The Met Gala fosters unity, not political ignorance

fashion, one could say that OcasioCortez nailed it.

The Met Gala is an event worthy of cultural appreciation and artistic expression — far from what the Wheel’s Editorial Board describes as a “fiasco” focused on “the superficial nature of celebrity culture.”

Beyond this, in the Board’s Sept. 22, 2021 piece, “The Met Gala — A Celebrity Symposium of Theatrics and Performance,” the Editorial Board goes on to describe the event as one that perpetuates “a cycle of [political] inaction.”

This pushes the harmful misconception that cultural entertainment is an unworthy indulgence during the midst of political turmoil.

Political turmoil in the United States is omnipresent. That September, as the editorial mentions, the continuation of mask-wearing and advocacy for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement were topical issues.

When Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-N.Y.) wore a dress to the Met Gala with “Tax the Rich” displayed in big, red font, it was an act of political solidarity. Considering that the artistic annual theme focused on American

The Board originally commented that there were “nine Black Lives Matter protestors” arrested outside the 2021 event. The event’s organizers also received general backlash for failing to show “their awareness of the health implications of the lavish event,” referring to COVID-19 safety.

I agree that these issues are of valid concern. However, the event did mandate full vaccination status upon guest entry, alongside a requirement to wear masks indoors.

Concerning the BLM protesters, I agree that the Met Gala highlights the stark difference in capitalistic realities that the top 1% of celebrities experience, as compared to low-income Black and brown communities advocating for defunding the New York City Police Department.

The 2021 Met Gala, the first since COVID-19, launched the world and disproportionately marginalized groups into violence, health-related turmoil and political upheaval.

Because of this, many made the event a symbol of wealth disparity and political ignorance.

However, there is something to be said about the mindlessness of feeding into celebrity culture, particularly during a time when the political climate was justly heightened. The editorial, however, should not have conflated “adoration with celebrities” with “performative over substantive action.”

Just as Ocasio-Cortez had been and continues to take substantive political action, her dress made an important stand and engaged with the artistic intellectualism that the Met Gala promotes.

Moreover, it was completely unfair for the Board to establish a stance that engaging in the Met Gala emphasizes “ignorance to broader problems faced by everyday Americans.”

Activist burnout was a phrase that many social justice advocates brought attention to in 2020 and 2021 because it is impossible to be constantly politically engaged; in fact, it’s exhausting.

Making viewers feel guilty about watching the Met Gala only furthers the trope that those who are politically engaged must be all the time.

In arguing that Americans should be constantly politically engaged and that entertaining the four-hour broadcasting of the Met Gala promotes ignorance, the Board published a toxic piece.

The Met Gala doesn’t necessar-

Emory’s spirit sucks. So, what?

An article published two years ago by The Emory Wheel urges the Emory Student Programming Council (SPC) to do better and claims that the student-run organization prevents the student body from becoming more unified. It also blames other student groups, such as Greek Life and athletic teams, for contributing to a disengaged campus environment.

While Emory may lack school spirit, it is unjustified to solely blame organizations such as SPC, Greek Life and athletic teams. Creating a sense of community and school spirit requires effort from both sides, and it appears that the majority of the effort is lacking from the student body rather than Emory’s organizations. Emory is known for its academics — not its party scene or school spirit — so why are we making the lack of spirit an issue? It is also important to address the elephant in the room: Emory’s lack of a football team.

This fact is well-known to students before they enroll, and with it comes certain expectations regarding the social scene at Emory. Students should not be surprised by the lack of spirit compared to larger state schools, where spirit is built into the school’s culture. For example, we don’t have the typical tailgate events before football games, and the absence of a large campus gathering in support of an athletic team is felt. Instead of relying on external resources or complaining about the lack of spirit, students should take the initiative to organize on their own if they feel they are lacking a sense of engagement on campus.

Or, if a student feels that the lack of pep interferes with their daily life, they can transfer to a university that fulfills that desire. Simply because SPC does not hold small-scale events or have activities on weekends does not preclude students from taking the initiative to socialize.

As college students, we should have the life skills necessary to initiate a conversation with classmates and invite them to hang out outside academic settings. While SPC can serve as a starting point for community building or friendships, it should not be relied upon as the foundation. Furthermore, it is unfair to blame the lack of unification solely on academic departments, athletic teams or social organizations. The issue regarding social cliques is a universal problem and is not unique to Emory. While it is essential to acknowledge these problems, the editorial exaggerates the issue and presents it as a pressing concern exclusive to Emory, saying it “is a major problem that needs to be solved.” Social cliques are in every environment, but it’s how we react to them that is the more pressing issue. And, blaming the cliques without holding the entire population accountable is problematic in itself.

Without acknowledging our own contribution to the issue, we as a student body will continue to be trapped in the vicious cycle of blaming organi- zations that are not entirely responsible for the disconnection. The editorial also falsely represents the social scene at Emory, suggesting that those who do not join Greek life or participate in athletics “risk painful isolation.” This is a painful exaggeration. Additionally, not only does this assertion paint athletic teams in a negative light despite athletic teams having the most school spirit on campus, it presents athletes as being contentious for wanting to spend more time with people who share similar lifestyles. ily have to be made into a symbol of America’s pervasive wealth-gap; viewers can recognize this while simultaneously indulging in criticizing overthe-top outfits and gushing over their favorite celebrities.

If the argument is to create more school spirit and interconnectedness, then why are we blaming the one area of Emory that has it? If we want to create a more unified campus and generate more school spirit, then part of the responsibility falls upon individual students. It is worth considering why we perceive this as problematic, given that it is precisely what we committed to by enrolling at Emory.

There shouldn’t be any guilt in that.

An escape from the often devastating reality of our political landscape is necessary. Change cannot be pro- moted by criticizing events based on frivolity, because it is those very events that bring people together, no matter one’s political orientation.

If it takes “a celebrity symposium of theatrics” for that unity, I think it’s worth fighting for the Met.

Saanvi Nayar (26C) is from Marlboro, New Jersey.

Weed-out classes have more merit than you think

the structural integrity of the course would have been compromised.

New York University’s (NYU) decision to fire former professor Maitland Jones after a group of his organic chemistry students petitioned for his removal set a dangerous precedent for academic institutions throughout the country. Jones was promptly dismissed from NYU after 82 students complained that Jones’ class was too difficult and their grades were too low.

In an October 2022 editorial, the Wheel’s Editorial Board concurred that Jones — who is respected in his field and had been teaching at NYU for 15 years — should not have been fired by the university.

While it is important that students have a say in their own educational systems, we must also recognize that a professor with a 59-year track record of successful research, teaching and advising knows better than a group of undergraduates on certain academic matters, especially those pertaining to his own classroom.

Administrators are thus tasked with determining where to draw the line between student influence and institutional oversight, and they must find a balance on the spectrum where neither side is given too much power.

While I agree with the Board’s conclusion that it was wrong to fire Jones, their suggestions for how to avoid similar situations in the future is unfeasible. The Board argues for a process that would “require that complaints be lodged via petition signed by a majority of students.”

Students should have an influence in the way their classes are structured, and it is important that students’ voices are heard by their academic institutions. But granting students too much control over their own education raises concerns. If students had excessive amounts of control in Jones’ case,

The article states that “faculty must be protected from unfounded mob mentality.” But that is hypocritical — formalizing a process by which students could petition against their professors behind their backs would enable this very “mob mentality.”

It seems self-evident that angry, struggling college students would use such power to fight to make their classes easier, but college is supposed to be hard. Certain “weed-out” classes, like organic chemistry, are widely known to be very challenging and for good reason.

They are specifically designed by top scholars in the fields of science and medicine to sift through students preparing to become the world’s next generation of cream-of-the-crop doctors, researchers and professors — a brutal, albeit necessary, process.

Not everyone can earn an A, and there is no group better-equipped to determine who does than the current generation of professionals in these fields.

We must also not forget that students select which classes they take. A plethora of resources, including Course Atlas and Rate My Professor, exist to inform students about classes and professors. Jones’ students could have known what they were getting into by taking his class.

At some point we must surrender our frustration and recognize that we do not always know best. We deserve to have a voice in many important academic matters; for instance, studentdriven initiatives toward safety, inclusion and respect in the classroom are critical to creating a healthy learning environment. When it comes to course structure and evaluation, however, we just need to trust the experts.