The Eagle December 2023

the EAGLE December 2023

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Term faculty face salary discrepancies and job insecurity How does AU fit into a national trend? p.6

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theEAGLE

theEAGLE December 2023

Delivering American University’s news and views since 1925

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Managing Editor for Online Neev Agarwal Assistant Online Editor Sarah Flakus Assistant Operations Editor Taraji Ellington Social Media Editors Grace Harman Sam Hiergesell Aaron Russell Jack Stashower

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News

Managing Editor for News Jordan Young Administration Editor Tyler Davis Campus Life Editor Kate Corliss Features Editor Maeve Fishel Local News Editor Abigail Hatting Investigations and Data Editor Walker Whalen News Staff Writers Ava Agostinelli Payton Anderson Owen Auston-Babcock Isabella Brown Oni Chaytor Isabel Dianatnejad Hadara Greenidge Stella Guzik Sydney Hsu Tabitha Irvin Phillip Kulubya Hannah Langenfeld Katie Mass

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CROSSWORD SOLUTIONS ACROSS DOWN 1. DUANESIMPKINS 4. ANDERSONLOBBY 2. QDOBA 5. ASSOCIATE 3. FLORIDA 6. THEBRIDGE 5. ALLTHINGSGO 7. ASTATE 8. MIKEJOHNSON 10. ISABELLEKRAVIS 9. REDCOWGIRLBOOTS 11. ASKANNA 12. FIELDHOCKEY 15. NINEMILLIONDOLLARS 13. AHENKIM 19. NARCAN 14. COUCHPOTATOES 20. TWENTYTHREE 16. LITERATURE 22. THIRTYMILLION 17. MELTZER 23. LEONARD 18. EIGHTY 24. EDWINSANTOS 21. EIGHT

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theEAGLE December 2023

INDEX

NEWS 4.

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Students grapple with the impact and confusion of student loan forgiveness Students and faculty respond to worsened air quality over the summer Harm reduction in DC: what it is, where to access it and why it’s of life-or-death importance The Fight for DC Statehood: Where are we?

Term faculty face salary discrepancies and job insecurity Student Government President Edwin Santos reflects on his role: ‘I hope that more students feel encouraged’ Women in Audio: Fostering support and breaking barriers in the sound engineering field

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SPORTS 14.

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Secondhand shopping in DC can be difficult, so AU students get creative Body Neutrality Coalition reteaches perceptions of bodies and eating disorders Students in the Department of Literature find comfort and a sense of community The Center for Environmental Filmmaking: Showcasing change and striving to protect our planet COVER GRAPHIC: IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE

Ahen Kim reflects on his entrance into head coaching for volleyball ‘We want to have a student and an athlete’: How women’s basketball recruits a cohesive unit The Meltzer Center’s True Cost: Community sports Men’s basketball’s new coach is ready to establish a winning culture

EL ÁGUILA 17.

18.

Alex Morales, generando riqueza y construyendo una empresa Kaylhan García emprendiendo el camino para lograr sus sueños

OPINION 19.

LIFE 10.

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20.

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Opinion: ‘Don’t talk to student media’ policies are avenues for abusive employment Opinion: A chubby girl’s guide to a glow up Opinion: Demystifying federal work-study: A program that fails to value low-income student education Ask Anna: Doing it all Satire: Revamped One Card currencies as simple as ever Satire: Best places to take your business on campus Satire: Kingdom of Wonky Adventures Staff Editorial: Evaluating the price of tenure Crossword

Letter from the Editor: Bringing it all together

IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE Last spring, shortly after I took on the role of editor-in-chief, I received an email from Richard Stack, American University Class of ‘65. He offered to donate his old editions of The Eagle when he made his traditional visit to campus for his birthday.

Now these old print editions of The Eagle sit in our office, a reminder of our history. It goes without saying that so much has changed since then, but I don’t think the value of those physical newspapers has. While we now publish the vast majority of our content online, I think of producing the print edition as one of our most important learning experiences as student journalists.

We begin the process about two and a half months before papers wind up on the newsstands, and those months are a flurry of reporting, writing, rewriting, reconfiguring and constructing, after which we have the unique opportunity of holding our work in our hands.

Every day, we as student journalists become more aware of the impact and value our work has, of the im-

mense responsibility we hold and of our own abilities. The Eagle is an eclectic community, but we all understand the unique thrill of producing a piece of work and then letting it go — into the world of published content.

This responsibility is something I take seriously, nowhere more so than in our print edition. The print edition is also where I feel an immense sense of pride. Every day I’m blown away by our reporters and editors, but with print it feels a little bit different.

Working on a college newspaper is a unique experience, and even the smallest-seeming decision requires an extraordinary amount of consideration. As my roommates, who now know far more about journalism than they ever cared to, will tell you, nothing happens at The Eagle without a lot of discussion.

By the time print stories get to me, they’ve already undergone rounds of reporting, double checking with sources, writing, rewriting and editing. This is true of all of our stories, but print is different in that it eventually has to be cohesive. I spent the months leading up to print in a state

of nervousness, checking in with writers and editors constantly but still really feeling that I didn’t know how it would all come together.

All of this changed when I read and edited our print stories. The commitment with which our writers approached these stories came through for me in every word. Shortly after, thanks to tireless effort from Izzy Fantini, Isabelle Kravis and the entire Multimedia and Copy teams, we had a print edition. A tangible representation of the days and nights of hard work we all put into The Eagle.

To everyone who worked on this semester's print edition, and to those who offered support, thank you.

I hope you’re proud of the work you produced. Especially to Walker Whalen, for your flexibility, integrity and commitment.

None of the work The Eagle does would be possible without the community members who read and appreciate our work, as well as those who hold us accountable. Thank you for ensuring our coverage is fair, valuable and nuanced.

Thank you to our staff for making this paper somewhere people want to work. By sharing your ideas, plans and concerns you make The Eagle a better, more inclusive place.

Thank you to former editors-in-chief Nina Heller and Clare Mulroy for always trusting my gut when I don’t, and to professors John Watson and Amy Eisman for valuing and advising The Eagle. I’m lucky to learn from all of you.

Thank you to Heather Mongilio, Courtney Rozen, Zach Cohen and the entire Eagle Advisory Board for your unwavering support.

I’ve learned more in my time in this role than I have any other time in my life, and I look forward to another semester of growth for The Eagle.

Abigail Pritchard

Editor-in-Chief 2023-2024 apritchard@theeagleonline.com

NEWS

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theEAGLE December 2023

Students grapple with the impact and confusion of student loan forgiveness

by Samantha Skolnick News Staff Writer College students are labeled with many stereotypes: living on ramen noodles, attending every weekend party and surviving on Panera’s Charged Lemonades. Currently, the Biden Administration is focused on fixing “the broke college student” stereotype through student loan forgiveness.

On Oct. 4, President Biden canceled $9 billion in student debt, meaning that this money will be put towards existing federal programs to help those in debt.

This comes after the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s original plan that would have eliminated $400 billion in student debt.

Edwin Santos, American University’s student body president and a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said he feels student loan forgiveness will significantly affect students in the long run.

What loan forgiveness options do students have?

Santos said that many AU “students go into the public sector” and “the nonprofit world,” due to specified interest in these areas.

Nonprofit and public sector work qualify a student for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program, one of the most typical ways to apply for forgiveness. Yet, this program is only available after a total of 120 qualifying monthly payments, meaning that it would take at least 10 years before a student can be eligible for PSLF, according to the Department of Education.

In addition to the PSLF, forgiveness programs include Permanent Disability Discharge and the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. There are also a variety of federal payment programs for students to apply to, such as

Income-Driven Repayment which includes the SAVE, PAYE and IBR plan.

With the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, teachers may be eligible for up to $17,500 in forgiven loans if they teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school or educational service agency, according to the Department of Education.

Shayna Caruso, vice president of the School of Education Undergraduate Council and a sophomore in SOE, said that she hopes this program will encourage students to work in low-income school districts.

“There’s not a lot of incentive for teachers to start out in these low-income schools and in these inner city and urban areas because of the high risk that students have,” Caruso said. “I think having this debt cancellation gives just another step for teachers to help out in those areas.”

With the 2024 election looming, student loan forgiveness is threatened by the ever-changing political landscape, which also leaves programs vulnerable and complicates the path to forgiveness.

IMAAN HASSAN / THE EAGLE

Yet, as of Nov. 12, the link on AU’s website under “Student Loan Forgiveness,” leads to an outdated Federal Student Aid page about the Biden Administration’s plan that was struck down in June. AU’s Financial Aid Office was unavailable to comment.

The future of student loan forgiveness is still debated today, as the Student Loan Relief Committee was formed by the Department of Education to negotiate student loan forgiveness rules.

“When you compare the United States to other countries, higher education is incredibly expensive,” Evan Kraft, a senior professorial lecturer in AU’s Department Understanding loan forgiveness of Economics, said. “And what we see is that that burden, Santos explained the confusion that students feel, esthe proportion of that debt to people's income often is pecially due to word choice in these programs, adding highest, so it's most difficult for minority families. And so that it is a joint obligation of the U.S. government and the it has a really uneven impact in our society.”

University to help students.

“I would say that the local level is the responsibility of news@theeagleonline.com the University to be able to make that information digestible and accessible to students,” Santos said.

Students and faculty respond to worsened air quality over the summer

Now, Alonzo has brought what he learned into the classroom by getting students outside and connecting them to their local environment through data collection and modeling.

“The heart of what I do is trying to get tion perspective, like we saw particulate matter concen- outside and do stuff,” Alonzo said.

by Katie Mass While there are scientific methods to reduce forest fires tration that we haven’t really observed in D.C.,” Aquila News Staff Writer said. “I had never seen anything like that, but it doesn’t and other air pollutants, Viner also noted the importance of legislated regulations, such as making it less profitable for mean that it will not happen again.”

After smoke from unprecedented wildfires in CanaThe presence and strength of a forest fire depends on large companies to pollute the air.

“I feel pretty pessimistic, to be honest, if legislation isn't da caused a spike in low air quality in D.C. this summer, the meteorological conditions, specifically past dryness American University students and faculty reflected on in the region and how much fuel there is for the fire, ac- passed quickly and effectively to actually make meaningful health impacts and potential solutions to air pollution. cording to Aquila. Land management to reduce fuel helps change regarding air pollution,” Viner said. “I hope that it Daily Air Quality Index values became increasingly slow the spread of forest fires, but she said that it must be will change for the better soon, but you never know.” unhealthy in June and July this summer, raising health combined with actions to mitigate climate change. concerns for residents. There were four days with very “Climate change doesn’t cause the ignition, but cli- news@theeagleonline.com unhealthy air quality in June, with the highest AQI value mate change does cause the perfect condition for the fire at 198 on June 8. to spread,” Aquila said.

Brooke Viner, a junior in the College of Arts and SciAquila also emphasized that only observing particuences, has had moderate to severe asthma her whole life. late matter creates an incomplete view of air pollution.

She’s noticed ups and downs over the years, but she said Gas emissions such as ozone, carbon monoxide and nithat this summer in the District was particularly difficult trogen dioxide also impact air quality. Each pollutant due to the intense smoke in the air. comes from different sources and requires different re“It was really bad for my asthma, like I truly [could search. not] go outside,” Viner said. “And when I did, I would Michael Alonzo, an assistant professor in the Departhave to reach for my inhaler like a couple times a day, ment of Environmental Science, studies forest and land whereas in summer it’s usually not that bad.” cover change in mostly urban areas. Trees can be a useful She described the experience as terrifying, recounting tool in both mitigating heat and reducing air pollution, how she would attempt to take a deep breath in the thick according to Alonzo. air, only for her chest to stop rising and falling halfway Previously, Alonzo worked at Casey Trees, a local through. nonprofit organization focused on the District’s tree canValentina Aquila, an assistant professor in the Depart- opy. While there, he learned more about the relationships ment of Environmental Science, also noticed the change. between tree traits and air quality improvement. For Her research measures particulate matter — microscopic instance, trees can reduce pollutants through a process solids or liquid droplets that can cause serious health called dry deposition. Pollutants like ozone or particulate problems when inhaled. matter land on the leaves and typically remain there until IMAAN HASSAN / THE EAGLE “This summer was really exceptional from [a] pollu- they wash into the stormwater flow.

theEAGLE December 2023

Harm reduction in DC: what it is, where to access it and why it’s of life-or-death importance

by Ella Rousseau News Staff Writer

Harm reduction is becoming an increasingly popular discussion topic on college campuses across the U.S. as the Centers for Disease Control reports fatal drug overdoses among teens are on the rise nationwide.

Harm reduction describes preventive measures taken to lessen the negative consequences of risky activities. It’s promoted by advocates as a necessary collection of tools and resources that can save lives.

“Harm reduction meets people where they are,” said College of Arts and Sciences alumna Hope Neyer. She volunteers with ShutDownDC, a democracyfocused group that offers trainings on topics including health and safety.

Neyer explained that harm reduction applies to a wide range of behaviors. For example, American University students can access safe sex supplies, such as condoms, in residence halls and at the Student Health Center, and all undergraduates are required to take an alcohol education training both online and in person before matriculating.

In general, popular drug use harm reduction strategies include carrying naloxone, widely known by its brand name, Narcan, which can stop opioid overdoses as they’re happening.

Test strips are another popular harm reduction tool. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported a “7.5-fold increase from 2015 to 2021” in overdoses from fentanyl and similar synthetic drugs. The FDA also announced in 2022 that seized samples of fentanyl and other drugs have been laced with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use. Test strips for these substances can tell users if their drugs are laced with fentanyl or xylazine, pre-

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venting accidental overdoses.

The University does not currently supply either of these harm reduction methods on campus, but is “exploring the feasibility of providing placements of naloxone boxes, supplied with Narcan, across campus,” Vice President of Student Affairs Raymond Ou and Chief Financial Officer Bronté Burleigh-Jones wrote in an October email to the University community.

The email also said that University police officers this semester are “working with the Center for Well-Being for AUPD officers to be trained and will carry Narcan to administer to someone in a crisis.”

The University did not provide additional statements on these plans and rediGAVIN O'MALLEY / THE EAGLE rected The Eagle back to the community-wide email need,” Dellinger said. when asked for comment.

Neyer agreed and shared a more personal exThe original email also provided off-campus resources to access Narcan across D.C., including by perience.

“Another student and I did intervene in an texting LiveLongDC at 888-811, ordering Narcan in the mail through Health Support Now or going to opioid overdose in Tenleytown, and if American D.C. firehouse vending machines. One resource not University students had free and non-stigmatized mentioned in the email is HIPS, a harm reduction access to opiate reversal drugs, I think we would organization that has served the District since 1993. be better empowered to be, at risk of sounding Blythe Dellinger, HIPS’ data and reporting coor- corny, changemakers,” Neyer said. “The University dinator, says the services college students most often has an opportunity to do something very simple seek from the organization are Narcan, fentanyl test- to empower students to quite literally save lives, and honestly, it's a little disappointing that in a city ing strips and xylazine testing strips.

Dellinger said it is “dangerous” and “antithetical to facing a serious overdose problem, we haven't ena lot of the work that we do at HIPS” for universities acted that yet.” not to provide these resources on college campuses.

"The best we can do is provide people with the re- news@theeagleonline.com sources to have the lesser amount of harm in their day-to-day life, so Narcan should definitely be available as well as any other resource that people would

The Fight for DC Statehood: Where are we?

H.R. 51, a statehood bill that would limit the District to a two-mile enclave including the White House, Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court. The rest of the District would become Long overlooked, residents of the District of Colum- the new state of Washington, Douglass Combia have been fighting for self-governance since its found- monwealth. Among the hearing speakers for ing as the nation’s capital in 1790. statehood was Maryland Representative and D.C. is the only national capital in the democratic Washington College of Law Professor Emeriworld that lacks a full government and voting rights. tus Jamie Raskin.

While the District has a mayor, 13 city council members In an interview with The Eagle, Raskin and a delegate to the House of Representatives, they do said D.C.’s current system is “just a halfway not have a governor or senators, and the delegate has no condition for people who live in the District vote in the House. Additionally, Congress has the power of Columbia, and it really betrays the printo block any D.C. legislation through what is called a con- ciples of democracy and equality under the JACOB FISHMAN / THE EAGLE gressional disapproval resolution.

Constitution.” which would have comprehensively updated D.C.’s crimi“It’s just abominable,” said Patrice Snow, the director H.R. 51 passed the House both in 2019 and 2021, but nal code for the first time since 1901. of communications at DC Vote, an advocacy organiza- didn’t get past the Senate. Many Republicans in Congress D.C.’s Delegate to the House Eleanor Holmes Norton, tion dedicated to strengthening democracy for its resi- oppose statehood because it would likely guarantee two who introduced H.R. 51, said in a press release, “I can only dents. “You have this colonial Congress from random more Democratic seats in the Senate due to D.C.’s left- conclude that the Republican leadership believes that D.C. places like Arizona and Georgia and South Carolina who leaning political makeup. Anna Reid Jhirad explored this residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are want to tell the 700,000 tax-paying residents of Washing- concept in her 2021 documentary “The Last Battlefront: either unworthy or incapable of governing themselves.” ton, D.C. how to rule itself. It’s ironic that those who live Quest for the Vote in Washington DC,” which analyzed “We always say at DC Vote that it’s a matter of when, in the shadow of our democracy … are treated as second- the District’s political and racial history. not if, we finally achieve D.C. statehood and become the class citizens.”

“I’m hoping that people can see that the District has 51st state of the union,” Snow said. “It’s been a long, arduD.C. residents could not vote for president until 1964, been ignored and overseen because they just see the beau- ous process; we’re still working, we’re still fighting.” and the District’s current governmental structure wasn’t tiful monuments … and they don’t realize that there’s a established until 1973 under the District of Columbia real problem,” Jhirad said. “There’s no real democracy.” news@theeagleonline.com Home Rule Act. The prior system came from segregationJhirad said this issue goes far beyond the District. ists who convinced Congress to eliminate local govern“The dilemma that D.C. faces are lessons for the whole ment with the Organic Act of 1878 in an effort to hurt of the country and that we really have to fight against efBlack male suffrage. forts to control voting,” Jhirad said. “We really have to see how precious voting rights are.”

The fight for statehood Earlier this year, Congress blocked multiple D.C. bills In September 2019, D.C. held a historic hearing for from passing, such as the Revised Criminal Code Act,

by Abigail Hatting Local News Editor

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theEAGLE December 2023

Term faculty face salary discrepancies and job insecurity How does AU fit into a national trend?

by Walker Whalen, Investigations and Data Editor, and Abigail Pritchard, Editor-in-Chief Universities across the country are trending towards hiring term faculty, whose contracts renew frequently. This means that more full-time faculty members face frequent job insecurity and salary disparities — American University is no exception.

Term faculty are faculty with contingent appointments, meaning they have to renew their contracts regularly, initially on a yearly basis. U.S.-based institutions “heavily rely” on such faculty, according to a report by the American Association of University Professors. Term faculty hiring differs from the tenure track, which has been the precedent in academia.

pointments nationally from 1987 to 2021.

In the same period, the amount of tenured and tenure-track faculty saw a 21 percent decline. The University has followed this trend over the last 10 years, with over a six percent increase in term faculty hires from fall 2013 to fall 2023. Meanwhile, the proportion of tenure-line faculty has decreased by the same amount in the same period.

As of fall 2023, 48 percent of the University’s full-time teaching faculty are term faculty, according to Pelaez. This does not necessarily mean that term faculty are teaching 48 percent of classes since, according to Pelaez, in the 2022-23 academic year, 39.5 percent of courses were taught by adjuncts who are mostly parttime faculty.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, term faculty members earn significantly

It has undermined the power of faculty at the University on the whole.

-Martyn Oliver Tenure is a long-debated hallmark of higher education, designed to protect academic freedom and “attract talented individuals to a secure life” in their chosen profession, according to the American University faculty manual. Tenured faculty “provide scholarship, service, and two semesters or their equivalent of full-time teaching,” according to the faculty manual.

Tenured faculty do not face regular contract renewal and their jobs are protected from budget cuts. Tenure’s purpose is clear, but this still begs the question — what is the term faculty position designed for?

AU introduced the term faculty position as it is now in 2009, according to Jasmine Pelaez, internal communications manager for the University. AAUP data shows a 21 percent increase in these ap-

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

less than tenure-track and tenured faculty, according to a March letter from the CAS Term Faculty Committee to the College’s dean, despite both “providing equal contributions to CAS and AU.” The letter analyzes data from AU’s 2021-22 Academic Data Reference Book and a March 2022 CAS Term Faculty Committee survey, which had a 72 percent response rate.

As term faculty members take on more roles at the University, some have pointed out that tenure and tenure-track faculty have more benefits than term faculty through sabbatical and research opportunities.

“Adjuncts and terms have been historically disempowered, right? And it’s given the administration a lot more power,” Martyn Oliver, a term faculty member in CAS, said. “Tenure-track folk might not like to admit it, but they were, at least

initially, the beneficiaries of the move to term-heavy appointments,” because they could get more “research leaves and reduce their teaching levels in order to focus on their research.”

The reduction in teaching obligation, Oliver said, is good for tenure and tenure-track faculty and for the University because serious research elevates the school’s profile. However, he said, this has an “unanticipated cost.”

“It has undermined the power of faculty at the University on the whole,” Oliver said. “I think tenure-track faculty are only now just waking up to the fact that the bargain for hiring more term faculty and relieving them of teaching burdens has eroded their power.”

What does being a term faculty member mean?

According to the University’s faculty manual, continuing appointment — a newer position at AU in which term faculty are no longer subject to reappointment — and term faculty should be rehired contingent on relevant qualifications, satisfactory performance, budgetary limitations, enrollments and other needs of their department.

For their first three years at the University, a term faculty member must renew their job on a one-year term basis.

After that, reappointments are for threeyear terms, but departments can still recommend one-year appointments, according to the faculty manual.

“Term faculty contracts range from one to five years and can be renewed, where tenure-track contracts include two three-year contracts for faculty seeking tenure; and tenure contracts are indefinite and tenured faculty undergo rigorous reviews of teaching, research, and service,” Pelaez wrote in a statement to The Eagle.

When faculty members are terminated for budgetary limitations, tenure faculty take priority over continuing ap-

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

pointment status faculty and continuing appointment status faculty take priority over term faculty members, according to the faculty manual. The term faculty promotion sequence progresses from assistant professor to associate professor to professor. The term professorial lecturer promotion sequence is instructor, professorial lecturer, senior professorial lecturer and Hurst senior professorial lecturer.

In the 2022-23 school year, full-time professors at AU made an average salary of $174,374, according to the Academic Data Reference book. Full-time associate professors made an average of $118,337.

These are the two positions where faculty are most likely to hold tenure, according to The Eagle’s analysis. For full-time assistant professors, the average salary is $107,989 and for full-time instructors it is $82,940.

What is the University doing for term faculty?

AU introduced the continuing appointment position process in August 2022 and aims to have over 50 percent of term faculty on multi-year contracts.

Both of these moves work to mitigate the issues term faculty face.

The University proposed continuing appointment after the Faculty Senate-Provost’s Office task force proposed recommendations to streamline the contract renewal process that is, “widely understood to be burdensome and inefficient for our faculty and for the faculty affairs staff in our schools and colleges,” according to an August 2022 memorandum from the Office of the Provost.

In a June 2023 memorandum, the Office of the Provost updated the community on the ongoing implementation of continuing appointment, under which “eligible term faculty members will apply for continuing appointment in their sixth year of service.” Faculty with continuing appointment status are not subject to the reappointment process but can still be terminated for unsatisfactory performance,

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theEAGLE December 2023

Academic Year IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

misconduct, budgetary limitations, enrollments and other needs of the teaching or academic unit.

“Very few universities have this classification, which will allow non-tenured/ tenure-track faculty to avoid undergoing a repetitive reappointment process,” Pelaez wrote in a statement to The Eagle.

In the annual faculty data presentation at an Oct. 4 Faculty Senate meeting, Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty Monica Jackson reported that progress has been made toward the University’s goal to have over 50 percent of term faculty in each school on multi-year contracts rather than single-year.

“They have taken some steps to provide more job security to term faculty members,” Eileen Findlay, a tenured professor and chair of the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies, said.

“They’ve begun to raise the salaries of incoming term faculty members — they’ve raised the floor of the minimum salary offered to term faculty members pretty substantially actually over the last five years.”

This salary increase has been impactful for term faculty members, as has the introduction of continuing appointments, but finding the money to further decrease the discrepancy between tenured faculty and other faculty positions remains an issue.

“This is quite genuine on the part of the AU administration, the desire to improve the working conditions of term faculty, and it’s tangible,” Max Friedman, a tenured history professor and former interim dean in CAS, said. “It’s not enough, of course, and in that regard, the University faces a real dilemma … to pay employees of the University more, you have to get the money somewhere and a majority of AU’s income comes from tuition. And it’s hard to do tuition increases in an environment in which students and their families are already struggling.”

Some term faculty members are still concerned about the risk they run when they apply for continuing appointments.

“What happens if the University just doesn’t actually honor this sort of understood, implicit commitment to moving people into continuing appointment sta-

tus?” Findlay asked. “What if they just say, ‘you’re going to be expensive?’”

As the University grows in recognition, some term faculty members are asking how much of that growth is aided by the money the University saves in hiring term faculty instead of granting tenure.

“The economics of this structure make the term position make sense in a budgetary way,” Friedman said. “I think that’s why it’s a national trend.”

This trend, according to Oliver, means that term faculty hold unsecure positions — and tenured faculty benefit with more freedom to focus on research.

“The University’s gotten to grow and grow in prestige, I think on the backs of term faculty,” Oliver said. “It does not behoove a department to move a term faculty member to a tenure-track line. Because why would you pay them more and get less teaching out of them?”

Specifics of the term faculty position Universities can hire term faculty members to take on more teaching than tenured faculty when they are expected to

Rae Jereza previously held a position as a term researcher in the School of Public Affairs but is now an adjunct professorial lecturer in the Anthropology Department. They said the discrepancy in salary demonstrates that universities don’t invest enough of their resources in the teaching environment.

“I think it reflects that the University is not really interested in quality of education and supporting its educators, or ensuring that educators have enough resources and, frankly, the emotional and psychological bandwidth to be doing a good job,” Jereza said.

The CAS Term Faculty Committee letter outlined a number of suggestions on how CAS could minimize the pay disparity between tenure and term faculty going forward. Among their suggestions was a temporary salary freeze for all faculty earning over twice the average CAS term faculty salary, which was $68,495 in 2022, according to the Term Faculty Committee’s analysis.

The letter also proposes that every CAS faculty member receive the same amount of merit increase for the same merit score, regardless of other factors.

“We must stress that neither proposal will be sufficient to solve the existing inequity issue in the long run,” the letter stated. “More progressive solutions will need to be discussed for subsequent salary increases.”

Salary disparities: the College of Arts and Sciences as a case study The Committee’s letter, which was addressed to the College’s dean, points out that the salary disparity doesn’t account for benefits that tenured faculty members get, such as sabbaticals. The letter also raises concerns that an increasing salary gap between tenure-track and tenured faculty and term faculty threatens the University’s structure.

“The difference in current salaries and benefits is not only inconsistent with AU’s

The University’s gotten to grow and grow in prestige, I think on the backs of term faculty.

-Martyn Oliver publish less research. However, Friedman said, this makes it possible for term faculty to take on a greater teaching load while being paid substantially lower salaries.

“The problem is that the reality of the job market is that there are [people with] PhDs out there, who are fantastic scholars and very productive and are working like tenure-line faculty, except that they have [an estimated] 50 percent more of the teaching load,” Friedman said. “And their compensation might be maybe two-thirds of what a tenure-line person at their level would get.”

values and ideas but is also a threat to social cohesion across faculty and more generally a threat to AU’s progress, including student retention,” the letter stated.

The data analysis in the letter estimates that the gap between average CAS term and tenure salaries increased from $37,021 in 2012 to $44,728 in 2022 — over a 20 percent increase in 10 years. This analysis is based on information provided in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Academic Data Reference Books and the CAS Term Faculty Survey.

The analysis found that term faculty make, on average, just 60.5 percent of what tenured and tenure-track faculty earn.

After sending the letter, the Committee met in April 2023 with the CAS dean and the CAS associate dean for budget, who did not challenge that the salary difference between tenure and term faculty has been increasing from 2012 to 2022, wrote professor Ben Gunter, chair of the CAS Term Faculty Committee, in an email to The Eagle.

There were salary increases for all staff and faculty in 2022 and 2023, and specific salary increases for term faculty were implemented in September 2022 and September 2023 to counter the increasing salary difference, Gunter wrote, but no sufficient data exists to analyze the salary difference between tenure-line and term faculty since 2022.

In September, Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer Vicky Wilkins released data on faculty salaries and academic growth, which did not break down tenure-line and term faculty salaries, but did broadly confirm data analysis from the Committee letter.

Job security, power and agency For some of her colleagues, Findlay said, having a term position makes it difficult to put down roots in the D.C. area.

Despite University efforts to create a formalized promotion track for term faculty, she said there still isn’t enough job security.

“How do you even sign a long-term lease somewhere in an apartment building?” Findlay said. “How do you build a life when you don’t know, from one year to the next, you’re gonna have a job?”

Jereza said they faced a number of obstacles when they were not rehired to their term position in SPA. On top of losing their income, they said they found themself in a difficult situation without healthcare coverage.

“When I lost my job — with no warning, by the way — I lost my health care,” they said. “I was actually planning on getting gender-affirming surgery in September, and I didn’t have healthcare to do it.

I have multiple mental illness diagnoses.

They’re very well managed, but through medication and therapy. And I lost that for a long time.”

Findlay said that she knows some term faculty members in CAS who take on service and administrative responsibilities to obtain longer contracts. The goal, she said, is to make themselves indispensable to the University.

“A lot of term faculty members started agreeing to do major service responsibilities, in addition to teaching a lot more classes than tenure track faculty, in order to get contracts that were multiple years

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long so that they wouldn't have to be constantly reapplying for their jobs,” Findlay said.

But according to Oliver, holding a term position can also hinder faculty from acting fully in these additional leadership roles. He said that it can be difficult to make decisions in a leadership capacity when dealing with the pressure of contract renewal.

“I need to be the happy soldier so that I can maintain my employment,” Oliver said. “Because if I upset the wrong person, my contract comes up in two years. Tenure resolves that, so it makes for a wonky power balance.”

According to Jereza, concerns about contract renewal can, in some cases, restrain term faculty from voicing their own opinions or facilitating discussions about contentious issues.

“There is a general understanding, and mentors who are more senior academics than you will give you advice that says, ‘Be careful what you say about X and Y and Z political issue,’” Jereza said. “Because if you speak up in certain ways about these issues, then that could jeopardize your ability to get renewed in a job.”

Findlay said she feels that job security is particularly important for University

counts of full-time faculty by rank accounting for race and ethnicity.

Finding solutions to a national issue

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

Jereza said. “You have a situation in which there is a drive for more and more and more money-making at the expense of students and the staff, including faculty.

Then at the same time, you have this ideological campaign going on that [says] they care about you and they care about faculty of color. And it’s just so transparent that

There is a general understanding ... if you speak up in certain ways about these issues, then that could jeopardize your ability to get renewed in a job.

-Rae Jereza faculty because of the political climate, which she said is becoming increasingly hostile towards educators. Expanding tenure to term faculty would provide protection against retaliation and censorship, she said.

“Academic freedom and intellectual freedom are really at risk,” she said. “It’s under attack in the historical moment that we’re living in and tenure is a very important protection that allows university educators to continue to inquire and to teach students to inquire about all sorts of issues. And I think we should be expanding tenure.”

Lauren Weis, a term faculty member in the Philosophy Department, said that regular position renewals force professors to remain in the job market, which takes time away from their students. “[People with] PhDs aren’t typically — in the humanities and social sciences — equipped explicitly to navigate the job market outside of academia,” Jereza said.

“And so when you have this problem of universities increasingly cutting tenure lines, not renewing them, turning to adjunct and or term faculty, you're leaving people with no choice.”

The obstacles that accompany job insecurity impact people with less stability far more, according to Jereza. People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, people without a partner to supplement their income and those who are otherwise systemically marginalized are further disadvantaged when faced with periods of sporadic employment.

“That’s how racial capitalism works,”

that is actually not the case.”

Reinforcing inequities Inclusive Excellence, the University’s plan for advancing racial equity, works to improve inclusivity on campus and address systemic barriers, including through hiring practices. Term faculty say that unequal pay prevents that.

“The University strives to maximize the number and percentage of full-time faculty in tenured and tenure-track appointments consistent with AAUP guidelines,” according to the faculty manual.

The majority of tenure and tenure-track full-time professors in CAS are full professors, followed by associate professors and a few assistants.

In CAS, according to the 2022-23 Academic Data Reference Book, around 90 percent of tenure and tenuretrack professors were white, around 92 percent of tenure and tenure-track associate professors were white and just over 56 percent of assistant professors were white.

Assistant professors are less likely to be tenured, with just two out of 53 total in CAS holding tenure and 37 on a tenure track. This means that in CAS, the salary gap between tenure and term faculty is compounding a racial

and ethnic pay disparity as, proportionally, more faculty of color are assistant professors than any higher rank.

In May 2023, The Eagle reported that 70 out of 100 new hires identified as people of color. There are 166 total lecturers in CAS, all of whom are term faculty, and fewer than 70 percent of whom are white. This suggests the University hiring increasing numbers of term faculty compounds the racial and ethnic pay disparity between term and tenure faculty.

This suggests that the University hiring increasing numbers of term faculty compounds the racial and ethnic pay disparity between term and tenure faculty.

In September 2023, the University released data on faculty and administrative growth. The report included average salary breakdowns by position, from instructors and lecturers, to assistant, associate and full professors. The release was meant to, “respond to the data request made to the Provost’s office in Spring 2023 by the Working Group on Faculty Engagement (WGFE).”

The report also included a breakdown of the yearly average earned salary by gender, from 2013-2022, in each faculty rank.

The data showed that in 2022, for all faculty ranks besides assistant professors, the mean average salary for male faculty was higher than for female faculty. The data did not include a breakdown of faculty salary data by race despite including head-

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

While acknowledging that there are few easy answers to this issue, Oliver said that transparency is the first step in starting a dialogue between AU and its faculty.

“The University has worked hard to not release salary data because it would mean recognition of the inequalities in our pay scale,” he said. “It would be free to simply share everybody’s salary data, but everybody’s terrified of that — that somebody’s gonna get mad. But it’s sort of like well, people are already mad. So let’s pull the Band-Aid off and start to actually address it.”

According to Jereza, the crux of the issue is the profit model that shapes universities and other higher education institutions. They said that as long as the primary motivation of schools and universities is profit, there cannot be a solution that creates stability for faculty and students.

“I think to make things better for everyone, we need to get rid of that capitalist logic – the entrepreneurial logic of university and of higher [education],” they said.

“If we want things to be better and instead treat universities and colleges as communities of learning, then we have to try to address the deep inequalities that exist within that community.”

This issue isn’t specific to American University — it’s a national trend. But term faculty say AU is still responsible for trying to fix it.

“I think if AU wanted, they can be a true national leader on this,” Oliver said.

“But there’s got to be the will, and that will need to come from the administration, but also from the tenured faculty who decide that they want to get behind their colleagues and really push to make it happen.” news@theeagleonline.com

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Student Government President Edwin Santos reflects on his role: ‘I hope that more students feel encouraged’

by Anna Peed News Staff Writer In April, Edwin Santos made history by becoming the first Latino to be elected as president of American University’s Student Government.

Santos, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, ran on three ideals: community, security and representation. He won the election with around 62 percent of the vote. Now approaching the middle of his term, Santos is reflecting on his journey as a student, scholar and leader within the University community.

“It’s been a lot of adjusting in terms of schedule and time management,” Santos said. Last year, he was the co-president of COURTESY OF ME PHOTOGRAPHY Latinos en Acción, a student organization that aims to create space for Latinos in pressure of being in a leadership position the community and advocate for immi- with a great deal of responsibilities. grants’ rights.

“I think student leaders … we usually “This year, I’m even more busy than put them on a pedestal and assume that last year,” Santos said. “It’s definitely been they’re these super-human beings,” Sana learning curve on how to handle all of tos said. “When, in reality, they’re just evthis. A lot of meetings, a lot of emails, the eryday people that happen to have a title.” emails never stop.”

In addition to being SG president, Santos also discussed the stress and Santos is currently working as an under-

graduate research intern for the Immigration Lab. He has also interned and volunteered for various institutions such as the U.S. Senate, the HOME Project and the University of California, Berkeley.

“I come from a background of parents that immigrated from El Salvador to the United States,” Santos said. “Growing up, seeing them struggle financially and sometimes not have everything we needed … I was motivated to pursue something that could support them and not just myself.”

Santos recalled a particular moment in his childhood that changed his outlook on his future.

“I had an aunt … she was going through a court case at the time. She had four children, and she was fighting for custody over them,” Santos said. “At the age of 12, in the seventh grade, I saw firsthand the impacts of socioeconomic status within the court system and how she was, at the end of the day, negatively impacted because she couldn’t afford an attorney who had expertise in that field of law.”

Santos said his aunt ended up losing custody of all four of her children due to the lack of representation for her in the

court system. Santos said having witnessed this at a young age drives his determination.

“This idea of wanting to be a lawyer, be an advocate for people, like people who I have lived with and interacted with through my family,” Santos said. “It's kind of what fuels me into knowing that I have to pursue an undergraduate degree to go to law school later.”

Halfway through his term, Santos looked back on what he accomplished so far during the fall semester and what he hopes to get done during the remainder of his presidency.

Santos added that he hopes to create an environment where students feel like they have a voice and he said he wants the Student Government to continue this trend after his time in office.

“I hope that more students feel encouraged to run in elections,” Santos said.

“But with that, the organization itself fosters an environment where students even want to do that in the first place.” news@theeagleonline.com

Women in Audio: Fostering support and breaking barriers in the sound engineering field

by Maeve Fishel Features Editor On a quiet Sunday evening, secluded from the rest of campus, music plays from within the Kreeger Building’s recording studio. It is the sound of Women in Audio’s artists and engineers hard at work.

Run by students from American University’s undergraduate and graduate Audio Technology Program, Women in Audio was created with a simple aim — to build a supportive professional environment for female and nonbinary students interested in the audio field, according to club Vice President Tessa Giasson.

Audio engineers are responsible for capturing, mixing or reproducing sound using electronic audio equipment.

The club teaches members to record, edit and mix sound hands on. Many members said the organization has empowered them to find their stride in a heavily male-dominated industry.

“There’s so few of us, and we all find that we run into similar challenges,” said Giasson, a graduate student in the Audio Technology Program. “How do you, as a female audio engineer, assert yourself and be confident?”

The audio engineering world is dis-

proportionately male, a fact mirrored in the composition of the University’s Audio Technology classes and faculty. A quick glance at the University’s website shows that all 11 faculty and staff members in the Audio Technology Program are malepresenting. Many of Women in Audio’s members report having few female classmates in their Audio Technology classes.

“As I took more audio classes, I became very conscious of the ratio between women and men,” Sage Duarte, a sophomore in the Program, said. “For a few of my classes, I was the only girl. The most [female classmates] I think I’ve had is like four.”

Duarte said that this imbalance is exacerbated by microaggressions she and fellow female students experience from their male peers.

“They don’t really talk to you because you’re a girl, and it really gets to you,” Duarte said. “When you’re new to this and you don’t have a lot of experience, everything looks really intimidating and inaccessible. And as a woman, it becomes even more inaccessible because of how hard it is to get through to anyone. They don’t want to talk to you.”

Because she’s treated this way, Duarte said, she constantly feels that she has to prove herself.

“I always show up to class looking nice, looking put together,” she said. “And part of that is, I think, a subconscious thing to help build me up. To be like, yes, I can take this class, I can be here. I’m just as good as anyone and just as qualified.”

Giasson said Women in Audio actively works to counter this isolating culture by fostering one of collaboration instead.

The club gives students of every experience level and musical background the opportunity to try new skills. Giasson said that this system not only gives members confidence in their abilities, it also helps set new cultural standards within the audio engineering world.

“To me, it’s really important to create allyships with everybody, make sure that they feel welcome and included, that they’re acknowledged for the skills that they have,” she said. “Because everybody in audio is going to be good at something, it’s just a matter of trying it out.”

Currently, Women in Audio is committed to audio production expertise.

They host meetings in Kreeger’s studios almost every Sunday to teach demos on mixing and editing music and conduct recording sessions. These sessions usually involve helping another artist produce their music. Recently, the club produced songs for a cappella group Treble in Para-

MAEVE FISHEL/THE EAGLE

dise.

Duarte said the Women in Audio community has given her a supportive space to nurture her creative potential, free from the feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt that sometimes surface in classroom settings.

“This is so good for accessibility,” she said. “You come in, it’s hands-on, no one is battering you down or calling you dumb for not knowing how to do something, they just help you learn. And that’s the whole point.” news@theeagleonline.com

LIFE

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Secondhand shopping in DC can be difficult, so AU students get creative Students express mixed feelings over the secondhand clothing market in D.C.

by Marina Zaczkiewicz Life Staff Writer In their time at American University, many students experiment with new clothing choices. Often, this means seeking out secondhand stores to enhance their wardrobes on a budget.

Some students find D.C. thrift stores inaccessible, preferring to shop at largeformat stores like Goodwill.Aiden McPhillips, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that many of their favorite thrift stores are not accessible by public transportation.

“All of my favorite ones I am only willing to go to because I can get there by car,” McPhillips said. “I think Metro accessibility is a huge thing. I think expanding lines or bus routes could be incredible.”

McPhillips also said there isn’t much variety in the stores available. “A lot of them are very much overpriced,” McPhillips said.

While McPhillips thinks more accessible thrift stores near campus would be great, they are unsure if they would “actually be accessible to students” who need low prices or if they would just “continue to expand the accessibility for students who see thrifting as a hobby more than a necessity.”

According to Vox, there has been criticism about shifting prices in the market for thrifted clothing. “The general argument is that resellers and bulk buyers are inadvertently raising the prices of thrifted goods by purchasing items they don’t personally need,” Vox reported.

“Places like Walmart and the forms of fast fashion there and how you can get a lot of essentials for really cheap — that’s what a lot of people need,” McPhillips said. “They used to be able to get better quality things at those same prices at thrift stores.”

Speaking to students’ varied economic statuses, McPhillips noted that “a lot of people who go to Georgetown Flea [Market] don’t need thrift prices and that’s why they’re fine with Georgetown Flea.”

Ben Winokur-Applebaum, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said there are some larger secondhand stores he likes to thrift at, like Goodwill, Salivation Army and Planet Aid Thrift in Bethesda.

“I like to thrift because I like getting more clothing that isn’t expensive,” Winkour-Applebaum said. “That is a big priority for me.”

Among students, the impact of

affordability varies. This means that the difference between true thrift stores and secondhand vintage shops, which tend to be more expensive, is important to students.

“I would even have a hard time myself being able to pinpoint which places in D.C. are pure thrift and which places are secondhand, because there is that tailor-made experience some people are looking for,” McPhillips said.

“A lot of micro-influencers in D.C. will do the thrifting for you, and then upsell their stuff.”

While McPhillips has struggled to find clothes in their budget, WinokurApplebaum said that he has found affordable options close to AU. “Sure, there will be some [stores] that will capitalize on the number of people and raise prices,” Winokur-Applebaum said. He went on to explain that, despite this, places like Goodwill and Salvation Army are still cheap.

Wonk Trade, a part of the Zero Waste Club, is a student-run trading post for clothing open a few days per week.

“It's a trading model so it’s all free,”

Kayah Ryerson, president of Zero Waste Club and a senior in SPA, said. “All of these clothes were donations from other community members.”

In terms of thrift store availability, Ryerson agreed with McPhillips. “It’s very difficult to find places here,” Ryerson said. “I feel like, especially in D.C. where things are quite expensive and out in Maryland and Virginia it’s not super accessible by public transportation.”

Ryerson also explained that new, more affordable clothing tends to rely on poor labor practices.

“Environmental[ism] is definitely a big part of it,” Ryerson said. “Definitely trying to reduce consumption, especially of new things and trying to promote being more mindful when we shop.”

Additionally, the financial benefits of clothing exchanges like Wonk Trade are huge, especially for students looking for clothing appropriate for office jobs or internships.

Organizations on campus work hard to educate students about things they are passionate about, so “the University could do more promotion of all of

Sequels Consignment Shop Prime Thrift Georgia Avenue

St Albans Church-Opportunity Shop

Frugalista

Secondi Inc Christ Child Opportunity Shop

this good work that is happening and [try] to really encourage students to participate in it,” Ryerson said.

Angela Geosits, a professorial lecturer in the Department of Literature, makes a lot of her own clothing, which she said has taught her about clothing construction.

“I know what is possible with a garment, in terms of shortening sleeves, taking it in, modifying styles or shapes to make it exactly what I want,” Geosits said.

“Clothing is being overproduced at really absurd rates, so that is one factor,” Geosits continued. “And buying secondhand is one way to take a step back from that direct consumption of new clothing.”

Looking to provide alternatives to buying new, Geosits recommended exploring places like SwapDC and utilizing resources on campus such as the Makerspace, which has sewing tools to modify clothing.

The average consumer in the United States throws away about 81.5 pounds of clothing per year, despite more environmentally friendly options. From a global perspective, “we are shipping our excess stuff and making it someone else's problem, because there is such a volume of clothing that people are donating,” Geosits said.

Much of the clothing that gets donated to secondhand stores is being sold internationally, Geosits explained.

According to Green America, about 700,000 tons of used clothes get shipped overseas and about 10 million tons get sent to landfills.

“The most sustainable garment you’re going to have is the one that’s already in your closet,” Geosits said.

“Taking care of that and making that last as long as you can so that the resources that were expended for it to end up with you are being put to best use.” life@theeagleonline.com

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Body Neutrality Coalition reteaches perceptions of bodies and eating disorders College culture influences how students feel about their bodies, according to club leaders

by Caleb Ogilvie Life Staff Writer Editors note: This story contains references to disordered eating.

In a sea of college clubs vying for her attention at American University’s club fair, Katherine Mena found a community that she had longed for in high school: the Body Neutrality Coalition.

The club offered Mena, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, an opportunity to engage with a supportive community about eating disorders, something she experienced in high school.

“I saw the club and I was really interested in what I could do to provide in that community,” Mena said.

AARON ACKERMAN/THE EAGLE AND CALEB OGILVIE/THE EAGLE

The Coalition aims to support students in recovering from eating disorders, appreciating their bodies, raising awareness of eating disorders and educating members about how body image intersects with different parts of life, according to Coalition President Isabella Brooke, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Their goal is to help students feel less alone as eating becomes more of a social activity in college, according to Brooke.

The Coalition meets this challenge by hosting events, such as movie screenings and planter paintings.

“It’s very community oriented,” Brooke said. “Everyone’s voices hold equal weight and we want to keep expanding into more diverse spaces so we can continue to hear more and more

perspectives.”

The Coalition also aims to educate on topics including fatphobia, obesity and body mass index through research and presentations. According to Brooke, presenters often emphasize why factors like stress, bullying and socializing can make students feel bad about what they eat and how they look.

Leaders of the Coalition also invite members to present on topics related to the body, food or well-being, according to Coalition Secretary Lindsey Robbins, a senior in CAS. “If anybody who’s a part of the club has something related that they want to do a presentation on, we absolutely give them the floor,” Robbins said.

Em Cicala, a sophomore in CAS, took that opportunity last year. Cicala gave a presentation on the intersection between disabilities and body image.

Cicala said the presentation and the other topics of discussion inspired them to think about weight, body image and medicine from a new perspective.

“Your body doesn’t have to be [a] skinny-model person or go to the gym to get jacked,” Cicala said. “It can just be whatever you want it to be.”

Newer members, like Cicala, have also shown particular concern over AU’s stress-inducing culture and its impact on eating, Brooke said.

“They are very, very bothered or triggered by students being like, ‘I’ve had so much work I haven’t had time to eat,’” Brooke said.

The sentiment validates a diet culture that ultimately negatively affects attitudes around food and body image, Brooke said. Students are also more susceptible to following diets to an extreme degree as they start college, which is dangerous, Robbins said. “[If] there’s a really big diet culture issue for some colleges, especially as

it relates to drinking,” Robbins said.

“It’s super easy to let that diet culture influence how you’re eating and how you’re making choices around food.”

The Coalition emphasizes that everyone’s voice should be heard in a respectful manner at each meeting, according to Ella Doxsee, vice president of the Coalition and a sophomore in CAS. Comparing details about diets, calories, weight or body size can upset people with eating disorders, Doxsee said. Instead, the club focuses on education to help students appreciate their bodies.

“We’re leading with love and compassion here,” she said.

“Absolutely share your story and your frustration, but we have to be super mindful that what we’re saying isn’t going to encourage someone’s disordered habits.”

For Coalition member Lorena Martinez, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business and School of Communication, a lack of resources for students with eating disorders at AU makes the Coalition’s community all the more important.

“I think it’s good to open a dialogue when people feel comfortable,” Martinez said.

“Hearing other people’s experiences or stories might make someone feel less alone or might make someone feel like they can reach out for support.”

Brooke said she is happy to lead an organization offering support.

“It just makes my heart so full that it’s continuing and that it’s spreading,” Brooke said.

For Robbins, joining the Coalition helped her mental well-being. She can now help others, she said.

“Getting to give that to someone else

or be a part of that for someone else is such a good feeling,” Robbins said.

For Doxsee, helping others in their healing processes is a reminder to help herself.

“In those moments

AARON ACKERMAN/THE EAGLE AND CALEB OGILVIE/THE EAGLE

where it feels hard and I feel diet-culture rhetoric slipping through, I’m able to remind myself I am on the [executive board] of this club, so if I’m going to talk the talk, I have to walk the walk,” Doxsee said. “I am accountable to these people to remain in a good headspace so that I can continue to show up and dismantle diet culture and continue to foster this really amazing community.”

After spotting the Coalition at the club fair, Mena said she joined to see how she could provide for the community. Over a month later, Mena found a way to help out: by showing up to the Coalition’s pot painting event.

“We’re all here having fun decorating pot plants and throughout it all, we know that we have each other’s back,” Mena said. life@theeagleonline.com

CALEB OGILVIE/THE EAGLE

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Students in the Department of Literature find comfort and a sense of community The Department offers a range of classes for students with different interests

by Hannah Langenfeld News Staff Writer When Kirah Tianga started her degree in Literature at American University, she had “never felt more comfortable” with professors and students.

“There’s laughter and there’s moments where I, at least, feel like I’m going to cry,” Tianga said. “We do a lot of heavy work, and I think that it’s super important that we all feel comfortable with each other, and the professors are able to foster that environment.”

In the Department, students explore a variety of disciplines in addition to traditional literature including major specializations and minors in Transcultural Studies, Cinema Studies and Creative Writing.

Meagan Proksch, a junior minoring in Creative Writing, said that she took “Creative Writing Across Genres” for her Creative-Aesthetic Inquiry Habits of Mind course, which influenced her to add the minor. Proksch is working on a story this semester for her creative writing workshop about childhood friendship and the expectations of motherhood.

Proksch added that she loves the Department’s creative writing workshop courses because they welcome collaboration, different levels of skill among students and everyone is passionate about the work.

“People come to class and they know the readings, and they’ve analyzed it on their own, and that is so different from my major classes,” Proksch said.

Izzy Scholes-Young, a senior majoring in Literature with a specialization in Transcultural Studies, said that they started as a Political Science major, but became interested in Literature after taking a Cultural Inquiry Habits of Mind course called “Power, Discourse, and

HALEY DYMEK / THE EAGLE

Popular Culture.”

Scholes-Young is working on a class research project titled “Disability Justice and Speculative Fiction” and said that they are impressed with the number of graduate-level research opportunities that the Department offers for undergraduates. Their work has allowed them to work with many people and professors who care about their area of expertise.

“I am so much more academically challenged in my Literature classes,” Scholes-Young said. “A lot of that has to do with the students.”

Beyond an academically driven student body, the professors who teach in the Department contribute to the class and curriculum culture.

David Keplinger is a professor in the Department and serves as the director of the Creative Writing Master’s of Fine Arts Program. Keplinger said he loves being a Literature professor and is inspired by his students and colleagues.

“As a creative writer, I fell in love with literature because of teachers such as the ones that I'm surrounded by,” Keplinger said. “We have wonderful, nurturing faculty, who teach Literature classes and then we have a superior world-class, creative writing faculty including seven novelists, poets, nonfiction writers and journalists. It’s really an incredible privilege and pleasure to teach beside them.”

Aiden Kaplan, a junior minoring in Cinema Studies, said he has benefited significantly from the interdisciplinary curriculum. He said that as a Cinema Studies minor, he focuses on the “literary analysis of film works” and that his classes’ syllabuses are tailored to his interests. He also said that being able to do film analysis in class allows him to see films he had never heard of before.

“We have really interesting discussions going on and the Literature

MADDIE MILLER / THE EAGLE

Department is so tight-knit and welcoming that I feel very comfortable there,” Kaplan said. “At the risk of making a controversial statement, the Literature Department has the most fun people that I’ve encountered.”

Kaplan added that his classes in the Department focus on culture and identity in film, something he appreciates.

“The Literature professors I’ve had thus far have been very, very good at expressing the intersectionality of their topics,” Kaplan said. “For example, in my race and film class, we don't just talk about how Clementine, say, engages with race — we also talk about how it engages with transgender identity, being a woman and poverty in a real way.”

Bridget Slakas, a fifth-year Creative Writing minor, said she appreciates how professors bring in their own research and personal reads to the class.

“I love the way that professors will bring in some of their favorite columns or short stories or things that really resonated with the nature of the class,” Slakas said. “And that can be really inspiring for your own work.”

Students still said they would like to see some improvements outside the classroom.

Proksch said that as a minor it has been difficult to find internships or fellowship opportunities within literature. She added that if the Department was able to become “less insular” in the College of Arts and Sciences it would be easier to make connections with other students and professors.

“I wish they did a better job of letting us know about outside opportunities,” Proksch said. “I know that there are grants and study money available, but I think it’s

hard to find it.”

Scholes-Young said that they want the Department to receive more funding for research and general operations in addition to events.

“I think the Department deserves way more funding because I always think that they do some incredible programming,” they said. “There’s been a huge growth in the number of majors and I doubt that their funding has run parallel to how much the program is growing.”

Marianne Noble has been a Literature professor at AU for 31 years. She said that she enjoys being a faculty member in Literature, but also would like to see more funding to the Department.

“We have less funding now than we used to and that’s a shame because we did good things with that funding,” Noble said. “I wish we could afford to have speakers, particularly if we could afford to have speakers and pay them honoraria because it’s fun for the whole Department and it builds our sense of community and intellectual growth.”

Despite this, Noble said that overall she thinks the Department has amazing things to offer students.

“What I want to communicate is that we're a great department,” Noble said. “We have this amazing group that is doing some of the most demanding intellectual work on campus.”

Editor’s note: At the time of reporting, the reporter was unaware that Izzy Scholes-Young’s mother directs the undergraduate Creative Writing Program. Scholes-Young specializes in Transcultural Studies, not Creative Writing.

life@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE December 2023

The Center for Environmental Filmmaking: Showcasing change and striving to protect our planet “I need to make films for us and the planet”

by Alfie Pritchard Life Staff Writer

Communications and filmmaking both play an important role in the fight for environmental conservation and against climate change.

American University’s own Center for Environmental Filmmaking brings students and faculty together to tackle these issues head on.

The Center for E n v i r o n m e n t a l Filmmaking is just one of two environmental filmmaking graduate programs in the country. The Center is IMAAN HASSAN housed in the School of / THE EAGLE Communication and is focused on telling stories of environmental justice, racism, conservation and wildlife.

“Environmental and wildlife filmmaking is paying attention to who we are, in terms of who has the power to tell stories, and sharing that with those living in the environments and with the wildlife that we seek to make films about and to impact people in those places” said Larry Engel, the associate director of the Center and director of the Film and Media Arts division of SOC. “So we’re trying to share the storytelling methodology, the stories themselves, and I think that the

GAVIN O'MALLEY / THE EAGLE

Center for Environmental Filmmaking is at the forefront of that diversity and inclusivity.”

Engel has worked in environmental filmmaking for many years. Before coming to D.C., he ran a documentary production company with his brother in Manhattan and worked on over 300 films.

“The power of story, especially when it comes to environmental issues, is of paramount importance for all of us on the planet, all of us,” Engel said.

Maya Livio, an associate director for the Center and an assistant professor in SOC, described the Center as a place for connecting with people and mobilizing them through environmental storytelling.

“The Center is very much concerned with informing the public, engaging the public, but especially sort of mobilizing and activating the public through environmental filmmaking,” Livio said.

She said students and faculty work together in the Center to achieve these goals and said that the Center is “working with students as well as faculty members to think about how to tell environmental stories in new ways and to actually do that.”

“They offer students unique opportunities to put themselves out there,” Amanda Dowd, a graduate student in the School of Communication, said. “In the environment, in the wild.”

Dowd also expressed her admiration for the Center and what it has been doing.

“I was really excited to learn about all their opportunities and the faculty that work there. And they are working really hard to bring attention to issues that we’re facing in real time.”

Executive Director Maggie Stogner has directed two films in recent years: “Upstream, Downriver” and “Unbreathable.”

"Upstream, Downriver” commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The Center partnered with local riverkeepers, the School of Public Affairs’ Center for Environmental Policy, the Clean Water for All consortium and others. The film focuses on water pollution and how it impacts marginalized communities.

The Center’s website says that “Upstream, Downriver” “provide[s] a catalyst for community engagement and action.”

“Unbreathable: The Fight for Healthy Air,” focuses on the ongoing struggle for clean air some face in the United States. It incorporates stories from people who are fighting for clean air and concentrates on asthma and the connection between air pollution and deaths from COVID-19.

Similarly to “Upstream, Downriver,” “Unbreathable” also addresses American legislation: the Clean Air Act. The Center maintains green practices in the actual filmmaking process. SOC graduate student and ambassador for the Green Film School Alliance Amy Young expanded on this.

“I think it’s a primary effort at American,” Young said. “We’re really hoping to kind of expand that and really push the importance of environmentally friendly filmmaking practices.”

Young explained that the components to making green film are twofold — the production element and the story behind the work being produced. “What we’re trying to push out at American is focusing more on those production friendly, green elements.”

Young said there are many ways filmmakers can cut down on pollution and carbon imprint, such as carpooling to sets, ensuring everybody is using reusable water bottles and using environmentally friendly materials and equipment.

“Everything sort of falls into the umbrella of being less wasteful on set,” Young said.

For students, participating in the Center for Environmental Filmmaking’s work is as simple as reaching out or taking a class. Engel said the easiest way for students to get involved is to email, call or text him and simply ask how they can help or work on current and developing projects.

“Students who are either filmmakers who are interested in environmental issues or environmentalists who are interested in filmmaking, or a

combination of those things can interact with the center through courses that are offered … through the Center,” Livio said.

“There are a couple of scholarships that the Center offers,” Livio said. “There are also experiential learning opportunities, field trips and other kinds of activities that are taken to learn how to film in the more human world.”

Looking to the future of the Center, Livio said that she would like to “look closely at what the conventions of environmental filmmaking have been, historically as well as sort of contemporary films. And to think through how to make new kinds of different environmental films that are definitely invested in justice.”

Engel agreed with his own take as a professor and educator.

“I need to make films for us and the planet,” said Engel. “What I really enjoy doing is helping mentor students in the field.”

The Center offers students partnerships and collaborations with important organizations and figures in the field of environmental filmmaking, on top of the hands-on experience and multitude of courses.

It also teaches students the ethics of wildlife conservation filmmaking and its best practices.

All of this is done in an effort to help students create films and other multi-format media about the environment, according to the Center’s website.

“Together, we create films that are catalysts for positive change.”

life@theeagleonline.com

SPORTS

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theEAGLE December 2023

Ahen Kim reflects on his entrance into head coaching for volleyball

by Connor Sturniolo Sports Staff Writer “I love you, Kim!” Before every home game for American University’s volleyball team, a fan from the stands screams out their excitement at seeing the Eagles’ head coach, Ahen Kim. In his first year in the role, Kim is making his impact on the community.

“It’s an evolving answer,” Kim said when asked why he coaches. With a background in academic counseling and social work, he finds fulfillment in coaching by watching his athletes grow.

Kim got his start as an assistant coach in the early 2010s — Catholic University in 2009, George Washington in 2010 and Houston Baptist in 2011 — before settling down at American in 2012. Kim spent five years as an assistant coach at American under legendary head coach Barry Goldberg.

In 2017, Brown University hired Kim for their head coaching job. Under Kim, the Bears won the Ivy League Championship in 2021, posting a 20-6 record. Kim won the honor of Ivy League Coach of the Year that season.

Kim left Brown to coach a professional team in South Korea in 2022.

After Goldberg passed away in 2023, Kim made his return to the Eagles in June. He had just two months to get to know and bond with his team before their season began.

“Creating sustainability in a program is the goal,” Kim said of his return to American. Kim pounced on the opportunity to come back. It was a good fit for his family and he wanted to come back to a place he loved to coach.

Kim said that he wants to carry forward coach Goldberg’s legacy, keeping the philosophy that every player is worthy of love, win or lose.

Junior libero Bridget Javitch was close to Goldberg throughout his time as her coach, and expressed appreciation for Kim during a difficult transition.

“It was an emotional crossover to transfer coaches in this way,” Javitch said. “Our entire team continues to miss coach Barry, but we’re motivated to play for coach Kim the same way we JOSH MARKOWITZ/THE EAGLE played for coach Barry.”

Graduate student outside hitter Zeynep Uzen noted the motivation Kim brings to the team. “Since Kim’s ultimate goal is to reward the community that [Kim] got here, he’s been pushing us really hard,” she said. comes out to see the team, and to build a program that “I’m glad we have a coach like him, one who pushes us to “give[s] student athletes a genuinely competitive experiwin a lot of hard-fought games.” ence.”

It’s hard to follow in the footsteps of a widely loved One of the lessons Kim tries to instill in his players community figure like Goldberg. Rather than trying to is becoming a leader for other people on the team, even emulate exactly what Goldberg did for the program, Kim if they’re not getting playing time. “You have to realize hopes to take Goldberg’s legacy and move the team onto you’re not the main character in this story,” Kim said. a new path — one that recognizes and fondly remembers “Leadership comes when you’re trying to be the best supthe past, but also looks forward to the future — both im- porting character in another person’s story.” mediate and distant.

For Kim, making an impact on his players is the most “I’m obsessed with this sport,” Kim said. He added rewarding thing about his job. that while he achieved his goal at Brown, building a pro“Coaching is about being a lifegiver, seeing people gram that had assistant coaches hired out as head coaches grow.” to other schools, he “wanted to leave systems at Brown that lasted long past when I was there, a place where sus- sports@theeagleonline.com tained success could happen.”

‘We want to have a student and an athlete’: How women’s basketball recruits a cohesive unit

by Oliver Hinson Sports Staff Writer While they may be a diverse mix of athletes from all over the world, women’s basketball head coach Tiffany Coll thinks of her players as a cohesive unit. They all wear the same uniform now, but how did these players all find their way to D.C.?

The recruiting process can begin in several ways, but Coll often sees recruits for the first time at Amateur Athletics Union tournaments, which typically feature hundreds of teams from across the country. She and her staff travel to several of these events throughout the summer, choosing tournaments with the broadest array of teams from across the nation.

The staff then invites prospects to one of the team’s summer camps. Coll will then follow them for the next several months. As a prospective recruit enters their junior year, Coll and her staff attend one of their “open gyms,” an unofficial practice where they can demonstrate their skills.

Typically, Coll gives a player a scholarship offer during their junior season, only after watching them play a high school game.

“In high school, there is a little bit more discipline, whereas in AAU, it’s more run-and-gun,” Coll said. “You don’t get to see their basketball IQ until you get to the high school side, where you can see it’s a little bit more slowed down, a little bit more focused on trying to win.”

As the recruit gets offers from other schools, Coll has to sell her program hard.

For senior forward Emily Johns, choosing American was relatively easy. When she made her official visit in fall 2018, she fell in love with the team’s winning culture and communicative all-female coaching staff.

Of course, Coll also has to think about whether a player will fit well. Physically, she looks for her players to be tall, as this helps her team create mismatches. In her guards, she looks for good shooting ability and in her post players, good footwork and hands. These aren’t mutually exclusive, though; Coll’s players must be versatile.

“How do they treat their teammates when they come in and out of the game?” Coll asks. “Do they cheer for other people or are they just about themselves? Who do they go to for advice when they’re trying to make a decision?”

Coll also looks for well-rounded players.

“We want to have a student and an athlete,” Coll says.

“We want to have people that are involved in extracurricular activities, people that have friends outside of sports, people that care about what's going on in the world, not just basketball, people that have identities outside of the sport.”

This drew sophomore guard Laura Nogues into the program. A Barcelona native, she was heavily interested in the University’s academic standing.

“I care about my academic process,” Nogues said. “I wanna go back and be able to work, I don’t want to play pro.”

Nogue’s experience also highlights the differences

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT TAETSCH

between the international and domestic recruiting processes. “It’s much more difficult,” Nogues says, “because, obviously, they only see you through videos. It is very difficult to portray what type of athlete you are in a video of one game or a highlight video.”

This hasn’t discouraged Coll from recruiting internationally; aside from Nogues, sophomores Molly Lavin and Anna Rescifina are from London and Sicily, respectively.

Coll says that recruiting is the “lifeblood” of her program. “You’re only as good as your players,” she says. “I could be coach K[rzyzewski], but if I don’t have phenomenal players, it’s not gonna make a difference.” sports@theeagleonline.com

15

theEAGLE December 2023

The Meltzer Center’s True Cost: Community sports The planned athletic complex will provide new opportunities for student-athletes, but at what cost? hand with that,” said Kylie Finkelstein, the captain for women’s club tennis and a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business. “The problem isn’t the project, it’s that the school is not offering a replacement.”

In a statement to The Eagle, Assistant Vice PresiAs part of American University’s 2021 campus dent for Community and Internal Communication plan, students can expect a new athletics facility: the Elizabeth Deal wrote that the University is “explorMeltzer Center. The Center means more space and ing any possible options for providing future tennis equipment for AU’s NCAA athletes — but it also courts on the campus” and that officials have been means that some club sports are losing their com- meeting with members of club tennis “to determine munity spaces. the potential use of tennis courts off-campus.”

The new Center will have upgraded facilities, The AU Neighborhood Partnership also hosted available in addition to Bender Arena. The Meltzer information forums to hear concerns about the projCenter is planned to be built where the University’s ect, according to an email statement from University tennis courts and outdoor basketball courts are cur- Internal Communications Manager Jasmine Pelaez. rently located. These spaces are vital to AU’s tennis However, Jose Calvo, a senior in the College of and skateboarding clubs as well as local pickup games.

by Delaney Hoke, Sports Managing Editor, and Penelope Jennings, Sports Beat Editor

upgrade the athletic facilities on campus, and with real estate at such a premium, something had to give.”

The team posted a petition on change.org Nov. 9 to save the tennis courts. The petition received more than 330 signatures in under 24 hours and states, “signing this petition is not just a vote of confidence for the team, but it’s a vote for the surrounding community.”

Skateboarding Club The tennis community at AU is not the only community affected by the Meltzer Center addition. The Skateboarding Club uses the outdoor basketball courts for practice. The club is in its first semester and is made up of members who skateboard together every Tuesday.

Most members were surprised to learn that the courts were being demolished.

“I feel like AU knows this is an unpopular idea. They know that it’s not necessarily at the advantage of the student body,” said Joey Fournier, a junior in the School of International Service.

“If they really thought it would benefit the community’s well-being I would think they would be more vocal about this project.”

Displacement from the courts will make it difficult for the club to find new practice locations.

“If these courts are gone, we will have to go 30 minutes off campus,” said Takumi Sugino, president of the club and a junior in CAS. “This was the best spot for people.”

Members of the club also emphasized the importance of this space for not just themselves, but for the other community members they see using it.

“It would be one thing if these courts weren’t being used,” Fournier said. “[But] you can come here anytime and always find people here.”

“It’s really nice to have this outdoor space. I think people just want to have fun playing basketball or tennis or skating here. There is not another place to do this on campus and not a lot of parks available nearby,” Sugino said. “We’re paying a lot to be here, we want facilities that are going to be used by everyone, not facilities that are prioritized for athletes at the cost of our own.”

Why is the Meltzer Center being built?

Alan Meltzer is a wrestling alumnus and member of the Board of Trustees.

Meltzer and his wife, Amy, made a $5 million donation for the new athletics facility in July 2022. The Meltzer’s gift is in addition to a $3 million donation from fellow Board of Trustees member and University alumnus Jack Cassell and his wife, Denise.

“The goal is to make sure we have the appropriate facilities for students across the board rather than just the varsity student-athletes,” said David Bierwirth, the associate athletics director in charge of external operations. “And the general student body to have recreational space to add to the overall activity, health and wellness of the University.''

GABRIEL ZAKAIB/THE EAGLE The Center will house new facilities, including an outdoor turf called the “wellness court” that the Athletics Department hopes will be a Arts and Sciences and president of club tennis, said new recreational space for the University communi- that “[officials] told us they didn’t have any plans to ty where students can play kickball, ultimate frisbee build tennis courts on campus.” Calvo said the club and other activities. has been offered ideas for off-campus locations, but “There’s going to be more activity in the space not an increase in funding to afford them. than there is now,” Bierwirth said.

“I think this is going to work as a temporary soluHowever, these upgrades come with a price tag: tion. Maybe for a semester, or a year. It’s expensive valued community spaces. The tennis and outdoor and difficult to practice off campus,” Calvo said. basketball courts that reside on campus will all be Members of the club said they feel that the Unitaken over by the Meltzer Center. versity’s decision prioritizes the aesthetics of Division When asked about the demolition of these spac- I sports over community. es, Bierwirth emphasized the new opportunities that “I mean, as much as people would like to say that would come in place of them. the University is there for us, it’s a business, and they “As part of our planning, there are going to be are going to do what makes moments where things are going to be temporarily them money,” said Oliver Pasek, or permanently gone,” he said. “Obviously, there is a vice president of club tennis and trade-off in the type of activity but there is no ques- junior in CAS. tion that [the Meltzer Center] is going to bring on The tennis court demoliadditional opportunities for activity.” tion also affects tennis classes.

In an email to The Eagle, Tennis Club Tennis coach and instructor John GarThe club tennis team has one of the largest pres- rett wrote that the tennis proences of any club sport on campus, with over 75 stu- gram will be eliminated with the dents trying out for the team this year. The program demolition of the courts, while uses the tennis courts on campus to practice daily also acknowledging the positive when in season. impact the new facility could Most club members learned of the demolition have on American University. recently. Many planned to play next year without “I have heard from many of knowing that this fall would potentially be their my students how disappointed last season. This has left the club without a plan for they are with this decision, but where to practice. it’s all part of the overall progress “There is no certainty that courts are available or at American University,” Garrett affordable in the city, and the University could lend a wrote. “There is a real need to COURTESY OF BEN CALKINS

16

theEAGLE December 2023 of asking the community what we think,” said John Harding, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Everything they do, everything they build, should be for us — their community.”

sports@theeagleonline.com

COURTESY OF BEN CALKINS

Basketball for all Sharing the outdoor basketball courts with the Skateboarding Club is a pickup basketball community.

Students, alumni and community members use the courts to play almost every day.

The group wasn’t aware that the courts were being demolished until recently. For the pickup basketball group, this shared community space is especially important as Bender Arena only allows current students to use the courts for open play.

“We don’t have any other options to play. Since we aren’t current students, we’re not allowed in the gym,” Jordan Young, a Howard University alumnus who comes to AU to play, said. “If this court disappears we

are effectively without a place for our group to meet.”

The pick-up basketball group shared similar sentiments with the other communities displaced by the Complex.

“It’s exclusion and building something that’s for a tiny share of the population,” Nathan Turner, a University alumnus said. “If you asked the student body what type of facility they would want, I think the answer would be different than an athletic complex.”

As the day to break ground on the Meltzer Center inches closer, the affected communities are coping with a lack of communication and necessary resources from the University. All community members shared a hope that AU will consider their input more in the future.

“AU needs to do a better job

COURTESY OF BEN CALKINS

Men’s basketball’s new coach is ready to establish a winning culture A look into Duane Simpkins’ outlook on basketball and life

by Noah Peretz Sports Staff Writer At American University men’s basketball head coach Duane Simpkins has high hopes for his first season. “Our goal is to win the Patriot League,” Simpkins said. “We want to develop day in and day out with an ultimate goal of winning our conference in the 23-24 season.”

This confidence is far from unfounded. Simpkins’ knowledge and love for the game is on full display in his basketball philosophy. “We want to be the most together team that we can be, and the toughest,” he said. “I want this team to be one of the best defensive teams in the Patriot League.”

His emphasis on toughness began in his playing days. Simpkins was a starter for former AU coach Gary Williams’ University of Maryland teams from 199296 and made three NCAA tournament appearances.

He went on to carve out an overseas career, playing in Italy and China from 1997-2003. Before being hired as AU’s new coach in April of this year, Simpkins was an assistant coach at UNC Greensboro from 2012-15 and George Mason University from 2015-23.

Simpkins’ passion for coaching began after his playing career when he hosted camps, small group training and individual sessions. “It allowed me to stay close to the game I love and keep my passion for competition,” he said. “I love teaching, and it’s something I’ve done all my life, so I feel like I’m pretty well versed in it.”

Simpkins isn’t grounding his strategy in a half-court offense, as college coaches are sometimes known to do.

“We’re gonna rebound at a high rate, and it’s gonna allow our guys to do what they love to do, which is play in transition,” he said.

He also wants to deny the 3-pointer on the defensive end and capitalize on it on offense; this pace-and-space

JOSH MARKOWITZ/THE EAGLE

style that also emphasizes defense is closer to an NBA strategy than a college scheme. “We want to make sure we’re contesting 3-pointers and not allowing teams to shoot over 33 percent from three, while getting up 32 to 33 threes a game ourselves.”

Though confident in his team, Simpkins is not discounting the competition. “Winning is easier said than done; we’ve got some really good teams in our conference,” he said. “We have to go into every practice with the end in mind: being the top defensive team in the Patriot League.”

Simpkins plans to establish a new culture in AU basketball. He has four core values that he wants the team to live by: high character, work ethic, toughness and humility. He believes these values will instill a

sense of unity and ensure that the entire team fulfills the absolute peak of their potential as players and as people.

His passion for coaching is undeniable, but it’s bigger than basketball for Simpkins. His goal is to teach his players to be the best they can be at both basketball and life. Simpkins leads by example and is an active member of the D.C. community.

“I want these young men to not only become better basketball players, but more importantly, to become better potential citizens,” he said. “Better dads, better members of society and everything like that.” sports@theeagleonline.com

theEAGLE December 2023

EL ÁGUILA

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Alex Morales, generando riqueza y construyendo una empresa Estudiante de SIS comparte cómo inició su empresa LatinoLinked y cómo la planea desarrollar

by Aline Behar Kado Managing Editor of El Águila Alex Morales entró a American University el otoño de 2020, justo en medio de la pandemia. Llegó a AU para estudiar política en School of International Service. Pero, su camino cambió este verano cuando decidió lanzar su empresa para ayudar a la comunidad latina a su alrededor.

Morales irradiaba confianza y pasión mientras hablaba de LatinoLinked, la empresa que fundó el verano pasado en California. LatinoLinked es una empresa de consultoría que ofrece diferentes servicios a empresas locales latinas y que ha crecido en los últimos meses.

“Esa es la idea de lo que hace mi empresa: asesoramos sobre su negocio, ayudamos a comercializar su negocio y luego construimos una comunidad o marca alrededor de su negocio”, dijo Morales.

La empresa ofrece tres paquetes diferentes que incluyen un paquete de software, un paquete de marketing y un paquete de consultoría para empresas locales. También se asocia con otras organizaciones latinas que ayudan a brindar más ayuda a la comunidad.

“Me estoy inspirando con lo que estoy construyendo.

Estoy construyendo una empresa con un propósito y este verano vi lo beneficioso que fue”, dijo Morales.

Morales es un estudiante de primera generación en SIS, aunque él dice que su formación en su carrera no ha jugado un papel tán importante en la creación de su empresa. Sin embargo, Morales sí dijo que sus estudios le han ampliado su visión del mundo y le han permitido conocer diferentes temas.

Durante su entrevista con El Águila, Morales comentó que por un momento él pensó no regresar a la universidad dado a que tenía el trabajo de LatinoLinked, pero decidió que su carrera en AU era importante tanto para su camino a éxito como para el éxito de su familia al ser estudiante universitario de primera generación.

“Sé dónde quiero estar dentro de cinco años, entonces, ¿qué tengo que empezar a hacer ahora para llegar allí? Qué estrategias, sistemas, identidades necesito adoptar ahorza para posicionar mi empresa donde quiero que esté en cinco años”, dijo Morales.

Al hablar de sus identidades, Morales afirmó, “no soy sólo un estudiante de American University”, dijo Morales. “No soy sólo un estudiante emprendedor.

Soy dueño de un negocio. Soy estratega de marca y consultor de software”.

LatinoLinked comenzó como una empresa de

ALINE BEHAR KADO / THE EAGLE

software de un solo miembro, pero creció durante el verano hasta incluir un paquete de marketing digital dirigido por su hermana Mariangela y un paquete de consultoría empresarial dirigido por un compañero estudiante de AU en Kogod School of Business, Jeffrey Fernández.

Aunque negociar un salario con su hermana fue divertido, admitió Morales, descubrió que tener más personas en su equipo significaba poder ampliar el alcance de su empresa.

“Algo que aprendes cuando empiezas a gestionar un equipo es el liderazgo”, dijo Morales. Explicó que es importante inspirar al equipo y garantizar que compartan la visión del futuro de la empresa, así como encontrar formas de atraer a los consumidores.

“Más allá de cómo atraes a los clientes, está cómo construyes una comunidad en torno a tu marca”, dijo Morales. “Entonces, sí, mi empresa solo vende software, servicios de marketing y consultoría, pero la forma en que intento construir una marca alrededor de mi negocio es a través del ecosistema, encontrando diferentes formas de generar apoyo para los emprendedores latinos”.

Morales compartió su experiencia trabajando con

Pupusería Blankita en California. Contó la historia de cómo combinaron la Pupusería con la estación de bomberos local y crearon un desafío para los bomberos para comercializar la nueva y picante pupusa del restaurante.

“Este año realmente se trata de escalar lentamente, probar nuestras capacidades y simplemente construir nuestra reputación de la manera correcta”, dijo Morales.

Fue durante su semestre en España, dice Morales, que encontró su propia definición de la identidad latina. Él comentó a El Águila que creció como un “no sabo kid” porque sus papás querían que sus hijos se asimilaran a la cultura estadounidense. Pero durante sus estudios en el extranjero, se dió cuenta de la importancia y el alcance expansivo de los latinos y encontró su identidad.

Morales le da crédito a su hermano y al libro “Think and Get Rich” de Napoleon Hill, como su inspiración para iniciar su empresa junto con su experiencia en el extranjero que lo ayudó a sentirse orgulloso y conectarse más con su identidad latina.

“Definitivamente planeo dedicarme a la política en el futuro”, dijo Morales. “Algo de lo que me di cuenta es que con la política, si quieres hacer un cambio, lleva demasiado tiempo. La mitad de la razón por la que comencé este negocio es porque puedo marcar la diferencia más rápido y es una manera de construir comunidad, construir conexiones y construir una red más rápido de lo que podría hacerlo si me dedico a la política”.

Morales planea seguir haciendo crecer su empresa después de graduarse de la universidad y eventualmente ingresar a la política. elaguila@theeagleonline.com

COURTESY OF ALEX MORALES

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Kaylhan Garcia emprendiendo el camino para lograr sus sueños

theEAGLE December 2023

Estudiante de SPA comparte cómo fundó su organización Dreamers Thrive de su sueño de ver diversidad y representación durante el proceso de apoyo para aplicar a universidades, junto a la perseverancia de la comunidad latina a lo largo de la historia.

No hay motivación más grande que la de querer comDreamers Thrive no solo ofrece información y sopartir el éxito que has vivido con los demás. Para Kayl- porte para buscar y aplicar a universidades. La orgahan Garcia, una estudiante en su tercer año de estudios nización también les ayuda a los estudiantes a enconen American University, su éxito va más allá de ser estu- trar becas y hasta proporciona becas. diante de primera generación. Su éxito también ha sido “Mi historia no es única”, dijo Garcia. “Hay muchas su organización Dreamers Thrive que apoya a latinos en historias como la mía de personas que quieren apoyar Texas en su búsqueda de universidades y apoyo con becas. a los demás.”

Cuando Garcia empezó a investigar universidades y En su segundo año de universidad, Dreamers posibilidades de becas, se enfrentó con muchos obstácu- Thrive ganó el patrocinio “Deja Tu Huella” de Cheetos los. Mucha información para las aplicaciones y los recur- y Bad Bunny bajo la categoría de educación. Reconocisos no está orientada a estudiantes de color. eron la misión de la organización y su trabajo dedicado Según UnidosUS, casi 53 por ciento de los estudiantes a inspirar y apoyar a jóvenes a alcanzar sus metas de en escuelas públicas en Texas en el 2020 eran Latinos. Y educación superior. mientras la presencia de estudiantes latinos en universiGarcia explicó en una entrevista con El Águila que COURTESY OF KAYLHAN GARCÍA dades en Estados Unidos ha crecido a lo largo de los últi- su propósito es que los jóvenes aplicantes tengan acceso a Pero, hay una falta de diversidad visible en muchas mos años, el apoyo en el proceso de aplicación y el apoyo recursos para aplicar a universidades, que vean a alguien instituciones en los Estados Unidos. Estas instituciones, para mantenerse en la universidad ha sido un problema. en acción, que se sientan empoderados y que busquen llamadas PWI, o Instituciones Predominantemente BlanEl Centro Nacional de Estadísticas de Educación apoyar a los demás en sus comunidades. cas por sus siglas en inglés, suelen intentar atraer a más proyecta un aumento en las inscripciones de hispanos “Que mi organización sea fundada por una latina es estudiantes de color, sin embargo, en muchas ocasiones, en instituciones universitarias en los próximos años, algo esencial”, dijo Garcia. “La representación sí importa.” hay una falta de comunidad ya establecida. Esto hace que que no es tán evidente entre otras identidades raciales o Parte de crear este ambiente de comunidad es tener el los estudiantes se sientan solos o incómodos sin poder étnicas. apoyo alrededor. Garcia recalcó la importancia de la faconectar con otras personas que comparten tradiciones o “El objetivo final es que más latinos compartan su milia en estas situaciones y cómo el éxito de estar en una experiencias con ellos. riqueza de información y que se quieran involucrar”, dijo universidad también se comparte con la familia.

En AU, esta disparidad es notable. La mitad de los esGarcia.

Garcia platicó de su conexión a su familia y como el tudiantes matriculados para el semestre de otoño en 2021 Garcia se inspiró de una experiencia que tuvo en la proceso tanto de aplicar y asistir a la universidad y como se identificaron como blancos. Aunque las estadísticas escuela dónde no sintió que tuviera apoyo para encon- el de crear y manejar su propia organización ha sido una de las otras identidades son bastante similares a la estrar una universidad ni para aplicar a becas que podían parte muy integral de su identidad como hija, hermana, tadística nacional, es importante notar que las hay una ayudarle. Entonces, en su segundo año de preparatoria, estudiante y latina. disminución muy obvia de hispanos y de indios americatomó la iniciativa de crear su propia organización.

“Las conexiones y las relaciones constantes son un renos y/o nativos de Alaska.

“Me cansé de soñar, pero soñando fue que me dió la curso”, dijo Garcia. “Es beneficioso tener el apoyo de la En la entrevista con El Águila, Garcia reiteró la imidea”, dijo Garcia. “Todo empieza con un sueño.” comunidad latina especialmente en campus pero se pasa portancia de tener modelos a seguir representativos en Y así surgió el nombre: Dreamers Thrive, que se deriva por alto muchas veces.” todos los ámbitos profesionales. Esto es un punto muy importante del trabajo que ella hace con Dreamers Thrive.

El pasado abril, Garcia organizó el primer “Latinos in Higher Education Summit” en su ciudad natal de Galveston, Texas. La cumbre destacó a varios invitados especiales, incluyendo al presidente del gobierno estudiantil de AU, Edwin Santos.

Su recomendación para los jóvenes emprendedores es crecer su red de apoyo y hacerse conocer. Que no les de miedo a destacar y que no se menosprecien.

“La paciencia es importante”, dijo Garcia. “Toma tiempo pero no te rindas.

Buscate en las historias.” elaguila@theeagleonIZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE AND ALINE BEHAR KADO/THE EAGLE line.com

by Aline Behar Kado Managing Editor of El Águila

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OPINION

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Opinion: ‘Don’t talk to student media’ policies are avenues for abusive employment

AU denies RAs the right to protect themselves and advocate for their community with controlling policies

by Rebeca Samano Staff Columnist Editor’s note: Anthony Bayyouk is a staff writer for The Eagle’s sports section.

Bayyouk was not a member of The Eagle at the time of this interview, and was not involved in writing or editing this piece.

Resident advisors are undergraduates who live in and manage university housing, assisting their peers with community-building, roommate disputes, academic resources and mental health encouragement. With disclaimers and emails prohibiting RAs from engaging with media, American University’s Housing and Residence Life hides behind claims of protecting RAs from news outlets, but in reality are covering up their abuse of RAs’ time, emotions and finances.

The University’s Freedom of Expression and Expressive Conduct Policy states that the school is “committed to protecting free expression for all members of its community.” However, in staff meetings and outreach with RAs, the administration’s tone drastically changes.

Administration has told RAs, “Do not engage with any media personnel in the capacity of your HRL role,” as stated in HRL emails acquired by The Eagle. HRL has created a power dynamic in which they underpay and overload RAs with little to no administrative or public consequences. This dynamic works to isolate RAs from public attention and community organization. If they attempt to share their experiences of unjust employment practices, RAs fear job loss, and in turn, losing their housing and stipend.

In restricting their employees from communicating with media, AU breaks its own policies and devalues RAs’ experiences as people. The Freedom of Expression and Expressive Conduct Policy asserts that the University respects and encourages journalistic pursuits “without outside interference” and that free inquiry and truth-seeking for every University member is “based on respect for human dignity.” Both statements fall through in execution.

It seems that American University is in support of journalistic freedom, so long as it can control and manage the conveyed message. HRL has now directly interfered with journalistic freedom and by their own definition, has disrespected the human dignity of their resident advisors.

Anthony Bayyouk, previously employed by HRL as a resident advisor for the 2022-2023 academic year, shared the fears of reaching out to student media with me. Bayyouk stated that he experienced unjust treatment by HRL,

but was unable to advocate for himself and his peers due to media engagement bans. He said that RAs, “aren’t being treated like people. We’re being treated like figures in a contract.”

He continued to report that RAs are continuously held to unreasonable standards, with singular “warnings” that end with eviction from RA housing in a 48-72 hour period with no relocation aid. The warnings occur after an RA does not keep up with HRL’s stringent employment standards, which are inherently subjective. The warnings can be issued on any minor action.

Bayyouk explained that HRL “take[s] housing away from human beings like it’s nothing.” Barring RAs from communicating with media effectively bans their collective and public activism, leaving them to either adhere to HRL’s demands or be evicted in two to three days.

Moreover, Bayyouk states that adhering to HRL’s employment standards is extremely difficult, even for the most dedicated RA. In the Department’s policies for RAs, which are not available on public platforms, RA’s responsibilities are broken down into six categories. These categories, along with training, add up to 39 individual responsibilities throughout the semester. Most of the outlined responsibilities are to be completed on a weekly or biweekly basis. RAs are then left in a state of constant worry with no avenues to object or public to aid them.

OWEN AUSTON-BABCOCK/THE EAGLE

In the policies for RAs, the Department also writes, “The RA position cannot be easily translated into hours worked per day or week … The nature of the RA position does not allow for all duties to be explicitly described.”

Therefore, HRL can add on unlimited responsibilities, hours and demands, leading to “essentially work[ing] 24 hours a day,” Bayyouk said. “I don’t know how we survive.”

By blocking off RAs’ communication with media, HRL destroys workplace accountability and forces RAs to work toward extremely stringent standards.

Public communication would allow for more reasonable policies and outward accountability as well as housing security for those taking care of all residents on campus.

Allowing RAs their basic freedom of speech and engagement with media would also expand their ability to negotiate for fairer wages. Resident advisors are compensated with provided housing and a stipend of $375 per month, $1,875 per semester, as of spring 2023. Despite having a baseline of 39 responsibilities and essentially nonstop work hours, resident advisors at AU are some of the lowest compensated in the D.C. area. The average wage for resident advisors in the D.C. area is $20.09/hr. With this average wage, RAs at American University would be compensated $4,098 a semester, as opposed to $1,875, for their 12-hour weekly shifts alone.

RAs cannot communicate this inequality due to media engagement bans. With more community attention, RAs may be able to coordinate with one another for fairer wages and demand change from the University. This raises the question of AU’s intent with media engagement bans. With no avenues for reporting or media attention, students are made to deal with unjust living and workplace circumstances.

RAs, as well as desk receptionists, are the only University employees we know about who cannot engage with media. If there are other employees who have been silenced, this article is also for them. Media engagement is a right each employee should have, as bans extinguish public aid and allow administrative policy violations to continue. This type of restriction is, by the University’s own standards, more than workplace injustice; it is a lack of respect for human dignity. If AU is as committed to free speech and dignity as it claims, it should allow University employees to engage with media as an avenue for advocacy and communication.

Rebeca Samano is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and a staff columnist for The Eagle. opinion@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE December 2023

Opinion: A chubby girl’s guide to a glow up For a chubby girl, the world is full of obstacles — dressing rooms, clothing size and now, social media

by Sophia Joseph Staff Columnist Editor’s note: This story contains references to disordered eating.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a complicated relationship with the mirror. As an insecure teenage girl, I would often scowl at my appearance. At 16, I was prescribed mental health medication, and as a side effect, I saw my weight increase. There was a parallel between my lowest weight and my highest: despite the number on the scale, I still found myself scowling into the mirror, wondering what it would take for me to feel beautiful.

I am somewhere in the middle now — somewhere between my highest weight and my lowest one — and I have witnessed the effect of the world on plus-size girls firsthand. At clothing stores, we cannot find pants that fit both our thighs and hips. In dressing rooms, we find ourselves sweating and panting, hoping that a dress in the wrong size will fit simply because the store does not have a bigger one. Now, there’s a new social media trend meant to demonize curvy women: the glow up.

On TikTok, under the search section, the weight loss hashtag has a preambulatory warning: “You are more than your weight. If you or someone you know has questions about body image, food or exercise, it is important to know help is out there.”

It’s an admirable attempt

by TikTok, but it doesn’t absolve the plat-

IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE

form of the harm caused by body morphing filters and unhealthy body standards it perpetuates. Under the hashtag are audios like, “Would you date her? No, she’s fat.”

Still, the problem isn’t just TikTok, but our internet-driven society as a whole.

Who among us hasn’t scrolled online and seen celebrities, micro and macro, advocating fad diets? Who among us hasn’t seen comments praising people for their “weight loss glow up,” despite not knowing if it was done in a healthy way?

We live in a society that demonizes our bodies with the expectation that they are monolithic, or the expectation that all bodies are meant to look identical. We are meant to grow and expand, not remain the same.

When I was 16, I could not help but hate my body because I did not look like the other girls. Now, at 20, I lament the fact that I did not find joy in that body. We are not meant to have the body of a 16-year-old forever. We are not meant to look one way forever. There is an expectation in society that to be beautiful is to be skinny, but if you are fat, the only way to look beautiful is to have stereotypical curves.

Where is the love for the big bellies, the chunky arms,

"

If we do not love our bodies for what they are, then who will?

"

CLAIR SAPILEWSKI/THE EAGLE

the round faces? Why is one part of me demonized while another part of me is praised?

Fat girls, curvy girls, mid-size girls and the like, I write this article for you. If being skinny is the only way to glow up, how can we ‘glow up?’

1. Prioritize your mental state and remember that one definition of healthy is different from someone else’s. We are not monolithic.

2. We are meant to wear clothing. Clothing is not meant to wear us.

3. Live a life worth remembering — not a life spent hiding.

I think as fat girls, we often think we need to shrink ourselves. We think we need to be an “acceptable” level of fat — think of the Kim Kardashians of the plussized world with large breasts, perfect hips and tummies perfectly tucked away.

Fat girls, own your shit. Own your tummies. Own your thick thighs.

Own your beauty.

I used to hate that I have a round face, rather than a “gua sha-made” narrow face, but this body — the one I have now — is the one that has nourished me, has loved me and has kept me safe through it all. If we do not love our bodies for what they are, then who will?

Society’s expectations of a glow up are painful. Whether emphasizing surgeries, medications or the newest fad designed to make you look like someone else, society has damned us. But I have never been one to believe that someone else is the teller of my tale. Girls, write your own damn story — because the one we’re in right now is not a fairy tale. Fat girls deserve prince charmings and happy endings — not

to be evil step-sisters. The only way we can do that is to reclaim our own glow up.

If you or a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder, please reach out for help.

American University’s Center for Well-Being Programs and Psychological Services has many resources. There are also several resources outside of AU such as the The National Eating Disorder Association, The National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You are not alone.

Sophia Joseph is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and a columnist for The Eagle. opinion@theeagleonline.com

ISABELLE KRAVIS/THE EAGLE

theEAGLE December 2023

Opinion: Demystifying federal work-study: A program that fails to value low-income student education

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Federal work-study is disguised as a program that benefits low-income students, but numbers say otherwise

by Meliha Ural Staff Columnist The Department of Education defines federal work-study as a program that “encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study.” Yet, in my definition, the program is merely a facade of support that lacks real financial aid benefits.

Many students, especially those from first-generation backgrounds, may not be aware of how FWS works. When one fills out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, it asks if you want to receive aid through a workstudy program. One out of every 10 full-time, first-year undergraduate students chooses to do so, according to Columbia University. FWS differs from other forms of financial aid because it is similar to a normal job with a paycheck.

A student receives their paycheck on a biweekly basis instead of getting the full amount at once. Since many FWS jobs are on-campus, they can be more convenient for students as the program generates opportunities to work close to campus. Research also shows workstudy can expose students to fields they are interested in and give them handson experience.

FWS provides around $1 billion annually to about 600,000 students nationwide.

When you break down the cost, the average amount a student receives for an academic year is $1,800. The most a student can receive varies by school but is usually in the $2,000 to $5,000 range.

The average public university tuition per year for out-of-state students is $26,027 while at a private institution, like American University, the annual rate is $55,724.

Federal work-study is one of the oldest federal programs to make higher education accessible to low-income populations. Yet, when one takes a look into the program’s benefits, the results are rather unremarkable.

For many low-income students, this program doesn’t offer real financial benefits. The Department of Education states that FWS is supposed to help

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

with living expenses, yet students cannot deduct the reward amount from tuition and fees.

At AU, a student can receive up to $2,000 through work study depending on need. With D.C.’s hourly minimum wage of $17, a University student must work roughly 13 hours a month for an academic year, which is about nine months if they receive the full award. FWS hours are limited each week so students cannot work more than 20 hours. According to the University’s website, many FWS students tend to work 3-5 hours per week. Yet, an average student’s work hours in college exceed that number, with many working 20-34 hours, according to the American Association of University Professors.

When it comes to low-income students, 48 percent work 15 to 35 hours and 26 percent exceed 35 hours, according to The Hechinger Report. I need not point out the significant discrepancy in the numbers above.

The way the FWS program is designed does not allow students to work for enough hours to support themselves, leaving them forced to grapple with multiple jobs. When a FWS job puts lower-income students at such

a disadvantage, how can they enjoy its benefits? An important thing to note is that getting a job is not a guarantee for FWS students. It is no different than applying for a normal job, except that there may be a smaller applicant pool. Also, students cannot hold two FWS positions at the same time. This rule would make sense if a FWS student worked 8-10 hours on average, but this is still the case if a work-study job doesn’t meet the hour limit: a student can’t make up for the rest of their hours with a second FWS job. This leads many students to look for additional jobs elsewhere. In these circumstances, the program only burdens students.

Calling FWS a financial aid program is a facade.

While this isn’t specifically an AU problem, it speaks volumes about the government’s lack of action toward making higher education accessible.

The program fails to meet student needs and makes college difficult to afford.

We need financial

aid practices in place that offer real educational opportunities. As the program itself needs much work, I urge peers with FWS to get a job outside of the program to receive higher financial benefits.

Meliha Ural is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and School of Communication and a columnist for the Eagle. opinion@theeagleonline.com

JACOB FISHMAN/THE EAGLE

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theEAGLE December 2023

Ask Anna: Doing it all

by Anna Gephart Staff Columnist

How do I juggle working 30 hours a week, classes and homework without sacrificing my social life?

Something my friends and I love is the ‘one fun thing a week’ rule. You plan out at least one fun thing a week to de-stress. It is vital, especially when you have a full work and school load, to designate time for something that brings you joy.

My roommates and I write out a schedule with all of our class times.

This helps us know when people are available, so organizing activities is easier. We also designate some weeknights for social time. If you and your friends have some downtime between classes or have the same evenings off, I recommend going for a little treat together or spending an evening together doing something relaxing.

If you have too much work, try to schedule times to work together and make dinner or grab a snack. Have a treat and work off campus together, try out a new spot on campus, or host a night together. Sometimes, when there is just too much going on, a little work and fun multitasking can be a great solution.

These might be Band-Aids for something that needs a larger fix, but I hope these tips are reminders that your life needs more than just school and work, and it’s okay to schedule that into your life. opinion@theeagleonline.com

IZZY FANTINI/THE EAGLE

the

EAGLE

Satire: Revamped One Card currencies as simple as ever

Your One Card really does do it all!

by Ian Thornbrugh Satire Columnist The following piece is satire and should not be misconstrued for actual reporting.

Any resemblance to a student, staff or faculty member is coincidental.

We’re almost finished with the fall 2023 semester, and for many students living on campus, this has been ample time to settle into American University’s culture, meet new people, familiarize oneself with the D.C. environment and, most importantly, navigate the newly revamped One Card currency system!

Let’s explore some of the newest options available outside of the standard meal swipes, EagleBucks, Dining Dollars and meal exchanges.

One of the more prominent additions to the glorious One Card is the rollout of the Fun Swipe Program. Rumors are circulating that certain restaurants in the nearby area are pulling out of their partnerships with the University, but that couldn’t be less true. Instead, they’re opting for the Fun Swipe Program! Simply swipe your One Card at any designated eatery in the nearby area, and, voila, you still have to pay full price for your order!

For each Fun Swipe, however, you earn one swipe token; collect five and cash

them in at the campus store for a 25-cent credit at the print center in Bender Library! Isn’t that fun and comprehensive?

Moving on, we also have the profound creation of WonkCoin, an unprecedented and foundational e-currency dissimilar to BitCoin and other cryptocurrencies because it just is. In purchasing any meal plan, you’re allotted 20 WonkCoins. You can use these to attempt to barter at the campus store for awesome finds, like that calculator you need for a single class, that will subsequently become a family heirloom. You may also use them to purchase a time slot to meet the fabulous campus icon, Wonk Cat, herself! Unfortunately, she’s been presumed missing in action and potentially deceased for years now, but if she comes back, you could be the first face she sees!

Finally, my personal favorite installation is the AU AirMiles Rewards Club for Eagles Who Fly Program Club, or AUAMRCEWFPC. Lengthy in name, yes, but it couldn’t be more rewarding!

Every time you use your One Card for any transaction at all, AU graciously rewards you with one AirMile Rewards Club Program Club point; collect the maximum amount of points to be gifted a free flight out of Dulles to any airport of your choosing within a thirty-mile ra-

dius. Ever wanted to see the exotic sights of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport? Well, good for you!

As we head into finals, be sure to stay on top of all the options being an Eagle affords you and weaponize that One Card! Happy Hunger Games, and may

AIDAN DOWELL/THE EAGLE

the coins be ever in your favor.

Ian Thornbrugh is a senior in the School of International Service and a satire columnist at The Eagle. satire@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE December 2023

the

EAGLE

Satire: Best places to take your business on campus I’m not allowed to say the p word

by Jasmine Shi Satire Columnist The following piece is satire and should not be misconstrued for actual reporting.

Any resemblance to a student, staff or faculty member is coincidental.

Unfortunately, I’ll have to dance around a word. Post-digestion. Brown secretion. The great equalizer. It’s potty time! Among college’s key downsides, don’t you miss the comfort of not having to do it in a public restroom all the time?

Even for those living in private suites, the walls are thin and people can smell. But life is nothing without compromises; here are the most secure places to doo-doo on campus.

Before we start, here are some metrics: each location is ranked by accessibility, privacy, cleanliness and how inconspicuous it is.

1. Anderson/Centennial Hall lobby Good on them for keeping up with

symmetry and having two private bathrooms on each side of the elevators. This is number one due to pristine maintenance, luxurious size and good lighting to check yourself out in the giant mirror. Powerful toilets and lack of acoustics work hard to hide your orangnistank. If you’re too shy to luke duke in your dorm bathroom, just walk downstairs.

2. School of International Service base‑ ment by the Library wing Ask not what you can do for gender neutrality, but what gender neutrality can do for you. The positives are overwhelming: a working accessibility button, a changing table for babies, a nice smell and it’s barred behind a literal set of closed doors. Don’t worry, they’re usually unlocked, but that’s not obvious, which means that no one will bother going through them. This would have been number one if the entire building wasn’t locked during the evening. You’re strolling through easy halls, baby!

3. Kerwin Hall second floor Another working accessibility but-

ton! You’ll soon find that this feature falls off for the rest of the list. As clean as your standards for good public restrooms could be. This is not to be mistaken with the near-identical bathroom on the third floor, but why walk up 50 steps of stairs when you can just take 25? Keep it simple, silly!

4. Mary Graydon Center first floor, by the entrance to Terrace Dining Room The door has an accessibility button, and hopefully someone will put money in to make sure it doesn’t weirdly start and stop. Anyway! So long as you don’t go during a busy meal rush, no one will know that you had to crank a yam.

5. Katzen Arts Center first floor It’s roomy, it’s kinda clean, but best of all, trying to find it takes an entire journey. That means no one would see you walk in and out. Obviously, to the five art and music majors at American University, it’s easy to find, but because of the low population here, there’s no line in the evenings! It’s all about the timing. If you’re really into dim lighting and not be-

ing able to see yourself in the mirror then this bathroom should skyrocket to number one.

6. Bender Library first floor This is actually a bit more conspicuous than Katzen, but it is the only available spot to drop some brownies in the pool on the Library’s first floor. It’s also gone downhill in terms of maintenance — it’s stanky in there. This would have gotten a higher ranking for its accessible buttons, but as of writing, they don’t work anymore. So all you have is a weird heavy machine door that leads to a slightly dirty bathroom. Make sure you squat.

Shy readers, this one’s for YOU. While you should never be ashamed to Betty Crocker Brownie Delight, consider this step one in your journey to be unashamed, in both comfort and style.

Jasmine Shi is a sophomore in the School of Communication and a satire columnist at The Eagle. satire@theeagleonline.com AIDAN DOWELL/THE EAGLE

Satire: Wonkyland! A wonky little game for wonky little folks!

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theEAGLE December 2023

STAFF EDITORIAL

Opinion: Evaluating the price of tenure Term faculty deserve sustainable, equitable salaries and contracts

by The Eagle Editorial Board We love our faculty here at American University. They are truly who make the AU experience fruitful. The salary gap between our full-time faculty, however, is unsettling.

Academic tenure is an employment status for college educators. Tenure, as described by the University, is meant to, “Protect academic freedom, attract talented individuals to a secure life of scholarship/professional contributions, [and] ensure that due process … is employed if a tenured [faculty] is dismissed for cause.” Receiving tenure is a lengthy, challenging process. Tenured and tenuretrack faculty perform “teaching, scholarship, and service.”

They generally teach four classes a year, generate original research and maintain a campus presence with students.

All full-time and part-time educators, who are not tenured or on a tenure-track, are either term-hired or adjunct faculty. Term faculty teach, may compose research and play “key roles” in the community. Sound familiar?

The duties of term faculty may sometimes have more variety but can be nearly identical to tenured faculty.

Term faculty have significantly less job stability than tenured professors. Term faculty typically start at the University on a one-year contract. They can receive anything between a one and five-year contract, but typically at the end of each year, they must reapply for employment. Af-

ter three years of one-year contracts, term faculty may apply for a three-year contract. Finally, in the sixth year of employment, term faculty may apply for continued employment.

Educators should not be subject to the instability of a fixed-term contract. The University does not even need to provide cause to deny a term faculty member’s reapplication. Being annually unsure about your job status makes life planning incredibly difficult, yet fixed-term contracts are standard for most jobs in higher education.

With these fixed-term contracts, there is also absolutely no guarantee that AU will transition faculty from a oneyear contract, for example, to a three-year contract.

In college, we tend to refer to all of our teaching faculty as professors, but this title is not all-encompassing.

AU has four categories of full-time educators: professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors. According to data from the 2022-23 Academic Data Reference Book, tenured and tenure-track, full-time professors, associate professors and assistant professors earned an average salary of around $180,956, $125,254 and $119,984, respectively. While data does not exist for salaries for non-tenured, full-time educators of the same category, there is salary data for tenured, tenure-track and term-hired staff combined. Full-time professors, associate professors and assistant professors earn salary averages of $174,374, $118,337 and $107,989, respectively.

These lower averages show that non-tenured salaries are

significantly lower, enough to bring down the tenured average by thousands. These are faculty with the same job title and sometimes the same duties. There is no excuse for significantly lower pay.

Besides salary differences, there is a big issue with tenure itself: it constrains tenured faculty into specific roles. We want the professors teaching our courses to be well-suited for teaching. There is no reason to force a researcher into a teaching position if they do not desire one.

We advocate for more flexibility in the definition of tenure. Tenure positions should have options for faculty who want to only teach, only research, prioritize one over the other or do each evenly. Forcing tenure faculty into teaching positions not only breeds dissatisfaction in the professor but also hurts students in need of motivated teachers.

We as students want what is best for our professors as they are the primary component of what makes an education here great. The University must listen to our educators’ suggestions for improving the hiring process. editor@theeagleonline.com

CROSSWORD DOWN 1. Men’s basketball’s new head coach 2. _______ is the newest restaurant on campus.

3. Which artist performed at AU for family weekend?

5. Which D.C. area music festival featured performances from Mt. Joy, Maggie Rogers, Boygenius and Lana Del Ray? 6. Which AU coffee shop hosted a karaoke night and an open mic night this semester?

8. Who was elected Speaker of the House in October?

9. At the end of next semester, Sylvia Burwell will walk away in her…

12. Which AU team won the Patriot League Championship this November?

13. Volleyball’s new head coach 14. What is the name of The Eagle’s newest podcast, which is about all things television?

16. What AU department has specializations in Cinema Studies, Creative Writing and Transcultural Studies?

17. AU’s newest athletics center is named after Alan ____, wrestling alumnus and Board of Trustees member.

18. The average U.S. consumer throws away over ____ pounds of clothing per year?

21. How many blue light towers did an Eagle investigation find were malfunctioning?

ACROSS 4. Where is the top ranked place to unloose the caboose on AU’s campus?

5. What faculty rank is directly above assistant professor?

7. D.C. is not ________, but it is a territory.

10. Whose name is in the copy editing credits of every Eagle article published this semester?

11. The Eagle’s new advice column 15. President Joe Biden canceled _________ in student debt.

19. This name-brand drug can assist in reversing opioid overdoses 20. D.C. is panda-less for the first time in ___ years.

22. What is AU’s current budgetary deficit in dollars?

23. What residence hall was finally renovated this summer?

24. The University’s first Latino Student Government president

CROSSWORD BY IZZY FANTINI, ABIGAIL PRITCHARD AND TYLER DAVIS