Observer, Volume LVII, Issue 12 11/21/2025 The Observer, Volume LVII, Issue 13 11/14/202

The Case Western Reserve

Friday, November 21, 2025

Epstein advised former CWRU professor Lawrence Krauss on sexual allegations, files show

Darcy

Executive Editor

On Nov. 12, the U.S. House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 documents in connection to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files show the extent of the financier’s connections in academia, politics and journalism, including Noam Chomsky and former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers. Among the documents, Case Western Reserve University appears in emails between BuzzFeed News reporter Peter Aldhous and former CWRU physics professor Lawrence Krauss into sexual misconduct allegations made against Krauss.

The newly released emails shed light on several exchanges in which the former professor sought Epstein’s advice on responding to Aldhous’ inquiries into the allegations. These exchanges took place after Krauss left CWRU.

Krauss was the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics and a professor of astronomy at CWRU from 1993 to 2008. He also served as the chair of the physics department from 1993 till 2005. In 2008, he joined Arizona State University. At the height of his career, Krauss was a prominent theoretical physicist. He entered the public sphere with his book “Physics of Star Trek” and was known for his passionate lectures and public talks.

The BuzzFeed article revealed another side of his legacy, chronicling multiple sexual misconduct allegations made against Krauss during his time at CWRU.

One incident was previously described, without mentioning Krauss’s name, in an op-ed about gender discrimination in science and engineering published by The Observer almost ten years earlier, on Feb. 29, 2008. In the piece, the then-fourth-year physics major described “one particular creep of a professor who once told me he

thought differently of me compared to other students and asked me to dinner.”

In the following issue, current CWRU physics professor Cyrus Taylor, who was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the time, responded in a letter to the editor.

“I was deeply concerned by the writer’s description of an incident that she considered reporting as sexual harassment,” Taylor wrote. He later told BuzzFeed that he encouraged the student to make a formal complaint. “I raised concern that in a situation like this, if it doesn’t get reported, then there’s the potential for future victims later.”

The op-ed writer recently confirmed to the Observer that her opinion piece was referencing Krauss. She also claimed that the university opened an investigation into Krauss’s behavior. BuzzFeed reported that Krauss was banned from CWRU campus following the investigation.

In response to a request for clarification, a CWRU spokesperson stated that the school “cannot comment on personnel matters.”

Epstein and Krauss’ history

Epstein often called himself a “science philanthropist.” He surrounded himself with prominent scientists, including Nobel laureate Stephen Hawking, and donated millions to institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and the Santa Fe Institute.

In 2006, with the support of the J. Epstein VI Inc. Foundation and CWRU’s Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics (CERCA), Krauss organized a small conference on St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands located near Epstein’s infamous private island. The conference explored the topic of “Confronting Gravity.” Its 22 attendees ranged from particle physicists to cosmologists, including Hawking and fellow Nobel laureates Gerard ‘t Hooft, David Gross

Krauss gained public prominence for his bestselling book “The Physics of Star Trek,” which analyzed the franchise’s scifi concepts through the lens of real-world science. Jason Lustig/The Observer

Among Jeffrey Epstein’s network of prominent scientists was theoretical physicist and anti-theist Lawrence Krauss, a former professor at CWRU. In addition to financial support for his research, Krauss corresponded with Epstein for advice responding to sexual harassment allegations. Courtesy of Sgerbic via Wikimedia Commons

and Frank Wilczek.

CWRU’s website lists the March 16, 2006 “Confronting Gravity Workshop” on CERCA’s events page, although the event description is password-protected. The webpage states “There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.”

In an interview with Krauss published by Edge.org, the CWRU-supported conference is described as an opportunity for attendees to “meet, discuss, relax on the beach and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat of the science philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein, who funded the event.”

Other guests recounted Epstein’s presence less innocuously. MIT physicist and attendee Alan Guth later told The New York Times that “[Epstein] was always followed by a group of something like three or four young women.”

The New York Times reported that Krauss and other attendees visited Epstein’s island during the conference.

Epstein also sponsored another one of Krauss’s scientific endeavors. Between 2010 and 2017, Epstein donated $250,000 through his Enhanced Foundation to Krauss’s Origins Project at ASU.

But their relationship went beyond funding. Krauss defended Epstein in an interview following the

latter’s 2008 arrest for soliciting underage sex.

“Jeffrey has surrounded himself with beautiful women and young women, but they’re not as young as the ones that were claimed,” Krauss said in a 2011 interview with the Daily Beast. “As a scientist I always judge things on empirical evidence and he always has women ages 19 to 23 around him, but I’ve never seen anything else, so as a scientist, my presumption is that whatever the problems were I would believe him over other people.”

Krauss in the files

The documents released last week reveal new details about the private relationship between Krauss and Epstein. They show that Krauss turned to Epstein several times for advice on handling sexual misconduct allegations after he left CWRU.

On Aug. 24, 2017, Krauss reached out to Epstein, asking “can we talk tonight? I need advise.” He followed up two hours later: “I have a question of some urgency.”

Continue reading on page 3

Chew

Ohio lawmakers propose bill around prison pregnancies

Sabrina Feldberg News Editor

Ohio lawmakers have proposed a new bipartisan bill, House Bill 542, mandating all county jails and prisons to report pregnancy outcomes. The proposal was introduced to the Ohio State house on Oct. 22 by State Representatives Terrence Upchurch (D) and Josh Williams (R).

Upchurch and Williams sponsored the bill to address problems not covered by the state’s current mandate of county jails to primarily report in-custody deaths. The state does not currently require counties to report miscarriages or stillbirths of pregnant women who are incarcerated. However, after the addition of the bill, each county’s correctional facility “shall report to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction the pregnancy outcome of each pregnant inmate who resided at the facility at the conclusion of the pregnancy [no

later than the thirty-first day of December of each year].”

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate that we are a pro-life state by protecting pregnant women and promoting healthy, pregnant outcomes,” Upchurch told The Marshall Project - Cleveland, a nonprofit news organization focused on crime-centered news. “All babies should count, whether they’re born in the system or whether they’re born to a mother who’s not incarcerated.”

The Marshall Project reported the issue after Linda Acoff, a 29-year-old detained in Cuyahoga County Jail, miscarried her 17-week child in February 2024. After hours of calling for help, she was finally seen by a nurse only to be offered extra sanitary napkins and Tylenol.

Eva Kadirvel, Vice President of Case for Life, pointed to the “serious gaps in care,” of expectant mothers in prisons. She described how, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, “nearly half of incarcerated pregnant

Ohio State Representatives Terrence Upchurch and Josh Williams proposed a bill that requires correctional facilities to report the pregnancy outcome of every inmate one that comes with mixed outlooks. Courtesy of Tyler Sun/The Observer

women go without essential prenatal testing or appropriate dietary adjustments, and some have even been forced to give birth without medical assistance.”

On behalf of Case for Life, Kadirvel added, “We hope this legislation will lead to real, practical support for pregnant women in prison, ensuring they receive the medical care and basic respect they deserve. We also hope it will draw more attention from the public and policymakers to the serious gaps in our criminal justice system and encourage much-needed, compassionate reform.”

Michael Baldonieri, Assistant Professor in the Department of Reproductive Biology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, described the historical mistreatment of expecting women in a particularly “high risk” time, pointing to Acoff’s situation.

“I would love to see this bill take this reporting requirement further to include all correctional facilities and additional specific information that can lead to meaningful conclusions and actions to improve the health of the incarcerated population,” Baldoniere said.

While this may result in improvements to women’s health, some people, like the staff at CWRU School of Law’s Reproductive Rights Law Initiative (RRLI), had concerns about the bill’s true intention. They were unsure whether the bill would truly lead to better care for pregnant inmates, or whether it would primarily be used to criminalize and stigmatize abortions more than they currently are.

Maggie Light-Scotece, staff attorney and lecturer at RRLI, pointed out the lack of content in the bill to

change the level of care in correctional facilities, despite Rep. Upchurch’s statements about the goal of the bill to “[protect] pregnant women and [promote] healthy, pregnant outcomes.”

“Nothing in the bill actually changes the level of care institutions must provide pregnant individuals, nor does it do anything to punish institutions who fail to provide appropriate levels of care,” Light-Scotece said. “All the bill does is give additional private medical information to state agencies without any directive on how that information can be used or protected.”

Scotece pointed to recent cases such as State v. Hollingstead, Skyler Richardson and Britanny Watts in which she believes certain Ohio laws have been “twisted” to single out those seeking abortions or to make other pregnancy outcomes illegal. On a legal level, she described how she would prefer to see greater regulation of the protection of incarcerated individuals’ federal constitutional rights.

Director of RRLI Jessie Hill also acknowledged the intention to increase public knowledge of pregnancy in prisons. She similarly expressed her concerns about how the bill could be used against pregnant women to violate the privacy of patients and further stigmatize abortion.

“It provides no guidance on how reporting is to occur, and it appears to have no guardrails whatsoever to protect individuals’ privacy,” Hill said. “This is troubling of course in the case of abortions because abortion is so stigmatized, but regardless of the particular pregnancy outcome, it’s private, protected health information. It’s not clear to me what interest the state has in knowing this information on an individual basis.”

Meet Smartan.ai, an AI coach that helps us understand fitness

Riya Kulkarni Copy Editor

Case Western Reserve University third-year student Sanjay Thiyagarajan has worked to create an initiative that changes the way people can train. Thiyagarajan and Purdue University graduate Arunesh Raja founded Smartan.ai., a fitness tech platform that acts as an AI coach to help users better understand their workouts, improve results and prevent injury.

The platform will “start curating a personalized workout plan for you, so that you can achieve your fitness goals without getting injured with data-driven results,” Thiyagarajan said. The pair envisions the technology being integrated into larger gyms and physical therapy centers, working alongside coaches and clients to monitor workouts, with minimal effort required from users themselves. Subscribers receive a history of their workouts—with counted reps and specific exercises noted down—and real-time feedback during each session. The program is tailored to an individual’s physique and pre-existing injuries. Because the system uses

a collection of cameras and sensors to validate visual input, there’s no single point of failure, increasing its accuracy and reliability.

For both co-founders, the idea sparked in different ways.

“[W]hen me and my co-founder met, I used to play sports a lot, and I faced a very bad injury,” Thiyagarajan said. “For my co-founder, it was the opposite. He didn’t have any injuries, but he faced a problem where he would go to the gym, and he wouldn’t be aware of what he did the previous week.”

The technology has the ability to cater to many different fitness needs, as well as different skill levels, whether the user is a beginner or an athlete.

“It’s not sports-specific,” Thiyagarajan said. “It’s not meant only for athletes. It can be used by anyone. That’s what is powering Smartan, to be honest. That exact goal and mission of building consumer health technology platforms.”

As a computer science major and Chief Technology Officer of Smartan, Thiyagarajan is familiar with the careful balancing act.

“It’s harder said than done, but one thing which it brought about was discipline,” Thiyagarajan said. “If I

miss and I’m not on track for a day, if I skip doing homework or procrastinating on different things, that’s it. I’m done. The work will pile up.”

Smartan is currently working with sports academies in India to implement their technology, with hopes to expand to physical therapy centers all over the globe. With the addition of Ravi Shastri, former head coach of

as

gic Advisor and Board Member, the company continues to grow.

Knowing how many people this platform can reach motivates the team to keep going.

“I realized how if I had Smartan when I was going to rehab, I would have done a much better job than I did,” Thiyagarajan said. “That kept me going, thinking about how it would help millions of lives.”

the Indian cricket team,

Strate-

CWRU student Sanjay Thiyagarajan (left) and Purdue University graduate Arunesh Raja (right) co-founded Smartan.ai to help users better understand their workouts, improve results and prevent injury an effort that has gained the support of former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri (center). Courtesy of CWRU Newsroom

News-in-Brief

CAMPUS

CWRU Department of Dance will host two performances this upcoming weekend

From Nov. 20 to 22, Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Dance will host their MaDaCol Performances from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. It is to be held at Mather Dance Center and will cost $15 per ticket for general admission. Mather Dance Collective, or MaDaCol, is one of CWRU’s oldest undergraduate student organizations and allows for CWRU faculty,

staff, graduate and undergraduate students and community members to perform pieces of their choice. Performances are open to CWRU members and those in the greater Cleveland community, and this year’s dance selection includes works by faculty member Richard Oaxaca, alum Zhaonian Li and graduate students Lucia Mancha and Ziyue Wei.

COMMUNITY

Cleveland Clinic gifts $2 million to regional food banks

On Nov. 17, Cleveland Clinic announced their plan to give $2 million in support to nine Feeding America member food banks across Ohio, Florida and Nevada. Feeding America is a national network of food banks and meal programs providing food access, disaster responses and food research. This move echoes Cleveland Clinic’s 2023 gift of $10.4 million, which helped establish food

assistance programs like a teaching kitchen, food vouchers and summer meals for children, according to the Cleveland Clinic Newsroom. “Food insecurity is a challenge that touches every community we serve,” said Cleveland Clinic Chief Community Officer Vickie Johnson. “This donation will help ease the pressure families experience and remove barriers to living healthier lives.”

NATIONAL

House votes on bill to release Epstein files

On Tuesday, the House voted 427-1 to approve a bipartisan bill forcing the Justice Department’s release of the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Far-right Republican Representative Clay Higgins was the only vote against the bill. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on behalf of Republicans, “none of us want to go on record and in any way be ac-

cused of not being for maximum transparency.” Shortly after, the Senate approved the bill unanimously, clearing it for President Donald Trump’s signature. Trump signed the bill on Wednesday. “The real test will be, will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in investigations?” Republican Representative Majorie Taylor Greene said.

INTERNATIONAL

UN Security Council adopts Trump’s resolution on Gaza plan

On Monday, the United Nations’ Security Council voted to adopt a draft proposed and endorsed by President Donald Trump’s administration detailing a plan to end the war in Gaza. The plan included the authorization of an “international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave,” according to Reuters. In the draft, it falls within the authority of this force to decommission weapons and destroy military

infrastructure. Member states are permitted to take part in the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, which is envisioned to be a “transitional authority” meant to oversee the economic recovery and reconstruction of Gaza. In a statement, Hamas said that the resolution acted as an “international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip,” and they reiterated that they will not disarm.

Krauss appears in Epstein files from page 1

Krauss’s question concerned a new allegation of misconduct. ASU’s Office of Equity and Inclusion had recently opened an investigation into a November 2016 incident where Krauss allegedly grabbed a woman’s breast at the Australian Skeptics Convention in Melbourne, Australia.

Hours later, Epstein responded. “Consult a lawyer beforehand, if possible, but be cooperative/nice at this stage,” he wrote. “But this sounds like an internal discipline matter rather than Title IX.”

After receiving Krauss’s message, Epstein contacted Ken Starr, former president and chancellor of Baylor University, who vacated both positions in 2016 following accusations that Baylor failed to address multiple reports of rape and sexual assault from female students. Epstein explained Krauss’ situation. Starr asked: “What’s the student-status, if any, of the ‘victim?’”

ASU’s initial investigation concluded there was inadequate evidence to determine whether Krauss violated university policy.

Another exchange took place

in December 2017, after Aldhous, the BuzzFeed journalist, contacted Krauss for comment on six reported incidents of alleged sexual misconduct, including three at CWRU.

Four hours later, Krauss sent multiple drafts of refutations of each of the six listed allegations to Epstein. Epstein recommended putting out a short, general statement communicating that “[the allegations] are false. they were either investigated and found lacking or ignored.”

Twelve hours after contacting Epstein, Krauss responded to Aldhous, denying the incidents.

“Thank you for your responses, which state that the allegations made against you are false and/or distorted,” Aldhous replied. “That does raise a question: Why do you think that multiple women, over more than a decade, have separately made accusations against you?”

Aldhous then asked about an allegedly consensual encounter between Krauss and a volunteer at an event in Washington, D.C. in 2006. Again, Krauss wrote Epstein for advice.

“did you have sex with her? Con-

dom? Did she take it?” Epstein asked. “I wouldn’t respond. My advice is consistent. Off the record.”

The resulting BuzzFeed story was published on Feb. 22, 2018 with the headline “He Became A Celebrity For Putting Science Before God. Now Lawrence Krauss Faces Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct.” Krauss responded with a nine-page statement contesting the allegations, calling the report a “libelous story defaming me specifically” and “falsehoods and distortions imposed upon the pubic.”

In March 2018, ASU placed Krauss on administrative leave and reopened its investigation into the Australian Skeptics Convention case. Based on interviews with the victim and two eyewitnesses, investigators concluded that Krauss “created an offensive environment for academic pursuits” and had violated the university’s Code of Ethics. Krauss was removed from his position as the director of ASU’s Origins Project in August. He resigned in May 2019.

The Observer reached out to Krauss for comment, but was unable to receive comment by the publica-

tion deadline and will update the article on The Observer’s website. Krauss has continued to deny all allegations of sexual misconduct. His professional website features a webpage titled “On False Claims,” which states:

“Following initial social media reports in 2018, [ASU] stated that there had never been any complaints about him by any of his students, his faculty colleagues, his research assistants, or anyone who attended any of the events he organized during the 10 years he was there. Allegations later reported to [ASU] were either unsubstantiated, or later explicitly shown to be false.”

The release of more than 20,000 documents has sparked a nationwide conversation about Epstein and his close ties to higher education, as well as the failures of institutions to investigate sexual misconduct. According to The New York Times, Harvard University will open an investigation into faculty who may have had ties with Epstein. Since the release, CWRU has made no public statements about Krauss or the Epstein files.

Courtesy of UN Security Council via Flickr

Courtesy of HealthMonitor via Wikimedia Commons

Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” makes a telenovela out of the tragedy

Mariana Parilli-Castillo Copy Editor

Spoilers ahead for “Frankenstein” (2025).

For many years, Guillermo del Toro has been one of my favorite directors. I watched “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006) at much too young of an age and was scarred by the monstrous Pale Man with eyes in his hands before I could comprehend that he was an allegory for the cruelties of the church. Even so, I followed his directorial efforts wherever I could. I loved the moody gothic of “Crimson Peak” (2015), the monster romance in “The Shape of Water” (2017) and, when looking back in his older works, was fascinated by the horrifying, senseless tragedy in “The Devil’s Backbone” (2001). When he announced his adaptation of “Frankenstein,” I squealed loud enough to wake up my roommate—the Shelley novel is near and dear to my heart.

As the story goes, Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus” during an 1816 competition between herself, her husband Percy Shelley, John Polidori and Lord Byron to write the best horror story. Byron wrote a Canto for one of his Hymns, Polidori wrote “The Vampyre,” which standardized the canon for the titular creature up to today and Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein.” The novel was first published anonymously in 1818 before being re-published under her own name in 1831. Shelley’s story is full of the inevitable tensions of the Romantic movement, from the terror and sublime felt upon beholding and trying to control nature, to the interplay with the canon of English works and, most poignantly, the ineffability of childrearing. Her Creature is both cruel and aggrieved; her Frankenstein is misguided and self-defeating. The narrative, above all else, centers them. Guillermo del Toro saw this font of inspiration and wrote a telenovela, full of doublecast characters, messy family relationships and a surprisingly happy ending following a deathside apology. And I love it.

The clearest reason why I love it is that the film is so visually stunning I wanted to cry with each frame. Cinematographer Dan Lausten, a frequent collaborator of Del Toro’s since “Crimson Peak,” represented the awe and horror of Shelley’s novel deftly. Dramatic lighting rife with chiaroscuros and a truly moody and sickly color palette set the scene for the terrors inflicted within the film by Dr. Frankenstein. Similarly, costume designer Kate Hawley created outstanding designs for both The Creature (Jacob Elordi), with his stringy hair and rotting stitches, and Elizabeth (Mia Goth), who wears stunning dresses which allude to, among other things, bandages, Xrays and cells. The Creature’s design is a major source of appeal, as it transforms the conventionally handsome Jacob Elordi into a gaunt monster of himself, looking closer to an embalmed animal than an actual human being.

But, above all else, I am particularly drawn to this adaptation of “Frankenstein,” which still diverges significantly from Shelley’s text through the aging-up of William Frankenstein’s (Felix Kammerer) character and through the increased presence of Elizabeth within the narrative, through its sheer melodrama. The cycle of violence, a frequent thematic collaborator of Del Toro’s, makes its appearance through the elder Frankenstein’s abuse of his son and how, in turn, Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) enforces this with his treatment of The Creature. There are misattributed murders, Oedipal allusions and a battle between brothers for the love of the father. In the film’s climax, Elizabeth—the only remaining person sympathetic to The Creature’s plight and the only source of tenderness and understanding for most of his life—dies in the Creature’s arms after Frankenstein attempts to shoot him, taking the bullet for the immortal creature. Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” luxuriates in its emotional extremes, pushing the realms of scientific, narrative and emotional believability to its utmost extreme. Most, I will assume, will not love this, decrying the loss of nu-

Courtesy of Ken

Despite deviating from the classic Mary Shelly novel, Frankenstein (2025) provided a refreshing take that retained the essence of the original. Courtesy of Netflix

ance in comparison to Shelley’s text. Fortunately, I am not one who finds melodrama and complexity anathema to each other and find that the

deviations to Shelley’s work further its tale about cruel fathers and their failed sons rather than detract from it. 9/10.

Lewis Capaldi comes back from the dead with “Survive”

After a two-year hiatus, Lewis Capaldi has returned from the

runtime of 15 minutes, it tells a story and features new vocal

Penelope Cloonan Life Editor

If you were devastatingly heartbroken or otherwise sad in early 2020, odds are you have a passing familiarity with Scottish Singer Lewis Capaldi. His 2019 single “Someone You Loved” took UK and US radio stations by storm, quickly followed by the 2020 single “Before You Go.” These two songs cemented his place in the deeply depressing break-up track zeitgeist. Since then, Capaldi has released two full length albums, “Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent” (2019) and “Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent” (2023). Aside from an extended edition and a very public friendship with former One Direction member Niall Horan, that has been all from Capaldi. Due to issues with his mental and physical health, Capaldi took a step back in mid-2023. He was on a complete and indefinite hiatus.

In “Survive” (2025), Lewis Capaldi comes back from the dead. “Survive” is Capaldi’s introduction back into the world of music. He delves into where he’s been, how he’s been

feeling and where he’s at right now. With four tracks under 15 minutes, “Survive” packs a lot into a little.

The lead single, title track and opener to the EP “Survive,” is a warm reintroduction. Released in June 2025 ahead of the EP’s November release, with no marketing from Capaldi, it serves as a sort of greeting. In “Survive,” Capaldi sings about coming back and pledging to keep going, even though his life may not. He’s “still got something to give” and won’t be leaving music permanently. “Survive” is a remarkably bright song in contrast to the rest of Capaldi’s body of work. It retains the desperation that Capaldi is good at conveying, but it is not soulcrushing. It shows a new range for him. The desperation here is more of a desire to pursue his musical passions, which is incredibly heartwarming. The EP starts out with a story of triumph, though imperfect, there is joy.

Following a raw introduction is “Something In The Heavens,” the second single, which was released in September. Put simply, “Something In The Heavens” is a song about grief. In any good existential piece,

there should be some reference to the afterlife. I’m a particular fan of this one as it is so hopeful. Capaldi sings of hoping to reunite with someone, somewhere, someway, somehow, but in the meantime, his love will persist. Death is not what matters here, it is the love that remains. It is a beautiful message about moving through grief that shines in an otherwise understated song.

Vocally this track is interesting as it almost entirely lacks the signature Capaldi rougher belts, opting instead for high notes. It’s an exercise in Capaldi’s abilities as he hits some of the highest notes in his career, not to showboat, but to provide a level of serenity. His falsetto blends into a gorgeous string and piano backing track, up until the end, where hints of more raw vocals peak through. There is peace here; no desperation, just plain hope.

The third single and third track on the EP, “Almost,” is a personal favorite, and markedly similar to his older music. Despite having Capaldi’s classic, rougher belting style and grandiose instrumental swells in the chorus, it is almost comedic. Capaldi is “almost” over a lot of things. He

sings, “I swear to God I'm almost alright. I only think about you all the time” and “I promise I've completely let you go, almost,” which are very clearly not the words of someone who is okay. He lies to himself in an effort to get over someone, and he is aware of it. In the second verse he admits he knows he’s lying saying, “evеry word except the truth…” But that is just part of the process. “Almost” is the universal experience of lying to yourself about being over someone but still making that effort, all the time. It is a perfect song about the imperfect process of getting over someone.

The EP closes on “The Day That I Die,” which is about exactly what you’d think. It is the darker reflection to the title track, “Survive,” ending the album on a depressing, but contemplative, note. During the two year hiatus and the period leading up to it, Capaldi was going through dark times. He described this song as a “suicide note,” for if he were to have succumbed to those thoughts then. What would he have wanted to leave behind for his loved ones? It is a succinct ending to the EP. “The Day That I Die” details the starting point for “Survive,” reflects the honest imperfection in “Almost” and echoes the ideas of grief from “Something In The Heavens” with the lyrics, “I will love you just the same from somewhere different.” It is dark, but it is an earnest expression of emotion in the past. Sincerity alongside orchestral instrumentation is what Capaldi has always promised to deliver, and he does so from the top to the bottom of this album.

“Survive” is fairly typical of Capaldi. It isn’t shockingly new, but it doesn’t need to be. The EP works backwards from acceptance of life to the anxiety ridden, grief-filled state that requires time and work to get through. After two years of almost complete radio silence, a short but honest and bittersweet reintroduction is wonderful. It is more of what Capaldi is good at, raw vocals and raw emotion, all backed up with extravagant production. For fans who have been waiting for a return, you will be happy, and perhaps a little bit sad—this is a Lewis Capaldi piece after all.

dead with his new EP "Survive." Containing four tracks with a total

characteristics. Courtesy of Taylor Herring via Flickr

Courtesy of Harald Krichel via Wikimedia Commons

A Thanksgiving Feast of Words

Across

1. Thanksgiving centerpiece, for short

5. Shelled Singaporean delicacy

11. Harass

12. Shade of difference

13. Social media-based demand for confrontation

14. Greek god of doorways

18. Lawn tyrant

19. "Hallelujah" composer Bernstein

24. Australian war adversary

25. Richard ___, Shakespeare history play

27. Coffee partner, for breakfast

28. Trainwreck detective

29. Marvel Comics gazer

30. Sacred hum

33. Dispense 36 Across 36. 2026 Olympic host, in brief

37. 33 Across over mashed potatoes

38. Hands on hips

40. Roth ___

41. W___ network

42. First female figure skater to land a one-legged backflip

43. Japanese pop term for cuteness

44. Defunct Nintendo competitor

48. French couture house, acronym

49. Embarrassing background, in slang

50. Biblical starter home

51. "Welcome to the Black Parade" artist

52. Thanksgiving compatriots

Down

1. Holiday spirit

2. Canada's most populous province's most populous university

3. Daiquiri ingredient

4. Leg joint

5. The Observer’s director of design

39. Order's enemy, archaic

tral competitors at the 2022 -

Thanksgiving Troubles

Auden Koetters Director of Digital Media

Thanksgiving promises rest. In reality, it’s four days of physiological collapse, existential dread and trying to explain to your extended family why your university was trending on Twitter for reasons best left unexamined. This is what the holiday looks like in the absolute worst case scenario:

Your body immediately fails:

You step off the plane, inhale one molecule of non-Cleveland air and your entire immune system flatlines. Suddenly, you’re feverish, coughing, shaking and your mom’s yelling: “Is this because you don’t eat vegetables or because your school was in those files?”

You tell her you have a cold, she tells you to eat healthier…

The family interrogation begins:

You’re halfway through your mashed potatoes when someone inevitably asks:

“Why was Case in the news?”

Your uncle squints over his plate and says “Didn’t your school show up in those documents?”

Your cousin kicks you under the table.

Your grandma asks what an Epstein is.

You say, “Pass the potatoes,” with the confidence of someone invoking their Fifth Amendment rights.

Thanksgiving Tired–A medical condition:

Every student develops a unique form of exhaustion over break. You sleep for 16 hours, wake up briefly to inhale leftovers then collapse again. Your family thinks you’re ill, but you’re simply decompressing.

Explaining your major (again):

No matter how many times you’ve explained your degree, your relatives still have no idea what you do.

You say you study Systems Biology.

Your uncle hears “I fix printers.”

Your dad introduces you to your family friend as “a math doctor.”

At this point, you don’t correct anyone.

The homework attempt:

Every student tries—briefly—to do homework over break. You open your laptop, read one line of your textbook and immediately lose consciousness. This is normal. This is tradition. This is science.

Happy Thanksgiving, Spartans!

Who is the cutest Observer Director Plushy?

Thanksgiving love, lust and leftovers

Aphrodite Greek Goddess of Love

Thanksgiving break is a peculiar stretch of the semester— a brief migration from the academic chaos of CWRU back to the familiar chaos of home. It's a time marked by turkey, football and the annual emotional gauntlet of explaining your relationship status to extended family members. While the holiday is allegedly about gratitude, for many students it’s also about navigating the strange romantic terrain that emerges the moment you step off campus.

The Thanksgiving Texter: Nearly every student encounters the infamous “Thanksgiving texter.” This person has not spoken to you since the leaves were green, but at 2:37 p.m. on Thursday you will receive a single, suspiciously casual message: “Happy Thanksgiving.”

The meaning is unclear. Are they thinking about you? Are they just bored waiting for the stuffing? Anthropologically, this text usually indicates a fleeting mix of nostalgia, loneliness and mild indigestion. Respond only if you’re prepared for the emotional consequences—or if you’re bored waiting for stuffing.

Seasonal Situationships: Returning home for break often triggers a dangerous phenomenon: the revival of the “might-have-been” situationship. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it’s the ambient warmth of a suburban Applebee’s. Either way, you may find yourself entertaining the idea of reconnecting with a high school ex whose peak personality trait was owning

three pairs of Nike Elites. These reunions tend to last approximately 48 hours—ending either when one of you remembers why the relationship failed or when someone’s mom asks, “So … is this serious?”

Surviving the Turkey Dump: Historically, the week of Thanksgiving is one of the most common breakup periods of the year. Stress, distance and the sudden clarity that comes from sitting at your childhood kitchen table can push even the most stable couples to the brink.

If you make it through the break still together, congratulations—you’ve entered certified cuffing territory. You are now eligible for matching holiday pajamas.

If not? At least emotional devastation pairs beautifully with leftover pie.

The Post-Thanksgiving Spiral: Returning to campus after break tends to yield one of three predictable emotional states:

The Reformer: You swear you’re turning your life around. New study plan. New habits. New you. (This will last until Wednesday.)

The Nostalgic: You accidentally caught feelings for someone back home. That someone owns multiple flannels and has not left your hometown in nine years.

The Chaotic: You’re bored, stressed and vaguely unhinged—prime conditions for texting someone you absolutely should not. This is the season when questionable romantic decisions flourish.

Happy Thanksgiving, Spartans. May your turkey be warm, your family tolerable and your situationships stable enough to survive Black Friday.

EDITORIAL

Editorial: CWRU should Rate My Professors

Editorial Board

It’s that time of the semester again. The bloodbath of course registration has now come to an end. Yet, the dissatisfaction and ominous presumptions of class structure still loom in many students’ minds as we wrestle with the idea of taking courses with less-than-favorable professors or having to pivot entirely to an improvised schedule of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. courses. Stress levels peak during finals, but the feelings of uncertainty and anxiety that accompany 7 a.m. course registration are incomparable. If you are but a few mere seconds late to The Reaping, you are faced with decisions such as taking a class called “Dog Walking Etiquette” or an intensive course on “Star Wars History.” A feeling that may be worse, though, is taking a course knowing the other section’s structure and curriculum has it miles easier due to extra credit assignments, lenient grading or objectively “easier” exams.

In preparation for course registration each semester, most students put all their trust into the Rate My Professors website. Rate My Professors is a webpage that allows students to anonymously share their opinions on professors regarding courseload, teaching style and difficulty of a particular course. This tool provides valuable insight into courses, and more specifically the professor lecturing the course, which is something that holds true weight in the decision-making process. However, Rate My Professors offers more of a disclaimer, or warning, than it does criticism of the professor. Tenure protects employees, primarily in educational fields, against job instability by ensuring permanent employment status and security unless under extraordinary circumstances. While that is an important policy that should be maintained, it may contribute to professors’ lack of motivation to digest constructive criticism.

The unwillingness to incorporate change leads professors to disrespect the autonomy and input of students in their courses, and they could disregard it altogether if they choose. Especially in an environment where a large population of students are pursuing pre-professional careers, good grades matter. And if professors refuse to improve their course structure or teaching methods, students are essentially walking into a pre-determined B or C, based on the difficulty of the course and rigidity of the professor. A great role in determining a student’s grade should be the effort from the student themselves, however professors play a dominant role in the delivery of information and with the creation of policies that are either in favor or rooted against the student body.

The teaching quality disparity from class to class is significant. The degree of varying quality can essentially make or break your passion for a particular

subject, cause burnout and even hurt your grade. Many students flock to particular professors lecturing majorrequired courses because of these disparities. But, this turns into a lottery, as those who hit the “enroll” button at just the right moment are the ones who have a greater possibility of receiving a higher grade than those who do not.

Studies have shown that a professor’s teaching style has a profound effect on the student body’s motivation in the classroom. Negative teaching characteristics may include unclear instructions or expectations for assigned tasks, talking fast and moving through material with little explanation and low expectations on student performance or behavior. Such an environment creates a restless uneasiness and uncertainty in the classroom. The lecture hall is supposed to be established as a safe space for the cultivation of learning and ability to ask questions

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shamelessly. That is not always the case.

With that said, there should be stricter regulations in place that result in more rigorous evaluations of professor performance and teaching capability to implement equal teaching while simultaneously providing an incentive for professors to truly reflect and make improvements where necessary. Professors who do not reflect upon their evaluations see no reason to change. This continues the cycle of dissatisfied students and grades that are not representative of actual learning, but that of busy work and rigid cut-offs that give way to a toxic learning environment.

This sentiment was arguably echoed by our own university president at last week’s Undergraduate Student Government meeting in which President Eric Kaler stated that professors theoretically are unable to focus on juggling teaching, research and other academic activities all to the best of their ability. When asked: “For professors who are heavily involved in research, how do you plan to make sure that professors spend the same amount of time here, teaching and advising as they do in the research?” he responded, “The short, honest answer is we don’t [expect them to spend the same amount of time]. If somebody is a superstar researcher and they’re doing that thing, there’s only so many hours in the day, and they’re probably not going to be as effective at teaching as somebody who has more time to devote to teaching … Many people aren’t triple threat players.” There will clearly be some tradeoffs made on the educational front of such a research-focused institution, and often that sacrifice is felt most in terms of general student education. Instead of investing so heavily in AI efforts, perhaps Case Western Reserve University should consider getting its educational standards up to serve its student-debt laden population. Maybe then we could make it back into the top fifty schools in the nation.

Speaking the truth: how sexism is built into our everyday language

Lily Zhang Copy Editor

In 2011, an interesting study was done between Chinese-American bilinguals and English speaking monolinguals. Both groups were given sets of images of Jet Li and Brad Pitt at differing ages and asked to organize these pictures in an order of increasing age. In the monolingual English group, a majority of the participants organized the images horizontally, whilst a majority of the Chinese-speaking bilingual group organized the images vertically. What caused this difference? In Chinese, the idea of next, as in “next week” or “next year” is “xià,” which also holds meanings of “lower” or “down.” Thus, this difference in language might explain why many of the ChineseAmericans labelled their images in a vertical fashion. These differences hold profound implications and show that language controls our perception of space and time.

If language can control our perception of time, one of the most abstract yet universal aspects of life, then it un-

doubtedly controls or, at least strongly affects, every other construction of our reality and identity. Colonialists, of course, utilized language, or perhaps the absence of language (along with acts of violence) to impose their constructs onto indigenous populations. Removing someone’s language essentially removes one’s identity and connection to others. Thus, we can say without doubt that language has always, and will continue to, construct our view of the world and ourselves.

In the context of sexism in the United States, the English language controls how people in the United States view sex and gender. Many words, for example, are so gendered that they almost become synonymous with “man” or “woman.” Think of the word “receptionist,” and an image of a woman almost inevitably pops into your mind. Sure, some might argue that these words are gendered simply because women hold the majority of certain occupations or roles. However, most of these words, such as “receptionist,” hold diminutive connotations. This isn’t to say that a receptionist is not a vital role, but a receptionist is always

an assistant to someone else (stereotypically, a man.) In other words, feminized words are taken less seriously.

On the note of being taken less seriously, what do women hear when they show distress and emotion? That they’re being “hysterical.”

Where does the word hysterical come from? Hysterical comes from the Greek word “hystera,” which means “uterus.” The word “hysterical” holds historical medical context; in the 18th century, women who were having a stroke or epilepsy were labeled to have “hysteria.”

The English language is also asymmetric in respect to sex and gender. The word “virgin,” for example, has no direct male equivalent. The most would perhaps be “male virgin,” but if you have to put the word “male” in front of a word, that probably implies the word is inherently associated with women (just like how “male nurse” or even “murse” is used to indicate a nurse who is male.) We also don’t hear any phrases like “working father” or “careerman” as we hear “working mother” or “careerwoman.” The implication there, evidently, is that a

woman in a household is not expected to have her own career and, when she does, she needs a new label.

Finally, the grammar with which we speak about women and men is markedly different. Women are placed in a sentence passively: “a woman was assaulted,” for example, places the spotlight, and, consequently, the blame on a woman who is in a situation where someone takes advantage of her. The way we talk about the biological process of fertilization, even with the “sperm fertilizing the egg,” labels the egg—that is, the female—as passive and waiting. Some might argue that these are just facts. This is just science. But science is biased, science is changing and science has room for improvement always. It is important to know that this is happening and that this contributes to the language we speak. Languages are extensions of ourselves, just as much as our own body parts. We live with and within language. Thus, it is necessary to be aware of the sexism ingrained within it, to understand just how much we chafe against sexism every day.

Hidden cost of consumerism

Afshan Ara Staff Writer

I want to start this article by reminding people that I am in no way shaming or judging anyone. I am a victim of this mentality myself. In the United States, consumerism is a lifestyle that dominates many people’s lives. Putting aside the argument that money can offer outlets of happiness, being extremely materialistic does the opposite. A recent frenzy that caught not only my attention, but the attention of other online influencers as well, was the chaotic Starbucks Bearista wave. Admittedly the cup is cute, but many cups can offer a similar joy and aesthetic. I saw several videos of people rushing to obtain this artifact, even going as far as waiting outside a Starbucks at 4 a.m. There was controversy amongst customers and employees, as customers claimed employees were setting aside cups for themselves. Along with this animosity, influencers criticized the company, customers and employees altogether. Personally, I do not think a cup should induce so much unnecessary contention.

There is a long-standing materialistic attitude consumers in the U.S. exercise. It is understandable: post WWII economic growth encouraged individuals to hold more spending power and experience the new status quo. Today, however, this mentality has prompted people to become excessive with their possessions and partake in questionable purchasing practices. Because social media has made it easier to gain insight into current trends, there is more pressure to follow these trends in order to maintain an acceptable image. An example that many fail to resist is Black Friday. Although this day is meant to aid in Christmas shopping, it has

made headlines for very interesting stories. The enormous markdowns rope in vulnerable consumers who spend more than they can afford on items they don’t need. The event places already stressed-out employees under immense pressure and exploitation. Several of the products purchased during Black Friday are returned due to consumer dissatisfaction, and this overconsumption mentality is reflected in the amount of retail waste and resource depletion that is generated.

Often, stores will offer payment plans to allow customers, even those with poor credit, to “purchase” all the things they desire, which enables shopping addiction and financial instability. Payment plans are a feasible practice when used for items that cost a significant amount, or for items that are necessary. Customers who are lured in through the appeal of this frictionless spending often link their worth to the items they own, though. The convenience and zero-interest of the deals make for a convincing system, but over half of the users report overspending, missing payments and purchase regrets. These “buy now, pay later” programs usually get the attention and business of shoppers who are already in debt and therefore, cannot afford to make a purchase in one transaction. These customers make it easier for companies to create more and more products to meet their profit margins and reinforce a consumerist culture where new trends, sales and limited time offers are rampant.

People may use shopping as a way of coping with stress, loneliness, low self-esteem and anxiety, getting a temporary “high” after going on spending sprees. This retail relief is short-lived and often followed by guilt or shame. The emotional crash only encourages customers to spend more in order

to alleviate the negative feelings from previous purchases. And social media further perpetuates this consumerist culture. People who consume TikTok and Instagram content are constantly exposed to promotions by influencers, clothing hauls and advertisements. This becomes especially dangerous for vulnerable customers with a spending problem, as the algorithm intakes information of past purchases or views to produce relevant advertisements.

An occasional shopping spree is something we all partake in and may even deserve to do. Unfortunately, becoming driven by material possessions is a slippery slope, especially in American culture, where ownership and wealth-flaunting is encouraged. A new piece of clothing or cup will not hurt in the longrun, but constantly buying the latest products and not contemplating these purchases thoroughly can hurt not only your wallet but also your self-esteem.

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We’ve all been there, trying to study or finish that last assignment when all we want to do is … anything else. Maybe we’re overwhelmed with the work we have to do, or maybe we feel the pressures of perfectionism and don’t want to start. We push ourselves to “lock in,” but call it quits too often, feeling guilty each time we pick up our phones to doomscroll again and again. Doing anything but the work we have piled up always seems to feel better than actually getting things done, but the sinking feeling in our stomach knowing we’ve wasted time is much worse. Can we really consider these pauses to be “breaks” if we feel worse after taking them?

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We may trap ourselves in a cycle of counterproductivity and double the time it takes to complete a task. In this “popcorn brain” mindset, we work and get little done, then stop working and think about how we could be working. By the time we resume our work, we feel ashamed, not refreshed, and we stay up late in attempts to catch up.

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A break is not shameful, not when it has the potential to act as a tool that makes productivity much more efficient. We just need to know how to use them.

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Just as an athlete wouldn’t do 150 consecutive bicep curls while strength training at the gym, as students we must take meaningful breaks in reasonable intervals. One popular example of this is the Pomodoro method, where 5 minute breaks follow 25 minutes of work (10 minutes of break to 50 minutes of work is also a popular option). By time-boxing our productivity and knowing we will be rewarded, we remain more focused when we

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The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer reports news affecting students and provides an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are typically written by the opinion editor but reflect the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. Opinion columns are the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact via e-mail at observer@case.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters can be mailed to Thwing Center 11111 Euclid Avenue, Suite 01, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. For policy and guidelines related to the submission of Letters to the Editor, refer to observer.case.edu/submit-a-letter.

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TikToker’s social experiment lays bare the deceit of Evangelical Christianity

Milo Vetter Staff Writer

This week’s viral news story comes from a TikTok creator: Nikalie Monroe. She’s been conducting a “social experiment,” in which she calls various churches, pretending to be a single mother of a starving baby and in need of baby formula. After tabulating the results, a trend is obvious; the most likely churches to offer help were Black churches, Catholic churches, synagogues, and even mosques. Meanwhile, the least likely churches to help were the most prevalent type in America— white, Protestant churches, especially evangelical ones.

The experiment has triggered a strong community response. Monroe has directed her viewers to donate to churches who passed the test, culminating in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of donations. At the other end of the spectrum, some churches who failed responded with outright hostility. Most prominently, one pastor said she has the “spirit of a witch” because of her trickery.

Monroe’s videos have also sparked a conversation about the function of churches—a “Come to Jesus” moment, if you will. Outrage has especially been directed at megachurches like Lakewood Church, the fourth-largest church in the U.S. by average attendance, which wanted her to complete an application process for their “benevolence ministry” before receiving a container of baby formula.

But the fact that 33 out of the 43 tested churches refused to help should not be a surprise to anyone who is aware of religion’s prevalence in politics in America. Enshrined in our constitution is a separation of church and state. This critical distinction was established at a time when the framers of the constitution were wary of corruption, both by the government persecuting religious minorities and by the clergy securing preferential treatment from governments. This is why America’s religious policy is one of the most lenient in the world, giving all churches tax-exempt status and very light regulations, while also feverishly protecting freedom of religion. Importantly, this tax-exempt status is also justified by the claim that churches are non-profit charitable organizations, a status whose authenticity is rarely investigated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

But organized religion has not held up its end of the bargain. Not only do some churches shirk their charitable duties, but the concept of a secular America is now consistently under attack. As a macabre example, one of the many sources of Charlie Kirk’s infamy before his assassination was his political advocacy to strengthen the link between Christianity and conservatism. He regularly held events at Protestant megachurches and repeatedly framed liberal politics as an existential threat to Christianity. The result of this political doctrine is that legal arguments for preserving conversion therapy for queer people or overturning gay marriage are made on the grounds of religious freedom. Blurring the lines between religion and politics doesn’t just turn a political enemy into an unholy one; it also galvanizes support for your political goals.

But the political concept most relevant to Monroe’s experiment is the concept of the “undeserving poor,” one of the most important mechanics of conservatism. The “underserving poor” is an organization of society into those who deserve power and wealth and those who don’t. Accordingly, giving welfare to ablebodied unemployed people or social security to the elderly still able to work is a perversion of their natural order of society. Not to mention that the “undeserving poor” often has a racial element. The most common stereotypes of the undeserving poor population are Black people, who are simultaneously “lazy” and “thugs,” or illegal immigrants, who are somehow stealing our social security benefits despite not being eligible for them. Then, is it any surprise that Lakewood Church has an application process for financial aid? The corruption caused by a linking of conservative politics and Christianity goes both ways. The same gatekeeping that conservatives insert into our

social safety nets is mirrored in their own forms of charity.

And now we must bring back the context of Monroe’s experiment. It happened at the height of the government shutdown, when the Trump administration was defying court orders in order to starve millions of Americans by denying them Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. One common argument against “government handouts” is that assistance for the poor could be better handled by charitable organizations like churches. In calling up all these churches, she wanted to test whether that argument actually holds any water. The results have shown us the reality behind this rhetoric: when a conservative government expands the “undeserving poor” to include anyone who needs help, churches willing to be complicit in the conservative project will happily introduce their own methods of gatekeeping to make sure that food will be given only to the starving babies who de-

serve it.

When Atheists criticize Christians, one of their favorite techniques is to smugly recite Bible quotes to parrot back all the ways that Christians fail to live up to their ideals. I’ll restrain myself to just one example: the parable of the Good Samaritan from the Gospel of Luke. Once, a follower of Jesus asked him: “What must I do to reach Heaven?” Jesus responded with a story about a Jew who had been robbed and beaten while traveling. Both a priest and a fellow Jew passed by without helping. But then, a Samaritan—traditionally a bitter enemy to a Jew—stopped and helped the injured Jew by carrying him to an inn where he could be fed and healed. The moral of the story is clear: it’s not enough to protect those who are close to you. Those who claim to love their neighbor, yet, deliberately choose to hurt the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Those are the types of “Christians” that will never see the light of Heaven.

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Into the Siken-verse: fandom cruelty and the growth of anti-intellectualism in fandom spaces

Mariana Parilli-Castillo Copy Editor

There’s no shame in saying that if I were to rank how much time I spend engaging in fandom in comparison to more fruitful endeavors like sleep or budgeting for the upcoming recession, it would still be firmly placed in my top three activities. I was part of fandom culture before most websites would be happy to know I was. I’ve had the same Archive of Our Own account since before they had exclusionary filters and I had a truly cringe-worthy “Incorrect Quotes”-style Tumblr blog for a good part of my middle and high school years. Most of my post-pubescent life has been deeply enmeshed with fandom culture and spaces. This is all to say that it is not a complete outsider telling the fandom that it’s being completely stupid at best and downright malicious at worst when members cannibalize art without actually engaging with it in good faith and then attack its author when he says that he’s uncomfortable with this.

Richard Siken is a poet. A great one in my opinion. While I’ll admit that I have only read his first novel, “Crush,” I’ve found that his driving diction and ceaseless urgency was crushing (pardon my pun). I discovered him as a young, queer teenager who was first trying to make sense of her world. Siken did not make sense of my world—his world was that of a gay man who survived the AIDS epidemic with insurmountable loss, mine was mine to understand. But, at the very least, I could find a connection out there with

his verse. I could find a sense of understanding and empathy even when the Richard Siken who wrote “Crush” and the Mariana who read it were so far apart in years, life stories and conclusions. If it came to it and someone asked me who are some of my favorite poets, Richard Siken’s name would most likely be pretty early during the 20-minute lecture you’ve just signed yourself up for. My predilection for Richard Siken is not rare considering my age and background. He is one of the most commonly known among my generation outside of the standard English high school curriculum circuit, though most of his prominence is unwanted.

When enmeshing yourself in fandom circles, it would not be uncommon to see fragmented excerpts of Richard Siken’s poetry used for any and all fan products especially when it is (relation)ship-based. Fan edits, photo compilations, fan fiction titles and tweets saying “[X ship] is so [insert quote here]” all feature excerpts of Siken’s work, though oftentimes without actually citing the excerpt’s source. It is also not uncommon to see that the people who use Siken’s poetry as a supplementary source of their fan works often do not read Siken himself. Rather, it is often other fan works that inspire the usage of the Siken quotes. The use of these Siken quotes then do not represent a commentary on Siken or on the themes that he explores in his poetry, but rather on its usage within fandom.

As you can guess, Siken is not thrilled about this phenomenon. He is now part of the endless tapestry of fandom as he himself has been

vocally part of fandom for more than a decade through his Tumblr and Twitter accounts, showing himself to be enthusiastic about the usage of his poetry in transformative works of fandom.

Of course, this comes with a caveat: he wanted those who used his work to actually interact with his work and use it consciously within the context of his poetry. As he tweeted in 2023 following his return to social media after surviving a stroke in 2019, “I did not die 100 years ago and I did not die 4 years ago when I had my stroke. It’s okay to Google things, you don’t have to make them up. It’s also okay to quote an author, even use their lines, but you should know who they are and (hopefully) buy their books.” Succinctly put, Siken is fine if you use his work as long as you at least know about him. Unfortunately, a good number of people decidedly break this one and only rule.

On Nov. 11, Siken posted a screenshot of “Crush’s” 20th anniversary edition’s afterword, which states: “Some fans altered the male/male dynamic of the poems and posted their new, re-gendered versions. Some used the quotes in contexts that didn’t make sense to me. Some misquoted the poems on purpose to suit their needs. I wanted readers to find meaning in the poems, even if that meaning slid away from my intention, but sometimes the revisions slid too far away from the original text. I felt as though my inner life was being translated into something unrecognizable.”

The caption of the post read “Dear Buddie lovers, from the afterword in “Crush.”” Siken posted this tweet

due to the backlash he received from publicly disliking a tweet comparing one of his poems, “You Are Jeff,” and the non-canonical ship between Buck and Eddie from a procedural melodrama called “91-1,” writing in his response that “Buddie is the least Richard Siken thing I have ever heard of [...] It’s great when cool things overlap. Buddie and Siken don’t.” This ruffled the feathers of some Buddie fans, taking it as a direct insult of their ship even when all that Siken’s post was saying was that he simply did not see it that way, especially as Siken later referred to “Crush” as “An AIDS memoir.”

The response to this was rather brutal and misguided. Many referenced the concept of the “death of the author” as established by Roland Barthes, arguing that anyone in fandom had the right to take Siken’s writing and do with it whatever they wanted. For Siken to dislike this was, as they saw it, breaching upon this right. One memorable quote tweet to one of Siken’s responses read “no. the author needs to DIEEEEE [sic]” while a slew of insults of the age-related and relevancy-related variety could be found in his comments. Most of them had not actually comprehended the afterword excerpt that Siken had published, and those who were crying “death of the author” had obviously not comprehended that either. Lovingly stated, most of these people read like they were functionally illiterate.

This is the problem with fandom practice lately by way of extension of the growing culture of anti-intellectualism. As the practice of critical analysis within the humanities becomes undermined by government policy and sociocultural shifts, people lose touch with what makes up a well-thought out logical argument. They lose touch with how to read a text in its entirety without having a hot-take quote-tweet response at the ready and even what makes transformative works unique. Transformative works are a form of commentary and criticism, as the consumer of the work emphasises, diminishes, criticizes or even celebrates aspects of said work through off-shoots. They are a way to help the work be interpreted beyond what is presented on the screen or on the page. By nature, they are supplementary in the way that a literary analysis paper is supplementary. They do not stand alone.

Richard Siken is not the second coming of Anne Rice. He is not threatening legal action at whoever creates transformative works using his poetry. He is simply stating that before analyzing a text, one should maybe read it first, engage with it in good faith and then transform it into a new, critical iteration of itself. Richard Siken is allowed to feel some kind of way about people using “Crush,” which is largely inspired by the memories of his boyfriend who died of the AIDS epidemic in the 90s, in a context that he does not understand. It seems cruel to begrudge him the conversation between author and reader through the act of only reading three verse lines at a time and drawing your own conclusions from there. I’m not saying that he needs to give out his seal of approval; I’m just saying that he is allowed to have an opinion.

Courtesy of Richard Siken

Sports

CWRU wrestling aims for breakthrough season

Ellie Palaian Sports Editor

After a challenging 1-6 season in 2024–2025, the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team is back on the mat with renewed energy and a clear goal: competing for the UAA title and making a run at the national championship.

Despite last year’s struggles, including a last-place finish at the UAA Championship, the Spartans committed to a rigorous offseason and are already seeing results. They earned a third-place finish out of 14 teams at the Mount Union Invitational and followed that performance with a 25-13 victory over No. 23-ranked Adrian University.

“We’ve looked great so far this season, being the best D3 team at the Mount Union Invitational and beating 23rd ranked Adrian in Michigan,” fourth-year wrestler Art Martinez said. “These results just exemplify how Coach Shapiro’s vision for our team is finally coming to fruition. I really think this is the year that it all comes together for CWRU Wrestling and am super excited for what lies ahead.”

The team is led by Head Coach David Shapiro, who has been at the helm since August 2023. Joining him are assistant coaches Garrett Chase, Kevon Freeman, Stephen Andryc and the program’s newest coaching addition, Jordan Decatur, a standout wrestler with an impressive collegiate career at both Ohio State University and Kent State University. Decatur’s athletic resume includes three state championships, an NHSCA Freshman National title, four Ironman placements and selection as a 2018 Cadet World Team member. Martinez appreciates the leadership and technical expertise Decatur brings

to the coaching staff, especially in developing the team’s lighter weight classes.

“We worked really hard in the preseason in the weight room as well as on the mat,” Martinez said. “Everyone has been doing extra work and practices to get better and the addition of a new assistant coach is Jordan Decatur, a DI NCAA qualifier, has really helped the lighter weights jump levels.”

The UAA is made up of eight schools, and all CWRU athletic teams except football compete within the conference. Wrestling, however, is an exception. Only two other UAA institutions—the University of Chicago and New York University—sponsor wrestling programs. As a result, the Spartans compete exclusively against these two schools for the UAA title. After finishing last in the conference standings each year since the 2021–2022 season, the team is determined to break that streak and climb the rankings this year.

“I’m expecting this to be numerically the best season we’ve had since I have been at CWRU,” Martinez said. “Coming off a win against the 23rd ranked team in the country shows that Coach Shapiro’s plan for our team is finally coming together. I firmly believe that we can compete for a UAA title this year because of the depth of our lineup and new additions to our team. I also hope we can punch a few tickets to the NCAA tournament, which we have not done in more than 10 years.”

This season, the Spartans welcomed nine first-year wrestlers to the roster and are led by eight fourth-years competing in their final collegiate season. The blend of seasoned leadership and fresh energy has created a strong team dynamic, positioning the Spartans for

continued growth and success.

“Having a large senior class has been huge for the development of our freshman,” fourth-year Thomas Wagner said. “We have no team captains for wrestling because our philosophy is that we are all equals. Everyone has the opportunity to step up and become a leader in their own way. Each of us have taken a leadership role in some capacity and it has helped our younger guys adjust to the pace, expectations and mindset of college wrestling. The freshmen have brought a ton of energy into the room, and the balance between the experience and enthusiasm has really elevated the whole team.”

Martinez is excited for the season ahead and deeply values the strong team dynamic the wrestlers share. He feels confident in their ability to compete at a high level this year.

“This year’s team just feels dif-

ferent,” Martinez said. “Everyone is working as hard as they can and is excited to do so. That excitement about the sport and the grind is contagious and lifts others on the team up to elevate their work ethic in the room.”

The Spartans will return to action on Nov. 22 at the Baldwin Wallace Invitational. Looking ahead, they will compete in the UAA Championships in February, where they hope to earn the program’s first conference title.

“I’m super excited to showcase our wrestling and hard work we’ve put in throughout the year,” Wagner said. “Personally, I feel more confident and prepared than ever. As a team, we’ve made big strides technically and mentally and I’m super excited to be able to showcase that growth. This is my final year of eligibility and I look to make the most of every opportunity this season.”

Athletics

Tim Phillis/CWRU Athletics

Women’s soccer falls in second round of NCAA tournament, capping off strong and memorable season

Abhishek Nambiar Copy Editor

For many athletic teams at Case Western Reserve University, reaching the NCAA tournament is a once-in-a-career milestone. For the women’s soccer program, it’s simply expected.

For the class of 2026, that standard turned into history as they advanced to the tournament in all four years of their collegiate careers. But on Sunday, Nov. 16, that journey came to a heart-wrenching close on their home field in a tense penalty shootout.

The Spartans’ season officially ended Sunday as they fell 3-0 in a penalty kick shootout against Swarthmore College in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship. This was following a 1-1 tie between CWRU and Swarthmore that went into double overtime. With the conclusion of this game, the Spartans end their season with a 14-2-4 record with the Garnet moving to 153-4.

While the result of this past weekend’s game may be one that the Spartans were not hoping for, it nonetheless caps off an incredible season for the team full of numerous highs and records.

“Although we did not make it as far in the post-season as we all hoped for, this season’s team culture and bond exceeded my expectations,” third-year defender Kat Tsarouhas said. “Compared to previous seasons, this year was such a fun and positive experience. In my opinion, that is what helped us perform so well against the top teams in the country.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by fourth-year midfielder and co-captain Mackenzie Mueller, who capped off a stellar career Sunday night.

“I am very proud of the sheer number of people who stepped up this season when we needed them,” Mueller said. “This season was truly a team effort in every sense. Whether it was someone scoring a goal in a big moment, playing new positions, dealing with injuries or showing up with energy, this group of girls leaned on each other and rose to ev-

ery occasion.”

Among their accomplishments, the team extended their undefeated streak to 63 upon their win over Baldwin Wallace University on Sept. 30. The squad also achieved 57 goals in 18 regular season games, the most in program history.

While they fell short of a championship ring, the team’s advancement to the second round of the NCAA Tournament nonetheless marked the Spartans’ fifth consecutive appearance on the national stage.

Helping make these accomplishments possible were the team’s 10 fourth-years: captains Mueller, Jamie Goldfarb and Alexis Sassower; defenders Emma Struck and Julia Flynn; forwards Maggie Farra, Molly Shamah and Andrea Silva; midfielder Ceci Dapino; and student manager Mikaela Ramos. Together, this senior class has left a lasting

mark on the program, redefining the standards of CWRU women’s soccer and exemplifying what it means to be a Spartan both on and off the field.

“There are truly no words to describe the impact this year’s seniors had on the team. Besides being talented soccer players, they were leaders on and off the field and role models for myself and many of my teammates,” Tsarouhas said. “The love, passion and commitment they had for our team was admirable.”

Through all of their success this season, the team was still not without its challenges. Mueller called attention to various ways in which the team was challenged this year.

“I think a big challenge was that we often played well but didn’t always get the result we felt we deserved. Strong performances don’t always translate to wins, and that’s just how the game goes sometimes,” Mueller said. “I also think there was some natural pressure that came with having such an experienced and talented group. We knew what we were capable of, and with that came high expectations, both internally and externally. On top of that, injuries of course affected our season and led to some adversity.”

Despite every obstacle, however, the team persevered and continued to show up for each other, highlighting how strong their bond was even through tough times. This bond is one that Mueller expects to see continue on and flourish long after she and her fellow seniors have graduated.

“With such a large senior class graduating, it’ll definitely be an adjustment, but it is nothing this group can’t handle,” Mueller said. “The underclassmen have shown tremendous growth and are extremely hungry to learn and improve. They have proven that they know how to step up in big moments and embrace the culture we have built.”

Younger members of the team

have already begun making their mark on the field. Second-year goalkeeper Ellie Palaian—alongside defenders Tsarouhas, first-year Mia Modrovich, second-year Kinzly Gootman and third-year Kaylee Bannack—helped break the singleseason program record for shutouts, with Palaian earning 12 to her name this season. First-year Izzy Probst was named the UAA Rookie of the Year for an impressive debut campaign, highlighted by her scoring two of CWRU’s five goals against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology during the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Against the backdrop of these highlights, Tsarouhas is confident in the team’s ability to replicate and even exceed the successes that have been accomplished over this past season.

“Moving forward, I expect our team to build on the competitive energy and confidence we developed this season,” Tsarouhas said. “We should continue to raise our standards, pushing ourselves to play at the highest level, and staying committed to the team-first mindset that makes us successful. If we keep challenging each other and staying disciplined, we can continue competing as one of the best women’s soccer programs in the nation.”

Before then, however, the team is ready to celebrate their final moments with this year’s senior class, grateful for all that they have done.

“Finishing my final season of collegiate soccer has affected me deeply as an athlete and a person,” Mueller said. “This sport and my role on the team has taught me how to navigate pressure with grace and stay grounded in moments of uncertainty. Knowing that my actions, words and energy could help shape the experience of my teammates is more than I could ask for. This season reminded me that success is not always measured in wins or stats, but the impact we leave behind.”

Phillip Kornberg / The Observer

Though they fell short of an NCAA title, the women’s soccer team’s past season was one defined by numerous highs and accomplishments from a team that never failed on the teamwork and resilience front. Phillip Kornberg/The Observer

Weekly Scores

Women’s Soccer

NCAA Championship vs Rose-Hulman (11/15) W 5-0 vs Swarthmore (11/16) T 1-1 (0-3 PKs)

Football vs Geneva College (Pa.)(11/15) L 16-43

Volleyball

vs Carnegie Mellon (11/15) L 2-3 vs Rochester (11/15) W 3-0 vs Emory (11/16)

Cross Country

NCAA Great Lakes Regional(11/15)

Men’s Team 6th of 37 teams

Women’s Team 6th of 37 teams

Wrestling at Adrian (11/15) W 25-13

Men’s Basketball

Omni Ink Waynesburg Tip-Off Tournament (11/14-11/15) at Waynesburg (11/14) W 89-61 vs Mount Union (11/15) L 72-82

Women’s Basketball vs Adrian (11/15) W 65-68 at Capital (11/19) L 54-59 (OT)

Upcoming Games

Wrestling at Baldwin Wallace Invitational 11/22

Swim and Dive

at Total Performance Invite (11/20-11/22)

Wrestling at Baldwin Wallace Invitational 11/22

Cross Country

Men’s Basketball

Great Lakes Invitational (11/21-11/22) at Washington and Jefferson 11/21 at Trinity 11/22

Women’s Basketball

vs Thiel 11/22, 1 p.m. Horsburgh Gymnasium at Bethany 11/25

Spartan volleyball and cross country shine over the weekend with historic results

Ellie Palaian Sports Editor

Volleyball

The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team closed out its 2025 season with a statement win at the UAA Championship in Waltham, Massachusetts, securing a historic upset over Emory University and finishing fifth in the conference. The Spartans’ 3-1 victory over the Eagles snapped a 49-match losing streak against Emory that stretched all the way back to 1992, when current Head Coach Karen Farrell was a fourth-year on the Brandeis University team.

CWRU entered the weekend as the fifth seed and opened play on Saturday with a hard-fought five-set battle against fourth-seeded Carnegie Mellon University. Despite rallying to win the second and third sets, the Spartans fell 3-2. They rebounded strongly in their second match of the day, sweeping eighth-seeded University of Rochester in straight sets. Fourth-year co-captain and outside hitter Kalli Wall led the team with 30 combined kills across both Saturday matches, while fellow fourth-year and co-captain middle blocker Amanda Ngo contributed 21 kills and a teamhigh eight blocks. The win over Rochester secured the Spartans’ fourth consecutive winning season.

The highlight of the weekend, however, came on Sunday when the Spartans faced sixth-seeded Emory University in the fifth-place match. CWRU struck early and never looked back, seizing the first two sets before closing the match in four. Wall led the way in her final collegiate match with 16 kills and just one error. Ngo and fellow fourth-year middle blocker Kiya Levy each added seven kills, with Ngo contributing five blocks and Levy posting four blocks and two service aces. Third-year outside hitter Emily Goodpaster added 10 kills and helped anchor the offense, while second-

years defensive specialist Sophia Datto, setter Avery Basinger and setter Elena Esquivel combined for 25 digs and 35 assists.

The win carried emotional significance for Farrell, who secured her 455th career victory at CWRU and 532nd overall, as well as for her team’s fourth-years. Wall concluded her Spartan career with 1,064 kills, ranking 12th all-time in program history. Ngo reached the 1,000 career point milestone during the weekend and ended her tenure with 832 kills, 319 blocks and the sixth-highest blocksper-set average in program history. Levy wrapped up her career with 364 kills and 198 blocks over four seasons.

Meanwhile, rising talent shone through in players like Datto, who finished the year with 553 digs—the most by a Spartan in a single season since 2015—and is on pace to become the 22nd player in school history to record 1,000 career digs. Esquivel led the team with 703 assists on the year and Basinger added 402 more, setting a strong foundation for future success.

After ending the season with a 1714 record and delivering one of the program’s most meaningful victories in decades, the Spartans leave Waltham, Massachusetts with momentum and pride, well-positioned to continue climbing within one of the nation’s toughest conferences.

Cross Country

The CWRU men’s and women’s cross country teams closed out a strong showing at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Led by standout individual performances, both squads placed sixth among 37 teams, with first-years Francesca Taracila and Halina Tompkins, third-year Jacob Slater and second-year Donovan Crowley all earning All-Region honors—and three Spartans officially securing their spots at the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships.

Continue reading on page 15 W 3-1

On the women’s side, Taracila paced the team with a career-best time of 22:28.8 in the 6K, finishing ninth overall and earning one of the region’s top-seven individual qualifying spots for next week’s national championship meet. Tompkins joined her in earning All-Region recognition with a 26th-place finish, while fourth-years Arianna Holbrook and Ayla Grabenbauer were close behind in 41st and 42nd place, respectively. First-year Reid Smith rounded out the scoring for CWRU with a 46th-place finish. The team’s sixth-place regional result marks a three-spot improvement from last year, as the Spartans continue to rise among Great Lakes competition.

In the men’s race, Slater led the Spartans with an impressive thirdplace finish in the 8K, clocking in at 24:56.8 to secure his second-straight All-Region honor and his place at Nationals. Crowley was not far behind, placing seventh in a career-best time of 25:06.8 to join Slater in the NCAA Championship field for the second year in a row. Second-year Adam Esa narrowly missed All-Region distinction with a 36th-place finish, and first-year Jacob Porter and graduate student Mike Lombardi also scored for the Spartans, finishing 82nd and 88th, respectively.

Both the men’s and women’s teams entered the regional meet ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Region and matched their team finishes from last season on the men’s side. Individually, Taracila’s and Crowley’s breakthrough performances highlight the program’s depth, while Slater’s topthree finish reinforces his status as one of the region’s elite runners. Slater, Crowley and Taracila will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held at the Roger Milliken Center on Saturday, Nov. 22. The men’s 8K race is set for 10 a.m., with the women’s 6K to follow at 11 a.m.

Senior Spotlight: Four standout Spartans leave their mark on CWRU volleyball

On Nov. 1, the Case Western Reserve University volleyball team took center stage to honor a quartet of standout seniors during an emotional Senior Day showdown against Otterbein University. The spotlight shone brightly on co-captains Kalli Wall and Amanda Ngo, along with fellow fourth-years Kiya Levy and Elizabeth Onyekwere, four athletes who have left

an indelible mark on Spartan volleyball. Over their illustrious careers, this senior class has amassed an impressive 85-37 overall record and made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024, etching their legacy in program history.

“Their legacy is creating this really positive collaborative team dynamic where people felt like they belonged,” Head Coach Karen Farrell said. “A lot of times, success is really judged on wins and losses, and while we’ve won a num-

ber of matches this year and some big matches, we lost a number of matches early where our experience just wasn’t there against the level of competition we were playing. But this season, I would completely say is one of the most successful seasons we’ve ever had, and it’s because of who these players are and what they’ve created for us and what the lasting impact of that will be for this program.”

Ellie Palaian Sports Editor

Senior Spotlights from page 14

Fourth-year co-captain and middle blocker Amanda Ngo has cemented her legacy as one of the most decorated players in CWRU volleyball history. This past weekend, Ngo achieved a major milestone by surpassing 1,000 career points. She leaves the program with 832 kills, 319 blocks, and the sixth-highest blocks-per-set average ever recorded by a Spartan. In 2024, Ngo earned AVCA All-America Third Team honors, becoming just the second All-American in the program’s history.

“I think it’s nice to succeed, of course, but I think it really reflects on the people around me that have poured into my career,” Ngo said. “From family, to teammates, to coaches, to my sorority sisters, each one of these communities have made me a better person and a better player. I try to thank them for that support when I can but I should probably do it more.”

In her first two years as a Spartan, Ngo had the rare opportunity to share the court with her older sister, Jennifer Ngo (2019–2023). Jennifer made program history in 2023 when she was named to the AVCA All-America First Team—the first player in CWRU volleyball history to earn that distinction. Together, the Ngo sisters stand as the only players in program history to achieve All-America honors, leaving a lasting legacy on Spartan volleyball.

“I think being with my sister Jennifer helped me in my first two seasons,” Ngo said. “Having that familiar support I’ve had at home is something that I often took for granted before coming to Case. My parents also instilled this sort of belief system I have. If I’m going to commit to something, I will do it to my best ability. I love the sport, yes, but when it gets tough with all other factors of life I go back to the basics my parents have taught me.”

Off the court, Ngo continues to make an impact as a Civic Engagement Scholar, a program that honors students committed to meaningful community involvement. She also works in the Case School of Dental Medicine’s Bolton-Brush Growth Study Center, where she digitizes radiographs and study models from longitudinal research to support ongoing scholarly work. Additionally, Ngo is a member of the CWRU chapter of the Black Latinx Athletes Coalition (BLAC), further exemplifying her dedication to advocacy and representation.

“Each year, I make a commitment to serve the greater Cleveland community from cleaning the Boys and Girls Club to helping with Case’s foodbank,” Ngo said. “I’ve loved the experiences I’ve gained from volunteering and giving back to the community that has given me so many opportunities. I also worked with BLAC for the past 3 years. I got into that because I wanted to find a space that everyone in athletics felt seen and heard and it was fun to be able to interact with people from so many different sports.” Farrell is extremely grateful for the opportunity to coach Ngo, valuing not only her on-court talent, but also her positive attitude toward the team and the game.

Elizabeth Onyekwere

“She’s always positive. She’s really like the life of the group when she’s in the mix,” Farrell said. “She’s incredibly talented athletically. She’s also come a long way in becoming a stronger volleyball player. I think her first year or so, she was just playing as an athlete, but now she really makes great decisions with what she does with the ball. She’s just a formidable presence.” Ngo will be graduating in the spring with a degree in neuroscience and minors in chemistry and Spanish. She plans to take some time at home before entering dental school. Ngo is sad to be graduating, but is appreciative of the time and experiences she has had at Case.

“I know it’ll hit me when I don’t have practice everyday and there’s this slot of time that isn’t dedicated to volleyball,” Ngo said. “It’ll be nice to enjoy non-athletic life, but I’ll miss the team aspect the most. The people really make the sport and I’m so grateful and proud of the girls I’ve been able to call my teammate throughout my years.”

Fourth-year right side hitter Elizabeth Onyekwere has been playing volleyball since elementary school. Though injuries have limited her ability to record stats compared to some teammates, she has made a meaningful impact on the team and maximized her time at CWRU.

Motivated by a family history of heart disease, Onyekwere has long been passionate about healthcare, and the strong reputation of CWRU’s healthcare programs ultimately drew her to CWRU.

“My recruiting process was finding the best school for me academically, and then volleyball followed,” Onyekwere said. “I knew D3 was the best option for me, and the plethora of opportunities in healthcare is what ultimately drew me to Case.”

Onyekwere’s senior season was sadly cut short when she tore her ACL during warmups in September, but she has continued to support her teammates and stay involved as she enjoys her final year as a Spartan. Farrell expressed her disappointment at losing Onyekwere on the court this season.

“We’ve missed her sort of being in the mix,” Farrell said. “She hasn’t been in a lot of our practices post-surgery, so it’s been a loss for our team. She’s a quieter player, but someone that players really looked up to and really like being around. She’s got a very nurturing way about her with some of the younger players, so I think that they lost out, especially our freshman class, on having a full season with her.”

Outside of volleyball, Onyekwere has built an impressive academic and professional portfolio. She is majoring in nutritional biochemistry and metabolism, minoring in chemistry, and is also earning her master’s degree in bioethics and medical humanities.

Over the past four years, she has been active in the Children’s Heart Foundation and the American Heart Association, where she has attended Scientific Sessions, served on the Youth Leadership Council and founded a campus organization called the Heart Health Collective. Additionally, she has gained valuable experience through medical research focused on pediatric nutrition and working at the Cleveland Clinic as a patient care nursing assistant and clinical technician since her freshman year.

“Making a 4-year plan made it easier for me to plan out my semesters so that I wouldn’t overwhelm myself, especially in the fall,” Onyekwere said. “I also love my physical planner and planning out my week on Sundays. Enjoying everything I’m doing has also made balancing easier. I love my major, sport, team and every activity I decide to dedicate my time to.”

After graduation, Onyekwere plans to return home to Texas to work in clinical research while applying to medical school. Though she is excited for the next chapter, she will deeply miss her time at CWRU and the bonds she has built with her teammates.

“It feels surreal to be at this point because I feel like I just got to campus last semester,” Onyekwere said. “There is still so much I want to accomplish, so part of me still can’t believe this chapter is already coming to an end. It is a bittersweet feeling since this sport has been such a huge part of my life, but I appreciate everything it has brought me.”

Amanda Ngo

Senior Spotlights from page 15

Since stepping onto the court as a first-year, fourth-year co-captain and outside hitter Kalli Wall has been a force for the Spartans. A consistent powerhouse in the lineup, Wall has ranked among the team’s top hitters every season, surpassing an incredible 1,000 career kills—a testament to her dominance, resilience and lasting impact on the program.

“I think a big part of my success has been working hard in the off season to improve my skills and athletic abilities,” Wall said. “I also could not have been at the level I am without the support from my incredible teammates, coaches and family.”

Wall is set to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a minor in communication sciences. Beyond her demanding coursework and commitment to varsity volleyball, she has also served as a cadet in the United States Air Force ROTC program. Through the program, she has taken additional classes at Kent State University and completed the rigorous training required to commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force after graduation.

As if balancing academics, athletics and military training weren’t enough, Wall is also an active member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at CWRU. Juggling such a demanding schedule hasn’t been easy, but Wall has met every challenge head-on.

“Time management has been a vital skill I have learned throughout my college career,” Wall said. “Balancing a hard major, volleyball, ROTC and sorority life has definitely had its ups and downs. The main thing I learned that has helped me is prioritizing certain aspects of each thing depending on what is most important at that moment. Sometimes, you have to advocate for yourself because you can’t be in two places at once and you can’t be expected to do everything all the time.”

Farrell has continually praised Wall for her impressive talent, skill and strong team leadership.

“It is pretty amazing what she’s accomplished considering the major she has,” Farrell said. “So for her to come in and be a starter right away tells a lot about her talent level. She’s having an unreal senior season, like just so consistent every time she steps on the floor. I’m really, really proud of what she’s accomplished.”

After graduation, Wall will be commissioned as a weather officer in the U.S. Air Force, where she will spend her first one to two years studying meteorology at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Looking back on her four years at CWRU, Wall reflects with pride on the growth and perseverance she and her fellow fourth-years have shown, both on and off the court. Their journey, she says, has been one defined by resilience, leadership and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

“I feel like I am a completely different person than I was when I came in freshman year,” Wall said. “I have gained so much experience and I have learned so much from my fellow seniors. It has been so amazing to watch them find success not just in volleyball, but in everything they have been involved in throughout college.”

Though Wall has come to terms with this being her final season of collegiate volleyball, she admits she’s not quite ready to leave the game behind. Still, she looks ahead with excitement and optimism.

“I don’t want to say that I am leaving volleyball behind, because I will always find a random tournament or a league to play in,” Wall said. “However, leaving behind this level of competition and leaving my teammates is going to be really hard. I feel like I am ready to see it come to an end in the sense that I have given my all these past four years, and I think I am ready to put some of that energy into a different area of my life.”

Kiya Levy

Fourth-year middle blocker Kiya Levy has been a steady presence for the Spartans since her first year. Hailing from Chicago, she has appeared in 90 of the team’s 122 matches over the past four seasons.

Farrell has valued Levy’s adaptability on the court and her willingness to step in wherever needed to help the team improve.

“Any time she was asked to step in and play in big moments, she did an awesome job,” Farrell said. “She was very confident stepping on the court and just has a very steady game. She’s probably one of our best all-around players in terms of just the fundamental skill set. She can really do anything. And she often will kind of step in during the chaos of play, like when the set doesn’t really go where it’s supposed to, she is able to kind of step in and make the play better.”

Levy wrapped up her career with 364 kills and 198 blocks over four seasons. She plans to graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering and pursue graduate studies afterward.

Kalli Wall

Overall, Farrell feels this graduating class has created a fun, safe and energizing environment for the team this season, an accomplishment she is both proud of and grateful for.

“They made this season so enjoyable,” Farrell said. “It’s such a pleasant environment to walk in our gym, and it’s really because of them. They’re just very collaborative and welcoming and encouraging and supportive.”

Farrell hopes the positive attitude and team culture fostered by these four seniors will continue to influence future Spartans.

“I love this season with these four players,” Farrell said. “It’s given our program a very different level of comfort and just positive dynamic that we really needed. I’m hopeful that it sets the table for all the future classes who’ve played with them to continue it because it’s awesome. For everybody to feel like they can go out and practice and make mistakes, but learn from them and improve their own play so that they have opportunities in the future, I think this group has provided that leadership. Not a top-down way, but in a ‘we’re all in this together’ way.”