Jan 24, 2024

Since 1919

The Emory Wheel Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Volume 105, Issue 1

Emory settles for $18.5 million in financial aid price-fixing lawsuit

By Spencer Friedland News Editor Emory University has settled its financial aid price-fixing lawsuit for $18.5 million, according to a legal brief obtained by The Emory Wheel. The University of Chicago settled prior to all other accused universities last year for $13.5 million.

“While Emory continues to believe the plaintiffs’ claims have no merit, we are pleased the litigation is behind us,” Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond wrote in a statement to the Wheel.

The lawsuit is premised on arguments that 17 private elite universities were or currently are involved in the 568 Presidents Group, also known as the 568 Cartel. The 568 Presidents Group was formed in 1998, and all institutions in the group must practice need-blind admissions. The group created the Consensus Approach Methodology in 2003, which is a standardized method for universities to calculate an applicant’s family’s ability to pay tuition.

The plaintiffs allege that the 17 universities engaged in price fixing, or artificially inflating the net cost of attendance for students receiving financial aid. Such action would violate antitrust laws.

Emory, alongside the 16 other schools named in the lawsuit, previously tried to dismiss the case.

However, an Illinois federal district court judge denied the universities’ motion to dismiss the case on Aug. 15. 2022.

Additionally, Emory, the University

See EMORY, Page 2

Printed every other wednesday

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Emory returns looted artifacts to Greece after 16 years

By JacK rutherFOrd and aMelia daSari Asst. News Editor & Atlanta Events Desk The Michael C. Carlos Museum returned three illicitly exported artifacts held in its collection to Greece on Jan. 22. The pieces — a marble sculpture of a goddess or muse, an ancient bathtub and a marble seated figure — were acquired by the museum in the early 2000s.

A “Seated Figure from a Grave Naiskos,” one of the pieces Emory returned on Monday, was part of a records archive of looted antiquities seized by Swiss authorities in 2002.

Another, “Bathtub (Larnax),” is believed to have previously been in antiquities trafficker Gianfranco Becchina’s possession, suggesting it was looted.

The Carlos Museum bought the third artifact, “Statue of a Goddess or Muse (Terpsichore),” in 2002 from dealer Robert Hecht, who was charged with trafficking illegally excavated antiquities, with evidence suggesting that the statue was uncovered in 1997 during illicit excavations. However, Hecht was never convicted.

Professor Emerita of History Cynthia Patterson said she has a hard time believing the Carlos Museum staff did not know the statue was looted when the purchase was made, pointing out that the museum’s curator of Greek and Roman art at the time previously worked under Hecht before joining Emory.

Patterson added that the statue was delivered to Emory in two pieces, noting that looters often break objects to sell them without drawing attention to themselves or for easier

hannah Xu/ContrIbutIng PhotograPherr

The Michael C. Carlos Museum returned three illicitly exported pieces to Greece on Jan. 22. transportation.

“Looting is a really serious problem,” Patterson said. “Many people don't realize what a dark and dirty business it is.”

The Greek Ministry of Culture informed the Carlos Museum in 2007 that two of the three artifacts had been stolen from Greece and requested their return, accord-

ing to the Chronicle’s investigation.

However, the museum did not act on the requests until now. In April 2023, the Carlos Museum met with representatives from the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in Athens, Greece and the representatives re-presented the evidence that the antiquities were trafficked.

Hellenic Republic Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, who spoke at a press conference at the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on Monday, expressed her gratitude that the items were returning to Greece after 15 years of “constantly adding new evidence” to prove that the objects were illegally trafficked.

See AGREEMENT, Page 3

Lullwater PATH project suspended 2024 ELECTION

By Madi Olivier and Spencer Friedland Managing Editor & News Editor DeKalb County indefinitely suspended the project to construct a 10-foot wide cement path along the South Fork Peachtree Creek due to a lack of funding, according to Oxford College Assistant Teaching Professor of Biology Michael Martin. The path, which sparked controversy among students and faculty last year, was proposed to run through Lullwater Preserve in a joint venture among the PATH Foundation, DeKalb County and Emory University’s Office of Master Planning. Martin, who chairs the University Senate’s Committee on the Environment (COE), said the committee is happy with the decision because they believe the path would do more harm than good.

“We’re excited that at this point the path won’t be moving forward,” Martin said. “There is the possibility that when funding becomes available, the plan could move forward.”

Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond wrote in an email to The Emory Wheel that the University “respects the county’s decision.”

Emory Ecological Society Director of Communications and Founder Nick Chang (24C) has previously expressed concerns about the negative environmental impacts of the proposed path.

He mentioned that the path could potentially harm endangered starvine, which Lullwater has the largest population of in the world. The path could also adversely affect the water quality in South Fork Peachtree Creek and the Chattahoochee crayfish population.

Associate Teaching Professor of Environmental Sciences John Wegner raised similar environmental concerns. Wegner, who joined Emory in 1998 partly because he could teach in Lullwater, said he has strongly opposed any construction through the preserve for several years.

“I was under the impression that pedagogy, teaching was part of the mission of the University,” Weger said.

“It was like my laboratory was going to be destroyed, or at least severely impacted.”

Although Martin stated that DeKalb County suspended the project for economic reasons, former Office of Sustainability Initiatives Intern Bella Roeske (24C) said that she had hoped

See FUNDING, Page 4

Trump wins New Hampshire, Haley continues run By ayla Khan Politics Desk

Former U.S. President Donald Trump emerged victorious in last night’s New Hampshire Republican primary election, securing 54.8% of the votes, as of press time. His competitor, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, came in second with 43.2% of the votes placed, adding eight delegates to her tally.

The New Hampshire primary election had 22 delegates up for grabs, with Trump and Haley obtaining 11 and 8 delegates, respectively, as of press time. The state allocates delegates proportionally to the percentage of votes a candidate receives.

Following his New Hampshire win, Trump took the stage to address his supporters, maintaining confidence in his ability to win the Republican presidential bid.

“We won in 2016,” Trump said to the crowd. “If you really remember and want to play it straight, we also won in 2020.”

Despite placing third in the Iowa

Ivana Chen/Staff IlluStrator

caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary election, Haley maintained resolve in continuing her campaign to South Carolina’s Feb. 3 Republican primary election.

“This race is far from over,” Haley told a crowd in New Hampshire.

“There are dozens of states left to go, and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sus-

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pended his presidential campaign on Jan. 21 following a loss in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucus, making Trump and Haley the last major candidates in the race for the Republican party presidential nomination.

DeSantis’ decision to drop may have been fueled by pressure to rebuild connections with the rest

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'Wonderfully complex and gifted’ former Oxford dean dies at 81 By lauren yee Asst. News Editor Former Oxford College Dean Dana Greene (71G), who was the first woman to hold the position, died on Dec. 29, 2023, in her home at 81 years old. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Richard Roesel (69L), and four daughters: Kristin, Justin, Lauren and Ryan.

Greene was born on May 20, 1942 in Port Monmouth, N.J. At her memorial mass, held on Jan. 3 at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Alexandria, Va., Greene’s daughter, Lauren Greene-Roesel, read a prayer Roesel wrote in honor of her mother.

“Continue to inspire us with your love of the spiritual, the source of all life, with your constancy, grace, compassion, inspiration and guidance of our daughters in imagining the fullness of what a woman can be, and immediate attention to the needs of the moment,” Greene-Roesel read.

Academic journey After earning a bachelor’s degree in history at the College of New Rochelle (N.Y.), Greene served in the Peace Corps in Tilaran, Costa Rica, an Israeli kibbutz and rural Spain. Greene later received her master’s degree in history from Northern Illinois University and completed a Ph.D. in humanities at Emory University’s Laney Graduate School.

Roesel noted that despite misguided perceptions of women in higher education in the 1960s, Greene raised awareness of gender inequality and discussed issues such as the lack of female mentors in Emory’s faculty. As a graduate student, Greene formed a women’s liberation group that successfully pushed Emory to grant more scholarships and fellowships to women.

For almost three decades, Greene served as associate provost for faculty affairs and a history faculty member at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She dedicated her research to exploring the intersection of religion and creativity in women’s lives, writing biographies on the lives of abolitionist Lucretia Mott, suffragist Olympia Brown, writers Evelyn Underhill and Maisie Ward and poets Denise Levertov, Elizabeth Jennings and Jane Kenyon.

“She was always fascinated with the excavation of women’s lives and really

getting to know them in their own right rather than through the filter of men’s perceptions,” Roesel said.

Personal life Greene and Roesel met at church services while attending Emory. They got married in 1968.

Roesel described his wife as a “wonderfully complex and gifted woman.”

He saw her not only as an organized academic administrator, but also a kind friend who put effort into staying in touch with people. Roesel explained that Greene knew everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries, and she constantly sent notes to people. She sent about 250 Christmas cards to her friends this past holiday season.

“She had just this huge, huge group of people that she remained in contact with,” Roesel said. “It wasn’t just contact — she was aware of what was happening in their lives.”

Greene and her husband walked together every day, which Roesel called a cornerstone of their marriage.

“That brought us a level of closeness that many marital couples don’t get because you don’t really spend a lot of time in conversational sharing,” Roesel said. “They’re too busy with other things, but with us, conversation was always central to our marriage.”

As the former executive director of Emory’s Aquinas Center of Theology, Greene’s Catholic faith was very important to her, according to Roesel. She began each day by reciting a prayer for 30 to 40 people. Greene also engaged in activist Catholic journalism, writing articles for the National Catholic Reporter.

One of Greene’s favorite pastimes was to travel. She visited 36 countries throughout her life, Roesel said.

Greene urged her daughters to travel the world and ensured they had goals beyond simply getting married and being mothers.

When Greene and Roesel got married, Greene insisted on keeping her last name, Roesel said. Greene’s determination to recognize “the fullness of being a woman” is among Roesel’s happiest memories of her.

“That’s the kind of initiative Dana took well before it was perceived as something a respectable woman would do, to maintain her own identity after marriage,” Roesel said.

Roesel added that Greene had a

CourteSy of emory unIverSIty

Dana Greene (71G), the first woman to serve as Oxford College's dean, died on Dec. 29, 2023. love for poetry and visiting museums, noting that she possessed an “avid intellectual curiosity.” He recalled that in the last few years, he and Greene would spend an hour-and-a-half every evening watching The Great Courses, a series of online courses taught by award-winning experts. They especially enjoyed watching history courses, as Greene appreciated learning more about the world.

“We had a very, very happy marriage,” Roesel said. “It may be an exaggeration to say I enjoyed every minute, but I certainly enjoyed almost every minute of it. She just was a wonderful person to be with.”

Legacy at Oxford Greene became the first female dean of Oxford College in 1999, and she served in the role for six years.

Roesel commended Greene’s commitment to serving others, and Oxford Dean Badia Ahad said Greene placed great importance on social justice.

LGBTQ+ couples were not allowed to get married in Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on Emory’s Atlanta campus during Greene’s tenure as dean, but she advocated for gay marriage to be recognized even when the law did not permit it, according to Roesel. Additionally, Greene championed a local effort to recover African American graves at the Oxford Cemetery. “[Her Catholic faith] really inspired her to really be invested and committed to social justice, advancing the social good and really demonstrating

an ethic of care for others,” Ahad said.

Pierce Program in Religion Director David Gowler said that Greene was an “outstanding administrator and visionary.”

“Dean Greene really began the renaissance of Oxford within Emory, beginning the transformation that is so evident today,” Gowler said.

Former Oxford Dean of Campus Life Joseph Moon worked closely with Greene but said he was still taken aback to see the “breadth of her life” outside Emory. He described her as very intelligent, a terrific orator and gifted writer. He admired her role as “a steady hand” in the days after 9/11.

While he said it was a difficult time for everyone, Moon remembered that Greene helped the Oxford community move forward by offering support resources and continuing classes.

Shortly after assuming the role, Greene hired Charles Howard Candler Professor of History Susan Ashmore in 2000. Ashmore said Greene would meet with untenured faculty regularly, noting that Greene not only nurtured new faculty but also guided the direction of Oxford.

“She just had a way about her that respected your integrity as well as your position and what you could do for the students and for the college as a whole,” Ashmore said.

Ashmore elaborated that Greene urged Ashmore to attend Southern Historical Association meetings and publish her work, which Ashmore said was especially meaningful to her as a new professor.

Greene also supported Ahad, who

expressed gratitude to the former dean and shared that Greene wrote her a “lovely note” upon her appointment to the role in May 2023.

Oxford established the Pierce Program in Religion in 2020 to celebrate Greene’s impact on campus.

The University also started the Dana Greene Distinguished Lecture Series, which aims to bring notable leaders who exemplify and encourage intellectual discovery and creativity to Oxford.

Greene gave the first speech in the lecture series, Gowler said. He noted that Greene personally inspired him, leaving him feeling greatly indebted to the former dean.

“We focus on social justice issues as part of our initiatives,” Gowler said.

“I thought that Dana Greene would be the perfect person to name a lecture series to that effect in her honor and now her memory.”

Ahad said she believes Greene’s legacy is still alive at Oxford and in the people she inspired throughout her life.

“She really wanted to use her platform in higher education to make the world a better place, and I think that’s why we’re all here at the end of the day,” Ahad said.

Memorial services in Greene’s honor will be held at Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, Va. the weekend of Feb. 17.

News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) contributed reporting.

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

Emory asserts that accusations have 'no merit' in lawsuit Continued from Page 1 of Chicago and Brown University (R.I.) were uniquely involved in the lawsuit because they alleged that they quit the conspiracy. Specifically, Emory joined the Cartel in 1998, implemented the Consensus Approach Methodology in 2003 and allegedly left the Cartel in 2012, according to the lawsuit.

Yale University (Conn.) settled for $18.5 million, Brown settled for $19.5 million, Columbia University (N.Y.) settled for $24 million and Duke University (N.C.) settled for $24 million, according to the brief. Public filings state that Vanderbilt University (Tenn.) has agreed in principle to a settlement but the dollar amount has not been publicized.

Universities named in the lawsuit that have not yet settled are the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University (Ill.), Georgetown University (D.C.), California Institute of Technology, Cornell University (N.Y.), University

a lly hom/former Photo edItor

Emory University settled its price-fixing lawsuit for $18.5 million. of Notre Dame (Ind.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University (Md.), Dartmouth College (N.H.) and Rice University (Texas).

Freedman Normand Friedland LLP Partner Ted Normand, one of the lead counsel for the plaintiffs, stated in a Tuesday press release that the settlements are a “significant benefit” for members of the proposed class-action lawsuit.

Gilbert Litigators and Counselors Managing Partner Robert Gilbert,

another lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that the universities that have not yet settled should do so.

“It is past time for the presidents and governing bodies of the remaining defendants to stand up and do the right thing for their students and alumni, and resolve the overcharges to middle class and working class students that stemmed from the twenty years of collusion on financial aid by elite universities,” Gilbert said.

According to the brief obtained by

the Wheel, all 17 universities stated that they would admit students without considering their or their families’ financial circumstances. This allowed the universities to claim antitrust exemption so they could share analysis of financial aid awards.

The plaintiffs also alleged that the universities conspired when awarding financial aid and violated the antitrust exemption by practicing “wealth favoritism” within the admissions process when wealthy families made substantial donations to their respective institutions, according to the brief.

Documents filed at the U.S. District Court in Chicago yesterday state that the plaintiffs used a strategy that increased the settlement amounts of each subsequent agreement to exert pressure on universities that had not yet settled.

Loyola University Chicago School of Law Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies Director Spencer Waller said

that defendants are under “a lot of pressure” to resolve cases quickly. He noted that as part of the settlements, universities can agree to share information with the plaintiffs in exchange for a lower settlement, which is an agreement that may not be available to those who settle later.

“Defendants, in general, try to dismiss a case at the earliest possible time because … that can result in total victory and much lower attorneys fees,” Waller said.

Additionally, Waller said that going to trial could give the universities bad publicity and force the institutions to pay “buckets of money times three.”

“Our focus has been and always will be to make an Emory education accessible to all talented students, regardless of their financial resources, and we look forward to continuing that mission,” Diamond wrote.

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

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Agreement with Greece opens excavation opportunities for Emory students Continued from Page 1

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Hellenic Republic Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda sign a cultural cooperation agreement.

“In this respect, the Carlos Museum joins an expanding list of museums around the world which in recent years is making a significant effort to investigate, with an open mind and without prejudice, difficult questions about the provenance of the objects in their collections,” Mendoni said.

Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda and Medoni signed an agreement of cultural cooperation that returned the artifacts. The agreement also provides expanded opportunities for Emory students, faculty and staff to participate in Greek archaeological dig sites and excavations.

“It is an important agreement for us all,” Bellamkonda said. “It signals our sincere intent to deepen our relationships and collaborate on our shared missions of study and sharing and protecting free culture and doing so to the highest ethical and

academic standards possible.”

Associate Vice Provost and Carlos Museum Director Henry Kim stressed that the partnership between Emory and Greece goes beyond simply the repatriation of the artifacts.

“It is also about establishing the formal partnership between the museum and the Ministry of Culture so that we can actually partner with museums with grace, for the exchange of objects and also the development of exhibitions together,” Kim said.

The Carlos Museum returned five looted Italian artifacts last year after an August investigation by The Chronicle of Higher Education stated that at least 218 pieces owned by the museum had passed through people convicted of or indicted on charges related to antiques trafficking or falsifying information about the origin of certain pieces.

When asked whether the University has plans to return the other potentially looted artifacts,

Assistant Registrar and Provenance Researcher Annie Shanley (15G) said that the Carlos Museum will investigate if other artifacts in their possession are stolen.

“If the evidence arises in the future, then we will take steps to reach out to the countries of origin and arrange their return,” Shanley said.

Patterson said that there was still more work to be done on Emory’s part.

“All students and the whole entire Emory community would benefit from an open discussion and education in the antiquities market,” Patterson said. “How it works … what the structures are, what the networks are and what the consequences are of purchasing from the market and from the dealers.”

— Contact Jack Rutherford at jack.rutherford@emory.edu and Amelia Dasari at amelia.dasari@emory.edu

Emory mourns loss of 'brilliant' student Krisha Patel By hilary BarKey Science & Technology Desk Krisha Patel, a sophomore at Oxford College who was known to many as caring, thoughtful and genuine to friends and strangers alike, died on Dec. 3, 2023 at 19 years old. She is survived by her mother, Parul Patel, and her father, Bimal Patel.

Born in Bellflower, Calif. on May 22, 2004 before moving to Irvine, Calif. as a child, Krisha was a “happy-go-lucky” kid who wore princess dresses and tiaras to school. She frequently listened to her grandmother’s stories before she could read books on her own, a passion that led to her listening to over 1,600 audiobooks of all genres in the last year of her life, her parents said. Parul Patel remarked that while Krisha would listen to the audiobooks at triple speed, she still absorbed all the information and enjoyed discussing the books.

Krisha loved animals, housesitting her neighbors’ pets and walking dogs in her neighborhood.

She took great care of her hamster, Parul Patel said, adding that she hoped to adopt more animals, especially a cat, when she was older.

“She always talked about growing up, she’ll have two apartments: one for her and then one for all the animals she was going to house,” Bimal Patel said.

Krisha enjoyed biking and going to coffee shops with her friends.

When she was younger, she played

soccer and did gymnastics, and she later went on to play tennis for her high school team, Parul Patel said.

Krisha also liked to spend time in the kitchen. Some of her specialty recipes included banana bread and soups, which Parul Patel said she would make in “really creative” ways. When Krisha needed to de-stress, she often liked to roam grocery store aisles.

Parul Patel highlighted that Krisha was thoughtful beyond her years, remembering that she did not let her work define her and instead focused on what made her happy. Her parents believe Krisha’s biggest accomplishment was how she affected others — she made “a lot of people feel very, very special,” Parul Patel said.

“One [person] said, ‘I would not have gone through high school without Krisha; I would have dropped out,’” Parul Patel said.

Noah Lian (23Ox, 25C) met Krisha about one year ago in a Harry Potter-themed course. They “clicked instantly” and became friends over winter break after Krisha reached out to him, Lian said. He remarked that he felt like he had known her “forever” when they talked.

“She didn’t really need to try that hard to make people like her,” Lian said. “She had a personality that was very magnetic.”

Nayana Gowda (24Ox) became friends with Krisha during her second semester at Oxford. She said one of her favorite qualities about Krisha was that she saw the good in people.

“She never put anyone down,

The Emory Wheel Volume 105, Issue 1 © 2024 The Emory Wheel Alumni Memorial University Center, Room 401 630 Means Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322 Business (404) 727-6178 Editors-in-Chief Matthew Chupack and Sarah Davis matthew.chupack@emory.edu sarah.davis@emory.edu

Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University in Atlanta. The Wheel is a member publication of Media Council, Emory’s organization of student publications. The Wheel reserves the rights to all content as it appears 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.

ever,” Gowda said. “She would always just think very positive about others, whether she knew them very well or not.”

On campus, Krisha started as a biology major but switched her course of study and planned to attend Goizueta Business School, according to her parents. On top of classes, Krisha was a statistics tutor, on the Oxford Art Club executive board and a member of Assistant Professor of Biology Emily McLean’s genetics lab, alongside Gowda.

“Krisha really impressed me with how detail-oriented she was and thoughtful,” McLean said. “She was also really kind and patient with the other students in her lab grouping class.”

Lian added that Krisha was a straight-A student but would never brag about her intelligence.

“She downplayed everything that she did, but I knew and I could see from her that she was just really brilliant,” Lian said.

Berkeley Borkert (23Ox, 26C) first met Krisha in a biology lab course last year. They grew closer when they had an economics class together the following semester.

“When you first meet her, the first thing you notice about her is just the genuine kindness that she exudes,” Borkert said. “She always walked with a little bounce in her step.

She had very cute style. She always smiled at people walking by, even if she didn’t know them super well.”

Borkert remembered that Krisha invited her over last year to study for their first economics exam, but their books and laptops were closed within five to ten minutes as they dove into the “most engaging conversation” Borkert ever had with somebody she just met.

“Since then, we were pretty much inseparable,” Borkert said. “Texted every single day of the summer, did a lot of things together all the time, always made time for each other.”

Lian, Gowda and Borkert all emphasized the thoughtfulness and care Krisha exhibited in each of her friendships. Lian said that Krisha, who enjoyed art, made personalized gifts for her friends based on inside jokes and experiences. They all highlighted how Krisha would frequently check up on her friends, with Borkert underscoring Krisha’s “generosity” toward others.

“I think she wants to be remembered as someone who was

CourteSy of mehta Patel

Krisha Patel is remembered as a dedicated and caring student who left an impact on the Oxford College community. loving, was caring and most of all was so real,” Lian said. “I felt so comfortable being around her and I really, really trusted her with everything that I had.”

Krisha’s death is a “huge loss” to the Emory community, Borkert said.

“The loss of Krisha is a tragedy for those who loved her and for our entire community,” Oxford Dean Badia Ahad wrote in an email to the Wheel.

“I’ve had the opportunity to talk with her parents, some of her friends, and some of her professors over the last few weeks about her many gifts and the spirit she brought to our community. She was a treasured daughter; a loving and loyal friend; a bright, curious, hardworking and engaged student with a deep sense of integrity and justice; and a devoted

member of her faith community.”

Lian expanded on Ahad’s sentiments, speaking to his personal experience as Krisha’s friend.

“She made an impact on a lot of people,” Lian said. “I didn’t really realize how important she was to me until she left.”

Emory will host a memorial service for Krisha on Friday, Feb. 2, at 3:30 p.m. in the Oxford Student Center’s (OSC) Greer Forum. A reception in the OSC’s Mural Room will immediately follow. There will also be a Zoom option for those unable to attend in person. Please view the online version of this article at emorywheel.com for the Zoom link.

— Contact Hilary Barkey at hilary.barkey@emory.edu

4 Wednesday, January 24, 2024

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The Emory Wheel

Turmoil grips U.S. higher education amid Israel-Hamas war

By JacK rutherFOrd Asst. News Editor Universities across the United States have been thrust into the national spotlight as they respond to student activism and outside pressure related to the Israel-Hamas war, as well as increasing antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses across the United States.

Like many colleges across the United States, Emory University experienced division on campus last semester, with student protesters at an October 2023 rally demanding the University condemn the loss of Palestinian lives. The protest drew criticism from University President Gregory Fenves for the use of “antisemitic phrases.” Pro-Israel groups also held demonstrations, including a protest after a Jewish student was allegedly harassed for wearing a kippah on Cox Bridge.

The Israel-Hamas war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023 with Hamas’ incursions into Israel, has resulted in over 25,000 deaths. The Israel Defense Forces are continuing their ground and air offensive to take control over the northern section of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that the United States and other countries have designated as a terrorist organization.

Dissent, division on campuses nationwide Student protests have sparked backlash from university administrators, with Columbia University (N.Y.), Brandeis University (Mass.) and George Washington University (D.C.) all banning or temporarily restricting the activity of their respective chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Columbia and Brandeis also suspended their chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an anti-Zionist Jewish organization.

Both Columbia and George Washington University cited violations of their code of conduct in their decision to suspend these organizations. Brandeis, however, derecognized the group in a statement because “SJP openly supports Hamas.”

Emory has not suspended any clubs related to Israel or Palestine, although alumni have called on the University to expel some Emory SJP (ESJP) members because of the group’s support of the “Free

JaCk rutherford/a SSt. newS edItor

Emory community members participate in an Emory Hillel demonstration on Nov. 1, 2023.

Palestine” movement.

Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Physics Ilya Nemenman, who chairs the University Senate’s Committee for Open Expression, said that colleges can react to prevent disruption to operations, but that groups advocating for controversial causes in a non-disruptive way should not generally be removed, even if officials may view their stance as “wrong.” These stipulations are outlined in Emory’s Respect for Open Expression Policy.

“Emory has a long history of supporting peaceful protests and encouraging our community members to express their opinions and concerns about issues that matter to them," Associate Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond wrote in a Jan. 19 email to The Emory Wheel. “We remain focused on providing a supportive environment for the Emory community.”

Emory-Israel Public Affairs Committee is a pro-Israel club that has helped organize campus demonstrations. President Sophie Kalmin (26C) expressed concern that decisions to ban or suspend the groups would have detrimental effects for students in the long term.

“These are valuable perspectives,” Kalmin said. “I’d be lying to you if I said that SJP, especially JVP, haven’t given me … important food for thought.”

Elijah (26T), an ESJP member who requested his last name remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, said suspending SJP and JVP will discourage open discussion on

Columbia’s campus.

“The university should facilitate conversations which might upset people so long as they don't harm people,” Elijah said. “Columbia has confused the two, between upset and harm.”

Increased calls for institutional neutrality Surrounding the environment of contentious campus speech, institutions like Princeton University (N.J.) and Vanderbilt University (Tenn.) have turned to variations of institutional neutrality as a potential model for handling student speech.

The University of Chicago’s Kalven Committee created the concept in 1967, stating that universities should refrain from taking a stance on current issues to avoid censoring any minority opinion and instead focus on facilitating debate and expression.

“A university’s paramount mission is to provide an environment for transformative education and pathbreaking research,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier argued in a December 2023 Forbes op-ed where he championed the approach.

“When it takes any position and sends a signal that one point of view is preferable over another — no matter how noble and well-intentioned the underlying issue — it creates a climate inconsistent with its purpose.”

Nemenman said he believes the approach is helpful at the University of Chicago by making people feel like they do not have to censor their

opinions for disagreeing with the majority.

“The University of Chicago, from my perspective, has done it better than most others,” Nemenman said.

However, Emory does not currently have a policy of neutrality and University administration has historically taken public stances on current events, such as issuing a statement standing with Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Elijah said that he believed neutrality policies would create a “flourishing” culture of debate and diversity of opinion. He was previously an undergraduate student at an institution that utilized neutrality policies, which he said promoted respectful debate and discussion and increased overall student political engagement.

However, Kalmin expressed concern that policies of institutional neutrality prevent institutions from responding to negative speech. She said that the doctrine can limit administrators’ abilities to create a safe campus environment for students.

Ivy League presidents resign Former Harvard University (Mass.) President Claudine Gay resigned on Jan. 2. This followed the former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill’s resignation on Dec. 9, 2023, coming less than a week after Gay and Magill appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the

Workforce.

During the hearing, Gay and Magill repeatedly refused to give a yes or no answer to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) questioning on whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Harvard and Pennsylvania’s student codes of conduct.

Kalmin said that the university leaders’ testimonies lacked moral clarity. Gay and Magill responded to Stefanik’s questioning on whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s student code of conduct by stating that it was context-dependent.

However, Kalmin said that there is no situation where calling for the genocide of any people is appropriate.

“Why is there a context in which calling for the genocide of a specific group is acceptable?” Kalmin said.

“You need to be very, very clear about that.”

Meanwhile, conservative activist Christopher Rufo accused Gay of academic plagiarism in her published works, including her doctoral dissertation, which played a role in her resignation.

Kalmin said she thinks that Gay’s testimony on antisemitism at the congressional hearing should have been enough to prompt her resignation.

“Why is plagiarism more offensive than refusing to condemn hatred?”

Kalmin said. “It scares me as a student. Condemn hatred … It’s really not that hard, and if it’s not something that you’re willing to resign over, then I don’t know.”

After the hearing, Gay was subject to pressure from notable alumni and activists, such as Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, who is Jewish and alleged that Gay failed to adequately condemn antisemitism on campus.

The Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, originally chose to retain Gay but later reversed its decision after an investigation prompted by reports of plagiarism in more of her published works.

Elijah said that he would like to see renewed, open dialogue between students and administrators at Emory to make sure students’ needs are being met at this time.

“I want to see that dialogue happen so that we can see a culture of care on this campus because I believe that's possible,” Elijah said.

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

DeSantis drops out of Funding difficulties halt PATH project race after loss in Iowa Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1 of the party, according to Associate Professor of Political Science Zachary Peskowitz.

“There’s pressure from the party and pressure from other Trumpaligned politicians, once you don't really have a chance anymore, to drop out and get on board,” Peskowitz said.

Trump’s success in the Republican primaries comes amid a month filled with frequent court appearances as he attempts to battle four indictments.

The former president faces multiple charges in four different states over allegations of election interference in Georgia, illegal possession of classified documents, falsifying business records of “hush money” payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels, as well as conspiring to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Despite his limited campaign engagement and ongoing legal bat-

a PrIl l awyer/Staff IlluStrator

tles, Trump maintains significant support among Republican voters.

Emor y School of Law Distinguished Professor Thomas Arthur said he believes these indictments may have only strengthened his presidential campaign, as the “Iowa layperson” may only notice that Trump’s indictments have a democratic prosecutor.

“It’s easy for the Trump guys to spin this as, ‘Look, they’re just coming to get me,’” Arthur said. .

— Contact Ayla Khan at ayla.khan@emory.edu

ecological concerns would have halted construction. Martin expressed a similar sentiment.

“COE is still concerned that the environmental impacts aren’t weighing heavily on the decision-making process,” Martin said. “If the path comes up again and moves forward, we’ll still have to make that case that the environmental impact is really too much.”

The path was intended to allow DeKalb County easy access to sewers in Lullwater, which have overflowed into county creeks and require repairs. However, both Martin and Wegner questioned if the path would truly help the county maintain the sewers. Wegner said that there is no apparent benefit to having the path near the sewers, as DeKalb County should already have access to the sewers under a past agreement with the University.

“If there’s a sewer that you need to get to that’s under the ground and now there’s a 10-foot path in that same area

that’s made of concrete — it was still uncertain to us that that was a reasonable justification for the path, that it would really make access to potential sewer spills easier for DeKalb County,” Martin said.

Although Chang opposes the path, he did express concern about the state of the sewers.

“That is the one thing that I agree with pretty much everyone on,” Chang said. “DeKalb County’s under a federal consent decree to fix the sewer lines because they’ve been overflowing for years.”

The project also aimed to provide an alternative commuter route to Emory. However, a 2023 survey conducted by Emory Bike Social found that 59.5% of respondents who bike to Emory would not use the proposed path in their commute. Wegner said the path would then essentially be a recreational trail — a concept that Acting Professor of Hematology and Oncology Carlton Dampier takes issue with. Dampier is a member of Save Our Creek, which is a group of Victoria

Estates citizens dedicated to stopping the project because the path would run along their neighborhood, which sits just north of Emory’s campus.

“There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to anybody and it doesn’t provide a recreational benefit to the people in the area,” Dampier said. “There’s no public entrance to this proposed path for any of the Victoria Estates neighbors except for the two or three of us whose property are next to the path.”

Martin suggested that DeKalb County should involve the Emory community in conversations surrounding the path if the project is revived in the future.

“We still remain quite concerned and really believe that Emory faculty and students really have an important voice in this and really want to make sure that they’re aware of what’s going on,” Dampier said.

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu and Spencer Friedland at spencer.friedland@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Opinion EDITORIAL

Turning the Wheel: Editorial Board in 2024 The Emory Wheel was named after an emery wheel, a sharpening device.

In symbolic spirit, the historical purpose of this paper is to sharpen the knowledge of the Emory University community.

As a new semester commences, and in the spirit of our namesake, we want to set intentions for both the Editorial Board and our hopes for the Wheel at large. We hope that as students, faculty and staff read this piece, they find insight into the Board’s process of generating well-informed, fact-based opinion articles.

Who we are This Board is composed of a diverse group of writers within the Wheel’s opinion section tasked with providing the Emory student body with thoughtprovoking dialogue on issues concerning our local community and the broader world. Although the articles written by the Board contain opinionated arguments, our stances are grounded in fact, thoroughly sourced both in online and paper versions.

We hope that the new changes implemented by the Wheel’s staff will strengthen our diversity and enhance our accessibility to readers.

This upcoming semester, the Board is dedicating itself to taking stronger, more nuanced stances in its articles,

acknowledging that we have curtailed the strength of our articles to avoid backlash in the past. Our audience can expect us to be bolder while upholding journalistic integrity.

We will write about major events going on in the world and on campus that are important to students, whether we receive pushback or not. If any reader disagrees with the argument of an editorial, they are welcome to submit a Letter to the Editor. Remember that the Wheel encourages anyone to write. If you feel that your viewpoint is not being represented, feel free to submit a piece. All opinions are welcome as long as they use facts to support their conclusions.

We also commit to sharing resources to promote involvement in the Atlanta community. Oftentimes, we discuss large political, social or economic failures that can leave the reader feeling hopeless. In our editorials, we strive to increase the visibility of local organizations that advocate for issues endorsed by the Board.

We seek to incorporate the views of individuals on Emory’s campus — whether that be professors or students. We seek to promote resources as a means of creating dialogue on a campus dedicated to change and knowledge.

Additionally, we recognize that the Board has not covered Oxford College campus events to the same degree as the Atlanta campus. As the Wheel serves both campuses, we commit to paying more attention to the students and events on the Oxford campus.

the news section are not allowed to write for the opinion section and thus not allowed to be on the Board. The news section of the paper consists of impartial reporting on events, while the opinion section makes arguments about these events.

In order to fulfill Emory’s declared mission to “create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity,” we cannot neglect the fields that seek to Staff writers also recuse themslves in cases of conflicts of interest. For instance, if a board member is a member of the Student Government Association (SGA), they are not eligible to write or edit an article about who they believe should be the next SGA president. This is not only true for SGA but for all other organizations, clubs, Greek life or associations that writers have.

The Board will continue to uphold the highest level of journalistic integrity.

Liberal arts at Emory Last year, Emory announced its commitment to expanding its humanities faculty, projecting up to 30 new hires within the next three to four years. During a so-called “humanities crisis” where institutions nationwide are slashing funding and departments such as musicology, history and comparative literature, the Board is

Maintaining integrity Overall, we would like to clarify key rules that are upheld by the Board to ensure our publication is both reliable and credible. First, writers for

impressed by Emory’s commitment to bolstering this critical aspect of its liberal arts curriculum.

The humanities are not dead, but rather disconcertingly undervalued.

In an increasingly-complex, rapidlychanging society, fields that center critical examination of social structures are more critical than ever.

Furthermore, given the volatility of the economy, and subsequently the job market, humanities-developed skills, such as critical analysis, creative thinking and effective communication are in high demand.

Fields like philosophy, while sometimes considered pedantic and ineffectual, have been at the epicenter of nearly every major social movement from the Enlightenment to modern feminism.

Frameworks for understanding and interacting with the world, such as critical race theory, have developed within the humanities and expanded to shape the larger cultural climate, both within and outside of academia.

Fundamentally, the intersectional inquiry at the core of the humanities is essential to all subjects. As STEM programs expand, so do fields like artificial intelligence and bioethics.

In order to fulfill Emory’s declared mission to “create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity,” we cannot neglect the fields that seek to understand the core of the human experience.

We hope that Emory will remain steadfast in its commitment to growing the humanities and capitalize on opportunities for interdisciplinary overlap with other fields.

Centering of the reader The Board’s content is constructed with our audience in mind. What sets

our content apart from other newspapers is that the events we write about, as large as global conflicts or as local as campus unions, are told through the lens of members of the Emory community.

Our goal is to represent the University’s student body, sharing our collective opinion as a means of provoking dialogue on campus.

We also hope to encourage Emory students to stay informed about campus events. Students and readers have a role to play in not only learning about the events going on in the world but also in actively preserving and protecting the causes that interest them.

Our goal is to represent the University’s student body, sharing our collective opinion as a means of provoking dialogue on campus form of activism.

In conclusion, many changes are underway at Emory this year, and the Wheel is no exception.

We hope that this article will help to set standards for the growth of our Board over the course of the next semester, and offer our readers insight into our writing and decision-making processes.

We will carry this increased transparency into our coverage of important events in the Emory community, upholding our commitment to being a reliable source of nuanced discussion.

The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board is composed of Evelyn Cho, Marc Goedemans, Sophia Hoar, Carson Kindred, Justin Leach, Eliana Liporace, Elyn Lee, Lola McGuire, Saanvi Nayar, Sara Peréz, Maddy Prucha, Jaanaki Radhakrishnan and Ilka Tona.

The Emory Wheel Volume 105 | Number 1

MattheW ChUpaCk editor-in-Chief

sarah Davis editor-in-Chief

Jenna DaLy Managing editor CLaire Fenton Managing editor MaDi oLivier Managing editor sophia peyser Managing editor oLi tUrner Managing editor Spencer Friedland News Editor Jack Rutherford Asst. News Editor Lauren Yee Asst. News Editor Marc Goedemans Editorial Board Editor Ellie Fivas Opinion Editor Saanvi Nayar Opinion Editor Lola McGuire Asst. Opinion Editor Safa Wahidi Asst. Opinion Editor Alexandra Kauffman A&L Editor

Nathan Rubin A&L Editor Ari Segal A&L Editor Amiee Zhao A&L Editor Alex Gerson Asst. A&L Editor Catherine Goodman Asst. A&L Editor Clement Lee Sports Editor Madeline Shapiro Sports Editor Will Peck Asst. Sports Editor

Jenny Zha Copy Chief Sandy Ge Copy Editor Haley Huh Copy Editor Tiffany Namkung Social Editor Esther Fu Asst. Social Editor Natalie Sandlow Asst. Visual Editor Ha-tien Nguyen Podcast Editor Emma Kingwell DEI Editor

hUnter CoLLins | Business Manager Business/Advertising Email emorywheelbusiness@gmail.com

The Emory Wheel welcomes letters and op-ed submissions from the Emory community. Letters should be limited to 300 words and op-eds should be at least 500. Those selected may be shortened to fit allotted space or edited for grammar, punctuation and libelous content. Submissions reflect the opinions of individual writers and not of the Wheel’s Editorial Board or Emory University. Send emails to matthew.chupack@emory.edu or postal mail to The Emory Wheel, Drawer W, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322.

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6

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

OPINION

The Emory Wheel

Dear Doolino, ‘Someone stole my pants?’

Doolino Dear Doolino, I’m 80% sure someone stole my pants from the laundry … What do I do?

From, Pantless Patty Dear Pantless Patty, Greetings from the laundry room.

In my last column, I asked Emory University students to bring me something more entertaining than a typical failed college romance and lackluster love life.

Over the past two dreadful months, I returned to my gravestone to avoid the stupidly cold weather and await another request for my centuries-old wisdom. Although I was pretty lonely six feet under, watching silly packs of freshmen in their puffer jackets stumble around in the wind has warmed my spirit.

Over winter break, I grew tremendously bored without any students at which to jeer. And what did I return

to? Once again, you students have disappointed me with your extreme ineptitude.

As someone who forgoes pants (my slim hips won’t allow it), I understand the benefits of going bare, but I would also rather return to the revolting Dobbs Common Table for dinner than be forced to look at half-naked 20-somethings. As Valentine’s Day nears and a new Marriage Pact opens, you all get even thirstier, somehow. It begs the question: Did someone steal your pants simply to alleviate their erotic desires?

Look, Patty, perhaps the thief wanted your pants for sorority rush.

They are in adoration of your mortal style. Or, of course, they needed them to layer up and brave the cold when forced to endure the cacophonous laughs of wannabe-sorority girls during rush.

In that case, I decree that stealing pants is forgiven, but the sanctity of their soul is in question. Well, at least you all have your #sisters.

Consider the benefits of this situation. Trying a new wardrobe ensemble could be a great way to glow up for the new semester. Satan knows you need

it. Personally, I have found a cape and top hat to suffice, but I do not know if you could pull it off, Patty. It is a convenient choice as you trudge across Asbury Circle for your 8:30 a.m. class, however. Back in my skin days, I was quite fond of leather pants, but for you lustful lads, sweaty loins may make the pants hard to shimmy on. With my milk-enhanced bones, I could show

APRIL LAWYER/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR you all how to really rock leather pants.

I am skeptical to give advice, considering that you are only 80% sure that someone stole your pants. But, if I absolutely had to blame someone, it would be the Oxford continuees.

They are used to a different culture in Covington; perhaps it includes kidnapping clothes.

The best suggestion I will give you

is to make sure everyone else in Raoul Hall feels the same pain you do now.

Throw everyone’s wet laundry over the top of the machines, plain and simple.

Make sure to throw some of the lost and found back there, too! If you want to make it burn more, take a handful of lint from those dusty machines and add it to the mix. Remember: Raoulians deserve it. They stole your pants … Well, at least, we think they stole your pants.

Alternatively, seek grace and forgiveness, and be one of the other five students in Raoul who choose the high road.

Keep in mind that the campus bookstore is open, and you can always purchase an overpriced pair of pants there to represent me — just avoid anything with that ridiculous bird Swoop.

We all know who the real Emory mascot is.

Doolino knows best, so be sure to take my recommendations, whichever path you may choose. Bring it on Emory students. I can’t wait to see what havoc you wreak this semester.

Doolino resides in Atlanta. | Doolino’s origins are yet to be discovered.

For learning grace, I look to my grandfather Lola McGuire My pop, a quintessential Southern grandpa, retired army cook and grumpy old man, once asked me, “Did he have a chance to go back to his country over break?”

His words were about a dear friend of mine, who is just as American as Pop. That day, he was genuinely curious about the people important to me.

He does not know how to ask questions that align with today’s politically correct standards.

Instead of reacting with frustration, I chose to take a different approach: I calmly explained to him that this country was just as much my friend’s home as it was mine and his.

Engaging in nonconfrontational conversations driven by patience and empathy is a powerful form of activism.

Two days before my journey back to Emory University, in a flurry of last-minute goodbyes, I embarked on a drive down the winding rural roads leading to my grandparents’ house, wanting to sit and chat with Pop before bidding him farewell.

The warm Tennessee breeze filled the open windows of their home, and the faint murmur of a golf tournament played on the television as we conversed.

Pop, ever curious about my upcoming semester, asked about my classes, displaying a genuine interest despite his limited understanding of the subjects. The conversation took a sharp turn when he asked me if my friend had a chance to visit “his country” over summer break. Stunned into silence, I felt a surge of anger rising within me.

The abrupt shift from light-hearted banter to a jarring, xenophobic comment felt like an affront to everything I believed in. Pop, meanwhile, gazed at me with an expectant expression, waiting patiently for my response.

Collecting myself, I took a deep breath and gently explained, “Well, Pop, he spent nearly all his time in his country. The only time he ever left the United States was when we went on vacation together. This country, the United States, is his home.”

I endeavored to convey to Pop that while my friend was of Chinese ethnicity, his home was firmly rooted in the United States, not in China.

Pop listened attentively; I could tell the gears were turning in his mind. To him, the concept that an individual of Chinese heritage could consider the United States their homeland was too absurd to grasp.

While I found his viewpoint perplexing, I recognized that his outlook was shaped by his life experiences and the lens through which he viewed the world.

His early life was one of scarcity, and he viewed everything in his life as something that needed to be protected or defended. Pop’s comment stemmed from a genuine curiosity about my friend’s travel plans, albeit expressed in a manner that clashed with the language of my generation, one which prides itself on progressivism and diversity.

Despite his lack of understanding regarding the distinction between ethnicity and nationality, I saw that he made an effort to comprehend my words.In this encounter, I learned a valuable lesson: Ignorance and malice are not the same thing. Pop’s missteps emerged from a place of unawareness rather than ill will.

There are people who use malice to fuel hate and hostility, but with my grandfather, this was not the case.

In choosing not to react impulsively and take offense that day, I allowed myself to view Pop not as an adversary but as a person on a journey of under-

standing. I discovered the power of initiating an educational and non-confrontational dialogue, recognizing that such exchanges have the potential to reshape

Often, when faced with opposing viewpoints, our instinct is to shut down, either through aggressive confrontation or passive disengagement.

harmful narratives for the better. The ability to do so was structured by my pre-existing love and empathy for him, and I encourage everyone to adopt this approach in daily interactions.

Often, when faced with opposing viewpoints, our instinct is to shut down, either through aggressive confrontation or passive disengagement.

However, by recognizing that others’ words may stem from ignorance rather than malice, we can then take it upon ourselves to offer informative insights about alternative viewpoints.

Many people at Emory lack exposure to diverse perspectives, leading to statements or actions that may seem insensitive or misinformed.

A lot of students, including myself,

tend to respond to these statements with anger and frustration. It can be increasingly difficult to empathize with someone who is ignorant. Engaging in non-confrontational conversations driven by patience and empathy is a powerful form of activism.

It lays the groundwork for mutual understanding and fosters educational enlightenment, built on respect and open dialogue. Through these efforts, we can work toward creating a more informed and compassionate campus and society, where meaningful conversations become catalysts for positive change.

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

The Emory Wheel

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

7

ELECTORAL ELLIE

To overcome MAGA monolith, preserve democratic traditions Ellie Fivas The 2024 Iowa caucuses represented a race for second place. With the unsurprising results of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, nothing has defined the official start of the 2024 election season more than American preoccupation with Iowa’s runner-up contest, the New Hampshire-Biden write-in campaign and, of course, the evergreen stronghold of Trump Republicans.

However, the Iowa caucus is valuable to our democracy — it is representative of something that seems to be slipping out of our hands.

Whilst many critique the value of and vie for discontinuity of caucuses and primaries, now, more than ever, its symbolism and practical value are apparent.

Caucuses and primaries bring elections and politics up close and personal for individual voters — much closer than the national presidential race, which is ultimately dictated by the Electoral College. And yet, we dilute the importance of caucusing by focusing on political theatrics.

Political dramatics were commonplace these past few months, particularly in regards to electoral politics.

After only 30 minutes of vote-tallying in frigid temperatures on Jan. 15, The Associated Press declared former President Donald Trump as the winner of the Iowa caucus. Only a week later, the Associated Press called the New Hampshire primary in favor of Trump for the Republican ballot, and President Joe Biden won his spot on the Democratic ballot. By a recordbreaking margin, Trump is now two states closer to his second gig as Republican nominee for president.

Biden, similarly, was able to win New Hampshire in a stunning write-in campaign led by proponents of the current president.

Following the results in Iowa, stunningly, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who finished far behind Trump in the caucuses, suspended his campaign for president. DeSantis’ choice to drop out of the race followed his supposedly big second-place win in Iowa.

The battle for second was between DeSantis and former Republican South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Haley and DeSantis finished at 21.2% and 19.1%, respectively, each fighting for the coveted second place that offered the chance to continue their campaigns with donor and popular support. DeSantis’ choice to end his campaign was striking.

Up until that Sunday, the Florida governor had spent hours visiting every Iowa county and millions in campaign funds. Media coverage leading up to the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primarily focused on the intense deadlock between Haley and DeSantis, paying less attention to Trump, the expected winner. This is precisely the problem.

Many critique the caucuses, asserting that their importance is waning.

However, the Iowa caucus is valuable to our democracy — it is representative of something that seems to be slipping out of our hands. Even while the caucus and primary system could use a much-needed revamp, we must maintain its symbolism. The Make America Great Again (MAGA) monolith is upon us: according to an NBC News poll, a disturbing 34% of Republican voters support Trump more than the Republican Party as a whole. These voters will never stray from Trump, even if his constitutional ability to be president is impacted, either by legal circumstances or due to the end of the maximum eight years he may serve as president.

We are letting ourselves be distracted from the growing tendency of voters to sway from democratic representation toward a dominating and authori

MIA USMAM/CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR tarian populist. Trump currently faces 91 felony counts in four criminal cases, which is more than any president or former president has ever faced — by a margin of 91. The race worth paying attention to is undoubtedly Trump’s lawyers’ race to courthouses across the nation, including in Fulton County.

Ultimately, the contest between Haley and DeSantis had little impact on the outcome of the Iowa caucuses and will likely not have a significant impact on the 2024 presidential election.

Perhaps DeSantis saw this when he decided to drop out of the race.

Instead, we should be paying attention to the prospect of having a felon-to-be on the ballot. One of the 91 felonies has to stick.

And yet, Americans are playing nice with election politics and choosing to count the margin of votes between Haley and DeSantis. It is a welcome distraction from Trump’s perpetual presence in American politics because Trump is not alone in his disregard for democratic values. His followers have emphasized their love for Trump and his authoritarian tendencies in several ways since his 2020 presidential run.

To best combat the distractions associated with the revival of the

MAGA cult and other frivolous political drama, we cannot let policy slip through our fingers. When voters show up in freezing temperatures to discuss candidates and when nominees visit every single inconsequential county in a state, that is when the true will of voters appears.

These political traditions should stay, as they remind us of the reasons we have historically shown up to discuss presidential nominees.

However, this year’s Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primaries were flooded by MAGA voters who are hyper-focused on Trump’s charming craze. The first step to preserving political awareness is seen in the Iowa caucus or New Hampshire primary.

These political traditions should stay, as they remind us of the reasons we have historically shown up to discuss presidential nominees.

Pay attention to the people, issues

and, most importantly, the consequences of the 2024 presidential election. Like it or not, Haley will not beat out Trump in the popular vote.

Instead of distracting yourself with Haley’s campaigning in New Hampshire, pay attention to what truly matters: we might have a felon win a presidential election. Biden’s win in New Hampshire is remarkable: it is by voters, for ourselves.

In comparison to unilateral Trump supporters, residents of New Hampshire used the primary as a launching pad for open discussion of politics and grassroots support of a candidate, rather than a party, ideology or megalomaniac.

I do not hesitate to openly criticize Trump supporters. Many of them do not view democratic values as consequential to our society — at least, not as consequential as Trumpian doctrines.

Peel your eyes away from the minute details. There is much more to be aware of this election season than only a laughable second-place race, the president’s son or squabbles in Congress.

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

National Op-ed: ‘We will not wait for the next school shooting’ Andrew Sun and Alexander Denza Editor’s Note: This op-ed was published today in over 50 student newspapers and signed by 144 campus leaders across the country. You can find the full list of signatures at emorywheel.com.

Andrew Sun and Alexander Denza from March for Our Lives University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill organized this effort to redefine dialogues surrounding gun violence on college campuses and across the United States.

Gun violence issues are also pertinent at Emory University. In May 2022, students on the University’s Atlanta campus experienced a shelter-in-place order due to concerns that an armed student at Druid Hills High School had fled to Emory’s campus. Additionally, Emory’s Oxford campus sheltered in place last April in response to an armed individual inside a residence hall. Both instanc-

es were resolved without casualties.

Unfortunately, this was not the case at several college campuses over the past year.

Our hearts bleed from this uniquely American brand of gun violence, and yet we remind ourselves that we love our country so much that we expect better from it.

We students are taught to love a country that values guns over our lives. Many of us hear the sound of gunfire when we watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. All of us have heard the siren of an active shooter drill and asked ourselves: Are we next?

By painful necessity, we have grown to become much more than students learning in a classroom — we have shed every last remnant of our child-

hood innocence. Our hearts bleed from this uniquely American brand of gun violence, and yet we remind ourselves that we love our country so much that we expect better from it.

We believe that our country has the capacity to love us back. There are bullet-shaped holes in our hearts, but our spirits are unbreakable. We will not wait for individual trauma to affect us all before we respond together — when we rediscover our empathy, we shape the moral arc of this country.

Students in the civil rights movement created the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which organized Freedom Rides, sit-ins and marches. In demanding freedom from racial violence, this group’s activism became woven into American history.

Students across America organized teach-ins during the Vietnam War to expose its calculated cruelties. Their work, in demanding freedom from conscription and taxpayer-funded violence, is intertwined with the American story.

This fall, text exchanges from University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill students during the Aug. 28 shooting reached the hands of the president.

In demanding freedom from gun violence, we became one of countless before. For 360,000 studentes since the Columbine High School massacre, the toll of succumbing to the cursed emotional vocabulary of survivorship has become our American story.

We invite you to join this generation’s community of organizers, all of us united in demanding a future free of gun violence.

Yes, it is not fair that we must rise up against problems that we did not create, but the organizers of past student movements know from lived experience that we decide the future of this country. The country took note as Congress subsequently passed civil

rights legislation, as they withdrew from the Vietnam war and as the White House created the federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

So as students and young people alike, we should know our words don’t end on this page — we will channel them into change. We invite you to join this generation’s community of organizers, all of us united in demanding a future free of gun violence. With our prose and protest, we protect not only our lives but also our way of life itself.

Politicians will not have the shallow privilege of reading another front-cover op-ed by students on their knees, begging them to do their jobs. They will instead contend with the reality that by uniting with each other and with parents, educators and communities, our demands will become undeniable.

Our movement is not just moving away from the unbearable pain of our yesterday — we move toward an unrelenting hope for our tomorrow. Our generation dares politicians to look us in the eye and tell us they’re too afraid to try.

Arts&Life The Emory Wheel

FEATURE

FILM REVIEW

‘Frankenstein club’: WMRE returns from dead ‘The Zone of Interest’ showcases subtle horror during Holocaust

By Catherine Goodman Asst. Arts & Life editor

By SpenCer Friedland news editor

On the fourth floor of the Alumni Memorial University Center, a flyer-plastered door creaks open to reveal Emory University’s student-run radio station. WMRE’s pink walls are crowded with homemade decor. Newly-installed disco balls rest on the audio-mixer, and the room bursts with color under LED lights. The new decorations revamp the space, ushering in the next era of WMRE. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the station’s members to haphazardly abandon the room, leaving a mess for the next generation to clean up. WMRE General Manager Ruby Stillman (24C) said the former students left the “on-air” light on when they were forced to leave campus. The light burned for a year straight, waiting for WMRE’s uncertain return.

History of WMRE WMRE first began broadcasting in 1989 via a carrier current system that strictly allowed for on-campus listeners. After the system deteriorated, the station broadcasted to on-campus listeners through Emory Cable Television. The organization did not hit the internet until 1998, when they adopted RealAudio and RealVideo. Now, WMRE streams online, enabling the station to reach a worldwide audience.

As the station transitioned from the cable system to the internet in 1998, WMRE established a strong presence on campus. The station frequently hosted local musicians, obtained press packets from big names and maintained connections with Atlanta venues, according to former WMRE member April Compingbutra (02C, 07PH).

“It was absolutely fantastic,” Compingbutra said. “We had Ludacris. We had Mastodon. We had OutKast. It was a big deal.”

Compingbutra hosted a radio show called “Disregarded Subcultures” as an undergraduate student. The show focused on goth, synthetic and experimental music.

“Even if it was an opera singer screeching or trying new things with their vocals, I would totally put that on there,” Compingbutra said.

Due to the technology available at the time, being a disk jockey (DJ) required a considerable amount of legwork, according to Compingbutra.

To include music in a radio show, DJs had to call their favorite bands to ask for material to play and lug big cases of CDs to the station.

However, Compingbutra expressed gratitude for her time at WMRE. Not only did she discover new artists and

CAtherine GoodmAn/A sst. A rts & Life editor

WMRE General Manager Ruby Stillman (24C) and Technology Director Jackie Hampton (26C) play tunes. genres, but she also made friends that she maintains today.

“It’s personal, and yet it is also very, very shared,” Compingbutra said.

“That’s why it totally matters, especially on a campus. That’s the easiest way to make community right there — through a song.”

The presence of WMRE continued into the 2000s, when the station broadcasted via both the internet and Emory Cable Television, which contained channels with student programming, movies and Emory Television projects.

Students could watch WMRE DJs live through a small camera in the corner of the studio, according to Emory Visual Arts Program Director Dana Haugaard (03Ox, 05C).

WMRE was the “soundtrack” of Haugaard’s college days. His dorm room TV often played the station to accompany group hang-outs, and he lamented that WMRE is not as widely known or appreciated today. Haugaard suggested that the popularity of the station in the early 2000s resulted from a different type of student body — a grungier kind. As Emory’s academic prowess has risen over the years, Haguaard said the creativity of the campus has fallen.

“It was not as hard of a school to get into then, and I think Emory’s recruitment missions were a little different,” Haguaard said. “There was more space

CAtherine GoodmAn/A sst. A rts & Life editor

A pin board displays event flyers, ’ ideas and artworks.

for goofballs and weirdos and art kids … And the Venn diagram of art kids and the WMRE kids, there’s a pretty big overlap.”

Nevertheless, Haugaard said he believes in the future of WMRE and the positive presence the organization brings to campus.

“There’s room to grow,” Haguaard said. “I’m sure they’re working on it.”

Rebuilding WMRE During the COVID-19 pandemic, the station shut down completely. As a senior, Stillman witnessed the organization’s struggle first-hand.

“It used to be — before my time here — a big, big club,” Stillman said. “It had its own house, and they would do shows there. A lot of people knew about WMRE — and then COVID happened.”

The club was barely functioning post-pandemic, Stillman said. The executive board lost access to the studio and could not log into the computer or Instagram account. When Stillman hosted a radio show her sophomore year, the technology was inconsistent, and the stream often failed. The pre-pandemic members had graduated, and the previous advisor had relinquished the position, leaving the remaining members without guidance and the studio in “complete disarray,” Stillman said.

Unable to watch the deterioration of WMRE, Stillman stepped into the role of vice president her junior year and general manager her senior year. She asked Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye for help, and Gelaye assigned the organization a new advisor, Paul Eleazer, who then conceded the position to Mardy Beeson. Beeson had worked for Turner Broadcasting for 40 years before serving as the equipment loan desk manager for Emory’s Visual Arts Building.

Beeson serves multiple roles for WMRE staff, including advisor, friend, technology engineer and one of the station’s biggest fans. He knows the radio shows by name and can recite the station’s schedule, listening to their music at work, in his car and at home.

Last year, WMRE purchased a new mixing board as part of their revival campaign, only to find the technology not quite right for their shows. Beeson fixed the mess.

“I took their mixing board — the brand new one in the box — to my house, and I set it on my kitchen table for a

See STUDENT, Page 10

Unlike many Holocaust films, “The Zone of Interest” showcases the mundane daily life of a Nazi.

The film centers on the camp’s leader, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel).

Not once does the viewer see the faces of any Jews, nor those of the infamous Nazis etched in history, such as Adolf Hitler, Adolf Eichman or Heinrich Himmler.

Instead, the audience watches Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) trying to maintain the “idealistic” life they have created, just beyond the walls of Auschwitz.

The German feature is based on Martin Amis’ novel of the same name. Jonathan Glazer directed the film, and distributed by film studio A24.

“The Zone of Interest” debuted at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix, and made its way to Atlanta theaters on Jan. 19.

The film was nominated for the “Best Motion Picture - Drama” award at this year’s Golden Globes.

“The Zone of Interest” never ventures into the concentration camp itself, instead focusing primarily on the home the Höss’ have built, where they entertain guests and raise their children.

However, in the background of almost every scene, we hear the gunshots and screams echoing from the death camp next door. This does not phase anyone in the Höss family, who ignore the soundscape of genocide in favor of continuing on with their lives.

Midway through the movie Rudolf reveals to Hedwig that Nazi leadership has ordered him to transfer to a different city.

When left searching for a response to this news, Hedwig insists that she and the children will remain at the home.

“This is the life we always dreamed of,” she says in this scene.

Perhaps the most sinister character is Hedwig. Contrary to Rudolf, whose primary purpose is to complete the objectives he is assigned, Hedwig is happy to gain possession of fur coats stripped away from Jews at the concentration camp and unashamedly calls herself the “Queen of Auschwitz.”

The only person who seems to notice any of the chaos going on just beyond the Höss compound is Hedwig’s mother, Elfryda (Medusa Knopf), who visits the family to see what her daughter’s life has become.

Elfryda first notices the sobering reality of the death camp when she begins coughing from the ash she is breathing in from the camp’s crematoriums.

“Elfryda stands in for the bystanders of Nazi regime, who knew the Holocaust was wrong but still refused to openly oppose the genocide.”

Eventually, she can no longer bear to stay next to Auschwitz as she hears people desperately crying for help and sees towering flames rising from the crematorium.

Not willing to tell her daughter that she believes what Rudolf is doing is wrong, she departs in the middle of the night, leaving only a letter.

Aside from Elfryda, the entire film is centered on the family’s willingness to turn a blind eye to what they hear, see and smell from the death camp.

Elfryda stands in for the bystand-

See NAZIS, Page 10

Introducing Arts & Life To our readers, We are excited to formally introduce Arts & Life, The Emory Wheel’s newest section, which combines our Arts & Entertainment and Emory Life sections. We hope that the advent of Arts & Life will expand and deepen the Wheel’s coverage of the community on campus and in Atlanta as a whole.

In the past, the Emory Life section has faced issues with generating a sufficient volume of articles, and coverage of artistic events often overlapped with that of the Arts & Entertainment section.

Additionally, in recent years, the Arts & Entertainment section has largely focused on coverage of national and international album, TV and movie releases, with a smaller percentage of articles dedicated to Emory and Atlanta art.

With the new Arts & Life section,

we are shifting our focus and turning our lens toward Emory’s campus.

Our entertainment coverage will spotlight the vibrant arts community at Emory, local musicians and campus events.

Our feature stories will introduce our readers to fascinating people, places and initiatives on and around campus.

We hope to cover more artistic and cultural events tied to the University and the surrounding Atlanta area, while still publishing engaging profiles of people at Emory and exciting reviews of the latest music, TV and movies.

By merging these two sections, we hope to organically combine the people and culture of Emory with the arts scene in metropolitan Atlanta and beyond.

Sincerely, Arts & Life Editors

The Emory Wheel

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

A&L

9

PROFILE

Youngest nursing admit discusses ambition, finds community

By JenniFer Gu Contributing Writer Surrounded by white coats and dissection forceps, Faith Mason (26N) discovered her interest in health care as a middle schooler in University of Georgia’s Mini Medical School summer camp program.

What Mason didn’t know then, however, was just how far her aspirations would take her.

Mason was accepted into Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at just 17 years old, after beginning her undergraduate education at Emory University College of Arts and Sciences at 16. Faith will be starting at the nursing school this fall, on the path to becoming a registered nurse. She is also taking pre-med classes at Emory College of Arts and Science, as she hopes to attend medical school after finishing nursing school. Her ultimate goal is to become a pediatric oncologist.

Early interest Growing up with such big ambitions at a young age was not easy. Mason was already ahead of her peers at 5 years old, after completing pre-K, kindergarten and first grade in just one-and-a-half years. At just 12 years old, Mason entered high school. The two-year age difference that separated Mason from her peers was already quite noticeable, even more so, Mason said, when she wanted to take classes that were meant for high school upperclassmen.

“It was really scary because I was this little 12-year-old who really wanted to do what I was doing, but it was still so intimidating,” Mason said.

Mason said she felt a distinct isolation from her classmates, recalling still enjoying Disney Channel while her classmates discussed shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away with Murder” at school.

“It was really, really hard for me to try and bridge that gap and have other connections outside of, ‘Oh, we’re in the same class. Let’s do a group project,’” Mason said. “It was something that I really struggled with up until the beginning of my senior year.”

While trying to overcome these hardships, Mason said that her mother became her rock. She enrolled Mason in afterschool programs and summer camps with kids her own age and always motivated her to try her hardest in school, Mason said. Growing up with a single mom, Mason recognized the challenges for both herself and her mother.

“You can get really swept up in so much of the future that when you think about what you have now, you’re truly not in as bad of a sitution as you think you are.”

— Faith Mason (26N)

“She would always say [that] her job is to make money and to provide for us,” Mason said. “My job is to listen and learn. As long as I keep on listening and learning and excelling, then I’m doing my job.”

Learning at Emory Now a sophomore at Emory College and an admit to the nursing school, Mason has maintained a self-driven motivation to achieve her goals.

“It is more rare to see a student

as involved as Faith is at this level, being a college sophomore and especially that she is the age that she is,” nursing school Assistant Dean of Admissions Katie Kennedy said. “I think it really speaks to her determination and motivation in life.”

In her two years at Emory, Faith said she has found role models and support in Emory’s Black academic community. All of Mason’s nursing professors are Black women. Jasmine Clark, Mason’s microbiology professor, has also been a state representative in Georgia since 2019.

“All of my nursing professors are accomplished Black women, and it really means so much to have that representation,” Mason said.

However, Mason said that she has faced discrimination in her pre-med classes.

“I’ve encountered a lab partner who didn’t want to speak to me, people who just completely disregarded what I’ve had to say,” Mason said. “In lab groups, [when] I’m trying to talk to [them], they all look me straight in my face, and they turn their heads — just very small instances of microaggressions.”

Mason said that Emory’s Black community has helped her face these challenges, especially studying alongside Black pre-med students. She said that forming study groups with her friends and creating a collaborative academic environment together has played an important role in building a strong support system on campus.

“Since coming to Emory, I have grown a lot as a person because of the people I’ve surrounded myself with: people who are also driven, people who are understanding, who are kind, who are so courageous, who are so brave after everything they’ve been through [and] everything they’ve experienced,” Mason said.

In addition to her peer groups at Emory, Mason said that she has also found community in Eagle Hall’s Black Women’s Immersion floor and

A LyA K houry/stAff PhotoGrAPher

Faith Mason studies for her classes in Robert W. Woodruff Library. in Ngambika, Emory’s step dance club.

Stepping, a dance that originates from a combination of African folk traditions and Black Greek life, is a tradition that Mason didn’t participate in before coming to Emory. But in search of new friends, she decided to give it a try and soon found a friendly, supportive community that she grew to love.

“It was through me being in Ngambika — being more out there, being more involved — that I made a lot of close connections,” Mason said.

Giving advice Mikaila Ulmer (26C), one of Mason’s closest friends at Emory, compared being friends with Mason to “a breath of fresh air” because of her authenticity.

“Not only is she driven, but she also finds a way to be light-hearted through the tough times,” Ulmer

Crossword

‘Winter Storms’ By miranda WilSon CroSSWord deSk ACROSS 1. College officer-training program (abbr.)

5. Vehicles used for a common snow day activity 10. Lies (informally) 14. U.S. representative for Minnesota Ilhan 15. Mexican telenovela actress Méndez 16. Relative of prefix -ess 17. Gamble who produced Netflix’s “You” 18. Digital credit 19. American reggae band known for the album Born in Babylon 20. Thrown in winter fights 22. Got inspiration from 24. Sci-fi thriller TV miniseries starring Nick Offerman 25. Early-born baby (informally) 26. Word after ice or roller 28. One of North Carolina’s three geographical regions 29. Derogatory 30. __ Gold, 1997 drama film starring Peter Fonda 31. NYC subway (abbr.)

32. Tater __ 33. Snow day accessory 34. Jessica married to Justin Timberlake 35. “Self-Reliance” author’s initials 36. Brats 37. Pooh’s creator 38. Opulent 40. Debra of “Love Me Tender,” starring Elvis 41. Black cat, e.g.

42. Branches 43. Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh 44. Knitted articles of

winter clothing 48. Hits the slopes 49. Slate and Salon, e.g. (abbr.)

51. Ends in _ __ (requires overtime) 52. Major airport operator in Spain 53. “Mean Girls The Musical star” Rapp 54. Lady __ 55. USAF NCO 56. Dangerous winter weather condition 57. etc.

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by David Schwimmer 2. Ladybug, e.g.

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34. Reno’s Hilton Theater, e.g.

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Scan for answers –>

said.

Mason, like many college students on the pre-med or pre-nursing track, experienced difficulties while trying to balance the academic rigor of her classes with a social life.

“There’s always that worry of imposter syndrome or comparing yourself to others or feeling like you’re behind,” Mason said. “You can get really swept up in so much of the future that when you think about what you have now, you’re truly not in as bad of a situation as you think you are.”

For ambitious high schoolers and college freshmen, Mason offered advice she received from her grandmother and mother.

“Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself,” Mason said.

– Contact Jennifer Gu at jennifer.gu@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

10 Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Student radio station cultivates community, brings arts back to Emory

Continued from Page 8

month, where I built a radio station-like program into this console,” Beeson said.

Stillman and WMRE Assistant General Manager Oli Turner (25C) spearheaded the wholescale reinvigoration of the organization. The club began working to reestablish their on-campus presence in August 2023, according to WMRE Zine co-Manager Klara Nitsche (24C). She explained that their goal is to carve out a new space for alternative groups of students and foster a community of acceptance.

To regain their prominence on campus, WMRE adopted a number of advertisement strategies, according to WMRE Campus Engagement co-Manager Gabe Marrero (26C) and former WMRE Campus Engagement co-Manager Chayse Corfman (25B).

They hosted events such as music bingo nights, hung posters on public boards and decorated the campus with funky chalkings. The club created a new logo and emphasized their online presence.

Last semester, Marrero and Corfman (25B) led the work to increase general interest in the club while also establishing bonds within the execu-

tive board.

“We are a community in our own sense, but we are also bridging other communities,” Marrero said.

WMRE Creative Board co-Director Alexia Brown (24C) attributed their 2023 resurgence to their rebranding efforts, but she also noted that the executive board made sacrifices, such as switching to only streaming online.

“We had a lot of long and tough conversations about if we wanted to continue as a typical radio station,” Brown said. “We decided it was best for everybody to get with the changing times, and I think it’s being successful.”

Reflecting on her time at the station, Stillman said she has dedicated many years of her life to bringing WMRE back to the forefront.

“I didn’t let it die; I revived it,” Stillman said. “It’s like a Frankenstein club.”

College radio at Emory

Even if transmitter radio has lost its prominence in modern culture, the WMRE executive board, including Technology Director Jackie Hampton (26C), believe the medium has unparalleled importance on college campus-

Nazis’ daily lives depicted

with horrifying detail

CAtherine GoodmAn/A sst. A rts & Life editor

Desktop computer displays a WMRE-themed graphic. es.

“Student radio is such a fun and young thing to do,” Hampton said. “It’s just a healthy reminder that we’re still kids, and you can have fun and be kind of punk.”

Emory students struggle with doing something purely for fun, not for personal or professional gain, Hampton added. Surrounded by the University’s intense pre-professional culture, Hampton said the arts may seem trivial or unimportant, with Nitsche not-

Photo mAniPuLAtion by nAthAn rubin/A rts & Life editor

ers of Nazi regime, who knew the Holocaust was wrong but still refused to openly oppose the genocide.

While “The Zone of Interest” is classified as a drama, what is left to the imagination is horrific.

Toward the end of the film, an eerie sequence of still flowers are shown, yet in the background, we hear crying, screaming and

Glazer is able to show the lack of humanity of the Hoss family through using zero camera movement throughout the film and emplying many long takes from afar ... he makes us feel distant from the characters whose emotions we understand but must not sympathize with.” gunshots.

Glazer uses this juxtaposition to show that even in the darkest days of history, most people did not care

and would simply rather not be bothered.

Glazer is able to show the lack of humanity of the Höss family through using zero camera movement throughout the film and employing many long takes from afar.

In this way, he makes us feel distant from the characters whose emotions we understand but must not sympathize with.

Shot in almost entirely natural lighting and with a dull color palette, the film makes it clear that these are just ordinary people who act in evil ways.

Glazer’s point is that the only thing keeping us from becoming monsters is our choices — it is not something within us that determines whether we will be noble or wicked.

The film ends with a flash forward to the modern-day Auschwitz museum being cleaned. The museum, like “The Zone of Interest,” is here to remind us of the tragedy of Auschwitz but also to caution us of the evil that humans can and still do create.

The film then returns to Rudolf throwing up, composing himself and finally descending stairs into darkness.

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

– Contact Catherine Goodman at catherine.goodman@emory.edu Managing Editor Oli Turner (25C) is the assistant general manager of WMRE and had no role in writing or editing this article.

COLUMN

Cat’s Collection: 5 noteworthy upcoming albums

By Catherine Goodman artS & liFe aSSiStant editor

As the new year blossoms, and rejuvenated students return to campus, it is time to address what is on everyone’s minds: New Year’s resolutions. George W. Woodruff Physical Education Center is overflowing with high-spirited Eagles ready to establish a new workout routine for 2024. Students, perhaps having decided to eat more healthily, leave the Dobbs Common Table salad bar barren every afternoon.

However, if eating smarter and amping up your physical activity aren’t quite your speed, don’t fret. Broadening your horizons, improving your wellbeing or seeking fulfillment in life takes many different forms. Among these less popular alternative resolutions is expanding your music taste. If you are looking to dip your toes into something new and completely stress-free, below are some upcoming albums to keep on your radar.

Continued from Page 8

ing a “severe lack of authentic student shenanigans” at Emory.

WMRE, however, encourages these alternative routes of expression. Marrero and Corfman believe that the station’s openness sets it apart from other clubs at Emory. Non-academic, non-competitive and non-exclusive clubs are unusual on campus, Corfman noted.

“It’s just such a great space because it does feel like there’s no strings attached,” Corfman said. “You’re not try-

ing to get anything out of it; you’re just trying to have fun.”

WMRE Media Operations co-Director Jaden Ellman (24C) and former WMRE Media Operations co-Director Kiran Berger (25B) expressed a similar sentiment, highlighting the club’s role on campus as a safe space for artists and art appreciators alike.

“STEM is such a big part of the culture here, and the arts tend to get a little overlooked,” Ellman said. “Maintaining that kind of space for student artists, or really any student interested in the art world, that’s more crucial than ever here.”

WMRE finished last semester with 111 DJs and 64 shows per week. Even as the rain washes away their chalkings on Asbury Circle, and the posters in Kaldi’s Coffee are buried under new flyers, the station never stops playing.

“Turn us on,” Berger said, reciting WMRE’s slogan.

“Blue Raspberry”

by Katy Kirby Release Date: Jan. 26 Like sunshine melting against bare skin or the moon creeping out from behind a string of clouds, Katy Kirby’s music is entrancing. She pairs soothing melodies with pronounced acoustic instruments and emotionally cutting lyrics to hypnotize the listener. Although originally from Spicewood, Texas, Kirby currently resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. Since Kirby released her debut album, “Cool Dry Place” (2021), publications like NPR Music and Pitchfork have recognized her for her candid lyrics and intoxicating vocals.

As noted by Pitchfork, Kirby uses songwriting to cope with her departure from evangelical Christianity and her previously suppressed queerness. Her latest single for the upcoming album, “Hand to Hand,” is a complicated conglomeration of imagery, leaving much for the listener to learn about her inspiration from her complex life experiences. Kirby will release her sophomore album, “Blue Raspberry,” on Jan. 26. The album is set to be even more intimate than her prior work. She will play at The Masquerade in Atlanta on Feb. 8, featuring songs from her new album.

“Everybody Can’t Go”

by Benny the Butcher Release Date: Jan. 26 Benny the Butcher is a U.S. rapper and songwriter from Buffalo, N.Y. He was a member of the hip-hop collective and label, Griselda Records. The group has two releases: an extended play, “Don’t Get Scared Now” (2016), and their album, “WWCD” (2019).

Benny the Butcher officially signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2021, and his upcoming album will be his first release under this label. The rapper is known for his ’90s rap style, rhythmic beats and ear-worm lyrics. His new album will explore the turbulence associ-

ated with rising to the top of the hip-hop genre and his experience with violent street life. In his newest single, “BRON,” Benny the Butcher steps back into game swinging with the lyrics, “I’m back in championship condition / I can’t resist all this winnin’.” To hear what he does next beyond the leading single, check out “Everybody Can’t Go” on Jan 26.

“House On The Water”

by Ashley Kutcher Release Date: Jan. 26 Ashley Kutcher is an example of using social media for professional growth.

The 23-year-old musician is finding success in promoting her upcoming projects by posting her original songs on TikTok, vying for the attention of lovestruck, or lovesick, girls who might relate. Kutcher gained internet popularity for her unique vocals and a TikTok video series called “Random Writes.” In this series, Kutcher asked her fans to share intimate stories that she could transform into beautiful songs. Her track “Love You From a Distance” (2021) amassed over 90 million Spotify streams, largely due to its popularity on TikTok. Kutcher is devoted to emotionally-intense ballads with a pop-country flare.

The most notable feature of her music is her voice — raspy, yet equally smooth and soft.

Her newest single, “Girl In The Mirror,” explores her insecurity and self-sabotaging tendencies and sets the tone for her upcoming album: introspective, relatable and crushing. If that excites you, tune into her debut album, “House On The Water,” at the end of this month.

“What an enormous room”

by TORRES Release Date: Jan. 26 TORRES, also known as Mackenzie Scott, is a singer-songwriter from Macon, Ga. She released her self-titled debut album in 2013, establishing her indie-rock sound and lyrical capability.

Her songs explore topics such as religion, queer romance, mental health and womanhood. TORRES doesn’t shy away

from existentialism, tackling philosophical inquiries, such as the existence of God. Since 2013, She has refined her songwriting, utilizing concrete imagery and personal details in her lyrics to heighten the relatability of her songs.

The emotions in her lyrics are accessible but complex.

TORRES identified Stevie Nicks as one of her greatest inspirations, even mimicking the crescendo of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” (1977) in her track “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” (2021).TORRES has released three singles throughout 2023 from her upcoming album. In these tracks, TORRES pairs a synth-pop beat with sultry vocals, perhaps ushering in a new era for her music. The album, “What an enormous room,” is set to release on Jan. 26.

“What Do We Do Now”

by J Mascis Release Date: Feb. 2 J Mascis is a U.S. singer, guitarist and songwriter. He led the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. that dominated the indie music scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The group attracted a lot of interest. “Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.” (2021) is a documentary by Philipp Virus that explores the personal relationships between the band’s members and their experience in the eclectic rock scene. The group ultimately disbanded in 1997 due to personality conflicts between Mascis and fellow band member Lou Barlow.

Mascis has released three solo studio albums since then: “Several Shades of Why” (2011),“Tied to a Star” (2014) and “Elastic Days” (2018). His work demonstrates the soulful quality of older rock music, highlighting his melodic folk voice and his skill with electric guitar.

His newer work remains true to this style as his recent single, “Right Behind You,” features his iconic guitar shredding and distinctive vocals. Mascis’ fourth studio album “What Do We Do Now” will be available on Feb. 2.

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

ChAu A hn nGuyen/stAff iLLustrAtor

Wednesday, January 24, 2024 11

SPORTS

The Emory Wheel

SWOOP’S SCOOP Sport

Opponent

Time

Friday Jan 26

W Basketball M Basketball

@ Brandeis @Brandeis

5:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Saturday Jan 27

Track & Field

All Day

Swim & Dive

@ Camel City Invitational Centre

W Basketball M Basketball

@ NYU @ NYU

2 p.m.

12 p.m.

Sunday Jan 28

11 a.m.

*Home Games in Bold

Brock celebrates impressive career achievement

Continued from Back Page

young — they’re experienced, but they’re young — and to be able to stay with that is something that we look to build on.”

The men’s coach also acknowledged the support from fans during the game against CWRU. “The support that the women’s program and the men’s program got on Friday night was outstanding,” Zimmerman said. “It really helped us.”

The Eagles bounced back from the defeat against the No. 2 team in the country with a win against the CMU Tartans. Emory trailed the Tartans for most of the first half, but the Eagles kept the score tight.

Freshman forward Ethan Fauss made three three-point shots later in the half, and the score remained close at 49-47 heading into halftime.

A 9-0 stretch from the Eagles in the second half propelled the team into a 67-59 lead. However, the Tartans came back towards the end of the second half and eventually shortened Emory’s lead to one and two. Shanahan noted that a multitude of factors led to CMU’s run.

“In that stretch, they got a lot of offensive rebounds,” Shanahan said.

“They were shooting threes … and we also didn’t take the best shots in that stretch. We kind of took the first shot available. Even if it was a decent one, we could have gotten better ones.”

Emory kept the edge on their opponents despite the close game,

scoring 16 points off turnovers and 24 on the fast break throughout the entire game.

With Emory making 7-8 free throws in the final stretch, the game ended as a 90-84 win for Emory, helping the team improve their University Athletic Association (UAA) record to 2-3 and overall record to 11-5. The team will play Brandeis University (Mass.) away on Jan. 26 and No. 13 New York University (NYU) on Jan. 28 to continue their UAA matchups.

Before tip-off, the Emory community celebrated graduate guard Claire Brock on reaching 1,000 career points. Brock noted she was “aiming” to accomplish that goal before the season.

“To be able to accomplish that’s really exciting for me,” Brock said. “It makes it more exciting that I get to do it alongside my teammates.”

After the celebration, the Eagles entered the game ranked No. 10, looking to improve their 12-2 overall record and 2-1 UAA record.

Unranked CWRU found their rhythm early in the contest with a 7-0 run in the first four minutes.

The Spartans held a steady lead over the Eagles, capitalizing on threes and free throws.

Emory eventually made their way into the contest with seven straight

points from Brock as well as a layup from sophomore center Katherine Martini to tie the matchup 25-25.

Twelve seconds later, freshman forward Alexandra Loucopoulos made a jump shot to give the Eagles the lead 27-25. The Eagles extended their lead to nine points, ending the half 36-27.

Despite a large 11-point lead in the beginning of the third quarter, Emory gave CWRU the lead after committing a series of shooting fouls.

Down by six with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter, a layup from CWRU senior forward Kayla Characklis and a three from freshman guard Mya Hartjes cut Emory’s lead to one. A layup by Characklis gave the Spartans their first lead since the second quarter.

However, a crucial layup by Martini cut CWRU’s lead to one.

CWRU committed a few fouls to which Brock eventually converted to give the Eagles a one-point lead.

Characklis committed another foul on junior guard Daniella Aronsky and brought the score to 57-55.

After an intentional foul with four seconds to go in the game, Brock converted two free throws to close the game out 61-55. She said that the Eagles’ emphasis on defense helped them defeat CWRU. “We knew that we had to execute offensively, but we had to stop what they’re wanting to do on their offensive end,” Brock said. “I think locking

also noticed that as Gupta neared the title of grandmaster, he became increasingly stressed. At this point, Gupta was studying up to 15 hours a day before tournaments.

“The amount of effort he’s put into it, I could never do it,” Nagpal said.

“He definitely put twice as much effort as me in everything at any given point in time. I didn’t really know a lot of people who were able to do anything at a stretch for eight or ten hours like he used to do.”

To achieve the title of grandmaster, a player has to meet two qualifications. The first is earning an Elo — a rating system of a chess player’s estimated skill level — of at least 2500. The current highest recorded Elo score is 2882. Secondly, the player must have three favorable norms against other grandmasters from different countries, which is when a player scores more than one point above what is expected against another player.

After nine rounds in the 2018 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters, Gupta became an international master, and six months later, placed in the

top 15 during the Biel Masters in Switzerland. Then, in the fifth round of the Portuguese League in 2019, Gupta beat International Master Lev Yankelevich, officially crossing the Elo threshold of 2500. Despite a series of wins, his losses during critical games caused his rating to slip. To counteract this, Gupta said he was determined to work harder, studying more intensely than usual.

Gupta was scheduled to play three matches in Italy but became sick before the tournament, forcing him to withdraw. With almost two months of recovery, Gupta missed school and more matches.

In April 2019, Gupta needed only 22 more rating points and one norm to become a Grandmaster. In the Reykjavik Open in Iceland, one of the most prestigious open tournaments in the world, Gupta beat a grandmaster with a 2600 Elo in the third round. With that impressive win, the next game would decide if he could achieve his third norm. However, in this instance, Gupta’s aggressive style of play left an opening for opponent Nils Grandelius to take his bishop

Women’s team pick up 2 wins at home

Natalie saNdlow/a sst. visual editor

Graduate guard Claire Brock drives past a CMU defender on Jan. 13, 2023. in on defense and getting the mindset of ‘We’re not going to lose’ made the difference in the game there.”

Two days later, the Eagles faced the CMU Tartans at home. The team went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the game until Brock and sophomore guard and forward Chloe Kreusser opened it with an offensive barrage. Two consecutive three point shots from Brock helped establish a 14-6 lead, and the first quarter ended 20-12 in the Eagles’ favor.

Eight points from Loucopoulos in the second quarter helped Emory establish a 33-31 lead heading into halftime. CMU kept the score close in the third quarter, but Emory maintained control of the game, shooting 44.1% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc.

A late three-point shot from

Aronsky secured the 62-52 win for the Eagles, improving their conference record to 4-1 and overall record to 14-2, as well as extending their unbeaten run at home.

“It’s one of our goals to remain undefeated at home,” Kreusser said.

“It definitely gives us a push each and every game especially at home to maintain that record.”

The No. 10 team in the country will take on Brandeis on the road on Jan. 26 and No. 1 NYU on Jan. 28.

“We know we have some tough competition this weekend playing NYU, but [we] take each game one at a time,” Kreusser said.

— Contact Clement Lee at clement.lee@emory.edu and Madeline Shapiro at madeline.shapiro@emory.edu

Sacrifices, hard work propel Gupta to grandmaster title in 2019

Continued from Back Page

Vladimir Kramnik, the undisputed world chess champion from 2006 to 2007, for 10 days in Geneva in 2019.

Four months later, Gupta returned to Europe to train with Boris Gelfand, another chess legend known for his unique playing style of calculating moves that weren’t always found in a textbook.

Reflecting Gelfand’s technique, Nagpal characterized Gupta’s playing style as aggressive. However, Nagpal

Jessie satovsky/staff illustrator

and force a seven-hour sequence. The match ultimately ended in a loss for Gupta. Shortly after that tournament, Gupta played in the Aeroflot Open in Germany, which was statistically one of the worst tournaments he’s ever had.

With training and being abroad so often, Gupta said he was “sacrificing everything.” He had no time for friendships because he was doing schoolwork when he wasn’t training.

This was Gupta’s tipping point, and he considered walking away from chess and giving up his goal of being a grandmaster.

“I just really felt that I didn’t have it in me,” Gupta said.

However, after encouragement from his parents and coaches, Gupta continued to pursue his goal. He was scheduled to play the Porticcio Open in Corsica, France in 2019. Gupta was reluctant to go, but tried to focus on enjoying each game, instead of the result. With this mindset shift, Gupta began winning games again and gradually rediscovered his interest in chess.

Ultimately, Gupta went on to achieve

Courtesy of Prithu GuPta

Prithu Gupta (27C) receives an award from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. his final norm in that tournament and became India’s 64th Grandmaster, completing the 64-square chess board grid of Indian grandmasters that was started in 1988 when Viswanathan Anand became India’s first grandmaster.

Sixteen countries and a college acceptance letter later, Gupta said he plans to keep learning off the board.

“In whatever way life has transpired over the course of the last three or four years has only been for the better and now the best,” Gupta said. “I’d honestly have it no other way.”

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

The Emory Wheel

Sports CHESS

How Grandmaster Prithu Gupta captures the board

By SaSha MelaMud Staff Writer

Natalie saNdlow/a sst. visual editor

Junior forward Cale Martens passes the ball to sophomore forward Jair Knight in a game against Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) on Nov. 27, 2023.

Men’s and women’s basketball battle UAA foes

By CleMent lee and Madeline Shapiro Sports Editors

Emory University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said that the crowd for the men’s and women’s basketball teams’ games against Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) (Ohio) on Jan. 26 was “one of the best” he’s seen during his 17 years coaching at Emory.

While the men’s team fell to CWRU, they beat Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) (Pa.) on Jan. 28.

The women’s team won both of their contests against CWRU and CMU, maintaining their perfect home record this season.

Men’s team come up short against No. 2 CWRU, defeat CMU The Eagles entered the matchup ranked No. 22 against No. 2 CWRU at home. Emory began the first half of the play with four free throws as well as a three-pointer from sopho-

more guard Ben Pearce to give them an early lead against the Spartans.

CWRU responded with two three-pointers from graduate guard Anthony Mazzeo and junior guard Sam Trunley to tie the game 13-13.

The remainder of play went headto-head with each team knocking down layups and three-pointers.

Momentum shifted towards CWRU with nine minutes to go as Trunley scored three straight threes to extend the lead to 12.

Though Emory tried to claw themselves back into the game with scoring outputs from sophomore forward Jair Knight and Pearce, who totaled 11 and 10 respectively at the end of the first half, the Spartans held them down by capitalizing on free throws and offensive rebounds.

The second half saw a hot 13-6 run from the Eagles, but the Spartans responded with a 10-0 run of their own. However, fouls committed by the Spartans and key rebounds from junior forward Logan Shanahan brought the game within six points.

Foul trouble plagued CWRU and eventually shortened their lead

to three. After a series of possessions, the Spartans converted two free throws by junior forward Umar Rashid to lead 89-86. Sophomore guard John Coppolino IV fouled Turnley, who made 1-2 free throws to close the game out. The Spartans defeated the Eagles 90-86.

Shanahan, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, said that Trunley’s three-point shooting ultimately gave CWRU the edge to win the game.

“We definitely lost [Turnley] a couple of times in transition, and we really let him get going,” Shanahan said. “Once he sees a couple of goals in, he’s going to make more … It ended up hurting us for him to get 33 points, which is his career high, so it’s hard to win a game when that happens.”

Zimmerman nevertheless said he was impressed with the team’s resilience throughout the entire game.

“No matter what happened, we’ve been able to stay in the middle of the ring and keep fighting,” Zimmerman said. “That’s a great testament to our guys, and our guys are relatively

See BROCK, Page 11

Not many people can say they are in the top 0.057% of anything, but Prithu Gupta (27C) can.

According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), a person can achieve four titles in the game: Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster. As of 2021, FIDE declared that only 1,742 people hold the title of grandmaster, and Gupta is one of them.

Emory University Chess Club President Blake Liu (25C) explained that in every game, one has the potential to play like Magnus Carlsen, FIDE’s current world No. 1 player, but because chess is such a difficult game, most everyone makes errors.

“A lot of students of the game that have studied for decades will never become even within one standard deviation of becoming a grandmaster,” Liu said.

Gupta first stumbled upon chess at nine years old on his way to school in Gurgaon, India. A group of kids played every day before class. Eventually, Gupta joined a few games and then became a regular in the morning group. He played on Sundays with his father, but he said that it was more fun to play with kids his own age.

A month later, Gupta decided chess no longer fit into the category of a hobby — it became an obsession. He said his formal training first began with reading chess strategy guides.

Gupta’s interest in these books started with “Grandmaster Repertoire,” a series about chess openings consisting of over 15 textbooks.

“Openings were a highlight in my preparation because if I were to get into a bad position in the opening phase of the game, there could be no

way I could go on to even possibly save half the points later on,” Gupta said.

His first chess tournament was in Delhi, in 2013, when he was nine years old. Gupta had only been seriously training for a few months at the time. Players that aspire to achieve a high level of chess are usually introduced to the game by the time they are between five or six years old, and on average, obtain the title of International Master by 15 years old. Gupta entered the game later than his competitors, but said he was “really excited to be there.”

To earn an official FIDE rating, one has to score points against other rated FIDE players. Gupta achieved that, but his rating after that tournament was much lower than his coach had hoped.

“My first coach back then was skeptical of me getting such a low rating at first, because it was naturally going to be very difficult to build upon that and increase from that, but I was probably the happiest person in the world to have achieved that,” Gupta said. “I gained quite a lot of rating points in my subsequent tournaments till the end of 2014, so I was really motivated.”

With this attitude, Gupta’s win streak and rating progressed linearly.

As he advanced, his training intensified, and his schoolwork became more rigorous. Gupta said he would practice seven days a week and would even bring a small chess board to school to rework positions during breaks or class.

Vardaan Nagpal, Gupta’s good friend and an international master, said they attended school only about 30% of the time and spent six months out of one year in Europe. FIDE tournaments were offered in India, but Nagpal said the tougher tournaments tend to be in Europe.

Gupta was selected to train under

See SACRIFICES, Page 11

TRACK AND FIELD

Emory track and field teams jump into indoor season

By Will peCk Asst. Sports Editor

Emory University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams led historic seasons last year. Annika Urban (23C) became the first indoor individual national champion in program history with her win in the mile run. Additionally, both teams finished third at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, and each captured four individual titles. This year, the Eagles are looking to build on that success and put together another strong campaign.

The teams’ first competition in the new year was the Emory Crossplex Showdown on Jan. 14. Emory put on an impressive showing, with both teams finishing in first place and breaking a combined five program records. Senior Dawit Dean, who was a member of the men’s 4x200m relay team that set the program record with a time of 1:29.92, attributed the strong start to the team’s work ethic.

“A lot of us just had really good training during the time off,” Dean said. “As long as you’re consistent, and you’re dedicated, the results often pay

off.”

Off-the-track factors also played a role in the teams’ successes. Dean said that their roster composition and their focus on their goals have improved since last season.

“I think the team, from a cultural standpoint, are very locked in,” Dean said. “We’ve got our goals clearly set out, and we know what we want to accomplish. We’ve got a lot of talented freshmen that joined our team and a lot of veterans on the team that will hopefully lead us to a conference championship — it’s this combination of talent, culture and leadership.”

Junior sprinter Kaya Binetti, who was a member of the record-breaking women’s 4x200m relay team, said that the team’s chemistry and supportive culture has enhanced their performances.

“We’re really lucky in that we’ve attracted such a great group of people,” Binetti said. “I haven’t met anyone who’s not very kind and supportive and just excited to be there … We all just want what’s best for each other.

That’s what initially makes us get along so easily — we really want to succeed as a team.”

While the teams have reasons to be optimistic, they understand the season will bring challenges. According to Binetti, the teams are especially focused on preventing injuries and prioritizing recovery to mitigate the number of physical ailments they face.

“We need to make sure everyone’s healthy,” Binetti said. “The coaches are really looking to prioritize recovery and making sure people are feeling healthy and good and making sure that someone who’s having a day where they don’t feel as good can just sit the day off or modify their workout and their training.”

The teams also switched their practice location to Adams Stadium in Toco Hills since Emory’s outdoor track is closed for renovations through May. However, the teams are taking the challenge in stride. Junior sprinter Jackson Price, another 4x200m record holder, said that the change “hasn’t stopped [them] at all,” and junior distance runner Liesl Scherrer added that adopting a different routine is “exciting.”

Scherrer also said that the Eagles have a mental philosophy for dealing with setbacks: “trusting the process.”

Courtesy of lisel sCherrer

The indoor track and field team poses for a team photo after the Emory Crossplex Showdown on Jan. 14.

“Not every race is going to be your best day, but there’s always a chance to have a good day,” Scherrer said. “Based on your training, you know physically you’re able to, and trusting yourself and trusting the work that you’ve put in with your teammates, going to practice every single day and doing everything, is something that has flipped people’s mindsets more and calmed nerves more.”

Price said that the whole team is determined to understand the work they need to do to achieve their championship aspirations.

“Our mentality is very set on winning a conference championship and getting as many people as we can to nationals,” Price said. “That kind of mindset has developed through the whole entire team, and we’re all prepared to train hard and work for it.”

Managing Editor Jenna Daly (25B) is on the women’s track and field team and had no role in writing or editing this article.

— Contact Will Peck at will.peck@emory.edu