Black History — Technician 2/29/24

TECHNICIAN

BLACK HISTORY

DANCE MARATHON 2024

Sunday, March 3, noon to 8 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 29, 6 to 8 p.m. WITHERSPOON STUDENT CENTER, AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER, SECOND-FLOOR GALLERY

TALLEY STUDENT UNION, BALLROOM

Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. to noon AGROECOLOGY FARM, RALEIGH, NC

AUTHOR EVENT: HOLLY BLACK

March 6, 7-8 p.m.

WITHERSPOON STUDENT CENTER

Free

Visit Witherspoon Student Center to join author Holly Black for a conversation about her new book “The Prisoner’s Throne,” followed by a book signing.

NC State admissions and the overturning of affirmative action

Bastian Hauser Staff Writer

In June 2023, 45 years after the Supreme Court allowed universities to give limited consideration to race in their admissions processes, the Court reversed its position on the issue, effectively outlawing the practice known as affirmative action.

In separate lawsuits, the organization Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill, arguing that UNC-CH’s race-conscious admissions violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. UNC-CH and NC State are both part of North Carolina’s public university system, but the decision impacted all U.S. universities.

Lindsay Gentile, director of graduate admissions, said it was a big undertaking to adjust the application process to the Supreme Court’s decision. Gentile said one of the biggest points was the personal statement essay prompt, in which they ask the applicant to tell them more about themselves.

“There were not any [questions] that specifically wanted someone to talk about their race; it was more about questions around diversity, and how someone’s experience might help shape the diversity on campus,” Gentile said. “Things like that had to be changed.”

Gentile said it does not harm the applicant if they decide to talk about their race in a personal essay when they are, for example, asked to talk about a time they overcame an obstacle.

“There is nothing against them providing information,” Gentile said. “That can’t be the sole factor that is used by the reviewer in determining whether or not to admit someone.”

Gentile said information the applicant gives about their race is no longer available to the person reviewing the application.

“If someone wants to indicate their race, they can, they don’t have to, and that’s always been there,” Gentile said. “We had to hide race, so they could no longer see it on the application, no longer run a query to find applicants based on a certain race or something like that.”

In doing so, NC State is following the guidelines the UNC System set forth after the Supreme Court ruling. These guidelines state UNC System universities must “move aggressively towards race-blind applications.”

The guidelines specify campuses should conceal knowledge of an applicant’s race from those who are reviewing

and evaluating the applications in the short term.

“In the longer run beyond the immediate admissions cycle, campuses should remove the race box from the application process entirely unless the campus can identify a clear, discrete legal need to continue to include the race box,” the guidelines read.

If a campus identifies such a need, the guidelines state, “For continued use of a race box on its application in the longer run, campus officials should discuss the perceived need with the leadership of both the campus and the UNC System.”

Joy Gaston Gayles, department head of educational lead

Gentile said she does not think there was a big change in who graduate admissions accepts after the Supreme Court’s decision.

“For the people internally, it was a big change,” Gentile said. “I don’t think for our applicants it was a huge change.”

What is true for graduate admissions is not necessarily true for undergraduate admissions. Gentile said because those outside of the U.S. do not necessarily use the same racial categories, and 60% of applicants to NC State’s graduate schools are international, race is not typically considered a factor in graduate admissions.

sur- rounding new laws results in policy changes going above and beyond their requirements — because the Supreme Court’s decision does not prohibit the collection of data about applicant’s races, but the use of it.

“You can hide it behind a firewall and share it after the admissions cycle is complete,” Gayles said. “But we need the data so that we can see what’s happening with our student body.”

CRIME ON CAMPUS

NC State’s weekly

Feb. 19, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

1281 Western Blvd.

University Police responded to the report of an individual walking on the sidewalk carrying a knife. Officers checked the area and were unable to locate anyone matching the description.

Feb. 19, 2024 at 7:14 p.m.

2441 Campus Shore Dr.

University Police responded to a disturbance and determined that an assault had occurred. One individual was arrested for assault on a female, and another was arrested for delaying an investigation. A concerning behavior report was completed.

“We’re decentralized, so the people who are in the program office are the ones who are deciding who they want to admit,” Gentile said. “That’s how we’re different from undergraduate admissions.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of General Counsel declined to comment.

The UNC System has faced criticism for going further in implementing the Supreme Court’s decision than is required.

One of these critics is Gene R. Nichol, a law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. In an email statement to Technician, Nichol said he believes the Board of Governors is happy UNC-CH lost the case.

“We’re not supposed to say we want a diverse community here because the Republican legislature and their lickspittle on the Board of Governors don’t want a diverse university or commonwealth,” Nichol wrote. “So these guidelines go farther than the Supreme Court ruling requires because the Board is anxious to go even farther than the Supreme Court did to erase aspirations of full and effective integration of these institutions. They’re anxious to build a bridge to 1953.”

In an email statement to Technician, a UNC spokesperson gave the following comment.

“The UNC System, like all universities, is obliged to comply with the United States Supreme Court,” the statement read. “President Hans has repeatedly and emphatically expressed his support for campus diversity. You can read his remarks to the Board on the importance of diversity here. That’s why he has supported an eight-year freeze on tuition hikes for in-state students, stronger financial aid funding, accountability measures to reduce student debt, which disproportionally burdens minority students, and vastly more support for student mental health and wellbeing. All of these efforts make our campuses more welcoming, more vibrant places for students of all backgrounds.”

All incidents in the crime log are according to the University’s daily crime log published online in compliance with the Clery Act.

TRAFFIC STOP DISPUTE

Feb. 21, 2024 at 2:49 p.m.

Howling Cow creamery

An employee reported an individual became irate after not receiving free ice cream samples. The subject pushed items from a counter and threw an ice cream bowl toward employees before leaving in a dark-colored, fourdoor sedan. The subject was not located in the area, and her identity is unknown.

Feb. 24, 2024 at 3:31 a.m.

Western Boulevard / Varsity Drive

A non-affiliated individual was stopped for no tag light. Further investigation revealed he had active warrants and a suspended license. He was served with the warrant and charged with driving while license revoked, possession of marijuana, possession of an open container of spirituous liquor and numerous other traffic offenses.

Historically Black fraternities on campus

Pierce Bruns, Matthew Junkroski Correspondents

Since their founding over a hundred years ago, historically Black fraternities and sororities have served as a catalyst for communal development and growth on NC State’s campus and beyond.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council, also known as the Divine Nine, encapsulates these historically Black fraternities and sororities, and has been growing in impact since the first chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha, was founded on campus in 1971.

Alpha Phi Alpha, founded at Cornell University in 1906, was chartered at NC State with the counsel of Augustus Witherspoon. In 1971, it became the first historically Black fraternity on campus. Alpha Phi Alpha works to “develop leaders, promote brotherhood and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for our communities.”

Timothy Reid, a fourth-year studying business and student body president, serves as the vice president of the Eta Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. He said the fraternity helps cultivate a place for Black individuals to participate in the betterment of the campus community and beyond.

“Alpha Phi Alpha was founded really just in an effort to provide those same sort of spaces for high achieving like-minded Black individuals, to just really have an interest in civic service, the broader uplift of mankind, social mobility and things of that nature,”

Reid said.

Ethan Robinson, a fourth-year studying sport management, said Alpha Phi Alpha creates campus community through outreach and support.

“We get together and we teach young men about sexual education,” Robinson said. “One thing that we do on campus is that we host study hours twice a semester.”

Reid said brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha volunteer regularly and work with other chapters to help improve the overall community, from charity work to fundraising.

“We coordinate with other local chapters in the area, just to provide local outreach to organizations, charities and whatnot,” Reid said. “For example, programming — we’ve had events focusing on financial literacy, study advice, tips and tricks, health.”

Alpha Phi Alpha has a history of influential alumni, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall and W.E.B. Du Bois, in addition to the accomplishments of its current members, which inspired Robinson to join NC State’s chapter.

“I realized that when I crossed I had a bunch of potential to do what I wanted to do,” Robinson said. “There were other brothers who were very accomplished, who had leadership positions and being around those brothers, … it restored some confidence.”

Phi Beta Sigma, another Divine Nine fraternity on campus, has enabled Dontae Miles, a fourth-year studying zoology, to find other people that share his values.

“Before I joined, there were only two brothers in the yard, and just seeing how they interacted with each other and how they interacted with the campus is what brought my attention to the organization and made me want to join,” Miles said. “I just found it really interesting that they resonated with my principles.”

Miles said Phi Beta Sigma has grown a remarkable amount since he joined, which has enabled the organization to take a more active role on campus.

“Before I joined, there were two people, and now we have twelve brothers on the yard, so we have the highest number in the fraternities for Divine Nine,” Miles said. “And of course, we have kept up with the programs, but we can do more now, now that we have more people.”

Phi Beta Sigma does outreach in the form of interacting with a youth chapter of the organization, community clean-up and professional development.

“We have three program sections: bigger, better business, social action and Sigma Beta club,” Miles said. “We will interact with our Sigma Beta club. … It’s just a younger group. Then, for bigger, better business, that’s where we focus on events that help people develop professionally. Then we also have social action — we try to do social movements like trying to get people to vote.” In certain cases, outreach goes beyond professional development or education. For example, Phi Beta Sigma held a “sleep out for the homeless” event, in which they

slept in Wolf Plaza from 7:14 p.m. to 7:14 a.m. to raise awareness for homelessness while collecting donations.

Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi make up the other two fraternities in NC State’s National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Kappa Alpha Phi was founded nationally Jan. 5, 1911, and on campus Dec. 12, 1980. Kappa Alpha Psi sets out “to achieve in every field of human endeavor” and to have a lasting positive impact on NC State’s campus.

Omega Psi Phi was founded Nov. 17, 1911, as the first fraternity founded at a historically Black college. The chapter at NC State was founded April 28, 1978, and chartered March 15, 1980. Since then, the campus chapter has received many awards and acknowledgments, including numerous Standards of Excellence awards from Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Caylin Allen, the IFC assistant director who oversees NPHC at NC State, said the Divine Nine enable the Black community on campus to be united and to expand beyond the limitations of just one organization.

“It’s just bringing the community together up under one roof because a lot of times we’re on the campus community’s wild side,” Allen said. “NPHC tries its best to encapsulate everyone that is in the Black community and try to make them all up under one roof to have fun.”

HALLIE WALKER/TECHNICIAN

Ethan Robinson, a fourth-year studying sport management, and Kaleb Hall, a third-year studying communication, carry the Eta Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity flag while leading the March Like Martin event from Stafford Commons to Harris Field on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. The Alpha Phi Alphas led the march to honor Martin Luther King Jr., also a member of the fraternity.

Experts weigh in on Poe Hall, University promises transparency

Emily Vespa Managing Editor

While NC State continues its investigation of environmental contaminants in Poe Hall, a top university official acknowledged concerns that early communication about the building wasn’t adequate and promised better transparency moving forward.

Meanwhile, two subject matter experts on PCBs questioned the expertise of the consulting firm conducting the tests of the building on behalf of the University.

After reviewing the initial test report prepared by Geosyntec Consultants, the firm NC State hired to investigate the building, the experts said the testing methods don’t align with best practices and don’t comprehensively test all possible sources.

The two experts came to many of the same conclusions independent of one another.

This comes after Chancellor Randy Woodson said the building will be closed through at least the end of 2024 to continue testing in consultation with state and federal agency partners.

Expert flags lack of certified industrial hygienist

A professional geologist reviewed and certified Geosyntec’s test report — something Robert Herrick, a retired senior lecturer of industrial hygiene at Harvard University and a leading expert on PCBs, said he found puzzling.

“I was just kind of scratching my head like, ‘Well, I’m sure he’s a really reputable, knowledgeable geologist, but does he really know anything at all about indoor environments or industrial hygiene?’” Herrick said.

Jack Springston, a certified industrial hygienist, said in this investigation, he’d think NC State would want the expertise of a certified industrial hygienist. Though an engineer or geologist might be capable of conducting workplace evaluations, he said, a certified industrial hygienist specializes in understanding contaminants, their health effects, how they migrate and how to mitigate them.

Geosyntec referred Technician to the University spokesperson for comment.

When asked whether there are any certified industrial hygienists on the Geosyntec team investigating Poe Hall, Mick Kulikowski, NC State spokesperson, said only that the team includes individuals with expertise in environmental engineering, toxicology and industrial hygiene.

Testing strategy is atypical, experts say

Geosyntec’s first phase of its investigation tested air and surface samples collected with the ventilation systems turned off, which Herrick and Springston both said was unusual.

“I don’t really quite follow the logic there, and I think it might just be that they’re not experienced doing building investigations,” Herrick said.

It’s optimal to collect air samples while a building’s ventilation systems are operating normally, says American Industrial Hygiene Association guidance on addressing PCBs in buildings, which Springston co-authored and co-edited.

lation systems, you’re introducing fresh air from outdoors, and it’s going to reduce your concentration.”

Springston said compared to some PCB test results he’s seen in his experience, the results of the initial testing are relatively low, and he would reassure people that the levels are probably not a concern.

But Herrick said it’s not what Geosyntec tested that concerned him — it’s what it didn’t.

“I’ve seen photos of the building, and, you know, where they tended to use the PCBs in the caulk was if you have a building kind of like this one,” Herrick said. “You’ve got those panels on the outside that are like vertical panels. Between each panel, there’s a gray line, right? Well, that’s the caulking material.”

test results, Herrick said.

“I’m sitting here kind of scratching my head thinking, ‘Here’s the situation — where the people in the building are really worried and upset to begin with — and this is going to be your strategy for more testing?’” Herrick said. “‘You’re going to get in there and clean up what you think is the source before you test again?’”

Technician asked Kulikowski to clarify what might be replaced, encapsulated or cleaned before further testing.

“Until the investigation is complete, NC State has no plans to modify, remediate, encapsulate or otherwise disturb the HVAC systems, except to continue the investigation,” Kulikowski wrote in an email.

Kulikowski did not explain what disruptions to the HVAC systems would be necessary to continue the investigation.

Warwick Arden, executive vice chancellor and provost, said before the next phase of testing, NC State has to address the current construction on a mainframe in Poe Hall. According to a Facilities list of current capital projects, the construction is on the first floor of the building, and as of the last update on Jan. 30, it was 91% complete.

Herrick said the next step he thinks NC State should take is toward transparency.

“It sounds like getting trust back is going to be a major challenge because they’ve kind of botched it so far, in my opinion,” Herrick said.

Arden says communication will improve

It sounds like getting trust back is going to be a major challenge because they’ve kind of botched it so far, in my opinion.

-Robert Herrick, a leading expert on PCBs

Caulking was overlooked as a potential source of PCB contamination in U.S. schools until a 2004 study that Herrick leadauthored suggested PCB-laden caulk could be widespread in schools built before 1977.

Springston said he suspects the contamination source is caulk because the compound predominantly detected in Poe Hall testing, Aroclor-1262, was commonly used in mastics and caulking.

Transparency concerns seemed to reach a pivotal point Feb. 12, when a report revealed College of Education faculty passed two separate votes of no confidence in the chancellor and Arden over how NC State was handling the building’s investigation.

Woodson responded to the vote in a statement that same day and said the University will be more communicative with investigation updates moving forward.

Springston said testing with these systems off could yield results that aren’t an accurate indication of what occupants are actually exposed to, and the PCB concentrations in Poe Hall are likely lower with the ventilation systems running.

“The fact that they did the sampling with the units shut down, that in my mind would tell you that that’s a worst case scenario,” Springston said. “If you turn on the venti-

Kulikowski confirmed to Technician that neither Geosyntec nor NC State’s Environmental Health and Safety has tested caulk samples for PCBs. In the next phase of Geosyntec’s testing, the firm will collect samples from potential sources of PCBs — particularly, the report says, parts of the HVAC system.

Before returning the HVAC systems to operation, the report says Geosyntec may take steps like replacing or encapsulating parts of the mechanical system and cleaning “based on the results of bulk sampling.” These steps could impact the subsequent

Arden said reflecting on NC State’s updates to the community from early in the investigation, he acknowledges that the immediate functional demands of closing the seven-story building seemed to eclipse communication about occupants’ well-being.

“I think it’s very difficult in the early phases to be as empathetic as you would like to be because you really don’t understand what’s going on — in the building or with people, number one, but number two, you’re so focused on making sure people have an office to go to, making sure students have a class to go to,” Arden said.

POE HALL continued page 7

GRAPHIC BY ELLIE BRUNO

Markert and Carreno campaign for student body president, vice president

Ally Tennant,

Assistant News Editors

Allison Markert, a third-year studying natural resources and current student body vice president, is running for student body president this year. Her running mate is Isaac Carreno, a second-year studying social work who currently serves as the deputy chief of staff.

Markert and Carreno’s campaign slogan is “Stand for State.” Markert said the campaign operates under the three pillars of establishing a culture of care and connectivity on campus, promoting civic and community engagement and promoting Student Government interaction with students.

“We don’t feel as if NC State is as involved within Raleigh, as well as these civic opportunities, as it should be,” Markert said. “NC State is the largest institution within the state of North Carolina, it’s an election year coming up. It is North Carolina, being a swing state, this is something that we really have to focus on and capitalize on.”

Markert and Carreno both agreed that the main focus of their campaign is to get Student Government involved with NC State and, overall, the entire community.

“We’re committed to ensuring that Stu-

dent Government has a role being played within the Raleigh community, as well as bridging the gap between NC State college community and Raleigh opportunities,” Markert said.

Markert and Carreno said they want to reestablish a focus on mental health, diversity and accessibility in the upcoming year by taking student opinions into consideration.

“Moving forward in the future, not just developing on what we also have, we want to ensure that we’re doing targeted specific mental health initiatives,” Markert said.

To address the students’ needs for mental health resources, Markert said she wants to embed more counseling resources in specific communities on campus.

“That being what we’re seeing issues within Greek life, we’re seeing within the LGBTQ+ community, we’re seeing within all around campus,” Markert said. “And so what we want to do is we want to ensure that these organizations have specific initiatives to them, because we found that it’s not a one size fits all opportunity.”

In response to how she plans to address University transparency surrounding the discovery of PCBs in Poe Hall, Markert said she wants to establish a liaison for the department of sustainability. She said she

would use her power as president and the ties the position has with university administration to inspire conversations that bridge the gap between students and administration.

“One of the things that we want to do to address this environmental health concern is to expand our department of sustainability to have a liaison able to discuss environmental health and safety on campus,” Markert said. “And so one of those issues being Poe Hall, I think, from what we found is we have been in revolving conversations regarding Poe Hall, and what it looks like for students safety. And I think the worst thing that Student Government can do is to feed into the rumors and instead, it’s important to be inspiring and driving fact-based conversations.”

Markert said she hopes that she can promote transparency by showcasing accessibility on campus and continuing safety walks for security purposes.

“Some of the things that we’ve been able to accomplish over the past year so far is we’ve been doing campus safety walks throughout all of our major sporting arenas,” Markert said. “We’ve had campus safety walks around campus when it comes towards moving forward, especially with the issues

that we’ve been seeing on campus.”

Markert and Carreno said a way they wish to boost student involvement is by reinventing Hillsborough Street and creating more programs for students.

“And then a fun one that we’re excited to discuss is we really want to work to help grow community engagement, through revitalizing Hillsborough Street,” Markert said. “We’re hoping to do student nights, we’re hoping to do wellness events hosted by Student Government along Hillsborough Street so that students can be involved and be active.”

Markert and Carreno said the end goal of the campaign is to achieve student involvement and awareness through civic engagement.

“So our goal really is to empower students to be able to have the resources and the confidence to be able to provide feedback on the campus services that we have that will be heard and respected by Student Government,” Markert said. “The empowerment and resources to be able to speak with to be able to speak with student government regarding specific issues, as well as the ability to engage meaningfully with Raleigh community and civic engagement.”

COURTESY

Matthew Burkhart

The legacy of Augustus Witherspoon

Savannah Woodman Staff Writer

The namesake of Witherspoon Student Center, Augustus Witherspoon, was the second African American to earn a doctorate from NC State, receiving his Ph.D. in botany. He was also the first African American to become a full professor at NC State.

Witherspoon spent a total of 23 years at NC State. In his time at the University, he held the following positions: assistant dean, associate dean, acting dean of the Graduate School and associate provost and coordinator of African American affairs at NC State.

Andaiye Qaasim, assistant director of the African American Cultural Center, said Witherspoon’s impact across the University was extensive.

“Almost every single diversity committee on this campus probably can give its legacy to Dr. Witherspoon, or someone can say it’s been impacted by it,” Qaasim said.

Witherspoon and Lawrence Clark, former associate provost and professor of mathematics in the College of Education, are also credited as the founding fathers of the AACC. Additionally, Witherspoon helped found the Eta Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first Black Greek letter organization at NC State.

M. Iyailu Moses, NC State’s first director of the African American Cultural Center, worked alongside Witherspoon to create and organize events and programs for the AACC.

“He had so much energy; he had so much compassion for everything he did,” Moses said. “He was just a special person.”

The AACC dates back to the early 1970s, when African American students met in Witherspoon’s home or in the basement of a YMCA building. In 1974, after the YMCA was torn down, African American students asserted their need for a cultural center and a space that honored Black students on campus.

In 1975, many African American student organizations moved to an old print shop, though it was not until 1991 that there was a permanent space for the AACC. This new space, now known as Witherspoon Student Center, was

POE HALL

continued from page 5

“There’s just a lot of nuts and bolts that very early on, you have to take care of.”

The University has always acted with occupants’ health in mind, and now, it’s a priority to communicate that, Arden said.

“I understand that it’s upsetting,” Arden said. “It’s emotionally difficult or stressful.

So I think it’s important that folks know we do care, and the most important thing that we can do is get them good answers as quickly as we can.”

One way NC State will improve communication about Poe Hall, Arden said, is by expanding the questions and answers page on the Poe Hall updates website using questions collected from faculty.

Scope and cost of current, future testing

Technician reviewed over 700 buildings on NC State’s campus, identified over 100

originally called the Student Center Annex.

The building was later renamed to honor Witherspoon in 1995, after his death in 1994. Thus, the Witherspoon Student Center became the first building on NC State’s campus to be named after an African American.

Sydney Alston, a graduate student studying public history, said the building memorializes Witherspoon and holds great importance for the community.

“Every time someone walks into this building, they’re thinking about Dr. Witherspoon, right?” Alston said. “Or even if they’re not aware of him, they’re entering into a building that sits sort of under his influence, under his legacy.”

that students, faculty and staff frequent and compiled a searchable database of these buildings with their build dates. This list isn’t exhaustive; it comprises select buildings used for instruction, research or administration, and it does not include all building renovations.

But this research reveals a number of residence halls and class buildings that were built between 1950 and 1979, when the EPA says there was widespread use of PCBs in construction and renovation.

Arden said the University doesn’t regularly test buildings for PCBs and doesn’t currently have a plan to. He said NC State is focusing on addressing Poe Hall first.

“It’s really not realistic to go around just randomly testing for PCBs,” Arden said. “One of the issues, if you do find, let’s say, very low levels of PCB, do we then close that building?”

Springston said testing buildings for PCBs can create a huge cost.

“You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Springston said. “If I want to know and I want to protect the occupants so I’m

Moses said Witherspoon cared deeply and was devoted to helping students across the University.

“I think that, given that he meant so much to a lot of people at NC State and that he influenced a lot of people at NC State, he influenced the culture to become a culture of inclusion,” Moses said. “And so I think that’s quite an honor that the entire building is named after him.”

Today, the Witherspoon Student Center is home to the AACC, Student Media, Military and Veteran Services and the campus cinema. The AACC has several spaces within the building, including a library, a gallery and the main center where programs are held and students and faculty can relax.

He had so much energy; he had so much compassion for everything he did. He was just a special person.

- M. Iyailu Moses

Alston said Witherspoon’s accomplishments paved the way for African American and other marginalized students, and his legacy has and will continue to have a lasting impact on students, faculty and staff.

“As somebody who is going to get their Ph.D., people like Witherspoon are sort of an example that Black students like me and other marginalized students, like women and Latin American students and Asian students, that we can all exist in these spaces, that we are as smart as we think we are,” Alston said. “We’re as capable as we think we are. Our contributions are just as important as everybody else’s, and we’re capable of being doctors and scholars and academics and professors.”

gonna do sampling, and I sample and it comes back positive, you’re like, ‘Oh, s—, I just shot myself in the foot. Now I have to remove it. Not only do I have to remove the material, but I have to remove any materials that might have been contaminated.’”

Herrick said despite the cost, he thinks testing other buildings for PCBs is essential.

“It’s kind of hard to put a price on winning back the trust of people so that they’re comfortable and feel safe working in the building,” Herrick said.

The cost of this investigation has begun to pile up for NC State. As of Feb. 23, it’s paid $14,922.50 to Geosyntec for services relating to Poe Hall and $28,347.75 to outside law firm Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton for legal representation related to Poe Hall.

The University provided the above information in response to public records requests for billing records between NC State and these two firms. NC State denied Technician’s public records request for its representation agreement with the outside law firm, citing attorney-client privilege. NC State has not produced copies of records

in response to the request for billing records between it and Geosyntec.

Herrick and Springston said it’s often more cost-effective to demolish a building contaminated with PCBs than remove all contaminated materials.

In 2001, the University of Rhode Island faced a $3.8 million remediation plan to address PCB-contaminated materials it found in an eight-story class building originally built in 1969. The most costly aspect of the plan was removing 220 windows, window seals and caulking.

Arden said Geosyntec will provide recommendations for remediation in about three to six months, after the next round of testing.

“Poe was a weirdly built building where the HVAC system is embedded into the walls of the building and it’s not easy to access,” Arden said. “I’m really hoping there is a way we can effectively remediate that and return the building to safety and functionality very quickly. We’ve acted, I think, quickly and with the safety of the people in the building in mind.”

CONTRIBUTED BY NC STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Making DEI accessible everyday

Will LaMarche Staff Writer

Ithinkmost people

have heard of DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — by now; we’ve all heard it referenced in syllabi and in various presentations. But I’m not sure how many of us know how exactly to incorporate it. Sure, there are definitions for each of the words, diversity, equity and inclusion. But how do you know if you’re actually doing it?

Amid the focus on and backlash against DEI practices in recent years, it seems college campuses have been caught in the middle. While DEI remains an important issue to many college students, it is still important for us to be mindful about how we are proceeding with it.

Sheri Schwab, the vice provost for the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, said when thinking about DEI on campus, there are levels to consider.

“There is the inner-individual or interpersonal cultural competency,” Schwab said. “Like, okay, I’m a white, heterosexual female. I hold those identities, so I have less knowledge about the lived experiences of other people.”

But DEI isn’t just about understanding your own limits on perspective; it’s about being more considerate of the space you

inhabit as well. It’s one thing to know how you exist in relation to other communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized, but it’s another to be actively aware of how those differences may be perpetuated.

“So that kind of construct, so I need to understand my own place, my own identities and then other places where I am, … but it’s another thing for me to work at the other two levels — the structural or the organizational level — so understanding what policies may be kind of keeping my pay being different, equal,” Schwab said.

to-day life, and I probably take for granted the level of privilege I enjoy. I know on a predominantly white campus I look like most of my peers, and I may not be privy to all of what needs to be changed on campus.

However, an understanding of definitions and models is only great on paper. While it’s great to have strong definitions for diversity, equity and inclusion, it means little until it’s put into practice. These definitions working together hinge on understanding perspective.

Let’s level here: You don’t know what you don’t know. It sounds obvious, but when we have discussions of diversity and inclusion, it’s important to account for what’s not being said just as much as what is. In other instances this can be recognizing there is a lack of cultural knowledge, either from yourself or the collective.

can I access information? How do I know if it’s credible or not?’ So we created this DIY DEI,” Schwab said. “A lot of folks worry about going into classes or lectures where DEI is the topic because they’re afraid to make a mistake. But we want to be in a learning frame of mind.”

This is how DEI becomes actionable. By expanding your own perspective and taking things deeper than face value. Schwab said asking questions that challenge your own norms can help to build empathy.

This is how DEI becomes actionable. By expanding your own perspective and taking things deeper than face value.

I know, as a white man, I don’t face a lot of discrimination or prejudice in my day-

As a bit of discretion, this is not to say that perspectives from different people in the same group will be one-to-one. This is also not to say diversity should only be a means of using people specifically for their cultural knowledge. Treat people as whole and individual people.

This all may sound like a lot to manage, and it is a lot at first. But there are resources on and off campus. Schwab said the libraries offer information sessions on DEI specifically for those who are trying to learn more.

“People often ask this question like, ‘How

“We want them to go back and actively think about ‘What are the things I need to do differently,’” Schwab said. “And it can be even at the interpersonal level. Even when a world event happens that affects an identity that I don’t hold, but I can still be sensitive about that and understand that my colleagues or friends or students may be impacted by that. I may be impacted by that even if I don’t hold that identity.”

At the end of the day, DEI is ultimately a means of developing perspective-taking on a wide scale. It’s a means of understanding power abuses happen, and by admitting a lack of knowledge or understanding we can begin to minimize it. The only way we get better at that is by discussing what exactly that means, by challenging ourselves and others, and by encouraging each other to do the same.

We can learn from South Africa’s

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Mark Mikhail Correspondent

Following the deeply divisive era of apartheid in South Africa, the nation embarked on a groundbreaking and compassionate path toward healing and unity. In an unprecedented move, they established the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, aimed at reconciling with their white neighbors and addressing the injustices of the past.

The TRC was characterized by two distinctive features: First, it undertook an examination of war crimes and human rights abuses committed by all parties, including those done by Black anti-apartheid activists. Second, the commission adopted principles of restorative justice, facilitating direct encounters between offenders and victims to uncover the truth. Offenders who sincerely admitted to their involvement in relatively minor crimes were eligible for amnesty.

This approach differs immensely from the retributive justice model employed by the former World War II allies against Holocaust offenders during the Nuremberg trials. In the Nuremberg trials, high offenders were sentenced to death or life imprisonment to deter future offenders.

In contrast to retributive justice models, what distinguishes restorative justice is its focus on healing and providing resolution for the victims and their relatives. This approach seeks to clarify what happened to the victim and facilitate a cathartic moment to improve victims’ lives over punishing the offenders.

During my research for this article, I experienced profound emotional responses while observing the trials. I was deeply moved, almost to the point of tears and felt chills during the shocking testimonies that described barbaric acts of violence, ranging from genital mutilation to amputation.

Not only did these poignant moments contribute to the healing of individual

victims, but they also played a significant role in the broader healing of the nation.

Timothy Hinton, an NC State professor of philosophy and a white South African anti-apartheid activist, highlighted the testimony concerning the death of Matthew Goniwe as one such impactful instance.

Goniwe was a member of the Cradock Four, an anti-apartheid group that became idolized through their death.

By acknowledging injustices and facilitating dialogue, a similar commission could have bridged divides and initiated healing much earlier in American history.

“[Goniwe] was an activist from the Eastern Cape, and I remember vividly when he disappeared,” Hinton said. “I think that [the testimony] was very transformative because you had to pretend that it wasn’t so bad. But by looking at this graphic testimony of what they do — they were continuing to have what you would call a barbecue, the cops, while he was dying. … It was the most hideous kind of callous disregard of his humanity. So, I think that moments like that were very transformative for the people who were open to being transformed.”

Unfortunately, the success of the TRC program is debatable, especially when you consider the data. Out of 7,112 amnesty applications, only 849 were granted.

Hinton slightly hints at why the TRC’s success is often considered limited. The absence of sincerity, he said, was a key factor in the TRC’s limited success as it hindered the full potential for national healing and reconciliation.

“I think success would require a certain

Disconnecting myself and reclaiming my time by deleting social media

Sarah Hoffer Staff Writer

Ideleted all social media from my phone for the month of January — I quit cold turkey, and I learned a lot about myself, the people around me and the culture surrounding social media. I was tired of finding myself in the endless doom scroll and wanted to put an end to it.

For over a year, I’ve kept strict time limits for myself on social media apps: one hour for Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, and a mere 30 minutes for TikTok. The notifications for these apps were all off as well. This helped some, but I still felt myself drawn to these apps more than I wanted.

Before deciding to delete the apps, I thought I would miss out on important things, which in retrospect really weren’t that important. These things included seeing my friends’ Instagram stories and posts, scrolling through funny posts on my explore pages and enjoying a casual scroll on Instagram reels or TikTok before bed. I thought these little joys genuinely added to my life as a young adult and that they were a reward.

Even now, after this self-made challenge, I do think it can be a relief to spend some time sans-brain, but I feel that moderation is very important.

Lilly Kirn, a second-year studying psychology, is a wellness coach at NC State Wellness and Recreation. In this position, she meets with students who want to focus more on their holistic health and want guidance from a peer. She helps students evaluate certain aspects of their lives and coaches them on how to improve their health how they want.

“Evaluating how you feel after scrolling on social media and looking at the goals that

willingness on the part of most people in the country to take the process seriously,” Hinton said. “There’s the … moral or a spiritual question like how, as a society, do we confront the evils of the past?”

Despite only being partially successful, the TRC offers a valuable blueprint for implementing restorative justice more effectively. It suggests that for restorative justice to be more effective, it requires comprehensive participation, absolute transparency and a collective commitment to addressing past wrongs.

Applying these principles in the after-

you want to have and finding a balance are important,” Kirn said. “Saying, ‘I want to be able to go to the gym for an hour every week,’ or ‘I want to do art for an hour every week,’ anything that makes you feel good, and sort of slowly replacing those things instead of spending time on social media.”

In the beginning of the month, it felt as if I had enough free time to do anything, but in a weird and off-putting way. I would pick up my phone and have no pacifier to click on if I was bored, looking for anything to relieve myself from thinking my own thoughts. It felt like I was at a loss, that something was missing and I didnt know what it was. As I continued my month unplugged from these apps, I realized how much of a clearer head I had.

I wasn’t comparing my life and physical body to those on social media, and my goals felt more attainable for some reason. I became more present in my daily life, and I felt more focused on what was in front of me.

“People might say, ‘Well, if I’m not scrolling on my phone, I don’t know what else I could be doing,’” Kirn said. “That’s something someone can run into. ... I think a lot of that has to do with people who might not know about the positive alternatives, and scrolling on social media feels really safe because they’ve done it for a really long time. It’s always scary, trying new things.”

There were certainly things that I missed. I missed seeing little second-hand updates from friends and mutuals who I don’t see in person enough. I took a month to respond to messages from people who don’t have my phone number. I didn’t understand trends that my friends would reference. But overall, I found the positives largely outweigh the negatives.

While I spent time with my friends I realized how often people pick up their phone to check if they had any notifications or to

math of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States could have facilitated crucial conversations, fostering reconciliation among various ethnic groups. By acknowledging injustices and facilitating dialogue, a similar commission could have bridged divides and initiated healing much earlier in American history.

Our nation is beginning to recognize and amend its previous missteps by increasingly incorporating restorative justice techniques into the legal system, though only gradually.

Our country’s drug courts are integrating aspects of restorative justice in a way

simply scroll through their feed during a lull in conversation. During face-to-face conversations, people would pick up their phone and look at it, distracting them from who was in front of them. It was frustrating.

“It is so saturated in today’s society and in the college atmosphere,” Kirn said. “It can be a very positive thing, and it really differs for everybody whether they’re able to just put their phone down and say, ‘I don’t want to look at it,’ or some people, it’s a little bit harder.”

In college, most students find that their free time is very limited, and that during certain times of the academic year it can feel like a waste of time to even breathe when there is work to do. Addiction to social media taints your time management and attention span to a level that you can’t understand unless you take some time off. Phones and social media are digital distractions that take away from your ability to

focus.

Alexis Steptoe, assistant director of wellness at NC State Wellness and Recreation, played a large role in creating the Wellness Coaching Program at the University.

“Managing your time online and offline is a healthy habit that most people will say ‘Where will I find the time?’” Steptoe said. “Once we have that ‘aha’ moment, you’re like, ‘Oh, wait, there are probably some other ways I could spend my time.’… All of these things are not only operating independently; they’re also interacting. Being able to be separate and look at them, but then also see how they domino into each other.”

Social media apps are designed to draw us in. On TikTok, the short-form media is addictive and compelling. A video that might make you cry follows a video of a beautiful person who made you feel self-conscious, and the former is followed with a clip of a feel good moment between people you’ll never see again. It’s a rough cycle. Instagram is just the same.

Evaluating how you feel after scrolling on social media and looking at the goals that you want to have and finding a balance are important.

- Lilly Kirn

“Reevaluating how you use it and what you expose yourself to, … especially with a lot of settings on social media and other things, you can kind of control what you’re exposed to, to a certain extent,” Kirn said. “You can filter out some of this stuff that you might not want to see.”

I still haven’t downloaded Instagram or TikTok again, and I found that the absence of TikTok has no effect on my life. However, I log onto Instagram using my Google browser. This disconnects me from it, in a way, and I find it decreases my being drawn to the app on a daily basis. Now that I have a better grasp on what I find important in the time I have, I know exactly what I’m missing out on without social media. In short, there was practically nothing worth sweating about.

that ultimately benefits the individual facing substance abuse issues. In these courts, the concept of punishment is reframed to support the rehabilitation of the drug user. Their sentences usually include providing access to substance abuse treatment programs. Additionally, these courts enforce retributive measures through accountability. Offenders are regularly drug tested, and other minute punitive measures are taken to encourage compliance with treatment and recovery.

Unfortunately, the integration of mixed models of retributive and restorative justice

remains uncommon in our country, with there only being 4,000 drug courts across the United States. It is not too late. Implementing methods inspired by the TRC into the current justice system, especially where minority groups are disproportionately affected, will lead to significant positive changes. By adopting restorative justice principles, the U.S. can address systemic biases and reduce mass incarceration to promote a more equitable society.

GUEST COLUMN

NC State does not keep us safe

Benjamin Pulgar-Guzman Guest Columnist

On Feb. 6, 2024, a student was arrested by NC State Campus Police on campus property and was then transferred to Raleigh Police Department. Your gut instinct, like many others, should be to ask, “What is the RPD doing on our campus in the first place?” Your second question might be, “What was the student doing?”

When Clery crimes occur on campus, we get a WolfAlert. When there is a death by suicide on campus, the relevant parties, per postvention protocol, receive communication. There are many unique city-wide notifications for specific crimes, ranging from kidnapping to police assault. On Feb. 6, 2024, you received nothing because no crime or event warranting an alert took place. So why was the Wolfpack student arrested?

The student was arrested after handing out flyers outside of the McKimmon Center during the Engineering Career Fair that had information about the weapons manufacturers advertising their jobs inside the building. They were not being aggressive, obstructing the flow of movement or being provocative. If they were, it would have been mentioned in the arrest, which it was not. So why was the student arrested?

The student was handing out flyers that were part of a larger protest of the aforementioned arms manufacturers on behalf of Palestinians. These companies that were at the career fair — Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Bae Systems, Caterpillar, Northrop Grumman and Siemens — sell their equipment to Israel which then uses it against Palestinians. They are, factually, profiting from what the International Court of Justice has called “plausible” genocide.

The student, as part of the effort to spread awareness of this war profiteering, approached fellow students who were at the career fair to tell them about this connection. Some shook their heads “no,” and the student continued on to others that shook their heads “yes.”

The police — both campus and RPD — did nothing. They saw what the student was doing, shrugged and looked away. They did nothing because a non-event was happening. So then, one final time, why was the student arrested?

The long awaited answer.

Behind the police bike line, under the loud police drone, next to the unmarked police vehicles, stood the answer: a single NC State administrator. With some words and gestures, this administrator turned a non-event into a student’s criminal record.

Not only did this administrator, who will remain anonymous, single-handedly create

a student’s criminal record and jeopardize any future career because they advocated against war-profiteering, but they put the student directly and intentionally in danger.

The RPD has a history of police brutality and abuse of power. Darryl Tyree Williams, 32, was the latest victim, tased and killed by the RPD in February 2023. An investigation by ABC11 in 2020 found that Black people in Raleigh were five times more likely to be arrested than white people. A Rolling Stone investigation published in April 2023 uncovered a decades-long scheme of no-knock warrants, false drug charges and rampant corruption in the RPD.

RPD, being no different than any other police department, is in the business of defending property and corporate interests, often at the expense of the very people they claim to “protect and serve.”

NC State collaborating with the RPD, endangering its own students, is part of a larger trend of heavy-handed responses by University administrators to students exercising their freedom of speech amidst tense times.

Administrators at Columbia University, for instance, berated their students for holding an “unauthorized protest” which “violated university policy” but stayed silent over the chemical “skunk” attack, a weapon used often by the Israeli Defense Force, that results in nausea, vomiting and chest pain.

At the University of Michigan, in a deviation from precedent, campus police arrested over 40 students on trespassing charges and sanctioned many of them from extracurricular activities, showing up with nearly 56 police cars made up of seven different security departments.

We are, by comparison, privileged that it was only one student. However, if our sister institutions are teaching us anything, it is that these administrators are not on the side of the students.

Just last year at NC State, these same administrators were telling us how much they want the same thing we want as we experienced a year of unprecedented amounts of death by suicide. Yet on Feb. 6, 2024, the administration stood directly across from us, directly in front of us, directly opposed to us, and put us in danger. With the help of RPD, they put their corporate partners first, in front of the safety of their own students.

If our administration is telling us anything, it is that they cannot keep us secure, ranging from chemical contaminants at Poe Hall to city police collaboration and arbitrary arrest. If our administration is telling us anything, it is that they do not keep us safe.

Black History Month

Zay Mahatha, Staff Cartoonist

A first-year studying english

Crows Hold Grudges

Jordan Ramsey, Staff Cartoonist

A third-year studying art and design

Drawing Straws

Max Alsop, Staff Cartoonist

A third-year studying anthropology and paleontology

Threads: Unraveling Meta’s Twitter killer

Matthew Burkhart Assistant News Editor

Meta’s Threads app burst into the social media scene as a promising alternative to X, formerly known as Twitter, amidst Elon Musk’s controversial acquisition and transformation of the platform in 2022. However, its monumental rise and fall has left many questioning its potential in an already overcrowded market.

Tynesha McCullers, a provost fellow and doctoral student in communication, rhetoric and digital media, who studies social media usage and its impacts on African American communities, said Meta initially launched Threads as a reaction to dissatisfaction with Musk’s handling of X.

“The development of Threads as an app came as a reactive approach to both Twitter being sold to Elon Musk, and then the development of Mastodon and Bluesky … but Threads was [Meta’s] answer to trying to develop an app that did the same thing,” McCullers said.

Tyler Arnold, a second-year studying aerospace engineering and an X user, said he does not trust the app for news due to Musk’s changes.

“[Musk] made it like you can buy verification, [that] made it really irritating,” Arnold said. “Just scrolling through, you can see just like trolls and bots were verified.”

From the start, Meta prioritized ease in registration. Users could simply import their Instagram information and instantly connect with all of their previous followers. Consequently, Threads set a record as the fastest-growing social media app, reaching one million users in one hour and 100 million users four days after its release.

McCullers said users flocked to the platform because of its novelty and familiarity with Meta as a corporation.

“Not only is it this new, fresh thing, but it’s also from a company that we already have a relationship and some trust with, so people were eager to run to it at the same time [when] there were other competitor apps coming out,” McCullers said. “Facebook is this well-known app. It has a couple of decades more than other apps do. And so people trusted it and wanted to, at the very least, try it out because Twitter was becoming a disaster space with all of the glitches and all of the changes of features and costs.”

Abigail Stuart, a second-year in fashion and textile management, said she joined Threads because she saw it as having the same functionality as X but tailored to her Instagram community.

“I really liked it because it was like Twitter, but we could still follow the same

people who were on Instagram, which I think is one of the reasons I didn’t like Twitter because the people I know aren’t on Twitter,” Stuart said.

As of February, Threads has 160 million users but only 10.3 million are active daily users, which is down 79% since its peak. Its users spend an average of three minutes on the app per day, while X has 200 million daily users who spend an average of 31 minutes on the app each day.

Stuart said she stopped using Threads because it felt too separate from Instagram.

“A lot of my friends didn’t post on it the way that celebrities and bigger accounts did, and it kind of phased out; I feel like because it just felt different than Instagram,” Stuart said. “It didn’t feel integrated in the feed like stories, DMs and normal posts and reels did. And also just like that idea of having to download a separate app — I felt like it should just be like a new part of our feed instead of a different app.”

Arnold said he never downloaded Threads because he did not want to divide his time between any more social media platforms.

“I’m on Instagram and Reddit and X already, so I don’t think I need another account to scroll through and waste my time,” Arnold said.

McCullers said it takes time and years of investment to make a social media app a mainstay.

“It took Twitter 17 years to become the app that it is,” McCullers said. “It took a significant amount of time for it to build this reputation and this rapport with its users. And despite what Musk has done in this last year to kind of devalue it, people still find value in what Twitter has to offer and unfortunately, Threads has not proven itself or made itself a mainstay for folks to consider the app and be willing to follow along with it.”

Although Threads’ daily users have plummeted, McCullers said Threads may have a chance to rise again in the future after the next election season passes and X’s rapport continues to decline.

“I don’t think it’s completely done away with right now because we have some really big events that are happening right now that people are still relying on Twitter,” McCullers said. “Do I think that it could shift in the next couple of years? Absolutely. Especially if we continue at this rate where Musk is shifting the features or changing the costs. I say that to say Threads has potential, but I don’t know if it’ll be an immediate migration over.”

GRAPHIC BY WYLIE PHU

NC State hosts Black Westerns lecture

Mark Mikhail Correspondent

NC State’s College of Design and Department of Media Arts, Design and Technology, with the help of NC State University Libraries, welcomed Mia Mask, a professor of African American cinema at Vassar College, to present at “Overlooked Black Narratives of the American West,” hosted at Burns Auditorium on Feb. 22.

Derek Ham, the department head and associate professor of Media Arts, Design and Technology, started the proceedings with a quote from James Baldwin, a Black civil rights activist and author.

That’s a shame because that was an opportunity to say, ‘Here’s a Black character … that didn’t have to be the slave or a civil rights worker and could be a bold hero on a horse riding around.’

-Derek Ham

“‘It comes as a great shock … to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance … has not pledged allegiance to you,’” Ham said, quoting Baldwin. “‘It comes as a great shock to see Gary Cooper killing off the Indians, and although you are rooting for Gary Cooper, that the Indians are you.’”

This quote highlights one of the messages from the presentation: Classic Westerns have historically propagated negative stereotypes of minority communities. Mask said what distinguishes Black Westerns is their portrayal of a more nuanced perspective on the challenges faced by early settlers, notably by not singularly casting Native Americans as the antagonists.

“What we gain [in Black Westerns] is a sense of, ‘Wow, some of the threats that were out on the frontier were not only supposed native savages threatening white homesteads,’” Mask said. “They were actually the klan trying to intimidate … exodusters and wagon trains to threaten them to go back to Southern plantations, but that threat is never discussed [in traditional Westerns].”

Another presentation theme focused on the systemic exclusion of Black actors from roles in Western films. Ham said excluding Black actors from Westerns provided an inaccurate representation of cowboys.

“One of four cowboys were Black,” Ham said. “Why did you edit out that whole moment where we can go into fiction? We could have dreamed of being heroes and sheriffs.”

Ham said this exclusion often results in Black narratives being disproportionately centered on historical suffering and adversity while overlooking the broad spectrum of Black experiences.

“Look at the animation, look at Bugs Bunny, and there are cowboys in the back; … you won’t find a Black person,” Ham said. “I’m like, that’s a shame because that was an opportunity to say, ‘Here’s a Black character … that didn’t have to be the slave or a civil rights worker

and could be a bold hero on a horse riding around.’”

Mask said this trend is fortunately changing with the rise of the popularity of streaming services, and provided an example through the recent movie “The Burial,” starring Jamie Foxx.

“[The studio] knew that it really wasn’t going to do that well from their metrics, so, they said, ‘Look, if we get it

onto Amazon, it has the ability to be seen by millions of people.’ So I do feel like streaming platforms have made a difference in terms of accessibility.”

To find more events like this one, visit NC State University Libraries’ events page. Mia Mask’s book “Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western” delves deeper into the history of Black Westerns.

MARK MIKHAIL/TECHNICIAN

Sustainability Stewards hold symposium

Sarah Hoffer Staff Writer

During the end of February and throughout March, the NC State Sustainability Stewards host their annual Environmental Justice Symposium to teach students about environmental justice in North Carolina. Each year, there’s a different theme, and this year’s theme is waste.

The Sustainability Stewards are supported by the University Sustainability Office and are a student-led initiative to move the University toward a more sustainable future. Through symposiums, workshops, campus events and presentations, they connect the bridge and make relevant the issues around us.

Symposium events will focus on plastic pollution, ewaste and material waste. The various events related to this theme are designed to be interesting to everyone and make the idea of environmental justice accessible to all.

Maggie Wesslen is the equity and outreach team coordinator for the Sustainability Stewards and said it is important for students to broaden their horizons and learn about how sustainability is impactful and applicable to society.

“We see the biggest gap to be the social impact,” Wesslen said. “A lot of people don’t even know the definition of environmental justice, or they have a very watered-down perspective of it. It’s something that if you don’t see every day, you don’t think about, but the reality is even in

your backyard … there’s a lot of environmental justice concerns to be considered.”

The mending workshop Feb. 27, will teach students how to repair their clothing. Sewing kits and tutorials on mending and sewing on patches will be provided during the event to emphasize the environmental impacts on textile and material waste, as the Stewards want to provide a skill students can use to make a change in their lives and communities.

“I think something so special about the EJS is that there’s something for everyone,” said Kirk Porter, an equity and outreach team member. “If you’re into fashion, you can go to the mini workshop. If you’re into film, you can see the documentary, and if you’re into academia you can learn from these professors. It’s a good opportunity to kind of learn about waste in a way that is personal to you.”

On March 1, arts and sustainability will connect to create a discussion about consumption, waste and sustainability. The Stewards said sustainability education can feel impersonal, so an art showcase with performances and music will aim to convey environmental justice and sustainability as a “people” issue.

“We’re trying to make it approachable and also interesting to the average student one might encounter here,” said Evie Dallmann, an equity and outreach team member. “That’s why we have an art showcase trying to connect that bridge and make it relevant. Also, to ratio -

GRAPHIC

AMELIA RUSSELL

nalize with the fact that it might not be in your backyard, but it is something on a large scale to think about.”

On March 2, they are hosting a volunteer event at the Raleigh City Farm, where those involved will learn about food waste and get hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture and community.

A discussion panel will take place at D.H. Hill Jr. Library on March 4, where a panel of experts will be available to network with and speak to students about the world and roles of waste reduction. The speakers are experts on topics such as microbial e-waste, plastic degradation, marine debris and more. This event will serve as a networking and professional development event, with dinner served for attendees.

“Sustainability is a lens we are trying to over- or superimpose onto everyone’s discipline as we move forward,” Dallmann said. “Nothing’s going to be untouched by sustainability.”

The final event of the symposium is a March 7 film screening about food waste at Fountain Dining Hall to expose how much food really gets wasted each year. The Sustainability Stewards’ goal with various events is to give students as much of a dynamic view of environmental justice as they can.

Visit the 2024 Environmental Justice Symposium website for more information and specifics about their events in the next few weeks. Read Technician’s feature on the Sustainability Stewards to learn more about the group.

BY

NC State wrestling finishes conference play Pack wins ACCs, Hidlay impresses and stars rise

Noah Teague Assistant Sports Editor

NC State wrestling hoisting an ACC championship trophy at the end of the regular season has become an annual sight for Wolfpack fans.

Once again, NC State wrestling won the ACC wrestling regular season title in front of an electric Reynolds Coliseum crowd this past Friday. Through five dual meets, the red-and-white consistently shined en route to the championship. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Pack’s journey to the ACC regular season title.

The ACC still runs through Raleigh

For the past several years, NC State has set the standard for the ACC. Once again, the Wolfpack proved itself as the class of the conference.

Virginia Tech — a perennial powerhouse in its own right — seemed poised early in its

dual meet with the Pack to steal the crown. The Hokies jumped out to an early 12-3 lead over NC State after winning four of the first five bouts. Midway through the bout, it certainly seemed like all hope was lost for the Wolfpack.

However, head coach Pat Popolizio’s squad had other plans. NC State went on a heater and won five-consecutive bouts to close the dual meet and topple Virginia Tech 17-12. While the Hokies have an impressive program, they’ll have to wait at least one more year to claim the ACC crown.

Trent Hidlay cements himself as an all-time great

Wolfpack fans have been lucky to witness redshirt senior Trent Hidlay blossom into a superstar. After dominating in the 184-pound weight class, Hidlay moved up to the 197 class and has looked even more impressive. The four-time NCAA AllAmerican and three-time ACC Champion

has positioned himself as a national championship contender this season, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation.

In ACC play, Hidlay has dominated his competition, earning extra points in each of his five bouts. Hidlay outscored his opponents 92-15, which included three top-30 opponents. With nobody even challenging Hidlay, the Pack’s star has ascended into the ranks of one of the greatest to ever wrestle at NC State.

Multiple national title contenders

While Hidlay has garnered the most attention this season, he’s not the only Wolfpack wrestler who looks like a national title contender. Besides Hidlay, NC State has three wrestlers ranked in the top five — No. 5 redshirt junior Kai Orine, No. 4 junior Ryan Jack and No. 4 sophomore Jackson Arrington in the 133, 141 and 149-pound classes respectively.

All three wrestlers are poised to take

home individual ACC championships.

From there, they’d travel to Kansas City, Missouri for the NCAA championships

March 21-23. While there’s still plenty of work to do, Orine, Jack and Arrington have positioned themselves as perfectly as possible to end the season as national champions.

A rising star emerging

After Hidlay moved up to the 197-pound weight class, the natural question was how could NC State replace his production in the 184 slot. Redshirt freshman Dylan Fishback has stepped into the role and immediately made a name for himself. Despite only being a redshirt freshman, Fishback is already rated the No. 11 wrestler nationally.

While Fishback posted a 2-2 ACC record, he proved he can hang with anyone. Additionally, he still has plenty of time to develop. For now, Fishback is gearing up for a run at his first individual ACC title.

JERMAINE HUDSON/TECHNICIAN

Redshirt senior Trent Hidlay holds up a trophy after the NC State wrestling team won the ACC regular season dual meet championship in Reynolds Coliseum on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. NC State beat Virginia Tech 20-12.

NC State women’s basketball’s postseason outlook

Connor VanDerMark Correspondent

NC State women’s basketball is coming off its worst week of the season with losses to Tobacco Road rivals Chapel Hill and Duke. However, the Pack is still ranked No. 12 and is third in the ACC, sitting 1.5 games behind Syracuse and three games behind Virginia Tech.

The red-and-white has the chance to rally in the final week of the regular season against No. 19 Syracuse and Wake Forest before advancing to the ACC Tournament.

The No. 12 Wolfpack is currently in a clash with three other teams in the ACC, all vying for the last two spots in the top four, which come with a very important double-bye.

NC State once looked like a lock for a top seed, but it still holds the tiebreakers over the other three teams in contention: Notre Dame, Louisville and Florida State.

In addition to having the head-to-head tiebreakers, the Wolfpack holds a couple of impressive non-conference victories against then-No. 2 UConn and then-No. 3 Colorado. These wins propelled the Pack from being unranked at the beginning of the season to sitting in the top five.

The Wolfpack is not in the position it expected to be in a week ago, but it still holds control of its destiny. As long as NC State wins its last two games, it’s guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals. The red-and-white holds home-court advantage in its last two regular season games, which is a huge factor considering it is 13-1 in Reynolds Coliseum.

No. 19 Syracuse is the biggest obstacle in the way as it sits at second in the ACC. The two teams have not yet played each other, but each has an impressive resume heading into the matchup. Including the UConn and Colorado matchups, the Wolfpack is 6-2 against top-25 teams, with both losses to Virginia Tech. On the other hand, the Orange heads into Raleigh on a three-game road win streak they’re looking to extend.

The losses against UNC and Duke created a blueprint for teams on how to beat the Pack. Both defenses held the red-and-white to 35.2% or less from the field, a stark difference from the usual average of 43%. The Blue Devils took it a step further and held the Pack to 25% from beyond the arc, a large decrease from its 33.6% average.

When it comes to the tournament itself, the Pack’s biggest opponent will be Virginia Tech. Assuming the red-and-white get the double-bye, they will not play each other until at least the semi-finals, if not the championship, due to seeding. Either way,

the Hokies are the only team that boasts two wins over the Wolfpack while also being the only team to beat NC State in Raleigh.

The Hokies are led by superstar Elizabeth Kitley, who is fifth in the country in scoring and one of the best centers in the nation. Kitley scored a combined 52 points on the Wolfpack across two games, including a buzzer-beater to secure a one-point victory for her squad. Slowing down Kitley is the key to beating the Hokies. If any team can manage a defensive stop, it’s the Wolfpack. It already showed it can stop superstar scorers when it held Notre Dame freshman

phenom Hannah Hidalgo to just 10 points on 4-19 shooting. The Wolfpack has the chance to prove just how good of a team it is and make a statement with a big run in the ACC Tournament. Getting the double-bye and making it to the championship game will play a significant role in the selection committee’s decision during seeding for the NCAA Tournament. As of right now, the Wolfpack is projected at a three-seed but has the chance to move up to a two-seed with a few more important wins.

Pack men’s basketball path to NCAA Tournament COLUMN

Connor VanDerMark Correspondent

NC State men’s basketball is in the midst of one of the most polarizing regular seasons in recent memory. From a game-winner on the road against Clemson to a 20-point loss to Ole Miss, the Wolfpack has put its fans through a roller coaster of emotions.

As it nears the end of the season, the Pack currently sits outside the NCAA tournament bubble and is risking missing the tournament for the fourth time during

head coach Kevin Keatts’ tenure. However, there is still a lane to March Madness aside from winning the ACC Tournament, and although it’s a low chance, you can never count the Wolfpack out.

The first option is to win out, but that task is much harder than it sounds. The redand-white has just two Quad 1 wins on the season but has the chance to tack on three more in its last four games. The Pack is the underdog in every remaining matchup and will have to take its game to the next level

to pull it off.

For the first Quad 1 matchup, the Wolfpack will travel to UNC-Chapel Hill to take on the Tar Heels. In the rivals’ last matchup, UNC pulled away late due to a strong second-half performance. The game proved to be graduate guard DJ Horne’s worst performance — he shot just 2-16 from the field en route to a six-point outing.

Since the loss, Horne has played the best ball of his career. He has scored 24 points or more in six of the last eight games, including

a career-high 32 points against Syracuse. If he can manage to play the same way against the Tar Heels, the Wolfpack will have a strong chance at the upset.

NC State will return to PNC Arena to host Tobacco Road rival Duke in its last home game of the season. The Pack has not yet played Duke, but the Blue Devils have been one of the strongest teams in the ACC.

NCAA continued page 19

HALLIE WALKER/TECHNICIAN

Freshman guard Zoe Brooks shoots the ball during the game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. Brooks scored 10 points. Duke beat NC State 68-58.

COLUMN

Wes Moore still among the ACC’s best

Colby Trotter Sports Editor

Coming into the year, there were doubts if head coach Wes Moore was still the right guy to lead NC State women’s basketball. He was coming off a season that saw NC State women’s basketball finish eighth in the ACC and lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to lowerseed Princeton.

Moore has cultivated extremely high expectations for Pack women’s basketball because, before the 2022-23 season, his squad won three straight ACC championships and consistently made deep runs in the tournament.

At this point in Moore’s tenure, anything less than that is failing to meet expectations so there was concern that last year’s down season could be the new norm. This was especially the thought after NC State lost four of its main starters from last season. Three of the team’s top scorers transferred, leading many to question if his tough coaching style still resonates with his players. This all culminated with the media picking the Pack to

finish eighth in the ACC.

Before the season, junior guard Saniya Rivers — one of the team’s leaders — made it known that the previous season was an anomaly and NC State had to get back to its dominant ways Moore had established.

“I know that coach Moore is used to a winning program and we just have to get back to that because I know it takes him out of his comfort zone to try and adjust to a team that didn’t win as much,” Rivers said.

After starting the season unranked, the 11th-year head coach left no doubt he was still the right man for the job as the Wolfpack started the season 14-0 with early season wins over then-ranked No. 2 UConn and then-ranked No. 3 Colorado. The Pack became the first women’s basketball team to begin the season unranked and climb into the top five by the end of November.

For the season, NC State has six wins over ranked opponents and has played one of the toughest schedules in college basketball based on opponent’s win percentage. It only took one week for the

Pack to find its way back into the national rankings and has been there ever since including a stretch of 14-straight weeks inside the top 10.

This quick turnaround has Moore on the late-season watch list for the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year. It’s well-deserved recognition given he’s done it with developing players he had on his roster from last season rather than opting for the portal.

Five players returned from last year’s squad, and they have all increased their scoring average by at least 3.5 points. Junior guard Aziaha James has gone from 6.8 points per game to 16. Junior guard Saniya Rivers went from 8.6 per game to 12.2. Senior guard Madison Hayes has gone from 7 points per game to 12.1 points per game. Graduate forward Mimi Collins went from 6.9 to 11 and graduate center River Baldwin progressed from 5.7 to 10.3.

There’s no doubt Moore felt outside pressure to pursue options in the portal like a lot of other programs, but he stuck with the players he had on his roster and

helped develop them into the players they are today. The five mentioned spent time watching together last season, and Moore’s patience with them has paid off.

“Having five veterans is a big key,” Hayes said. “I think just that’s been here, that’s played under coach for at least one year. He’s very intense, but he’s a good coach for us.”

It’s easy to tell when watching NC State women’s basketball that the players love playing for each other and their head coach. Moore has crafted a winning culture built on the foundation of tough coaching while at the same time creating a family-like bond.

While the Pack is currently going through a tough stretch, losing backto-back games at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, there should be no worry among Wolfpack Nation that this team will bounce back. Moore’s team is built to battle through adversity and come out stronger on the other side, especially with this squad that still has a chip on its shoulder for starting the season unranked.

HALLIE WALKER/TECHNICIAN

Head coach Wes Moore yells at his team during the game against UNC-Chapel HIll at Carmichael Arena on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. UNC beat NC State 80-70.

NCAA

continued from page 17

Apart from their recent loss to Wake Forest, they’ve put together an impressive resume during the second half of the season.

However, every team has its bad moments. Duke’s consist of early losses to Georgia Tech, Pitt and Arkansas. The Blue Devils have shown vulnerability, but their heavy offensive attack will be hard for the Wolfpack to stop. Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach and Jared McCain make up one of the best offensive trios in the country.

Scoring is a huge part of it, but the Wolfpack defense has had some questionable showings recently. It allowed an alarming 26 points to Chris Bell in the first half against Syracuse but then held Boston College to just 26 points in the first half. Which Wolfpack defense chooses to show up will be directly responsible for the outcome of this game.

Finally, NC State will travel north to take on Pittsburgh. The Panthers have been one of the sneakiest teams in the ACC, winning five of their last seven games, including a 67-64 victory over the Pack in Raleigh. The Panthers also beat then-No. 7 Duke on the road, an accomplishment held by just one other team in the country. They hold a 9-8 conference record, the same as NC State, but because of their underdog wins, they are rated as a Quad 1 opponent.

The Wolfpack will most likely need a win or two in the ACC Tournament in addition to the potential three Quad 1 wins. The road to March Madness is about as difficult as it gets, and the chances are extremely slim, but NC State still has a pulse.

FLETCHER SHOLAR/TECHNICIAN

Graduate forward DJ Burns, junior forward Mohamed Diarra and junior guard Jayden Taylor wait for Boston College during the game in PNC Arena on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. The three scored a combined 42 points during the game. NC State beat Boston College 81-70.