Circles are sized by the number of estimated deaths

7.7

The data from this figure was gathered from the National Oceanic

Turkey

by Ian Macel ‘24

Turkey and Syria, 2023 Magnitude 7.8

Deaths 46,000+

7.6

Armenia, 1988

6.8

Deaths 25,000+

and Atmospheric Administration: United States Geological Survey

Designed by Anika Banerjee ‘24

The earthquake has killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey. Over 1.6 million people, including many Syrian refugees living in Turkey, are now homeless and being housed in temporary shelters. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey will begin building tens of thousands of new homes in March. Erdogan has been accused of letting builders skirt building codes in areas impacted by the Earthquake, and it remains to be seen if Turkey’s scheduled elections for May will take place.

How you can help!

Syria

by Bilal Razzak ‘25

The border between Syria and Turkey has recently become a hotbed for devastating earthquakes. With a combined damage consisting of 210 million tons of rubble, the earthquake has adversely affected the lives of people living in both countries. In Syria specifically, there have been a total of 6,000 deaths. However, due to Syria’s ongoing civil war, these numbers are unreliable at best. The area that is controlled by the insurgents estimates 4,525 deaths; the area controlled by President Bahar al-Assad estimates 1,414 deaths. .

Donate to these organizations: Syrian American Medical Society Foundation Center for Disaster Philanthropy Direct Relief

Do not stop the conversation: Just because a problem leaves the headlines, does not mean the problem is gone. The impacts of this disaster will last long, and more aid will be needed.

Check in with your surroundings: Although they may not advertise it, your friends and peers could have connections with people who were hurt in the earthquakes. Keep in consistent contact with them!

Stay Informed:

An article covering Davidson’s relationship with the earthquakes will be published in next week’s issue of the Davidsonian.

Natasha Trethewey delivers Conarroe Lecture

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and background information about her work. She answered candidly about her mission to use poetry to bring to light forgotten history and how writing has specifically aided her in grieving her mother. In particular, Trethewey illuminated how her experience being raised in the South among monuments celebrating the Confederacy has impacted her work.

“One of the contentious relationships that my poems try to examine is between personal memory and cultural memory and public history,” Trethewey said. “Here I am growing up in a place where everything is a monument to white supremacy, telling me to stay in my place. When I talk about the received knowledge that I’ve wanted to push back against, I’m attempting to rewrite both personal memory and — into our collective cultural memory — the histories that have been erased by the monumental landscape.”

The Conarroe Lectureship was established in 2002 to honor Dr. Joel O. Conarroe ‘56, who was the President Emeritus of the PEN American Center and Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The series has hosted myriad influential writers, such as Margret Atwood and George Saunders — the only other speaker to receive a standing ovation besides Tretheway, according to Chair and Professor of English Dr. Randy Ingram.

“We’re excited for the resumption of the Conarroe Lectureship. This is the first one for three years I believe during the pandemic,” Ingram said. “We want to register our immense gratitude to Joel Conarroe and to the donors who make it possible.”

When deciding what writer to bring in for this year’s lecture, Ingram said the English department was interested in Trethewey because of the diversity and accessibility of her writing, as well as her technical prowess.

“Her work shows up in introductory English classes and in anthologies; it cuts across levels,” Ingram said. “She uses things like sestinas, she uses really creative forms. She sees it as a way of holding, a kind of container for really raw emotions and big questions. It’s also an aesthetic container as well, it makes her poems beautiful and heightens them. You feel them, experience them, hold onto them.”

Scarlett, too, finds that the clarity of Trethewey’s writing inspires a greater understanding and impact than other poetry.

“At least in the English classes I’ve been in, we’ve read lots of people from hundreds of years ago who write in rigid formats, use words we don’t understand and talk about abstract concepts that require a tenured professor to explain,” Scarlett said. “But Natasha Trethewey’s work told a really compelling and very vivid real story, especially when spoken out loud.”

The bravery and emotional intimacy of Trethewey’s storytelling resonated with Nessa Anguiano ‘26, who attended the talk after reading Memorial Drive.

“Everyone’s story is valid and there is reason to write about it. Regardless of what one may think it can help someone else,” Anguiano said. “I may not have the exact same lived experience as Tretheway, but her work had a profound effect on me.”