Old Gold&Black
SportsCenter visits Reynolda Campus
Students and fans crowd Hearn Plaza for the hourly segment
SCOTTIE KIMMELMAN Sports Editor
This past Thursday, members of the SportsCenter on Campus segment made a quick stop to Reynolda Campus to promote the ensuing prime time game between Wake Forest and NC State. Before this rivalry matchup was televised nationally on ESPN, the widely renowned show featured a one-hour broadcast previewing the game on Hearn Plaza.
Anchor Matt Barrie and co-host Tom Luginbill spent their allotted time hyping up the crowd of both fans and students alike. Interactive events such as tossing corn hole, rolling the quad and snatching donuts from Coach Jake Dickert elevated the excitement level significantly before kickoff.
“This is why we came here,” Dickert said on the set of SportsCenter. “It’s this kind of support that will take us far in the season.”
In the second season of SportsCenter on Campus, which has been exclusively hosted by Barrie, the goal
of featuring smaller schools in the country remains unchanged. While Wake Forest may not receive the same national coverage as the other universities highlighted in the segment, this kind of media attention is a novel concept for the school.
The fans that were in attendance at this taping were just as conscious of how important SportsCenter’s appearance on campus was. With every word that Barrie directed towards the audience, the corresponding responses were twice as loud and filled with school spirit. Whether it was students, alumni or long-time supporters, everyone in attendance wanted to express their passion for Wake Forest.
Some students even made posters with concerted efforts to get on television. During the taping of the show, viewers could see fans holding up signs of babies, written messages and even wagers.
Senior Blake Sterling drew a sign which said, “My dad bet me $50 I couldn’t get on SportsCenter. I. Need. To. Win.” Luckily, both Barrie and ESPN staffers noticed Sterling’s sign minutes before recording and requested the student to call her dad with cash on the line.
“It was all such a blur, but such a cool experience,” Sterling said. “I was really nervous being on live TV. I’ve never done that before. But I felt super comfortable being surrounded by my friends and the greater Wake Forest community.”
According to Sterling, her dad has since lived up to his side of the bargain.
Small moments like this on one of the greatest television platforms in the country can be a huge deal for a small school like Wake Forest. It is a chance to promote this University as one that is known for more than just its sports.
“This opportunity was a really great way to broadcast the school in a positive light,” Sterling said. “I think that the pride of the Winston-Salem community helped by wanting to support us on game day.”
Despite the eventual loss to the Wolfpack on Thursday night, the attention that this program and the University received as a whole cannot go unnoticed.
Contact Scottie Kimmelman at kimmsd22@wfu.edu and James Lombardo at lombjp23@wfu.edu
Amanda Blasberg/Old Gold & Black
Old Gold & Black
This column represents the views of the managing editor of the Old Gold & Black, Andrew Braun.
Letter from Exec: Tell a story that matters
Not all of our passions make sense — there are things we can’t explain our fascination with.
At first, I struggled to adjust to this on campus: the overwhelming number of clubs, classes, and professors all swirling with possibility. It's enough to disorient and discourage you from ever mastering your interest.
As journalists, we struggle with the same thing. There are so many stories out there. However, we look for a place on our campus or in our community where we see that our passion is alive , changing and affecting other people. We listen in our classes
and keep an eye out for where our interest might make a splash. Then we seek out and try to understand the development of new perspectives on them.
The details that we uncover as journalists make our passions relevant to others. If our passion has a positive impact somewhere, our stories celebrate it. By telling a story, you can defend why your own passion should matter to other people, too.
Building these stories connects you with other passionate people. Expert faculty and interested students can help you tell what matters to you, even if indirectly.
Better yet, they illuminate and carve a new story out of the old: another opportunity to engage with yourself and your community.
Student journalism lets you tell the story of your passion. When you write a story you have the opportunity to communicate why it matters. When someone reads your story, they don’t expect you to be an expert. They’re trusting you to guide them through an episode in that interest and illustrate why it matters. They are trusting you to translate jargon into something they can relate to.
Old Gold&Black
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“ Student journalism lets you tell the story of your passion.
The Old Gold & Black wants to hear a story about your passion. Across our seven sections, there is always room for a single story on something greater that interests you — no prior experience required. We hope that you will come tell us a story, and show us why it matters.
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Not only do we hold our newspaper and its contents to a high standard, but we also expect that those who choose to use us as an outlet for their ideas, opinions and skill hold themselves and their content to a high ethical standard.
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Wake Forest professors navigate AI in the classroom
Professors adapt their teaching styles as artificial intelligence becomes a larger part of student life
ARIC LOIACONO Contributing Writer
Artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizes how students and educators alike approach academics. At Wake Forest University, professors seek new ways to adjust their courses to balance AI literacy with academic integrity.
Particularly in creative fields, creative thought is crucial to students’ success. While there is certainly some benefit to AI, professors must weigh its usefulness against the harm it causes students, and many are being innovative about how they approach its inclusion in the classroom.
For professors of writing-intensive courses, a consistent consideration is: how could they ensure students were still practicing original thinking when AI can produce essays in seconds?
English Professor Hannah Harrison addressed this question with an open, yet ethically-led mindset for AI collaboration. She said students are independent thinkers who have to recognize
when the line has been drawn.
“If you have AI write a prompt and turn it in, that’s unethical,” Harrison said.
She added: “My inclination is to co-construct an AI policy that works alongside students,” Harrison said. “However, in the age of AI, we have to do a lot more policing than ever before. But again, I feel like you’ll find a lot of faculty that don’t feel like it’s their job, or don’t want to do it poorly if they’re going to have to do it.”
As writing professors wrestle with their relationship with AI in the classroom, faculty in other fields weigh how AI impacts different kinds of assignments.
Palmer Holton, an adjunct assistant art professor, said it is harmful to the self when students rely on AI.
“If I ask you a question and then you use ChatGPT, you’re kind of making yourself the middleman to a conversation I’m having with a computer,” Holton said. “You’re saying ‘I’m redundant as a person in the classroom’. So
don’t do it philosophically.”
However, Holton also offered some mild pushback based on his experience teaching an animation course, and said modern AI technology can compress traditionally time-consuming editing tasks into a seamless workflow.
“Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that efficiency?” Holton said.
In the music department, assignments are being redesigned to encourage creativity that AI cannot replicate.
In an interview with Marco Sartor, assistant teaching music professor, he said there is a need to adjust assignments to prevent unethical AI usage by students.
“I had students turn in papers they couldn’t even explain, so I modified my assignments,” Sartor said. “For example, I now ask students to compare t wo performances at exact timestamps–something AI can’t do. That way I know they really listened.”
Beyond in-class policies, professors who study AI directly offer a more research-focused perspective.
James Proszek, who teaches under the Department of Communication, said there is an appropriate degree of AI use in academic settings.
“AI can be used for good when it augments existing labor, yet dangerous when it replaces or manipulates, like election interference,” Proszek said.
Proszek said in his classes that he is transparent regarding AI and how he incorporates it into assignment creation. However, he noted that he is critical of professors who use AI tools to assess student work or detect plagiarism.
Regarding student advice, he encouraged students to experiment with AI gradually.
“Start small,” Proszek said. “Don’t try everything at once because comfort and familiarity with the software matter more than paying for subscriptions. Consult the library first to find free, effective AI tools before spending money.”
Contact Aric Loiacono at loiaat25@wfu.edu
David Rabban discusses academic freedom and free speech
The University of Texas Law School Professor spoke at Wake Forest Law School
JILL YODER News Editor
On Sept. 4, Wake Forest University welcomed David M. Rabban, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, to campus to lead a lecture titled “Differentiating Academic Freedom from Free Speech.”
The Department of Politics and International Affairs, the Wake Forest School of Law and the Delta of North Carolina Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa cosponsored the event. It was held in the Law School Auditorium at the Worrell Professional Center and was open to students, faculty and the general public. Rabban serves as the Dahr Jamail, Randall Hage Jamail, and Robert Lee Jamail Regents Chair in Law and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The talk drew from his recent book, “Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right.” Rabban began the discussion by specifying that First Amendment academic
freedom applies to executive and legislative actions that affect public universities, but does not apply to private universities.
“A professor at a private university can invoke the First Amendment right of academic freedom to challenge legislation, but not to challenge college administrators or trustees,” Rabban said. “It’s something people often lose sight of, but as you can see, it’s very important.”
Rabban focused largely on a discussion of how hundreds of court cases in the past 60 years have identified academic freedom as a “special concern” of the First Amendment, but have not elaborated on the relationship between academic freedom and free speech as a First Amendment right.
“In my opinion, a convincing theory of academic freedom as a First Amendment right must differentiate academic freedom from free speech, while at the same time explaining why academic freedom fits within the First Amendment,” he said. “It’s complicated, but it’s
necessary.”
Rabban then explained multiple factors he believes complicate the analysis of academic freedom as a First Amendment right of professors, before also considering the First Amendment rights of universities themselves.
The end of the lecture discussed recent laws related to academic freedom that Rabban believes to be unconstitutional, such as Florida’s “Stop Woke Act,” which he discussed briefly.
“This legislation, even the title, indicates the extent of interference with what’s going on in universities. Anything perceived as ‘woke’ would be illegal,” he said. “This legislation is way beyond asking what you’re teaching, it’s saying ‘You can’t teach this,’ so it’s much more intrusive and to me, based on [previous court decisions], it is clearly unconstitutional.”
The event concluded with a period of questions and comments from the audience.
Freshman Henry Holt attended the event due to an interest in the current
POLICE BEAT
presidential administration’s actions regarding educational curriculum.
“I was interested in the lecture because my mom is a professor and she has recently had to change her curriculum because of the current presidential administration, and I was wondering about the legal implications in that situation,” Holt said.
Wake Forest senior Sarah McMeekin attended the lecture for her American Constitutional Law class and was inspired by Rabban’s knowledge and enthusiasm.
“A large takeaway for me was how passionate he was about what he was talking about and his sincere love for the law,” McMeekin said. “I think the role of academic freedom is so interesting and how undeveloped it is. It will be interesting to see in his book what he predicts will happen with the role of academic freedom in the First Amendment.”
Contact Jill Yoder at yodejs24@wfu.edu
• A resident advisor found a firework with a launch tube in a student’s room in Angelou Hall. The report was filed at 6:43 p.m. on Sept. 9.
• An offender consumed alcohol underage at a bar downtown, but was not transported to Wake Forest Baptist. The report was filed at 2:01 a.m. on Sept. 13.
• A student requested medical assistance due to alcohol consumption. The report was filed at 1:53 a.m. on Sept. 13.
• An underage student consumed alcohol and called FCEMS. They refused transport and walked back to their dorm room. The report was filed at 1:12 a.m. on Sept. 14.
• A student was transported to Wake Forest Baptist via FCEMS due to underage alcohol consumption. The report was filed at 1:52 a.m. on Sept 14.
• A Resident Advisor observed a bong and other items in the doorway of a suite. The report was filed at 10:03 p.m. on Sept 14.
Annual Climb to Remember event honors victims of 9/11
Students and community members gathered at Allegacy Stadium to climb 2,977 steps on Sept. 11
SYDNEY GLENN Staff Writer
2 4 y ears ago, the United States was changed forever. There were signs of devastation everywhere, but there were also signs of hope. Each Sept. 11, we remember the 2,977 lives lost in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Wake Forest and Winston-Salem community honored those lost through an annual event called Climb to Remember.
Held at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium before sunrise, hundreds of people gathered to walk 2,977 steps — one for each life lost. The event opened with logistics from a member of the ROTC, followed by a ceremony and a tribute to the United States by an official within the Wake Forest RO TC program. Finally, the crowd watched and congratulated several cadets on officially agreeing to serve in the U.S. Army after graduation.
“The atmosphere was quiet, solemn, and respectful,” sophomore Hannah Henderson said. “It was an incredibly moving ceremony, it felt like a s hared moment of powerful silence and knowing we were all there for the same purpose was unifying and strengthening.”
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by the terrorist group al-Qaida. Flights 11 and 175 hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the cockpit from the hijackers. 2,977 lives were lost, including more than 400 first responders.
Attendees of the event included first responders, military veterans, ROTC cadets from the Wake Forest No Fear Army ROTC Battalion, students and local families who came together to pay tribute to the victims and heroes of 9/11.
“The sense of community I felt while walking those stairs was unlike any other,” sophomore Emma Schoppa said. “It allowed me to reflect on what our country had to go through.”
Around 6:35 a.m., groups of people began walking into the stadium, wearing American flag shirts and colors. Despite some chat -
ter, a h eavy silence fell over the crowd, echoing the bravery from that day. As attendees were split into groups across the stadium to climb, retracing the 110 floors of the World Trade Center, the names of those killed were displayed on the scoreboard. An American flag waved in the background, and patriotic songs echoed throughout the stadium.
According to ROTC leader Allison Ragon, this year had a record-breaking number of participants; multiple student organizations, fraternities, sororities and local residents came together to share a moment of patriotism.
“While I wasn’t alive during the attacks, I have grown up hearing stories and learning about the events of the day, and Climb to Remember helped bring that history to life, gaining a deeper understanding of the loss that shaped the nation,” Schoppa said. Through participation and reflection, events like Climb to Remember serve as powerful tools for education and connection across generations. It is a physical reminder of the courage of each and every firefighter, police officer and ordinary citizen who chose to help and continue climbing.
Contact Sydney Glenn at glensd24@wfu.edu
Students and community members climbed 2,977 steps on Sept. 11 to commemorate each life lost in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Catherine Neely/Old Gold & Black
Courtesy of Wake Forest University
The Wake Forest Baseball team was one of many student organizations and teams in attendance of the event and to climb the stadium steps.
CITY & STATE
Nick Costantino, costnp24@wfu.edu
James Watson, watsjc22@wfu.edu
OLD GOLD & BLACK
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025
Walkouts, protests erupt across WS/FCS
Amid firings, Sept. 15 is named Transition Day for WS/FCS schools
NICK COSTANTINO
City & State Editor
Following the announcement of district-wide layoffs, walkouts, protests and displays of solidarity between staff and students have taken hold across the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District.
The board voted six to three to eliminate 222 staff positions, which were effective Sept. 12. The layoffs were approved as more details of the district’s financial woes came to light, culminating in a $40 billion deficit. The State Board of Education unanimously voted on Sept. 4 to conduct an independent review of the WS/FCS system’s finances.
The district dubbed Sept. 15 “Transition Day,” where no classes were held and faculty and staff alike could adjust to their new responsibilities.
On the last day for these educators, the Forsyth County Association of Educators organized a “Black Friday for Education” where it encouraged students, staff, parents and community members to wear black as a sign of solidarity.
One student at Parkland High School
“The
described how these cuts hurt both students and teachers.
“We’re not only losing staff, we’re also losing families and […] the memories and connections that we’ve built since [we were] babies,” the student said. “And just because the board of education messed up, we should not be held accountable for what is going on.”
Parkland High School English Teacher, Natalie Longstuds, who a few months ago won Beginning Teacher of the Year, was one of the employees who lost their job. She emphasized that these young students are the main priority.
“We’re asking them [students] to just accept an abrupt change, [which] is kind of hard,” Longstuds said. “[We need to] coach them through that and make sure that they know that they’re still in good hands.”
Student walkouts persisted for two weeks at the beginning of the school year when the school district announced the staff cuts. Walkouts occurred across the district at schools including, but not limited to, Mount Tabor, Reagan and Reynolds High Schools, Konnoak Middle School and Hanes Magnet School and Parkland High School. After this period
The district dubbed Sept. 15 “Transition Day,” where no classes were held and faculty and staff alike could adjust to their new responsibilities.
of walkouts, walk-ins grew more popular, where students and teachers walk into the schools together as a show of solidarity.
Teachers and any public sector employee in North Carolina cannot unionize or strike since a 1959 law barred any collective bargaining.
North Carolina State Senator Paul Lowe attended a Mt. Tabor High School walk-in to support the cause.
“I think it's important to be out here and encourage our students, staff and
Grounds” secures four
JAMES WATSON
City & State Editor
At the Sept. 2 City Council meeting, council members voted six to two to award four million dollars from an economic redevelopment fund to “The Grounds” development. They are also seeking an additional four million dollars from the Forsyth County government.
According to city documents, the developers originally expected that all infrastructure work needed for the residential and retail components would be covered by a $35 million state grant awarded to the developers in 2023. However, the total cost of infrastructure improvements exceeded the state grant by $20 million — necessitating further investment from the city and other parties.
Front Street Capital, one of the developers lea ding the project, insists they are not over budget. Rather, they say, the grant was awarded before the final costs were cemented, and now they are adjusting based on the project scope.
“The state funding was always intended to go towards a larger infrastructure packet and it was never intended to cover all of it,” Coleman
teachers,” Lowe said. “I think that our teachers and our staff have dedicated their lives to educating young people. And we have to do everything we can to support them.”
Students will return to school on Sept. 16 in a new environment, with many administrators, Exceptional Children (EC) Department staff, and some teachers gone.
Contact Nick Costantino at costnp24@wfu.edu
million dollars from city
Public speaks out as the developers asked the city to foot the bill
Team, the President of Front Street Capital, said. “The Grounds is not over budget and never was.”
The developers appealed to the council, arguing that the tax-based benefits of the project would more than make up for the funds they were requesting.
“The Grounds is projected to generate $1.3 billion in economic impact in the first 10 years,” Adam Parker, vice president of Front Street Capital, said. “That is a generational investment by the private sector and the public sector that will, in turn, generate over 40 million dollars in taxes not in its lifetime, but in the first 10 years.”
Residents, however, were unconvinced and spoke against the appropriations during the public comment period.
One speaker, Linda Winikoff, pointed out that the money would be better spent as part of the City’s “Downtown Plan” investment framework, adopted by the city in 2023. The plan outlines public investment recommendations for several areas in Downtown WinstonSalem.
“To now ask the taxpayers of Winston-Salem for more is excessive,” Winikoff said. “This is about
The Grounds redevelopment project has already been awarded a $35 Million grant from the state of North Carolina.
priorities. Council should stand firm in protecting the city’s current financial health and use funds to decrease the gaps between the two WinstonSalems.”
“It’s going to take business from out do wntown that’s already struggling,” said resident Patty Gillenwater. “We have a great downtown plan [...] it gives you lots of opportunities to invest 4 million dollars, according to a plan you made, that will help our core downtown and eastern Winston.”
Another resident, Sandra Stinson, spoke on behalf of the residents of the Boston Thurmond neighborhood, which is directly adjacent to
the site of “The Grounds.”
“Our concern is, why are we investing money from our economic development funds into a private project?” Stinson said. “We think that the amount of investment that has already gone forward is enough. We think there are other ways those funds could be used in our community.”
Despite these concerns, a majority of the council passed the resolution. “We don't make these decisions lightly,” Mayor Allen Joines said. “I think it’s a slam dunk .”
Contact James Watson at watsjc22@wfu.edu
Will Kunisaki/Old Gold & Black
Isabella Parolini/The Old Gold & Black
New amphitheater slated for downtown
Winston-Salem community reacts to planned 5,000+ seat venue
ANDREW BRAUN Managing Editor
A new amphitheater planned for the heart of Winston-Salem is already attracting mixed reviews from community members.
The City of Winston-Salem is moving forward with plans for a 5,000+ seat music venue. The proposed outdoor music venue is being developed by Winston-Salem area business owners Don Flow of Flow Automotive and Jim Brammer of the Concert Stuff Group.
The site is slated to host major touring acts, local groups like the Winston-Salem Symphony and community events, including graduations from local universities in the heart of Winston-Salem.
The project is a major step in the 10-year Downtown Winston-Salem Plan adopted by the city council and City-County Planning Board in 2023. Members from the Planning Committee of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership studied similar venues in other communities, such as the Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh, before discussing the possibility of a project on Flow’s property.
Since announcing the project, city officials and developers have touted the venue’s benefits at almost no cost to local taxpayers. Besides generating a new revenue base for local businesses, the venue promises an estimated $50,000 in annual property tax revenue for the City of Winston-Salem without requiring any public funding, tax breaks, or incentives.
Tim Walker, who owns two businesses near the proposed site, Small Batch Beer Company and Timmy’s Hot Chicken, said, “We are very excited about the new Amphitheater. It will be a great addition to downtown, and we are hoping it brings more business to the area.”
“
We are very excited about the new Ampitheater. It will be a great addition to downtown.
The venue plans to occupy the block between First Baptist Church and the Benton Convention Center downtown, with part of the site already owned by Flow. Earlier this month, the Winston-Salem City Council approv ed a plan to lend the remaining cityowned portion of the site to developers at one dollar a month.
City officials have pushed back against the project. At a City Council meeting on Sept. 2, Council Member Barbara Hanes Burke of Winston-Salem’s Northeast Ward called to explore alternative uses for the downtown property leased to project developers. Burke proposed using city-owned land on the site to increase the affordable housing supply and meet the city’s housing goals. She also
asked if developers would accommodate a new housing project on the site in addition to the amphitheater.
Other community members have also voiced concerns about how the project will impact nearby residents. Some believe the project will specifically harm residents at Crystal Towers, a public housing development just across W 6th Street from the proposed amphitheater, where tenants have previously complained about living conditions.
Mariah Bayer, a resident of WinstonSalem’s North Ward, criticized the City Council’s attention to the amphitheater rather than the conditions of Crystal Towers.
“This amphitheater proposal in particular is like a smack in the face for our elderly and disabled residents at Crystal Towers,” Bayer said. “How do you feel to swiftly push for investment in entertainment, but not sustainment just down the street?”
“
This amphitheater proposal in particular is like a smack in the face for our elderly and disabled residents at Crystal Towers.
Other residents are concerned about the noise and traffic obstacles that the project might create for residents. Members
of Winston-Salem’s City Council worry about lack of notice about the project for residents at Crystal Towers, including member Regina Ford Hall, who represents the Northwest Ward home to both the amphitheater site and Crystal Towers. Hall noted that residents at the complex were not notified of the proposal until the plans were first unveiled to the rest of the public.
Earlier this month, project leaders and members of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership met with Crystal Towers residents to address their concerns. They told residents that they are exploring adjusting noise ordinances and sound mitigation solutions.
Contact Andrew Braun at brauar23@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership
The proposed 5,000+ seat amphitheater in Winston-Salem plans to host live entertainment community events in the heart of downtown.
Photo courtesy of Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership The ampitheater has garnered mixed reviews among community members.
FEATURES
Alexandra Meier, meieam22@wfu.edu Miriam Fabrycky, fabrml24@wfu.edu
Deacon Profile: Interim Provost
Nell Jessup Newton
Newton navigates the needs of Wake Forest in a transitional period
BIANCA REZNIC Staff Writer
On most mornings, Interim Provost Nell Jessup Newtown is in Reynolda Hall by 8 a.m., with her adorable dog Roxie, ready for a day packed with meetings. By 5 p.m., she has usually met with faculty, staff, administrators or committees — sometimes without more than 20 minutes to walk with Roxie.
“It’s hard,” she said with a laugh. “Maybe I should file a complaint with the labor department. But right now, I’m really just trying to meet as many people as I can and understand Wake Forest — what makes it work, what our needs are and how I can help.”
“
The idea that we’re here not just for ourselves, but for others, is a very deep one and it resonates with me beautifully.
While the job of provost may sound distant to most students, Newton describes her job simply. The president oversees the whole university, the executive vice president manages operations, like dining and finance, and the provost is in charge of academics, often in the form of programming, faculty affairs and student success.
“[A provost is] kind of the dean of deans,” Newton said.
Her path to this position wasn’t one she planned. A longtime law professor and dean, Newton came to Reynolda campus in 2022 as the interim dean at the Wake Forest School of Law. But what drew her to the Wake Forest community wasn’t just ambition, but a deep admiration for the university.
“
My job is to steer the ship until we get a permanent provost. Not to make big changes, shake everything up, just help the unversity through this transition.
“I knew Wake Forest was a good school,” Newton said, “then I began hearing from the children of friends what a transformative experience they’d had here. And I started thinking, I don’t hear that as much from other schools. What is it about this place?”
Once on campus, she found her answer. “It’s not only beautiful,” she said. “I’ve never seen a place that’s more focused on teaching. Teaching well and mentoring students, treating them like individuals. I just fell in love with it.”
When President Wente asked her to step into the interim provost role, Newton accepted, even though she admitted she wasn’t entirely sure what a provost did.
“But I’m a fast study,” she said. “And I wanted to help.”
Much of that help, she noted, comes through listening. In her first months, she met with faculty and staff across departments, hoping to identify both challenges and opportunities. She sees her role as managing academics rather than transforming them.
“
I’m
really just trying to meet as many people as I can and understand Wake Forest.
“My job is to steer the ship until we get a permanent provost,” Newton said. “Not to make big changes, shake everything up, just help the university through this transition.”
Newton’s vision also stretches towards the future. She sees interdisciplinary studies and emerg-
ing technologies like artificial intelligence as central to Wake Forest’s growth.
Years ago, she was offered funding for a chair in ethics and AI — long before most people had even heard of machine learning. Now, she believes it’s time for universities to take these questions seriously as students experience an entirely new reality in higher education
“AI is liberating and incredibly helpful, but you have to learn first how to use it to help yourself grow and learn more, but also how to use it ethically and appropriately,” Newton said. “And I’m hoping that we will be teaching this throughout. We have to embrace it.”
“
I knew Wake Forest was a good school, then I began hearing from the children of friends what a transformative experience they’d had here. And I started thinking, I don’t hear that as much from other schools.
Newton also discussed the importance of encouraging interdisciplinary studies.
“It’s a big part of the strategic framing process that they went through a few years ago and the planning for the future is to be even more interdisciplinary,” Newton said. “I think the way you do it is you have choices of things that you fund and you try to fund programs that are more interdisciplinary. You encourage faculty to get outside of their little narrow area and reach out to others.”
The heart of Newton’s approach is Wake Forest’s motto, “Pro Humanitate.” Newton admits it’s a phrase that may confuse those outside of the Wake community, but she finds it deeply meaningful.
“The idea that we’re here not just for ourselves, but for others, is a very deep one and it resonates with me beautifully,” she said.
She added: “[It’s] doing work for others. I’m not here for myself. I’m not here to make a name for myself. I’ve already made a name for myself. I don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
Though her time as interim provost may be temporary, Newton’s focus is steady: to listen, support and help the university move forward.
“I’m here to serve,” she said.
Contact Bianca Reznic at reznba24@wfu.edu
The university named Nell Jessup Newton interim Provost in July 2025
Photo Courtesy of Wake Forest University
Veronica Miller: a friendly presence at the heart of campus
Reynolda Hall Security Officer reflects on her journey to Wake Forest
MIRIAM FABRYCKY Features Editor
Veronica Miller is a familiar face of the Wake Forest community.
Every weekday, she sits behind the front desk of Reynolda Hall and greets students, staff and visitors as they walk into the administrative building. Whether directing guests to one of the many offices housed in Reynolda or simply saying “hi” to those passing between Hearn and Manchester Plazas, Miller is always ready with a warm welcome.
An outgoing woman, Miller has a knack for remembering names and details about the lives of those she meets. When she sees someone she knows, she’s quick to call out and ask follow-up questions about their previous conversations.
In her interview with the Old Gold & Black, Miller tried to downplay her capacity for attentive care but proved herself wrong by frequently interrupting her own answers to wave to friends and passersby. She said talking to students is her favorite part of her job.
“Yeah, I’m serious,” Miller said. “I want to know how your classes are going and what you did this summer, if you’re going to the football game… I just like talking to the students.”
Miller knows the Wake Forest community well, but students may not know much about her, including the diverse endeavors she pursued before joining the staff at Wake Forest.
Itinerant careers, then returning home
Miller grew up in Lexington, North Carolina and earned two bachelor’s degrees at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in education and textile marketing.
“ I want to know how your classes are going and what you did this summer, if you're going to the football game... I just like talking to the students.
For about ten years, she worked as a kindergarten teacher in Greensboro. She cherished the opportunity to watch her students grow throughout the school year and later progress through the upper elementary grades.
“The kids – you never know what they’re going to say, or how they’re going to react,” Miller said. “They’re the most honest people in the world. It was fun just being around them. When they leave to go to middle school, it’s like my babies are leaving!”
Miller eventually left teaching after finding that her professional responsibilities had become burdensome.
“It got to where the parents weren’t taking care of the children like they should,” Miller said. “It became the teacher’s responsibility, and that was more than I wanted to take on.”
Miller then worked as a flight attendant for ten years. She moved frequently for her job, living in Chicago, Norfolk, V.A., Raleigh, Greensboro (again) and Hilton Head, S.C.
Besides these relocations, Miller also had the opportunity to travel as a flight attendant. She described meeting new people and discovering new cities – especially Chicago — as the highlight of her job.
“You fly with a different crew every week, so it was fun. Sometimes I’d be in a place that I would explore,” Miller said.
“
If
you need help, ask for it. If you need mental help, ask for it. Stick to your plan, go to class and take part in extracurricular activities.
She continued: “I never went overseas, but I was on [Air Wisconsin], a regional [airline], so I went to a lot of beautiful places. I went to a lot of those flyover states in the West. Then I started flying east and it was nice, because I’m not a Western girl. I wanted to stay on this side [of the country].”
Miller moved back home to the Piedmont Triad area in 2021. She briefly returned to the classroom to work as a substitute teacher until she saw an advertisement in the mall for Rhino Sports, an event planning company. She applied for the job and soon began working frequently on Wake Forest’s campus.
“I was familiar with Wake Forest anyway, because I grew up so close to it,” Miller said.
It wasn’t until a fateful conversation at a Face to Face event in 2023, though, that she considered working for the university itself.
Miller struck up a conversation with Mark Peck, Wake Forest’s security supervisor, and Peck told Miller that he was looking to recruit a new employee.
“I applied, interviewed and was hired,” Miller said.
“ They're the most honest people in the world. It was fun just being around them.
“I worked full-time in the gym for a year.”
Miller worked from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. She adjusted to the late schedule, but was interested when Major Derri Stormer from University Police approached her with a nine-to-five opportunity: security officer at Reynolda Hall. She began her new position in August 2024.
“It took a lot of adapting, but I like it,” Miller said about her role. “I’ve met a lot of students, faculty and staff in Reynolda Hall.”
On the job
Miller’s main responsibility as a security officer is to provide information and directions to the building’s visitors, but on occasion, she assists with urgent situations. Typically, this involves coordinating a re-
sponse between different teams.
“I do hear a lot of fun stuff over the [police] radio,” Miller said. “I’ll hear something before there’s an alert put out.”
She contacts the fire department whenever the Reynolda Hall elevators break down and trap people inside. Miller also reported that she once had to call University Police when an individual smoked marijuana in the building.
“I think it was upstairs in the kitchen, but that’s another story,” Miller said. “They were checking the bathrooms… we didn’t catch the person.”
Though Miller rarely deals with security events, she said students may be surprised to learn that she does wear a body recording device.
“If you ever see me [press the camera] twice, it’s recording,” Miller said. “I take the footage to the police department at a docking station.”
Outside of work
When she’s not in Reynolda Hall, Miller enjoys reading humorous writing — particularly author Jennifer Weiner — and painting landscapes. Years after studying the subject in college, she remains deeply interested in fashion.
“I never had a job relating to textile design, but I like clothing a lot,” Miller said.
She is especially fond of secondhand shopping and likes to support causes with her purchases. Her favorite nearby stores are the Rescue Mission in downtown Winston-Salem, which provides anti-poverty and substance abuse recovery programs, and Helping Hands in Clemmons, which supports shelters for teenage boys who have been victims of abuse or neglect.
When asked what advice she would give to students, Miller kept it simple.
“If you need help, ask for it,” she said. “If you need mental help, ask for it. Stick to your plan, go to class and take part in extracurricular activities.”
Before coming to Wake Forest, Veronica Miller worked as a flight attendant for 10 years.
Photo Courtesy of Veronica Miller
Barry Yeoman: building a better world (and self) through journalism
Professor reflects on the lessons of reporting
HENRY HOLT
Contributing Writer
While Barry Yeoman’s Rate My Professor reviews sing his praises, there’s even more to the adjunct journalism professor than merely excellence in the classroom.
Beyond teaching journalism classes at Wake Forest, Yeoman is a freelance investigative journalist who writes narrative-based pieces. His work, praised by the Atlanta Journal and the Columbia Journalism Review, spans a diverse array of subjects worldwide. A detailed look into Yeoman’s career provides inspiring lessons on the power of connection.
Chasing stories across the world
Yeoman said he feels “like [he] popped out of the womb [as] a journalist.” He handwrote his own newsletters beginning at age 11 and served as the editor of his high school newspaper. As a student, he challenged the high school administration when he felt that they were unfairly infringing on the newspaper. According to Yeoman, this experience reflects his mission to hold authorities accountable through his journalism.
“The reason the world is broken is because of powerful people taking advantage of [their] power,” Yeoman said. “The only way I know [how] to repair the world fully includes… [holding] the powerful to account, while learning the diversity of ways in which non-powerful people live their lives.”
Yeoman started his journalism career in the 1980s as an editor for The Times of Acadiana in Lafayette, L.A. Later, he served as a senior staff writer for The Independent in Durham for nearly fifteen years. Since leaving The Independent, he has worked as a freelance journalist while also holding multiple teaching positions. Before joining Wake Forest’s faculty in 2019, he taught at Duke University and at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a journalism school in St. Petersburg, F.L.
Besides these roles across the United States, Yeoman’s work has also taken him all over the world, from bird paradises on the Turkish-Armenian border to the coasts of Western India to Moon Bear sanctuaries in China’s Sichuan Province.
“
Any career that involves really deeply engaging with other people, [it] requires conversation skills, requires cultural competence, requires the ability to talk with people who have experienced trauma.
In Turkey, Yeoman followed the stories of environmental activists in the rural town of Kuyucak who opposed development projects that threatened the region’s extraordinary biodiversity and local bird populations.
In India, Yeoman followed the Wagher fishing families, a nomadic Muslim minority group. Each summer, these families travel up and down the Western coast of India. Yeoman reported on how the Wagher people’s way of life was endangered by a nearby coal power plant.
In China, Yeoman followed Jill Robinson, a British animal welfare activist, to investigate bear farms that drain liquids from the bears’ gall bladders to use in traditional medicine.
At face value, these topics may seem disparate, but Yeoman sees his professional endeavors as tethered together through the Jewish concept of “tikkun olam,” or repairing the world.
Challenging worldviews
One particularly impactful learning experience for
Yeoman was in 1999, when he immersed himself in the congregation of Loves Creek Hispanic Baptist Mission, a Latino church in Siler City, N.C.
Latino immigrants were moving to North Carolina for the first time, and Yeoman wanted to write about their emerging communities.
Before ever conducting an interview, Yeoman became a member of the church for six months. He wanted the community to understand that he was first and foremost invested in understanding them and seeing them prosper. Those six months at the Mission were frequently challenging. Yeoman observed practices and rhetoric that conflicted with his own views. He was troubled by the church’s approach to evangelism and an anti-gay message in one sermon. These divergences in belief did not deter Yeoman from continuing his project, however. He even credits the camaraderie and music of the Sunday mornings with helping him through a rough patch in his life.
“[The music] fills the sanctuary,” Yeoman said. “Men in khakis and women in dresses rise to their feet, clapping to rhythms borrowed from salsa, tropical music and the Black-inspired cumbia. They bow their heads to slow hymns modeled after the romantic ballads called boleros. For an hour and a half, the music barely stops”. Yeoman’s time at the church affected his professional outlook. He further realized that being a journalist — and, more broadly, being a human — isn’t compatible with a black-and-white worldview.
To Yeoman, journalistic work involves “being witness to lifestyle choices that challenge [him],” while also recognizing that “there are people in the world who do serious harm and that it's okay to condemn the harm.”
“Being willing to witness things you don't agree with does not mean turning off your mental compass,” Yeoman said. “Finding that balance between keeping your moral compass and not judging every difference… has been one of the challenges of my career.”
“The oil company executive who is trying to circumvent federal environmental regulations so they can drill for oil in Alaska… where both wildlife and indigenous communities will be harmed, is very different from the working class immigrant who is a member of a congregation that is coming up with creative ways of evangelizing,” Yeoman said. “The power difference is really enormous.”
Community connections beyond journalism
Yeoman applies what he learned at the Mission and other early professional experiences to other areas of his life, including his teaching.
Recognizing that most of his students will not become journalists, he seeks to impart skills that his students can apply to any profession: interviewing, writing and listening, with special attention given to vulnerable populations.
“If [my students] become lawyers, if they become social workers, if they become physicians, if they become clergy… any career that involves really deeply engaging with other people, [it] requires conversation skills, requires cultural competence, requires the ability to talk with people who have experienced trauma,” Yeoman said.
Yeoman describes community connections at Wake Forest as the most important facet of his work, but also seeks to build relationships beyond campus.
Outside of his work as a journalist, Yeoman loves to cook, travel and participate in his neighborhood’s running and walking club. He sees these hobbies as linked with a common thread of community. Whether opening up his home to others to share a vegan meal or having conversations on his neighbor’s porch after running club, he finds solace in shared experiences.
Yeoman believes that his work is the “antithesis of soul-crushing.” To him, journalism both “feeds his soul” and meets several of the world’s most pressing needs.
Contact Henry Holt at holthe25@wfu.edu
Journalism professor Barry Yeoman views his profesion as "soul-feeding work" that can also meet the world's most pressing needs.
Photo Courtesy of Veronica Miller
Long, hot summer: Trump and the EPA
REESE LILE Environment Editor
Over the summer, President Trump implemented a series of environmental policies that appear to target the efficacy of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is taking shape through a campaign against current EPA projects, regulations, funding and changing the objectives of the EPA.
Trump has reduced federal focus on environmental protection, starting with the removal of the environmental section on the White House website. Currently, the only mention of environmental issues is a section labeled “Make America Affordable and Energy Dominant Again”, which references a cancellation of all “regulations that impose undue burdens on energy production and use.”
The EPA’s endangerment finding
In late July, the Trump administration proposed a revocation of the “endangerment finding.” This is a 2009 EPA declaration that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health, and are resulting from new motor vehicles. The removal of this finding from federal legislation will reduce regulations on the oil and gas industry, on power plants and on gas-powered vehicles for the purposes of decreasing “hidden costs” on U.S. families.
The new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, was nominated by Donald Trump, and has been serving since January of this year
Zeldin commented on the revocation of the “endangerment finding”, stating, “Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen. We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down the cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more.”
Crystal Dixon, an associate professor in the Environment & Sustainability program at Wake Forest, said this revocation will be harmful to public health, particularly for marginalized communities.
“
The deregulation of environmental policy through efforts like these will not be inconsequential.
“The endangerment finding was groundbreaking and created the connection between greenhouse gases and public health outcomes,” Dixon said, “and dismantling that is going to wreak havoc on the lives and outcomes of many people—particularly those who are in low-income, black, brown and indigenous communities.”
Renewable energy production
The Trump administration has also targeted efforts towards renewable energy production. In early August, the EPA announced that it would be terminating the $7 billion “Solar for All” program, which was designed to work with programs around the country
that bring solar energy to underprivileged communities.
The dissolution of this program is due, in part, to the passing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which is also responsible for funding cuts to the National Forest System, reducing restrictions on oil and gas extraction, and rescinding funding for the Inflation Reduction Act—a 2022 law that invested in clean energy initiatives.
These are only some of the recent changes to environmental policy at the federal level. It has been a summer of revisions in legislation concerning emissions, renewable energy, microplastics and water quality.
Gutting the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)
The EPA is also moving to end the GHGRP, which is responsible for collecting information about greenhouse emissions from power plants and industrial facilities. Ending this program would halt reporting obligations for these facilities, which provide information that helps guide the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA called the program “burdensome” and claims that its removal will save American businesses up to $2.4 billion in regulatory costs.
“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin.
A continued path of deregulation
The deregulation of environmental policy through efforts like these will not be inconsequential.
Dixon believes that if the Trump administration and the EPA continue to reverse environmental policy and remove an emphasis on climate change efforts, our country’s political, social and public health processes will continue to decline. With that, in particular, systematic injustices will continue to be reinforced.
“Systematic racism isn’t about bigotry or individuals,” Dixon said. “It is about systems, policies, institutions and practices disproportionately impacting those that are low income, black and brown, indigenous communities… it is your decision-making power that creates a disparity in the inequality, which is what creates the outcome.”
The Trump administration has been clear about its goals concerning climate change and environmental policy: it is something that creates sensationalism and works against American job security. Thus far, the EPA has been on a path of deregulation, and it is unclear what the future holds for environmental policy in this country.
“Science is being discredited. People who were once thinkers and leaders in thought are being questioned,” Dixon said. “The CDC has been dismantled. The EPA has been dismantled. We are questioning higher education now. Offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are being shut down. These are all things that are happening, and they are directly affecting the climate and the culture of universities and other organizational settings.”
We are nine months into President Trump’s second term in office, and the country is under new management of the EPA. It remains to be seen just how far environmental policy deregulation will go.
OLD GOLD & BLACK
Photo courtesy of Science Photo Library
Greenhouse gas emission “endangerment finding” about public health is being revoked by the Trump Administration
Top 10 nature spots in Winston-Salem
Environment Editor Reese Lile shares her favorite places to connect with nature
REESE LILE Environment Editor
As the school year starts and our calendars fill up, it is more important than ever to find time to spend outdoors. Late summer is a beautiful time of year in Winston-Salem, and there are many nature sites to visit in and around the city for a moment of tranquility.
We love “top 10 lists” here at Wake Forest, so in the spirit of that, here are my top 10 nature spots in Winston-Salem:
The Quarry at Grant Park
This park has several walking trails, a playground complete with in-ground trampolines and an overlook to the deep blue water of one of Winston-Salem’s old quarries. A popular spot at sunset, rumors swirl that there are freshwater jellyfish that populate the rocky depths — you just might have to visit yourself to see if this is true.
Salem Creek Greenway
All paths lead back to Salem Lake — this moderate, 5.2-mile trail connects several others throughout the city. This meandering paved path is a direct link from the outskirts of Downtown to Salem Lake, and offers a wide range of sights through sections of downtown WinstonSalem, past creeks and under bridges.
Old Salem
This historical Moravian community, akin to Colonial Williamsburg, is filled with charming buildings, native gardens, a delicious coffee shop and the oldest educational institute for girls in the country, Salem College. An autumn staple, you can stroll through the old town or walk down the 1.2-mile stroll way path.
Stuart & Emma Thomas Memorial Trail
A beautiful 92-acre nature preserve located in the heart of the city. Open from dawn to dusk every day, the trail features rolling hills, cattle and wildflower fields.
Salem Lake Trails
A 7-mile loop that offers picturesque views of Salem Lake and connects with downtown Winston-Salem. You can bike, walk or run along the trails. The lake also offers boat rentals.
Gateway Nature Preserve
This park has 19 acres of urban wildlife habitat running along Salem Creek. They organize creek cleanups, educational workshops and encourage volunteering in the pollinator garden.
The Quarry at Grant Park which has several walking trails, a playground and a scenic overlook.
Bailey Park
Located at the center of the Innovation Quarter near Wake Downtown, the park is the location of the annual Maya Angelou Garden Party, hosted by Wake Forest, which honors Maya Angelou through art, storytelling, food and music.
Silas Creek Greenway
Silas Creek Greenway is a simple, 0.8mile trail only 10 minutes from campus. It is perfect for a quick, rejuvenating walk and some sunshine.
Pilot Mountain
While Pilot Mountain is not located in Winston-Salem, it is only a 30-minute
Secondhand September
drive away! Alongside gorgeous views, the mountain offers various hiking trails and rock climbing routes for people of all skill levels.
Hanging Rock State Park
Hanging Rock is a 45-minute drive away and offers 20+ hiking trails, bike trails, rock climbing, fishing, horseback riding and camping sites.
Whether you’re an avid hiker or just want a quick break from Wake’s campus, Winston-Salem (or the broader North Carolina area) has something for everyone!
Contact Reese Lile at liler24@wfu.edu
REESE LILE Environment Editor
Fashion-based searches rose rapidly in 2024, peaking at 100% search volume in September and remaining high throughout the winter months. This trend aligns with autumn and winter wardrobe planning, particularly in North America, as the temperature cools and seasons shift. September is a substantial month for the fashion industry, especially fast fashion brands. This inspired a movement known as “Secondhand September,”
originally launched in 2019 by Oxfam, a global alliance of more than 20 independent organizations dedicated to combating social injustices and poverty.
Secondhand September encourages shoppers to avoid buying new clothing for the entire month—inviting them to “reuse, rewear, and restyle” instead. The movement encourages us to be mindful of what and where we purchase, reduce waste and counter the fast fashion industry and our own limits.
This task may seem daunting, but the mission of the movement at its core is to raise awareness and to challenge our notions of fashion and sustainability. It is meant to be difficult, but is absolutely possible!
There are three easy ways you can participate in Secondhand September:
1. Shop second-hand for your clothes
Look for resale or thrift stores online and on the street! A few good online options are ThredUp, Depop, Clothes Mentor and Poshmark. If you prefer shopping in-person, Goodwill, Uptown Cheapskate and Mega Thrift are readily available here in Winston-Salem.
Thrifting is gaining momentum as more shoppers head towards consignment stores for deals. 93% of Americans shop online for secondhand items, and the global thrift & resale market is
worth a whopping $256 billion. Over half of the secondhand market is thanks to online resale, which follows the general fashion trend as online shopping has gained popularity.
Uniqueness, affordability and benefits for the planet are cited as the top three reasons why people thrift. In particular, younger generations are more inclined to thrift: 83% of Gen Z consumers have either purchased or are interested in purchasing secondhand, and on average, two out of every five items in a Gen Z closet are secondhand.
2. Donate clothes
Do a seasonal closet clean out and donate clothes you no longer need. You can take these to consignment stores or local clothing donations, including WinstonSalem Rescue Mission and the Shalom Project.
3. Participate in a clothing swap
These are fun gatherings where people gather and trade clothes and accessories for new-to-them items. The student-led sustainability organization, dEaCOfriendly, and the student-run sustainable fashion club, Wayward Fashion, have organized campus clothing swaps in the past, allowing students to donate clothing and shop for “new” items.
Olivia Delgado, a former president of dEaCOfriendly and senior majoring in biology, finds clothing swaps beneficial because they provide access to new, unique clothing.
“Being on college campuses, we are always looking for outfits for a special occasion and never have enough closet space,” Delgado said. “I’ve always enjoyed the idea of clothing swaps because it lets you exchange clothes outside of your friend groups and get access to free clothes that you might never have had access to before.”
Halloween costumes are another major outlet of fast fashion around this time of year, and participating in clothing swaps and thrifting are excellent ways to reduce waste. Both dEaCOfriendly and Wayward Fashion have participated in efforts to encourage waste reduction around Halloween, hosting costume swaps and sustainable costume parties.
As autumn approaches, challenge yourself to participate in Secondhand September. Even if you cannot commit to solely buying secondhand this month, any change is significant. Pay attention to where you buy your clothes, and encourage others to do the same!
In the words of Oxfam, “Dress for the world you want to see.”
Contact Reese Lile at liler24@wfu.edu
Photo Courtesy of Visit Winston-Salem
Photo Courtesy of dEaCOfriendly via Instagram
OPINION
OLD GOLD & BLACK
PAGE 12
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025
Towne Moores, moortv22@wfu.edu
Sara Catherine Bradshaw, bradsc24@wfu.eduu
The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board
It’s a “Love Story”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged-what does that mean for the 2025 NFL season?
LILLY CLAYPOOLE Contributing Writer
Once again, Taylor Swift has made national news. No, it’s not for producing “Reputation (Taylor’s Version).” Fortunately (or unfortunately) for all the Swifties out there, Mother is engaged, and we know what that means. Less songs about breakups and hating men, and more songs about being in love! The patriarchy wins again! All jokes aside, this engagement could cause many ripple effects, and we, as good-natured pop culture-consuming citizens, should be ready for them.
I want to go over the details of her engagement. If you didn’t know or if you were living under a rock for the past year, Swift is now engaged to “the guy on the Chiefs,” Travis Kelce. The two have been dating for over two years, and Kelce finally popped the question in the quaint and flower-filled backyard garden at his home in Missouri. It was private and sentimental, and family members of both sides have expressed their utmost approval and positive wishes.
In typical Swift fashion, her ring is estimated to be somewhere from 8 to
13 carats of glamour. Rumor has it that Kelce worked with Kindred Lubeck from Artifex Fine Jewelry to create this vintage-inspired ring.
Swift fans are ecstatic upon hearing the news of her engagement. It has given some of her fans a sense of hope that eventually their time will come, and they should not give up on finding love. Other fans have even taken this news to another level by throwing celebration parties with their friends to congratulate Swift. Some fans, however, wonder whether her upcoming marriage will put a stop to any future tours or shows she had planned. While there has been no official confirmation yet, some insiders have predicted that she will tour again in 2027, following the debut of her most recent album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” All that to say, most people seem to be pretty pleased with Swift and Kelce’s recent developments.
But how will this impact the football season? As we know from last season, there were mixed reviews from NFL fans about how they felt towards Swift being on their screens. Some saw it as an opportunity to connect with girlfriends, wives or daughters over a shared interest
and spend more time together. And for others? Well, let’s just say there was no family bonding going on.
It was more like male bonding over their mutual hatred of this global popstar being in a place where she doesn’t belong. It can only be expected that this engagement will spark more attention to the NFL and the Chiefs. Whether that attention will be positive or negative, only time will tell.
I don’t think that Swift being on the screens during NFL games warrants the backlash received from die-hard Chiefs fans. When you look at the amount of screen time she receives per game, it ranges from 12 seconds to 1 minute and 16 seconds. Paul Rudd, another famous actor and Chiefs fan, shows his support by attending many of the games. He gets put on the screen as well, so why are football fans not booing him?
If football fans can’t seem to endure two minutes at most of a famous female singer and songwriter on their screens, maybe the issue has more to do with their toxic masculinity and refusal to accept a woman in a male-dominated environment.
At least Swift can make light of the
On hot dogs
Swift and Kelce announce their wedding with photos of the proposal in a flower-filled garden.
negative comments. As she stated on the New Heights podcast, “I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens… It’s more of me.” Swift has shown us time and time again that even though criticism can sting for a moment, she finds it pretty easy to “shake it off.”
Contact Lilly Claypoole at claylm22@wfu.edu
Why I think you should go to Wake Forest football games
MOLLY STEUR Staff Writer
I recognize that being a Wake Forest football fan hasn’t always been the easiest. I grew up a fan with parents who deeply cared about the team — and who imparted that love onto me. One of the six songs I had downloaded on my iPod in elementary school was the Wake Forest fight song.
However, since becoming a student here, it has occasionally been hard to get excited about game day. For one, there is always homework I should be doing instead. Having a bad gut feeling about how a game might go is not always the most encouraging, especially when rallying a group. The games can be hot, sometimes we lose and sometimes they last eight hours because of rain delays.
So how do I convince my friend— who were not born into sports-loving families—to keep coming with
A hot dog that was purchased at a Wake Forest football game from the concession stand for $3 at the Allegacy Stadium.
me? How do I, after 21 years on the rollercoaster that is loving a college football team, still get excited just to go see what’s going to happen? What is the unshakable reason that I think you have to start going
to the games?
To my Wake Forest community, I give you: the hot dogs at the football stadium. The bun is fresh, the dog is perfectly cooked and it doesn’t even need toppings. They are liter-
ally two for $6. These hot dogs act as a shining beacon for the Demon Deacons. Amidst all the unpredictability, high prices and stress of the world. They are consistently some of the best, most comforting foods I’ve ever had, while being so budget-friendly. You have to try them.
I discovered them at the Kennesaw State game, and I feel like I have wasted the last three years of attending games not knowing about them. I really cannot let anyone else make a similar mistake. So go to the next game. Show up early. Heck, get dressed up if you want. Stand near the marching band and dance to their stand tunes. Feel excited about experiencing the ebbs and flows of the game. Hope for a win.
Most importantly, get yourself a hot dog, and watch how your enthusiasm for showing up to cheer on the Demon Deacons increases exponentially
Contact Molly Steur at steuml22@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of The New York Times
Photo courtesy of The Molly Steur
Stop the slop: AI has no place in official university communications
Wake Forest demeans itself by using fake images
MIRIAM FABRYCKY Features Editor
For the past six Thursdays, University Marketing and Communications has included artificial intelligence-generated cartoons in their “WFU Should Know” emails.
These messages are broadcast to all Wake Forest students, many of whom delete the emails without a second thought. Only the few who scroll to the very end of the list of public service announcements even see the images.
At first glance, the phoniness of these pictures is obvious. Body parts melt into each other. Faces distort. Perspectives defy physics. For now, Marketing and Communications’s unnecessary use of AI is just a cheap, embarrassing gimmick.
But AI “slop” doesn’t always look so sloppy. Every time an institution acquiesces to the temptation of easy content, we’re resigning ourselves to a reality where imagination is worthless and the slop can just slip by.
The unnecessary use of cheesy images
I’m no anti-AI purist, and I cannot write this column from any high horse. I’ve played around with ChatGPT to test the hype, and every once in a blue moon, I do use the model to complete tasks. Last semester, for instance, I generated practice quizzes for myself when memorizing lists of vocabulary for final exams. Likewise, this summer I turned to ChatGPT to locate the URL of a Swedish train timetable after an hour of Googling to no avail.
However, I communicate with my own words. My writing for the Old Gold & Black has always and will always come from natural intelligence, as do the contributions of all my colleagues at the newspaper. As student journalists and photographers, we hold ourselves to a standard that our university unfortunately fails to meet.
In some cases, AI can be genuinely useful. However, churning out cheesy comics is not one of these
Aug. 28. note the unnatural perspective, backwards faces, cream-and-purple color scheme and
cases. There is no reason for Marketing and Communications to generate unnecessary addenda for routine emails that would read the exact same without artificial content.
If the University must add visual appeal to their messages, there are actual creatives on campus who would be happy for work – just look at the talented corps of students who work for the Old Gold & Black.
Employing humans would not only result in a far more tasteful product sans uncanny ChatGPT sheen, but would also signal that the University is serious when we say that we apply our learning and work to the service of humanity.
Is the use of AI truly ‘for humanity’?
By now, AI’s ethical shortcomings are well-documented. Generative AI models amplify and accelerate humankind's most shameful wrongs: environmental destruction, racism, sexual exploitation of women (and children) and even theft of intellectual property.
Already a fraught tool in the hands of individuals, AI can be even more damaging when adopted by authorities. With AI’s help, the Trump adminis -
tration has descended to new, though unsurprising, depths of indecency. When the White House posts AI music videos advertising “Trump Gaza,” AI Studio Ghibli-inspired memes of crying migrants and AI magazine covers declaring Trump a “king,” it’s no wonder that our country is suffering a massive crisis of institutional distrust.
It’s times like these when Wake Forest should use our status as a prestigious, privileged and principled institution to stand as a beacon of truth. In contrast to the overwhelming crudity of Trumpian AI, Marketing and Communications’ email images seem so minor. Paradoxically, that is why they matter.
Our culture has already lost much of its bias towards information that is real, original and inspired; deciding which uses of AI are acceptable will be one of the most challenging responsibilities for our generation.So, especially while we’re within such a tightly knit community like Wake Forest, let’s not be too quick to acclimate.
Let’s scrutinize our current uses of AI and decide to rely on our own natural skills and capabilities as much as possible. Let’s value what is truly by and for humanity.
Contact Miriam Fabrycky at fabrml24@wfu.edu
Photo courtsey of Wake Forest Marketing and Communications
Photo courtsey of Wake Forest Marketing and
"Wake" misspelled as "Waet" on the rightmost raccoon's scarf.
Sign-ups and Inclusion: A New Fitness Policy
Reynolds Gymnasium changes group fitness sign-ups to a first come first-served basis
SHANI SCHWARTZ Staff Writer
Last week, when my physics lab ended early, I checked the clock and realized I could make it to the gym just on time for the 4 p.m. BODYPUMP class. I did exactly that, rushing over to the gym and arriving at the group fitness studio five minutes before the class started to set up my equipment.
The Reynolds Gymnasium and Campus Recreation offer a wide variety of workout classes free to students. In the past, these classes had to be booked online, and depending on the class, would often fill up with regulars the moment the sign-up was released. This year, however, the policy has been changed to a first-come, first-served basis, with classes listed on the website schedule without the option to sign up in advance.
The new policy encourages all students to participate in group fitness classes and aims to remove some intimidation the sign-up process induces.
When a student walks by a studio and sees a group of students excitedly lined up for class, they are more likely to join the line than remember that they have to sign up 24 hours in advance for that same program. For many students, it’s nice to be able to know you can participate in group fitness more spontaneously.
However, for other students, the new policy has created even more anxiety related to the sign-up process. Every week, without fail, I exit the BODYPUMP class at 4:45 pm. By that time, there is always
a line of at least 40 students, stretching from the group fitness studio to the rock wall, patiently waiting for the next class at 5 p.m.
Students have to race to get into the popular classes, and oftentimes will get cut off at the door when the class reaches its limit. This causes students to not only miss out on their workout but also waste 20 minutes of their time waiting in line.
With the old policy, students could comfortably show up five minutes before the class to set up, knowing that they had secured a spot. Now, students attending these popular classes must arrive twenty minutes early to even stand a chance at getting a spot.
Group workouts are supposed to promote wellness and community, providing a space for students to move their
bodies while interacting with their peers. While the new policy attempts to support inclusion and spontaneity for students, it is unrealistic to apply it to all workout classes. Inclusion is only effective when students aren’t competing for it.
Contact Shani Schwartz at schwsr24@wfu.edu
The Wellbeing Center has space for students to complete their own workouts while also offering group classes such as pilates and spin classes.
Commencement of the 2025 Football Season
Football returns with record viewership and the persistent strains of fandom
CAMILLE WALL
Contributing Writer
The 2025-2026 football season recently began, commencing the next couple of months of rivalries, tailgates and close-calls. College football launched their official games on Aug. 28, with the NFL following not too far behind on Sept. 4.
Both leagues upheld a wildly impressive viewership in their initial weeks. The Texas vs. Ohio State game accumulated 16.62 million viewers on FOX, breaking the viewership record of a single game. The Alabama vs. Florida State game gathered 12.3 million viewers, setting a record for a mid-afternoon game time. The NFL had similar achievements, with an average of 23.9 million football fans tuned into CBS to watch the game against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, another record-breaking audience.
Year after year, both college and NFL football have proven to be one of the greatest American institutions. Families continue to set aside afternoons and weekends to watch the games and cheer on their teams.
Just like any other sport, football has its fair share of hardcore fans, and everyone knows someone who
might be too personally involved in the sport. I have a friend who once told me that they “dread football season because of the stress of losing,” most likely caused by the subsequent ridicule from rival team fans. This mindset must take a toll, causing a fun pastime to evolve into one of unnecessary stress.
This leads to wonder, how often is fandom taken too far? Screaming, rampant emotions and even physical distress are not uncommon during a particularly bad game. I’ve seen hair pulling, pacing and crying as a result of Southeastern Conference and ACC football games.
Oxford researchers noticed the physical and emotional effects of sports on diehard fans. In a study conducted years ago, they collected saliva samples from fans before, during and after matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the epitome of a stressful sports match. The researchers documented heightened levels of cortisol among the more hardcore fans during tight matches. Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t such a heightened hormonal response in more casual fans. High levels of cortisol cause an increased risk of heart disease and suppress the immune system. Essentially, being an
overly emotional fan has the potential to be physically harmful.
Based on these facts, we would all do well to remember there are always going to be other games, seasons, coaches and players. As we travel
deeper into the new 2025 football season, stay hydrated, fed and calm — or at least try.
Contact Camille Wall at wallcm24@wfu.edu
“The 2025-2026 football season recently began, commencing the next couple of months of rivalries, tailgates, and close calls”
Will Kunisaki/Old Gold & Black
Photo Courtesy of ESPN
James Lombardo, lombjp23@wfu.edu
Scottie Kimmelman, kimmsd22@wfu.edu
Football loses first game of the season
The offense crumbled in second half as NC State took full control of the game
SCOTTIE KIMMELMAN & JAMES LOMBARDO Sports Editors
Last Thursday’s prime time matchup ended disappointingly for Wake Forest as they fell to NC State 34-24. In their first ACC contest of the year, the Demon Deacons were able to fend off the Wolfpack in the first half, but failed to score a single point in the second half.
The Demon Deacons were home underdogs heading into Thursday’s game, and fans from both teams filled Allegacy Stadium in hopes of seeing their team win. The stadium was buzzing with excitement when the opening kickoff sailed straight to the speedy Chris Barnes.
Barnes cut all the way across the field and flew along the sideline for a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. Assorted beverages went flying across the Wake Forest student section as the Demon Deacons were able to strike first.
However, a few sloppy plays by the defensive secondary and a brutal Robby Ashford pick-six thrown right to 280-pound defensive tackle Isaiah Shirley kept the score close. Luckily for the Demon Deacons, their momentum from the first play of the game allowed them to lead 24-17 at halftime.
Then, at a moment's notice, the wheels fell off the track.
The Demon Deacons' offense stalled with multiple three-and-out drives to start the second half, which tired out the defense as they had to stay on the field for what seemed like the entire third quarter.
“We weren’t able to establish anything offensively in the second half,” Coach Dickert said following Thursday’s loss. “We need to be fundamentally better. And we’ll look at everything for next week.”
Dickert is right.
In the final two quarters, the Demon Deacons had zero third-down conversions, gained just two first downs and held the ball for just eight total minutes. Not to mention the 47 total yards gained. It looked like a completely different team from
the one from the first half. If they want to have any competitive shot against Georgia Tech, this Wake Forest offense needs to be better.
After limiting opposing offenses to a combined 19 points in their first two games, the Demon Deacons' defense collapsed in the late goings of week three. While all starting defensemen looked worn out by the fourth quarter, some of the veteran members maintained accountability for their weak performances.
“The defense was trying to do more than what their job was,” said senior linebacker Dylan Hazen. “I think that all just dials down to the emotions. As leaders, we need to do a better job of
keeping everyone calm.”
Next week, Wake Forest will be heading into their bye week, a perfect time to reset before playing 18th-ranked George Tech at home in week five. Both Coach Dickert and the players know that these off days will be crucial in their path to success in 2025.
“We can’t just let all the work we did in the offseason mean nothing,” said safety Nick Anderson. “Let’s come back, grow from this and have a great year.”
Contact Scottie Kimmelman at kimmsd22@wfu.edu and James Lombardo at lombjp23@wfu.edu
OLD GOLD & BLACK
Karon Prunty (3) fights hard to knock the ball out of NC State receiver Noah Rogers' (5) hands
A filled stadium with both Wake Forest and NC State fans cheer for their respective teams. This was the 119th edition of the in-state rivalry.
EJ Reid (18) reaches for a pass during warmups before NC State matchup.
Chris Wallace/Old Gold & Black
Chris Wallace/Old Gold & Black
Chris Wallace/Old Gold & Black
2 a.m. pushups
A look into Sam Hartman’s mentality throughout his football career
JAMES LOMBARDO Sports Editor
The fast-moving economy of college and professional football invests in young star players itching for an opportunity to make a play their coaches will remember. Our athletes become our heroes. Student-athletes are clawing and scratching every single play to make that leap to stardom, to be that hero.
Sam Hartman joined a sports journalism class last week to talk about the mental health of student athletes, highlighting his own struggles throughout his journey at Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
Hartman won the starting job his freshman year at Wake Forest, but lost it to then-senior Jamie Newman his sophomore year. He felt wronged by the coaching staff and spent his days sulking rather than working hard to get better at the sport he loved so dearly.
“You're screwing me, this is BS,” Hartman said. “I should be the starter, I'm the freaking man.”
Hartman’s wake-up call came during a lonely 2019 walk along Reynolda Trail halfway through his sophomore season. His head coach, Dave Clawson, cut him off on the path and changed his life.
“Why are you acting differently? Why are you not putting in any effort?” Clawson said. That’s when our hero opened his eyes.
“I was listening to everyone outside of it and not the people whose opinions really mattered,” Hartman said. “I thought I was deserving of a starting spot that I did not deserve or earn, and I was pretty much checked out. I just went through my days not really caring.”
Sam stayed with that conversation that night.
“What am I doing? You know the classic 2 a.m. doing push-ups in your dorm.”
Yes, we do know.
Anyone who strives to be successful knows that feeling: you can’t fall asleep late at night because you’re up thinking about how to be better, how to be the best. So you do push-ups until failure, so your heart rate is raised, and then you definitely can’t fall asleep anytime soon.
Those pushups never really accomplish anything more than an ego boost. For Sam, they were a sign that he needed to change his mentality.
“I did a lot of mental work to help myself get to even a point of feeling like I'm myself,” Hartman said.
The pressure on student-athletes gets to an unceasingly painful point.
“It built up in my head like, ‘All right. I have to be perfect,” Hartman said.
At the end of all the practices, games and schoolwide fame where everybody knows your name, student-athletes are still human beings with human thoughts and human emotions.
According to Hartman, the most enjoyable part of being a student-athlete is the things people comment on social media. With all the incredible performances, there are a few nice things to read for people like Sam.
For all the small mistakes and bad performances, though, there are hundreds of negative social media comments from ruthless “fans.”
“If you listen to that [positive] noise, then you're going to listen to the negative noise,” Hartman said.
“I guess my college career is over. I will probably be benched forever,” Hartman said following a blowout loss to Wisconsin in which he threw four interceptions. He let all the negative noise get to him, but he only needed to listen to the people close to him.
His coaches called him the next day and said, “The sun still comes up.”
“When I was a Freshman in college, I wish I had put as much effort and focus into my mental side as I did my physical side,” Hartman said. “I think I would be in a better spot.”
Student-athletes face constant mental health struggles in today’s pressure-filled landscape of college athletics. A 2021 study released by the NCAA revealed that 61% of female and 40% of male student-athletes transferred due to mental health struggles.
“
"At the end of all the practices, games and schoolwide fame where everybody knows your name, student-athletes are still human beings with human thoughts and human emotions."
Furthermore, a 2019 study conducted by the International Olympic Committee revealed that 35% of elite athletes deal with mental health problems, including but not limited to: depression, eating disorders, substance addiction, sleep issues, anxiety, OCD and ADHD.
Hartman’s mental work has left him in a good spot, though. Even today, he keeps his competitive fire, those 2 a.m. pushups. The former college star is beginning his second year as a pro as a member of the Commanders' practice squad.
Even though he’s not satisfied with his current position, Sam is not worried.
“I know if I'm a good person and I work my tail off, that at the end of the day I'll end up where I need to be,” Hartman said.
He knows nothing is guaranteed at his current job. He takes every day to do what he loves and be as good as he can be.
“Just dance beautifully in the box you're destined to dance in,” Hartman said.
Contact James Lombardo at lombjp23@wfu.edu
Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black
Sam Hartman joined a sports journalism class to discuss the mental highs and lows he experienced during his career at Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
Field Hockey dominates the weekend slate
Over their four game win streak, the Demon Deacons have outscored opponents 20-2
ELLA MAYNARD Staff Writer
Last Sunday, the Wake Forest field hockey team hosted the University of Massachusetts Lowell in a matchup that resulted in yet another dominating win. The Demon Deacons piled on five first-quarter goals to set the tone as Wake cruised to a 9-1 victory.
This win marks head coach Jen Averill’s 450th, adding to her long list of accomplishments and placing her at eighth all-time among Division I field hockey coaches.
Coming off a 2-0 victory against Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday, Wake Forest looked to improve its dominance on both sides of the ball.
A 13-4 edge in penalty corners helped build momentum early in the game, with Wake Forest converting two in the first quarter. The first came from sophomore standout Lauren Storey, who converted off an assist from sophomore captain Mia Montag with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Lauren Storey highlighted the scoring with her second hat trick of the season and seventh goal overall. A beautiful defense-to-offense transfer up the field set Storey up perfectly to open up the scoring, with junior Faye Janse supplying the assist.
Junior Mia Schoenbeck dramatically ended the first quarter, dribbling into the circle and managing to get a shot past the UMass keeper with six-tenths of a second remaining for the buzzer beater.
Montag converted the second for her third goal of the season, with freshman Logan Marthinus supplying the assist. Both Montag and Marthinus would later score unassisted goals in the second quarter.
“What a first quarter,” Averill said of the first 15 minutes of play. “The challenge [coming into the game] for the squad was how to continue to grow our connections with one another.”
UMass scored its lone goal with 8:56 left in the first half. Finding a penalty in the offensive circle resulted in a penalty corner for the River Hawks ,
where Karlijn Kerkhof found an opening past Wake Forest keeper Ellie Todd. It appeared they might have scored again with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth qu arter, but after further review, it was ruled a no-goal.
Schoenbeck closed the scoring in the final minutes, converting a penalty stroke to make the score 9-1 after she was tripped in the defensive circle.
“The flow of the game really accentuated our strengths, and then really allowed us the opportunity to have different looks,” Averill said post-game.
Following the strong performances of this weekend, the Demon Deacons appear more than ready to face the challenging task of ACC play this season. Wake Forest opens conference play at Syracuse on Friday, Sept. 19. First touch is set for 5 p.m. Eastern on ACC Network Extra.
Contact Scottie Kimmelman & James Lombardo at kimmsd22@wfu.edu & lombjp23@wfu.edu
Storey was absolutely dominant this week as the junior forward notched four goals in just two games played. Against UMass Lowell on Sunday, Storey completed her second hat trick of the young season to put her up to seven goals on the year. The star player will be looked upon to help the Demon Deacons continue this recent LAUREN STOREY
We grinded out a point here on the road in the best soccer conference in the country. We had a battle.
Photo Courtesy of Wake Forest University Athletics
Mia Shoenbeck (23) leaps into the air to celebrate as the Demon Deacons score another goal past the University of Massachusetts Lowell goalkeeper.
Yards run back by Chris Barnes on the opening kickoff vs, NC State Goals scored by Field Hockey this weekend.
Men’s Soccer ranking heading into week 5 Time ran by Angelina Perez in Queen City Invite
Men’s Soccer coach Bobby Muuss following last week’s draw vs. UNC
Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black
Logan Marthinus (26) dashes her way to the cage for another score.
Photo Courtesy of Wake Forest University Athletics
Photo Courtesy of Wake Forest University Athletics
Lauren Storey connects for one of her three goals on the day.
ARTS & CULTURE
Lydia Derris, derrlf23@wfu.edu
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025
Grace Schuringa, schugh24@wfu.edu PAGE 18
Wake Alert: Banshees were actually kind of funny this time!
The comedy troupe kicked off the school year with their first performance
GRACE SCHURINGA Arts & Culture Editor
Editor's note: The views expressed in this piece represent the opinion of the writer, not the Old Gold & Black.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, the Banshees performed back-to-back shows in the sold-out Brendle Recital Hall, housed in Scales Fine Arts Center, kicking off the 2025-26 school year.
The student-run comedy troupe performed 11 skits, poking fun at student life and Wake Forest culture. Run by student directors and overseen by academic sponsor Dr. Luis González, the group remains free to work outside the parameters of usual academic and student conduct. This means that no topic is off limits, and no organization is above the Banshee's wrath.
The show kicked off with a skit titled “Freak Wake Alert,” which put a sexual spin on Wake’s safety program, Wake Alert.
Sophomore Banshee Will McKinzie, who originally had the idea for the skit, describes the process from being pitched to being performed.
“From the moment we began working on it, there was so much energy and
love for the idea,” McKinzie said. “It was great to see a random idea that I had blossomed into something that was actually performed on stage.”
Among the skits that provoked the most positive responses were “The Wente Show,” “The Machi Ted-Talk” and “KD sleepover at DKE.” Those that were less popular among the audience were “KKG and the homeless,” the “Oversized Zyn Pack” and “The Fizz God.”
In a time when people often take themselves too seriously, the Banshees — many of whom belong to the organizations they poke at — offer us much-needed respite.
Mickinzie, a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, said, “At the end of the day, people need to be able to take a step back from their lives and be able to laugh at themselves and realize how arbitrary Greek life is in the grand scheme of things. Being able to take a joke when someone else is making fun of you is an important skill that is necessary to stay happy at this school.”
Sophomore Banshee Annie Beargie shares a similar sentiment.
“It's all in good fun,” Beargie said. “Most of the time, the sketches we write are based on fiction. It doesn't bothe r
The Banshees preformed a sold
me, it's actually fun for my respective Greek organization to get poked fun at.”
With auditions taking place on Sep. 9, first-year students will be given the chance to see their skits come to life on stage.
Beargie advises prospective Banshees to “be ready to have fun and embarrass yourself a little bit and be a part of the best club on campus that is so ingrained in Wake Forest culture.”
Contact Grace Schuringa at schugh24@wfu.edu
Martin Dyar’s Poems are rivulets of love
The Poet’s reading took the audience out of Wake Forest and into the idyllic Irish countryside.
LYDIA DERRIS Arts & Culture Editor
Martin Dyar, a poet from Swinford in County Mayo in West Ireland, read his latest poetic volume, “The Meek,”
on Sep. 10, in the ZSR Auditorium. “The Meek” was recently published by Wake Forest University Press, whose mission is to “Bring some of the best Irish poetry, current and past, to American readers.”
Dyar is an instructor of medical humanities in the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin and has held writing fellowships at the University of Iowa, the Washington Ireland Program and the University of Limerick.
“The Meek” is Dyar’s second poetic volume, following his Pigott Prizeshortlisted debut “Maiden Names” (Arlen House, 2013) and the anthology “Vital Signs: Poems of Illness and Healing” (Poetry Ireland, 2022). He is also the winner of the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, the Strokestown International Poetry Award and the recipient of an Irish Arts Council Literature Bursary Award.
Dyar began with the poems “Like a Soul,” “In Loving Memory,” nestling in two sonnets in iambic pentameter, a centuries-old form that Dyar feels is
“connected to our ears, our bodies.”
“The Meek,” which is the title poem and “A Lockdown Fox,” followed by “The History of Medicine," “The View from St. Catherine’s Hospital,” "Burke's Goddess,” “A Case of Cormorant,” concluding with “The May Baby.”
Listening to Dyar recite his poems affected me in a number of ways. I was enchanted by how his poems reside close to the bones of both a pastoral Ireland and its natural topography, but also present us with a paradigm that suggests nature is our mother, and she is frigid. The poems struggle with the dichotomy between the life of the habitat and the life of the inhabitants. They are perennial folktales in setting and structure, but the institution of existence in contemporary times is not lost on them, which is why I’m telling you about it.
I asked Dyar whether the title and his pejorative use of “meekness” in some of the poems was all to suggest that reverential prostration toward nature demands us to be meek. With a vivid coherence I have seldom seen, he replied
that “The Meek” “was not necessarily a crystallized state, but a marker of the times,” indicating that his volume, and poetry more broadly, was demonstrably a reinforcement of what matters, or, as he put it, what is “true North.” He cautioned that “We should be careful whose wordlessness we accept,” a graceful reminder to not give a voice to language unspoken, but to let unspokenness give itself to the impulse of language.
There are undoubtedly lines of memorable beauty, as in ‘In Loving Memory:’
“Like a fool, I keep coming back to the thought.” I felt that line in particular captured the tight coiling of memory and meaning fueling the essential part of us “that is equal to the land.”
If the true poet is he who actively injects a true reflection of what’s going on in the world, Martin Dyar is a true poet.
OLD GOLD & BLACK
Courtesy of the Banshees
out show in Brendle Recital Hall.
Saddling up for the PBR rodeo
I attended Greensboro’s 2025 PBR showdown… this was my experience
GRACE SCHURINGA Arts & Culture Editor
Sporadic declarations of “Me!” rang out from the stands — to which I contributed, as I was one of the first-timers in the crowd.
Whatever my expectations were going into my first Professional Bull Rid-
ers (PBR) event, they were immediately exceeded when a cowboy sprang out of the chutes, moving with the bull to the backdrop of 50 Cent. The seat next to me is occupied by a delighted little girl, who emits cheers and shrieks with a casualness that says it all: this isn’t her first rodeo.
For those of us who were new to the
“Who here’s new to bull riding?” The announcer’s voice rang through the stadium.
rodeo, the rules of the game were laid out in a brief introduction. They’re simple, or so everyone else in the stadium seemed to think: stay on the bull, by way of a piece of rope wrapped around its stomach, without touching the bull with your free hand — and do it with style. The riders who meet the eight-second requirement then qualify to receive a score. Those who didn’t just hope to walk out without injury.
For the classic sports fan, the next layer of competition was more familiar. Each rider belonged to one of 10 teams, all of which competed one-on-one during five games throughout the night.
The crowd leans forward in their seats, gravitating toward the pull of the arena and responding to each twist and turn of the bull and rider’s bodies; collectively, we hold our breaths for the two minutes that a rider from the team “Missouri Thunder” remained limp on the dirt after a bull’s hoof clipped his head — a silent prayer for a stranger in a loud stadium.
The announcer reignites our spirits, handling the situation with a calm, energetic ease. “Alright, looks like he is walking! Let’s hear it for him, ladies and gents.” The show goes on.
For a northerner, the concept of PBR
Chad’s Chai is tea
is as foreign as snow is to Texans. But it is an extraordinary display of southern spirit and community — and something to consider attending, if you have the heart for extreme sports.
Contact Grace Schuringa at schugh24@wfu.edu
Lydia Derris Arts & Culture Editor
What better way to beat the rainy-day blues than to sink into a cup of warm chai? When I ran into the first stormy day on campus, I nestled into a warm nook where I could work the day away. My nook of choice was Chad’s Chai, located in downtown Winston-Salem.
This was my bewildering and miragelike experience inside the unassuming chai shop.
My first impression of Chad’s Chai was that it was exceedingly homey for a minimalist tea house. Orders are taken at a circular island in the center of the shop, then subsequently made and served. On either side of the island are two ceiling-high trees growing in large ceramic planters.
Comfortable mid-mod couches square off sections of the shop, flanking an elevated stage toward the back, blanketed with plush rugs for traditional Japanesestyle floor seating, complete with round zabutons and low tables.
I settled into one of the couches near the window — and the window-orchids — to watch the rain. Not long into my weekly reading of “The Personality Puzzle,” by David Funder, an intriguing personality entered the shop, leaving me puzzled.
He was a lanky man, wearing a Hawaiian shirt decorated with orange blossoms. He had a styrofoam plate that held two chili-dogs and a heavily dented Hydroflask. A mailman followed suit, wearing his mailman’s uniform, unprotected by umbrella or raincoat, so that all the mail he was carrying was soaked to the marrow.
Sensibly, the chili-dog man behind me said, “Is the mail getting wet like that? Who wants the wet mail? It’s ridiculous. I would get mad.”
I was glad he found the scene just as perplexing as I did, because I, too, could not fathom who would want the wet mail.
I got up to order a “Dirty Misty Mountain Chai” with notes of yerba maté, black tea, cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, ginger and cardamom – which I got with their signature non-dairy nut blend. The blend “is a house-made blend of oat milk and almond milk with some vegan creamer made from lentils to provide extra creaminess,” according to Chad’s Chai.
After I grabbed my chai, I sat back down on my couch. Not minutes later, a
group of Wake Forest graduate students began to eye the vacant seats near me. They were looking around to suggest that there was no other place for them to sit, and so I moved my belongings and invited them over. They sat next to me for two hours speaking loudly and leaning toward me as though they wanted me to hear their conversation, but also apologized frequently for their volume.
The only girl in the group squealed, “Sorry for disturbing you,” and blew me a kiss upon their departure. This gesture made no sense to me, as I did not know her at all, but it made a lot of sense in the context of the things that had already happened in the shop.
I ordered another chai, the “Chai Ya Yai!” which is a black tea blend with strong notes of cinnamon, black carda-
mom, ginger, chili pepper, black pepper, star anise, clove, marigold petals and chipotle pepper.
Chad’s Chai only serves tea, stating, “Loose tea simply helps you slow down and be more connected with nature. It is beautiful, both dry and wet, as it unfurls in the water. It’s about authenticity. Never anything artificial or even ambiguous.” And it’s true, nothing about their tea tastes artificial.
A strange serene man entered the shop and caught my attention, and a friend who was with me texted, “There’s this scruffy old dad sitting near me and he keeps, like, bringing his stuff in with one hand, like he brought this cup of milk in his palm held up like a platter a waitress would hold, something is weird about him.”
He talked to the chili-dog man, and upon his departure, the entire staff said goodbye to him in unison. I had a hunch it might be Chad because of the Chad’s Chai shirt he was wearing and the behavior of the employees. A Google search confirmed it was him.
Just before close, a sweet employee came up to my friend and me and said “Before you go, we have a ton of Peachy Keen and Green Peace left over, would you like some?” I asked him which was better, and he suggested Green Peace. We both thought this was a very nice and sustainable effort by the shop, and the Green Peace was refreshing.
My rainy day at Chad’s Chai felt like a dream. I recommend that everyone “chai it,” if they can.
Contact Lydia Derris at derrlf23@wfu.edu
Courtesy of Ticket Master
The extreme sport of Rodeo comes to North Carolina.
Courtesy of Grace Schuringa/Old Gold & Black
Chad’s Chai is the centerpiece of the Winston-Salem chai scene, opening its first brick-and-mortar in 2022.
Courtesy of the Associated Press
The Crossword
Across
1. Stage performance
4. International Research Group, abbr.
7. Graduate music degree, for example
10. Dude
11. US spy agency
12. Second-person pro -
noun
13. Evergreen tree
15. Honda model
16. Gross
17. Newton, football quarterback
18. “Bearded” in French
21. Boredom
23. Pint of beer
24. Carrying container
25. __ River in England
26. Musical series of notes
28. Large body of water
30. Spanish cheer
31. When something is expected
32. Χ greek alphabet
33. Provoking
37. Cousin, informally
38. Donkey
39. Means of transportation
40. Fert___ or ag__
41. Cash machine
42. Large flightless bird
A “Swift” Change in the Prophecy
MARGRETHE JENSEN Contributing Writer
Taylor Swift finally has her lasting “Love Story.”
On Aug. 26, Swift announced her engagement to Travis Kelce. It seems every Taylor Swift fan (including myself) went into a frenzy, texting all of their friends, feeling an unhealthy amount of happiness for a couple they don’t actually know and scrutinizing the post for clues about the upcoming album.
When the dust settled, I wondered: What if we never get another iconic Taylor Swift heartbreak song?
When thinking of Swift, you may immediately think of “breakup songs,” and you wouldn’t be wrong, as there is an ample selection of those in her discography. However, she also has beautifully harrowing songs on other topics.
For example, “Ronan,” which is a song about Ronan Thompson, the son of the blogger, Maya Thompson, who passed away from cancer before his fourth birthday. Or “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” which some people interpret to be about losing a loved one or having a miscarriage.
In Swift’s eighth album, “Folklore,” she also proved that she could create fictional worlds with just as much depth and lyrical integrity as her songs that are primarily influenced by her own life. The songs “Betty,” “Au-
Is Taylor Swift’s engagement the end of her career?
after Kelce proposed in his Leawood estate.
gust,” and “Cardigan” tell the story of a high school love triangle. The three songs lay out a rudimentary plot, giving us the perspective of the ex-girlfriend, the boy and “the other woman,” but its simplicity creates relatability, forming an enduring thread of connection between her and the listener.
Notably, Swift has released multiple albums while in a relationship with Joe Alwyn, including “Reputation,” “Folklore” and “Evermore.”
While there aren’t many breakup songs in these albums, there are songs that could be interpreted as breakup songs, such as “My Tears Ricochet,”
Down
1. Alphabet start
2. Shed tears
3. Uppermost point
4. Chilled square, formally
5. Hazard
6. Elemental state
7. Ancient Greek city
8. Mathematical expression
9. Stereo connection, colloquially
14. Bone of the cage
17. Country code for China
18. “Low” in French
19. Intoxicating beverage
20. Become aware of 21. Self-centeredness
22. Tavern or motel
27. “The” in French
29. Meows and purrs
31. Where the sun rises
32. Chamber of Commerce and Industry, abbr.
33. Sheep sound
34. Drink cooler
35. Vietnam, informally
36. Despicable Me protagonist
Contact Evan Lipetz at lipeek22@wfu.edu
which is allegedly about Scott Borchetta, the record executive who sold her master recordings to Scooter Braun. At her most basic, Swift is seen as an artist who writes good breakup songs. I don’t think she needs to regurgitate or rehash any of these breakups to appease surface-level fans. Swift will likely continue to carry these developmental memories — of that one high school boyfriend, getting cheated on or falling in and out of love. The shift may be as simple as using new impressions of these experiences to create new fictional storylines.
Essentially, I don’t suspect there to be any shortage of heartbreaking songs in her albums to come. In the “New Heights” podcast, she mentions that every song is drawn from personal experience. I don’t think all of her heartbreaking experiences will evaporate just because she’s getting married.
Long-time fans have seen her music and writing evolve throughout her career, and there will certainly be differences in the new albums, as there always are. Still, her talent isn’t dependent on only writing heartbreak songs. If it turns out she never writes another sad song again, then there are always the heartbreak songs from the past eleven albums to turn to.
Contact Margrethe Jensen at jensmm22@wfu.edu
Courtesy of Getty Images
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce