12-07-2016 Davidsonian

the davidsonian

December 7, 2016 Vol. 112 Issue 10

The Independent Student Newspaper of Davidson College since 1914

Inside NEWS Student-led immigration discussion facilitates conversation 2 SGA representatives provide updates on semester's progess 3 LIVING DAVIDSON Erin Davenport interviews Hannah Fuller on identity and fashion 4 PERSPECTIVES Shirley Ge '17 argues that Harry Potter can be read as a sacred text 5 Severine Stier '19 coordinated the YouthMAP Gala, which was held in the Lilly Family Gallery and was open to the Davidson community and public. Photo by Yilin Wang

YouthMAP Gala Showcases Semester of Photograhy and Community

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LAURA DUNNAGAN Staff Writer

n November 30, the Lilly Gallery sparkled with lights and excited young photographers as they featured their art at YouthMAP’s Biannual Gala.

Youth Marketing and Photography, known as “YouthMAP,” is a student-led organization founded at Davidson in 2013. YouthMAP’s mission is to build relationships, through photography, with children residing in the temporary facilities at Barium Springs Children’s Hope Alliance. Once a week, Davidson students travel to Barium Springs to teach a photography lesson and work with the residents.

“Photography is the main avenue we choose to get to know [the residents] and bond with them,” comments Severine Stier, Co-Director of YouthMAP. “Each week, we bring a new photography lesson—bird’s eye view, ant’s eye view, light painting—and we compile their best shots and create a Gala with the participants so they can

present their work.”

While the activities are photography-based, mentor Erin Major ’19 says no photography experience is necessary. “YouthMAP is more about the joy of spreading creativity,” says Major.

Hannah Sommerlad ’19, a member of the YouthMAP Gala Committee, says the Gala is about more than the participants’ photographs.

“It’s good for the kids to know that people support them and care about them,” says Sommerlad.

“YouthMAP is a lot about the process, this Gala is just the final outcome.”

The Children’s Hope Alliance provides a safe home for children through group homes, therapeutic foster care, and adoption programs. Additionally, they work towards healing the hurt for individuals that are troubled, abused, or neglected, and provide health-based educational and developmental programs. The Children’s Hope Alliance is YouthMAP’s only partner, and between five and fifteen residents will participate in the program each semester.

One Barium Springs resident and YouthMAP

participant says that the program helped her realize a new skill and encouraged her creativity.

“YouthMAP sounded like a lot of fun—at first I wasn’t so sure about it because I hadn’t taken pictures before, but now I realize that I can actually do something with it,” she comments. “It’s really fun, and it’s very therapeutic. If you have a strong imagination, it’s good for that.”

Another YouthMAP participant says that the public Gala is a particularly fun way to showcase the work of the photographers. “It’s amazing. I love the look on people’s faces when they see a photograph they don’t understand but they think it looks awesome. I love seeing the reactions to the pictures,” comments the participant. The program also offered her a unique creative outlet.

“There’s not much to do where I’m at right now, so this is something where you can go and have fun,” she says. “I want to be creative. I see people and think ‘you’re so inside the box—get out of it!’”

Alex Sizemore '20 further explains opinions, addresses controversy 5 YOWL Students infuriated by Union's lack of Christmas spirit 6 Daisy the Puppy weights in on stress during finals 6 Quillen announces flagpole vigil for lack of Catfish Disco performance 6 SPORTS Senior fall send-off celebrates four years of athletic achievements 7 Men's basketball proving strong in non-converence play 7

See PHOTOGRAPHY Page 3

Where do Davidson's Christmas Traditions Fit in an Increasingly Diverse Religious Community?

KAMRAN SHAHBAZ Staff Writer

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ingles, jolly, and joy permeated the brisk “Christmas in Davidson” events last weekend. For three days Main Street hosted horsedrawn carriages, gift fairs and raffles, ugly sweater contests, and Victorian carolers. Davidson’s finest restaurants, Raeford’s Barbershop, Main Street Books, and even Ben & Jerry’s partook in the annual festivities, too. Although traffic was backed up over half a mile down Main Street and Griffith Street each evening of the celebration, it is no understatement that Davidson students and the community at large took full advantage of the opportunity to share cocoa and apple cider while appreciating the wintertime wonder just as the month began.

The Christmas in Davidson atmosphere was conducive to relaxation and sharing the holiday cheers before final exams, especially since stu-

dents often have difficulty celebrating Christmas with their college friends with a break that begins early in December. However, discussion about espousing an inclusive atmosphere for those who do not celebrate Christmas has often accompanied the holiday season. Some hold that the consumer-driven, nonstop, secular activities that surround Christmas have created a culture that is inhospitable and offensive to not only those who do not celebrate Christmas but also to Christians who believe in a more religious essence of Christmas. Others maintain that widespread political correctness and hypersensitivity to other traditions have detracted from the childhood sentiments they feel entitled to experience, especially in December when over two billion people around the world are celebrating Christmas.

The Reverend Rob Spach, Davidson College’s Chaplain, has expressed illuminating thoughts on the issue that are not only fair and balanced but also understanding of and sympathetic to individuals who are either pleased with or dis-

dainful of the discourse that now encompasses the Christmas season. Having attended impoverished Presbyterian churches throughout much of his childhood in Brazil, Spach had experienced quite the journey before coming to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for high school. Since then he has experienced a multitude of Christian contexts, from conservative to progressive, rich to poor, and charismatic to liturgical.

“In every one of those contexts, I saw real sincerity of faith,” Spach explains, and being exposed to such diversity that still had common threads of spiritual integrity has only strengthened his resolve to foster a variety of traditions at Davidson. “I feel that one of the gifts I was given from my experiences is that it is natural for me to be supportive of students of all faiths. I really try to nurture a robust, diverse, and inclusive religious environment as my role as Chaplain.”

It is evident that since Chaplain Spach’s arrival at the college in 1993, Davidson has had increasingly diverse demographics. Exactly twenty

years ago Davidson had a student body that was 29.1% Presbyterian, 12.7% Catholic, 11.4% Episcopalian, 5.3% without a religious affiliation, 0.8% Jewish, and 0.8% Muslim. Today Davidson has 8.7% Presbyterians, 16.6% Roman Catholics, 6.4% Anglicans or Episcopalians, 19.0% secular students, 4.9% Jews, and 1.2% Muslims. According to Dr. Spach, Davidson’s demographics are almost identical to those of the college-student age groups around the US. While these demographic shifts have been promising for increasing diversity not only at Davidson but also in the US, they have also created difficulty for determining the appropriate manner, if there even exists one, in which to celebrate Christmas given the larger number of non-Christian students. “Within the national context there are a lot of people who have grown

See CHAPLAIN Page 3

News

Page 2 December 7, 2016

SGA Offers Recap of Fall 2016 Efforts, Discusses Initiatives and Plans for Upcoming Semester ETHAN EHRENHAFT Staff Writer

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s winter break draws near and students prepare for a tidal wave of exams, the Student Government Association (SGA) wraps up a semester full of accomplishments.

The SGA is made up in part by the Senate Executive Committee (SEC), which includes the Student Body President, Vice President, Chancellor, Clerk, Director of Multicultural Affairs, Director of Public Affairs, all the Class Presidents, and any other positions that the President appoints. One can think of the SEC as the President’s cabinet or advisory board. The other portion of SGA is composed of the remaining Senators (five per grade, except for six Freshman Senators in the fall), plus the Diversity Coordinating Board (DCB).

The SEC meets every Monday to set the agenda for the week and hold general meetings on Thursdays evenings. Nick Lobo ‘20, Freshman Class President, says, “It is cool how informal the meetings are. We follow certain procedures which are good to keep things orderly but at the same time it is very open and people can add their comments as they see fit.” While many Davidson students are unaware of exactly how the SGA functions and only participate in voting during election season, the SGA is at the root of a number of events, policy decisions, and changes found on campus throughout the year. This fall was no exception, as the SGA, with Student Body President Dara Ferguson ‘17 at the helm, spearheaded a number of initiatives which have already had a decisive impact on the student body.

Ferguson and Student Body Vice President Connor Murphy ‘18 outlined three major items that were on the agenda for SGA during the fall semester. The first of these was the creation of an EMT service at Davidson, which the SGA was instrumental in pushing for. Currently 15 Davidson students are getting EMT certified, traveling to Charlotte every Saturday to participate in

training. While most will complete their hours by mid-spring semester at the earliest, the service will most likely not be put into action until following school year. “It will be great for both Davidson and the town because we can reduce the burden on the town EMTs” says Murphy.

The student EMTs will complement the already overstrained medical teams currently serving the campus.

The second major SGA achievement of the fall was the creation of Fall Fling: an event meant to celebrate homecoming as a school. This year was the first in which such an event had been hosted, and the tradition will continue into the future.

Previously homecoming had only consisted of a football game followed by individual events held by fraternities and eating houses for alums. Fall Fling was a major success this year, consisting of a live band and dance floor for students as well as a bar, all set up on a practice field. VP Murphy states how “the intention was to have an event that brought the whole campus together because that’s what homecoming is supposed to be about.”

According to Ferguson, over 1,100 students swiped into Fall Fling.

Finally, the creation of the food truck services on Friday and Saturday nights was a product of SGA planning. Seeking to expand late night food options for wary party goers and other students alike, the SGA partnered with Summit Outpost to provide a variety of food trucks to students on weekend evenings. Summit is officially in charge of coordinating the trucks, which have become somewhat less regular as the winter months have progressed, but are nonetheless still available.

With winter break just a week away, several major projects are already on SGA’s table for the spring semester. One of the most interesting of these is a shake-up in library decorations. Currently, portraits of former Davidson presidents adorn the walls of the first floor. Dara Ferguson had a discussion with President Quillen about changing this arrangement. The proposal would result in only one portrait hanging at a time,

accompanied with information exploring the president’s time at Davidson, the history of that time, as well as their personal life. “We wanted to recognize Davidson’s history and the type of campus that we were and the type of people that our former presidents were.” This project involves acknowledging some president’s ownership of slaves. Ferguson spoke to how it is important to know about this aspect of the college’s history, and how there is even a book in the school archives detailing slaves sold on Main Street in the 1800s and their prices. “It’s a part of recognizing Davidson’s history, where we are, and where we’re going towards” says Ferguson. The remaining wall space will be decorated with student art.

Another major development SGA is planning is with Career Development Center. A task force lead by Junior Class President Alex Soltany ‘18 and Senator Aman Madan ‘19 will seek to explore new ways the Center can be utilized. One idea is to create a student calendar which details important steps students can take to get involved in career development. For freshmen this might mean planning meetings with advisors, and for seniors it could be applying to internships and jobs in certain fields. “We want to get more people aware of what career development is able to do for students and target certain areas of campus that don’t use career development as frequently as they should,” says Soltany. Other plans are for a symposium with guest speakers, additional career fairs based on of the preexisting law fair, and an online database showing the career trajectories of Davidson grads. One more initiative is to help international students with career planning that allows them to stay in the US and work through the visa process.

Aside from the library portraits and career development, several other SGA ideas are in the works. The SGA is searching for an area to serve as a stress-free zone for mental health awareness and wellness. Currently the Oasis is the only such facility available. Adding an additional counselor is also part of the plan. Ferguson says how the

SGA wants to “find a place where students can go and sit down and breath on campus.” Another idea is to start a tradition of arranging a speaker for the seniors prior to graduation. As per Davidson tradition, there is no guest speaker at graduation. Possibly starting next school year, seniors could invite a speaker to meet with and talk to their class in some sort of special event.

While clearly busy themselves, the SGA recognizes that as the semester grinds to its final days, students need all the help they can get.

During reading day, SGA will host “Finals Feast” in the Alvarez Student Union. Free food will be made available to students all day. Puppies will also be in the Union to play with and free massages will be offered. One of SGA’s greatest missions is to connect with and represent the student body.

There may be a perceived gap between students and the work that goes on in SGA. SGA is looking for as many ways as possible to bridge that gap and let students’ voices be heard, especially this year.

With traumatic events occurring both on and off campus this semester, SGA has been a strong source of leadership. From Milo Yiannopoulos’ planned visit to the Charlotte shooting and subsequent protests to the presidential election, “this year has been a really tumultuous year for many who are part of the student government and in our student body as well,” Dara Ferguson puts it. She also says “If the (student) body is distressed or affected by a significant event that is occurring somewhere in the United States or the world, as the student government, whether it’s in the (SGA) constitution or not, we are obligated to have a response.”

Students are urged to voice their opinions, thoughts, and concerns to the SGA. Thursday meetings are open to all and occur at 8 pm in Chambers 3155. Says Ferguson, “I don’t want us to be reactive as a body, I want us to be proactive. Ways we can be proactive are to keep up this constant flow of communication and prevent a separation between the SGA and student body.”

Revealing Immigration Creates Space for Students, Administration UYEN NGUYEN Staff Writer

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he Revealing Immigration discussion held at Davidson College on December 2, 2016, was facilitated by Tony Solís `19. According to Solís, "The goal of this event is for people to better understand the nuances of immigration and how they can truly be allies for the undocumented students at Davidson in the upcoming year."

The talk began with a question that many Americans ask everyday: "Why don't undocumented citizens just apply for citizenship?" Solís explained that for some immigrants, their path to naturalization stops at the red sign because they entered the country without documentation, or “illegally.” (Activists like Jose Antonio Vargas, who spoke at Davidson in April 2016, prefer the word “undocumented”to “illegal” because it doesn't stigmatize or criminalize a whole group of people.)

For some immigrants, their paths to citizenship are more difficult due to their nationalities.

Others would rather stay in the U.S. without documentation because in order to apply for citizenship, they have to go back to their home country and wait for at least ten years. For those who escaped their home countries because of poverty, political persecution, religious intolerance, and natural disaster, returning is a dangerous decision.

In America, immigration is a prominent topic that many people don’t fully understand. Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization, was established to dispel the common myths surrounding immigration in America.

Define American promotes hashtags like #FactsMatter in an effort to spread more accurate information about immigration and immigrants’ lives.

The first common perception of undocumented immigrants is they are a burden for the U.S.

Revealing Immigration took place in the Sustainability Co-op and was attended by students, faculty, and administrators. Photo by Jose Balcazar government and U.S. citizens. Undocumented immigrants pay $11.64 billion annually in state and local taxes (The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 2016). Additionally, undocumented Americans pay $12 billion annually to the Social Security Trust Fund (the Social Security Administration, 2014).

Additionally, counter to common opinions, undocumented Americans are less likely than the average native-born citizen to commit crimes and be incarcerated (CATO Institute and U.S. Census and the American Community Survey, 2015). These immigrants, many activists claim, are the kind of potential citizens who benefit the U.S. government and enrich the U.S. economy. In return, they are considered "illegal" immigrants:

receiving no benefits from the taxes they pay and facing the daily risk of deportation.

According to the talk, immigration rights are human rights that are violated daily. Many undocumented immigrants speak of having to stay in the shadow while being subject to economic exploitation and mass deportation. Additionally, many activists believe it is problematic that the children of the undocumented parents, who did not have a choice when their parents decided to come to America, remain undocumented.

At Davidson College, there is a significant number of undocumented immigrants. However, some of these students choose to hide their undocumented classifications for their safety.

The recent presidential election has had a largely

negative impact on these students, leading many to ask for specific action from the school administration. Donald Trump’s campaign specifically targeted and threatened the undocumented community.

Many undocumented students at Davidson speak of fear, anger, and vulnerability. However, they believe that have no choice but keep fighting because not a lot of undocumented immigrants can make it this far. They see themselves as being examples in higher education for other members of the undocumented community.

Following the election, a group of concerned students initiated a petition to President Quillen requesting that Davidson establish itself as a Sanctuary Campus. The petition asks for the assurance of the protection of students threatened by the deportation rhetoric of President-Elect Trump. Specifically, it says, “We believe that without the permission of the College, police officers acting on behalf of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) from the campus and community at large should not enter any campus facilities (i.e, classroom, libraries, college housing).”

The college released the following statement: “President Quillen has been working with the students sponsoring the petition on ways that Davidson can support our DACA and undocumented students, and the college is studying the sanctuary issue.” Students are encouraged to view Quillen’s remarks on the issue on the College’s News website.

Davidson already provides assistance to undocumented students to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation for undocumented children.

On the national stage, Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) recently drafted a bipartisan bill that aims to protect undocumented, young people who could be at risk of deportation under the Trump Administration.

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Photography Exhibition Opens crime log Davidson to a Wider Community Time Reported Continued from Page 1 Holly Querin ’17 has been a YouthMAP mentor since her sophomore year and has seen the program take shape. “When I got here, we were in a formative stage where everyone on the team agreed that it was a great idea but there was still a lot of logistical stuff to work out,” remarks Querin.

“This semester, everything went so smoothly. It’s been fun to see the group grow and become more established.”

During her time with the program, Querin has seen the long-term benefits that YouthMAP can offer the participants and the mentors. “My favorite thing about YouthMAP is how affirmative it is for the participants,” says Querin. “A lot of them are so talented, and this is a skill that they might not have figured out if it weren’t for YouthMAP. At the Gala, you can see the sense of pride they have of being able to show off their work.”

While YouthMAP benefits the residents at Barium Springs, it also benefits Davidson students themselves. “It’s definitely the thing I’m involved with on campus that gives me the most satisfaction,” says Querin. Co-Director Quinn Massengill ‘19 says for himself, YouthMAP meant establishing relationships with children he would not meet otherwise and allowed him to learn from those relationships. Stier, the second Co-Director, touted the merits of connecting with a community outside of Davidson. “It’s a great thing to combine philanthropy, service, and art all together and to burst the Davidson bubble,” comments Stier. “Being able to connect with people outside Davidson and learn about their stories and telling them yours is so rewarding.”

To learn more about YouthMAP, contact Stier or Massengill or visit youthmapnation.com.

Chaplain Spach Comments on the Discourse of Christmas and Respecting Religious Pluralism Continued from Page 1 up within contexts that are not religiously diverse,” Spach explains. “And they have grown up in contexts that are predominantly if not exclusively Christian. So, they may not have been educated in ways that make them understand the importance of being thoughtful about how people of other religious traditions either celebrate holy days in general or how, during this season of the year, they experience being in predominantly Christian contexts.”

Chaplain Spach addresses two groups that the “culturally secular Christmas that is all around us” may affect negatively. The first group includes those who are not Christian. While Christmas promotes the spirit of generosity, kindness, and mutual appreciation for family, friends, and the less fortunate, some Christians have become defensive due to the US’ current diversity. Many even politicize Christmas, attempting to make statements to enforce their opinions regarding the “proper” ways of celebrating Christmas such as, Spach observes, “insisting on the greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ rather than ‘Happy Holidays’ even in diverse public settings.”

As Chaplain Spach notes, some individuals intentionally celebrate Christmas in a manner that attempts to assert the dominance of Christianity over other religions in the US as well as to declare the belief that the US is a Christian country. According to Dr. Spach pervasive religious politicization is not only problematic because the “heart of that religious tradition doesn’t get embodied in the way people interact” but also because “people who don’t have any religious faith at all, or who have other faith traditions, can feel like it’s not inclusive but rather very exclusive, maybe even disrespectful.”

The second group that can negatively be influenced by the secularization of Christmas and the cultural appropriation of this holy day is religious Christians themselves. “At the end of the day, what we Christians celebrate is not really about all those things that are central to much of the cultural observance of Christmas,” Spach explains. “It’s really about the Christian belief in the incarnation, the Word of God becoming flesh in the person Jesus, born in Bethlehem, in Palestine at the turn of the millennium from before the common era to the common era.”

A Presbyterian himself, Dr. Spach highlights how the religious soul of Christmas is sometimes lost in the US. “One thing we talk about as Christians is that we’re in the season of Advent right now,” he claims. “We’re not supposed to be singing Christmas carols—yet.” Rather, the time before December 25th is a season for

self-examination, reflection, and waiting for the advent of Christ, who, according to Christians, reveals God’s grace of truth. However, although he sympathizes with devout Christians who may not appreciate the secular nature of Christmas in the US, Spach says, “I don’t know what to say to people who are offended by the way our culture has appropriated this celebration of Christmas as something that is so culturally widespread. It’s just a part of our culture that is deeply engrained.”

Nevertheless, the Chaplain’s Office and many organizations at Davidson have provided a variety of events that work toward achieving Spach’s goal for the Davidson community, which he calls “honoring religious particularity and pluralism.”

This fall the Muslim Student Association hosted Eid al-Adha, followed by Hillel’s services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the Lilly Gallery.

Moreover, Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and Christmas Vespers, the musical worship service in which Davidson’s choir sang, were other holy days which were recently observed. Furthermore, the abundance of opportunities to learn about other religions on campus as well as the weekly religious and spiritual life meetings that include Catholic Mass, Muslims’ Jummah prayer, and Jews’ Shabbat dinners has made Davidson a religiously inclusive environment.

However, honoring religious particularity undoubtedly includes Christian particularity, too, especially during the highest holy day for Christians on December 25th; by no means should Davidson students feel ashamed of their religious faith or compelled not to celebrate it to the fullest extent according to Chaplain Spach.

Rather, he sees the value in positioning oneself in the middle ground between the two diametrically opposing viewpoints that 1) public religious expression is politically incorrect because it may offend those who do not affiliate with the given religion and 2) holidays should have a political aspect and be celebrated in whatever manner one desires, even if others perceive it as extreme or exclusionary.

Besides, having respect for one’s own religious practices as well as those of others is rooted in the Presbyterian tradition on which Davidson was founded. As Chaplain Spach says, “Part of what is built into the Presbyterian vision is openness and respect for the dignity of every person and for how people practice their own religions. That’s the best part of what the Presbyterian heritage of the school gives me as Chaplain to embody within the context of the religious life of the college.

I hope that we can all have that kind of appreciation for each other’s religious practice.”

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11/30/16 at 1541 hrs

Davidsonian.com

Description / Location Larceny/Theft Misdemeanor (Bicycle) at Watts.

Further Investigation.

Breaking and Entering a Vehicle Misdemeanor at Baker Lot. Further Investigation.

Miscellaneous Suspicious Vehicle at Ramsey Lot. Inactive.

Assault Simple x2 at Tomlinson.

Dean Referral.

12/02/16 at 1600

Larceny Misdemeanor (Bicycle) at Chidsey.

Further Investigation.

12/02/16 at 2118 hrs

Poss. of Alcohol Beverages Underage/Underage Consumption x8/Alcohol Aid and Abet Underage at Duke.

Dean Referral.

12/03/16 at 0223 hrs

Underage Consumption at Kappa Alpha (KA).

Dean Referral/Medic Transport.

12/04/16 at 0245 hrs

Underage Consumption at Belk.

Dean Referral/Medical Transport.

12/04/16 at 0245 hrs

Underage Consumption at Belk.

Dean Referral.

12/05/16 at 1100 hrs

Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle (Golf Cart) at Belk.

Property Located.

living davidson

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December 7, 2016

Sociological Style: Hannah Fuller on Identity and Fashion

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ERIN DAVENPORT PERSPECTIVES EDITOR

annah Fuller is a dear friend, so when the time came for a member of the staff to interview her about fashion and art, I jumped at the opportunity.

Entering her room in her apartment at B is a feast for the eyes. Her bed is perfectly made.

Christmas lights surround her desk, giving a soft lighting to the pale blue walls. Postcards from friends’ time abroad are carefully arranged on the wall above her bed, and on her desk is a mixture of fashion magazines, French books, and photos of friends and family. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of my interview with Hannah: Erin Davenport: You are writing your thesis on couture. Why is couture relevant?

Hannah Fuller: Well I’ll start by specifying that I’m doing French haute couture... and what I’m exploring most in my thesis is using a lens of sociological theory on class and social structures and their distribution within a society like the French society and how the haute couture industry becomes a reflection of that. So that’s my general basis.

Today we see this huge shift all of a sudden: a decrease in the number of Parisian designers, a globalization of fashion, it seems to be coming at the cost of the sort of artisanal. People are beginning to make claims that it’s becoming obsolete, that it’s becoming no longer valuable because it’s this dated, privileged, indulgent practicewhich is absolutely what it stands for in so many ways- but it owns that and that’s im-

portant. So what I’m arguing is that rather than being obsolete you need to treat it as an art form just like you would a painting in a museum, and a very telling art form because it’s worn, and we’re a very corporal society and so you’re taking something, and you’re taking its meaning, and you’re putting it on bodies, even if those bodies only exist in a very elite sphere...And for France it’s still very much woven into the way people present and manifest their class positioning. Far more than economic, this is how people signal their status. And so it doesn’t mean it’s an admirable--I’m not making those claims in all of these spaces--but they’re certainly just part of the way- one of the ways- in the French society in which those get expressed.

So, to me that’s why haute couture is not… to say it’s obsolete is to overlook the ways it is very much still apart of French society.

ED: Obviously you’re talking about clothing as art and fashion as art but we don’t have a lot of representation of that within the art classes at Davidson. How have you managed to study what you’ve wanted to study and has that been a barrier for you at Davidson?

HF: You know it’s certainly something I always wish I could get more of, but I also knew coming to a liberal arts institution it’s not going to be fashion-focused, although I do think it’s often overlooked by professors who are interested in looking at identity, class, race, and gender, you know fashion is a really cool space to be exploring because people can relate [to it], even when you talk about haute couture they may not get what’s going down a runway but we can understand that I am wearing a piece of clothing

Courtesy photo from Hannah Fuller

THE CHEW 2.19 Gingerbread Pancakes Adapted from foodnetwork.com A great holiday breakfast option!

Courtesy photo

right now, so there’s that sort of relatability even in understanding the very basics of it, of this industry. So I think that it often gets overlooked.

In terms of finding other ways to educate myself it’s been through reading ...going abroad and seeking out internship opportunities and seeking out these spaces for myself and then pushing for them and sort of forcing my way in sometimes was really the number one way for me to learn and probably learning the most in the times when I felt most uncomfortable.

How I’m making Davidson work, is okay so no one is teaching fashion, but I can take my thesis and say “wow, fashion is such an intersectional industry and Davidson has all these other spaces and departments that can speak to fashion so I’ll find a way to make that apply here and not seem like I’m just entirely missing out or this school isn’t serving me in some way that I’m going to find a way to make the liberal arts education and this idea of being intersectional in terms of interdepartmental apply for myself, and hopefully that’ll inspire other departments to really think about that more, within the arts”.

ED: Speaking to the sociological element of your thesis and our context here, how would you contextualize what you think of the fashion culture at Davidson and the ways that campus values might be represented in that?

HF: Well, fashion being a manifestation of class, that certainly comes into play here. I think it can do multiple things, one is that it just serves as a way of self-expression, you know of people coming from different countries, different states, different regions, and I think sometimes you just see that manifested in the clothing culture at Davidson. I also think you see very clearly play out different class and economic positioning that a lot of individuals, we naturally do as part of forming our identity.

So I think part of it is kind of owning the different spaces we come from, you know I always joke about my Birkenstocks and plaid but you know that’s real, but I think there’s also deeper things there, you know like when I think back to like my freshman year when I wasn’t consciously dressing, that I was enacting a lot of sort of labels and messages about what my socio-economic status was and what my sense of gender was you know and I think those things are interesting for analysis on this campus and certainly I think you see it.

ED: You referred to the time before you be-

Ingredients 1. 3 eggs 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup brewed coffee 2 1/2 cups white unbleached flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

came an intentional dresser, now as you’ve become an intentional dresser and thought more deeply about things, when have you most recently used clothing to make a message and what was that message?

HF: Oh! My clogs. To me that felt big. Because the context I know them in is in Seattle, the older women in my life wore them, my mother wore them throughout all of my childhood, and I was horrified by her I was like “Mom you cannot wear clogs.” But what I think is fun about them is they provide elevation they actually give me this really cool height dynamic without changing sort of the structure of my foot, so I get to feel tall like a high heel but I don’t have to feel like I’m warping my body in order to do that. I love that. I love that they’re chic and black and leather, and so I sort of have this chic thing going on but also this comfort thing, and that’s a statement for me. And I like how when you pair them with a yoga pant but when it’s a flared yoga pant people think you’re dressing up for a presentation when really you’re just wearing a yoga pant and a clog.

And I love also playing with colors like one day being totally floral and looking like I just stepped off a New York subway in black, especially since I’m not a New Yorker, so what does that identity look like? Do I get to enact it? Do I get to play with it at Davidson?

Like how do I experience that? So I think that’s where some of my intentional dressing comes like sometimes dressing in ways that I know I would’ve cringed at earlier in my career that aren’t traditional...they’re still very feminine to me and they still make me feel like I’m expressing my sexuality in a specific way that I want to be expressing and I’m still expressing things but it doesn’t feel quite as evident or as tangible, I think, for other people, which is nice.

Courtesy photo

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix eggs and brown sugar until well combined. Add buttermilk, water and brewed coffee, and stir to combine. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the melted butter.

Grease a griddle or heavy skillet. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat and then add the batter, by ladle-fulls. Cook until little bubbles appear around the edges of the pancake, and then flip. Cook on the second side until golden brown and cooked through in the middle. Serve immediately.

perspectives

page 5 December 7, 2016

I’m a Christian but I’d rather read Harry Potter than decipher the Bible

T

SHIRLEY GE

hough I should (in theory) have the rest of my life perfectly planned because I am (in theory) graduating this December, I have yet to send out one job application. Instead, all I’ve done in terms of post-grad plans is book a flight this January to spend a week at the Taizé monastery in France. Taizé is a community open to all who are seeking communion with God through meditative prayer and song.

The Chaplain’s Office hosts a spring break trip there every other year, but this will be my first time going and I will be going alone.

This year, I started listening to the new podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and if you’ve read the Harry Potter books or have 20 minutes to kill, you need to listen to it too. Each week in the podcast, two Harvard chaplains read a chapter of Harry Potter and analyze it as a sacred text with a weekly theme like Shame, Commitment, or White Privilege. The chaplains started the show because even though they’re divinity scholars, they found the story of a wizard boy on a broom flinging spells at a semi-immortal man with no nose to be more relatable and just as enlightening as their respective religion’s sacred texts. One of the chaplains is a Christian academic and he explains how he saw Harry Potter exploring the same important topics found

in the Bible such as Love and Resurrection.

But, for him, the difference between the Bible and J.K. Rowling’s novels was that he felt like he could claim Harry Potter in a way he could never claim the Bible.

I identify as Christian and was raised Christian so I grew up with the idea that the Bible was the ultimate guidebook to life: any question could be answered with thoughtful and careful reading of the Bible. However, after years of trying to read the Bible consistently and doing daily devotionals like a good Christian girl, I have finally embraced the fact that I don’t like reading the Bible. I think it’s cryptic and boring and I would much rather spend my free time reading novels. Harry Potter and the Sacred Text has shown me that I don’t necessarily have to scrutinize over Song of Solomon or Revelations to find purpose because modern literature can have equally valuable themes.

Religious texts like the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran that were written thousands of years ago have remained highly important within their respective spiritual communities partly because people continue to find meaning and comfort in them through the millennia. I definitely have some favorite Biblical passages (#Psalm8, #Luke16), but I think the essence of a sacred text is that it reveals what it means to be human in a broken world. Just like traditional sacred texts, works of literature can also describe the beauty of humanity in chaos and thus, become similarly or more sacred to you. In Carol Quillen’s Last Lecture, she

urged us to “read widely, indiscriminately and for pleasure. It will help you find your voice. It will make you strong and set you free.” And if 2016 has shown us anything, it’s that our world is deeply broken in countless ways and so reading unconventional sacred texts is more vital than ever.

I have repeatedly read the Harry Potter series, watched all the movies several times, and while abroad in London, I even convinced Ela Hefler ’17 to wait in line with me for five hours for Cursed Child tickets. Each time I read the books, I see new allegorical meanings in the same text I first read as a 9-year-old. With my imminent graduation and subsequent plunge into the real world, I think anew about Harry’s transition between living with the Dursleys and entering the magical world.

In the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Dursleys bully Harry while they desperately try to ignore the reality of magic and maintain perfectly bland, suburban lives. Harry’s life at Privet Drive, albeit uneventful and miserable, is safe and predictable. When Hagrid comes to bring him back to the magical world, Harry’s life is set to become both infinitely more wonderful and infinitely more difficult and painful.

I’ve had an absolutely magnificent time at Davidson. But as a senior, college has become like Privet Drive to me: safe and predictable. Though there is certainly comfort in predictability, I am very excited to enter the complex mess that is the magical world of post-grad (yay responsibilities!).

Theologian Frederick Buechner said “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is.” Given that I will cease to be a student in a matter of days and I don’t have any concrete plans for 2017, my life is arguably a much larger mystery than my peers’ . I have chosen to go to Taizé this winter because I want to take time to intentionally rest and reflect about what I want my next move to be after college. As I delve into the job/housing/identity search and the exploration of being the cliché “spiritual but not religious while drinking herbal tea” during my pilgrimage to Taizé, I will use my sacred texts: the Bible, Harry Potter, and other beloved books, as both tools to navigate through the unknown future and sources from which to draw hope, inspiration, and other warm fuzzy entities. I encourage you all to relinquish some of the weight that is placed on tradition and to welcome the possibility of finding sacredness in your own literary favorites, whether it is Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Fifty Shades of Grey.

P.S. Thanks to college chaplain Rob Spach and Taylor Brendle '17 for their help with this piece.

Shirley Ge, '17, is a Chemistry major from Westford, Massachusetts. Contact her at shge@davidson.edu

A Response to Feedback from "Dear Clinton Supporters..."

ALEX SIZEMORE

A

fter my initial article “Dear Clinton Supporters, Now That Trump Has Won,” was published, I received feedback from students and alumni alike. I was asked to write this article two weeks before the election, as was another student in the case that Clinton had won. The idea was that my letter would be published if Trump won, the other if Clinton won, but that they would be written early so that they could be edited and formatted beforehand. I wrote the letter without much belief that Trump would actually win, since almost every poll in the days before the election indicated that Clinton had the upper hand. Since the election had not yet taken place, I was more focused on highlighting Trump’s positive traits than attempting to make up for his negative ones.

Furthermore, I wanted to unify the student body, so rather than dredge up hurtful comments or negative attributes of the President-elect, I decided to take a more optimistic view about his policies and stances. That being said, I have seen a lot of fear reflected in my fellow students here at Davidson. I understand that these fears are perfectly legitimate and should

be treated with respect.

Trump has said things that incited fear in many communities, including undocumented immigrants, the LGBTQ community, Muslims, and low-income families.

These fears come both from Trump himself and from the behavior of many of his supporters who have attached their racist and bigoted views to the candidate. Many think that, through his rhetoric, he condones discrimination against minorities.

To those individuals who feel unsafe: take comfort in your friends. Those surrounding you are the same people that they were before November 8th.

However, your President will not be the same, and like it or not, you will have to live with him for the next four years. I understand there are a lot of reasons to dislike Trump, but in the meantime, please take comfort in some of his more moderate positions. Regarding the LGBTQ community, he has not proposed any policies that will strip anyone of their rights as a married couple, nor has he said he will seek the reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges.

For transgender individuals, Trump has said that he does not want to propose any restrictions on expression of gender identity; he said that HB2 was a mistake and that there should be no meddling with the current policies in place. Trump has in fact said that he doesn’t care about who

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uses which bathroom, and famously told Caitlyn Jenner that she could use whichever bathroom she feels comfortable using while visiting Trump Tower, a stance far left of many of his fellow Republican politicians. Additionally, in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he announced to crowd applause that “as your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from a hateful foreign ideology (referring to the Orlando shooting). And I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.” Since then, he has appeared in a 60 Minutes interview during which he said that the decision to nationally recognize gay marriage is a settled issue, the law of the land, and thus something to be respected. These statements should provide assurance that he will stand by the LGBTQ community.

As for his policies toward minorities, non-Christians, immigrants, and refugees, there is no need to be worried about his policies if you are an American citizen.

As a matter of fact, the only reason you should be concerned is if you are (a) an undocumented immigrant, or (b) someone in Iraq wanting to move to the USA. Trump has proposed a temporary halt to the admission of refugees from politically unstable nations (Iraq, Syria, among oth-

ers) until a more secure vetting process can be implemented. This is not a racist stance, but rather one for the protection of national security. Trump has also called for the enforcement of current immigration laws regarding undocumented immigrants, and has not proposed any new policies that would in any way discriminate against immigrants trying to legally enter the U. S.: non-whites, non-Christians, or any other legally residing minority.

As for my initial Davidsonian letter, I can now see that it did not properly address the fears that many Davidson students had before the election and still have in awaiting Trump’s inauguration. This was due to my own shortcomings in realizing how impacted the Davidson community would be, as well as having had to write it prior to the election results. I chose to focus on actual policy rather than implied racism.

I now realize that I should have addressed these concerns as well rather than only sticking to policy issues, and I feel honored to have the opportunity to address some of these concerns now. I hope that we can have a peaceful four years, and I hope that we can all enjoy a prosperous America together.

Alex Sizemore, '20, is an undeclared student from Chapin, South Carolina. Contact him at alsizemore@davidson.edu

The AnTiclimAcTic issue Senior’s Baby Bio Capstone Thesis to Focus on “Cell Stuff”

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Student Impervious to Caffeine Jumps Off Commons Roof to “Feel Something Again”

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Local Weirdo First to Follow Dentist’s Advice to Brush in Circular Motions Page 2

Student Aiming to Set New Browser Tab Record With Most Recent Paper

Page 9

Breaking: Union Board Conspiracy Whistle Blower Seeks Asylum in Huntersville

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Forced to Unload Random Person’s Underwear From Washer? The Yowl’s Guide to Navigating the Weirdness

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Student Finishes Paper at 10:00pm But Stays in Library Until 1:00am to Avoid Losing Face

This Issue Brought to You By: The Cultural Revolution and Arab Nationalist Cinema in Egypt, 1960-1967

Opinion: You People Sicken Me

Mass Panic After Catfish Disco Not Invited to Play at Event

I will say, when I heard they’d be sending me to this Davidson place for my next assignment I was immediately intrigued. I talked to the whole crew — Scout, Fluffy, Rex, and Rover — to see if they knew anything. Apparently Rex had been assigned to Davidson back in 2014 and he said that there were dozens of prime urinating bushes, while Scout had heard that Davidson had a pretty dope lawn to frolic around in. Rover read online somewhere that they even Daisy had a f*cking ball pit. Unreal.

I was excited, to say the least. I had been waitMorale Puppy ing my whole career for an opportunity to visit a place like this. So there I was, thinking I was off to the big show. Oh boy, was I dead wrong.

So, was Davidson a lovely school? Hell no. First of all, they stuck me in this place called the ‘Student Union,’ but I’m almost positive that the place was actually hell. Then, after being securely locked into this echo-y prison, kid after kid would walk up to me and say “Aw Daisy you’re so cute” and proceed to complain to me for forty straight minutes about how difficult their life is. Did you hear that Ricky has to wait till Thursday to leave for his Dad’s yacht because he can’t take his Poli Sci exam till Wednesday afternoon? Oh, oh, and did you know that Katie lost her ability to ‘even’ because of the project she had a week to do but waited till the day before to start? WELL, I SURE AS HELL KNOW! Just call me the f*cking student life expert. I wonder if the counseling center has any openings.

Davidson College and the greater Mecklenburg County area declared a state of emergency yesterday after an on-campus fundraiser shockingly failed to book Catfish Disco for their event. The unprecedented oversight has since caused mass panic amongst the local population as students, faculty, and staff have struggled to come to terms with a reality in which this is possible.

“I…I just don’t know what to think anymore,” said President Quillen in an e-mail that announced there would be a flagpole vigil held this Wednesday to commemorate the strange occurrence.

“What the hell are they going to do instead at that thing? Just stand around? It isn’t a fundraiser if you can’t swing dance to some smooth bass lines. I mean, you can’t find licks like that on an iPod. You just can’t. You just have to see Disco live.”

The event in question, a semiformal fundraiser for a local cat shelter, has since been cancelled after widespread pandemonium followed the grievous and embarrassing infraction. According to the Davidson Chess Club, the organi“Society’s rules have just zation responsible for the event, the party organizer has since left been thrown out of the the team and transferred schools. f*cking window... Only thing Reports have indicated that the organizer may have been responsible left to do is burn the Christfor the large “I DIDN’T MEAN IT” mas tree in the library and banner that has recently appeared on the roof of Chambers, though loot all the Pringles and Powthe investigation is ongoing. erade I can from the Union Many members of the local community have reacted violently Station.” to the news, with cases of rioting and looting cropping up across campus with increasingly regularity. Some have even begun to see a Catfish Disco-less event as a symbol that heralds of the apocalypse.

“This is why no one should ever trust a freshman to do anything,” said Chess Club member Michael Thomas while gathering supplies together in preparation for a violent riot at the Union. “The chess team’s reputation has been squandered beyond repair and the whole world has been turned upside down. Only thing left to do is burn the Christmas tree in the library and loot all the Pringles and Powerade I can from the Union Station. It’s the End Times, buddy. Society’s rules have just been thrown out of the f*cking window, and I’m definitely not gonna be one to sit around and let this hell-hole swallow me up. I fully intend to survive this thing by embracing what has become of this world.”

According to reports, Thomas was last seen being dragged away by police after he and a band of hollering, Mad Max-esque comrades were caught attempting to burn the signed Honor Code pledge while in possession of stolen Fruit Loops.

“I’ve been in the finals week morale game for a long time. Are there times I think about getting out?

Sure. Well, guess what Davidson? You just may be the straw that broke this doggy’s back...You managed to make a f*cking puppy depressed, and I regularly manage find joy in even the dullest of life’s activities.”

Page 100

The Yowl Presents: Cut and Paste Surrender Flag!

- Cut it out and trade with friends!

- Just in time for finals!

- F*ck you. I ran out of ideas so I came up with this. Give me a damn break.

Your Davidson Honor Section

Editors: Paul Henderson Writers: Double the EJ Absent Pat The Google Doc Men

Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian.

Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth. Word.

The DaviDsonian

After hearing about ‘the grind’ for the 86th time and listening to Jack and Megan fight over who had more work for twenty minutes, I was done. It didn’t matter that there was a dope lawn, prime urinating bushes, or a ball pit. I wanted out. I can also safely say that I ain’t ever coming back.

I’ve been in the finals week morale game for a long time. Are there times I think about getting out? Sure. But I’ve sh*t to take care of, responsibilities you know? I can’t afford to be out of work, so I always end up talking myself out of it. Well, guess what Davidson? You just may be the straw that broke this doggy’s back. Maybe it’s finally time to go back to school like I always said I would.

Well, congratulations Davidson. You managed to make a f*cking puppy depressed, and I regularly manage find joy in even the dullest of life’s activities, like ingesting my own feces. You know what? You people sicken me.

Daisy is a professionally trained and certified finals week morale puppy based out of Charlotte. Contact her at daisy@finalspuppytime.com.

Red Cups at Davis Café Spark Ambigious Outrage According to an official college press release and numerous inflammatory Yik Yaks, the Davidson student body is pissed. The most recent source of controversy: the institutional decision to continue using red cups in the Union during the holiday season. Multiple reports confirm sightings of impassioned student activists trying to rally support for a soda machine boycott.

Students may also recall briefly seeing #NotMyCups as the number nineteen trend on Twitter.

The Yowl’s investigative team has spent the past three days trying to gauge the pulse of a student population who decided that Finals was the perfect time to crusade against a perceived injustice.

“It’s like, are you even serious with this?”, exclaimed Vicky Jones '18. “It’s 2016 and we still have to deal with sh*t like this. It’s disgraceful to be honest.” When questioned as to what exactly her stance was on the cups, a rattled Jones replied, “Well, um, like, I shouldn’t even have to explain it. Jane told me that a lot of people were talking about this, so I wasn’t gonna just stand

“I couldn’t even tell you why I’m here or what this whole issue even is. I was just chilling at the apartment and one of my buddies dragged me here. Something about Christmas and cups? Maybe Jesus?”

by and not help the cause.”

At a hastily convened campus dialogue held in the Union, Ryan Parker '17 remarked, “I couldn’t even tell you why I’m here or what this whole issue even is. I was just chilling at the apartment and one of my buddies dragged me here. Something about Christmas and cups?

Maybe Jesus? I have no f*cking clue to be honest.”

According to reports, Parker later took a cursory glance at the crowd that surrounded him before concluding that he did not think anyone at the gathering had any idea what they were supposed to be mad about either. Ryan was later seen being derided as a ‘sellout’ in the Union by a group that took issue with his drinking of a red-cupped fountain beverage.

At press time, the College Democrats and Republicans were planning separate protests either in support of or in opposition to the red cups, though neither side was able to quite articulate what their position was.

sports

Page 7 Davidsonian.com

Salute to Seniors: Fall Sports Edition WES KERR

I

Staff Writer

t does not seem so long ago that the athletes of the Davidson Class of 2017 set foot onto campus for the first time. During these past four years, these competitors have made tremendous strides and contributions to their teams, while individually accomplishing many athletic and academic achievements. As we have reached the end of their final athletic semester, we would like to give one final salute to the some of the Fall Wildcat athletes for the Class of 2017.

Jaylen Mize - Football A huge contributor on defense for the Cats these last four years, Mize has been an anchor to the Davidson secondary. This Buford, GA product had a relatively quiet freshman year, but then amped up his performance in the following seasons. Mize’s best performances included a seven-tackle game his sophomore year against Drake, and a huge forced fumble in the Stetson victory last season. In his final year, Mize has led the entire team in tackles along with three picks,

one of them being a spectacular diving interception at home vs. Butler. Mize was rewarded for his outstanding efforts with the ‘Cats’ Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Ashley Finke - Women’s Soccer Finke was an immediate contributor to the women’s soccer team since day one, scoring three goals during the year en route to a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman Team in 2013. After a regression during her sophomore campaign, she excelled junior year. She put five into the back of the net, including two goals against Francis Marion and the only goal and game winner versus Duquesne. Finke admits she will miss her teammates the most: “They are some of the closest friends I’ve made at Davidson, and I wouldn’t have been able to make it through these four years without them.”

Maxi Pragnell - Men’s Soccer

Seniors Will Brewster (bottom left) '18 and senior Captain Walker Mogen ‘18 (center) recently finished their cross country careers at Davidson, with Mogen placing 2nd at the 2016 A-10 Championships. Both have claimed A-10 titles on the track. Credit Rebecca Turner

Pragnell enjoyed a fantastic freshman season, scoring two goals and leading the team with six assists. He was only the second Wildcat in five years to earn So-Con All-Freshmen Team Honors. His greatest moment at Davidson was defeating #2 UVA at their place. Just a few weeks ago, Pragnell finished an outstanding senior captain season, leading his team with nine goals and twenty points. He scored the only two goals in a 2-0 victory over UNC Asheville in September, and tallied two more in a 2-1 triumph over A-10 foe St. Joe’s. His phenomenal year earned him First Team All-A10 awards. Pragnell will definitely miss the college soccer experience. “Alumni always tell you how fast it goes by and they were right. Playing against top ranked teams, traveling across the country for away trips and playing

the sport I love everyday will all be missed.” He will soon attempt to land a spot on a professional team, prepping for several tryouts. His back-up plan? An insurance brokerage job he accepted in Chicago.

Katherine English - Field Hockey A key asset to the Wildcat field hockey team these last four years, Katherine English has started every game in her collegiate career. She even scored in her very first college game against Georgetown. Her success in the classroom earned her National Field Hockey Academic honors.

One of her greatest moments as a Wildcat included scoring the game winner at William and Mary during her junior season, and beating a strong Richmond team in dramatic overtime fashion to take first place in the conference. Her senior year was stellar, leading the team with both eight goals and 25 points. In four games this past year, she both scored and provided an assist. English’s success notched her a spot on the A10 Second Team All-Conference. She believes that her greatest strengths included her “strong hit and the ability to feed the ball up the field and create offensive plays.” Finally, English admits that she will miss her teammates very much. “As an upperclassman it was also fulfilling to see how the underclassmen, especially the freshmen, developed their skills on the field as well as how they grew as people. There is so much talent on this team and I can’t wait to see how they succeed next season.”

Congratulations and thank you to all of the fall sports seniors for your fantastic contributions to the athletic program and best of luck as your pursue your future careers.

Men’s Basketball Starts Strong in Non-Conference Play JONATHAN SWANN

T

Staff Writer

he Davidson men’s basketball team has begun the season well in their non-conference slate of games so far, compiling a 5-2 record. With wins over Power Five Teams (teams in the top five in football, and mostly basketball conferences, in the NCAA) Arizona State and Missouri in the Tire Pros Invitational, along with an opening win over Appalachian State, the Wildcats have looked strong. Additionally, the team has beat Mercer as well as rival University of North Carolina-Charlotte to capture the Hornets’ Nest trophy for the fourth year running.

Senior Jack Gibbs, who returned in the Tire Pros Invitational from an injury after missing the Appalachian State game, and junior Peyton Aldridge have looked impressive for the team. Gibbs is among the top players in the country and looks to be in the top-5 in scoring average in the nation this season. Contributions from junior Jordan Watkins with the three-point shot and junior transfer Will Magarity in the post have helped the Wildcats in their wins along with good play from freshman Jon Axel Gudmundsson.

In the opening game of the Tire Pros Invitational, the Wildcats lost to a tough Clemson team that looks to a be tournament team this year. Led

by Preseason All-American Jaron Blossomgame, the Tigers defeated the Wildcats 95-78. Turn-

overs cost the ‘Cats, as the 16 turnovers the team committed led to 21 Clemson points in the game.

Additionally, the Wildcats shot poorly from the 3-point line, going 11-of-40 after starting the game 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

On December 4th, the Wildcats faced their old Southern Conference opponent, College of Charleston. The Wildcats have transitioned to the Atlantic-10 while Charleston has moved to the Colonial Athletic Association. It was a tale of two halves, as the Wildcats led 39-30 at halftime but eventually lost 76-61. In the second half, the Wildcats shot 20% from the floor, and went seven minutes without a field goal. College of Charleston went on a 25-4 run to turn the game around in the second half and built a lead that was never relinquished.

The final four non-conference games on the schedule look to be exciting for the team and the fans. On December 7th, the Wildcats will travel to Chapel Hill to face 7th-ranked UNC Tar Heels, whose only loss has come to 9th-ranked Indiana.

After finals, on December 17th, the Wildcats take a trip to Kansas City, Missouri to face Kansas.

Kansas, a perennial basketball power, is currently ranked 3rd in latest poll. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN2 and will provide the team the chance to face two highly talented teams who are projected to be in contention for the NCAA championship this season.

After those two extremely tough opponents,

Despite struggling with injury at the start of the season, Jack Gibbs is the nation’s 7th-highest scorer with 23.3 ppg. Credit American Sports Network

the Wildcats close out their non-conference schedule with two home games versus Jacksonville and Hartford before beginning conference play on December 31st versus Richmond at home. Jacksonville and Hartford, though much less talented than UNC and Kansas, should not be taken lightly and the Wildcats should be mentally prepared to face them after playing in what will most likely be two extremely difficult games.

Overall, the team has looked solid but need other players besides Gibbs and Aldridge to step up and provide support for the team. The Cats’ have seen Juniors Jordan Watkins and Rusty Reigel play a more prominent role on this year’s team, and will need the duo to continue making solid contributions on offense as they move for-

ward.

Once A-10 play starts, every game will be competitive and the Wildcats will need to be strong enough to finish in the top half of the conference.

The loss of Brian Sullivan last year, with his 14.2 points per game, is a big hole the team needs to fill. This Wildcat team could be a NCAA tournament team this year, as shown with great wins against Missouri and ASU, but the team must be consistent and maintain the high-powered offense throughout the season that Coach McKillop is known for in his tenure with the Wildcats.

After a 61-77 defeat to College of Charleston, Men’s Basketball faces off against UNC-Chapel Hill in a nationally televised contest tonight at 9 pm.

THE DAVIDSONIAN

Men’s Wrestling Competes in Tri-meet Match Photo by Abby Miller

December 7, 2016