The Davidsonian 10/1/25

Volume 125, Issue 4 • For a Better Davidson • The Independent Student Newspaper of Davidson College since 1914 • October 1, 2025

D- for Davidson on free expression survey CASEY SCHEINER ’28 (HE/HIM)

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ree speech watchdog the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gave Davidson a D- grade and 60.4/100 score on its annual assessment of the College’s campus speech climate in a survey report released last July.

Administered through College Pulse, a survey analytics firm targeted at students, the report does not disclose how many Davidson students submitted responses. The survey had students rate the college in six categories: openness, administrative support, comfort expressing ideas, disruptive conduct, and political tolerance.

About 60% of students reported discomfort disagreeing with professors in class on political issues while 70% reported being afraid to endorse unpopular views on social media.

Davidson ranks in the better half of the 257 surveyed universities

in four of the six categories, with political tolerance and comfort expressing ideas being the lone exceptions. Ranked 78th, Davidson places in the top third of surveyed American universities.

Davidson Director of Media Relations Jay Pfeifer called attention to FIRE’s survey methodology. “We respect FIRE’s work; we share a commitment to free expression on campus. That said, their grading system, like all rankings, is reductive and occasionally confusing,” Pfeifer wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

“Their report says that Davidson students ranked the college in the top 50 for ‘administrative support,’ indicating students feel the administration will back expressive rights. Despite that, they issued a ‘D-’ on administrative support.”

Davidson has made notable improvements under FIRE’s stoplight system in recent years, which cat-

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New PCC check-in sparks frustration CLARE IRELAND ’28 (SHE/HER)

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tudents are now required to scan their CatCard to enter Patterson Court Council (PCC) hosted parties. Previously, students had to show their CatCard or another form of photo ID to enter PCC events. The move to digital identification is causing longer wait times to enter parties, leaving designated student risk managers to navigate the new system and student discontent.

Associate Director of Student Ac-

tivities Brandon Lokey said that the change increases safety measures at PCC parties.

“The scanning requirement adds a clear risk-management benefit: it helps us know who was present at an event, which is critical for safety and accountability,” Lokey wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

Kappa Sigma fraternity social chairs Thomas Crough ‘26 and Will Manning ‘28 said the new system has created longer wait times and safety concerns.

At one of the first PCC parties of

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Destruction after Hurricane Helene passed through western North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Delila Cruz ’28.

Western North Carolina continues to rebuild one year post Helene STELLA MACKLER ’26 (SHE/HER)

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eb Smathers saw the storm coming. The mayor of Canton, NC was watching the news on Sep. 21, 2024, when a reporter pointed to a storm growing over the Gulf of Mexico.

“The east coast storms don’t bother us,” Smathers said. “Gulf storms do. They get very hot, and they come straight up the Panhandle and they hit the mountains.”

In the two days before it hit Florida, abnormally warm water in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico turned scattered thunderstorms and rain turned into a category four hurricane. Then, on Sept.

26, 2024 the storm hit the mountains. Hard.

Rainfall in western North Carolina over the course of the next three days ranged from 12 inches to more than 31.3 inches, creating flash

floods, road washouts and thousands of landslides. The mountains funneled raging torrents of rainwater and debris into low-lying areas, and entire homes were swept away in the floodwaters. The storm tore through five states and devastated a number of valley communities in the Appalachians in western North Carolina. Maureen Copelauf is the mayor of Brevard, NC – a small town in Transylvania County, 30 miles south of Asheville.

“We very rarely have to worry about flooding here in the mountains, but we had landslides, we had flooding, and the biggest surprise was that we totally lost all communication,” Copelauf said.

“We were in isolation for three days. We had no electricity, we had no internet, we had no cell service, no landline service, and so we had no way of communicating with the outside world.”

About 3% of the Davidson stu-

Art History expands beyond conventional areas of study SAIYA MEHTA ’27 (SHE/HER)

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hen Assistant Professor of Art Lyla Halsted ’14 was a student, Davidson’s art history program focused almost exclusively on Europe.

Even the Islamic art course that set her academic trajectory was taught by a history professor. Now, a little over a decade later, the department looks completely different.

For much of its existence, art history as an academic discipline has largely focused on the traditional Western canon. Recently, more attention has been paid to other parts of the world. Yukina Zhang is assistant professor of art and Chinese studies.

“Art history is also a constant-

ly evolving, expanding field,” Zhang said. “How we define art now and what we identify as our subject of research are drastically different from [...] what people researched at the beginning of the birth of the field.”

Davidson takes that shift a step further. None of the College’s three full time art history faculty, who were all hired within the last six years, focus solely on Europe.

Halsted specializes in Islamic art, Zhang in East and Central Asian art, and Associate Professor of Art John Corso-Esquivel in contemporary and Latin American art, art criticism and theory.

To Zhang, the discipline’s evolution involves centering art

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dent body call western North Carolina home, including three students from Haywood County, where Canton is the county seat, and two from Transylvania. 26 students are from Buncombe County, which includes Asheville and is the most populous county in the region.

While Hurricane Helene has largely disappeared from national headlines, recovery in western North Carolina remains a daily reality.

“We still have a road that’s completely closed because it got washed out,” Copelauf said. “It had a culvert underneath that washed out and we still haven’t got the money yet from FEMA to repair that road. Most of the people are still in temporary housing, long term temporary housing. We still are trying to get a lot of the infrastructure in the city itself repaired

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2 4 5 6 7 Davidson’s Art History department is housed within the Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center. Photo by David Anderson Montes Lara ’28.

INSIDE

Library resources distributed across campus Western NC natives reflect on Hurricane Helene a year later Swimming and diving team starts the season Campus musicians perform despite rained out concert Anna Morrow ’28 on Davidson email culture

Check out our website!

News

Turner Eating house party showcasing the crowds that need to be handled by new check in system Photo courtesy of @Turnerhouse98 on Instagram.

Student risk managers navigate check-in policy

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the semester, a Love Island themed event cohosted by Rusk Eating House and Kappa Sigma, the scanner could not scan digital CatCards.

Crough, who was risk managing the event, said this created a bottle neck.

“None of the first year’s CatCards would scan at all, so we had to manually type in all of their CatCard numbers into a spreadsheet and then send them off to the school later,” Crough said.

“Many first years didn’t know how to access their Catcard number, since they’re all on the mobile Catcard now it doesn’t readily show it, so it’s definitely very challenging.

We had long lines.”

Long lines and tech issues meant more risk managers needed to be on “door duty” to scan and record CatCard information. One of three risk managers assigned to the inside of the party was relocated to door duty to handle the demand.

“We had two people that were sup-

posed to be scanning CatCards, and so many people came by that another risk manager had to help, which in my view, makes it less safe and sort of diverts attention away from what the risk managers actually do, which is watch what’s going on inside,” Crough said. “We had probably 100 people at one point who were all waiting to get in. You can only [scan] so fast.”

Manning, a risk manager at the same party, said impatient students tried to bypass check-in.

“People in the line get very fed up with being in a line, and then they try to bypass the line by climbing a fence or anything like that. That is when things get messy because as the risk managers, you have to control, not just the people in the line, but also the people that try to cut in line, or people who are trying to get around the line,” Manning said.

Students attempted to circumvent long lines at multiple PCC parties this year. PCC President Stella Davis ‘26 described alternative entrance attempts at the Mathletes V.S. Athletes Warner Party this past Saturday.

“I was hearing of people climbing in,” Davis said. “I know it’s a lot to wait in line, but please do not climb up walls that make things even more dangerous. Please don’t try to enter through places other than the desig-

nated entrance, because that’s also a concern.”

The new system also raises data privacy concerns for some students.

“In some ways, it seems like an invasion of privacy as well, because not everybody wants the school to know that ‘hey, I’m going out and partying every night,’” Manning said.

Lokey emphasized that the new system is not a way to keep tabs on students’ location. “To be clear, it’s not about tracking students’ movements, rather, it’s about ensuring our organizations have reliable records if/when serious issues arise,” Lokey wrote.

Lokey noted that data obtained by the scans—including name, age, and status with the College—is deleted after six months.

Growing adoption of digital CatCards provided an opening for the new scanning policy.

“Nearly all first-year and transfer students are now using the digital CatCard, so this was the right moment to shift systems. In reality, any transition brings frustrations, but aligning with the digital CatCard rollout sets us up for consistency and efficiency long-term,” Lokey wrote.

The process has become more efficient as students troubleshoot the new system. Bella Bryan ‘26, the

social chair for Warner Hall Eating House, said Warner has figured out the system.

“We [transitioned to the new system] pretty easily, we figured out the website, we figured out the new technology. It’s just the issue of adjustment, basically, but we’ve been able to implement what student activities have said we need to be doing,” Bryan said.

Similarly, Lokey emphasized that the process will be faster if students cooperate.

“The most effective step is preparation: have your CatCard ready to scan, just like you would a ticket at a concert or an ID at the club. Lines have already improved as students and risk managers have adapted, and PCC leaders have told us they feel more confident about safety, accountability, and event planning for future events,” Lokey wrote.

Davis echoed these sentiments, stating that respect and patience will help streamline the process.

“Please listen to your risk managers [...] even if they’re your friends.

I know that brings up a weird authority thing, but they’re in charge for a reason, they will get the police involved,” Davis said. “Parties will still be fantastic, and you will get it eventually.”

Library renovation disperses Center for Teaching and Learning across campus

COLIN DECKER ’27 (HE/HIM)

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cademic-resource centers are spread across campus this fall due to the ongoing library renovations. The John Crosland Jr. Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is adapting to space limitations, and despite concerns about the adjustment, program directors and tutors say they are making the most of their homes for the next two years.

The CTL connects Davidson students with peer-tutoring organizations in a variety of disciplines.

These organizations include DATA Cats, library consultants, peer academic coaching, and the multilingual support, math, science and economics, speaking and writing centers. All of their offices were previously located on the first floor of the library.

Rather than occupying one space, Writing Center Director Rebeca Fernandez said space limitations meant the center had to scatter their meeting locations across campus.

“Finding space has been very challenging [...] we couldn’t use a single space for everything,” Fernandez said. “We ended up having to divide ourselves up across the campus.”

For Fernandez, the location in which sessions take place is important. The Writing Center prioritizes being a welcoming and familiar space, especially for firstyear students.

“I want to make sure that [firstyear students are] comfortable seeking out writing support in these different places, and that it doesn’t become an obstacle to them getting the support they need,” Fernandez said.

“We really value that in-person,

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face-to-face, active learning, [and] to have a diminishing number of help,” Duhon said. room in any way,” Martinez said. asynchronous [meetings] take the students who are getting serviced Professor Amanda Martinez, DiAs tutoring centers adjust to their writer out of the equation. When through our resources,” Duhon rector of the Speaking Center, has new homes for the next two years, the writer’s not present, there’s no said. embraced its new locale in Cham- Martinez finds hope in the promise dialogue, and there’s no real agenThese fears are not unfounded. bers. According to Martinez, stu- of a new library. cy.”

Duhon has noticed a lack of stu- dents’ familiarity with the building “[I] have a bit more of a positive Frank Edong’a ’26 has been a dent engagement with the Math is an asset. Still, Martinez and the attitude because we felt included Writing Center consultant since and Science Center. consultants have trouble making in the decisions and we also under2022. His new consultant routine “Truthfully, I think that our tutors the space feel less like a class- stood that everybody has this colis unfamiliar in his final semester. are not used enough. [...] We’re room. lectivist feeling of, ‘We all have to “In the past, it used to be easy trying to figure out how we can “The agreement was we’re reap- live with some changes but the end to socialize and remain in one be more actively visible to the stu- propriating Chambers classrooms result is we’re gonna get this awespace and exchange ideas if you dent population so that they know for tutor centers and drop in hours some new library,’” Martinez said. had questions, which we do when [they] always have a resource for at night. But we cannot alter the students come in, [because] sometimes there is something you don’t understand,” Edong’a said.

“So you ask your other consultants, and it was helpful in that regard. Now, that kind of separation makes things a little bit difficult in a way. Of course, you can ask other consultants who are in the same room, but if it’s not an area of expertise for them, it becomes a challenge.”

The Writing Center now operates out of shared spaces like academic classrooms or the lobby of the Carolina Inn, which makes scheduling conflicts common.

“Two weeks ago, in the Carolina Inn, I was there with some new consultants. We then got a Slack message from Dr. Fernandez, and apparently there was an event [then]. The space was reserved for German authors, and we [saw Professor Denham] setting up the space,” Edong’a said. “Luckily, [he] said we could use his office.”

While the Math and Science Center faces similar struggles with space, Professor Andrea Duhon, the center’s director, said her primary concern is ensuring students know that the center is still operating.

“Most of the flow to the library goes through Chambers, not Wall, Library services are spread across campus while the renovation is underway. Photo by Aidan Marks ’27. and so that automatically is going

Features

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Davidson Outdoors hosted an event with crafts, music, and storytelling to commemorate the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene. Photo by Ada Long ’29.

Small town leaders in Western NC reflect on one year since Hurricane Helene

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 have set up a Hickory Nut Gorge and it’s been almost a year.”

In Henderson County, Commissioner Rebecca McCall is still in the early stages of planning the area’s long-term recovery, specifically in the Hickory Nut Gorge. Helene caused catastrophic flooding in the gorge, particularly in the towns of Chimney Rock and Bat Cave. Landslides and debris destroyed almost all of the homes, businesses and buildings in the area.

“The river got three times as wide as it normally is and houses were just washed down the river and the land they sit on,” McCall said. “We

Task Force of citizens down there to come up with a plan as to how they want to rebuild. Do they want to rebuild back the way they were?

Do they want the opportunity to do something more than what they were, better than what they were?”

In Lenoir, Mayor Joe Gibbons said the town is largely back on its feet.

However, residents are still grappling with the shock of a hurricane in Appalachia, and a new understanding of their vulnerability to natural disasters.

“We live in the western North Carolina mountains,” Gibbons said.

“How does a hurricane from the

Politics

coast come up through here and do the damage that it did to all the mountainous areas, especially even further north of us in Asheville and Spruce Pine they got hit even harder, way harder than we even did. The devastation up there was just unbelievable. That’s the hard part, how that all sinks in.”

Funding is another hard part for these local leaders. The Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) estimated the total damage and need from Helene to be $59.62 billion. According to a report from the office last week, $44.71 billion remains unfunded.

“I think the process that they have

right now with FEMA is not working,” Copelauf said. “Everything is just so backed up, we’ve been waiting almost a year to get money to fix our road and to do some of these other repairs, and we have no idea when we’re going to get that funding.”

North Carolina has requested federal funding to cover 48% of Helene’s damage. So far, the state has received funds to cover 9%. States similarly impacted by major hurricanes, like Katrina, Maria and Sandy, received over 70%.

“It’s absolutely disgusting and unacceptable how much money has the citizens of western North Carolina’s name on it sitting in Washington,” Smathers said. “There has to be a better way.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Josh Stein requested an additional $13.5 billion from Congress to fund recovery from Helene, raising his total request from the federal government to $22.8 billion. That includes money that has already been appropriated but requires action by federal agencies. The patience of local leadership is waning.

“These delays have real world consequences,” Smathers said. “I think people in Washington, they’re detached from that. Every day the money is not here is one day that’s more difficult for people here.”

Complicating matters further is a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security requiring Secretary Kristi Noem personally sign off on expenses over $100,000 including FEMA funds.

“Every request is over $100,000,” McCall said. “So I think it’s become a little overwhelming.”

Copelauf urged her national coun-

terparts to think of the people on the ground in Brevard and across the region.

“I think what we need to do is put a human face on it,” Copelauf said.

“These are families that just want to get their lives back and it’s on hold until we get everything through this bureaucracy.”

Federal support is a crucial element of recovery, but so are the community groups, churches and nonprofits.

While they can’t replace the billions of federal dollars North Carolina is waiting on, local groups created lifelines throughout the region.

“If it hadn’t been for neighbors helping neighbors, nonprofits, churches and outside organizations coming and helping, the numerous food trucks that showed up at their own expense to cook for us, I don’t know if we would have survived,” McCall said.

Local leaders worked across boundaries to support each other.

Even though we were hit by Helene pretty hard, we sent our people, our police, our fire and others to help other areas,” Gibbons said.

“We shared what we got, and people shared with us what they had.”

For all the ways people have come together, the support they have received and the money they are still waiting on, rebuilding carries on, day by day.

“I think it’s important for people to realize that the damage hasn’t been repaired here,” Copelauf said. “Yes, a lot of things are open for business, but a lot of damage is still pending, it still needs to be repaired. We still have families that have had their lives completely disrupted and are not back to normal.”

Debate around free expression on campus continues

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 egorizes schools with robust free speech protections as “green light” institutions and those with weak campus expression climates as “red light.” In 2021, FIRE elevated Davidson from a red light to a yellow light, the product of substantial reforms.

One major reform came in 2021 when former Davidson President Carol Quillen led the charge to adopt a version of the Chicago statement, the University of Chicago’s free speech policy adopted by over 100 institutions since, which FIRE upholds as the “gold standard” for campus speech policy.

Adopted in 2023 through extensive deliberation with a free speech task force, Davidson’s Commitment to Freedom of Expression now hangs in the first floor of Chambers Hall.

The Commitment holds, “It is not the proper role of the College to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find uncomforting, disagreeable, or offensive.”

Nonetheless, groups across the political spectrum continue to demand more from Davidson. Davidsonians for Free Thought and Democracy (DFTD), a predominantly conservative alumni group, has earned praise from FIRE for raising the salience of

free speech as an issue on campus.

DFTD has repeatedly called on the College to adopt institutional neutrality and “conduct a thorough review of all policies and procedures related to speech.”

Stephen Walker ’26, a recipient of DFTD’s Robert Murray Scholarship for Excellence in Free Expression, said he would like to see Davidson explicitly promote free expression.

“While Davidson has been willing to engage in conversions about, and has promoted free expression, in praiseworthy ways, I would like to see the college enthusiastically promote the ideal as something we all value and benefit from in a somewhat similar manner to how it promotes the honor code,” Walker wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

Matthew Skolar ‘24, a former Green Party Youth Caucus National Co-Chair, ran into on-campus hostility while trying to express his political views. “I was harassed many times online by both the right wing and the liberals for thinking the way I did,” Skolar said.

“Cancel culture is a major problem on campus for people of all political views. If you say something that offends someone or are accused of violating campus policy, regardless of the evidence, many people don’t

Davidson’s Commitment to Freedom of Expression hangs in Chambers. Photo by Aidan Marks ’27.

want to have a conversation about it.”

While critical of the student political culture, Skolar expressed satisfaction with Davidson institutions fostering free expression. “The Center for Political Engagement did help me bring speakers from the Green Party to campus,” Skolar said.

Davidson continues to establish new infrastructure for facilitating greater freedom of expression on campus. The recently established Institute for Public Good (IPG) will support the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) which hosts on-campus political deliberations on hot-button issues.

“DCI provides an excellent opportunity for people to share their viewpoints,” DCI Fellow Bolling Lewis ’28 said. “Everybody’s opinion, along with their background and perspectives are welcome, and facilitated conversations can be used to elevate dialogue.”

The newly founded Institute for Public Good, which lists deliberation and free expression as one of its core issue areas, will be housed out of Philanthropic and Eumenean Halls, which President Doug Hicks ‘90 contends “signify Davidson’s tradition of respectful discussion.”

“If ever there was a moment to em-

brace our commitment to the free, open and respectful inquiry that Phi and Eu represent, that time is now,” Hicks said.

“We envision The Institute for Public Good becoming a model for how colleges can integrate a liberal arts education with public purpose and ethical engagement,” Pfeifer said.

“Davidson College is founded on the principle of free inquiry. We work every day to make sure our students engage with ideas that challenge the assumptions and beliefs they carried on to campus.”

Perspectives

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Davidson Reflects on Helene One Year Later

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DELILA CRUZ ’28 (SHE/HER)

eturning to Asheville the winter break of my freshman year was not the homecoming I thought it would be.

Hurricane Helene hit in September 2024, right at the beginning of my first semester of college. After seeing the content that was swirling around online, I dreaded the idea of going home. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing one of my favorite places so disfigured. Indeed, parts of that December were as just jarring as I expected it to be. The city looked different, and I felt guilty for not returning to my family when I had the opportunity in October.

However, Helene brought me something unexpected: reassurance.

Yes, things looked different, but I realized that the bones of Asheville were still the same. A common refrain you’ll hear around downtown is “Keep Asheville Weird,” and it’s true. Asheville is weird! The city is quirky looking, to say the least, and it’s the only place I know where people from such wildly different backgrounds can coexist so harmoniously.

Over that winter break, I listened to my parents’ stories of how various parts of the community united to support one another while waiting to receive outside help. One year later, I view the remaining wreckage as battle scars; they are the markings of a community that emerged from its trials stronger and prouder than ever.

If Asheville’s “weirdness” means that the people there will always rally around each other, then I hope the city continues to build back weirder.

PATRICK PLAEHN ’28 (HE/HIM)

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ince Hurricane Helene, North Carolina has received 3.6 billion dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

However, thousands of citizens are still waiting for reimbursement on their recovery expenses, and for many, these funds have come too late, with local Western North Car-

olina businesses continuing to close every day due to complications from hurricane Helene.

Keep in mind, the same day that Helene hit, the Biden administration approved 8.7 billion dollars in aid money to Israel to fund a war that a United Nations commission has now defined as a genocide. A few months later, the Trump administration slashed FEMA funding by 10 billion, and our president has threatened to withhold FEMA funding from states who are not complying with his immigration agenda, a move declared unconstitutional by a federal court in Rhode Island.

The Government Accountability Office has also reported that the administration has illegally withheld congressionally approved funding for FEMA programs several times in 2025. Our government has claimed that there is not enough money; they claimed they can’t save the livelihoods of millions of people living in the notoriously impoverished region of southern Appalachia, but we know that that is a lie; they just don’t want to.

Congressional committee leaders have introduced a bipartisan bill to restructure FEMA as an independent, cabinet-level agency, which may or may not help with these issues, but the underlying problem is the lack of money being allocated to those who need it most. We need a robust emergency response program for this new climate reality.

MARY HOLMES ’26 (SHE/HER)

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uring the summer of 2024, I spent time researching (and playing) in Wilson Creek, a river in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. It was a beautiful place full of unique spots to swim, hike, fish, picnic, and more. I was eager to return after my semester abroad in the Fall, but the landfall of Hurricane Helene in the first month of my travels left me nervous about how the region had fared.

The environmental changes to Wilson Creek were insurmountable, but what struck me after dozens of visits this summer was the seeming-

ly indefinite closure of many of the recreational segments of the river.

Prior to Helene, I often encountered young families enjoying the area’s scenery—the majority of whom were people of color.

One year later, many of the more popular recreational sites were strictly closed, and those that weren’t had been washed out by Helene’s flooding. In terms of recreational visitors, Wilson Creek was more desolate than I had ever seen.

In a time when the most protected outdoor spaces are often financially or physically inaccessible to some groups, it is necessary to recognize the diminishing impact of climate change-induced natural disasters on the availability of local recreational nature.

COLIN DECKER ’27 (HE/HIM)

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verything as it once had been save faded and weathered.

– Cormac McCarthy, “The

Road” Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” follows a father and son traversing a post-apocalyptic continent, fighting the impending sorrow of the darkness. Their only hope is a moniker: “Carry the fire.”

The apocalypse has become a literary genre all on its own. Authors can’t wait to paint literary portraits of the end times, and we can’t wait to read them.

I didn’t read about the apocalypse in a book. I read it in the downed trees by the road as I drove home. I read it in gutted houses with mildewing belongings piled on their lawns. I read it in the lamentation of my mother’s voice when she told me, “Some people literally have nothing.”

I read it in piles of donations stacked in my church’s sanctuary.

I read it in news stories that named those washed away in the flooding.

I read it on every street caked with mud, and on the face of every volunteer who helped people try to salvage normalcy.

Now, I read something else. The aftereffects remain, but are relegated to subtext. A more hopeful message

Crime Log Time Reported 09/28/25 01:35 hrs 09/28/25 00:36 hrs 09/27/25, 15:47 hrs

Description/Location Alcohol Offenses: Possess Fortified Wine/ Liquor Under 21 Belk, Inactive Alcohol Offenses: Consumer by Person Under 21 PCC #7, Inactive Larceny Offenses: Misdemeanor Larceny Belk, Further Investigation

bursts off the page: carry the fire together, and we can rebuild.

“So are you?”

“What, carrying the fire?”

“Yes.” “Yeah. We are.” – “The Road.”

ABIGAIL PRZYNOSCH ’27 (SHE/HER)

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considered the mountain ridges of my hometown indestructible until a year ago, when Hurricane Helene tried to drown western North Carolina. The morning after the storm hit Asheville, I was flooded with news of missing person reports, demolished houses, and submerged streets. Not expecting this damage, I frantically tried to call my family and friends to ensure their safety, but was unable to reach anyone for three days.

Two hours away at Davidson, I felt disconnected and helpless about what was happening at home. After checking on other students from western NC, I realized everyone shared a similar sentiment: we wanted to help, but didn’t know how. At that moment, I realized the distance gave me two communities, and I could help connect the strength of Davidson back home.

Students, staff, and community members quickly reached out to support a campus fundraiser just a week after Helene. My peers donated art, played live music, provided food and equipment, and collected supplies as if helping their own loved ones. The Davidson community raised over $5,500 for NC Hurricane Helene relief, and more than ever, I felt the deepest sense of belonging I have experienced at this school.

When my mom admitted our family was running low on food, I thought of my Davidson friends packing meals to be shipped. When I returned home for Fall Break and saw neighbors carrying creek water to flush their toilets, I thought of the Davidson student who flew in jugs of fresh water. When I saw images of homes washed away in the floods, I thought of my peers who had researched and cataloged landslides in the area. A year after Helene, I’m reminded of

the selfless individuals I attend Davidson alongside, and that “mountain strong” now belongs to more than just my hometown.

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BRAD JOHNSON (HE/HIM)

riday morning of Helene was deeply strange for me. I was getting lots of interview requests and my phone was constantly ringing while it remained dark as night outside through the morning.

In those interviews, all I could talk about was what might be happening because communication from communities in the Blue Ridge was so limited. I felt like I needed to constantly scroll every social media platform to keep ahead of the people who were interviewing me. A few photos and videos were leaking out of the Blue Ridge and they confirmed many of my worst fears. Water was everywhere, and it was deep. In the days after Helene, I worked to bring supplies to western North Carolina and help out individual landowners.

As I drove around, I was struck by how powerful and broad the floods had been and how much destruction there was in the river corridors.

While I’ve studied both landslides and rivers throughout my career, I’ve actually spent more of my time working on rivers than landslides.

How had I missed the potential impact of flooding during a hurricane in the Blue Ridge? Why wasn’t I as focused on warning people about the impact flooding would have on valley bottoms?

Nature is remarkably resilient – many of the river corridors that looked awful in the weeks after Helene suddenly look better with a growing season under their belts.

Human structures are not particularly resilient and it is a simple lesson to learn to stay out of the way of floodwaters. If you move structures back and away from flooding, you can basically watch the flood happen and be back to normal within weeks when bridges are rebuilt and roads are cleared of debris.

Sports

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Former Davidson athletes reflect on stepping away DAVID ANDERSON MONTES LARA ’28 (HE/HIM)

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or many Davidson students, college athletics is more than just a commitment to practice and competition. It’s part of their identity, their community, and the daily rhythm that structures life on campus. But for some athletes, the time eventually comes to step away. When talking with current and former student-athletes, one thing became clear: leaving a team is rarely about being “too busy” to balance it all.

Ezra Minard ’28, a former track and cross country runner, described his decision to leave after repeated injuries. “I loved the team I was on, the people, the coaching staff, but I experienced a lot of injuries, several consecutive ones, that took me away from competition.” Even when he cut back his training, the problems didn’t go away. “I’ve always been fragile. I had injuries in high school [...] I was conservative in my approach to training, and I still got hurt.”

Still, Minard credited Davidson’s sports medicine staff for doing everything they could. “The trainers were amazing. [...] I was happy

Akeelah Romeo ’28 cheers on the sideline at a football game. Photo courtesy of Akeelah Romeo.

with the care that I received. Some problems aren’t quickly fixed, even with the right help.”

Leaving was bittersweet, but his teammates and coaches understood.

“People were quite sad, but they were understanding. Athletes, particularly runners, know about injury. My situation is not uncommon.”

Akeelah Romeo ’28 a former cheerleader story unfolded differently. She hadn’t been recruited prior to coming to Davidson; she walked on to the cheer team after orientation, encouraged by a fellow student. “I got here, and someone was like, hey, come to a clinic, come try out. I went, and then I ended up on the team.”

The academic side also weighed on her. “Sometimes I didn’t have enough time to do my work, even though freshman year I didn’t have a huge workload.” Romeo described the trade-offs of balancing cheer with school: “Our coach always preached academics first, but it felt more like choosing homework over cheer was optional. If you had a game you’d sacrifice homework or sleep. It wasn’t always a choice.”

Looking back, Romeo said she doesn’t regret the experience. “If you’re interested, go for it,” she said. “But if it’s not working, you don’t have to stay. They can’t force you to be on the team. I loved my time on the team, it was good that I tried it, because now I know it just wasn’t for me.”

Not every athlete chooses to leave.

Harry Carter ’28, a current track and cross country runner, acknowledged the same pressures, injuries, academic stress, and the thought of “what if I quit?” but his conclusion is different. “When I get overwhelmed, I like to remind myself that I do the sport because I love it and I wouldn’t want to trade it for a life without it.”

Harry knows injury and burnout are the most common reasons athletes step away. “A large portion of people leave because of injury issues and they decide to move

Some students walk away from sports due to injury or stress. Photo by Aidan Marks ’27.

on,” he said. “Other people decide to leave because they’re burnt out from the sport or decide they’d rather spend that time doing other things they’ve grown to enjoy.”

Director of Athletics Chris Clunie ‘06 believes in the system the department has created to support scholar-athletes throughout their time at Davidson.

Clunie highlighted the athletic training center and its network of partnerships. “We have a fullblown athletic training center that works every day with our scholar athletes. Everything from injury prevention to injury rehabilitation,” Clunie said.

“We partner with Atrium Health, with OrthoCarolina, we have access to their resources for x-rays and MRIs. We also have Madison [Sea], who works under our sports performance umbrella with a focus on mental wellness. It’s a multifaceted approach.”

Clunie also said that coaches are expected to support students beyond just physical performance.

“We call ourselves scholar-athletes and the scholar comes first,” he said. “The student piece comes first, and then obviously the second piece is that we want to win. But the holistic scholar-athlete experience is number one. Everybody here is an educator.”

Asked about burnout, he acknowledged that Davidson’s model makes the balance more difficult. “It is hard, because we are a top-level liberal arts school competing in Division I athletics. That is unique,” he said. “Scholar-athletes do something that general students on campus just don’t do the hours they put into the sport combined with obligations in school.”

Still, he pointed to policies and programs designed to support balance, including limits on missed classes and mentorship opportunities. “We have a missed class policy, we have a Cats Care mentorship program that pairs freshmen with upperclassmen from a different team,” For him, the key is reminding stu-

dents that athletics is something they do, not who they are. “You’re more than just a soccer player, more than just a field hockey player,” he said. “You never want to define yourself just by your sport.”

Tension between injuries, academic demands, and the pull of community runs through athletes’ stories.

Those who left their teams often did so because of factors beyond their control, injuries that wouldn’t heal, or life events that shifted their priorities. Those who stay point to the friendships, structure, and joy of competition as reasons to keep lacing up their shoes or showing up for practice.

As Minard put it, “Doing competitive sports teaches you from a young age to understand your own limitations. And I think that’s a wonderful thing to learn.”

For Carter, the calculation is different but no less clear. “I love the sport and the people who share it with me make the grind worth it.”

Swimming & Diving opens season at home WYATT GESSNER ’28 (HE/HIM)

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avidson Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving opened their seasons at home on Sept. 27 against Queens University of Charlotte. The ’Cats fell to the Royals 128-166 and 100198 for the women and men, respectively. Despite the loss, the team is optimistic about the season.

In his first college meet, Henry Shoemaker ’29 led the way for the ‘Cats with wins in the 500 and 1000 yard freestyle.

“My first dual meet was with high expectations and nerves, but I was truly impress ed by the teamwork of the team,” Shoemaker wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

“From the pre-meet pep talk to the post-meet chant, I could feel the team’s synergy.”

Dylan Felt ’26, who competed at

the US Olympic Trials in three freestyle events (200M, 800M, 1,500M) in June 2024, added a win to his resume in the 200 yard freestyle.

“Being back for the first meet was a big moment for me, especially as a senior. What matters most to me is pushing my teammates and keeping the energy up so we can all succeed together,” Felt wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

Another new face on the team, Caroline Furbay ’29, took home first in the 100 yard freestyle. “[The meet was] really fast-paced, which could be scary at times,” Furbay wrote in an email to The Davidsonian. “I didn’t swim perfectly, but I tried my best to stay calm and focus on the details.”

On the other side of the pool, diver Elle Jacobsen ’27 took home first on both the 1 and 3-meter boards, likely securing a spot at NCAA Zones in

1-meter diving.

Queens doesn’t have a women’s diving program. Instead, divers from UNC Asheville participated.

Claire Chason ’28, a freestyle sprinter, was impressed with the ‘Cats’ chemistry. “We had great energy, and our cheers were filled with lots of enthusiasm.”

Former Davidson swim captain and Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Katy Williams ’17 attended the meet and was excited by what she saw.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how [the first-years] adapt to the team, the training, and the collegiate meet format,” Williams said.

“The underclassmen are bringing a great work ethic and resilience to practices and meets, so it was encouraging to see [the first-years] learning from the upperclassmen during this first meet.”

Jackson McDonald swims the 1000 Free. Photo courtesy of Tim Cowie.

Arts & Entertainment Faculty emphasize non-European art history

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 from historically marginalized communities and non-European geographies. “What we consider as important subject matter for art history research has become wider and wider, and more inclusive as well,” Zhang continued.

Davidson’s art historians are deeply embedded in this effort.

“I am currently teaching a new course, Female Sultans, which looks at the entirety of the Islamic visual tradition from the perspective of art commissioned by or for women, or produced by women,” Halsted said.

Zhang is also developing a new course about art in Taiwan in the post-1800 period, contributing to the still-nascent academic discourse on Taiwanese art. Like in her research and other classes, this course will touch on themes of transcultural solidarity, decolonization and indigenous contemporary art.

Starting last year, art history majors are required to take a methods course, Critical Theory for Visual Studies, which provides a foundation of key theoretical and methodological approaches to the discipline.

“We are trying to incorporate a stronger understanding of theoretical and methodological approaches to art history,” Halsted said. “Along with those [come] questions of gender, post-colonialism, thinking about intersections between cultures, exchange, movement of peoples and artwork.

That is something that, when I was a student in this department, was not emphasized as much.”

Cross-listed courses from Africana Studies, French and Francophone Studies, and Classical Studies allow students to explore geographic, cultural and temporal contexts beyond the three art historians’ teaching specializations.

Some art history courses are also cross-listed with other departments, including Arab Studies, Latin American Studies, East Asian Studies and Chinese Studies.

As the department continues to take on new research subjects and materials, the College’s interdisciplinary approach allows students to explore novel connections.

Many of Zhang’s senior capstone students this year are seeking mentorship from other departments like economics and anthropology to complete their projects.

Zhang said that Davidson’s interdisciplinary approach is unique.

“Not all institutes are equally open to collaborate across departments.”

Davidson’s emphasis on non-European art history is unique among North Carolina colleges and universities. The College is one of the only North Carolina institutions with an Islamic art historian—an unusual feat for a small liberal arts college.

Art history programs in the US are traditionally structured around a Western/non-Western binary.

Davidson’s program is structured temporally. Students are required to study art before and after 1800. “[At Davidson] it’s no longer the Western/non-Western division.

It is very specific geographic and cultural spheres and students will need to go around and get a pretty

equal exposure to everything for the art history degree. So that is what I really like and support for the program,” Zhang said.

While much has changed in the past few years, faculty still see work to be done. “We are gradually trying to incorporate digital humanities into how we teach art history, because that is part of the future of our field,” Halsted said.

Zhang’s Silk Roads class last fall curated virtual exhibitions and, for the first time, some of Halsted’s students this semester will create an arcGIS story map for their final project. Beyond equipping students with the skills to read, think and write about art, Halsted said this approach exposes students to a variety of “transferrable skills that can broaden their career prospects as well.”

Some students expressed concerns that Davidson’s limited focus on Western European traditions leaves students ill-prepared for graduate school. Barbara Lopez ’28 is an intended art history major.

“Davidson has a relatively limited selection of art history courses, so much so that I decided my freshman year that studying abroad is the only way I would be able to get more of a variety,” Lopez said.

While Zhang and Halsted understand this concern, they both emphasized that the core skills an art historian should have are not restricted to a particular visual tradition.

“We are moving away from a time and place where the Western tradition is upheld as the sole tradition that you need to know in or-

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Art history students and faculty on a senior capstone trip to Spain during spring break. Photo courtesy of Lyla Halsted ’14

der to be an art historian,” Halsted said.

Instead, Zhang said, art history at Davidson provides rigorous training in critical visual analysis, including a substantial research project. “[Our] approach is definitely a leading one [...] I think this is precisely the scholarly approach we need,” Zhang said.

These skills are applicable beyond academia. “I think the skills [students] learn in our classes or the cultural literacy they develop—that will serve them, one way or another, someday,” Halsted said.

Nonetheless, Zhang and Halsted both recognized that the department’s current offerings still leave

gaps in geographic areas and time periods. “We’d love to offer everything. And that’s something that we hope someday, if our department can expand more, we can hire more faculty to do so,” Halsted said.

Ultimately, Halsted reiterated that Davidson’s approach to art history is special. “I think it’s really rare [...] for students to be able to take African art, Asian art, Islamic art, contemporary art, in one really small institution like this. I don’t think that’s common,” Halsted said. “That is a choice that Davidson has made.”

Rain cancels Concert on the Green, students play on CLAIRE LOUISE POSTON ’28 (SHE/HER)

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here’s a running joke among Davidson’s ensemble musicians: the fall Concert on the Green never actually happens.

Scheduled once in the fall and again in the spring, the show is designed to bring music outside of rehearsal halls and onto the town green for Davidson students and locals. The concert is meant to be casual and fun, in comparison to the typical buttoned-up ensemble performances in Davidson’s Duke Performance Hall. But in recent years, it seems more often than not the fall concert is called off due to the weather.

Clarinet player Gabe Garcia ’26 remarked on the coincidence. “I don’t remember the last time I played at the fall Concert on the Green,” he said.

Unfortunately, this year was no exception. Last weekend’s performance was cancelled, but members of Davidson College Symphony Orchestra (DCSO) and the Jazz Ensemble are still looking forward to a packed season of music.

Big changes are happening inside both groups. For DCSO, many ju-

niors have left for study abroad, and the arrival of several first-years has reshaped sections. “The flute section is huge now,” flutist Astrid Marit ’28 said.

This shifting membership has built excitement and created opportunities for leadership. My section is looking to me for guidance, and to see how [the] orchestra works, so my goal is just to make sure that I can tell them ‘this is for fun!’ and just offer some reassurance when things are stressful,” Garcia said.

Jazz Ensemble is also navigating turnover. After seven seniors graduated and three juniors left to study abroad, the group has shifted into a “little big band” format. In the smaller group, each instrument carries more weight compared to its full-size counterpart.

The shift has created a leaner sound, with more room for individual voices. The band is missing a trombone player, leaving a tenor sax to cover the part. “Each person is definitely more exposed,” alto saxophonist Nolan Elder ’27 said.

Both groups are working on a wide variety of repertoire this semester.

The Symphony is rehearsing pieces ranging from Rimsky-Korakov’s technically challenging “Schehe-

razade” to the contemporary “Restless Oceans, composed by Anne Clyde.

Meanwhile, the Jazz Ensemble is leaning into its playful side. The group is preparing Duke Ellington’s “Limbo Jazz,” complete with an actual limbo stick, and an arrangement of the Sesame Street theme song.

The symphony performed on Tuesday night in Duke Performance Hall with a program built around the theme “what’s worth fighting for,” highlighting love, freedom, and survival through works ranging from Sibelius’s “Finlandia” to the Italian resistance song “Bella Ciao.”

Both DCSO and Jazz Ensemble have programs planned for Wildcat weekend. During the last week of winter break, the groups will embark on their annual destination city tour, visiting churches, high schools, and other colleges’ performance halls.

Davidson is far from a conservatory–approximately 95% of both ensembles are composed of non-music majors–but students say that is what makes them special. “No one’s really here to do just music but it’s a place where all of us have this Above: The Davidson Symphony Orchestra plays at at a concert. Photo courstrong passion for music. Everyone tesy of @davidsoncollegemusic on Instagram. Below: Nolan Elder ’27 performs kind of shares that, which is really at a concert last spring. Photo courtesy of Patrick Brown. nice,” Marit said.

Living Davidson ACROSS 1. Public health org.

4. Night light noble gas 8. Snooped (around) 13. Handel’s “Messiah” or Haydn’s “The Creation” 15. Live on the radio 16. Washington Commanders’ logo 17. Aztec god of rain 18. Luxury Hondas 19. Greek goddess of wisdom 21. Swedish auto 22. 251001 day format 23. Watch me whip, watch me ___ 26. Unique abbr.

28. Seaman’s guide 31. Shakers’ founder 33. Third bk. of Moses 34. They range from 530 kHz to 1700 kHz 36. iPhone download 37. Mononymous Brazilian TV host 39. Ivory ticklers 41. Emmy-winning Alan of “M*A*S*H” 42. Pinkish fish dish 43. “Holy smokes!”

45. Very short time, for short 48. “____ Light On” 49. Tube-nosed seabird 51. Bats eyelashes at 53. Flying circus name?

55. Coppers 56. Cruciverbalist’s dessert of choice 57. Strict 58. Indian flatbread 59. Hosp. trauma hubs

DOWN 1. -Cola 2. Counts with fangs, informally 3. Naples’ neighbor 4. A fruity palindrome 5. Taylor Swift has 11 6. Cooking liquid 7. A fruity palindrome 8. A fruity palindrome 9. Continually 10. A sad way to combine 4D, 7D, 8D, 30D 11. Old McDonald’s favorite vowels 12. Kinshasa’s country, for short 14. Albanian capital 17. Next-step degree after MDiv 20. Yard chain 24. Stone of “La La Land” 25. Steal 27. Held onto 28. Flamenco cheer 29. “That,” in Paris 30. A fruity palindrome 31. Eve’s husband 32. They’re shorter than LPs 35. Zilch 38. Glue, ex.

40. Synchronized with 42. Direction opposite NbW 44. Colorado NHL team, to fans 46. Bert’s roommate 47. One who gives up 49. Call for help 50. Young woman 51. Alex Kapranos and Ron Mael’s supergroup 52. Blazing

Fruit Salad Crossword by Katie Davis ’29

Davidson email culture thrives

P

ANNA MORROW ’28 (SHE/HER)

atterson Court Circle Event invitations hilariously appear in students’ inboxes every weekend. The creativity of students shine through their advertisement of an organization’s event.

Stella Stewart ’28 is responsible for creating and delivering these carefully crafted invitations for Warner Hall Eating House. Warner recently hosted a Y2K themed event. This is an excerpt from the email Stewart sent the morning before: “Ksig Crush, I’m really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Warner Hall is about to have one the best house parties of all time. Consider this. Have you ever wished: Wow, I wonder what it would be like to attend the 2002 VMAs with Christina Aguilera and Eminem? Or perhaps wondered who

it really was that Let the Dogs Out? Or maybe wished you could hear an awesome playlist (unbiased) from an iPod shuffle? Maybe you’ve thought, wow, I really wish that Warner, Turner, and Fiji would host a Y2K themed party on Saturday, September 20th? Fortunately, I can promise something where you can experience (almost) all of these: our first Warner house party of the season!!!” The first part of this email references an event concurrently occurring while poking fun at Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift at the VMA’s, a notorious 2000s moment.

Another PCC organization, Phi Gamma Delta, more commonly referred to as Fiji, invited students to an event celebrating “all the things that make journalism so great: truth, diligence, and Robert Redford with his sleeves rolled up,” in reference to the 1976 film, All the President’s Men. Stewart provided an art-

7

ist’s statement for her work. “I’ve just been kind of taking the theme and running with it.

And then honestly using any dumb or ridiculous ideas I have that I think would be fun or funny to put in an email. I’ve just been relating it to the theme of the parties and then just kind of rambling on in the email. I’ve been using it as a creative outlet.” Stewart is one of countless organizations representatives working tirelessly to advertise events.

Emails with subjects like Stewart’s that read “Oops!... I did it again” or “BREAKING NEWS: RYBURNGATE EXPOSED” are joyfully received after difficult weeks at Davidson. Maybe this is the true reason students are encouraged to check their email regularly.

Davidson email culture is hard to characterize. Kathleen Prichartt ’28 defines the Davidson student’s inbox as “multi-functional.”

Email is all business until Friday rolls around

Answers: At the End of Campus

and social chairs, like Stewart appear in inboxes around campus. Olivia Hess ’28 finds it “very liberal arts” that Davidson students use email in two opposing ways. Sara Frances Adams ’28 has attempted to explain this Davidson phenomenon to friends removed from campus, but has been unsuccessful. She says, “you have to be here to get it.”

Photos from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene

Devastation of Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Photos courtesy of Colin Decker ’27 (left) and Delila Cruz ’28 (middle, right).

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October 1, 2025

The Great Political Schism: Are You A Jake Pauler or A Loganster?

Page: Maverick Martyr

10 Tips To Be The Sexi- This Student Broke est Person In Commons Gender Norms By Adding A “/They” To Their During Rush Hour She/Her Pronouns On Their Outlook Page: Breaking boundaries Page: U jour

Fall Break Reminders from Professor Y

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ear students, I hear on good authority from my colleagues that many of you intend to vacate campus over the period the College refers to as “Fall Break.” It therefore appears most prudent, amidst this apparent miscommunication, to reiterate my expectations for your conduct over this period.

Let me remind you that Essay #1 is due on Tuesday, October 7 at 9:00am sharp. As detailed in the syllabus I have not mentioned since the first day of class—after which 17 of your peers seem to have accidentally dropped the course—your essay must be between 3000-3005 words and hand written in 0.5mm navy ink. Papers written in 0.7mm ink or below the word count will face a significant deduction. Papers written in black ink will not be accepted—no exceptions.

Contrary to popular belief, the word “break” as written means to violently rupture, to “crush the emotional strength, spirit, or resistance of.” Alternatively, your fall would indeed be broken should you feel compelled to fling yourself off the 4th Union balcony instead of writing your essay. What a grisly sight that would be. I would urge you to choose a less conspicuous location.

Dearest student, you would do well to remember that those truly committed to the life of the mind observe no voluntary stoppage other than the temporary respite offered by sleep and the final slumber that is death. Do not allow yourself to think about “fun” and “relaxation”; experience dictates the pursuit of those pernicious vices leads to nothing but hedonistic inhibition. Do not let four days imperil your future. Do not squander your potential.

Cheerily, Professor Y

R

Union Board in Hot Water for Controversial Frolics Decision

ecent backlash over a leaked Frolics performers list broke out around campus this past weekend. Outraged students and faculty alike united against the announcement, publicly expressing their disappointment at a demonstration in the Union ampetheatre. Often times, students and faculty represent differing opinions, as seen with the implementation of the Chickfil-A last semester, which brought about discourse among professors, while the student population largely supported the fast food chain. This raises the question: did the faculty know that we would never actually get the Chick-fil-A? And what now has caused these two demographics to join forces?

A leaked photo, posted to YikYak, exposed Union Board’s budget and dependencies for the upcoming academic year. Safe perhaps for some minor laundering, the budget appeared to be quite straightforward. A netizen responded to the YikYak post, highlighting the Frolics budget, listed as $0 for performance, tech, food, and other related facilities. The fear was that there would be no Frolics this spring without any budgeting, but one netizen revealed the following: Joni Mitchell was intended to be the headliner but had since withdrawn. “So still no frolics?” one concerned netizen replied, to which the original poster of the budget leak confirmed that Frolics will still happen, but it has been fully funded by an anonymous donor.

Later analysis of Union Board’s budget leak found that, while there was not enough flexibility in the budget to get Joni Mitchell, the thought alone of bringing in Mitchell caused a flock of performers to swarm the Frolics sub-committe of UB. In particular, since he was already on campus speaking to the Turning Point USA students, Alex Jones offered to foot the entire cost of Frolics in exchange for the opportunity to perform. Union Board’s unpopular decision to accept Jones’s offer and the subsequent diffusion of this information encouraged the students and faculty to, as one netizen put it: “pitch a fit.”

Union Board published the following statement: Davidson’s Union Board is dedicated to encouraging cross-cultural critical thinking and bringing diverse perspectives onto campus. This decision, with the benefit of full funding, aligns with the mission statement of the college. If students find themselves to be upset, they can simply transfer.

This controversy follows a long string of Honor Council hearings for Union Board on laundering.

Last semester UB was $5K short of their budget, hence the early budget planning which would otherwise take place in the spring.

Students and faculty are calling for Union Board to be dissolved. Union Board has provided no further statements.

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WRITERS Tylenol baby Acetemenflfin Scheming eunuch 2020 yowl The illiterate one Fanny Pack

Incident of The Week Walkways are actually for golf carts and they do not yield to you.

I hope you like walking in the mud

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Spotlight: Student Writing On Your Honor: A Lux Encounter

t had been a long time since I last saw Lux in Nummit. Being abroad, it felt like I was relearning how to be myself. And it’s true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder. My heart, my entire body ached; everyday in class, I sighed audibly. My professor excused me from class, saying that I was being a distraction to the other students.

I packed up my bag, lingering while giving my professor a plaintive look. She ignored me—everyone does. But not Lux, never Lux. I was forlorn, wandering Chambers aimlessly. Most classrooms were occupied, and Fibs was much too loud. I rolled my aqua orbs in annoyance. Momentarily not looking where I was going, I crashed into a wall, my multiple notebooks and textbooks and printed assignments spilling from my arms and scattering about the hallway.

“Hey, are you alright,” a deep voice stirred me from my reverie.

I looked up. It wasn’t a wall (or Wall); it was a wall of muscle and power.

“Lux,” I breathed. It was him, but he was…different. Taller (if that was possible), more built (as if that was possible), and even more imposing and glorious than before. He chuckled almost nervously as I raked my eyes over him. But that wasn’t like him; Lux was never nervous. Unless…

“It’s been a while, huh?” he spoke, meeting my gaze. And just like that, it felt like no time had passed. We slipped into conversation easily, casual remarks and smiles coming naturally. That same warmth I had felt in Nummit had returned.

“Want to find a quieter place to talk,” I asked, feeling bold. His eyes widened before darkening with mischief.

“Follow me,” he all but growled as he took my hand, leading us through the twisting hallways. He found a vacant classroom easily. It was as if he controlled reality when we were together; the world and I bent to his will.

It was a whirlwind of want. We moved around the room, ending up at the podium at the front of the classroom. It was fitting—he commanded my heart just as a professor commanded their classroom. But that’s when I spotted something out of place. Laying on the podium was a sheet of what appeared to be test answers. And for one of my classes, too.

Lux followed my line of sight before sweeping the page onto the ground.

He covered my eyes, leaning so close that I could focus on nothing else.

“If you want to be good, you’ll obey the Honor Code. Just like you obey me,” he purred in my ear.

“Right, of course,” I replied in a whisper, his hand still on my eyes.

He chuckled, the sound filling the room. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you learn your lesson.”

To be continued…

Amid Low Turnout, Football Coach Looks To Tap National Guard

D

avidson head football coach Saj Thakaar has been conjuring up rumors online that the team faces threats from “radical Democrats” ahead of upcoming home games, hoping the Trump administration might deploy the National Guard to their bleachers. “A great success in D.C., Portland, L.A. Game Changers must be saved next, Mr. President!” wrote Thakaar on Twitter. The media push comes during a period of struggling turnout from a seemingly disinterested student body.

In an interview with Yowl, Coach Thakaar stood by his comments: “This stadium has been overrun by radicals,” adding that the threat is “particularly pronounced on October 11 at 1 p.m. and October 25 at noon.” He also noted that, if deployed, Guardsmen might consider wearing red and black, buying a hotdog, and cheering loudly to remain covert.

Quote of the Week “I hate it becasue of my religion.

My religion of being a bitch” -Justified bitch

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

Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.