INDEX
Emory Events Calendar, Page 2
Police Record, Page 2
Q&A with Gandhi, Page 9
Crossword Puzzle, Page 8
Staff Editorial, Page 6
OnFire, Page 11
THE EMORY WHEEL Since 1919
The Independent Student Newspaper of Emory University
Volume 94, Issue 3
www.emorywheel.com
Friday, September 7, 2012 STUDENT LIFE
Every Tuesday and Friday
LGBT LIFE
Orientation LGBT Students React to Controversy, Ranking Changes Emory Named in Top 25 Leadership Colleges for LGBT Life Structure By Stephanie Fang Asst. News Editor
By Wendy Becker Staff Writer This year's freshman orientation program combined the past roles of Orientation Leaders (OLs) and PreMajor Advising Connection (PACE) leaders in an attempt to better acclimate freshmen to life at Emory. Before this fall, freshmen received advising from two different sets of peer mentors: OLs, who led orientation activities such as "icebreakers" and tours of campus facilities, and PACE leaders, who assisted freshmen with academic advising and course sign-up. However, administrators chose to merge the responsibilities of OLs and PACE leaders, therefore consolidating all the responsibilities into a single OL position. Tanya Willard, director of the orientation program, wrote in an email to the Wheel that having only one group of students in charge of orientation allowed freshmen more clarity during their introduction to campus life. “Our decision to make these changes was driven by our desire to create a more seamless experience for new students," Willard wrote. “In the former model ... it was confusing for them to know the difference.” OLs also underwent a new system of training this year. Emily Sankey, the assistant director of orientation and family programs, wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel that training for OLs began in the fall with a teambuilding retreat. Traditionally, training occurred the spring before the next academic year started. In addition, the change in date allowed OLs to spend more time working together and getting to know one another, she wrote. “This training had enabled the Orientation Leaders to become a cohesive unit before the Orientation program began," Sankey wrote. Both Willard and Sankey noted that they felt the program was successful. Willard stated that program administrators have received positive feedback from faculty, students and parents. Faculty have also informed Willard and Sankey that they felt OLs were more prepared to deal with academic questions than PACE leaders had been in the past. This year's Orientation Captains were in charge of training OLs and helped lead orientation activities and events. College junior Meredith Green, who is one of many Orientation Capatins, said she felt that this year’s program ran exceedingly smoothly. She said that the success came from the staff she oversaw. She said they seemed more driven now that the programs have been combined. “Combining the PACE and OL [programs] was a fantastic idea because it strengthened the Orientation staff as a whole,” Green said. “It allowed the OLs to build deeper and more holistic mentoring relationships with students.” College freshman Alison Wagman said she feels the new program was beneficial and that she could approach the OLs with questions she had about the University. Wagman remarked that Orientation helped her figure out where buildings and activities were located on campus. Despite the changes in this year's Orientation model, College freshman Jessica Corbin said that the program could still improve - especially in terms of the activities it offered new students.
— Contact Wendy Becker at wendy.becker@emory.edu
Emily Lin/Photography Editor
Students buy food from the Chick-fil-A on Emory’s campus, located in the Cox Hall Food Court. The LGBT community has been calling for Chick-fil-A’s removal.
Committee Calls for Chick-fil-A’s Removal By Jordan Friedman News Editor Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community are calling for the University to remove the Chick-fil-A located in the Cox Hall Food Court. The LGBTQ community has formed a committee focusing specifically on removing Chick-fil-A, and students have written letters to University administrators on the subject. “The symbol of Chick-fil-A, the restaurant itself, has become a potent symbol of discrimination and inequality,” said Andy Ratto, a fourth-year student in the Laney Graduate School student and a member of the committee. Chick-fil-A has received much
SEE INSIDE Editorial reaction to the presence of Chick-fil-A on Emory’s campus. See Page 6 criticism in the past few years from gay rights activists, who have accused the nationwide chain of donating money to anti-gay organizations. During the summer, Chickfil-A President Dan Cathy acknowledged these accusations, stating, “Guilty as charged.” Then, in another interview, Cathy said, “we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’” The committee has responded that Cathy’s interviews have “solidified Chick-fil-A as a definitive sym-
bol and rallying point for anti-gay sentiment.” Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Ajay Nair said in a statement released in August that while Cathy’s statements do not reflect Emory’s value of the LGBTQ community, Emory also emphasizes the freedom of speech. “Emory ... respects the right of people to express their disagreement with Mr. Cathy by not patronizing Chick-fil-A,” Nair wrote.
A Committee for Action Ratto explained that during the summer, he emailed several of his friends who he thought might be interested in vocalizing support on the matter.
See LGBTQ, Page 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
On any typical afternoon at Emory University, the campus is rife with students relaxing in between classes and meetings – chatting with friends or squeezing in quality time with significant others to relieve stress during an otherwise hectic day. As a third-year graduate student in the Laney Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Karen McCarthy normally has a fairly busy schedule. However, she spends the majority of whatever free time she has on campus with her girlfriend. “[My girlfriend and I] hold hands and kiss goodbye and all of that other sappy stuff people who are crazy for each other do,” said McCarthy, who studies in the Philosophy department. “No one I know has ever been less than happy for us, and we’ve never encountered anything like harassment.” McCarthy, who came out approximately 10 years ago, identifies as a member of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community at Emory, an environment where she said she feels “perfectly safe” from most instances of homophobia. Outside organizations have now taken notice of the University’s commitment to a healthy LGBTcommunity, and recently Campus Pride recognized Emory as having one of the top 25 most LGBTfriendly campuses in the country. Campus Pride, a non-profit organization that collaborates with organizations and leaders at colleges across the nation to generate support for LGBT students, worked with the Huffington Post to rank 339 colleges, according
to an Aug. 21 Huffington Post statement. Emory University was the only institution in the southest to make the list. According to Michael Shutt, the director of Emory’s Office of LGBT Life, Emory has always implemented progressive policies and programs geared towards increasing inclusion and fostering a positive environment for the University members who identify as LGBT. He added that Emory was the first university in the Southeast to open an Office of LGBT Life 21 years ago. “We set a bar at that point in time because we were also the 10th [university] in the nation to do that – to hire someone and provide resources,” Shutt said. “It was early on that we were doing that.” In addition, Shutt mentioned that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Emory’s Gay Liberation Committee, a group founded on campus in 1972 after the Stonewall Riots, an event that drove the beginning of the gay rights movement. The Gay Liberation Committee seeks to empower what Shutt called “queer leadership” at Emory. Despite efforts that the University has made towards creating a safe space on campus for the LGBT community, some students believe that the University still has much room to improve. College senior and Emory Pride co-president Shu Ong explained that she believes administrators needed to “focus on educating Emory’s community as a whole” in order to further “create a safer and more conducive environment for LGBT individuals on campus.”
See SHUTT, Page 4
MAKING PROGRESS
Council Proposes ‘Thank Dooley It’s Friday’ Event By Joy-Annette Atsegbua Staff Writer TGIF or TDIF? The 57th Legislature of College Council (CC) discussed plans for a new initiative called “Thank Dooley It’s Friday” at its meeting Wednesday evening. College senior and senior legislator Kala Simone Hurst, who developed the idea for the event, said students can expect a great time since it will celebrate the end of the week with food, music, games, performances and any activities that will help students kick-off their weekends. The event for students would take place on the last Friday of each month. Hurst said she came up with the idea after receiving complaints from students that there are not enough fun activities on campus and because some students are unable to attend Wonderful Wednesday. “Thank Dooley It’s Friday” would take place in the early evening, from either 5 to 7 or 6 to 8 p.m. CC President and College senior Amitav Chakraborty said he was “really excited” about the idea, and that while it is currently in the planning stages, it could become a regular event at Emory. In addition to the “Thank Dooley it’s Friday” initiative, CC focused on addressing student organizations’ funding requests.
NEWS AN UPDATE ON EMORY’S SCIENCE RESEARCH THIS SUMMER ... PAGE 3
THANK DOOLEY IT’S FRIDAY Who: College Council When: The first Friday of each month
What: An initiative to celebrate the end of the week CC also worked on defining its role in the affairs of student organizations as well as brainstorming new ideas for student activities. The meeting opened with presentations from the leaders of student groups such as Mock Trial, the Latino Student Organization, Liberty in North Korea, the Persian Club and Model United Nations. These groups presented their operational and special events budgets to CC legislators. CC passed all budgetary bills from the organizations that presented. Chakraborty and College junior Kurtis Anderson, the vice president of administration, brought five bills before CC. These bills involved making amendments to the size of the CC’s executive board, determining CC’s involvement in disputes between student groups on campus and discussing a timeline for student groups to request funding from the Council. — Contact Joy-Annette Atsegbua at jatsegb@emory.edu
OP-EDS REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE SPEECH FUDGED NUMBERS... PAGE 7
Joanna Chang/Staff
E
mory broke ground on its new 200,000-square-foot, five-story Health Sciences Research Building on June 15, 2011. Construction on the Health Sciences Research Building is progressing, and is expected to be completed by April 2013.
LIBRARY
Cleage Donates Works to MARBL By Nicholas Sommariva Asst. News Editor Nationally-recognized playwright, poet and novelist Pearl Cleage placed her works at the University’s Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL), according to an Aug. 28 University press release. Randall Burkett, Emory’s curator of African American collections
,said in the press release that Cleage’s papers “add luster to our holdings of brilliant African American women writers, artists and activists.” According to the press release, Cleage said that she decided to place her papers with MARBL after holding discussions with Burkett and the late professor Rudolph Byrd. “Emory was a place that would
See PEARL, Page 4
STUDENT LIFE
SPORTS MEN’S
30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GRADUATE... PAGE 9
SOCCER SCORES FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON...
BACK PAGE
Pearl Cleage, a playwright, poet and novelist, has donated her papers to the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University.
NEXT ISSUE WILL EMORY’S NEW SUMMER PROGRAMS CONTINUE? ... TUESDAY