More than 100 Davidson students’ votes are at risk of nullification.
Hajar Hussein ‘27 reflects on the Davidson Marriage Pact.
For a Better Davidson.
February 19, 2025
Alex Thole ‘28 breaks down Davidson’s decision to opt into NIL settlement.
Horses? Horses. Horses!
The ‘Cop City’ dispute is coming to Charlotte, leaving local community agitated
SAVANNAH SORAGHAN ‘27 (SHE/HER) NEWS CO-EDITOR
The Charlotte area plans to take part in a national trend by building a new police training facility. But another trend is following along right behind—resistance to it. About 30 minutes south of Davidson, 23 acres of land and $79 million will be transformed into a facility with a firing range, a simulated city and more. The planned construction of the new institution has drawn myriad responses, with many worried it will accelerate rising police militarization and surveillance.
The facility, located in the town of Matthews, is said to be a facility for first responders, including police and firefighters. It is part of the Central Piedmont Community College’s (CPCC) efforts to expand their law enforcement, fire and rescue, EMS, forensics and Public Safety Administration programs.
“Outdoor training spaces will include a scenariotraining village and emergency driving range,” a July 2024 announcement from CPCC states. “Indoor facilities will provide a firing range and a fire and rescue area with specialized equipment for comprehensive training. The center will be constructed in phases, with the first phase opening in 2027, and phase two opening in 2028.”
According to open records from CPCC, which outlines the project’s budget, the endeavor will cost approximately $70 million. “The total cost for this project is actually $70 million. $40 million of 2017 PayGo [note: according to the Tax Policy Briefing Book, pay-as-you-go is a budget rule requiring that tax cuts and mandatory spending increases must be offset (i.e., “paid for”) by tax increases or cuts in mandatory spending] funds will be transferred to this project to supplement the required funding. The remaining $30 million balance is included in this [...] request,” reads their project budgeting document.
A similar project is ongoing in Concord, North Carolina. In June of 2024, WCNC Charlotte reported nearby Cabarrus County’s approval of a $450 million budget, with $2 million allotted to the public safety facility’s construction. Their 5-year plan dedicates a total of $35 million to the facility.
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the emergence of the “defund the police” movement, many cities have decided to increase funding for police forces. Since 2019, over 80 multi-million dollar police training facilities have been planned and constructed across the country. They have come to be colloquially known as “cop cities.” They are quietly rolling out all over the country, including Chicago, Baltimore and Atlanta.
However, according to Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Davidson College Dr. Katie Horowitz, the national trend toward expanding—and militarizing— police forces has been present since 2001.
“Ever since 9/11, there has been a sharp rise in the militarization of policing. During the War on Terror, surplus military equipment was transferred to domestic police forces such that local police departments have been armed with military-grade weapons, riot gear and even tanks. The reasoning was that we needed to equip local law enforcement to fight terrorists. Instead, this equipment has most often been used against civilian protesters for racial, gender, economic and environmental justice,” Horowitz said.
The training facility was officially announced in June of 2024 on the CPCC website, where they announced Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Automotive’s gift of 23 acres to the school to expand its Levine Campus.
CPCC President Dr. Kandi Deitimeyer is quoted saying
“This generous gift will allow the College to realize its vision of building a first responder training facility in Southeast Mecklenburg County, where none currently exists. The College appreciates its long-running partnership with the
Hendrick Family and Hendrick Automotive Group.”
However, the plan to build the Charlotte facility has been underway for longer. The land was donated back in August of 2023 and talks about what to do with it have been going on ever since.
The decision to use Hendrick Automotive’s land for the training facility required rezoning the 23-acre lot adjacent to Campus Ridge Road in the Town of Matthews. During a community meeting attended by members of the public who live within 300 feet of the property, the council filed a motion to change the land’s construction status from “Single-Family Residential R-9” to a “General Industrial Conditional I-2 (CD).”
At this meeting, a question was posed by a town member about environmental concerns. The change from a residential to a general industrial zone changes the environmental regulations. Some preliminary environmental site assessments were done, which did not recognize any pressing environmental concerns or limits.
Many people disagree with this assessment. Jason Newton, the co-creator of a community movement in Charlotte to preserve the city’s tree canopy, NoDa Tree Save, shared with Axios Charlotte that, in regard to the Stop Cop City movement, many environmentalists hold similar fears for local minority populations. “They’re the ones that suffer most from this type of environmental destruction or cutting down trees in cities, and they’re also the communities that suffer the most from violence from the police,” Newton said.
Additionally, the Stop Cop City Instagram page (@ cltstopcopcity) posted infographics that read “Crops not Cops, Stop Cop City Clt” and “Plants not Police.”
Instagram is one of the main ways people found out about the resistance movement. Nolan Dahm, an activist who has been working with the Stop Cop City movement, cited Instagram as their introduction to the organization. “I saw a post about it on Instagram for that same account, and I went to the initial town hall that they held just to hear more about it,” Nolan said.
The account’s first post on Oct. 26, 2024 detailed how the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners approved a $74,922,156 budget for the facility that they deemed “Cop City.” Since then, they have posted educational photo slides and videos that outline and highlight their pushback against Charlotte’s Cop City.
The Stop Cop City Instagram page has been a large actor
in the movement against the facility’s construction. They have been responsible for collecting and disseminating information about the project, organizing the resistance efforts against it and getting people involved with stopping the project.
On the flip side, some believe the facility could be a force for good. Dr. M. Lyn Exum, a criminologist whose research is focused on theories of criminal behavior and professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), thinks that if done correctly, the facility could be a helpful community resource.
“This gives officers an opportunity to practice and refine their de-escalation skills, and helps them discern when a situation needs to escalate to a higher level of response. If the new facility provides these types of opportunities (and it is my understanding that it does), then this will help the police be even more prepared to make complex use-of-force decisions quickly and safely,” Exum said in an email.
Exum also acknowledges the importance of community engagement in the project.
“While having this new opportunity to engage in policecommunity relationship building will be a good thing for the Charlotte community, its impact on the community will depend on how well the citizens who hold strong reservations about the police take advantage of these opportunities. The police can do several things to invite these citizens to take part, but in the end, it is the citizen who needs to agree.”
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden was quoted in Queen City News saying that he hopes the facility is “not so much of a cop city, but a community training center both for law enforcement and the community,” and that “[there] should be community involvement, allow the community to train with us, hear some of our training, sit in on some of our training, hold us accountable.”
Sheriff McFadden found himself in a scandal last November after his employee, Deputy Chief of Mecklenburg County Kevin Canty, resigned in November 2024. Kanty resigned after exposing McFadden for his use of racist language and beliefs, as reported by WCCB-TV Charlotte
Citizen engagement is something the project has struggled with from the start. Despite a new training facility being in conversation since March of 2023, Charlotte residents have not been included in the decision-making process. “[A large question for me is] has there ever been a meeting where they showed on a slide this plan for Cop City and got public
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
A spray-painted message left on a construction fence on North Alexander Street in NoDa. The message reads, “Stop Cop City CLT-ATL,” and references the national pushback in Atlanta against police training facilities. Photo by Michael Graff/Axios Charlotte.
‘Cop City’ raises ethical concerns regarding environment and community needs
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
feedback on it? I don’t think there has been. I didn’t see any public record of any discussion of this until they put it on their website this June. […] Queen City News seems to be the only newspaper that’s really written anything on it,” Nolan said.
CPCC administration has dismissed the need for community input. In a video posted by the Stop Cop City Instagram page on Feb. 2, 2024, a CPCC student asked Deitemeyer about whether or not she and the Board of Trustees will hold a public meeting about the facility’s construction. Deitemeyer responded that she does “not have to hold a public meeting because the money has already been appropriated and the project has already been approved.”
The lack of knowledge regarding the facility is important to note. Many UNCC and Davidson students and faculty members are unaware of the huge changes happening right in their backyard. When reached out to for questions on the topic, most responded saying they did not know enough to comment on it.
Junah Jeong ‘27 grew up in Matthews but said she has not heard anything about the facility.
“I think it’s kind of strange that there hasn’t been any talk about it around my neighborhood or in my area,” Jeong said. However, once hearing about it, some seem to disagree with it.
“The people who can be most threatened by this are
heavily-policed communities [...] I definitely think it’s a manifestation of right-wing population control. I’m not going to call it fascism, since I think that word has been thrown around too much, but it’s what can become fascism very quickly,” Judah Silverman ‘27 said.
There have also been questions about funding, especially with the Town of Matthews, which asked to partner with CPCC on this project. Some residents are suspicious of how the facility will be paid for.
In a virtual community meeting in November of 2024 titled “Let’s Chat,” one member inquired about CPCC’s need for funding, concerned that the town would be paying for it.
They were then reassured that no money from the town would be going to the training facility.
“I don’t know where [all the funding] would come from. Sure, it comes from the county, Mecklenburg County, is the majority of the funding. There’s also private funding that comes into it,” Town Commissioner of Matthews Mark Tofano stated. “It’s a variety of sources, but it’s the CPCC budget that ultimately funds that. So there’s no town funds that will be involved in the construction of the facility.”
As Tofano said though, Mecklenburg County will be providing funding to CPCC this year. WCCB-TV Charlotte reported a 5.9% increase in operating budget total from 2024 to 2025.
“The facility is being built with almost $75 million in taxpayer dollars at the expense of budget items like housing and workforce development, so I would say it affects every
citizen living in Mecklenburg County,” Horowitz said. Asides from funds, there are also questions concerning what the best use of the land is. Charlotte is experiencing a housing crisis, and the Charlotte Post reported a shortage of 26,000 affordable housing units in March of 2024.
“When Charlotte’s dealing with a housing crisis, it’s really interesting that they would spend so much money to literally build a fake city [...] I think that there just was not enough oversight in this process or community involvement to really decide where this money could be going,” Center for Political Engagement President Sophia Ludt ‘25 said. Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) Valuation & Advisory services bolstered Ludt’s concerns in their appraisal report of Hendrick’s 23 acres. The report concludes “that the highest and best use of the subject as if vacant would be the development of a multifamily residential property.” As the situation progresses, the facts are subject to change. But as it stands now, the training facility is projected to be built on CPCC’s campus by 2028, regardless of public pushback.
Horowitz concluded that the tension seen between policing and activists in Charlotte is only a fraction of what many other American cities are seeing on the national scale.
“What’s happening with cop cities isn’t limited to Atlanta or Charlotte. It is part of a global fight for equity and justice for all oppressed peoples.”
Davidson administration attempts to keep campus calm amidst rising tuition Students remain uneasy
According to College Factual, the cost of tuition at Davidson College has grown, on average, at an annual rate of 2.39% over the past five years. On the Davidson College financial aid page, the school promises “A Commitment to Affordability.” At an institution that prides itself on meeting 100% of financial need, students are growing concerned about its ability to accommodate that promise.
The decision to raise tuition at Davidson begins with the College President and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ann McCorvey. Based on an analysis of the marketplace, the financial obligations of the College and any new programs, the president and CFO make a recommendation for a tuition increase to the Board of Directors.
According to Director of Media Relations Jay Pfeifer, who spoke on behalf of President Doug Hicks ‘90 and McCorvey, the goals of the tuition increases are as follows:
“Davidson provides a labor-intensive educational experience. We have improved our student-faculty ratio to 8-1, allowing a high level of intensive teaching and learning. More than 60 percent of our budget goes to people—specifically, salary and benefits for nearly 1,000 faculty and staff members. We aim to provide each student a distinctive educational experience through faculty and staff mentoring and high-quality resources in the classroom, on campus, and beyond.”
Once a recommendation is approved, the financial aid office is notified of the changes in tuition and enact them. Shannon Amundson has been the director of financial aid at Davidson College for two years. The Davidsonian spoke with her to learn how financial aid handles those changes.
“Once we have those [changes], we then adjust the cost of attendance that the financial aid office uses based on tuition fees, room board, personal allowance, travel allowance, and a book allowance,” Amundson said. In the face of students’ reaction to the growing cost of tuition, the College remains confident in the financial aid office’s ability to accommodate students.
“If that change is a decrease in the family’s calculated contribution and requires that their student’s aid package increase, our financial aid team works to make that happen,” Pfeifer said.
Davidson’s rising tuition has caused students and the administration to reflect upon the College’s financial aid. Photo from 704shop.com.
Amundson reflected those same sympathies, stating that “once [a student is] on financial aid, the cost [of tuition] doesn’t matter. It’s all about [the] family contribution. So if what you owe changes from year to year, it’s because of family income, [or] number of siblings in college, assets, or something else changed. [It] doesn’t matter if tuition goes up, because we’ll just fill that gap.”
Some students, like Grace Hertzinger ‘27, are left to operate within that gap. Hertzinger is able to attend Davidson thanks to a financial aid package that limits her out-ofpocket expenses to housing and food. “This has left me owing roughly $5,000–$7,000 per semester. In full transparency, I still struggle to cover this amount each semester. Because of unexpected costs, my bank account reflects the college student stereotype [of] hovering under $200,” Hertzinger said.
Hertzinger’s parents recently received raises and were therefore able to help her ease her financial burden. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what her situation would have been like had her family not been able to help.
“Without their support, I likely would have had to take on even more shifts during the semester or make difficult sacrifices to keep up with tuition.”
financial help Davidson had given in the past, but she found herself game-planning for the worst scenarios.
“I’ve started crafting backup plans to support myself and graduate with as little debt as possible. If my next tuition statement shows an increase that feels unmanageable, my plan is to graduate early. If that’s not possible, I’ll start looking for another job near campus to help cover my bills. But I hate that I have to think this way. I strongly believe that once a student accepts a financial aid package and commits to a school, they shouldn’t have to fear unexpected increases that could jeopardize their education,” Hertzinger said.
For one Davidson student, who prefered to remain anonymous, that gap was too large to fill. They testified as to how changes in financial aid hindered their friend’s ability to continue attending Davidson.
“When [my friend] got [to Davidson], he ended up with a really good financial aid package, but then [Davidson] lowered it the following year. He looked at the [new offer] and understood he couldn’t afford it for his junior and senior year because it cost too much for him and his family, so he transferred.”
of people in the last three years have experienced a $10,000 increase in quality of life. I feel like it has roughly remained the same for me.”
Ellie Boehmcke ‘27 is concerned about how the tuition increase will affect her perception of Davidson’s leadership.
“In my eyes, [the tuition increase] causes the administration to lose legitimacy. I don’t think they made where the money [is] going completely transparent. It creates a disconnect between the administration and the student body, and we start to lose the feeling of community,” Boehmcke said.
As a student receiving money from the work-study program included in many students’ financial aid packages, Boehmcke worries that the tuition increase will diminish her ability to subsidize some of her education costs.
“Many financial aid packages, including my own, are partially funded by work-study jobs. Unless the minimum wage for these jobs is raised proportionally to the tuition increases, I worry that many students will lose an opportunity to help pay for their education.”
When asked about the student and parent reactions to the growing cost of Davidson, Pfeifer emphasized that he understands “that our personalized, high-quality education is expensive. We work every day to honor the trust students and their families have put in Davidson College.”
Amundson hopes to offer support for students who are worried about the tuition trends over the years.
“Our goal for [students] is for them to come down and talk to us once [they] get that financial aid package,” Amundson said. “Every student should be able to have that conversation. I don’t know if something’s changed in [a student’s] family, and we don’t want students to wait until they’re upset that mom lost her job. Early and often is [what I say]. File the forms early. We’ll get you an award. We’ll be able to talk about it as often as [students] need, because no one goes into financial aid because we don’t want to help students. Every single person in [the financial aid] office used financial aid to go to college. We’ve all done it, so nobody’s sitting here in any ivory tower saying ‘I don’t understand what the problem is.’ We do, we’ve been there. The conversation we want to be able to have is [this]: let’s work out a plan.” ABBY LANDES ‘27 (SHE/HER)
Hertzinger described her initial reaction to the tuition increases as “panic.” She tried to calm down by reminding herself of the
The anonymous student also compared the increase in costs since their freshman year to the quality of services and amenities provided. “I just can’t imagine [...] a lot
3 Politics
North Carolina Supreme Court candidate sues to nullify student votes
AIDAN MARKS ‘27 (HE/HIM) POLITICS EDITOR
Over 100 Davidson students have been identified in the 60,273 person “Griffin List” as part of a dubious lawsuit by failed Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn election results.
On Jan. 16, 106 Davidson College students received an email from the Center for Political Engagement (CPE) President Sophia Ludt ‘25 informing them that their ballots in the Nov. 5 statewide race for North Carolina Supreme Court justice are among 60,273 at risk of being nullified.
Following Republican Jefferson Griffin’s 734-vote defeat to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs—which was affirmed by two recounts—Griffin filed three ballot protests with the State Board of Elections (NCSBE) in an effort to throw out over 65,000 votes.
After rejections by the NCBSE and Wake County Superior Court, Griffin appealed all three lawsuits to the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Monday Feb. 10. The challenges are expected to make their way to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which on Jan. 7 voted 4-2 to grant a stay blocking Riggs’ certification.
Griffin’s challenges target three groups of ballots, including 5,509 military and overseas voters whose ballots did not contain photo identification, but are exempt from the recent voter ID law according to the NCBSE. Also targeted were 267 overseas voters who never resided in North Carolina but are permitted to vote where their parents were last eligible.
Of primary concern to citizens and legal advocates alike are the 60,273 voters compiled on what is often referred to as the “Griffin List.” Due to a clerical error, faulty registration forms did not require voters to submit their driver’s license or social security number, which Griffin argues is grounds for invalidation.
According to an analysis by Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University Dr. Chris Cooper, “Challenged voters are younger, more likely to be from out of state, more likely to identify as a member of a minority group, and much more likely to have unidentified race, gender and ethnicity.”
To Associate Professor of Political Science at Davidson College Dr. Andrew O’Geen, the NCSBE’s defense is compelling. “The behavior of the Board of Elections has been pretty consistent, actually, and the rules that they’ve been operating under, the precedents they’ve been operating under, have been in place for quite a while. And so one of the arguments that the dissenters made is that the Republican Party had years and years to object to these practices. In fact, they have never done so, and so the fact that they’re objecting now
that they’ve lost an election makes it problematic,” O’Geen said.
Though the legality of Griffin’s challenges appear clear on paper—Superior Court Judge William Pittman sided with the NCSBE in three one-page orders—defeat is not a foregone conclusion. Griffin can appeal the case to the State Supreme Court, which (excluding Riggs) has a 5-1 Republican majority.
“The only real conclusion that I think is a safe one to draw from [the Supreme Court’s decision to grant the stay] is that they want to at the very least provide some space for these arguments to be made,” O’Geen said.
“If you’re a little more cynical about this, especially given the behavior of the North Carolina Supreme Court in the recent past, one might suspect that there’s some sort of partisan agenda going on,” O’Geen said. “The fact is that we don’t really know how that part of the partisanship of the court is going to matter here.”
Though the outcome is in the court’s hands, raising awareness of the challenge and its consequences is still important. When Stephen Whitlow and Leo Davidson learned about the Griffin List, they teamed up to create thegriffinlist.com, a searchable database of names being challenged.
Whitlow is a co-creator of Triangle Blog Blog, a selfdescribed hyperlocal group blog that covers civics and news in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Davidson, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying geography, has experience in programming and web development.
“The idea was to give people something to do in response to the story,” Davidson said. “The site encourages reaching out to different organizations, contacting local officials, contacting your county Board of Elections and that sort of thing. And it also encourages searching, not only for yourself, but for people you might know.”
The Griffin List is striking to Whitlow in part because it contains both Democratic and Republican voters. “I could very easily see that there were Republicans on that list and there were unaffiliated voters on that list,” Whitlow, a registered Democrat, said.
“These are people who followed the rules. They registered to vote. They were led to believe, for good reason, that they were eligible voters [...] These were good faith actors.”
Davidson’s goal is to get people to pay attention to and care about the situation. “When you have these sort of abstract stories like this, [...] there’s not really a way to identify with it,” Davidson said. “I think it’s important that people are generally aware of this [...] It should concern people that there are people whose priority is to restrict one of their democratic rights.”
Ludt is also concerned about the Griffin List. As soon as she heard about the website, she compiled a list of all affected students who voted in Davidson and notified them of their status. “You can’t ensure that your vote is counted. You’ve done all you can, you’ve provided all of your documents, and you voted,” Ludt stated in the email.
Lifestyle
Q: I’m struggling to decide where to study abroad. I found a program that looks really interesting, but all my closest friends are picking a program all together in a different country. I know I’d have an amazing time with my friends and I don’t want to miss out on fun and bonding time with them, but I also don’t want to miss out on an opportunity that could be better for my future. How do I decide whether to go with my friends or do my own thing?
Dear Reader,
This is a big decision, and I completely understand why you’re feeling torn. We’ve all seen the Instagram posts of full friend groups abroad together having a blast. But, I’ve also talked to so many people who went abroad alone and had the time of their lives. Studying abroad is truly a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity, and the prospect of sharing it with all your closest friends is undeniably very appealing. On the other hand, at the end of the day, it is your education and your future.
If you’re already torn between these two options I’m inclined to recommend that you go with your own program. That being said, FOMO is SO real and so is feeling nervous to get out of your comfort zone. It’s really a question of which you value more: having a sense of familiarity in a different country or pushing yourself to be more independent. Do some self-reflection and question if the reason you want to go with your friends is because you’re scared of losing those friendships. If that’s the case,
then definitely don’t go with them; a friendship should absolutely be able to last a semester apart. And if it doesn’t, that just might be for the best.
The plus side of doing your own thing for study abroad is that you have an easy excuse to travel and visit your friends! Make a concrete plan to meet up with everyone to ease your nerves about not going with them. Another plus is making new friends from all new places. Not only is there the potential to meet your next best friend, but this can also open up more opportunities to travel in the future to visit those new friends! Traveling solo also lets you be more spontaneous than traveling with a group would allow; you get to do whatever you want, whenever you want.
You could always go to the study abroad office and get their opinion, but I’d bet money that they would tell you to prioritize your education. My personal experience with the study abroad office is that they haven’t been the most helpful. However, it should be noted that the first time I went in I had absolutely no direction in mind, and the second time I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I can only assume that if you go in with specific questions they’d be helpful.
No matter what program you choose, it is what you make of it. If you go into study abroad with an open mind and a willingness to explore, you can’t go wrong.
Wishing you the adventure of a lifetime, Annabel Groseclose
The news disheartened members of the CPE, who registered 199 new voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election and shuttled 48 to the polls. “A lot of it was tabling three or four hours a week trying to reach as many people as possible, tabling all around campus, meeting with clubs to try to meet people where they’re at, trying to have other events to educate people and make sure that they can reach information,” Ludt said.
Davidson College Democrats President Kailliou MaconGoudeau ‘25 is one of 106 Davidson students on the Griffin List. When he went to the polls, he recalled casting his ballot without issue. “I remember coming up and just checking beforehand that my registration was active […] I helped register other people to vote, so I felt like I was pretty informed, going into the entire thing of making sure that everything was working properly,” Macon-Goudeau said. “I showed them my ID and the process went pretty smoothly.”
Learning that their votes may be nullified despite doing everything by the book may be discouraging to young and firsttime voters at Davidson and across the state. “It raises concerns for everyone in the disillusionment of voting and politics in general, but I think that young people especially have reported that they already feel like their vote doesn’t really matter and that politics doesn’t necessarily really apply to their day to day lives,” Ludt said.
Although youth turnout is often lower than other age demographics, Ludt worries that losing trust in the democratic process at a young age may have lasting consequences. “If we have a precedent of something like [Griffin’s challenges], it’s just going to lead to more problems, less people trusting our electoral system. Young people are going to carry that as they move into adulthood,” Ludt said.
O’Geen, Ludt and Macon-Goudeau have similarly stark warnings about the precedent Griffin’s challenge sets— possibly even if he is ultimately unsuccessful.
“If an argument says that voters whose information is incorrectly entered into the database are purged from the voter rolls, even though they provided that information and they get all the stuff they were supposed to do when they registered, that sets a precedent for other actors and for other states and for other judges to look and say ‘oh, this flew in North Carolina. Maybe it can fly here,’” O’Geen said.
Ludt foresees a rise in sore losers. “If we have a precedent that if you are unhappy that you didn’t win, that if you have enough money, then you can take it to this level, it just normalizes the idea that that’s okay and that we don’t have to listen to the safeguards that are already in place,” Ludt said.
Macon-Goudeau, on the other hand, is concerned about openly malicious attempts to subvert democracy. “People are just going to be starting doing anything and everything they can, that is barely legal at best, to win the election,” MaconGoudeau said. “People are much more willing to push the envelope on what they can get away with to win an election, and I just think that’s the main danger here.”
Looking for advice? We’re all ears! Scan the QR code above!
A motto modification Perspectives
Alenda Lux Ubi Orta Libertas. Davidson’s motto adorns Chambers, recruiting pamphlets, our website and emails. “Let Learning Be Cherished Where Liberty Has Arisen” is the official translation. Not bad. The grammar and syntax is rendered into English well, with case usage and verb forms honored. Translating Lux as learning is backed by both the Oxford Latin Dictionary and Lewis and Short examples in original texts, and also makes sense in context. The gerundive Alenda and perfect passive participle Orta are both respected. Adding “Let” to capture a sense of obligation when translating a gerundive is inoffensive. What is offensive, however, is the choice of “Cherished” for Alenda. This translation likely results from English semantics. The Oxford English Dictionary does show that the word “cherished” appears in English texts as nearly synonymous with nourished as recently as 1868. When the motto was written in the 1830s, “cherished” would have been an accurate translation of Alenda It is not anymore. “Cherished” is not an option for Alenda in the most recent edition of Lewis and Short and does not appear until definition 7d in the Oxford Latin Dictionary (it appears as “Cherished” twice in the 120+ texts surveyed in this lexicon). Furthermore, Latin already has a perfectly good word for “cherished”—”Foveo”—gerundive Fovenda. Alenda is accurately translated
Reflecting
Tas feed, nourish, support or sustain. These words are maybe, tenuously, if truly stretched by a flexible mind, synonyms for “cherished.” I am not a flexible mind, not when it comes to translation. Thus, the question becomes which of these are more accurate options to pick. Here, the true
from these everyday worries, we are able to focus on learning through our classes, peers, extracurriculars, travel grants, events, speakers and even parties. Davidson nourishes us, and in doing so nourishes learning. Davidson creates the conditions for learning, the acquisition and furthering of
challenge of translation arises. What does the Latin really mean in context? What is it trying to convey? To me, this is a question attempting to answer the purpose of a liberal arts college. With that question as our foundation, the answer becomes clear.
“Nourish” is the best option.
A college, and Davidson in particular, nourishes learning. The College feeds us, houses us, provides healthcare and study spaces, safety and security. Freed
knowledge, to thrive. This is a textbook (the Oxford English Dictionary to be specific) definition of “nourish.” We certainly cherish (protect and care for) this learning, but that is a poor statement of purpose for a college. Cherishing is stagnant. When education was a matter of memorizing the “classics” and parroting the ideas of our ancestors, “cherished” was accurate. It does not capture the constant motion and action that now happens here at Davidson, as
the Davidson Marriage Pact
he Marriage Pact attracts students on their quest to find love. While some are simply looking for a friend, others want a true lover; someone to kiss at the Old College Well. For juniors or seniors, this year might have been their third attempt at finding love through the Marriage Pact. For underclassmen, they are just getting started. This year, 1,386 Davidson students filled out and submitted the Marriage Pact questionnaire. With over half of the campus partaking in the fun of checking the leaderboard, finding their one true match and stalking the Instagram of said match, I pose the question: Why is the Marriage Pact still such a controversial endeavor?
While there are the Marriage Pact truthers, there are also over 700 students that didn’t fill it out. While some of the single stragglers seemed to have lost hope, others are convinced that their current partner is already a perfect match. Some couples hate it, others are all for it and some don’t even know their significant other partook. But guys… it’s just not that deep.
In my opinion, all couples on campus should have done it. Have some fun. Who knows—maybe you could’ve found the actual one or just a platonic soulmate. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should go look for another partner, and I certainly am not condoning cheating. That being said, the Marriage Pact could be the perfect opportunity for couples to realize if they are truly meant for eachother. Why should such a funny, silly and amusing endeavor bring couples to the brink of a relationship-ending argument? Make it a fun date night; bash each other’s match; fill it out separately; throw darts at your partner’s match, or never speak of it again. It does
not matter. Be silly. Who knows, maybe in 10-15 years, when you are desperate or bored, you will get the courage to test if the algorithm really worked. Or maybe you will test it out next week! Only time will tell!
The Marriage Pact does not have to be an end-all, beall contract. It is an opportunity to know another name on campus and partake in some Valentine’s Day cheer. In my opinion, everyone should have submitted the questionnaire, and if the Marriage Pact was a heated argument for you and your significant other during the past few weeks, maybe you need to reevaluate your relationship…or maybe try therapy. Nothing as silly as a computer-generated algorithm should stop couples from partaking in some fun and amusement. Maybe in completing the survey, you are saving someone from getting their campus nemesis, or helping someone avoid getting matched with an ex-partner. If anything, you could be doing some good! No harm, no foul, partake in the amusement.
On your way to Warner’s Stupid Cupid, have fun scavenging the boiling hot room for ‘The One’ that a made-up algorithm said will be your perfect match. For the ones that did not do it, you are probably feeling left out now. Do not fret. If anything, while some individuals find success in their marriage pacts, others can count down the next 364 days until they can have another chance. Or, they can just make a move on their match now.
Hajar Hussein ‘27 is an educational studies major from Jacksonville, FL and can be reached for comment at hahussein@davidson.edu.
our minds are opened to new perspectives and new worlds through courses ranging from Experimental Organic Chemistry to Literary Satans. To capture that, we need nourishment. The constant work to create a place where generation after generation can strengthen and grow, not just as students but as people. “Let Learning Be Nourished Where Liberty Has Arisen.” That is the purpose of a college. Not to mention it’s a better translation.
Kaspars Golos ‘27 is a chemistry and classical languages double major from Richmond, VA and can be reached for comment at kagolos@davidson.edu.
KASPARS GOLOS ‘27 (HE/HIM)
HAJAR HUSSEIN ‘27 (SHE/HER)
on
The Davidson Marriage Pact leaderboard features perfect scores. Photo by Hajar Hussein ‘27.
A view of Chambers, one of the many places where Davidson’s motto is visible. Photo by Davidson College.
Sports
“Athletics Done Right”
Davidson opts into House settlement, establishes basketball as flagship sport
ALEX THOLE ‘28 (HE/HIM) SPORTS WRITER
Vice President and Director of Athletics Chris Clunie announced Feb. 13 that Davidson College will opt into the House v. NCAA settlement and share revenue across its men’s and women’s basketball programs. As part of the agreement, institutions will now be able to directly compensate scholar-athletes with up to $20.5 million in NIL licenses per institution.
Davidson’s decision comes in response to the rapidly transitioning landscape of collegiate athletics, caused in part by the 2021 introduction of direct compensation from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions to their student-athletes for their name, image and likeness (NIL). House v. NCAA is a class action lawsuit against the NCAA and the “Power 5” conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and the Pac-12) filed in 2020 by Arizona State University swimmer Grant House and Texas Christian University women’s basketball player Sedona Prince. House and Prince sought NIL damages in the form of monetary compensation and a decrease in restrictions on revenue sharing (institutions sharing revenue from media deals, broadcasting rights, ticket sales, etc.). The NIL policy originally applied only to the Power 5 conferences, but the regulations were expanded to all NCAA Division I (DI) institutions (such as Davidson) regardless of conference affiliation. As part of the agreement, the NCAA and all DI institutions must pay damages not only to current scholar-athletes but also to eligible former scholar-athletes. For Power 5 conference affiliates (now Power 4 following the Pac-12 losing its power conference status in 2024), the back pay applies to scholar-athletes who competed from 2016-17 to 2024-25. For Davidson, the back pay applies only from 2019-20 to 2024-25. The agreement comes with other ramifications, notably including adjustments to roster and scholarship limits set by the NCAA. A final congressional decision on the case is expected April 7.
Clunie and Davidson’s decision to participate in revenue sharing amongst its basketball programs comes with the hope that these changes will cement Davidson as a “championship-level” basketball school built with a “sustainable and competitive framework,” the announcement read. “The A-10 is a basketball-centric league, and basketball has long been our flagship sport.” Clunie also announced that Davidson will raise funds for an endowment dedicated to NIL compensation. Clunie admitted that the changes will create a cultural shift within the school’s athletics but affirmed the new approach will not come at the expense of
Davidson’s commitment to “Athletics Done Right.”
Davidson’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach Matt McKillop discussed the landmark decisions changing collegiate athletics. “Five years ago, I would’ve felt it was crazy. I think now there is a greater understanding of just how much money is being made in college athletics, and it seems necessary for there to be compensation to the studentathletes.”
McKillop, a former player and longtime assistant coach at Davidson, was hired as the head basketball coach in June of 2022 following the retirement of his legendary father, Bob McKillop. Bob McKillop ended his 33-year career at Davidson in the midst of the seismic changes to collegiate athletics. He told The Charlotte Observer that he felt his son was “more in tune to the changes in the culture of college basketball” and “able to relate a little bit better to the contemporary
the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win. I don’t think that’s the spirit of college athletics.” Matt McKillop echoed a similar sentiment. “I imagine the NCAA settlement will be a bit of a separator as far as who can remain or who can become competitive. The obvious is that the programs that pay the most money will have the most talent.” McKillop, however, did express optimism for a program like Davidson. “I also think it will allow the teams that can retain and develop players [...] to build and maintain a culture to compete at a championship level.”
McKillop also reiterated that Davidson’s opt-in to the House settlement will have little effect on Davidson’s recruiting standard. “I don’t see this changing the type of studentathlete that we want to recruit to Davidson and help develop on and off the court during their four years here,” McKillop said. “The
basketball student-athlete.” The senior McKillop is among several high-profile college coaches in recent years, including Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University men’s basketball), Nick Saban (University of Alabama football), Tony Bennett (University of Virginia men’s basketball) and Jim Larrañaga (University of Miami men’s basketball), to have retired and alluded to NIL as a potential factor. “Our staff navigates [NIL] daily,” Matt McKillop commented. “It has changed how we do some things, but you must embrace it to have success now.”
Many coaches fear the direction NIL is taking collegiate athletics. “You’re going to create a caste system where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer,” Saban said in May at a NIL roundtable in Washington D.C. “It’s whoever wants to pay
greatest advantage Davidson has is that it naturally attracts great people. I believe that the tradition of the basketball program, but, more importantly, the culture and community around this town and around Davidson College will allow us to continue to recruit the type of kids who choose Davidson for all the right reasons.”
In the announcement, Clunie cited Davidson’s unique athletic and academic position as an opportunity to build championship-pedigree athletic programs. “Davidson College is a unicorn. There is no institution in the nation quite like us,” Clunie stated. “We are the top-ranked DI liberal arts college (outside of the military service academies) in U.S. News & World Report. [...] And since making the leap in 2014 to the A-10 as our primary conference,
Women’s Basketball Standings
our programs have raised the standard, won championships and helped enhance the brand of Davidson College.”
Despite only the basketball programs taking part in revenue sharing, Clunie made clear that the changes would have a positive impact on the College as a whole. “When our basketball programs are successful, it provides much-needed revenue and exposure that supports all our athletics programs and raises the overall visibility of the College,” Clunie noted. For example, following the Stephen Curry ‘10-led run to the Elite Eight in 2008, Davidson Dean of Admissions Chris Gruber told The New York Times that “applications surged” and the tournament run “allowed [Davidson] to be known in many cases.”
Clunie commented on many institutions rolling back resources for or flat out cutting non-revenue-generating sports to pave the way for more funds to be directed to football and basketball programs, assuring that this would not be the case at Davidson. Instead, the College will push for increased investment and support across all of its athletics programs, as well as furthering its commitment to Title IX by expanding resources for women’s programs. Additionally, Davidson promised that the added support for its basketball programs will come from new resources and not at the expense of cutting academic or student life programs.
The world of collegiate athletics is constantly changing and filled with ambiguity. “For baseball, there are a ton of unknowns,” Davidson Head Baseball Coach Rucker Taylor admitted. “Until we get clarification from the NCAA, I’m not in a position to have an informed opinion.”
Head Women’s Basketball Coach Gayle Fulks similarly expressed uncertainty. “Later, I might have more information and a better understanding of how it impacts women’s basketball.”
Despite the unpredictability of the changing NCAA landscape, McKillop can envision the opportunities ahead for his program while still honoring the past. “I think Davidson basketball is something for the campus and town community to really be proud of. We are navigating these changes with the culture and the history we have in mind. From #1 overall NBA draft pick Fred Hetzel [‘65] to Stephen Curry to everyone before and after, so many have contributed to our rich history and the success of great studentathletes—that isn’t going to change with the new landscape. A lot of people are fearful of these changes, but I’m excited and think we have the right plan in place to continue the success of this program that fans know and love.”
Matt McKillop answers questions from the press. Photo from Davidson Athletics.
Arts and Entertainment 6
Hobart Park gears up for this year’s issue
KATRIEL SANDER ‘27 (HE/HIM) STAFF WRITER
In the Hobart Park office on the fourth floor of the Alvarez College Union, Abby True ‘25 often finds herself sifting through various floppy disks and old compositions of publication content from the ‘80s and ‘90s. As co-editor-in-chief of the Davidson literary and artistic magazine, alongside Sofia Cimballa ‘26, she is responsible for fostering artistic creativity among students on campus.
True’s first days with Hobart Park during her freshman year at Davidson consisted of countless hours of curating student work as a verse apprentice. “I would read student submissions, edit submissions, work with writers, and refine their work,” True described.
Outside of this role, she has spent each year writing for the magazine since joining the publication in 2022. She values the dedication behind the scenes and the tenacity of the students who are part of it. “I’m trying with Hobart Park to re-emphasize the value of non-academic work,” she said.
True also believes that Hobart Park has a unique position as one of the few truly artistic publications on campus. “We are a student literature magazine that highlights student art and writing [but also] the value of non-academic work that’s not about getting the award or grade and just about self-expression.”
Outside of an appreciation for artistic expression, True admires the physicality of Hobart Park’s work. “It feels nice to have a physical book that somebody printed out and bound,” she explained. As Davidson and the rest of the world continue to adapt to a more digital sphere, Hobart Park rests on decades of student commitment to highly personal and present intellectual engagement. These copies are a reminder that, unlike the countless pages of writing found online, Hobart Park offers a window into the creative
faculties of fellow students—as present and abounding as the books themselves. “It is nice to have that physical copy. The fact that somebody had to print and bind those copies together adds a legitimacy and a value to the art that I don’t think is there if you are just scrolling through Instagram or something like that,” True added.
Cimballa finds the openness of Hobart Park to be one of her favorite parts of the magazine. “I love how this project brings together student art across grades and across all corners of campus,” she stated. “It creates a really interesting archive of an annual, formal artistic production.” The process of assembling Hobart Park balances fostering a vulnerable, diverse and productive space that embraces creativity and high standards of quality. Before publication in the spring, groups of five to six student editors thoroughly study submissions for fit. By not catering to themes, the authentic happenings of student thought are represented in each publication, creating what Cimballa calls a “time capsule on campus.”
Cate Goodin ‘26, an arts editor for Hobart Park, feels a similar appreciation for the work. “One of the most interesting parts of working with that aspect of the magazine is seeing common themes throughout students’ work [regardless] [...] [Curating] art is really really interesting because you can see where there’s overlap and where people are doing vastly
different styles,” Goodin explained.
True echoed Goodin’s sentiments. “Hobart Park is naturally committed to some kind of progress but in art form. I hope that in the future it maintains its commitment to the archive and its celebration of student art.”
Looking ahead, True hopes to expand Hobart Park’s place in the campus zeitgeist. The magazine has expanded into holding open Nummit tabs and annual spelling bees. “We stand for that kind of playful spirit but also that commitment to literature and language,” she commented.
In the midst of the current publication cycle, True reflected on her hopes for the future of Hobart Park. “I would like it to be more involved on campus as a physical presence. I think a lot of people [only have] an off-hand idea of what Hobart Park is,” she said. When asked about future plans for the magazine, True was eager to share. “This year we are launching a bit of a rebrand, going back to the original logo and some new colors to kind of refresh the whole thing. In form it hasn’t really changed. For its entire run it’s been a yearly compilation of student writing” she said.
Past generations of Hobart Park leaders still appreciate the magazine today. “My favorite part was getting to read everyone’s stuff. In day-to-day life you forget that you’re around people who create awesome art,” former Co-Editorin-Chief Ephi Light ‘25 shared. “[Hobart Park is] one of the only things at Davidson that’s a physical representation of what we create everywhere. It’s a yearbook of art that’s permanent. You get to be part of the voice on campus in a different way through actually creating something and leaving a legacy of art—which feels important these days.” Through Feb. 21, Hobart Park is accepting submissions for its 2025 publication. If you have poetry, prose or art you want the community to see, submit by then!
Katriel Sander ‘27 is an intended public health major from Zirconia, NC and can be reached for comment at kasander@davidson.edu.
Elizabeth Bradford’s Warp Weft Water Weeds
On Feb. 13, Davidson was graced with the incandescent color of Warp Weft Water Weeds , a solo art exhibition by Elizabeth Bradford. The Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center (VAC) was a sprightly gold and eager visitors crossed the two bouquets marking the entrance of Bradford’s solo exhibition. The oranges and pinks of the horizon spilled into the atmosphere below; campus buildings, trees and passersby reflected the vibrancy. A variety of flowers and greenery speckled the building’s interior—echoing the exhibition’s theme of natural landscapes. Nevertheless, Bradford’s original works easily outshined all surrounding decor.
Bradford’s work explores what “remains of the underdeveloped South” and has roots in abstraction, according to her website. Bradford is well-established in the world she depicts: having spent over 50 years in the area, her experience sharpens her artistic observations and enriches her works’ significance.
According to Director and Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries Lia Rose Newman, Bradford’s work resonates with many like herself who were affected by the recent devastation of Hurricane Helene. “This exhibition feels especially timely, as I am currently inundated with horrific images from our neighbors in Western North Carolina,” she wrote in an introduction to Bradford’s work. “Bradford’s artwork is a reminder to reconnect with the land and, further, that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve these important places.”
Upon entering the main gallery, open dialogue dropped to faint whispers. Every masterpiece hosted a crowd of spirited observers. Visitors first approached Stone, Old Fort (2020)—an underwater perspective of a stone—and attempted to dissect the detail.
In Venus (2024), Bradford illustrates mossy roots wading into calm water. A warm palette of oranges, browns and yellows push surrounding foliage and stones into the background. Icy blues and purples highlight lush greenery and the pool’s reflection. Masterfully, Bradford captures both the unruly and geometric qualities of natural patterns. Armed with a variety of brushstrokes, she stippled tree bark, flicked grass stems and smoothed water reflections onto the canvas. Adopting an impressionist lens, the landscapes dance between whimsical realism and dynamism. Harris Huber ‘27 described these flying
colors as “astonishing.” He furthered, “I thought the use of color was really cool as it was very different from what we have seen before in the gallery.”
Van Every/Smith Galleries Intern Charlotte LaBenne ‘26 attended the event but also has observed the exhibition over the last few weeks while working in the VAC. “She depicts the natural world through color and shape. Davidson wanted to show artwork by local artists to showcase the community,” LaBenne stated.
One of the elements most exciting about Warp Weft Water Weeds was its direct connection to the Davidson landscape. The local visitors of Bradford’s exhibition could empathize with her deep admiration for the trees, rocks, streams and branches of the surrounding area. Bradford’s muse is also her cause; well aware of the recent threats to the natural landscape she adores, the painter encourages the conservation of her subjects—natural masterpieces by their own right.
Courtney Lassiter ‘27 and Bella Rosenfeld ‘27, two interns alongside LaBenne at the Van Every/Smith Galleries—explained Warp Weft Water Weeds in the context of the gallery’s history. Rosenfeld worked the event and recorded the number of visitors that entered. “The VAC has never seen an event quite like this,” Rosenfeld marvelled as she marked new entries on a counter. She was also excited by the popularity of the event, exclaiming that “the turnout was HUGE.”
Lassiter, who is working to build the foundation for her own career as an artist, was quick to analyze what really grabbed visitors upon viewing Bradford’s exhibit. “I know a lot of people told me specifically that her work just gave them a sense of comfort. [...] It really connects us back to a natural
environment in these times of stress.”
Lassiter is right. Walking around the exhibition, one finds solace in Bradford’s work. Warp Weft Water Weeds is an incredible example of dedication balanced with appreciation. The solo exhibition will be available to view at the Van Every/ Smith Galleries until April 9. Students overwhelmed with their academic and extracurricular obligations are encouraged to consider a brief trip to the VAC. Bradford’s abstract landscapes just might lend a refreshing and meaningful perspective to a busy life.
Annelise Hawgood ‘27 is an English major from Cincinnati, OH and can be reached for comment at anhawgood@davidson.edu.
Hobart Park features many examples of student artwork, like those pictured above. Photo from Davidson College.
Visitors admire Bradford’s work in the VAC. Photo by Annelise Hawgood ‘27.
Stone, Old Fort (2020) is currently on display in the VAC. Photo by Annelise Hawgood ‘27.
ANNELISE HAWGOOD ‘27 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER
Living Davidson Crossword Footwear
Crosswords by Victor Fleming ‘73
1 Marginal “leave it”
2 “Sour” moonshine mix
3 High area on a ship 4 Fiction or biography
5 Has as one’s main subject of study
6 In the style of 7 Standoffish
8 Unfamiliar with 9 Hunt high and low 10 Like onion-peeling PFCs
11 Frilly place mat
12 Name on a deed
13 Some Army NCOs 19 Deceitful sorts
21 Badly claw
24 One who complains easily and often
26 Greek word that doesn’t appear on Patterson
27 Has a balance due
29 Black, to poets
31 Motor oil additive logo
34 Helper on the Hill
36 It’s climbed on by children at play
37 Many bills in tip jars
38 “At Last” singer ___ James
40 Peach or tangerine
42 Hilfiger or Lauren
45 Grandfather nickname, to some
47 Commercial prefix for “Rooter”
50 Elaborate architectural style
53 City noted for mustard
54 First words of a proposal to a committee
55 Agricultural pest
57 Word that may follow the latter part of five other answers
59 Have ___ up one’s sleeve
61 Berry, Bevins, Green and Yohn
63 Finish ahead of
64 Longings
66 Prescott of the Cowboys
67 That, in Tijuana
ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS CROSSWORD: PERIODICALLY
Crime Log
Time Reported Description/Location 02/16/25, 12:48 hrs
Harassment Offenses: Harassing Telephone Calls; Repeated Telephone Calls to Harass; Making False Statements by Phone to Harass Tomlinson, Inactive
SGA Updates
Charters and Bylaws:
The Charters and Bylaws Committee presented 15 bills rechartering over a dozen campus organizations. Presented a resolution altering the way the Senate should consider budget recommendations from the ATC. Food and Housing:
The Committee will be hosting a Waste Audit on Feb. 19 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the Spencer-Weinstein Center for Community and Justice to evaluate the amount of trash and recycling in residence halls. There will be dinner provided and it counts as a Sustainability EDU credit for individuals in PCC organizations. They will also be meeting with PCC organizations about the new dining plan for PCC.
Campus Outreach:
The Campus Outreach Committee has finalized its media plan for the Celebration of Honor. The Committee will begin developing the spring semester SGA survey to send to students.
DEI Committee:
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee met on Feb. 14 to advance initiatives promoting inclusivity on campus. Key updates include progress on Diversity Week, with 18 organizations confirmed to participate and efforts to engage groups with limited availability in place. The Committee is also planning a community event with the DEI office and exploring ways for Residence Life staff to provide resources.
Other Updates:
The week of March 3, the SGA and Honor Council will be hosting a series of programming called “A Celebration of Honor.” On March 4 at 7:00 p.m., a panel of four distinguished Davidson alumni will come together at the Duke Family Performance Hall to share their perspectives on the Honor Code and how it has continued to guide them in their professional careers.
Yowl The
Irreverent student journalism since 2004. Castigat Ridendo Mores.
yowl.com/horsewalksintoapaper
New strain of campus flu linked to mud at Pit Party.
Page Storm Drain Sickness
Games Club charged with financial crimes for embezzling funds.
Page Too Much
Domino’s Pizza
February 19, 2025
Frat announces “Designated Survivor” to stay away from pledge initiation in case of incident.
Page Abroad in the Spring
Student complaining in Union only just now found out college requires homework
A10-page essay? College is supposed to be fun (!) and similar sentiments were heard echoing throughout the Union this past Friday. Apparently for Kristy Krean ‘28, her entire first semester at Davidson had been such a breeze, she wasn’t aware that classes were even supposed to have assignments. “If I have trivia on Wednesday, I’m getting kicked out of Brickhouse for having a fake ID on Thursday, spending all night at F on Friday, and then Pit Party on Saturday, I just don’t understand how professors expect us to have time to do homework. I’m not paying $90,000 a year to have to go to school.” Krean informed us that her first semester included classes such as ART 120: Intro to Crochet, COM 208: How to Look Cool on Instagram,
and SOC 113: Taylor Swift and Society. Now that she is moving on to harder classes like WRI 101: Analysis of “The Backyardigans,” she is surprised at the harder workload.
Krean’s sentiments were shared by fellow first-year Duncan D’nut ‘28. “Everyone knows spring is rushing season. I’m secretly pledging 3 separate frats, and it’s all getting really overwhelming. Obviously, professors should know better than to give stupid assignments. Like, do they know what college is even for?”
When asked to comment on D’nut’s performance in class, one of his professors claimed D’nut has already missed enough classes to constitute a failing grade, but she has not told him in the hopes that he continues to attend some class and learn something.
Declining health of SAE basement horse raises concern for horse activists
Last semester, investigative snitch
Anita Taka Boutit presented The Yowl journalists with information regarding the presence of a horse being stowed away in the North Carolina Theta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) house basement. While appearing well-fed, the stallion was disturbingly contained in suboptimal conditions. This jarring report raised significant concerns amid dropping temperatures from late November to mid-December.
The Yowl has been working diligently with Club Equestrian to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the SAE horse. Though the horse has remained in good condition the past few months, Club Equestrian’s members report declining health upon the most recent visit. Without a brother’s CatCard access, the SAE house, and thus, the basement, are inaccessible, requiring the aptly named “SAE Horse Acquisition Task Force” (SHAT) to observe the horse through a connecting storm drain that allows for peeping into the area. In a recent report, SHAT team leader and biology major Mary Smith describes the horse as “[lethargic] [with] a [dull] [coat].” As a self-proclaimed “horse [expert],” Smith
predicts the horse may be in a comatose state of hibernation as a self-preservation technique to cope with colder temperatures. Smith believes that as temperatures warm, the horse will recover to full health.
SHAT is currently leading an official investigation with the Animal Sanitation Society (ASS), a federally-funded program working toward proper animal maintenance. However, as federal programs are defunded, ASS finds itself stretched wide without any official budget. This has caused SHAT to limit their movement through ASS and encouraged internal action by SHAT, now referred to as SHART (SAE Horse Acquisition Resilience Task Force) under private funding.
This has remained but a mere speed bump for SHART members. While some action has been harmless, such as SHART’s heist of the hay bales used for Warner Hall house’s placement day, other members have been reported breaking into SAE members’ cars, presumably in search of a basement key or some type of access to the building. As of present, SHART’s next move is unknown. Brothers have yet to comment on the matter.
Important information regarding financial aid
Class Selection priority to be decided by Humans vs. Zombies result.
Page High Stakes
The Horse Issue
Secret Society GroupMe notification going off for several minutes on phone visible on table.
Page Visible Society
Random Acts of Cruelty scheduled for next week to cancel out Random Acts of Kindness.
Page Both Sides
Horses not safe to have in confined spaces?
As the Brazilian Horse Flu travels through Northern America, horse owners are beginning to panic. The Brazilian Horse Flu is a type of equine influenza that leaves 93.4% of its victims deceased. The Brazilian Horse Flu—BHF for short—originated in southern Brazil and since then has been steadily spreading throughout the Americas.
This strain of influenza is rather slow and begins to present symptoms after around three weeks. It predominantly targets the nasal and digestive systems. After three weeks, one could expect to find thick mucus in the back of their horses’ throats. With the mucous membranes having been infiltrated by the BHF, a special type of mucus is formed called macydonic fluid, which will rapidly coat the horse’s throat and block its airways.
The BHF is deadly due to the fact that it lays malignant until fully prepared to strike. Special proteins in the cell membrane dictate whether or not it is prepared. Vaccination trials have been running since mid-2024 with little success.
However, it’s predicted that around 86% of the equine population will be killed by the time a proper vaccine is available.
Isolating your horses is a viable option, but as social animals, the horses will develop depression and die. In addition, after COVID-19, our economy has
quickly slowed to a halt and owners who earn a living through their horses, such as through shows or races, will face harsh monetary losses if said owners choose the safest option: isolation.
What to look for when diagnosing the Brazilian Horse Flu:
• Loss of appetite
• Deep, dry cough
• Nasal discharge
• Lethargy
• Enlarged lymph nodes
Individuals and recreational horse owners are not the only ones afflicted by the BHF, as Elmer’s Products, Inc. shareholders express their concern over the disease. Elmer’s parent company, Newell Brands Inc., has seen stocks fall 22.56% since March of 2024, when BHF migrated to the United States. This is largely due to glue production coming to a standstill as more horses are infected and become ineligible for the boiling process used to create glue. As the bird flu devastates the price of eggs, the Brazilian Horse Flu ravages the other end of the market, creating a global concern for the price of everyday consumer items.
So, is your horse safe?
Written by Laxerxes Tarp, Editor and Equine Consultant at The Hoof for Davidson’s The Yowl
WRITERS
QUOTE
OF THE WEEK
“Neigh”
- A horse when asked if we had any other article ideas
Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.
Incident of the Week
saw a squirrel fall out of a tree outside Nummit during Nummit Pitchers on Friday.
