code link to a petition and various testimonies from Jeffrey Schultz’s students last week on the Freedom Wall. way that was supportive and not attacking Pepperdine as an institution because I don’t think that’s constructive.”

Senior Noah Racey said he was collecting signatures and testimonies from Schultz’s current students. He arranged to meet with the Seaver deans and personally delivered the list of names.

Racey said his goal is to make the students’ support known.

“At this point, we’re not trying to be disruptive and I want to make it clear that the movement is

entirely independent of Jeff,” Racey said. “None of us are acting at his request. This is our own determination. And so with that gulf of separation, we’re careful of doing anything that would hurt him or hurt his appeal in the eyes of the institution.”

Through his actions, Racey said he hopes the university will acknowledge Schultz’s support so that Schultz can continue to be a professor at Pepperdine.

V ER NETTA.C OVAR R UBIAS@PEPPER DINE.EDU

77th annual Bible lectures canceled li n d s e y s ulli va n assi stant ne ws e d i t o r As the local, state and national community continues to respond to COVID-19 developments, Pepperdine has decided to cancel the annual Bible Lectures to prevent potential infections.

The annual lecture series, also known as “Harbor,” is one of the largest and longest-running campus events.

This will be the first time the series is canceled after 76 consecutive years. The event was planned to take place Wednesday, May 4, through Monday, May 9, following the theme “Called and Sent: The Vital Role of the Church.”

In an email notifying participants of the cancellation, the Office of Church Relations wrote that the decision was made after prayerful consideration and conversation with government health agencies. They also said full refunds will be provided to those already registered.

In 2019, the event included over 200 speakers from around the world. This year, the series planned to feature speakers from Pepperdine and other universities across the nation, as well as keynote speakers such as Phil Brookman, Wade Hodges and Tiffany Dahlman.

In addition to the community loss, the cancellation could also cause financial losses to the Pepperdine Legacy Partner’s (PLP) Helen Young Scholarship fund, formerly known as the Associated Women for Pepperdine (AWP) Scholarship.

Every year, the foundation raises funds that benefit scholarship recipients by serving pie and coffee following evening events. The scholarship has provided financial assistance to students who are members of the Church of Christ since 1958.

The Office of Church Relations plans to continue the series in 2021 and hopes to provide participants with the same roles.

L INDSEY.SUL L IVAN@PEPPER DINE.EDU

Students remember Constance Fulmer C hanna St e inmetz Execu ti ve E dit or The university mourns Prof. Constance Marie Fulmer, who died of pancreatic cancer March 17.

Students of Fulmer, who taught English literature, reminisced on their favorite memories of her. Senior Emily Buchanan recalled how Fulmer would relate class readings to her students in a caring manner.

“One of our last classes after reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, she told use she hoped that one day, we would all find a love who wrote poems about us or who inspires us to write poems about them,” Buchanan wrote.

Sophomore Zack Born took his GE literature course with Fulmer, which led to him adding an English minor and even going so far as

to take her British Literature course at 8 a.m.

“Everyone who knows me knows I’m horrible at walking up early,” Born said, laughing. “Even my mom was shocked when I told her I had an 8 a.m. But when I told her it was Professor Fulmer, she was like, ‘Oh, you’ll love that!’”

Born said one of his favorite memories of Fulmer was her festive outfits for holidays — including an allred suit for Valentine’s Day. “Spunky” is exactly how alumna Lauren Davila (2017) described Fulmer.

“She made everything really fun in the classroom,” Davila said. “She was a fantastic writer, a fantastic reader — everything she did, she was warm and wonderful.”

Davila, who also did summer research with Fulmer during her undergrad years, said Fulmer taught her a lot

about exploration and set her on her path for graduate school.

She was a fantastic writer, a fantastic reader — everything she did, she was warm and wonderful.

Lauren Davila, Alumna (2017)

While at Pepperdine, Fulmer served as the divisional dean of the Humanities and Teacher Education Division as well as associate dean of Seaver College from 2007 to 2016, according to the university’s statement.

Last year, Fulmer published five essays and her book, “George Eliot’s Moral Aesthetic: Compelling Contradictions.” Davila remembered Fulmer’s teaching of George Eliot, saying Fulmer was a feminist voice for the campus. For other female students, Fulmer was a role model.

“Being in her class made me a better reader, writer, but most important, a better human,” Buchanan wrote.

“She’s been my role model since our first class freshman year, and will always continue to be.”

CH A N N A .S T E I N M ETZ@PEPPER DINE.EDU

Courtesy of george elliot fellowship Spunky Soul | English Prof. Constance Marie Fulmer passed away March 17. Her memory lives on through the stories from her students and loved ones.

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PERSPECTIVES

Letter from the editors: Moving forward Pepperdine Graphic Media is deeply sorrowed by the coronavirus pandemic that has affected communities worldwide. We understand and respect the University’s decision to switch to remote online classes for the rest of the semester. That being said, we see it more important now than ever to continue reporting, editing and publishing stories both online and in print.

Some of our student journalists will return to their respective hometowns, while others plan to stay in their off-campus housing. Regardless, we will all continue to report remotely.

This isn’t the first time PGM has had to do this — in November 2018, our staff reported

remotely following the Borderline Shooting and Woolsey Fire and was able to produce digital content, alongside the physical special edition that hit stands when students returned to campus. This is to say, we feel we are adequately prepared to cover any news that unfolds, whether from off-campus apartments or hometown desks.

Along with daily news published by the Graphic, we are moving forward with our Special Edition publication on LGBTQ+ issues and rights. All the content will be shared via social media and online, along with a print edition. PGM will also go forward with production of Currents — our semesterly

magazine. This semester’s topic focuses on gender equality and everyday feminism. The stories will be published on social media, the Graphic’s website, and we are planning to print copies that will be available in May. If you would like a physical copy of our weekly newspaper, the LGBTQ+ edition or Currents, please email us at PeppGraphicMedia@gmail.com with your current address. Our weekly email newsletter, the Pixel, will continue to provide email updates on the Pepperdine community and beyond.

At this time, we are planning to increase the frequency of Pixel updates per week, depending on the amount of new information

we receive and the availability of our reporters.

As always, we at PGM want to make sure our community feels informed, especially in the midst of these unprecedented circumstances. If you have news tips, stories you want to see reported on or questions you would like answered, again please reach out to us at PeppGraphicMedia@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.

To our staff: We are so incredibly proud of the work you have done so far this year, and we could not be happier editors. As difficult as this week has been, please know that the work you are doing and continue to do is an invaluable service

to the community. While we may all be spread out, we want you to know that we are always available to help work through problems or be a resource, even from miles away. Thank you for being diligent and hardworking journalists.

Best, Channa Steinmetz, Executive Editor, channa.steinmetz@ pepperdine.edu Madeleine Carr, Managing Editor, madeleine.carr@pepperdine.edu

Tweeting is an overwhelming sign of the times L EXI SC AN LON S taf f W rit e r Twitter has become one of the most culturally significant platforms of the millennial and the post-millennial generation.

From niche comedy to artistic expression, Twitter users know no bounds when it comes to content curation.

Many students use Twitter as their main source of news throughout the day. As new issues or exciting ideas arise, Twitter tends to be one of the first to know about it. This creates issues of validity, ethics and sources of news. Yet, it does not appear that Twitter being a news, arts and culture platform for millennials will be changing anytime soon. If utilized productively, Twitter could go from being an overwhelming source of continuous information to a globalized community that rallies together for positive change.

The space to connect through internet culture brings both ties of community and issues of conflict. People are constantly faced with the negative

news cycle alongside a new viral video as they refresh their timeline. It is exhausting to wrestle with the costs and the benefits of engaging with Twitter.

Luckily, the engagement with student content is often comedically refreshing and politically engaging.

Millennials and post-millennials have developed a strong sense of humor to get through the seemingly consistent difficult times. By creating positive content and connecting with others, there seems to be a sense of internet community that can be translated to relations on Pepperdine’s campus.

Pepperdine students are very familiar with the type of Twitter comedy that lands just right with their peers. The platform not only allows for an innovative space of humor and expression but also the feeling of connectedness to others around campus.

A smaller group of students, in particular, is extremely in tune with the niche comedy culture of Twitter. These individuals understand the tedious work and the painstaking grit that it takes to con-

struct the perfect tweet with a complimentary photo alongside it.

The king and queen of reaction-style tweets are Pepperdine juniors Logan Wood, the lead designer for Currents Magazine, (@logandhi) and Franki Hooks (@frankihooks).

Their arsenal of photos encourages students to support the arts like Dance in Flight or to stay engaged in classes. Their intellectual use of photos takes their ability to communicate through Twitter to the next level.

Other students, like Pepperdine senior Audrey Rhynerson (@artisinalaudrey), are very in tune with the thoughts and emotions of the Pepperdine student body. She understands the student lack of motivation, the beautiful views from behind the chapel and cars on campus.

These students even tweet each other to simply ask Wood where he is.

Their range is so great that they have effectively created a positive Twitter culture around Pepperdine’s campus.

While the students cre-

Elizabeth Brummer | artist ate extremely humorous content, they are also very engaged with political activism. From retweeting thoughts on socialism to the Iowa caucus, their drive to represent those without representation is a powerful use of a public platform.

Beyond Pepperdine, there is an even greater range of content. Politicians utilize the free platform for marketing and expression of their goals.

Artists utilize the free platform to promote their new work. The free space to share and collaborate has created a global community like never before.

This platform has greatly influenced how people connect through language and ideas. The ability for students to walk around campus and reference a tweet is a new indication of people who might share interests. For others, it can be an indicator that their

styles of humor greatly differ.

Interact with students who remind others to be comfortable with yourself, support the Pepperdine arts and take in the scenery around campus.

Twitter is a beautiful platform to be creative and expressive. Begin to utilize it and connect more with those around you on campus every day.

L EX I.SC ANL ON@PEPPER DINE.EDU

Libraries should not cultivate ignorance AJ MUO NAGOLU P er specti ves A ssista n t While walking through the psychology section of Pepperdine University’s Payson Library, a group of students stumbled upon old psychology books that described homosexuality as a mental illness. Some of these books included: “Coming Out Straight” by Richard Cohen, “Unusual Sexual Behaviors”

by David Lester and “Healing Homosexuality” by Joseph Nicolosi.

The American Psychological Association (APA) deems the research in these books false and outdated since the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III) — third edition — removed homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1980. So, what should Pepperdine and Payson do with these books, and how do we keep students from absorbing false information? Pepperdine and libraries must promote better book categorization and learning information literacy.

Payson Library — and libraries in general — are meant to be keepers of knowledge, opinions and viewpoints. However, some viewpoints and past research are censored, and the LGBTQ+ community remains one of the most censored groups.

“Works such as ‘It’s Perfectly Normal’ by Robie Harris and

Samantha Miller | artist ‘Heather Has Two Mommies’

by Leslea Newman, among others, frequently face demands for removal from library shelves for their focus on gay/lesbian issues,” as reported by the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Since these books are silenced, books that contain harmful rhetoric and sophist perspectives on homosexuality continue to flourish. This harms the LGBTQ+ community through ideas “that gay, lesbian, or trans people don’t exist, and the stigma around them, which is enabled through the message that gay, trans, bisexual, and lesbian people are sick or mentally ill. The other aspect is criminalization. Same-sex relations

are still criminalized in 69 countries,” as reported by the Harvard Gazette.

Some in the LGBTQ+ community may deem it unfair that certain libraries censor or ban books that support or inform others about LGBTQ+ issues while allowing the spread of false and somewhat derogatory rhetoric to remain on shelves.

Luckily, Payson Library doesn’t seem to have any type of censorship policy. According to the Payson Library Academic Freedom Policy, “for librarians at Pepperdine University, academic freedom includes, but is not limited to the following: The right to provide reference assistance in response to controversial

questions.”

This ideology is fine, but when it doesn’t contextualize information, students and faculty can confuse fact with fiction. Many libraries, including Pepperdine’s, use a system similar to the Library of Congress. However, to contextualize outdated research, Payson Library should adopt the Dewey Decimal system of organization.

The Library of Congress groups books by headings and puts similar books next to each other, which explains how these groups of students found these anti-LGBTQ+ works. However, with the Dewey Decimal system, Payson could offer main headings, like the Library of Congress, but also subcategories, including one for books that contain outdated research, thus allowing students to better understand and interpret them.

Even if this isn’t possible for the Pepperdine library, students should learn about information literacy as a way to be able to discern this information. If a student were unaware of DSM III and its verdict on homosexuality, a student could possibly perceive homosexuality as an illness and believe that it could be cured with harmful therapy and drugs.

“Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective

discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning,” as reported by Courtright Memorial Library.

Even if there are students with opposing views, if they can’t use resources to help them formulate those viewpoints in a valid manner, the library is cultivating ignorance instead of knowledge and individualistic opinions.

Payson Library and university libraries across the nation need to consider utilizing or creating a new organizational system to better contextualize material. Furthermore, these institutions must educate students on information literacy through mandatory classes, such as adding a new firstyear seminar or making it a mandatory component of all first-year seminars.

This can help students correctly find and interpret resources, which not only validates their own opinions but also enables them to understand others’ outlooks.

That way people can continue to create, shape and evolve viewpoints that will progress humanity’s search for truth.

AJ.M UONAGOL U@PEPPER DINE.EDU

Mar ch 19, 2020

The Graphic

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SPORTS

‘Heartbreaking’: Spring Athletes Lose their season to COVID-19 Karl Winter Sports e d itor In less than 30 hours, everything changed for hundreds of Pepperdine student-athletes.

They went from cautiously optimistic about remaining in Malibu and training for the final seven weeks of the semester to absolutely devastated by a spree of cancellations that ultimately ended their seasons.

The final straw was an NCAA decision around 1 p.m. PST Thursday, March 12, which effectively ended all winter and spring sports seasons by cancelling all championship events. Neither March Madness nor any other remaining 2020 championship event will occur this season. “[I] can’t really get closure on the subject because I’m never going put on that jersey again,” senior Deahna Kraft of Pepperdine Beach Volleyball said. “I’m never going to be able to do all these things that we wanted to do [as a team].”

When Pepperdine University announced at 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 11 that classes would be online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester — due to the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19) — student-athletes believed they would not be affected as the remainder of the students.

“We knew the issue with the coronavirus was spreading rapidly, and we wanted to help stop that,” Men’s Track captain Jalen Frantal said. “When we found out classes were going remote, obviously we knew it was good and we were pretty happy about it — we could just focus on training and racing and do our classes online.”

Seniors were understandably shaken at the prospect of many of their friends going home, but the sports world remained largely unperturbed.

“I was upset that my senior year is going to be a lot different than I thought it was going to be,” Frantal said. “I was going to be leaving friends that I was probably never going to see again.”

Despite new attendance limitations — NCAA March Madness was to be played without fans and fans at Pepperdine events would be limited — and some conference basketball tournaments being canceled, Pepperdine Athletics events continued as planned March 11.

“Sports are never really affected by what’s going on in the world,” senior Beach Volleyball player Gigi Hernandez said. “If something’s going on, you still have sports to go to — that’s an escape for a lot of people.”

Men’s Volleyball defeated Jamestown at home in straight sets. Beach Volleyball traveled to USC to play the two top national programs in the No. 6 Trojans and No. 2 UCLA. The team’s morale was high going to and from the matches, as they gave the two tough opponents a good battle.

“Wednesday, it wasn’t like I was going into it knowing that it was my last time doing all these things — I wouldn’t be going on Zuma Beach [to play] again,” Kraft said.

However, that night, the sports world began to feel the effects of COVID-19 more strongly.

The NBA suspended its season immediately when a player (Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert) tested positive. The National Hockey League followed suit Thursday morning, as the league shares many facilities with the NBA. Major League Baseball was next, canceling the remaining spring training

COurtesy of Owen Mai Young Gun | Sophomore infielder Wyatt Young throws during a Feb. 18 game against Cal Poly. Pepperdine Baseball was 12–3 and ranked No. 16 in the nation when their season ended due to COVID-19.

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STAFF LIST

ex ec u ti v e ed i to r Ch a n n a Ste i n m e tz M anag i ng Ed i to r madeleine carr d i g i tal ed i to r k ayi u w o n g c o py c hi ef B rya n t L o n e y c r eati v e d i r ec to r n ata l i e r u l o n New s Ed i to r James Moore As si s tant new s ed i to r s K yl e M cC a b e l i n d se y su l l i va n New s ass i stants v e r n i e cova r r u b i a s e m i ly sh aw L i fe & Ar ts Ed i to r Sava n n a h W e l c h as si s tant L i fe & ar ts ed i to r M a r i a B e l e n I tu r r a l d e L i fe & Ar ts as si s tant Lauren Chivers l i fe & ar ts c o py ed i to r G r ace W o o d Sp o r ts Ed i to r K a r l W i n te r s p o r ts ass i stant Tayl o r Gath e r COurtesy of Sarah Otteman P er s p ec ti v es Ed i to r C a m ryn G o r d o n Match Point | Deahna Kraft (left) and Gigi Hernandez play together at the 2019 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala. Kraft and Hernandez are both P er s p ec ti v es as si s tant A n i ti z M u o n ag o l u seniors in 2020 and will not get the chance to play for another championship.

P er sp ec ti v es c o py games and postponing the beginning of the regular University of Wisconsin—Madison as a graduate ed i to r season at least two weeks. The Association of Pro- student, said the extra year of eligibility would not Makena Huey fessional Tennis and Major League Soccer suspend- change her decision. pag e d es i g ner s ed play. Eventually, the XFL canceled the rest of its “I’m truly grateful for everything that everyone’s hannah lee comeback season. given me, and I know that a lot of the other spring Ali levens In the collegiate realm, Duke University became athletes that have lost their eligibility feel the same,” ellia melin the first school to suspend all athletics programs, Kraft said. “It’s safe to say that I’m speaking on their Da n i e l l a Si n g l e te r ry meaning they would pull out of the NCAA Men’s part that Pepperdine changed us all for the better.” p o d c as t P r o d u c er Basketball tournament.

For other seniors who already had plans K a e lin mendez Just before noon March 12, when the Pac-12 Con- post-graduation, the extra eligibility was a small Ar t Ed i to r ference canceled all sports for the duration of the consolation.

M a d e l i n e D u va l l academic year, the situation became apparent to “It’s really frustrating,” Frantal said. “I plan on as si s tant ar t ed i to r s the Pepperdine student-athletes. taking a gap year and doing some service work, A l ly A r m str o n g The student-athletes who were not in season but it makes me question, ‘Should I have gone to Ca i tl i n R oa rWood k received information that they would not be able grad school and potentially use this last year?’ BeCourtesy of Pepperdine Athletics and Calvin to remain on campus for practice, as they initially cause we’ve worked so, so hard these past couple ar ti sts believed. months.” e l i z a b e th b r u m m e r Kraft, sitting in the final physical class of her unWhen the reality of the NCAA decision set in, ga b by d i g i ova n n i dergraduate career, was in disbelief. many student-athletes realized that they were a day p ho to ed i to r “As a senior, on campus, with that class … it was behind the rest of the school in figuring out how m i l a n l o i ac o n o just kind of more of a denial thing,” Kraft said. “I they were going to move off campus or travel home G New s p r o d u c er was like, ‘No, they would never do that. They would within only a few days’ time. m a r i sa d r ag o s never do that.’”

“From then on, it’s kind of been trying to figure P i x el Ed i to r After Kraft and Hernandez had a productive out a way: Where are we going to stay? How are G i a n n i Co cc h e l l a meeting with their coaches to discuss their plans we going to fly back?” Women’s Golf senior Momop r o m o ti o ns d i r ec to r for the team throughout the remainder of the sea- ka Kobori said. “We have a lot of international stuhadley biggs son, they walked into a film session at 1 p.m. dents, and for a lot of them, it was difficult figuring adv er ti si ng D i r ec to r Hernandez recalled the moment she received out when they’re going to get back into their counso n i r u saga r a the news about the NCAA decision. try.”

Adv er ti si ng m anag er “We’re in the middle of film, and one of the The various teams, who had but a few days rem aya m c d o w e l l freshmen tapped me on the shoulder,” Hernandez maining together, attempted to create closure.

Ad r ep r es entati v e said. “She goes, ‘Did you see this?’ and her face was Men’s Volleyball scrimmaged each other in Fireb rya n m u n g u i a just like she was going to cry. I read it, and I don’t stone Fieldhouse on Friday.

MISSION STATEMENT even know what to say. I immediately get extremely Beach Volleyball held a final team brunch Saturemotional, but I don’t say anything.”

Kraft also remained silent after checking her phone. “[In that moment] I don’t want to say anything; I just want to enjoy the last 15-to-20 minutes where our lives aren’t really flipped upside down,” Kraft said.

Following the film session, the coaches informed the team that the season was over.

“It felt unreal,” Hernandez said. “I still question it sometimes.”

Later, the West Coast Conference finally announced the cancellation of all spring competitions, including formal and organized practices.

Hernandez, remembering her freshman year when her team only lost by two points in the national championship match, said she would have rather had a “horrible season” than to lose the season abruptly.

“I would have rather gone out failing than gone out without the chance to even go for it,” Hernandez said. “That’s what was heartbreaking.”

Quickly, fans and student-athletes implored the NCAA to give spring sports student-athletes another season of eligibility to play, given that most of their season was cut short.

“I think that it is necessary to get these seniors from spring sports their year of eligibility,” Kraft said.

The NCAA obliged the following day, though it did not decide about eligibility for the winter sports, nor did it address how scholarships and roster sizes would be affected in 2021 if a large number of seniors returned for another season.

Kraft, who plans to play indoor volleyball at the

day and reminisced over good memories.

Women’s Golf played one last round together.

Men’s Track ran their own marathon from Pepperdine’s campus to LAX on Sunday.

Baseball hoped to scrimmage but were thwarted by rain, so they simply held a team meeting and turned in their uniforms.

“We had a bunch of watery eyes,” sophomore shortstop Wyatt Young said. “You know, not knowing exactly what the future will hold for next year, if guys will come back, if they won’t. And our future success is dependent on those guys.”

Athletic facilities at Pepperdine’s Malibu campus are closed, as LA County implemented restrictions on gyms and other facilities due to COVID-19 concerns. Some student-athletes, mostly upperclassmen, remain in the Malibu area, but cannot hold an official practice.

“I think at least having the community, my friends, my teammates — I think that will be a light in this crazy storm that we’re going through right now,” Frantal said.

In addition to student-athletes losing their seasons, senior Fine Arts students endured the cancellation of their final department theater performances, concerts and recitals.

“The only closure that you can gather from it is lessons that you can learn from it and knowing that it’s out of your control,” Kraft said. “And that’s closure in itself.”

Kraft went on to say, “you never know what you have until it’s gone.”

K AR L .W INTER @PEPPER DINE.EDU

“Pepperdine Graphic Media (PGM) is an editorially independent student news organization that focuses on Pepperdine University and the surrounding communities. PGM consists of the digital and print Graphic, a variety of special publications, GNews, Currents Magazine, social media platforms and an Advertising Department. These platforms serve the community with news, opinion, contemporary information and a public forum for discussion.

PGM strengthens students for purpose, service and leadership by developing their skills in writing, editing and publication production, by providing a vehicle to integrate and implement their liberal arts education, and by developing students’ critical thinking through independent editorial judgment. PGM participates in Pepperdine’s Christian mission and affirmations, especially the pursuit of truth, excellence and freedom in a context of public service. Although PGM reports about Pepperdine University and coordinates with curricula in journalism and other disciplines, it is a student (not a University) news organization. Views expressed are diverse and, of course, do not correspond to all views of any University board, administration, faculty, staff, student or other constituency.”

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P E P P E R DINE GR A P HIC M E DIA | S PORTS | MA RCH 1 9 , 20 20

Recruiting, transfers and super teams: The challenge of SoCal high school football aust in hall staf f w rit e r The success of local powerhouses Mater Dei and St. John Bosco raises ethical questions behind recruiting and what it’s doing to high school sports as a whole.

There were nearly 16,000 Southern California high school transfers in 2018.

Among the massive total is an unidentifiable number of athletes who elected to change schools not because of academics but to better their chances of playing college sports.

In the SoCal high school football hotbed, the volume of transfers has created a disproportionate talent level among the top Catholic schools compared to the more regulated public schools. So while Mater Dei High School and St. John Bosco High School reload their talent every year, schools like Calabasas High School and Windward High School are left with promising yet inferior talent.

“Parents decided that a college scholarship would be possible if their kids had an opportunity,” KNBC Host Fred Roggin said. “And that’s really why this all started — kids looking to compete past the high school level. So high school became more than just your education.”

Oaks Christian’s Short and Sweet Run The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) governs every high school sport in the state. In January 2018, CIF changed a rule that prohibits students from transferring solely for athletics.

What was going on behind closed doors for decades was thrust into the light and is now being used more frequently every offseason.

Roggin is an LA-based media personality who has covered everything from the Dodgers to the Olympics across 40 years of television and radio. On his syndicated show that follows NBC Sunday Night Football, called “The Challenge,” he stays in touch with high school football through his segment “Roggin’s Heroes,” where he celebrates standout performances from all over South-

ern California with highlights and commentary from Friday night games.

Roggin said the rampant transfers date back to as early as 2006 with local powerhouse Oaks Christian.

“Schools have been doing it for years,” Roggin said.

“Oaks Christian did it early. And we’re talking about private schools that can get away with that kind of thing.

While the CIF had very strict rules about transfers, everybody tried to find a way around that.”

Finding a loophole is exactly what Oaks did in 2006, bringing in as many as 12 future Division I players and going undefeated with an average score of 53–9 on their way to a state title. Another point of contention was that Oaks did it in CIF’s Division III of football, not having to play any DII teams headlined

by Orange Lutheran, Servite and Oceanside or the DI’s with Corona Centennial or the historically dominant De La Salle.

Two Schools Shaking Up High School Sports While Mater Dei (Santa Ana) is one of California’s most storied programs with Head Coach Bruce Rollinson about to start his 31st year, the team was in a bit of a championship drought in the 2000s. The team was always a contender and dishing out dozens of DI prospects, yet they didn’t win a state or national title from 1996 to 2017.

That opened the door for other local high schools to find ways to catch up. That’s what Bellflower’s St. John Bosco did in 2010 with finding Head Coach Jason Negro.

Negro, a Bosco grad who spent time as an assistant for his alma mater from 1998–2000, cut his teeth as a head coach at Trabuco Hills for seven seasons. Bosco Athletic Director Monty McDermott went after Negro and brought him back to take command of the struggling football team.

After going 5–5 in his first season, the team has lost 14 total games in eight seasons and won three CIF championships, most recently over Mater Dei. The past two seasons, the biggest star on Mater Dei’s roster was Bryce Young, who transferred after

courtesy of Icon Sports Wire Santa Claus | Oaks Christian’s most decorated player — Jimmy Clausen. He went 42–0 as a four-year starter for the Lions, was a U.S. Army All-American and played at Notre Dame. After five forgettable seasons in the NFL, Clausen is widely known as a draft “bust.”

Richard Photos by Courtesy Ali Levens of | Asst.

SportsDavis Editor

Courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics

and Sheridan Davis

courtesy of raul romero jr.

Perennial Powerhouses | Jason Negro (left) and Bruce Rollinson are the head coaches of St. John Bosco High School and Mater Dei High School, each a powerhouse program at the center of the high school football recruiting debate. The two schools have won the past four CIF State Open Division titles. his sophomore season from Cathedral. Young finished as the No. 2 player in the country via 24/7 sports rankings and graduated a semester early to enroll at Alabama.

Bosco went on to beat De La Salle in the state championship after defeating Mater Dei. While De La Salle established themselves as the kings of California football in the past (state champions in 2009–2012, 2014 and 2015), they’ve lost to Bosco and Mater Dei two times apiece in the past four years.

Eric Sondheimer is the lead prep sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times and has covered high school sports for over 40 years.

Sondheimer said contrary to the belief that Mater Dei has been recruiting for decades, it was Negro at St. John Bosco who began the tradition between the two schools.

“It started when they hired Jason Negro,” Sondheimer said. “He’s the one who created this way of doing things and winning to attract players. It was Rollo [Rollinson], who hadn’t won a championship since before 2000, who didn’t want to recruit. But he saw Bosco’s success and decided, ‘Screw this.’ So he adopted the St. John Bosco way of doing things — to get in touch with youth football coaches and host camps before bringing in kids left and right.”

The recent CIF rule lets students play immediately when transferring schools if they are able to move their residence. This includes staying with a host family for the school year or football season before transferring back to their original schools second semester. Roggin said Mater Dei and Bosco have let that happen.

In high school football and basketball under CIF, the most elite teams year to year can qualify for a division-less playoff bracket to compete with other prestigious teams. Called the “Open Division,” it was a doorway to separate the best teams with the best transfers from everybody else. Sondheimer said the grand plan has not worked out the way that CIF expected.

“Schools like Harvard-Westlake and Corona Del Mar don’t rely on transfers,” Sondheimer said. “But this year, Harvard-Westlake made the Open Division and have to go against basically all-star teams when

courtesy of @theoldp’s Twitter Glory Days | Petros Papadakis celebrates a rushing touchdown versus Cal Berkeley in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 2000. they’ve had players there for four years. The idea of Open Division was to put all the ambitious schools with transfers in one place. But now some of these schools without transfers are getting put there. It’s unfair the way things are going.”

A Common Practice While Negro and Rollinson ramped up the high school recruiting, coaches found ways to discreetly scout and recruit players decades prior.

Petros Papadakis is also an LA-based sports media personality. Born and raised in San Pedro, California, before he was a running back for the USC Trojans from 1996–2000, he lettered in football all four years at nearby Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills. Papadakis said he remembers hearing about the first high-level transfers when he was in middle school — unsurprisingly to an established Catholic school.

“When I was a player, Loyola was actively recruiting under [Steve] Grady all over and tried to get guys, and that was way before Jason Negro was old enough to have a team,” Papadakis said, laughing. “And they were able to because the team was damn good.”

Papadakis also said while recruiting happened privately in an era like the 1980s, the practice has been amplified over the past few years.

“We’re now in a hyper-

drive with it,” Papadakis said.

“Now Mater Dei and Bosco, among other schools in different time periods, have operated like football academies. Places where you can transfer in and out very easily.”

While transferring has gotten out of hand, Papadakis said it ultimately helps student-athletes to be noticed as the sport is dropping in both players and programs.

“I don’t know if this happens by itself, or if one school would be recruiting if the other wasn’t as well,” Papadakis said. “But since the number of football players is fewer, we need places for very serious football people to go and play. That’s what makes me feel a little better about the transfer stuff.”

Sondheimer said he sees a scenario of local fatigue among the dominant teams.

“The only way something will happen is if they get everybody upset enough to make some changes,” Sondheimer said. “Every year, there are people that want to separate private and public. I just don’t see that happening because there will be a lawsuit, and the private schools have better lawyers. So Mater Dei and Bosco will keep meeting every year, and I really hope that happens because that will force people to investigate what can be done.”

Sondheimer said although finding a solution for the transfer frenzy is an uphill battle, it’s not an impossible fix.

“I would go back to sitting out a year for the transfers,” Sondheimer said. “I think it was working fine. It was the [CIF] Southern Section that got scared of the state legislature intervening, so they dropped it down to one month. But I would even have the sit-out period go at the end of the season and the playoffs. That would immediately expose the coaches and parents who are trying to win championships versus trying to do a better job academically and athletically.”

Both Mater Dei and Bosco are replacing top-10 nationally ranked players at quarterback in 2020. While Bosco is still without a high-level quarterback on their roster, last month, Mater Dei landed rising junior Emmett Brown from Westview High School in San Marcos, over 80 miles away from Mater Dei’s campus in Santa Ana. The Braves and the Monarchs will collide for regular season play in late October and are most likely on another collision course atop the Open Division in December playoffs.

AUSTIN.HAL L @PEPPER DINE.EDU

Mar ch 19, 2020

The Graphic

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LIFE & ARTS

courtesy of Daniel Zarasua

courtesy of Alannah Lasiter

Closing the Curtain | Left: Sara Eakman (right) rehearses with cast members for the spring play, “The Cherry Orchard” by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Right: Songfest group Eta Theta Tau (HOT) gathers for a final group photo on March 11 in the Fireside Room.

COVID-19 forces cancellations of spring performances and showcases Savannah Welch Li f e & Art s E d itor With the closure of Pepperdine’s campus from the COVID-19 outbreak, university events, department performances and student activities have been canceled. Among the list of canceled productions are Pepperdine Fine Arts department showcases and Pepperdine’s annual musical tradition, Songfest.

Between theatrical showcases, music productions and senior art exhibits, arts and performance students must leave campus without having the opportunity to showcase their work.

“The next two months were very big for me personally,” senior Theatre major Sara Eakman said. “I was gon-

na do my senior recital next month — my parents are flying out, and my youth minister from back home and [his] kids are flying out.”

Pepperdine Theatre Department’s spring play, “The Cherry Orchard,” was one of the department’s canceled performances. Eakman, a lead in the play, said she is mourning the loss of the show and the end of her senior year.

“It was going to be the last time stepping on Smothers stage and telling stories for people, telling stories that I love,” Eakman said.

Fine Arts students have already invested months of preparation in class projects, showcases and performances. Fine Arts Dean Bradley Griffin said he felt sorry on behalf of the students.

“We had a variety of musical concerts that would have been coming up ... which are really phenomenal opportunities for student performances,” Griffin said. “Any way you look at it, it’s disappointing.”

A week away from Pepperdine’s annual Songfest performance week, Music Director Chis Stivers said this is the first time the event has been canceled in its 48-year-run.

“We’re feeling devastated,” Stivers said. “We have a great sense of loss about this, and we know that the students do as well.”

Stivers said on March 11, Songfest participants came together for a final night of rehearsals. Instead of practicing individually, the groups performed for each other, arranging an impromptu showcase.

“They did a really good job and were very spirited,” Stivers said. “We were so glad that they got to share a little bit of that with each other before we, you know, totally closed the books on this year’s Songfest.”

Gamma Ghkkkkket Sigma (GGS) writer and director Paige Eivins said this year’s group was especially excited to perform.

“This year, this group seemed to be so into it,” Eivins said. “Everyone who is in our group was so ready to just go and make it the best show that they could. It just makes you, as a leader who has, you know, put so much time and effort into it, so proud.”

Senior Daniel Zarasua said the groups were hoping the campus would stick it out for one more week

so the show could still go on.

“Songfest meant a lot to me because I had a really hard freshman year,” Zarasua said. “Songfest was an opportunity for me to meet a lot of different people from a lot of different majors, backgrounds, grades.”

Zarasua, a member of the group Eta Theta Tau (also known as HOT), said Songfest has provided him a tight community on campus — a community he is saddened to leave in the months ahead. “[HOT] got me a really close family of people, and I’m glad that we were able to build that family with the time we had,” Zarasua said.

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