March 6, 2024

The Emory Wheel

By Jack RutheRfoRd and LauRen yee Asst. News Editors

Jayden Davis (25B) said he plans to appeal the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Election Board’s decision to “dismiss all of the evidence” of his allegations of election misconduct againstSGA Presidentelect Abigail Dubinski (25B) to the Constitutional Council, Davis wrote in an email to The Emory Wheel. Davis plans to file the appeal by tomorrow evening, following the Board’s hearing this past Sunday.

“I personally believe the Board is biased regarding the situation, and has been throughout the duration of this election, leaving them complicit in adjudicating many of the violations the Abigail and Pranay campaign committed,” Davis wrote. “Further, during this hearing they violated many of the rules outlined in their very own Code; exemplifying the negligent stance the Board has taken during this election cycle.”

Elections Board Chair Luxe Langmade (22Ox, 24C) wrote in an email to the Wheel that she has to remain neutral in her position and cannot comment on the situation.

Elections Board Vice Chair Ananya Singh (22Ox, 25C) and Constitutional

Council Chief Justice Kardelen Ergul (24C) also declined to comment.

According to election results released on March 1, Davis lost the race to Dubinski after receiving 561 (30.16%) of the 1,860 votes cast while Dubinski received 1,059 (56.93%) votes. Unique “Jaytrice” Mackey (22Ox, 25C) garnered 65 (3.49%) votes. In total, 175 (9.4%) students voted “no confidence.”

Davis’ campaign manager, Elijah Robuck (27C), filed several accusations of election misconduct against Dubinski and SGA Vice President-elect Pranay Mamileti’s (25B) campaign on March 2, according to a list of filed violations and challenges compiled by the Elections Board and obtained by the Wheel. The charges, which include bribery, voter intimidation, fraud and harassment, gave the DubinskiMamileti campaign a “huge boost in the polls, which cost Jayden the election,” according to the complaint.

However, during a private March 3 hearing, the Elections Board rejected the Davis campaign’s claims.

The Board dismissed the campaign’s two claims of fraud, as fraud is handled by student conduct offices and the Board does not have the jurisdiction to render a decision.

The Davis campaign’s first claim of fraud alleged that although Dubinski

said she reached out to students in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, her campaign never connected with Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students. The complaint cited three statements from members of Emory Stop Cop City, Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine, all of whom denied that Dubinski contacted them.

The Davis campaign also alleged that Dubinski committed fraud by claiming to support all students in campaign materials while refusing to sign onto an unsent October 2023 SGA letter because it included the word “Palestine.” The letter was intended to offer resources and support to students in light of the war in Gaza.

The allegations were made public when an early draft of the Wheel’s Editorial Board endorsement piece for the SGA presidential election was leaked on Fizz. These accusations were not included in the piece as they could not be substantiated at press time.

The complaint included texts between Graduate Student Government Association President Neeti Patel (24PH) and current SGA President Khegan Meyers (24B). Patel sent the Wheel screenshots of her texts with Meyers, who wrote in one of the messages that Dubinski “made a big stink” about changing the word “Gaza” to “Palestine” in the letter so the wording would match Provost and Executive Vice President Ravi Bellamkonda’s statement.

In response to these allegations, Dubinski wrote in an email to the Wheel that the “stream of attacks” she has been facing have a “strong underlying current of antisemitism.”

“Someone wanted to change the language in the draft from Gaza to Palestine, and I said we should match the Provost’s letter, and if we wanted to mention the Palestinian people as well, we should,” Dubinski wrote. “There is no story here, and manufacturing a

By Jack RutheRfoRd Asst. News Editor

Emory University had roughly 100 elevators with expired operating certificates before Georgia began inspections on March 4, according to records obtained by The Emory Wheel from the Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire (OCISF). Two inspectors are now conducting evaluations on campus and hope to inspect all expired elevators by March 13, OCISF Press Secretary and Senior Legislative Liaison Bryce Rawson said.

Elevator operating certificates must be renewed annually in Georgia, Rawson said. However, Emory has elevators with certificates

up to eight months out of date. It is the elevator owner’s responsibility to request an inspection, Rawson said, adding that only the state of Georgia or a licensed elevator inspector can conduct safety inspections and issue elevator operating certificates.

“Emory is the one who has to request those inspections to take place,” Rawson said. “They can either request our office and we can try and get those as soon as we can with our limited staff or they can also contract with a third party elevator service.”

Rawson said that the owner-operator of the elevator bears responsibility for any accidents that occur while the elevator is operating under an

By Madi oLivieR Managing Editor

Multiple members of the Emory University Senate’s Committee for Open Expression have found that student organizers “deliberately misled” Senior Vice President and the Division of Campus Life as a strategy during a student-led protest against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The members called Campus Life’s decision to transfer control to the Emory Police Department (EPD) and end the protest “warranted.”

This is among the committee’s findings, which are currently under Senate review, after an investigation into the final hours of the “Stop Cop City” protest. Faculty and Emory Stop Cop City members have argued that Emory violated the Respect for Open Expression Policy when EPD called the Atlanta Police Department (APD) for assistance, told students to

leave or face arrest and terminated the protest around 1:20 a.m. on April 25, 2023.

The committee also investigated the University’s response to former Emory School of Medicine Assistant Professor Abeer AbouYabis, whom Emory ceased to employ after she shared a social media post that the University deemed “antisemitic.” The committee found that the University “likely” violated AbouYabis’ open expression rights when she was terminated.

Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Physics Ilya Nemenman, who chairs the committee, shared the findings with the Senate during the Feb. 27 meeting and is now waiting for the body’s review.

“We did our job,” Nemenman said. “They can accept our recommendations, they can accept some of them or reject all of them. I don’t know, but that’s in their court now.”

By LauRen yee Asst. News Editor

Two anonymous individuals filed reports against Emory University’s Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity chapter, located on 12 Eagle Row, for having a party on March 1 despite being currently suspended, according to Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G). Fraternities are not allowed to host parties while suspended, Shoemaker added.

The reports were filed as hazing, according to the EPD Crime Log. Students can anonymously report hazing through a hazing reporting form.

“At this party, one or more people were forced to drink alcohol,” Shoemaker said.

This comes after allegations of possible hazing at ATO have arisen on the anonymous social media platform Fizz, but whether these allegations are connected with the fraternity’s suspension remains unconfirmed.

Shoemaker said that this is all EPD knows at this time.

The Interfraternity Council (IFC) wrote in a Feb. 23 email to The Emory Wheel that acts of hazing are a direct violation of their values, which include leadership, service, brotherhood and scholarship.

“We take any allegations of hazing or other violations of university policy seriously, working in cooperation with the appropriate university offices to review allegations,” IFC wrote.

The University Anti-Hazing policy defines hazing as any action or situation that may inflict harm or humiliate any person for the purpose of initiation into a group or organization.

ATO and IFC members did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Emory has a zero-tolerance hazing policy and any student or group who violates hazing laws or policies will face disciplinary action, such as expulsion, the policy states. Amended in 2021 to include a definition for hazing,

penalties and reporting requirements, the Georgia Anti-Hazing Law affirms that it is illegal to engage in acts of hazing in Georgia. Any person who violates the law “shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.”

The state law also requires schools to establish policies on hazing, publicly disclose incidents and maintain student confidentiality.

The Wheel reached out to Senior Director of Sorority and Fraternity Life Scott Rausch, Director of Sorority and Fraternity Life Nicole Jackson and over 50 ATO members, but none responded by press time.

Managing Editor Sophia Peyser (25C), News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C), and Asst. News Editor Jack Rutherford (27C) are current members of Greek life organizations. None were involved in the writing or editing of this article.

— Contact Lauren Yee at lauren.yee2@emory.edu

Committee finds terminated professors rights 'likely' violated

Continued from Page 1

Professor of Pediatrics and University Senate President Nikita Gupta said the Senate is still in the early stages of the review process, but she plans to move “as quickly as possible” and hopes to reach a decision by the end of the spring semester.

“Situations are not always black and white, but clarity is needed,” Gupta said. “Whatever will come out of the Senate recommendations, I'm hoping it will be clear and point towards a clear direction.”

Stop Cop City protest

The investigation comes after Associate Professor of Philosophy Dilek Huseyinzadegan, Associate Professor of Religion Sara McClintock and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Sean Meighoo filed a complaint with the Committee for Open Expression in September 2023 alleging that Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye and the committee violated the open expression policy while responding to the protest.

Among the alleged violations was that Gelaye transferred her authority over the protest to EPD without “emergency” factors that would warrant that action, such as “imminent” harm, as stipulated in the policy. EPD then terminated the protest, another alleged infraction under the policy.

The committee was unable to reach a unanimous decision about the legitimacy of either action, but multiple committee members found that allowing the protest to continue overnight would have been a “substantial safety risk.” If problems could have reasonably arisen at the protest quicker than the Division of Campus Life or EPD could respond, the event could have posed an “imminent” threat, according to the report.

Additionally, some members found that the student protestors misled the Division of Campus Life by allegedly failing to notify the University that they planned to stay on the Quadrangle overnight in tents, although this “may have been the plan all along,” according to the report. Additionally, the Quad was reserved that evening for Commencement preparation.

The committee said that this alleged deception caused a “breach of trust” and “misplanning” that prevented the Division of Campus

Life and EPD from properly providing security for an overnight protest. Although the committee unanimously agreed that termination was an “over-response,” several committee members found that the student organizers’ alleged deception — combined with violence at larger “Stop Cop City” events off Emory’s campus — justified Campus Life’s decision to transfer its authority to EPD and terminate the protest.

“From what we learned, they did their best to accommodate the students, the protest, up until the moment when they decided that the protest should end,” Nemenman said.

Student Government Association (SGA) Vice President-elect Pranay Mamileti (25B) attended the Feb. 27 Senate meeting. Although he said student organizers could have done better when communicating with administration, Mamileti believes calling APD was “entirely disproportionate.”

In the complaint, the three faculty members also alleged that Nemenman was not contacted before EPD told students to leave the Quad or face arrest and the protest was terminated, which the open expression policy requires. However, the committee found that the Division of Campus Life fulfilled its obligations by making multiple attempts to contact Nemenman, who was asleep in Pittsburgh.

The committee found that the protest was forcibly terminated, meaning the open expression policy requires Gelaye to publish a statement explaining the circumstances that led to the end of the protest. However, Gelaye has not done so, leading the committee to conclude she did not adequately fulfill her responsibilities, according to the report.

To address these issues, the committee recommended that the Senate request a statement from the Division of Campus Life and organize a community forum to discuss the protest. When The Emory Wheel sent Gelaye a request for comment, Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond responded.

“We are appreciative of the committee’s work and will continue to support the principles outlined in the Open Expression Policy,” Diamond wrote.

The committee also suggested that rapid response to protests — including the need for an immedi-

ate response from the chair — be removed from its responsibilities, allowing committee members to focus on resolving conflicts in the long term. Additionally, the committee recommended that the Senate educate the community on the open expression policy and clarify how the University should respond to planned versus impromptu events.

SGA President Khegan Meyers (24B), who sits on the Senate, said students’ confusion surrounding the open expression policy is no fault of their own, noting that the policy is “complex” and uses “confusing” terminology that needs to be revised.

AbouYabis’ departure

AbouYabis was initially placed on administrative leave in October 2023 after sharing a social media post the University found to be “antisemitic.”

“They got walls / we got gliders Glory to all resistance fighters,” AbouYabis wrote in the post. “Palestine is our demand No peace on stolen land / Not another nickel not another dollar / We will pay For israel slaughter / Not another nickel not another dime / We will pay for israel crimes.”

Interim School of Medicine

Dean Carlos del Rio, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Ravi Thadhani and Emory Healthcare CEO Joon Lee condemned the post as being “rooted in bias and hate.” Emory no longer employed AbouYabis by Nov. 9, 2023.

However, the committee found that the School of Medicine likely violated AbouYabis’ rights to open expression by “firing” her. The group reported that her termination would only be permissible if she could no longer fulfill her duties, noting that speech that is not “onthe-job” and regards public interest has stronger protection under the First Amendment. According to the report, the medical school and

Emory Healthcare never provided evidence that AbouYabis could no longer work.

“Even such evidence exists, Dr. AbouYabis’s expression should still enjoy some degree of protection if the only reason her expression became known on the job was because of media reporting on it and linking her private profile to her professional profile, rather than because of her own action,” the committee reported.

The committee added that AbouYabis’ account had no clear association with Emory but was still held to the standards of the Emory Healthcare Social Media Policy, which prohibits employees from posting about patients in any way that violates Emory Healthcare’s policies against discrimination, harassment or hostility. However, with Emory Healthcare amassing over six million patient visits annually, the report said that this policy — which the committee finds “overly restrictive” — effectively bars employees from negatively discussing most individuals and groups in Atlanta.

In response, the committee recommended that the Senate independently investigate these possible violations and request that del Rio explain how the open expression policy was followed within Emory Healthcare. Additionally, the committee reported that Emory Healthcare’s policy needs to be revised to better align with the open expression policy, which should also be edited to promote cooperation between Emory community members and administration during investigations.

An Emory Students for Justice in Palestine member, who attended the Senate meeting on Feb. 27 and requested to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, said AbouYabis’ termination was “jarring” and made some members of the Emory community scared to advocate for their beliefs.

“I hope that the injustice that

was dealt to Dr. AbouYabis and her silencing will be corrected by the University somehow and that they can begin rebuilding trust with the Arab and Muslim and Palestinian communities,” the member said.

Next steps

In addition to the committee’s pending recommendations to the Senate, Nemenman noted that the Emory community must recognize that rhetoric surrounding open expression on college campuses is very “inflamed” and do what they can to reduce that tension. Gupta said the Senate is planning to send a survey to the Emory community to gather feedback on the current policy.

“Everybody's voice should be heard,” Gupta said. “What goes in final recommendations for policy change will be decided by the committee, but I want to collect data to see, assess the sentiment and feelings of everybody on campus.”

Although the committee’s reports are still pending approval, the Senate members have agreed that the open expression policy needs to be reviewed and updated, which will begin as a separate process, Gupta said. Mamileti expressed concern that students have not been educated on how to avoid situations like the spring protest termination.

“They have a responsibility to Emory students and the larger Emory community to explain what they’re looking for to prevent situations like this occurring,” Mamileti said. “Otherwise, it opens a very dangerous door to suppressing open expression on this campus in the long term.”

Nemenman explained that this is exactly what the Committee for Open Expression hopes to do. Rather than looking to assign blame, Nemenman said the group is dedicated to mediating the situation and forging a path that allows the University to avoid similar difficulties in the future.

“In all of these cases, these were what I fundamentally believe good people with good intentions making decisions under pressure,” Nemenman said.

News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) and Asst. News Editor Lauren Yee (25Ox) contributed reporting.

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu

Haider wins BBA presidential runoff election

By Madi oLivieR Managing Editor

Agha Haider (25B) defeated Aidan Baris (25B) to secure the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Council presidential seat in a runoff election, according to results released by the Elections Board Tuesday evening. Of the 140 votes cast, Haider received 88 (62.85%), while Baris garnered 52 (37.14%).

Haider wrote in an email to The Emory Wheel that he is excited to work with BBA students, administration, other student government organizations and BBA Council to ensure that all “students feel that their voices are heard” and have the resources they need to succeed.

“Emory is a university with such unique perspectives considering the diverse backgrounds people come from and I can’t wait to continue fostering a culture that embraces everyone’s uniqueness,” Haider wrote. “Though I

may not know all that’s to come in the coming year, I’m hopeful we can come together to further improve Goizueta programming and spirit.”

The BBA election was the only student government race to advance to a runoff on March 1 due to neither candidate receiving over 50% of the vote during the initial election. Similar to last night’s results, Haider finished first in the original race, securing 208 (46.22%) of the 450 votes cast. Baris garnered 136 (30.22%) votes, while 106 students selected “no confidence.”

Haider’s campaign, “Agha ‘MAKES’ It Happen,” stands for mentorship, advising, KEGS, entrepreneurship and spirit. He hopes to approach Emory University’s Goizueta Business School through a more holistic lens to ensure all students can access resources that suit their interests through BBA Council, administration and clubs. He is also focused on mental health, noting during the Wheel Debates on Feb. 23 that he worked on a collab-

courteSy of Agh A h A ider

orative event between Counseling and Psychological Services, BBA Council, College Council and the Residence Hall Association to increase mental health resources on campus.

To lay the foundation for new relationships within Goizueta, Haider aims to start a mentorship program between incoming and current BBA students. He also wants to establish

a vice president of engagement position to bolster the Student-Alumni Mentor Program, which matches students with a Goizueta graduate to help them as they embark on their careers. Both the student and alumni programs would match participants based on factors like their career goals and ethnicity, which Haider believes would help students feel more comfortable discussing their experiences.

Haider wants to further support community building by establishing a BBA Council vice president of belonging position and establishing a new tradition titled the “Cohort Cup” that encourages students to attend community events with a point system. He also noted that he hopes to expand Goizueta’s weekly “Kegs in the Courtyard” tradition with help from the proposed vice president of engagement, to include more events between BBA students, Master of Business Administration students and alumni.

Lastly, Haider plans to develop a

five-year plan to improve Goizueta’s BBA entrepreneurship program with the help of University administration, students and Atlanta-area startup businesses.

Haider will join the newly-elected student government leaders who won their respective races on March 1. Abigail Dubinski (25B) defeated Jayden Davis (25B) and Unique “Jaytrice” Mackey (22Ox, 25C) in the SGA presidential election, while Pranay Mamileti (25B) won the uncontested vice presidential seat. Jannat Khan (25C) won the College Council presidential election and Finn Johnston (25C) won the vice presidential election after both ran unopposed. In the Oxford College SGA elections, Kenan Bajraktarevic (25Ox) and Kieran Rafferty (25Ox) secured the presidential and vice presidential seats, respectively

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu

SPeNcer friedl ANd/NewS editor

The Emory University Senate discusses a report on possible violations of the Open Expression policy in Convocation Hall.

Agha Haider (25B) won the Bachelor of Business Administration Council presidential seat on March 5.

Students travel from Selma to Montgomery for civil rights tour

By LauRen yee Asst. News Editor

A group of almost 40 Emory University students attended a civil rights tour that re-enacted the march from Selma, Ala. to Montgomery, Ala on March 2 and 3. The A. D. King Foundation organized the tour, which included visits to the Legacy Museum, the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the Birth Home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The A. D. King Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s younger brother, Rev. A. D. Williams King. Its mission is to educate the public about the “real history” of the movement and to promote youth empowerment and non-violent social change.

Visiting Faculty and Adjunct Professor of Economics Sam Cherribi led Emory students on the tour, which he said is fully funded by Emory. The tour was an optional component of Cherribi’s classes, Economic Development in Africa & the Middle East and Islam in U.S. & Europe.

Citing Emory’s location as an advantage, Cherribi said that Atlanta is the “Black Mecca of the United States.”

“This will give us more distinction than anyplace else and will give us community engagement and will bring us closer to the history, the African American history, Black American

history, because what is America without Black history?” Cherribi said.

Cherribi also emphasized the role of African American Muslims in Black history. He said he hoped his students would learn about the “diversity and pluralism” present within the Civil Rights Movement.

“One of the aspects I … want to highlight is that the unity actually, of the Civil Rights Movement, is the fact that it came from the churches, but one aspect a lot of people don’t see was that 20% of the movement, they were Muslims,” Cherribi said.

As a student in Cherribi’s Islam in U.S. & Europe class, Jerusalem Tsige (23C) said that there was a “high cor-

relation between the racialization of Muslims in the United States and the disenfranchisement of Black people.”

Tsige said it was moving to be in the spaces where change was made. She said her most memorable aspect of the tour was learning about the history of civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson and the impact of his death. Alabama State Troopers beat and shot Jackson during a civil rights protest, leading to an expansion of voting rights and freedoms, according to Tsige.

“We’re able to leave with a lot more knowledge than we originally had because I myself am an [African American Studies] minor and I didn’t

know about a good majority of this material,” Tsige said.

Roaa Kordeir (26C) is a student in Cherribi’s Economic Development in Africa & the Middle East class. She said that her experience at the Legacy Museum was “emotional,” recalling an installation of head-shaped sculptures that represented enslaved Africans who died in the transatlantic slave trade.

Henry Pang (25C) called his experience “eye-opening.” He said that the most striking aspect of the tour was reenacting the protest march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. He was especially intrigued by the relevance of the Civil Rights Movement

and how it relates to politics, noting that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was present at the reenactment and gave a speech on March 3.

“This tour was a reminder that the Civil Rights Movement was incredibly important in terms of accessibility to vote, but that the work is not done yet and we still have to persevere with making changes to our society, to keep increasing accessibility to voting,” Pang said.

Kordeir noted that it is her “due diligence” to continue educating herself on voting matters, especially with the upcoming presidential election. She also urged the University to expand its requirements to focus more on Black history.

“It’s just so pivotal that students don’t know the impact,” Kordeir said. “To move forward as a society, you need to reference the history.”

Reflecting on his experience, Pang spoke highly of the A. D. King Foundation and tour.

“It’s an organization run by some incredible people and people who speak from lived experiences, which is more value than reading a textbook or searching the internet for answers,” Pang said. “Hearing it firsthand from people who lived during these times and fought for their rights during these times … was inspirational.”

— Contact Lauren Yee at lauren.yee2@emory.edu

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Males aged 12-34 may be eligible if experiencing one or more of the following:

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The purpose of this study is to see how unusual thoughts, suspiciousness or paranoia, and unusual experiences with seeing or hearing things that are not really there can be used to predict risk of psychosis through computerized tasks. The study will be conducted online through Emory University.

An initial screening will be done. Then, if the study is found to be a good fit, you will be invited to participate in the main study. Participants will be compensated $30 per hour.

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Editors-in-Chief

Founded

in these pages, and permission to reproduce material must be granted by the editor-in-chief.

The statements and opinions expressed in the Wheel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Wheel Editorial Board or of Emory University, its faculty, staff or administration.

The Wheel is also available online at www.emorywheel.com.

Participants walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 4 as part of the A. D. King Foundation's civil rights tour.

Georgia inspecting Emory elevators over next 2 weeks

Continued from Page 1

expired certificate.

“We can never recommend that people continue to operate these elevators after the permit has expired,” Rawson said.

Jerry Xing (26B) said he got stuck in the Evans Hall elevator, which had an expired certificate at the time, at about 2 a.m. on Feb. 13 when he decided to get some fresh air in the middle of taking a quiz.

“About two seconds into the elevator going down, I got stuck in between floor four and five,” Xing said. “There was a loud thud noise and the elevator shook a little bit and then it just stopped moving.”

Xing said he was concerned about his safety when the elevator got stuck. After pressing the emergency button, Xing waited about 10 minutes until the Emory Police Department and Campus Services arrived to help him.

“They screwed around for like 20 minutes, 25 minutes maybe,” Xing said. “Then I think they gave up, so then they called the fire department here.”

The fire department had to pry open the elevator doors and “drag” Xing up to the fifth floor because the elevator was stuck in between floors.

Facilities Management Associate

Vice President David Forbes asserted in an email to the Wheel that Emory’s elevators are “safe.” He added that OCISF's number of expired elevators was not updated.

“Emory employs an independent elevator vendor to inspect the safety and upkeep of our elevators on a routine basis,” Forbes wrote. “We cannot speculate as to why the state’s website has not been updated with the latest inspection information.”

However, Rawson confirmed that as of March 4, Emory had about 100 elevators with expired operating certificates. The University originally requested last fall that the state inspect their elevators, but there was a backlog after the elevator inspector for DeKalb County retired unexpectedly, according to Rawson.

“There are many, many buildings in DeKalb County that have elevators and so I think we are kind of on the tail end right now of getting all those situated,” Rawson said. “Emory just might be on that tail end.”

News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) contributed reporting

— Contact Jack Rutherford at jack.rutherford@emory.edu

Davis campaign issued Tier 1 violation warning

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scandal here is beneath everyone.”

Meyers said in a March 5 statement to the Wheel that SGA was ready to send the letter — which Abigail and “nearly all” SGA members ultimately signed — but did not publish the message as it would have come out after University President Gregory Fenves’ letter decrying an Oct. 25, 2023 student protest for using “antisemitic phrases.”

“The resolution was never introduced, as the consensus was that our message, though well-intended, would not be appropriate given President Fenves’ message and its resulting impact to students,” Meyers wrote.

Davis’ campaign alleged that the Letter to the Editor Mamileti published in the Wheel expressing discontent with the Editorial Board’s decision to not endorse either candidate in the SGA presidential election made it seem as though he had no response and the Dubinski-Mamileti campaign did, which Davis believes “heavily hindered” his campaign. Davis also claimed that he heard from multiple students that the article influenced their decision and gave the DubinskiMamileti a “boost.”

This came after Langmade filed a complaint against Dubinski and Mamileti on Feb. 29 for publishing the letter, which was considered unapproved campaign material. The Board had already imposed a Tier 2 penalty on Dubinski and Mamileti in light of Langmade’s complaint, resulting in a temporary suspension of their campaign, so the Board decided that no further action was necessary following Davis’ complaints.

The Davis campaign further alleged that the supporters of the Dubinski campaign handed out bagels alongside Emory Hillel to bribe students for votes on Feb. 29, a claim that the Board found “lacks substantive evidence.”

“There is a notable absence of testimony from any students regarding the alleged incident,” the Board wrote. “Furthermore, it is important to clarify that the matter does not fall within the purview of this board's jurisdiction to make a decision.”

The complaint also cited text messages where students claimed the Dubinski campaign pressured them to vote during Wonderful Wednesday, with Dubinski allegedly coercing 498 people into voting and Mamileti allegedly coercing approximately 1,000 people. However, the Board found that there are “insufficient grounds” to support the claims.

Even if such actions were taken, they did not significantly impact the results of the election, the Board wrote.

Additionally, the Davis campaign alleged that the Dubinski campaign included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s name in their campaign materials without consent, but the Board dismissed the charge. Davis also previously included Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (SAPA) in his Instagram campaign materials without asking the group for permission. He later removed the post and replaced it with materials that do not include SAPA.

The Dubinski-Mamileti campaign claimed ignorance of the Elections Code as a reason for the listed violations, according to Davis’ complaint. However, the Board found that “there is no substantiated evidence” to support the claim.

The complaint also alleges broad bias within the Elections Board itself, as members have previously worked with Dubinski. Davis’ campaign alleged that this caused Davis to receive a “stricter punishment,” while Dubinski’s campaign received a “lighter punishment.”

However, the Board dismissed this claim, stating that they are committed to “upholding the highest standards of professionalism and impartiality” in their decisions. All three Board members named in the complaint, including Langmade, BBA Council President Michael Chan (24B) and College Council President Neha Murthy (24C), recused themselves from the decision at the March 3 hearing.

Members of the Elections Board must sign a commitment to neutrality upon their installation.

The Board also dismissed claims of coercion against students to create

endorsement videos for Dubinski due to a “lack of student testimony regarding the alleged incident.”

However, Davis asserted that there was “overwhelming” evidence for Dubinski’s campaign violations, noting that they “definitely swayed” the election results. Davis added that he and Robuck spoke to over 20 people to gather evidence regarding the allegations.

“I really don’t want this to be viewed as retaliatory cause that’s really not what it’s about at the end of the day,” Robuck said. “I really was hoping that these violations wouldn’t have an effect on the campaign and we wouldn’t have had to escalate it to this.”

Dubinski denied the Davis campaign’s accusations in an email to the Wheel.

“All of Jayden’s charges are baseless and were thrown out at the hearing their team asked for,” Dubinski wrote. “Some of them were downright offensive and openly antisemitic. Emory is better than this, and I look forward to serving our community as I have done throughout my time here.”

Five other complaints have been lodged in this SGA election cycle — four against the Davis campaign and one against the Dubinski-Mamileti campaign — ranging from unauthorized campaigning to posting false claims. Three of the five resulted in penalties against the candidates, with two against the Davis campaign and one against the Dubinski-Mamileti campaign.

In a prior violation claim, Dubinski’s campaign manager and SGA Speaker MaKenzie Jones (22Ox, 24C) filed a complaint against Davis’ campaign on Feb. 27, stating that Patel allegedly harassed Mamileti at the farmer’s market on Feb. 27 and violated SGA’s Code of Elections. The Elections Board issued a Tier 1 violation warning, which is the lowest tier of penalty reserved for accidental or minor violations, to the Davis campaign on Feb. 29.

— Contact Lauren Yee at lauren.yee2@emory.edu and Jack Rutherford at jack.rutherford@emory.edu

Decision expected soon in hearings to disqualify Fani Willis

By SpenceR fRiedLand News Editor

Fulton County District Attorney

Fani Willis’ (96L) affair with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor for the Georgia election interference case, has put her investigation into former U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies’ attempted interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election at risk.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee (10C) said he would release his decision on whether he will disqualify Willis from the investigation into Trump’s alleged attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results within the next two weeks. If Willis is disqualified, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia would need to find a replacement prosecutor for the case.

Closing arguments for the hearing to disqualify Willis ended on March 1. The case was originally brought by Michael Roman, a co-defendant of Trump in Willis investigation and his defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant. Willis has previously disclosed that she and Wade, a special prosecutor for the Georgia election interference case, have had a “personal

relationship” since 2022 but denied receiving any financial benefits from the relationship.

Merchant first moved to have Willis and Wade disqualified from the case in January. Emory University School of Law Visiting Associate Professor of Practice John Acevedo believes this was an attempt to delay Trump’s trial and bring it to the public to help the former president’s “narrative.” He called this a “good defense strategy.”

“This plays into Trump's solid and

classic playbook, which is to cause distraction and delay,” Acevado said.

A Jan. 31 Bloomberg News/ Morning Consult poll found that 53% of voters across seven swing states would not vote for the former president if he was convicted of a crime.

Additionally, 20% of people who voted for Trump in 2020 said they would not vote for him this year if he were convicted.

Wake Forest University School of Law (N.C.) Professor of Practice Ellen

Murphy said that Willis’ hearings have taken so long because of the complexity of the case and McAfee’s “careful” approach to scheduling the hearings.

“There were some significant attorney-client privilege issues that only Judge McAfee could deal with,” Murphy said. “He needed to look at those texts to make a determination about whether or not they were subject to privilege and whether or not Attorney Wade’s lawyer could testify

to them. That took some time.”

Unlike Trump’s criminal case where the burden of proof is on the prosecution, the burden falls on the former president’s defense team to disqualify Willis, Georgia State University Assistant Professor of Law Anthony Kreis said.

“It was on the defendants here to produce evidence, to show that there was something untoward or impermissible that Fani Willis essentially profited off these prosecutions and they just really haven't been able to show that quite yet, well, really at all,” Kreis said.

Murphy said he does not believe that Willis should be disbarred but is unsure of what McAfee will decide.

“I personally do not believe that the alleged conflict of interest resulted in a personal benefit that would prevent … the defendants from getting a fair trial,” Murphy said.

However, Kreis believes that McAfee will not disqualify Willis from the case because there is a “very high” bar that must be met to disqualify someone for a conflict of interest. However, Kreis said her disqualification is “not implausible.”

— Contact Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu

eSther fu/Soci A l editor

An expired certificate hangs in a Harris Hall elevator.

April lAwyer/StAff CArtooniSt

In this special project, writers provided personal narratives about their experiences bursting the “Emory Bubble.” These stories demonstrate the unique lives that members of the Emory University community build, break down and balance. This project is led by Opinion co-editors Saanvi Nayar (26C) and Ellie Fivas (24Ox), who reflect below. See further contributions online at emorywheel.com.

Dearest Saanvi,

When I first came to college, I never thought I would escape my little bubble. But then I met you: one of the most vibrant, loving people I’ve had the privilege of knowing. Being a co-editor is, perhaps, one of the greatest opportunities I have ever had — it gave me a friend, a partner, a mentor, a sister and endless other labels for a platonic soulmate. I have shaped myself around this organization and this friendship that it has afforded me, and I could not be more grateful.

When we conceived of “Bursting the Bubble,” we wanted a project that allowed our writers to showcase what they l0ve, what they belong to, what they’ve experienced. All of our writers faced this endeavor along with us, and, hopefully, this reflection will be as rewarding to them as I know it has been for us.

My Ellie, I usually hate working with people. You, however, are this empathetic, witty light that observes and edits in ways that still remain transcendental to me. You have demystified and highlighted the Oxford experience. You handled the inevitable scandals that come with being editors of a newspaper with grace and eloquence. You have burst many bubbles for me. More than that, I constantly see you bursting bubbles; with every new opportunity or friend that gets to enter your bubble, I think of how lucky it is that I get to be in it too. I think we work well as editors and friends because of how we deeply prioritize personal interactions; it is seen in our words of affirmation during edits, and it is seen in our affinity for personal narratives. Thank you for letting me into your bubble.

Saanvi Nayar

I used to think that if I ever got pregnant, I would treat nine months with a fetus in my womb as a stint in homeschooling. I would play Johann Sebastian Bach and Mazzy Star and the Fugees and read aloud textbooks on ancient civilizations, novels by Khaled Hosseini and poems by Pablo Neruda. I would narrate my life stories while driving or making dinner, archetyping my friends and family members and describing the cultural landscape of every country I had ever visited and every person I had ever met. I would likely download Duolingo to instill basic phrases in Spanish and Hindi, and I would make it a point to try every pregnancy-safe food available to lay the foundation for their diverse palette. God forbid I birth a picky eater.

I do not know the boundary between where a love for learning is intrinsic or taught, but I do know that growing up in a joint household — full of my paternal grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle, and at its peak, one brother and three cousins — I was surrounded by people and interactions from which to learn.

I had a kindergarten teacher who facilitated my love for reading by making the act a gumball competition; my repertoire by the end of the year included lots of Dr. Seuss and the most gumballs of anyone in the class. Because my mom pushed me to enroll in week-long summer programs ranging from cooking to 3D printing, I know that I learned the value in collecting experiences made fulfilling by their fleetingness.

I was a precocious kid (and a self-proclaimed teacher’s pet) who enjoyed the academic validation

of enrichment tutors and the gifted and talented program. School shifted for me when I, hyperfixated on watching YouTube videos of cardiothoracic surgeries, went to a magnet high school whose mascot was a strand of DNA. There, with my lens of learning reduced to a STEM approach, I made it a point to seek opportunities in journalism and politics, studying Advanced Placement courses in subjects I felt disadvantaged for not having access to.

I know I sound annoying. It gets worse. My first ever op-ed for The Emory Wheel explored my frustration with pre-professional culture. I felt paralyzed by the fact that so many people had it figured out, all the while I was just discovering the expanse of knowledge that an educational institution could offer. I felt paralyzed by the unconscious passage of time, and then I stumbled on an essay by Marina Keegan.

Ahead of her graduation from Yale University (Conn.) in 2012, she wrote, “There’s this sentiment I sometimes sense, creeping in our collective conscious as we lay alone after a party, or pack up our books when we give in and go out — that it is somehow too late,” and “I’m scared of losing this web we’re in. This elusive, indefinable, opposite of loneliness.” After I stumbled on this piece, I found out Keegan had tragically died a few days after her graduation despite an upcoming job at The New Yorker and a life outlook that proved transformative to my own. Reflecting now, Keegan’s concept of this feeling of “the opposite of loneliness” is how I feel about how I have learned at Emory University. I have returned to my mother’s involuntary lesson of finding value in learning from a web of elusive temporary experiences,

and I have done so inadvertently.

Last spring, I rushed a sorority despite the institution of Greek life being a recurring subject of critique in my sociology papers. I now live in that sorority lodge, and it has become responsible for introducing me to some of the most insightful, ridiculous, joy-inspiring women I know. These women, along with a spontaneous trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, this summer, inspired a TedTalk I delivered for the SexTalks event this past fall. For 15 minutes, I spoke on feminist communes and radical empathy, overwhelmed with gratitude for my fellow speakers, my loved ones in attendance and the fact that a year ago, I had been an inspired freshman in the audience.

This past August, I spontaneously signed up to audition for a side character role for the independent student-led production “Up Your Ass.” I knew of the director, Olivia Gilbert (26C), who spoke articulately in a one-credit feminist praxis class my freshman fall semester. I knew it was a feminist production, and I had never been in a theater production before. When I received the casting list a few days later, my suitemate and I searched up Bongi Perez, the character I had been cast as, realizing with horror that I would be portraying the lead role.

The play was the brainchild of Valerie Solanas, the woman responsible for the death of Andy Warhol (he had retracted his promise to produce this work). Bongi was the personal incarnation of Solanas, a cat-calling, queer, man-hating prostitute. The cast was full of some of the most talented and knowledgeable people I have met here. We had finished our first off-script run through the day before opening

See BURSTING, Page 6

Ellie

Saanvi

Lola

Bursting bubbles with vulnerability

Continued from Page 1

night, and yet, we successfully put on the play three nights in a row, the first time in history it was performed as written. The experience was complete with me professing quips like “When I get on my knees I get paid,” straight face, saunter and all.

This semester, I get to help teach a one-credit class on the gut microbiome, yet another hyperfixation of mine. I get to be a student guide for the Carlos Museum exhibit “Recasting Antiquity,” with my tour being an exploration of intention in depicting the female form when thinking of the phrase “art for art’s sake.” I get to take a fiction class and a one-credit health journalism course with incredibly talented authors, and I get to compile this project. And yet, reflecting on every side quest I have entertained this year, I cannot help but feel anxious. I am stepping back from an editing position at the Wheel, despite journalism being my longest side quest since middle school, because I want to deepen my exploration in the field of public health. Soon, I will be living off campus, and then I will be abroad. And then, it will be my final year of college, an unfathomable, nightmarish thought that spurs conniption, because I thrive so well by bursting a bunch of tiny bubbles in this one big bubble of Emory. I have considered the value of short, temporary experiences, initially questioning their perceived value to future employers. And then, more recently, I have thought about obtaining a Ph.D. because if I

do so well in a space where monthlong or semester-long commitments exist, why ever leave academia? My suitemate, Sahana Ashley (26C), and I frequent the laundry room on the fifth floor in my sorority lodge, usually after one of us has a breakdown or existential crisis, typically in the middle of the night. My voice memo app will be open and recording, for fear that Sahana will introduce me to an ideology or epiphany that will cataclysmically shift my worldview. We plot, as college-aged girls do, about all of our intentions and plans and goals. I remember Sahana telling me that she views her life as a tapestry of collected threads and weavings, just as I view the stories I lead as integral to a future, hypothetical memoir.

There is intentionality that comes with bursting any bubble, whether it is choosing to go on a first date or apply to an experience or take a class. Part of why I proposed this project was because personal narratives, regardless of their subject matter, automatically burst bubbles by demanding vulnerability. Sylvia Plath’s famous fig tree analogy, representative of the destabilizing fear we are faced with when thinking about the millions of paths and alternate realities we are unable to live in this lifetime, comes to mind when I think of the importance of being vulnerable enough to try. I blame pre-professionalism and my tendency to overthink when considering my freshman year paralysis; I may not make any of these experiences into long-term careers, but there is arguably more

beauty and fulfillment in having had the chance to say I had a side quest and did it justice.

Sometimes I feel myself tokenizing my college side quests, sharing them in conversation because I am aware of the eclectic diversity of experiences I have collected. But I need to remind myself that they represent an eclectic diversity of my interests, and beyond so, the perspective I hope to always retain by placing the utmost importance on varied experiential learning. And my dad, a practical, self-proclaimed “business guy,” aware of his daughter’s often pretentious love for learning, has recently taught me that there is equal power in experiences that are stable and familiar. Saying no to an opportunity in trade for downtime, staying at home for three weeks instead of studying abroad, trying out a nine to five in lieu of a more exhausting career, even if only for a summer; with so many bubbles to burst, a girl has got to have time to rest and reflect.And so I come back to this idea that my future, hypothetical fetus will develop through my investment in varied forms of knowledge, because surely, these experiences are defined by my intent to chase them.

That’s all I can hope to do in my lifetime, perhaps in hopes that by constantly challenging my bubble, I can understand how every person loves and learns and loses in this strange collective bubble that we call life.

Saanvi Nayar (26C) is from Marlboro, N.J.

First-gen at Emory: Radical redemption

Aja Moore

As a Black American girl born to young parents who grew up in one of Philadelphia’s most impoverished neighborhoods, “be safe” is a phrase people like me say a lot. Unlike most of the empty assertions in the American lexicon, “be safe” means something so much more. It is not only a common farewell to strangers and a near-mandatory farewell to loved ones — it is a bastion of marginalized individuals’ way of life. These two words encapsulate the incessant and contagious fear and apprehension harbored by those deemed America’s second-class citizens. The sentiment behind these two words has influenced much of my life. For a long time, because I knew I was one of the least likely demographics to succeed, I was afraid to try anything. People like me were meant to be confined by what society expects of us, and that is not much at all. I figured that if I tried to divert from the status quo, I would be met with the painful reminder that I need to “be safe” no matter what. This was a reality so etched into my world that, despite excelling in school my entire life, I was not encouraged to go to college because that is just not something people like me do. But that all changed once I took a shot in the dark and ended up getting a full ride to Emory University through QuestBridge. In the blink of an eye, I went from just another girl from the slums of Philadelphia to a student at a world-class institution. Upon my arrival, I was not most surprised by the Maison Goyard bags that dotted my walks to Goodrich C. White Hall

or by the heavy workload — I was most surprised by my peers’ collective willingness to be seen.

It seemed like my peers were so comfortable taking up space and people’s time. They went to office hours just to chat with professors and practically demanded to get coffee with professionals with jam-packed schedules. I just did not understand. I have always believed that I should not take up too much space. But seeing how successful my peers were by doing the complete opposite made me question why I still felt the need to “be safe.”

After all, when I first arrived at Emory, I tried to mock the Kardashian-esque vocal fry of many Emory girls. I tried to dress as conservatively as possible. I tried to “be safe,” but it was not getting me anywhere.I remember confiding in one of my professors about feeling embarrassed to ask for people’s time and attention. She reminded me that places like Emory weren’t built for people like me and that many of my peers were expected to go to elite colleges and succeed in them before they were even born. I learned to tell myself that they were just socialized in a way that encouraged them to feel entitled to all the opportunities life has to offer.I felt that I should take up as little space as possible because I thought that I did not deserve the same opportunities. As a first-generation, low-income college student who is also a Black American woman, every time I spoke with my inner-city twang, I sounded the alarm that I did not belong. But I had to consider if that was necessarily a bad thing.

On one hand, the first-generation Emory experience is horribly isolating. In my first semester, I did not know that fall break existed, let alone

Navigating college as a cultural nexus

Sara Pérez

When I reunited with my sister this winter break, the first thing she pointed out, after a warm meeting at the airport, was that my accent in English had changed. I’ve always had an accent, with Spanish being my first language, but this time around, she couldn’t recognize my tone.

“Have you forgotten you are Latina?” she asked.

When my sister noticed I was pronouncing my T’s differently, I knew my friend Vedika was inadvertently to blame. Vedika has been my steadfast friend since our first semester which we both navigated remotely — her from India and I from Nicaragua. Our daily, nonstop conversations, bridging continents and cultures, cemented our friendship while subtly influencing my accent. For me, having a different, new accent symbolized adaptation and growth. In Nicaragua, everything is small and homogenous — everyone I knew shared my ethnicity and had similar backgrounds. Upon coming to Emory University, I became part of a strikingly-different community where diversity is not just present, but it is celebrated as a core value. Here, we are interconnected by our shared enrollment at Emory, but we all have different stories, backgrounds and customs.

in a shared upbringing in Latin America, which inspired our passion for law and politics and a love for Latino dishes, from Peruvian ceviche to Brazilian sushi. We experienced a serendipitous revelation when we found out we both attended the same debate conference in Cartagena, Colombia, narrowly missing each other until fate brought us together at Emory. This moment was another reminder of how interconnected our lives were, even before we met, and how Emory served as a nexus for our paths to finally cross.

Each of my friends acts as a mirror, reflecting the parts of me I knew and unveiling the parts I have yet to explore.

It is specifically through the art of conversation that my speech began to transform, combining both our unique intonations.

that everyone goes home for it. Once I found out, it was far too late to buy a $250 plane ticket home, so I ended up staying here, in my room, alone.

On the other hand, this experience has been uniquely illuminating. Being surrounded by people who come from different walks of life has changed me for the better. I have become more understanding and compassionate. I have met the bridesmaids for my wedding and the aunties for my future kids. Despite this, I cannot help but feel guilty for being the one who made it out. Coming to Emory has allowed me to see the detrimental psychosocial effects “be safe” has had on me and my community. This view of the world captures the marginalized in a social paralysis that takes a tap on the shoulder from someone farther up on the social totem pole to undo. In light of this realization, I decided I had no other choice than to be myself. My existence in this space is a radical act of redemption for those who won’t ever get that tap on the shoulder. As one of the lucky few, it is my duty to do my part in dismantling the sentiment behind “be safe” by continuing to take up meaningful space in places intentionally not designed for me.

I will leave off with this note: At institutions like Emory, Black firstgeneration, low-income students are the most vulnerable to falling through the cracks because we are taught to “be safe” all of our lives. So if you have a friend who fits these demographics and seems like they can just do it all, I implore you to check in on them from time to time because the weight of believing in yourself against all odds is a heavy one.

Aja Moore (26C) is from Philadelphia.

My time at Emory has taught me that identity is not a static monolith but a mosaic of experiences and interactions. Before coming to college, I promised myself that I would make an effort to immerse myself in new cultures, yet I did not anticipate how deeply I would connect with others’ stories. My friends Vedika and Mudita helped me discover the rich flavors of Indian cuisine while bonding over our mutual experiences growing up with big families and shared households — a sentiment echoed from opposite ends of the globe. I remember the day we marveled over considering our first cousins as siblings, given we grew up in the same house. They stared at me startlingly, explaining that they had the same relationship with their family.

With my friend Camilla, I connected over the similarities and differences of attending a Catholic high school, bridging the gap between Atlanta and Managua, Nicaragua, and reminding me of the universality of our experiences.

Then there is Camila, who spent most of her life in Brazil. Our bond was rooted

The “Emory Bubble” often feels like a haven, easily insulating us from the realities beyond campus. As graduation looms, I reflect on the nuances that marked my college career. These reflections bring me back to the moment of reunion with my sister, when the change in my accent — unknown to me until she pointed it out – served as a tangible reminder of my transformation. This change, a direct result of the countless conversations and shared laughter with my friend Vedika, epitomizes the profound impact of my Emory experiences. It is specifically through the art of conversation that my speech began to transform, combining both our unique intonations.

My craving for a chole roll makes me think of my friends Vedika and Mudita. When I reminisce about my high school experience, I hear the echoes of my friend Camilla’s laughter. When I overhear Latinx Uber drivers gossiping, my friend Camila comes to mind.

I am forever grateful to Emory for bringing me close to people whom I would not have met otherwise, bursting my own bubble. Now, I appreciate the bubbles within Emory not as barriers but as bridges to deeper understanding and connection, fostering an environment where diverse narratives thrive and my accent is subject to change as I continue to grow.

Sara Pérez (24C) is from Managua, Nicaragua.

The barbed wire guarding community, compassion

Ellie Fivas

I have always been terrified of not being good enough. School, friendships, relationships, family, clubs, internships — all are areas I desperately try to latch onto and not let go for fear of falling behind, or worse, being left behind purposefully. I struggle with being vulnerable in front of others and mourn moments of self-perceived weakness. Yet the wonderful thing about this world is its ability to fully transform perspectives at the opening of a door.

Last November, I entered a prison for the first time. A prison is one of those things that, until I saw and felt it, was hard for me to conceptualize its existence in the world where I also live. That mindset came from a place of privilege: To not need to linger or worry over the mere existence of our brutalizing justice system is a gift that none of us deserve.I owe my self-realization and visit to Burruss Correctional Training Center to “Shakespeare and Law,” an experiential learning course I took last semester. Taught by Assistant Professor of English Sarah Higinbotham, the course balanced reading and analyzing a few of Shakespeare’s iconic works with realizing and combatting injustices in our own communities. My peers and I received the chance to volunteer at a 5K fundraiser for children with incarcerated parents, attend courtroom hearings, listen

and speak with formerly incarcerated people and visit Higinbotham’s other class — one made up of scholars at Burruss.I was nervous before entering the prison. It was a fear of the unknown and inexperience; I had no idea how a classroom behind bars would function in comparison to my previous classroom experiences. However, instead of finding a place befit to the barbed wire flanking its gates, I found a group of individuals more open to learning, open expression, honesty and vulnerability than any I have ever met.

I was greeted by gentle handshakes, small smiles and polite, but eager, questions about myself.

“What are you studying?” a nowfriend of mine first asked.

At my response, he grinned and indicated his own interest in English. He explained his love for previous English, philosophy and law courses taught by professors who volunteer with Higinbotham’s nonprofit, Common Good Atlanta.

We later delved into the first act of “Hamlet.” We did not simply read and discuss — oh, no. Our task was to conceptualize and recreate, via acting, the first scene. If an officer were to walk into that classroom that night, they would have seen unfound creativity and passion erupt from everyone present.Surrounded by laughing, deep thinking and intellectual prowess, I undeniably had the best learning experience of my life at Burruss that November evening. Lines from

“Hamlet” echoed across the bare cinder-block walls and evoked warm smiles from all the students in the room. It was a fellowship of the purest sort: intellectual, meaningful and kind. Every person in that class was nervous, but we did not let it hinder our eagerness to participate.Thankfully, November was not my last encounter with the men at Burruss. I was lucky to become involved with an initiative dedicated to founding a writing program at Burruss in early January of this year. Since then, a few other peers and I have returned with Higinbotham to host writing workshops, supporting the scholars’ academic and individual pursuits in writing.Walking back into Burruss, I instantly remembered that feeling of joyful vulnerability. No longer was this prison unknown to me; I was able to chat and smile and learn with familiar faces and laughs. I received updates on one man’s research paper and on another’s musical symphonies.Community is rich at Burruss, just as it is at Emory University. I often boast to my friends that the scholars at Burruss are unimaginably talented, kind and, most importantly to me, vulnerable.“Learning about all these writing things makes me wish I could go back and fix things in my case,” a scholar offhandedly mentioned to me during a writing workshop a few weeks ago.

His ability to discuss topics like his incarceration that are, under -

standably, difficult to reckon with awed me. I am always inspired by the inmates’ willingness to share — being generous with their words and stories — and their ability to listen and learn.

I am a different person since visiting Burruss for the first time, not due to any dramatic or life-altering transformation but rather because of what the scholars have reminded me: to value and enjoy life, treasure opportunity, learn enthusiastically and wholeheartedly and, of course, be vulnerable.It devastates me that I can open the door of Burruss on a hypothetical whim and the scholars there cannot. I burst the Emory bubble with every trip to Burruss, but the inmates must stay, unable to leave the prison. I describe their learning community with heaps of praise, but it is still a prison within an unjust criminal justice system.

Often, I say I work in a prison, but more accurately, I work with people. People whose minds and hearts and dreams expand past the barbed wire gates of Burruss. I hope it doesn’t miff my professors, but I have learned more there about dedication and purpose than I have in any of my classes at this elite university. Ultimately, I am trying not to romanticize their experience in prison — it is neither desirable nor pretty. Nevertheless, the stunning resilience and growth of their personhood is admirable, and it inspires me.

Now, I feel less hounded by my

own ego; instead, I am humbled by my experiences and reminded of the values I strive to carry from Burruss to Emory and back again. Who cares if my statistics skills are not on par with those of my peers? I do not find myself feigning the ease of academic success or losing sleep over my resume content because I am happy and healthy, and most importantly, I am trying. Just as the men at Burruss spend hours on their research papers, class readings, musical skills, beekeeping tactics or symphonies, I will continue to pour myself in what I love — not fortify my cracks.

Last time I was at the prison, I asked the scholars if they thought of themselves as writers.“I think I could be, and that’s what counts,” a friend of mine responded.How perfectly does that sentiment suit all of us? A nod to what is to come, even from behind bars.

Being at Emory does not do much to quell anxiety, imposter syndrome and the like. Conversely, spending time at Burruss in that cinderblock room has wrung me dry of apprehension about inadequacy and imbued me with even more openness and hope. Fittingly, it continuously proves to me that vulnerability can mean so much more than failure — it can mean community, trust and joy for what is to come — for me and for the men at Burruss.

Ox nights: A glimpse into Oxford’s nightlife

It is no secret that Oxford College’s nightlife pales in comparison to that on the Atlanta campus. On most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, shuttles to Atlanta are full of students with plans to go to fraternities, bars or clubs. This is not to say that Oxford is desolate on weekend nights; in fact, the vast majority of students choose to stay at Oxford with their individual, intimate friends in a dorm or common area. However, there are nights when the shuttles are empty, groups are active on campus and the true spirit of Oxford comes out. It is as if some force brings people together, time slows down and you can reach out and touch the tiny strings that connect us all. I like to call these “Ox Nights.”

As someone who does not enjoy traditional “going out,” Ox Nights are an important part of my Oxford experience. They are not a replacement for going out but something more special and unique. Ox Nights are not the same as casually running into a friend on campus, but they instead encompass a time when different friend groups, clubs and people come together and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes, Ox Nights are spurred by a campus event, like a school dance or Irish Culture Club party on the Quadrangle, or just by happenstance.

I remember a night last semester when I was at a bonding event for the Oxford Student Admission Association, and the Korean American Student Association (KASA) was having a bonding event the same night.

Some of us went and shared food with KASA, and I was able to meet new people and enjoy delicious samgyeopsal, ssam and kimchi fried rice. Another night, I was playing poker when I saw a group of acquaintances walking down the hall. I joined them, and we went to the courtyard between Elizer Hall and Murdy Hall, known as “Melizer Circle.” The collection of people in the circle, some of whom I knew and others I did not, was as unique as Oxford itself. It was a group that had no problem hanging out and having a good time but would likely never come together again.

On a typical Saturday night earlier this semester, I was hanging out with friends in their dorm room. I went downstairs to Murdy Hall’s kitchen to use the vending machine and ran into another group of friends baking a

cake. They were planning to surprise a mutual friend for his birthday, so we all came down and sat with them while the cake was baking. As we waited for the birthday boy to come, we wandered to a Fleming Hall dorm party, and a collection of people followed us back to Murdy’s kitchen. When we got there, we all sang “Happy Birthday” and enjoyed vanilla ice cream and freshly baked chocolate cake. While the long-awaited cake and ice cream tasted savory and sweet, the people I got to share them with were even better.

This feeling of deep community and companionship is what is so special about these nights. They feature a diverse set of people who share much or little in common but come together to create memories. During these nights, I often think to myself, “How did I get here?” But it is never the journey

or place that matters. It is the company and current moment I am in. I have met some of my closest friends during these times of authenticity and vulnerability. I have met people that I have never talked to again. But each person I have met has been an integral part of my Oxford experience.

I do not know how the social scene is in Atlanta, but I would not trade these nights at Oxford for the world. To me, these moments are only possible at Oxford.

Our small community enables us to build and foster wide webs of connections, bridge gaps between one another and come together as one. These nights are a microcosm of what makes Oxford so special. In many ways, they are Oxford’s way of breaking the bubble we all live in, enabling genuine connection between diverse groups of people

and allowing them to come together through shared experience.

As I look forward to transitioning to the Atlanta campus, these nights are among the things I will miss the most. Atlanta’s nightlife and social scene may draw those from Oxford in, but nothing can replace or replicate Ox Nights. Still, I will retain the memories and connections I’ve built through these experiences and take solace in the fact that Ox Nights will continue long after I move on.

Luckily for me, I still have plenty of time left here at Oxford and plenty more people to meet. I’m certainly not ready to say goodbye just yet.

From birthday parties to dorm parties, from the Quad to the Seney Hall clocktower, each night is as unique as the next.

I like to think that it is not just me who thinks of these nights as something more than just another night at Oxford, but I suppose every person has their own definition of what an Ox Night is.

I hope that through reading mine, you have felt the special feeling that overcomes me on these nights. The feeling of meeting someone and sharing a moment together. With both of us knowing that whether or not we meet again, we will have, at least for a moment, broken each other’s bubbles, understood something about the other person and relished in our similarities and differences.

After all, our biggest similarity is what enables us to come together in the first place.

Pierce McDade (25Ox) is from Bloomington, Ill.

Ellie Fivas (24Ox) is from Cleveland, Tenn.

Pierce McDade

Accepting the ugly side of artistry

Alexandra Kauffman

I write like I breathe — out of necessity. I do not write because I think the world is better with my voice in it nor because I believe I am particularly talented. I do not write because I have something important to say. The urge to create, shape words like clay leaving behind the contour of my fingerprints, is an insatiable hunger. I have felt it gnawing at me since I was old enough to scribble letters with crayon.

As I grew older, I retired the crayons in favor of wide ruled paper, then college ruled paper and later a laptop. I realized writing could become a genuine fixture in my life as a career avenue through freelancing, editing or journalism. However, my high school friends wanted to be engineers, computer scientists and

ciated them more than the praise. I didn’t feel insecure, but rather, I felt mostly eager to learn. I was overjoyed to be in a community of like-minded creatives where we improved our own work while uplifting each other.

During my intermediate fiction workshop last fall, the looming contour of insecurity cast my enthusiasm in shadow. My intermediate class was smaller and almost exclusively had creative writing majors, unlike my introductory course. I still enjoyed participating in workshops, but I felt less confident in my ability to share work as high-quality as that of my peers. I learned so much from them, but I could not be sure if they were learning from me. My joy soured, degenerating into envy and competitiveness.

On top of my self-doubt over the quality of my writing, I began to consider genre. Many of my

I began to experience a dizzying dissonance between my joy and my insecurity. I learned so much from my brilliant peers, yet I felt I was in competition with them. I celebrated my peers’ writing accomplishments, yet I bitterly envied them. The creative community I longed for had brought me so much fulfillment, yet I struggled with creativityhindering doubts.

In “Song of Myself,” poet Walt Whitman wrote, “Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes).”

I still struggle with these opposing impulses. I’ve found it difficult to create when I’m mostly preoccupied with doubt over the quality and content of my writing. However, I have come to accept that this emotional dichotomy is inherent to existing as an artistnot in isolation but in a network

physicists. Some of them pursued visual art as a hobby, but none were writers.

I admired my friends for their intelligence and commitment to their own fields, though I felt creatively isolated. I was alone in my passion for words, and I longed for connection and community.

By the time college application season rolled around, I knew I would major in creative writing. Emory University became one of my top choices for its renowned creative writing department. When I received my acceptance email, the myriad of far-fetched fantasies, including a career in publishing, suddenly crystallized in front of my eyes; my dreams, with the aid of a few fortunate future internships and a hypothetically high GPA, could become a reality.

I took my first creative writing workshop in the spring of my freshman year. Workshops especially thrilled me, as I reveled both in receiving honest, detailed feedback and analyzing my peers’ work. The critiques I received humbled me, yet I appre -

peers wrote beautiful, heart-rending character dramas — grounded and self-serious stories of fiction. I prefer absurdist science fiction, complete with robots, lasers, spaceships and robots with lasers on spaceships.

Moreover, my peers often described their writing processes as something akin to an ecstatic frenzy of inspiration as they poured their emotions, hearts and souls onto the page in a moment of divine inspiration. Certainly, I have felt emotionally moved while writing before, but I have never entered a creative fugue state. All my ideas are tightly filtered through a strict process of outlining and editing. When I write, I feel like an artificer or an engineer working with the nuts and bolts of a machine.

I doubted the quality of my work, its style and my creative process. I was neurotically outlining schlocky sci-fi with plot points written on note cards while my peers were churning out imagerich, deeply personal stories that accessed emotional realities through ambiance or surrealism.

Let writing teach about common humanity

Sophia Peyser

Since I arrived in Atlanta three years ago, I have written my way out of the Emory bubble. I am talking about op-eds penned at 2 a.m. in a sudden burst of late night inspiration, short stories for fiction workshops that transport me to fictional lands and personal essays that force me to consider my place in the wider world around me.

I journal about childhood memories that I want to hold close and rant in my notes app about whatever interpersonal situation is consuming me at the moment.

Writing has forever been a form of escapism for me, and in college it has been a salvation from the gossip that hangs around Emory like damp air, bombarding our phones on Fizz and guiding our hushed conversations in the Dobbs Common Table. Putting pen to paper allows you to pour your thoughts out in the purest way possible, to tell a story about yourself, to connect with others over our common humanity.

As a longtime Opinion section contributor and editor at The Emory Wheel, I have spent the last few months grappling with the selfimportance of opinion journalism. Tensions on campus are incredibly high, and it feels like every opinion written contributes to the divisions that split our campus into fragments. Every written opinion seems to cause dissents and rebuttals, catalyzing a debate between two sides rather than facilitating civilized discussion.

I have wondered if my role as an opinion managing editor has contributed to animosity on campus. However, free speech is under fire at colleges across the nation, and as I have observed, opinion journalism can be one of the only ways to have your voice amplified.

of diverse, talented minds. I often remind myself that the ability to frequently talk and work with so many writers is a unique gift of my college experience. Though I still yearn for a career in the publishing industry, I don’t anticipate it will satiate my artistic hunger — that void is exclusively filled by writing. Ultimately, these four years at college may be the only time I am able to focus near-solely on my craft alongside other dedicated writers.

I accept that I contradict myself. I accept the inevitable insecurity, envy, joy, self-doubt and fulfillment that arise from existing in creative spaces. I accept that I write about lasers and robots when most of my peers do not, and I accept that we may never fully resonate with each other’s creative visions but are still emotionally invested in each others’ successes. I accept that I write like I breathe, and I will always find a way to write.

Alexandra Kauffman (26C) is from Phoenix, Ariz.

He goes on to talk about the kings and peasants, mothers and fathers, creators and destroyers who have inhabited this blue dot.

Yes, we are connected by a shared experience on this dot, but that experience is nothing without language and the words we use to express this companionship.

We have the remarkable gift of language, which we can use to highlight divisions between us all: differentiate that some of us are kings and some of us are peasants, or some of us are saints and some of us are sinners. We can also use this gift to memorialize, remember and connect over our shared experience on the pale blue dot.

When I think back to the writing that has mattered to me during my time in college, I think of pieces that prioritize compassion above righteousness.

I think about an article by Saanvi Nayar, in which she discusses the magic of falling in love with life and childhood through the eyes of her little sister. I remember a speech by a young writer named Marina Keegan, in which she considers how there is no word for the opposite of loneliness, but college sums up that intangible feeling. I think about a New York Times Modern Love Column essay discussing the intricacies of Spotify stalking and the subliminal language we speak through music.

These words — the article, the speech and the essay— unite us through our incredibly-niche experiences, effectively reminding us that despite the major political divisions that U.S. politics forces upon us, we are all cut from the same cloth. We are all little ants crawling around on the pale blue dot.

About the pale blue dot, Sagan said: “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

As I think about my imminent retirement from the Wheel’s opinion section, I am considering both the importance of letting the world hear your opinion in the absence of protected free speech and the necessity of having compassion for others.

Opinion journalism is not inherently harmful — but it can be when we write without compassion. A 2023 AP-NORC poll found that Americans fault the media for causing divisions in the nation, leading to heightened ideological polarization compared with previous decades.

Written without caution, an inflammatory op-ed can lack the common humanity that I, and surely other readers, crave in personal perspectives.

When we click on an article, we are in search of validation that someone else thinks like us, cares for us and sees us. Writing can be a bridge between parties in these increasingly-polarized times. It is on us, as writers and thinkers, to remember our shared humanity.

I think a lot about a speech by astronomer Carl Sagan called “Pale Blue Dot,” in which he marvels at a blurry blue smudge in a NASA photograph that represents our entire world.

“Consider again that dot,” he said. “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.”

Every single word we write can be a love letter to our existence on this ridiculous floating rock, which is probably careening toward nothingness at a speed inconceivable to us. The collection of op-eds you’re reading right now, and the special projects of past Wheel opinion editors, are testaments to the magic of our compassionate, futile existence.

We are given finite time here and we might as well relish in it. Some people do that by creating computer programs that save the world. Some invent medical devices that revolutionize the field. Me? I am going to stick with writing and hope that I can adequately express my devotion to the places that make up my pale blue dot — perhaps even making the world even slightly more loving and understanding.

This piece is an ode to the Emory bubble, yes, but also the far bigger bubble in which we live, the snippet of space and time we have been so privileged to share together.

Write when you feel community, companionship and love. That way, the feeling can transcend ideological differences, as well as time and geographical distance.

Sophia Peyser (25C) is from New York.

JeSSie SAtovSky/StAff illuStrAtor

Sugar Hill to Atlanta: No place like home

Safa Wahidi

“Where’s home for you?” is my favorite question to ask.

The phrase typically garners more effusive responses than the trite, “Where are you from?” It catches people off guard in the best way and maybe even evokes whimsical images of yellow brick roads and shimmering ruby slippers. For the first 20 years of my life, my home has been an idyllic suburban bubble in the metro Atlanta area. As stated on each byline for every article I’ve ever written, I grew up in Sugar Hill, Ga.

I often say that if you picture a stereotypical American suburb, Sugar Hill would come to mind. It’s spending Friday nights under the lights of the high school football stadium and grabbing a book at the local library. It is the roads I learned to drive on and the lake where I took my prom pictures. It is consumerism and conventionality — but it is also where I learned some of my hardest lessons. Above all, it is comfortable. And leaving it behind when I started my freshman year at Oxford College was difficult.

At Emory University, most students come from out-of-state. Unlike many of my friends, I have never had that magical cliche moment of getting in a car or plane and traveling away, not knowing the next time you will return to your hometown.

Instead, my heart has remained caught between two worlds — no longer quite fitting into one and not yet content with the other. That started to change this semester. My poetry professor recently asked our class to read a collection of Robert Frost’s works. Among these poems was “The Death of the Hired Man,”

a free verse in which a husband and wife discuss different perspectives on what it means to come home. While the husband, Warren, asserts that home is somewhere you have no choice but to return to, Mary holds that home is something you can create — a place where you can find belonging and safety. Almost halfway through my time in college, and away from the isolation of Oxford, I now think that she is right.

But at Emory, we do what we can to break the bubbles and make homes where we can breathe.

To the freshman frustrated by the “Emory Bubble,” here is what your admissions counselor didn’t tell you: The beautiful marble buildings that comprise this campus are often intimidating. The phrase “close-knit community” is a euphemism for cliquiness and exclusivity. These environments can — and often do — feel suffocating. But at Emory, we do what we can to break the bubbles and make homes where we can breathe. This starts in dorm rooms, where my roommate and I spend Halloween weekend watching strange movies and eating Chinese food that never quite makes its way out of our shared mini fridge. It happens in first-ever apartments, which are left barren for several weeks until Tongue & Groove Thursdays become destined for Target trips and grocery shopping. It happens in The Emory Wheel’s offices: My new editor friends and I have prac -

tically nothing in common. They love sports; I do not. They tease the way I condense 5,000 years of Roman history; I counter that they didn’t understand the meaning of “Barbie.” We’re nothing alike — but somehow it feels natural. It starts to feel like a home.

There is something terrifying about building a temporary home when you know this time will only last four fleeting years. In college, you are asked to do the near impossible: to balance your schedule in a million different ways, to know the differences between when to apologize and when to double down and to somehow find a sexy summer internship for your LinkedIn feed on top of everything else. At the cusp of adulthood, you navigate complex emotions. You try to be the best friend you can be. You inadvertently fail. It aches, it recedes and then the cycle starts again. In short, life at Emory is the antithesis of comfort.

But I do not want comfort anymore. When I think about home now, I still think about Sugar Hill. I still keep my prom pictures framed near my bedside table, and I still visit my local library every chance I get. But I think, too, about the world I am creating right here. I think about laughing on the Quadrangle with a girl I did not know a few months ago but I now spend more time with than my parents. I picture crying to my best friend in my kitchen after a bad day and falling asleep on her shoulder after a night out. I think about the adviser who asks me about my love for journalism each time he sees me. I think about driving around with my roommate because we’re 19 and 20, and at our age, we will do anything to be near the thrill of the city lights.

I realize I am falling more and more in love with Atlanta, and I am doing so through writing for the Wheel. I research the city’s history, and I write about its future with a friend I will miss dearly when she retires from our section in the

I realize I am falling more and more in love with Atlanta, and I am doing so through writing for the Wheel.

coming weeks. I imagine the former editor who sends me encouraging messages every chance she gets and the current one who took me out for coffee my freshman year because she believed in me. This place is a new kind of home — but it is grow-

ing on me.

When I first moved into my Haygood Hall dorm freshman year, my dad told me that college starts to feel like home when you let it. I finally know what he meant. These people, this campus and this beautiful, vibrant city have captured my entire heart. It is hard reconciling this fact with the realization that all of these components were strangers to me a few short years ago — and they will inevitably become strangers again. Nonetheless, my home is the confluence of the people who raised me and the people who are helping me get to where I’m going. At Emory, I find belonging and safety, and I burst the bubble for what lies beyond. There is no place quite like it.

Safa Wahidi (26C) is from Sugar Hill, Ga.

Isolation at Oxford: An ode to words left unspoken

Nicole Rivkin

Content Warning: This article contains references to suicide.

My first month at Oxford College has been framed by an endless cycle of first date monologues: safe, scripted conversations aimed at getting to know the vaguest contours of the people who share my new home. I keep my trained responses close at hand for every introduction to an unfamiliar face.

The start of spring semester has been fine — I am glad I got the time off. The small campus has made it easy to meet people, and I try to file away their basic facts. If I do not remember the blur of faces, majors and dorms, I have learned to assume pre-med and insert quips about how lucky I am to be in Fleming Hall.

Throughout my first few weeks on campus, I called my mom every day. I sent endless texts and videos of campus to my friends back home. For every text and phone call, however, there was one I could not send. A close friend of mine, one I attribute with saving my life, took her own on April 4, 2021. She was 17 years old. A letter she wrote me is

the one thing I brought from home to place on my dorm wall. Many of my newfound Oxford friends have sat on my bed on the second floor of Fleming, inches away from my closest link to my lost friend. None of them have heard me say her name.

Oxford lost one of its students a mere month before I stepped on campus. I never knew her. We never shared a class or a passing glance from across the Quadrangle, never got dinner together in the dining hall and never sat across from each other at a library table studying for our next exams.

Had I not seen a couple social media posts last December, I likely would not have known her name even after a month on campus. The silence here is thicker than fog, an extra-large Band-Aid over the grief that so many students are feeling.

For my first three weeks on campus, I could not go a single day without tearing up. I am not a crier. I had an endless list of predictions for my first month, and this had not been one of them.

The blue-haired girl grabbing lunch at the taqueria in the Oxford Café mirrored the silhouette of my friend in line at Tango Mango, her pick for the best burrito spot in

Massachusetts. The song blaring from the room down the hall on a Friday night was on her playlist. A girl I met in the library went to her high school. The faces were unfamiliar, the buildings unknown, the acronyms and inside jokes foreign — and yet, a campus my friend had never stepped foot on was somehow haunted by her absence.

Recently, I read the essay “home for the holidays” by Rayne FisherQuann. I thought the author had carved open my brain and read my every thought. In the essay’s singular footnote, the author explained that in trying to write an essay about grief, she had actually ended up writing around it. The finished product was “an essay with a griefshaped hole.”

What I have noticed in my limited time at Oxford is that we, students, talk around things instead of about them. Oxford’s grief-shaped hole has already been quietly patched up and covered with a thin layer of spackle. The haphazard repair job is chipping at its corners.

Necessary conversations, the ones about our fears, losses and true desires, are rarely present or framed by whispers. We keep our interactions limited to our circles

and our mounting anxieties unspoken unless they relate to an unpopular teacher or a dysfunctional situationship.

The most open expressions of struggle I have seen at Oxford have been posted anonymously on Yik Yak. We perpetuate an environment wherein the only way to admit hurt is to depersonalize it, to hide it behind online anonymity or a well-crafted punchline. This fails communities because hurt, while universal, is always personal.

We are all lonely, stressed and scared. We are all afraid of saying it out loud, as if speaking will solidify its existence. Speaking does the opposite. Connection is the antidote to isolation, and connection begins with conversation.

It requires you to give people a chance. It begins with smiling at that person you always see around campus but have never spoken to. It is sparked by sitting with someone new at lunch. It grows from exchanging phone numbers with a stranger on a night out and actually following up the next morning. I did not know the student we lost, nor do I pretend to have known her. In all fairness, you could say I do not even know Emory University

all that well — I have only been here a month. The grief felt by her friends, her family, her classmates is not mine to share or speak on. I can only express my own loss, the way my own grief-shaped hole is starting to close in on itself with every extra moment I spend in silence.

I am writing this as someone who has not yet been here long enough to have internalized the Oxford isolation culture as a norm. Opening up the conversation about mental health and struggle is the first step to preventing loss.

We must break down the walls we put up between us and make it impossible to worry alone.

Nicole Rivkin (25Ox) is from Newton, Mass.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, you can call Student Intervention Services at (404) 4301120 or reach Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services at (404) 727-7450. You can reach the Georgia Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at (800) 273-TALK (8255) and the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24/7 at 988.

JeSSie SAtovSky/StAff illuStrAtor

Boundless, reliable, radiant at college

Lola McGuire

Dad cannot get home in time to start dinner: Get the pot, boil the water, cut the vegetables. Sweep the floor, feed the dog, unload the dishwasher and then beg Abe to take out the trash.

Mom has a meeting on Monday morning: Make sure everyone has their lunch, load the car and then bring everyone to school. Maggie is upset: Help her relax and look for her missing baby doll. All is well, peace. Tears coming from across the house because Eliza is confused about homework: Read the question, help her understand then reassure her that she is the smartest cookie in the class. My parents cannot pay for dance or soccer this season. They ask me to help pay.

I am a first-born daughter. I am all that researchers and scientists claim: bossy, hard-working, timely, cautious and reliable. I do as they predict and emulate the role of a second parent, especially in a household that is challenged by divorce and financial hardship.

I am also goal-oriented, outspoken and prone to perfectionism, all of which are qualities in some of the most well-known leaders in the world.

The parallels between intrinsic maternalism and leadership run deeply within me, creating an arduous desire of needing to be a caretaker and an achiever.

However, upon entering Emory University, I largely ignored the caretaker role and solely focused on achieving — making sure I was in the greatest number of clubs, keeping a 4.0 GPA, overloading my course schedule and holding a part-time job. In my first year, as I walked through the bustling campus, the laughter of students echoed around me, a stark contrast to the emptiness I felt inside. Each step toward class felt heavier, as if the emptiness I carried weighed too much. I struggled to find community because I was hyper-concentrated on ensuring I was the most accomplished in all settings. This is what I believed college should be — a place for prioritizing academics where being social always took the back-burner.

Starting in fall 2023, I began to

nanny for three sweet boys — Ben, Josh and Sam. Of course, like all of my life, I needed a job so that I could support myself and my academics. However, this job feels so different from all of the service industry jobs that I previously held. In their home, I found the kinship I had been missing during my time at Emory.

The Emory Wheel opinion section published my first article on Oct. 4, 2023. A section of strong, intelligent, and intentional women welcomed me while uplifting my work and writing, as well as my soul. They critiqued me when I needed to be critiqued and challenged me when I needed to be challenged. Most of all, they inspired me to write and live through my writing.

I am not a mosaic of contradictions, but an intricately woven together craft, each piece contributing to the core of my identity.

Within these two worlds, I can confidently write that I have found my purpose at Emory. I have also learned that I can transcend the labels that constrict me.

I am more than the labels that my lived experiences and birth order have assigned me. I am not a mosaic of contradictions, but an intricately woven together craft, each piece contributing to the core of my identity. To be a caretaker is to be an achiever, and I am and will continue to be both while transcending these limited expectations.

My Tuesday evenings are a beautiful, chaotic entanglement of these two worlds that I live in. I wake up, put away my laundry, get ready, attend class one, attend class two, do homework, eat a quick lunch, go babysit, take care of the boys, then head to the Wheel offices where I stay until midnight. As I pick up the boys from their school, they push and shove each other, fighting over who gets the front seat of the car, and rush to greet me with wide smiles and eager chatter. We tumble into a whirlwind of laughter and games, the joy in

their eyes reflecting back at me. Then, my role changes and I put on my writing cap. I get to join my friends and fellow writers for challenging work and soul-warming conversation.

Being at Emory has taught me how to fight against the cliques and labels that shape our everyday lives. It is difficult to be a low-income student at the Wheel — where I spend the vast majority of my time — when only 13.5% of students identified as low-income in the Wheel’s 2024 demographic report. At times, I feel discouraged to be surrounded by people whom I feel have a much higher chance of success and accomplishment than me. The culture of pre-professionalism at Emory makes me feel the need to only focus on my qualities of leadership, ambition and direction.

All of these emotions arise just because I have to work a job and other students do not.

I should not feel shame for needing to work a job. I always need to stop myself in this thought, for it should not matter to me that I am surrounded by so many peers who come from different lives and statuses of financial privilege. My unique position as a low-income student has amplified the gratitude I feel for Emory, and I should not discredit my love for the Emory community simply because my experience is not shared with as many people.

When confronted with this insecurity and resentment, I force myself to pause and reflect on my job, on the boys that made Emory the place for me. No, they are not on campus, and no, they do not push me intellectually, but they made this space fit for me. They fill a hole within me with their brightness and curiosity.

I would not be pushing the bounds of myself without the wisdom that both the Wheel and nannying give me. They make me continuously grow into the creative, energetic and imaginative person that I always was but needed some encouragement to fully project. Instead of forcing myself into a bubble of one thing or another, I am expanding and growing so that the bubble will no longer constrain me — it will pop.

Lola McGuire (26C) is from Nashville, Tenn.

My journey from Harvard dreams to Emory realities

of their love.

It was Ivy Day, the moment of truth that I had been eagerly anticipating for months. Harvard University (Mass.), what I thought to be the holy grail of academic achievement, was my dream school, the beacon of hope in a sea of uncertainty and pressure. But as the page loaded and the words

“We regret to inform you …” stared back at me, my world came crashing down.

For years, I had bought into the lie that success could be measured by the name on your diploma. Raised in a society obsessed with productivity and perfection, I had internalized the belief that my worth was tied to my academic achievements.

It was not just a rejection from a school; it was a rejection of everything I had been taught I should be: exceptional, accomplished and flawless.

In the eyes of society, I had fallen short, missed the mark and failed to meet the impossible standards set by a culture that glorified perfection at any cost.

In the days and weeks that followed, I found myself grappling with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt but also with a profound sense of uncertainty.

Would attending a different school be enough to propel me toward success, or would I be forever haunted by the specter of “what if” in comparison to those who had secured spots at more prestigious institutions?

My father often reminisced on the opportunity he could not take after declining his acceptance to Columbia University (N.Y.) due to the financial burden it would have placed on his family. He spoke at length about my future, planning it as if I could do what he never could.

Then, the reality of this rejection made me feel as if I had failed not only myself but also my family. The weight of these expectations bore down on me, and the pressure to succeed, to excel, to prove my worthiness in a world that I thought was based on a single admissions decision, was suffocating.

It was now three weeks after I had learned I had gotten into Emory University, and I found myself on a twohour plane ride to Atlanta. My mother never left my side, squeezing my hand with excitement as the student tour guide took me and 10 other wide-eyed teenagers across campus.

It was my first time visiting the school and not only was it warm, lush and green, I could also feel the energy coming off the students as they raced across the Quadrangle. Students genuinely seemed to like it here, and maybe I could too.

It would not be until months later that I realized my worth was not determined by the name of the institution stamped on my diploma. In all realness, I am still confronting this reality, one day at a time.

I have to remind myself that all names are written with the same 26 letters of the alphabet: “Harvard,” “Emory,” “Rutgers.”

At the end of the day, I am privileged to be able to pursue higher education in any capacity. Speaking with my parents and realizing their faith and trust in me and my ability to make the most of any environment I am in, I realized that no institution could define the bandwidth

My value as a person was not contingent upon my ability to meet the arbitrary standards of success set by American productivity culture.

In labeling the problem for what it was — a toxic culture of competition and comparison that pits young people against each other and measures their worth by the institutions they attend — I found liberation. I saw through the illusion of the Ivy League bubble, recognizing it for what it truly was: a construct designed to perpetuate privilege and the myth of meritocracy.

I chose to redefine success on my own terms — to prioritize authenticity and integrity over accolades and achievements. I chose to burst the bubble that had confined me for so long, stepping into a world where my worth is not determined by the prestige of my future alma mater but by the depth of my character and the authenticity of my journey.

At Emory, I discovered pockets of community that shared my interests with the same strong-headed intensity I did. Pockets that valued authenticity, where success was measured not by the ranking of “Top 10” attributed to its name but by the depth of one’s character and the impact of one’s actions.

But perhaps most importantly, it was in the moments of vulnerability and connection I have experienced at Emory that I truly began to find myself. Whether it was late-night conversations with friends, volunteering in the local community or exploring new passions and interests in environmental science, I discovered the power of human connection to heal and inspire.

As I reflect on my first six months at Emory, I am struck by the profound impact the school has had on my journey of self-discovery. Walking from my introductory chemistry class to my Ethics and Servant Leadership seminar, I realized the opportunities in front of me. Whether or not I would be able to find equivalent or “superior” ones elsewhere has become irrelevant in the equation.

I am lucky to be at a place where I can find common interests in climate justice, like through the Emory Climate Reality Project, and student entrepreneurship, like through The Hatchery, within walking distance.

It was here that I learned to embrace my imperfections and celebrate my unique identity, free from the constraints of societal expectations. It was here that I found the courage to challenge the status quo and advocate for change in a world that too often values conformity over authenticity.

In bursting the bubble of my own preconceptions, I have come to realize that true success lies not in the pursuit of external validation.

Emory is by no means a perfect institution, but I can honestly say that I want to be part of the class that changes this community. I want to have a say in making a real difference here, whether that be writing on The Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board hoping to improve a decision made by a campus dean or uniting groups of people who might have met only if we had a football team. In the end, Emory has not only shaped my perspective on life but has also empowered me to live authentically, boldly and unapologetically. And for that, I am grateful.

Eliana Liporace (27C) is from Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Eliana Liporice

The Emory Wheel Arts Life&

‘Brave New Works’ contemplates connection

By alexandra KauFFman Arts & Life editor

This year’s installment of “Brave New Works,” a biennial theater festival hosted by Theater Emory, featured staged readings of two plays that both explored themes of ecological crisis and humanity.

“Felicity” by Dylan Malloy (23Ox, 25B), performed on Feb. 24, is a oneact play in which two teenagers argue over their ideological differences as they watch the launch of a rocket intended to colonize Mars.

“The Boy Who Rode the Clouds” by Adam Weisman (22C) follows the story of a boy who single-handedly attempts to save the planet with his magical ocarina as well as the story of the girl who wants to help him.

While “Felicity” explores themes of climate crises through a dystopian future and a stratified class hierarchy, “The Boy Who Rode the Clouds” brings a more whimsical approach to similar themes.

June sublimates her envy into anger, and Will sublimates his into hope.

“Felicity” proved to be politically nuanced in its demonstration of two different ways class frustration manifests: despising versus coveting status. June, played by Emory MacLaughlin (24C) is pessimistic and pragmatic while Will, played by Nate Cohen (27C), is idealistic and juvenile. June despises the rocket because she thinks the billionaires aboard do not “deserve” a life of luxury, whereas Will admires their achievements and hopes to one day

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be able to escape Earth.

I appreciated the intricacies of this dynamic, as though June is critical and Will is awestruck they both ultimately envy the upper class, as they wish they could be the ones aboard the rocket.

June sublimates her envy into anger, and Will sublimates his into hope. These differences in character were communicated through Cohen’s and MacLaughlin’s brilliant performances.

I felt like I could see the stars sparkle in Cohen’s eyes as he raved about the technological features of the Mars colony or delivered lines about wanting his own customized space helmet. MacLaughlin’s performance brought emotional resonance, as her face shifted through a menagerie of micro-expressions throughout the performance, demonstrating

June’s anger, frustration, despair and love for Will. The play’s ending was heart-rending and bittersweet. Will stood with his arm around June as she listed the experiences she loved on Earth while they watched the rocket successfully launch.

After their prior conflict, the moment of connection brought much-needed levity to the end of the play. Despite the emotional development, nothing changed about June and Will’s material conditions.

This created sinister overtones, as Will and June are ultimately helpless and cannot change their class status — they will never be able to escape Earth for a luxurious life on Mars. They have each other, and that is truly it.

Intended for young audiences, “The Boy Who Rode the Clouds” fol-

See THEATER, Page 12

Julie Ragbeer knows you’re a stan

Social media sensation garners interest with unabashed confidence

By nathan ruBin Arts & Life editor

All it took for Julie Ragbeer to enter the spotlight was one promoted post on X. After popular culture account “Pop Tingz” tweeted a 12-word promo for her debut album, “Perplex” (2023), on Feb. 22, Ragbeer’s follower count exploded.

Memes making fun of the quality of her music spread like wildfire across X and eventually found their way to Instagram and TikTok, resulting in several fan accounts, video edits, news coverage and even a Discord server, according to the star herself.

Although the internet jokes seemed to imply that her stardom was dipped in a thin layer of satire, fans — self-identifying as “Ragdolls” — are undeniably enthralled by the artist’s honest lyrics and unapologetically authentic persona. Ragbeer’s sound is inexplicably catchy.

While the production varies from one song to the next, the artist’s vocals yield a distinct dominance that ties every track together.

Her voice is consistently submerged under several layers of reverb, creating an echoing effect that bounces throughout her discography with all the drama of a werewolf’s resounding howl under the full moon.

This in tandem with beat-driven, high-energy compositions develops a hurricane-like effect of sound, all swirling together in a chaotic storm of ear-ringing bedroom pop.

On paper, it sounds like trouble. In reality, though, Ragbeer’s unique and amateur presentation emerges

sonically victorious, and her simple yet relatable lyrics find a home in the heart of the listener.

Some may say that Ragbeer owes her social media virality to happenstance. Some may say the highly meme-ified musician’s success is the result of an online community that lives for ironic humor and a quotable joke.

But make no mistake: Ragbeer’s fame is due just as much to her tenacious attitude and contagious positivity than to coincidence.

Behind the sea of laughter and fascination, Ragbeer is more than just a social media sensation — she is a beacon of kindness in a ruthless internet culture and a creative both passionate about and dedicated to her craft.

Just one week after her dramatic rise to fame, Ragbeer joined The Emory Wheel for a conversation regarding all things music and memes.

The 24-year-old pop-alternative musician from New Jersey reflected on her inspirations, sense of self and recent success.

A contagious smile spread across Ragbeer’s face as soon as she logged on to the Zoom call.

She was postured comfortably in her bedroom, a tornado of unpretentious decoration and personality. She wore her signature magenta glasses, exuding a decidedly chic air that took shape through the computer screen, and she was more than willing to speak honestly without skipping a beat.

Ragbeer set the record straight about her identity.

On Spotify, Julie Ragbeer is listed

See TIKTOK, Page 13

Dune: Part Two’ invites viewers back to Arrakis

By Spencer Friedland News editor

This review contains spoilers.

Director Denis Villeneuve has issued a warning against blind faith with his sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two.” After two-and-a-half years of waiting, viewers return to the desert planet of Arrakis to find Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) becoming part of the native Fremen people.

The film follows Paul as he fulfills his prophecy of becoming the messiah but ends in utter horror.

While it is unusual for sci-fi, the main character of “Dune: Part Two” is not the protagonist; that honor belongs to Chani (Zendaya), a member of the Fremen.

She is the moral heart of the film, and Zendaya gives an utterly devastating performance.

“Dune: Part Two” has a terrific story, which is only trumped by the amazing visuals Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser created in the film.

Fraser is able to magnify the significance and scale of the film through the importance he places on every shot.

Throughout the first two hours, we follow Paul and Chani as they develop their romance. The pair fight off the evil House Harkonnen, the Atreides’ enemy house, and attempt to take over Arrakis.

We see Paul go from an unsure boy to leader of the Fremen, cementing his status by taming a giant sandworm in a breathtaking cinematic display.

As House Harkonnen begins to lose their grip on power, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) is called by his uncle Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) to find Paul, who has become a mythological figure across the galaxy.

Shaking his Elvis persona, Butler delivers a masterful performance, striking fear through unpredictability.

Shaking

seem not to bother him anymore as he sends his army of Fremen against the armies of Emperor Shaddam (Christopher Walken) and House Harkonnen.

We find Feyd-Rautha in a Roman Colosseum-like battle on his home planet of Giedi Prime, which is devoid of all color due to its white sun.

Despite the lack of color, this battle gives us some of the strongest visuals of the film. The black-and-white fight to the death is magnetic to the eye.

The dreams of mass death and destruction that once tormented Paul

Paul begins to believe in the prophecy that he is the messiah. It is at this point that Paul, once caring and thoughtful, begins his descent into evil. Through a bloody massacre, the Fremen are able to defeat the emperor’s forces, allowing Paul to storm into the throne room with a bloody sword and dispatch Baron.

For all of Villeneuve’s recent comments about how he wishes he could make a silent film, the sound design in “Dune: Part Two” is incredible.

Composer Hans Zimmer’s score elevates the film with a grand sense of scale and destruction where it is needed.

Yet it is the absence of the score in the final battle scene between Feyd-Rautha and Paul that has the most lasting impact.

Without any non-diegetic sound, Villeneuve leaves the viewer in utter suspense, anticipating whether or not Paul will survive.

Despite Paul triumphing over the Harkonnens and claiming his seat as emperor of the galaxy, the film does not leave us with a happy ending. Paul opts to marry the daughter of the former emperor, Princess Irulan

(Florence Pugh) to secure his hold on power, instead of Chani, who became disillusioned with Paul after recognizing his thirst for power.

Paul declares war on the other great houses of the galaxy as power consumes him. This is where the film becomes a warning from Villeneuve.

Instead of being scared off by Paul’s bloodthirst, the Fremen are emboldened to carry out Paul’s war, even if they have to sacrifice themselves for his ambition.

Villenueuve said in a recent interview that “Dune” (1965) author Frank Herbert intended the book’s message to warn against naively trusting heroes and advocate for readers to trust their own judgment.

Through Paul’s character arc, Villeneuve is able to faithfully carry out Herbert’s message.

The final sequences of the film depict millions of Fremen leaving to murder the other houses and ends with Chani leaving Paul, as she is not willing to blindly follow the supposed messiah.

Despite “Dune: Part Two” being the end of the story from Herbert’s “Dune,” the rumored Villeneuve adaptation of “Dune Messiah” can not come soon enough.

Although “Dune: Part Two” does not end as suddenly as part one, it leaves me wanting to see Paul’s full story.

– Contact Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu

FILM

Students perform “The Boy Who Rode The Clouds,” a play by Adam Weisman (22C) that is intended for young audiences.

CAMPUS ART

Theater Emory uplifts emerging playwright voices

Continued from Page 11

lows a girl as she is whimsically whisked away to live in the clouds, where she meets a pensive young boy. In addition to themes of climate disaster, the play explores emotional responsibility and burnout.

The boy feels single-handedly responsible for the state of the planet, and the girl feels responsible for his well-being. The play ends when they agree to help shoulder each other’s emotional burdens. The play’s magical elements, however, made it difficult to comprehend at times. The script contains as many, if not more, stage directions than dialogue. The actors often read their own stage directions, such as the two cloud characters who have very few lines of dialogue.

These stage directions often paint rich images of epic scenes, but

because this was a staged reading, the splendor of those images did not create a full emotional effect. However, the clever use of sound design helped remedy the gaps in performance. For example, whenever the young cloud and old cloud read their stage directions, they were accompanied by chimes from an on-stage triangle. The actors’ performances further bolstered the script. Salaam Awad (27C), who played the girl, delivered every line with energy and excitement. Andreanna Kitas (26C) gave a similarly enthusiastic performance as the mischievous, loveable young cloud, while Emi Fernandez (24C), who played the older cloud, acted as a counterbalance with a more grounded, serene performance. Space Lutterodt-Clottey (27C) presented the character arc of the boy bril-

liantly, starting the play as serious and solemn while becoming more exuberant after healing.

While I appreciate the whimsical nature of “The Boy Who Rode the Clouds,” I found its message to be facile.

If I were a child instead of a jaded 20-year-old, I probably would have been enraptured by this play and genuinely moved by its message. However, as an adult, I was entertained rather than genuinely emotionally compelled.

Although both Malloy and Weisman commented on social and political issues, I found Malloy’s play to be more nuanced and intellectually engaging through its portrayal of class.

Weisman’s play had a strong emotional message I could imagine resonating with younger viewers, but “Felicity” offered a complex contem-

plation of political and social issues with a more realistic, though unhappy ending.

Nonetheless, I appreciate that “Brave New Works” included two plays that differed so dramatically

in tone and content, offering two unique creative visions from two talented playwrights.

– Contact Alexandra Kauffman at amkauffman@emory.edu

Best picture nominees, ranked best to worst

By Spencer Friedland and alex GerSon News editor & Asst. Arts & Life editor

The Oscars are back, and this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture slate is one of the strongest in years. From foreign films to domestic box office champions, a movie for everyone is found in the set of nominees. In anticipation of the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) and Asst. Arts & Life Editor Alex Gerson (27C) ranked and reviewed every film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

1. ‘Oppenheimer’

What more is there to say about “Oppenheimer” (2023) that has not already been said? Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Christopher Nolan and company have been sweeping every award show, and the film looks like a sure-fire candidate to be this year’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022). “Oppenheimer” tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who made the world stand still when he began the nuclear arms race as the father of the atomic bomb. “Oppenheimer” defined a cultural moment with its box office showdown against “Barbie,” driving people to the movies and contributing to the box office’s fourth-biggest weekend of all time. Nolan’s creation drove cinephiles, history nerds and casual viewers alike to their local theaters.

The film perfectly balances the inner mind of Oppenheimer with the historical significance of the creation of the atomic bomb. Even though half of the film is in black and white, with significant portions set in a small room with nothing but a table, Nolan still masterfully engages the audience throughout the film’s three-hour run time. What Nolan was able to do is nothing short of remarkable, and “Oppenheimer” launched his brand recognition into a realm that perhaps no director has ever been in: a singular director who guaranteed big returns.

2. ‘Poor Things’

In many years, some people would consider “Poor Things” (2023) to be the best film of the year. The fact that this film sits at No. 2 is to no fault of its own. Director Yorgos Lanthimos departed from his normal, eerie-toned horrors to create a dark comedy focused on the true nature of human beings. The film hangs on Emma Stone’s performance as Bella Baxter, a child stuck in an adult’s body, experiencing the world in the way a child would. It compares John Locke’s assertion that all men are born with a blank slate and Thomas Hobbes’ theory that men are born “inherently wicked,” ultimately siding with the former. “Poor Things” has the most magnificent set design

in recent memory, drawing from “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920) and other Silent Era German expressionist cinema. Stone turned in possibly the best performance of the year and carried “Poor Things” to becoming the runner-up in 2023, which was an amazing year of film.

3. ‘Anatomy of a Fall’

French director Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023) presents the strongest script of the Academy Award for Best Picture slate. It follows Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) as she faces trial for the alleged murder of her husband — some think he fell off of the roof, some think she pushed him. As the trial unfolds, the layers and complications of their marriage are revealed until they reach a crescendo when a recording of one of their fights is played for the court. The fight scene is captivating with unbelievable writing and performances. The argument is depicted so honestly that it feels almost voyeuristic to watch. For a film that seems like a standard courtroom drama, “Anatomy of a Fall” transcends the genre through its incredibly layered and complex script as well as a brutally honest and precise performance from Hüller.

4. ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

“Killers of the Flower Moon” (2023) is both completely in line with director Martin Scorsese’s legendary filmography and unlike anything he has made before. It focuses on the real-life Osage Indian murders, a plot by white citizens close to the Osage Nation to murder them for their oil wealth. The film follows Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro) as they plot the deaths of Ernest’s Native American wife Mollie Burkhart’s (Lily Gladstone) family. While Scorsese’s work has often focused on organized crime, he

grappled with some unknowns when detailing the crimes in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” In the film’s final scene, Scorsese himself appears on screen and says that Mollie’s obituary made no mention of the Osage Indian murders. The director seemed to admit that no matter how hard he tried, only so much can be done to honestly portray the stories of the Osage Nation, a community to which he does not belong. Nevertheless, Scorsese did his best to authentically depict the Osage Indian murders. Still, some have criticized the movie for not giving enough voice to the Osage Nation — Scorsese knew this, and in the self-aware last scene, gave his own acknowledgement of his shortcomings.

5. ‘Past Lives’

“Past Lives” is perhaps the most surprising film of 2023. In playwright Celine Song’s silver screen debut, she managed to create a muted love story akin to Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” (2003). The film centers around Nora Moon (Greta Lee) and her love triangle that began during her childhood in South Korea. The love dilemma revamps after Nora has moved to the United States and got married. Her childhood crush Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) upends her life, visiting her in the United States and creating a mix of anxiety and curiosity about what could have been. The film ends with Nora sitting at a bar sandwiched between her two possible loves. Through understatement and subtlety, “Past Lives” realistically portrays Nora’s attempts to deal with the mixed emotions of an alternate life.

6. ‘The Zone of Interest’

This year’s second-best World War II film is absent of war, bombs and politics. Instead, Jewish filmmaker Jonathan Glazer focused on Rudolf Höss, the man in charge of the Aus-

chwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, and his family. “The Zone of Interest” (2023) looks at the idealistic life the Höss family has created right beyond the walls of the death camp. The main crux of the film is not the Holocaust but the family attempting to remain in their beautiful home as Höss is called away to Berlin. What makes “The Zone of Interest” so unsettling is the subtle horror of Auschwitz prisoners screaming, followed by gunshots, which the characters casually block out. The film makes the viewer’s skin crawl in a completely original way. “The Zone of Interest” allows the audience to imagine horror, even without the characters acknowledging the terror that benefits them.

7. ‘The Holdovers’

Alexander Payne’s quiet, warm and funny film “The Holdovers” is the most heartfelt movie at this year’s Academy Awards. The film focuses on loneliness as it follows boarding school teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) supervising Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a student whose mom opts to go on a trip with her boyfriend instead of inviting her son home for winter break. The film, set in the 1970s, also features Da’Vine Joy Randolph playing Mary Lamb, the cook for the school’s cafeteria, who is grieving the loss of her son during the Vietnam War. While it may lack cinematic bravura, “The Holdovers” features a fantastic triumvirate of performances. Giamatti delivered his best performance in years, Sessa demonstrated his acting ability in his silver-screen debut and Randolph seems guaranteed to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. While it might not be pushing any bounds, “The Holdovers” is an incredibly touching and worthwhile movie.

8. ‘Barbie’

Putting aside the debate on wheth-

er director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie were snubbed for the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Actress, “Barbie” (2023) is one of the most impressive achievements in recent Hollywood history. The fact that a movie based on a doll got made, touched on important themes of feminism and identity and became the highest grossing film at the box office in 2023 is a quasi-miracle unto itself. Additionally, “Barbie” is extremely entertaining, with gorgeous set design and a funny, well-written script. While some moments lack effectiveness — the Will Ferrell storyline could be completely cut — “Barbie” succeeds in its goal more often than it falls short, and for that it deserves an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination.

9. ‘American Fiction’

Cord Jefferson’s debut feature film “American Fiction” (2023), an adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel “Erasure,” is near the bottom of the pack of the Academy Award for Best Picture nominees, but it is not a bad movie.

In fact, “American Fiction” struggles most because it fails to mesh two separate but equally affecting storylines together. The story follows Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a frustrated Black writer, as he gains fame through his anonymously published book that is a satire of Black stereotypes. While he writes the book sarcastically, the general public takes it seriously. The movie also follows Monk as he navigates his troubled familial and romantic relationships. While the book and relationship storylines are well done on their own, Jefferson never effectively made the social satire and family drama work together to enhance the movie.

10. ‘Maestro’

Although “Maestro” (2023) will be remembered for the memes of Bradley Cooper’s attempt to win the Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, it is still a fine film. Cooper fully devoted himself to becoming Leonard Bernstein, the famous Jewish conductor, and portraying his complicated love life. Perhaps the best performance comes from Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), who adeptly portrayed the pain her husband’s infidelity and constant deception caused. However, the film falls flat in developing the characters. It begins with Bernstein as a genius conductor who is unfaithful and ends with him being a promiscuous genius conductor. Ultimately, “Maestro” is a failed attempt at creating an Oscars-worthy film. It was supposed to deliver Cooper to glory but instead provided an endless stream of memes.

– Contact Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu & Alex Gerson at alex.gerson@emory.edu

The actors of Theater Emory’s biennial “Brave New Works” play festival sit on stage before the staged reading begins.

TikTok star is more than a Tweet

Continued from Page 11

as the artist, while Victoria Ragbeer is credited for lyrics and composition.

Not to worry, though, Victoria Ragbeer is no ghostwriter — the two names are the same person.

According to Ragbeer, the stage name “Julie” emerged as a result of a misattribution by a neighbor that stuck.

“At the end of the day, if you want your work to be on a billboard or at Times Square ... you have to pay for it.”

— Julie Ragbeer

Throughout her childhood, her siblings, cousins and dad called her by this fake name.

When deciding her stage persona, Ragbeer chose Julie as a tribute to her late father.

“At heart, I’m Julie, and that’s who I am,” she said.

When asked how the infamous “Pop Tingz” post came to be, Ragbeer explained that she was searching for ways to spread the word about her debut album and garner an audience.

She reached out to the account, which often posts about the glamor and glitz of celebrity gossip and new music releases.

Ragbeer felt no reservations about purchasing the opportunity for a platform.

“At the end of the day, if you want your work to be on a billboard or at Times Square … you have to pay for it,” she said.

Ragbeer knows what she wants, and she is determined to get it. She

COLUMN

said chasing a career in music was “scary,” but now her dream is coming to fruition. Her music is reaching tens of thousands of listeners on Spotify, and fans and haters alike have published social media posts about her. The media attention does not bother Ragbeer — it excites her.

“I feel like in general and in life, people don’t like it when you’re on top,” she said.

She prioritizes her mental health among the chaos of reaching social media icon status, turning off comments on all her personal accounts.

“At first, I saw some people being negative, but it looked like there was more love and positivity,” Ragbeer said. “I am grateful for that.”

Ragbeer’s fans and favorite artists heavily influence her.

Musicians such as Beyoncé, Shakira and Britney Spears always echoed through the walls of her childhood home, Ragbeer recalled. She also cited Miley Cyrus and Amy Lee as musical inspirations.

Her biggest musical hero, though, is Taylor Swift.

“I’ve been a Swiftie since close to the OG days,” Ragbeer said. “She’s more of a big sister to me than people who were in my family who I thought were sisters to me.”

Ragbeer emphasized that seeing women in positions of success inspired her and hopes she can do the same for others.

“I just love seeing these main pop girlies and queens of pop just being who they are,” she said. “When you see a woman girlbossing, it makes other women feel like, ‘Hey, I could do this field as well.’”

Despite her appreciation of fellow musicians, Ragbeer’s truest inspiration comes from God.

“[My faith] keeps me going,” she said. “It keeps me strong, it helps me and it motivates me.”

Ragbeer has her audience in mind when she makes music.

“I make music for people who feel

left out and misunderstood,” Ragbeer said. “I want to make music for people who are in minorities and help them realize that they do have a voice and that they’re loved.”

The “Pop Tingz” promo said “Perplex” is about Ragbeer’s “19 year old experiences.”

However, Ragbeer elaborated on the album’s themes, including the emotional turmoil and unwelcome change of growing into a young adult.

“I think 19 is a very confusing age for any human, and I was just learning that sometimes people grow, and things change, and you lose friends,” Ragbeer said. “You’re just learning how to balance everything out.”

The album cover for “Perplex” has appeared on all sorts of memes, becoming a cult obsession among the Ragdolls.

Ragbeer explained that the sunbeam across her face symbolized the feeling of the album, adding that her stern facial expression was the icing on the cake.

“I know some people were saying, ‘Oh, she took this on an iPhone,’” Ragbeer said. “I actually took that on an Android.”

“I feel like in general and in life, people don’t like it when you’re on top.”

— Julie Ragbeer

“Mary Whiton Calkins” is the most-streamed song on “Perplex.”

With her signature reverb overload, Ragbeer’s fan-favorite takes the form of a cool-as-ice ballad with heavy techno-pop influences.

“Mary Whiton Calkins” — named after the American philosopher and

Cat’s Collection: 5 albums to appreciate womanhood

By catherine Goodman Asst. Arts & Life editor

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “womanhood” as “the state of being a woman.” In attempting to define this abstract concept, the dictionary strips away the utterly personal and ever-changing nature of the word. No one definition of womanhood exists; only a collection of individual experiences that mold together to create a kaleidoscopic view of the splendor, agony and triumph encompassed in this state of being. Female experiences include companionship and camaraderie, admiration and acceptance, frustration and fatigue.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, listen to the following five albums that speak to these diverse experiences, challenge traditional gender narratives and relish in the complicated beauty of womanhood.

‘Born to Die’ by Lana Del Rey (2012)

In her major-label debut album, “Born to Die,” Lana Del Rey confronts the elusive American dream and its subsequent effect on women’s behavior. Staring with red-rimmed eyes at the promise of material happiness, Lana Del Rey ponders the depth of this fabricated joy. The baroque pop album combines elements of rock and pop with classical string instruments to intoxicate the listener. “Born to Die” is laden with glitz, glamor, sex and drugs — distractions that draw the listener away from the album’s underlying message. Held close to Lana Del Rey’s chest like playing cards, the harsh realities of this lifestyle manifest themselves.

In “Carmen,” Lana Del Rey represents how sexual or romantic desires often substitute genuine care regarding a woman’s well-being. “The boys, the girls, they all like Carmen,” but neither group

acknowledges the starlet’s struggles. In “This Is What Makes Us Girls,” Lana Del Rey criticizes the competitive nature of women and their tendency to prioritize romance over platonic relationships. “Don’t cry about it, don’t cry about it,” she sings. Lana Del Rey’s nonchalance toward the subject suggests the singer does not envision a future in which women value their platonic relationships as much as romantic ones.

Despite being her first major album, “Born to Die” is Lana Del Rey’s declaration of defeat. Men and women equally reflect societal evils such as greed, ignorance and self-absorption in the album. Nevertheless, Lana Del Rey’s acceptance of the role women play in perpetuating this behavior is an assertion of female agency.

‘Puberty 2’ by Mitski (2016)

On this indie-rock record, Mitski battles with the chronic cloud of her depression, expressing her desire for brighter, happier times. On “Happy,” Mitski personifies happiness as a wandering man, one that enters and exits her life as he pleases. “So he laid me down, and I felt happy come inside of me,” she sings. The line reflects Mitski’s lyrical ability to create sensory reactions from the listener, often sensual, visceral and all-encompassing. By conflating happiness with the devotion of a lover, Mitski represents not only the gruesome realities of depression but also the degrading ways through which women are invited to relish in their pain. “Happy” does not only speak to the female experience with mental health, but it also sheds light on the experiences of women in vulnerable states.

“Puberty 2” likewise explores the distinct struggles of women of color. As a Japanese American, Mitski is no stranger to the racism, ostracization and sexualization directed at this community of women.

Courtesy of JuLie r AGbeer

psychologist — is a surprisingly hypnotic ode.

Ragbeer belts the titular figure’s name a total of 15 times.

According to Ragbeer, Calkins made a huge impact on her life. After reading about her story, Ragbeer felt inspired.

Ragbeer mentioned that Calkins never received her Ph.D. from Harvard University (Mass.) because she was a woman studying in the 1890s.

Ragbeer expressed a great desire for Harvard to do Calkins, who died in 1930, justice.

“I hope [Harvard is] listening,” Ragbeer said. “I hope something good can come out of this song, and for her to get her degree.”

Ragbeer said she thinks deeply about her upcoming plans and the

kind of music she wants to make, envisioning fame and one million followers in her future.

But for now, she is planning to release a music video for “Mary Whiton Calkins” soon.

“I also have a more edgy side that people don’t really see,” Ragbeer said as she grinned cheekily. “They might see it soon in a new EP.”

When asked about any kind of message she had for her fans, Ragbeer was prepared.

“Thank you for the support and for helping my dreams come true step by step,” Ragbeer said. “More music is on its way, and let’s keep the Ragdolls momentum going.”

– Contact Nathan Rubin at nathan.rubin@emory.edu

Mini Crossword

In “Your Best American Girl,” Mitski confronts her alienation in a relationship with an “all-American boy” and her desire to transform herself into the perfect — presumably white — lover and her subsequent shame. “Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me,” Mitski sings, further emphasizing their cultural gap. “Puberty 2” is an exploration of womanhood in regard to both cultural and gender identity.

‘Just Because I’m a Woman’ by Dolly Parton (1968)

In her second studio album, “Just Because I’m a Woman,” Dolly Parton battles with reckless romance, overwhelming heartbreak and damaging female stereotypes. The singer’s smooth voice trembles like that of a songbird throughout the 14-track album.

On the majority of the record, Parton confronts a cheating ex-lover and expresses her complicated emotions toward her old companion. The album moves through the many stages of grief — anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance — in a nonlinear sequence. “I’ll be hurt many times / Before the right one I find,” Parton sings on “Love and Learn,” acknowledging that she will kiss plenty of frogs before finding her lifelong lover.

The title track, “Just Because I’m a Woman,” tackles the double standard between men and women regarding sexual liberation. “My mistakes are no worse than yours / Just because I’m a woman,” Parton asserts. With her powerful but soft vocals, Parton serves her frustration to the listener upon a silver platter, easily digestible and non-threatening. Nevertheless, with her lush femininity, Parton speaks boldly and unapologetically as she declares, “I was just a victim of / A man that lets me down.”

See EXPLORE, Page 14

ACROSS

1. Drinks, as a dog

5. Types of duties (palindrome)

6. Amazon’s AI

7. Opposite of sir (palindrome)

8. Harry Potter’s is lightning-shaped

DOWN

1. Shade of purple

2. Shampoo brand

3. Studio producer of “Cars” and “Toy Story”

4. Boondoggle, using the same letters as 5-down

5. Picture takers, informally

The cover of Julie Ragbeer’s debut album “Perplex” features the viral singer-songwriter in a casual selfie.

Explore womanhood, femininity with these albums

‘Preacher’s Daughter’ by Ethel Cain (2022)

Ethel Cain, the pseudonym for singer-songwriter Hayden Anhedönia, comes in guns-blazing with her debut album, “Preacher’s Daughter.”

The album explores motifs of religious resentment, the deglorification of the Southern United States and the disenchantment of modern youth experiences. The standout single, “American Teenager,” serves as a thesis for the album, introducing her anger in a pop-rock banger. “Say what you want, but say it like you mean it / With your fists for once,” she threatens.

Anhedönia envisions Ethel Cain as a character and originally pictured the album as a screenplay.

Continued from Page 13 Ch

“Preacher’s Daughter” chronicles her journey of self-discovery in the face of the unachievable American dream. The album likewise explores Anhedönia’s experience as a trangender woman while negotiating her own identity as well as her relationship with family and religion.

COLUMN

Ethel Cain emphasizes the double standard between pious men and pious women in addition to the physical and emotional abuse women in toxic relationships endure. “Says he’s in love with my body / that’s why he’s fucking it up,”

she narrates on “Gibson Girl.” On “Preacher’s Daughter,” Ethel Cain speaks to the experience of dissatisfied U.S. teenagers but particularly focuses on the overlooked methods of emotional and physical abuse women face daily.

30 years of ‘Mellow Gold’: Beck’s timeless introduction

By ari SeGal Arts & Life editor

Beck’s major label debut “Mellow Gold” released via Geffen Records on Mar. 1, 1994 sounds like it was recorded in a tin can found on the side of a deserted road — and I do not mean that in a dismissive way.

“ The whole concept of ‘Mellow Gold’ is that it’s like a satanic K-Tel record that’s been found in a trash dumpster,” the singer-songwriter told Rolling Stone. “I was just taking that whole Freedom-Rock feeling, you understand.”

Though greatly bolstered by its lead single “Loser,” the lo-fi-infused folk-rap album still holds water on its own. It is a grimy and unfiltered look at homelessness, poverty and the endless deadends of a struggling U.S. citizen. Beck was a high school dropout and battled homelessness for most of his adult life before his breakout throwaway track rattled the industry. Despite his rugged upbringing, a sense of youthful optimism still penetrates his debut album.

Instead of starting the Beck story with his ubiquitous slacker anthem “Loser” — his misleading hit single a la Radiohead’s “Creep” (1992) — I want to start the discussion of his debut on the second track of the album: “Pay No Mind (Snoozer).”

Lyrical contradictions, poorly mixed drums and a deliberately anti-commercial sound riddle the track, but it is also a song with unmistakable charm.

“Tonight the city is full of morgues / And all the toilets are overflowing,” Beck half-sings in the first verse. “There’s shopping malls coming out of the walls / As we walk out among the manure.”

Something both childish and visceral about those couplets stirs the listener — the way they bizarrely complement each other and invoke the imagery of barren and sludgy wasteland. Overflowing toilets, pointless shopping mall stripes, walking through literal feces, Beck tries over and over again to throw a monkey wrench into any lyrical thread through the song. The track is the embodiment of free association and exhibits Beck’s trademark blend of youthful immediacy.

“Pay No Mind (Snoozer)” is the perfect introduction to “Mellow

Gold,” an album that would have been left to rot had the rules of alternative rock not been thrown out at the start of the decade. With the explosion of grunge music and the quest to sign more alternative rock acts, Beck surely benefited from the tailwind of these exciting artists and found a major label knocking on his door soon after “Mellow Gold” hit the market.

Beck’s debut endures decades later because of just how forwardthinking it is.

The album sounds cheap, and it is cheap: It was recorded entirely on a four-track recorder at Beck’s friend’s house. I particularly enjoy the infectious stream-of-consciousness bop “Beercan,” a song that parallels the mood and ethos of the album’s towering opener, “Loser.”

With a shuffling drum beat and muddy bass line, Beck raps about swirling chickens, decapitation and game shows all before he even hits that genial and familiar chorus.

“Winos throwing Frisbees at the sun / Put my soul between a bun,” Beck exclaims in the catchy chorus. “Now I’m hungry, now I’m drunk / Now I’m running like a flaming pig.”

Upon the first chorus, the song shifts into a lengthy bizarre instrumental breakdown of haphazardly placed vocal snippets. A fuzzy and earth-shattering guitar chord rams into the song and throws the listener back into that musical chorus again.

The music video predictably makes no sense — it’s a psychedelic collage of a group of homeless people commiting property damage and running around various dilapidated backyards. To contextualize Beck’s debut within the larger canon of lo-fi indie-folk records, which are admittedly few and far between, is also important. Cult bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Dinosaur Jr., Duster, Dum Dum Girls and a few others influenced this underground subgenre, but very few were doing it on a major label, and even fewer were subject to a bidding war over just one song. Before the days of snippets blowing up on TikTok, this was an impressive and singular feat.

The LA-based polymath would go on to readily discredit the one-hitwonder diagnosis with his string of Grammy-Awards-winning albums.

But the magic and mystique of Beck for a vast majority of people started with “Mellow Gold,” his deliberately anti-commercial, unfriendly and lo-fi-infused folk-rap album. There’s no other debut album quite like it, nor should there be.

Nothing has encapsulated this sinking acknowledgment of poverty and slacking off better than “Mellow Gold.” Even stacked against other lo-fi folk or rap albums — which predictably few exist — “Mellow Gold” decidedly works, even 30 years later.

Beck’s debut endures decades later because of just how forward-thinking it is with its marriage of folk, hip-hop and a religious adherence to the DIY aesthetic.

– Contact Ari Segal at pine.segal@emory.edu

rap, R&B and pop, Lizzo encapsulates the infectious energy of unabashed femininity. The singer toasts to the power of all women. On “Like a Girl,” Lizzo encourages her sisters to shatter the glass ceiling. “Woke up feelin’ like I just might run for president / Even if there ain’t no precedent,” she sings.

What is so refreshing about “Cuz I Love You” is Lizzo’s unapologetic confidence and glorification of her femininity. For Lizzo, being feminine is an admission of power, not weakness. She celebrates her body, her sexuality and her intellect. “True love finally happens when you by yourself,” she suggests on “Soulmate.”

‘Cuz I Love You’ by Lizzo (2019)

While womanhood is by no means simple, a uniquely beautiful joy emerges when the silly, sassy and sensual elements of this state are celebrated. On “Cuz I Love You,” a musical fusion of

MUSIC REVIEW

This album is the perfect background music for a girls’ night, a dance party or even a solo hype session. Something wonderful for every woman to find lay within “Cuz I Love You,” however cheesy it may sound. On her most recent album, “Special” (2022), Lizzo reaffirms her commitment to empowering, inspiring and energizing all women. One of my mom’s favorite lyrics comes from Lizzo’s track “Grrrls”: “That’s my girl, we CEO’s / And dancin’ like a C-E-ho.” Of all the ways to honor my femininity, singing that line with my mom is my absolute favorite.

– Contact Catherine Goodman at catherine.goodman@emory.edu

Faye Webster releases poised, vulnerable new album

B y S amuel t emple s t A ff w riter

Faye Webster’s fifth studio album, “Underdressed at the Symphony,” provides a window into the 26-year-old singer’s mind through its candid lyrics and soft, simple sound. The indie rock and R&B project was released on March 1 and follows her 2021 release, “I Know I’m Funny haha.” Webster is known for being forthcoming and amusingly colloquial in her music, something that she builds upon in her latest work.

Webster released her first album, “Run and Tell,” when she was 16. Since then, she has released four additional projects, establishing a substantial and consistent discography. Her youth is well-expressed in her music through her laid-back sound and comically frank lyrics. Her grandfather was a bluegrass musician and her mother a fiddler, and hints of country, folk and blues color her music.

She has a soft, buttery voice that glides across string instruments and woodwinds textured by a cacophony of other sounds.

In “Underdressed at the Symphony,” Webster develops an air of confidence that provides a smooth listening experience. The album is not going to make listeners want to get up and dance, but rather feel as though they are slowly sinking into a pool of molasses. Webster’s vocals are gooey and clean, and they are backed by simple, jazzy instrumentals that could refine a nice brunch or be played poolside at a resort.

Though Webster is not elaborate with her lyrics, there is a sincerity to each song that is both comforting and intriguing. It is clear that she intended to open up to listeners with “Underdressed at the Symphony,” and despite its unpretentiousness, Webster imbues the project with meaning. The repetition of “my baby loves me / yeah he loves me / yeah” throughout almost

all of “He Loves Me Yeah,” for example, is suggestive of insecurity within a relationship.

The standout element of the album is how well Webster’s vocals complement each instrument. She has a soft, buttery voice that glides across string instruments and woodwinds textured by a cacophony of other sounds, such as a bell or guiro. Upon first listen, each track is deceptively plain. A closer listen, however, reveals several subdued melodies that come together to create quite a complex sound.

Though each song is distinct, there is a numbing effect to the consistency and effortlessness of Webster’s sound. This encourages the audience to drift off into a comfortable haze, which brings both good and bad listening experiences. It became difficult at times to remain engaged and, at first listen, I was far less impressed than I was after I had listened through the album a couple times. The nuances of “Underdressed at the Symphony” do not exactly jump out at the listener, and I could see why it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

“Lego Ring,” a collaboration with rapper Lil Yachty, which was released as a single on Jan. 4, provides an interesting break in the monotony. I found Lil Yachty’s performance to be surprising, yet a touch lackluster. “He Loves Me Yeah” does a far better job of introducing an upbeat touch to the album, with a cool combination of soft piano and electric guitar. Similarly, Webster’s use of autotune in “Feeling Good Today” is both interesting and aurally pleasing.

In “Underdressed at the Symphony,” Webster puts together a catchy, relatable album with impressive subtlety and a unique sound. She truly plays to her strengths as an artist through elegantly unadorned lyrics and music. References to visiting her brother and his new girlfriend, taking her dog outside and calling an exterminator remind the listener that Webster, just like the rest of us, has to deal with life’s petty ups and downs. “Underdressed at the Symphony” exudes sluggishness and emphasizes the ordinary, though Webster’s performance is anything but.

– Contact Samuel Temple at samuel.temple@emory.edu

Sports The Emory Wheel

Women’s basketball exits NCAA tournament after first-round loss

By Madeline Shapiro Sports Editor

The Emory University women’s basketball team’s 2023-24 season came to a close on March 1 when the team lost 64-54 to the Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) Battling Bishops in the first round of the NCAA Division III

Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Eagles finished the season with a 19-7 overall record and a 9-5 conference record.

Senior guard Izzy Munson opened the game with a jump shot, but the Eagles got off to a slow start, trailing 15-8 with 2:54 left on the clock.

After a timeout, Emory regrouped and went on a 10-0 run: Graduate guard Claire Brock converted a three-point shot to tie the game, and three additional points from junior guard Daniella Aronsky gave the Eagles an 18-15 lead at the end of the first period.

The Bishops responded in the second quarter, taking a 23-18 lead. Despite three-point shots from Brock and Aronsky keeping the game tight, the Bishops found scoring form again in the last minutes of the second quarter, taking a 33-24 lead into halftime.

Both teams failed to score in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter. Brock scored eight points and freshman guard Alexandra Loucopoulos scored four points, but the Bishops maintained a 49-40 lead heading into the final quarter of the game.

The Bishops and the Eagles went back and forth in the final quarter. Emory managed to cut the Bishops’ lead to six when Aronsky converted another three-pointer, but the Bishops scored four unanswered points to end

the game 64-54.

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Misha Jackson said the Eagles suffered with rebounding during their game against the Bishops.

“It’s tough to give a really good team like that so many extra possessions,” Jackson said. “When you give them 15 to 16 extra chances, that’s gonna be tough to win.”

Sophomore forward Katherine Martini said the team has learned to fight through adversity in games, and looking ahead to next season, the team will work on rebounding and defensive

intensity.

“I think what we’re gonna focus on next season is making sure that we have all those aspects, the offensive aspect and defensive aspects, together at one time, because once we can do that, our team will be virtually unstoppable in my opinion,” Martini said.

The game marked the team’s sixth national tournament appearance in program history, as well as the team’s first consecutive appearance. Jackson noted that returning to the postseason is “huge” for the team.

Women’s tennis builds spring baseline

By SaSha MelaMud Staff Writer

The Emory University women’s tennis team embarked on a fivehour trip to Nicholasville, Ky., for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Indoor Tennis Championships last weekend. During the threeday tournament from March 1 to 3, the Eagles faced off against Johns Hopkins University (Md.), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) (Pa.) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), placing fifth after the final round.

Last season, Emory faced MIT on the first day of the ITA Championships and lost by a single point. The team’s opening match this year was against No. 8 ranked Johns Hopkins, which was the first time the two teams played against each other this season.

It came down to the final match against Johns Hopkins to decide who would win that day with the score tied 3-3. Senior Ilayda Baykan lost the last singles match of the day, resulting in a 4-3 loss for the Eagles. Senior Ana Cristina Perez noted the team had adjusted to their opponent’s playing style “a bit too late.”

Despite the loss, half of the Eagles’ singles players won their matches. Head coach Bridget Disher described the loss against Johns Hopkins as a “valuable experience.”

“The biggest takeaway for them is you often learn more from a loss than a win at this point in the season,” Disher said. “So yes, hard to swallow, but at the same time I don’t think we would have reflected quite as deeply on the match had we won it.”

The loss provided motivation for the following day of competition when the Eagles annihilated Carnegie Mellon by a score of 6-1. Three of the women bested the Tartans in two sets, including freshman Yanire Marte, the only freshman on the team, who won her singles match (6-0, 6-0).

“The biggest takeaway for them is you often learn more from a loss than a win at this point in the season.”

— Bridget Disher

“Yanire has jumped right in,” Disher said “She wants to do the extra work, she wants to come in and watch tape, she wants to do all of the things that are going to make her a better player, but she’s really focused on being a pivotal part of the team.”

On the third day of the championship, the Eagles faced MIT for a clinch match, in which the game is over once a player reaches four points. The Eagles won the singles’ clinch match 4-0. Sophomore Emily Kantrovitz said beating MIT was really a “full circle moment” after last season’s loss.

Kantrovitz and Perez went undefeated throughout the tournament in singles matches and as partners in the doubles matches.

“Ana is so fun to play with,” Kantrovitz said. “She can literally get to any ball. She slides around the court like she’s playing on clay even though it’s a hard court.”

Perez also had nothing but kind words for her doubles partner.

“Emily’s honestly the best doubles partner I could ever ask for,” Perez said. “It’s just so calming to have her there next to me on this side of the net because I know I can trust her.”

Disher said the team plans to focus on the process for the rest of the season rather than specific tournament performances.

“For us, to be able to execute under pressure is going to be one of our biggest goals,” Disher said. “I think that is going to allow us to reach our ultimate goal of competing for a national championship at the end of the year.”

— Contact Sasha Melamud at sasha.melamud@emory.edu

“We try to make sure we’re consistently always going [to the tournament],” Jackson said. “It’s very rare that you see teams here that don’t make the tournament, so our program has needed to catch up, and it’s good to see we’re taking steps in the right direction.”

Martini noted that the back-to-back appearances have helped the program establish a standard of making the tournament every year.

“This season, our team has made great strides in building a reputation for Emory women’s basketball,”

Martini said.

Junior forward Erin Martin said the team’s first-round loss was “bittersweet,” but players gained good experience for future seasons.

“I wish, and I bet my teammates wish, that we were still playing and going through March,” Martin said. “But reflecting on the season, it was a great season for us, especially being able to go back to the tournament and at least accomplish one of the goals we set out to this season.”

The three graduating players on the team, Brock, Munson and senior forward Paige Gross, have had a “tremendous” impact on the program, Jackson added.

“Their loyalty to our program and Emory has been huge,” Jackson said. “The pride they have for Emory and women’s basketball has been tremendous and they’re gonna be really hard to replace. It’s gonna be big, big shoes to fill for underclassmen.”

Martin echoed Jackson’s sentiments, calling the three graduating players the “heart and soul” of the team. She added that the seniors have led by example during their Emory basketball careers.

This season, the team achieved its highest-ever national ranking at No. 6, beat several ranked teams and went on a 12-game win streak from Nov. 12, 2023 to Jan. 14. Brock, Aronsky and junior forward Morgan Laudick also earned All-UAA accolades.

“Overall, I think it was a really good season for our program,” Jackson said. “It’s probably one of our better seasons, or one of our best seasons, in our program’s history.”

— Contact Madeline Shapiro at madeline.shapiro@emory.edu

Justin Whitening/staff Photogra Pher Freshman guard Alexandra Loucopoulos dribbles during a game against Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) on Feb. 9. Emory lost 72-61.