NEWS | 4 University announces 2022-23 speaker lineup
FEATURES | 7 Building community by Bridging the Gap
OPINION | 8 Women deserve greater representation in U.S. politics
SPORTS | 11 Women's golf claims ACC crown
LIFE | 15 Diverse cast of"Bridgerton"
Old Gold&Black
VOL. 108, NO. 27
WA K E F O R E S T ’ S S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 1 6
APRIL 21, 2022
“Covers the campus like the magnolias”
'Winston-Salem Five' seek exoneration
Cooper Sullivan / Old Gold & Black
Brad Bannon and Christine Mumma, defense attorneys for Christopher Bryant and Rayshawn Banner, respectively, give an interview after the first day of the hearings. Mark Rabil and Julie Boyer (not pictured) represent Jermal Tolliver and Nathaniel Cauthen, respectively. CHRISTA DUTTON, COOPER SULLLIVAN & DANIEL PAROLINI News Editor, Multimedia Managing Editor & Contributing Writer
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our men are seeking to be exonerated of the 2002 murder of Nathaniel Jones, Winston-Salem native and grandfather of NBA star and former Wake Forest guard Chris Paul. A three-judge panel will be hearing arguments from the men’s attorneys concerning whether they are innocent and must come to a unanimous decision to grant an exoneration. Fifteen-year-olds Christopher Bryant, Nathaniel Cauthen, Jermal Tolliver and Dorrell Brayboy and 14-year-old Rayshawn Banner, Cauthen’s brother, were arrested for Jones’ murder in 2002. The group has been referred to as the “Winston-Salem Five” because of the striking similarities between this case and the infamous “Central Park Five” case in New York City.
Cauthen and Banner are currently serving life sentences on first-degree murder convictions. Bryant, Tolliver and Brayboy were convicted of second-degree murder, but have all been released since 2018. Bryant first submitted an innocence claim to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission on March 2, 2015. Cauthen was the second defendant to file an innocence claim three years later. Tolliver and Banner were notified of the filings in October 2019. Brayboy was not contacted due to his death in August 2019, and he cannot be posthumously exonerated since he did not submit a claim of innocence before his death. Since its inception, the Innocence Inquiry Commission has received a total of 3,206 claims. Fifteen of the 18 claims that have received hearings have resulted in exonerations, and the still-living members of the Winston-Salem Five hope their case will be the 16th. No forensic evidence could link any of
the five defendants to the crime, but confessions from the teenagers and 16-yearold Jessicah Black, an alleged accomplice, determined their fates. But defense attorneys from the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence in Durham pointed out in their opening statement Monday morning that these confessions do not add up. Opening Statements In their opening statement, the defense presented that all five defendants and Black had differing accounts when asked questions about who was involved, what the motive was, how Jones was approached, what items were used in the attack and the state of Jones’ body. One confession claimed the teenagers used black electrical tape bought from a nearby Dollar General to bind Jones' hands and cover his mouth. However, the defense found that Dollar General did not sell the tape that was found at the
crime scene, nor did surveillance footage at that store show any of the teenagers near the property. Another confession claimed that the teenagers stole and then used Jones’ debit card, however, no card activity was found. Another confession claimed that Jones was left lying on his back with his eyeglasses nearby. Jones was actually found lying on his stomach and no eyeglasses were found at the scene. In his opening statement, Brad Bannon, one of the defense attorneys, stated that the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) intimidated the teenagers into falsely confessing, citing the lack of incriminating evidence and their maintaining of innocence since the 2004 and 2005 trials. All five defendants would later recant their testimonies, and, in 2019, Black recanted her testimony saying that none of the teenagers or herself were involved in the crime.
See Hearing, Page 3
Old Gold & Black This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board
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ACC headquarters should remain in North Carolina The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), to which Wake Forest belongs, will likely be moving its headquarters out of Greensboro, according to recent reporting. The same reporting also states that the ACC is considering moving to either Charlotte or Orlando, FL. We write in opposition to the latter. We are taking a position on this because Wake Forest has power in this decision. President Susan Wente sits on the governing board that will be making this decision, according to Associate Athletic Director Will Pantages. We urge President Wente and representatives from all other ACC schools to reject a move to Florida.
The ACC was founded in 1953 in Greensboro, and throughout its history, North Carolina has been at the center of the league. In addition to the fact that the ACC’s most-storied programs are in the Tar Heel State, it is also the geographical midpoint of a conference that spans from Chestnut Hill, MA to Miami, FL. The city of Charlotte hosts the league’s two largest events: the ACC football championship game and the men’s basketball tournament. Further, a decision to move the ACC’s headquarters to Florida would signal that the conference condones Florida’s recent passage of a law restricting the teaching of gender and sexuality in schools, which many LGBTQ+ rights advocates have called repressive.
In 2016, the ACC was faced with a similar issue. In the wake of HB2, a North Carolina bill that prevented transgender individuals from using the bathroom of their choice, the conference moved the ACC Championship Game in football to Florida. Then-Commissioner of the ACC John Swofford said in a statement that “the ACC Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount.” Six years on from that decision, those core values should be upheld in deciding on a new location for its headquarters. While we hold no influence over the presidents of other
We are taking a position on this because Wake Forest has power in this decision. President Susan Wente sits on the governing board that will be making this decision, according to Associate Athletic Director Will Pantages." institutions of the ACC, we can implore Wake Forest’s president to make the right choice and stick up for queer students. In an era as dangerous for LGBTQ+ rights as this current one, a strong signal from Wake Forest that anti-gay and anti-trans legislation is unacceptable would go a long way.
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Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Page 3
Hearing: Defense argues lack of physical evidence Continued from Page 1 At the hearing, the defense outlined three categories of risk factors that lead people to make false confessions. They say all three categories — dispositional, situational and miscellaneous — were present during the interrogations. The dispositional risk factors that applied to the defendants were their juvenile status and mental impairment. The situational factors included placing the teenagers in solitary spaces, screaming at them and openly wearing firearms in the interrogation room. Perhaps the most damaging of the situational factors was the WSPD intimidating the teenagers with false punishment. Police officers threatened the teens with the possibility of the death penalty if they did not tell the truth; however, juveniles could not receive the death penalty in North Carolina in 2002. This is still the case now. The defense argued that this intimidation tactic proved to be successful, as none of the teenagers confessed to anything until they were presented with the possibility of capital punishment. Finally, the defense presented other factors that lead to false confessions like assumption of guilt and confirmation bias, which were evident through the investigators’ failure to follow up on multiple leads and tips once they brought the five teenagers into custody. The defense concluded their opening statement by saying that they do not have to prove whether or not there was ineffective assistance of counsel or who the true perpetrator was but simply whether or not there is sufficient evidence to prove these four men innocent. “We do not prioritize the finality of a conviction over the innocence of the convicted,” Bannon said to round out his opening remarks. The state responded to the defense in their opening remarks given by Forsyth Co. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin (Wake Forest School of Law ‘96). One of their main rebuttals was the fact that the teenagers maintained their statements even when they were not being coerced in trial or in conversations with their attorneys. Additionally, she reminded the judges of the teenagers’ extensive history with law enforcement — the five of them had a combined 140 interactions with law enforcement before Nov. 15, 2002. “The checks and balances were in place for these defendants,” Martin said in response to the defense’s claim that capable attorneys were not provided to the defendants. Martin also claimed that the reporter to whom Black recanted her testimony — Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle — before recanting under
oath, had harassed numerous witnesses and offered bribes to eyewitnesses and defendants. Martin also stated that the reporter had given Black false information about the case in order to elicit the recanting. If one thing was clear from Martin’s opening statements, it was the fact that the state believed there was no “factual evidence of [the defendant’s] innocence”. In 2020, there was a hearing conducted by the Innocence Inquiry Commission that determined there was sufficient evidence of factual innocence to merit an exoneration hearing by a three-judge panel. Day 1 and 2 Witnesses Over the course of the first two days, the defense called three witnesses to the stand. Only two of the three were able to be cross-examined by the state before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Julie Bridenstine, staff attorney for the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission and the lead investigator on Bryant’s claim-of-innocence case, was the first to be called to the stand. Bridenstine would remain under oath for nearly five hours, both Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. The defense’s questioning of Bridenstine provided a preliminary understanding of the original investigation in terms of suspects, evidence, eyewitness interviews and leads from Nov. 15-19, 2002 — the day of Jones’ murder to the day of the five arrests. The defense also inquired about what investigating Bridenstine and the Inquiry Commission completed from Feb. 2016 to March 2020. When asked about Jones’ Lincoln Town Car, Bridenstine said that before Jones was discovered to be dead, a friend had driven by the house and noticed Jones’ Lincoln parked in the carport with the brake lights on and a man in the driver’s seat. Because of the sunset, the eyewitness could not make out any details but could determine it was not Jones, as the man’s figure was too small. They had presumed it was one of Jones’ grandsons and drove away. Bridenstine testified that the police report stated the interior of the Lincoln was forensically processed, but testimony from the trial said otherwise. Bridenstine also focused on forensic evidence, noting that partial DNA profiles were created based on DNA found on a piece of black tape. The DNA could not be identified, but it did not correlate with any of the five teenagers. When tested again in 2020, the defendants were still excluded from the DNA. Black’s car, which was allegedly used as the getaway car, was tested for blood and no traces could be found.
Bridenstine also said that there were a few suspects that the WSPD had been notified of either through interviews or Crime Stoppers tips, but once the teenagers were arrested on Nov. 19, all other investigations ceased. Bridenstine attempted to contact at least three of the alternate suspects when she was doing her investigation but did not receive any new information. The defense also asked about an eyewitness report from 10-year-old BJ Lowery, who claimed to have seen a Hispanic male dressed in black, wearing a toboggan hat and gloves, jump over Jones’ fence. The first report notes that the child said it was 5:59 p.m., whereas during trial, Lowery is on record as saying it was closer to 7:50 p.m. — a substantial time difference. Bridenstine testified that Lori Douglas, Lowery’s mother, was hosting a birthday party at the time when her son came into the house saying he had seen something. Douglas said Lowery had notified her between 6:30-6:40 p.m. — the same time frame as Jones’ death. The defense said that this suspect description was eliminated for unexplained reasons. When the state had the opportunity to cross-examine, they asked if Douglas was under oath when she clarified the time. She was not. The prosecution repeatedly asked Bridenstine if she had thoroughly explored all the possible avenues of the investigation. She maintained she had. Three exchanges between the defendants, relatives of the defendants and counsel were introduced as evidence by the prosecution. One of those was a memo written by N.C. Center on Actual Innocence attorney Cheryl Sullivan summarizing a phone call between her and Nils Gerber, who represented Bryant in the original trial. The memo said that Gerber believed all five of the teenagers were guilty of murdering Jones, saying that while the confessions may have been coerced by WSPD officers, they were “still truthful”. The defense added that Gerber would later dispute telling Sullivan about any opinions of guilt. Around 11:45 Tuesday morning, William Bodziak was called to the stand as an expert in footwear impressions. Bodziak worked in forensics for the FBI for nearly 25 years before starting a forensic consulting business in Jacksonville, FL. He estimated that he had testified more than 500 times and that three-quarters of those testimonies pertained to footwear impressions. Two partial shoe prints were found on the hood of Jones’ Lincoln Town Car and were identified to be the soles of a size-nine Air Force 1 shoe. Investigators had seized a pair of sizenine Air Force 1s from the home of Cauthen and Banner, claiming that these
were the shoes that left a print on the hood of Jones’ car. But Bodziak would later testify that it was erroneous for the police to use partial impressions of one of the most common shoes in the U.S. as the sole piece of forensic evidence linking the teenagers to the murder. “There is nothing special about the wear,” Bodziak said, referring to scuffs and tread on the bottom and sides of the shoe. “To use these features and infer a connection is misleading.” Bodziak was also reluctant for both sides to use the word “match” in reference to any connection. “Once the word ‘match’ is used in a courtroom, you don’t know what that means to people,” Bodziak said. “Corresponds” is the preferred terminology — but with partial impressions showing general wear, Bodziak said a correspondence would be far from absolute. The final witness of the day was Dr. Ginger Calloway, a forensic psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in the field of developmental psychology. When questioned by the defense, she defined what intellectual disabilities (IDs) are and outlined the three-pronged test used to determine them. Calloway emphasized that the test data was conclusive, using multiple sources from multiple examiners. “You wouldn’t rule out or rule in ID based on one piece of data,” Calloway said. The psychological assessments she discussed included — but were not limited to — standardized tests such as IQ tests, the Woodcock-Johnson test, the CAT and WR AT tests. When asked for her opinion, Calloway affirmed that, based on case records — including her own psychological assessments — each of the five teenagers was cognitively impaired at the time of interrogations in 2002. Her findings supported the defense’s claim that the boys were more likely to make false confessions based on their age and mental impairment. The prosecution, as of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, cross-examined Calloway regarding the thoroughness of her investigation and the impact the defendant’s many absences from school may have had on their capabilities. The hearings will last the remainder of this week and are likely to continue into the next. This is a developing story. Updates and continual coverage will be available at wfuogb.com Aine Pierre contributed to reporting. Contact Christa Dutton at duttcd20@wfu.edu, Cooper Sullivan at sullcg20@wfu.edu and Daniel Parolini at parodj20@wfu.
POLICE BEAT • •
Larceny An unknown subject(s) removed an unsecured scooter from the east side of the Pit entrance. The report was filed at 1:40 p.m. on April 14. An unknown subject(s) removed an unsecured laptop from a table in the Pit. The report was filed at 12:42 p.m. on April 14. Miscellaneous:
• • •
A victim was struck in the face by an unknown subject off campus. Victim suffered a chipped tooth and refused EMS transport. The report was filed at 2:17 a.m. on April 12. WFUPD was called to assist WSPD with a loud music complaint on Polo Road. The report was filed at 1:35 a.m. on April 14. A subject was asked to leave Last Resort by the victim and they did. No arrests were made. The report was filed on April 15 by 1:05 a.m.
Page 4 | Thursday, April 21, 2022
Old Gold & Black | News
University announces 2022-23 speaker lineup Face to Face Speaker Forum selects George W. Bush, Tom Friedman, Bryan Stevenson and Kristin Chenoweth KATHLEEN KERR Staff Writer
George W. Bush, Tom Friedman, Bryan Stevenson and Kristin Chenoweth will present to the Wake Forest and Winston-Salem communities on a diverse range of topics during the 2022-23 school year, as announced by the Wake Forest Face to Face Speaker Forum. “We have four pillars from which we select a speaker: political affairs, arts and culture, business and innovation and social justice and global issues. So when we put together our program, we are specific about a speaker supporting one of those four programs,” Face to Face executive director Sue Henderson said. The first forum will be held Sept. 14 in LJVM Coliseum with a conversation between Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham. Together, they will discuss challenges the United States faces in the 21st century. “It is a huge deal for Wake Forest and
our community in general that a former president will come,” assistant director of Face-to-Face Katie Wolf said. “Not only political science majors, but all students can glean knowledge from that kind of leadership.” Later in the year, on Nov. 15, Friedman, a bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times foreign affairs columnist, will speak in Wait Chapel. He will discuss challenges such as transformative technology, globalization and climate change as discussed in his most recent book “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide for Thriving in the Age of Accelerations”. In February, Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and New York Times bestselling author of “Just Mercy” will kick off the spring semester. From his experience with the EJI, he will speak on social justice issues the United States faces with its incarceration system. “We are going to partner closely with the divinity school on this event at Wait Chapel,” Wolf said. “[Bryan Stevenson] is not on the speaking circuit.
This is not something that he does often, so we’re really excited.” The forum will conclude with Chenoweth, Emmy and Tony-award winning actress and singer. Known for her role as Glinda in the musical “Wicked” and her roles in the series “Glee,” “Trial & Error,” “American Gods” and “The West Wing”, she will speak in LJVM Coliseum on April 12. Two of the speakers, Friedman and Chenoweth, will have student-only question-and-answer sessions before the main keynote addresses, which are open to the public. These student-only events are moderated and led by scholars from the Wake Forest Leadership and Character Program (L&C). These events allow L&C scholars an opportunity to ask the speaker questions submitted by students from Wake Forest and other colleges in the Winston-Salem area. Students can submit these questions through a link on the Face to Face website. “I am a big fan of the Face to Face forum, and I am really glad they have partnered up with L&C because [the student-only events] allow me to get a bigger glimpse into the speaker’s
perspective,” L&C scholar freshman Jenna Mcclelland said. “They make the events more accessible and studentfriendly since they’re on a smaller scale. They encourage students to participate by submitting questions and attending the talks.” Students that have attended the speaker forums this year are excited to attend next year’s lineup as well. “The Face to Face forums are really beneficial for students because they get to hear from a wide variety of voices and opinions,” freshman Bellamy Koonce said. There is at least one speaker that every student can connect with.” “I have been to most of the Face to Face keynote speeches and have been fascinated by each speaker,” freshman Alexandra Ensrud said. “Their incredible knowledge has made it a really unique experience, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue seeing these interesting speakers next year.” To learn more about how to get involved with the Face to Face Speaker Forum, visit facetoface.wfu.edu. Contact Kathleen Kerr at kerrke21@wfu.edu
Seth Mischo shares details from his recent trip to the Poland-Ukraine border MELINA TRAIFOROS Contributing Writer
The Russia-Ukraine crisis can feel distant from the United States, but during a talk on April 12, Wake alumnus Seth Mischo closed that distance by speaking about his recent trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border. Mischo is a former airborne infantryman and biomedical engineering student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He traveled with Volunteer for Ukraine — a grassroots initiative that funds direct humanitarian action — and treated injured refugees waiting to cross into Poland. During his talk, Mischo shared many anecdotes and details from his time in
Poland. He recalled that lines of people waiting to receive medical care stretched for miles and their injuries ranged from skinned knees to hypothermia and shrapnel wounds. Operations included running two medical centers and delivering about five trucks and 15 double-decker buses of aid per day. Despite the ongoing pandemic, Mischo’s team worked without masks. He explained that, while under attack, people refuse treatment from faces they cannot see. They completed 36-hour shifts with little rest, covered their vehicles with red crosses to avoid being targeted as combatants and powered off phones to prevent data tracking. “Any mistake could cost people their lives,” he said, recalling an instance where
Photo courtesy of Duke Today
Despite feelings of hopelessness, morale on the Poland-Ukraine border remains strong as volunteers and relief efforts continue to send aid.
one leaked photo prompted a bombing. and will free up resources. Mischo reguWhen asked about the most difficult larly calls prosthetic companies and prespart of his work, Mischo named helpless- sures them to donate. He also encourages ness. college students to participate in relief ef“Cars would drive up and men would forts, citing menstrual products as a spekiss their kids goodbye and drive away,” cific area of need. he said. “Seeing parents leaving their kids “I empathize with having limited time is profound and difficult. In medicine, and money,” he said. “It’s mostly about you can fix the problem, but you can’t awareness and finding something to latch just fix something like this.” on to.” Despite these hardships, morale reWhen asked what else Wake Forestmains strong. Mischo found comradery could do to help, Mischo encouraged the in Poland, recounting one instance where audience to stay informed and be wary of Polish police released his van from a false news. speeding ticket upon discovering he was “There is propaganda coming from a volunteer. He said that Ukrainians are both sides,” he said. “You’ll hear things on refusing to surrender their homeland, and the news that will later get fact checked. instead they are raiding city halls and tak- It’s not so much for us but for the people ing up arms against their attackers. He fighting.” described the insurgency as surprising yet As freshman Hannah Elluru puts it, inspiring. “Many Americans like to take their priMischo’s passion for helping those in or knowledge or perceptions of certain need comes from a childhood experience. countries and use that to inform their In 2001, Mischo’s family lived 15 miles opinion of the current crisis, even if it’s from the World Trade Center during the not correct.” infamous Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. WitWake Forest students agree that accunessing firsthand the effects of violence rate information is sparse. Some befriend against civilians inspired his decision to political science majors who are pashelp in Ukraine. sionate about the issue and spend time “I remember saying, ‘Mom, do I have cross-referencing sources, but the averto worry about our house blowing up?’ age student takes any news at face value. Imagine that’s your life,” Mischo said Overhearing reports from peers is a comduring his talk. “I could not stomach sit- monly cited source of information from ting here when there are kids wondering students, especially since coverage of the if their parents will be alive tomorrow. I event has diminished since Russia first am trying to help people living out our invaded, but these accounts are often disnightmares.” torted by bias. One month after returning, Mischo To learn more about Volunteer for continues his support and advocacy. He Ukraine and how to help, visit its websays Ukrainian hospitals need prosthetics — carrying an amputee for long distanc- site: volunteerforukraine.org es is a six-person job, so installing false Contact Melina Traiforos at limbs will allow for independent mobility traimg21@wfu.edu
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OLD GOLD & BLACK
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PAGE 5 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
North Star provides community for LGBTQ+ residents SOPHIA MARCHELI Staff Writer What does it look like to create space for LGBTQ individuals in a mid-sized town in the American South? North Star LGBTQ Community Center, located on Burke Street in Winston-Salem, seeks to answer this question. After two years of significantly reduced programming due to COVID-19, North Star is back in action. “It’s never been more important than now to hold this programming,” Mary Jamis, ex-board member at North Star, said. “COVID-19 has been extremely isolating, especially for queer people. In many respects, North Star is one of a limited selection of resources that LGBTQ folks in Winston-Salem can tap into.” North Star is a grassroots non-profit organization that seeks to enrich and empower the lives of LGBTQ individuals in the Piedmont Triad area by offering various social, support and educational opportunities for adults and youth. COVID-19 has been a huge obstacle for North Star’s programming. Some programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous “Rainbow Room,” continued to meet on Zoom. “Rainbow Room” is an opportunity for members of the LGBTQ community who are dealing with addiction to connect and
unpack this experience in a space free of homophobia or transphobia. Aside from “Rainbow Room,” nearly all in-person programming paused for the duration of COVID-19 restrictions. Virtual events were held only occasionally. The Center restarted in-person community drop-in hours last month for the first time since 2020. Engaging the youth demographic in the Triad is a priority for North Star. They aim to make queer youth feel heard and safe. When North Star was founded in the early 2010s, its founders were acutely aware of heightened statistics of homelessness and
Photo courtesy of North Star LGBTQ Center
The North Star LGBTQ Community Center provides a space to connect.
suicide for LGBTQ youth and aimed to create support for this population, according to Jamis. North Star’s work with LGBTQ youth continues to take many different forms, including its Youth Leadership Council for middle and high schoolers, a youth book club restarting this month and events at local schools like a student-led forum on inclusivity at West Forsyth High School last fall. Students sometimes travel over an hour to North Star in search of community from towns like Mount Airy. “It’s so important to create space for youth to build that community, especially when they are facing problems, whether that is in school, legislation, or otherwise,” Ashley Davis, North Star’s intern and coordinator of the Youth Leadership Council, said. The organization is run by volunteers like Davis, though as funding allows, they sometimes employ a part-time center manager, according to Deb Marke, vice-chair of North Star’s Board of Directors and assistant director of advocacy and social justice education at Wake Forest. North Star is funded by grants and donations, which pay for rent and programming. North Star’s work does not happen in a vacuum. In recent weeks, stories on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law have circulated nationwide. This bill bans classroom
instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity, and LGBTQ advocates have said that it will harm the mental and physical health of LGBTQ students across the state. North Carolina is no stranger to anti-LGBTQ legislation: in 2017, the state legislature passed HB2 or the “bathroom bill”, which targeted transgender people by placing strict regulations on bathroom use. “This space was created because, in all the ways that Winston-Salem is progressive, we are still in North Carolina,” Marke said. “Forms of homophobia and transphobia may not always show up in the most overt ways, they show up in policies.” What’s next for North Star over the coming months, and even years? According to Marke, it’s unclear whether North Star is needed downtown anymore in terms of accessibility. North Star may not remain on a public bus line, which is an important mode of transportation for many visiting the center. North Star’s Board of Directors plans to continue considering this issue as the situation develops. Regardless of North Star’s potential move, Marke expressed enthusiasm for programming and outreach to come.
Contact Sophia Marcheli at marcsl19@wfu.edu
Six Hundred Degrees provides upscale dining in Winston-Salem ABBY FURMAN Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter has its newest addition: an upscale restaurant with a live-fire kitchen and bar. After working for both River Birch Lodge and Willow’s Bistro and planning for three years, Travis Myers and Ryan Oberle opened their restaurant, Six Hundred Degrees, on March 8. Their favorite aspect of the restaurant is its live-fire kitchen, which is fitting, as the restaurant’s name emerged from the fact that 600 degrees Celsius is the temperature at which charcoal is created. “My partner and I have just always envisioned this plan of an all wood-grill restaurant,” said Myers, the restaurant’s head chef. “Everything we cook is like our ancestors did. We are basically blending old with new, so old craftsmanship with new variations and new ideas.” Their vision for locally-sourced food can be seen through their menu, as some of their dishes include classic North Carolina shrimp and grits or trout. Some of their dishes fuse Asian flavors with Southern roots, such as spicy cucumbers and Korean-style pork short ribs. Myers got his start in the culinary world at an early age as his first introduction was watching his mother cook traditional
southern dishes at home. From there, he had an interesting turn as he spent 15 years working retail for the GAP. Although he said that some people will “mock” him for his time in retail, he found it to be crucial in his development and work in the restaurant industry later. “It decided who I was going to be as a person,” Myers said. “They helped me with core management structures. When I went to college, that solidified my goal. I knew what I wanted to do.” After leaving retail, he attended the Culinary Institute of America located in Hyde Park, NY, which is known as the top culinary school in the US. After he graduated from the institute, he returned home to North Carolina and started at the River Birch Lodge, where he met Oberle. From there, they moved to Willow’s Bistro where Myers was the chef and Oberle was the general manager. In August of 2018, Myers won the Chef of the Year award from the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA). He competed in the association’s ‘chef showdown’ with his specialty dish “duck two ways”, which incorporated many of North Carolina’s homegrown ingredients and won him the title. The momentum from winning this title led Myers
to start looking for a place to start his own restaurant, he said. After meeting with a broker and being introduced to their new space in the Innovation Quarter along with its landlord, Myers and Oberle felt this was the spot for their new restaurant. Much of the essence of Six Hundred Degrees is rooted in the owners’ connection to the North Carolina community. From local architects like Stitch Design Shop, which designed their interior, to local artists like Mona King, whose work hangs inside. “We are honored to hang Mona King’s art in our home,” Oberle said. “We are so grateful that our city is rich in cultural arts. Everything is sourced from our backyard.” Myers drew on his memories from going to Disney World in Florida with his family. While he described the trip being at times chaotic, fun, or difficult, when he left at the end of the day carrying his daughter who was fast asleep from all the excitement, he realized that at the end of the day, every moment was part of the overall experience and feeling. “We create an experience. It all happens from the moment you make the reservation,” Myers said. “It transcends from the host from when you first walk in. It’s the experience and that’s what we sell. I want great food, and I want great service and great cocktails and great desserts but that’s
all part of the experience. That’s the package.” So far, Myers and Oberle have seen a positive attendance in their restaurant and are looking forward to what lies ahead for Six Hundred Degrees. “We really welcomed them to the downtown community,” said Jason Thiel, President of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership said. “It is really nice to see folks making such a big investment in downtown. It shows positively for us.”
furmae19@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of Heard it Here
kitchen and a variety of unique dishes.
Page 6 | Thursday, April 21, 2022
Old Gold & Black | Features
Wake Forest celebrates Earth Month UNA WILSON Asst. Features Editor You might be an artist, or maybe you enjoy dancing. Perhaps you are an entrepreneur, a business owner or an engineer. You may be a poet, a film critic, a chef, a question-asker, a leader, a learner — all of these interests, and many more, have a place in Earth Month. The Office of Sustainability is focusing its annual, month-long celebration on interdisciplinary education about sustainability and the environment. From discussions on environmental racism and redlining to a second-hand fashion show, the events of this year’s Earth Month were intentionally spread across many disciplines. Earth Month began with the Spring Equinox Festival at the Campus Garden on March 20 and will end on Earth Day, which is this Friday, April 22. In order to feature programming from all sides of campus, the typical day-long celebration of Earth Day was stretched into a month, according to Director of the Office of Sustainability Lindsey Batchelor. “The intent of having Earth Month is that we are not just hosting events put on by the Office of Sustainability,” Batchelor said. “We wanted an Earth Month full of programming that comes at sustainability from lots of different angles because there truly is a place for everybody in environmentalism; they just need to be given the opportunity to see it. The theme of this year’s Earth Month is education. My hope is that, through some of these events, students are exposed to something new relating to sustainability, or maybe they are given a new way of thinking about it. We wanted to make it both expansive, and inclusive.” Most of the 25 Earth Month events were created in conjunction with other campus organizations, including the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, The Office of Wellbeing, the Intercultural Center, the Women’s Center and the LGBTQ+ Center. The Office of Sustainability‘s Communications and Events intern and senior Sophia Masciarelli was especially enthusiastic about the campus organizations her office partnered with to make some of the events happen.
“There truly is a place for everybody in environmentalism; they just need to be given the opportunity to see it.” Photo courtesy of @sustainablewfu
“I really love the diverse range of partnerships we have this year; there’s an opportunity for anybody to get involved,” Masciarelli said. Banner painting, for example, was a collaborative event between the Office of Sustainability, the Intercultural Center, the Women’s Center and the LGBTQ+ Center. On Tuesday, April 12, campus clubs and groups of friends gathered in Manchester Plaza to paint a banner inspired by women who have shaped global environmental movements. The banners were hung around the quad beginning Monday, April 18 and will be left up until the last day of class. The intersection between the arts and sustainability was explored further in Wayward Fashion’s Sustainable Fashion show at SECCA on Friday, April 8. President of Wayward Fashion and sophomore Alyse Harris said that she hoped the fashion show could highlight the ways that sustainability can pervade in all kinds of personal expression. “Sustainability has a place in fashion too,” Harris said. “I was so proud of the models and vendors for showing off how interesting and personal supporting the environment can be.” In a series of TED-style presentations, the Office of Sustainability’s signature event, Earth Talks, covered a wide range of topics from mycorrhizal fungi
Photo courtesy of @sustainablewfu
The banners painted of women leaders in environmentalism will be displayed on the quad through the last day of classes.
Each ten-minute long Earth Talk covered a different facet of environmentalism, from redlining to regenerative farming. to the environmental racism revealed by the Weaver Fertilizer fire. Senior Julia McElhinny gave an Earth Talk about the importance of environmental education for middle and high school children. As an Environmental Education intern for the Office of Sustainability, sharing her passion for teaching kids about energy and sustainability through the nonprofit organization, Piedmont Environmental Alliance, was an invaluable experience. “I wanted to bring attention to something people don’t think about when they talk about climate change, McElhinny said. “How can we move forward with beneficial environmental policies if we aren’t educating the generation of kids that come after us? Participating in Earth Talks was a way to share this really important issue with the rest of campus. As a science major, I wanted people to know that you can be in STEM and also work with nonprofit organizations, you can be a scientist and engage in the environmental movement in an interdisciplinary way.” Office of Sustainability Assistant Coordinator of Sustainability Engagement Brian Cohen started Earth Talks last year during Earth Month and was thrilled to see how the event has grown since. “With our focus on education for this year’s month, I think the diversity of topics that Earth Talks covered this year really offered unique perspectives that even I was interested to learn about,” Cohen said. Batchelor echoed Cohen’s enthusiasm: “Faculty are constantly presenting and hosting talks for students; now, it is time to hand the microphone over to the students and let them speak their passions to us.” Social groups were also involved with Earth Month programming. The first-ever Greeks Go Green Fair was held on Tuesday, April 12 in Manchester Plaza. A vegan food truck provided over 100 people with vegan hotdogs as they meandered through the sororities and fraternities’ tents. All told, 13 Greek life organizations participated in the event. Office of Sustainability intern Paige Bryan organized the event. She emphasized the importance of social change influencing the likelihood of people buying into the environmental movement. “Social change can impact the way that people act and behave, especially when it comes to sustainability,” Bryan said. “So much of fighting climate change comes
down to governmental regulations. However, if we don’t have the social norms of what more sustainable behaviors and actions and thought processes are, then how do we expect any kind of policy change to happen? I believe the change starts here, with friends talking about it to other friends and normalizing sustainability for everyone.” ‘Sustainability for everyone’ reaches outside of the sciences and arts as well. Wake Forest’s School of Business hosted its first-ever ESG week between March 28 - April 1, during the Office of Sustainability’s Earth Month. The week included events ranging from guest speakers in sustainable business to an ESG competition for ideas to address environmental, social, or governancerelated challenges at the university. Meanwhile, at the Campus Garden, students huddled around a bonfire and a projector to watch sustainability-related films during Earth Month. Among the movie nights was a showing of short films by award-winning filmmaker and member of the Cherokee Nation Brit Henson. Her work largely explores traditional Cherokee values, language, and her peoples’ connection to land in Oklahoma (former Indian Territory) and in her ancestral homelands of North Carolina (Qualla Boundary). Senior Karl Gustafson helped orchestrate the event. “We wanted to highlight a film producer many people don’t know about, and Brit Henson was recommended to us by Joy Harjo, actually,” Gustafson said. “Each film was only roughly 10 minutes long, so we were able to play a lot of them and look at a broad variety of topics in a short period of time. I think everybody left the event having learned something they weren’t exposed to before.” Earth Month will end on Friday, April 22, which falls on Earth Day. To end the month-long celebration, the Office of Sustainability is hosting its eighth annual Champions of Change awards ceremony event. This year, students, faculty, and staff will be recognized in a variety of categories, including Resource Conservation, Academics and Engagement, Service and Social Action, Bright Ideas and more.
Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Page 7
Features | Old Gold & Black
Building community by Bridging the Gap BELLA ORTLEY-GUTHRIE Staff Writer Collaborative, innovative, flexible, understanding and supportive; these are the words that come to the minds of Wake Forest students Mason Goodwyn and Savant Patel when thinking about Bridging the Gap. Bridging the Gap (BTG) is a diverse and inclusive community that supports Black and indigenous people of color (BIPOC) in the business field by providing consulting and financial experience. Devon Triplett, a current sophomore at the University of North Carolina, founded BTG when he noticed a need for connection and networking between BIPOC business leaders and minority-owned businesses. “I started it as a first-semester freshman, which was kind of wild,” Triplett said. “I took part in my school’s consulting organization and noticed there was a lack of helping diverse students on a national scale. I was the only person of color in my consulting organization, and when COVID-19 came around, I realized that I wanted to provide consulting services to minority owned businesses across the country.” Triplett connected with students at Stanford and Harvard to work on providing pro-bono consulting for minority-owned businesses – this resulted in BTG Consulting. From engaging in BTG Consulting, Triplett and his team noticed
a need and potential model for building mentorship and networking for future BIPOC business leaders — leading to BTG’s development. BTG focuses on consulting and finance through its pro-bono consulting and BTG Nexus Fund programs, allowing students to have hands-on learning experience through consulting and by working on digital asset funds, “through a structured, thesis-driven approach.” BTG recently expanded into finance with the BTG Nexus Fund which focuses on digital asset portfolio investing, including non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrencies. Current BTG students work at numerous companies, including Deloitte, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
Photo courtesy of Bridging the Gap
The organization connects members to jobs and fosters professional connections.
Bridging the Gap offers two paths for students: BTG Family and BTG Launch. BTG Family consists of 87 students across schools such as Wake Forest, Stanford and the University of Miami. BTG Family is also more competitive, with a 10% acceptance rate and a selective application process. The second path, BTG Launch, is an inclusive program with over 180 students representing schools across the country. In BTG Launch, students are provided weekly meetings with services like case prep programs where BTG executives bring in professionals and prep students for interviews with firms. They invite guest speakers, conduct cover letter/resume-writing workshops and even host stress management workshops. Both offer similar opportunities with networking – the only difference is that BTG Family is a smaller and more intimate experience for students. BTG’s focus on mentorship and networking extends to both BTG Launch and BTG Family. “We have tons and tons and tons of mentorship. From just the upperclassmen who are in the organization down to the underclassmen — everyone’s just one Slack message away,” said Triplett. Part of these mentorships extends to a big and little — where a big (upperclassmen student) is assigned two or three littles (underclass) — to help build a resume and answer any of their
questions. “We’re very intentional about fostering an environment to facilitate connections and mentorship. We also have companies and professionals who come in to help development of our students, our Nexus fund and our pro bono consulting engagements,” said Triplett. The inclusive environment is appreciated by students across the country and at Wake Forest University. “It was great to join this organization overall, because it’s a community of people that look like me in business,” said Goodwyn, a Wake Forest freshman who recently joined BTG Launch. “And we need more of that at Wake Forest at times, especially when it can be isolating in the business school or other classroom environments.” Goodwyn also gained experience from the networking BTG Launch provides. “I realized most people at BTG I could talk to for just experience,” Goodwyn said. “I can ask, ‘Hey, how would I do this interview for X company? A lot of people have given me great tips. I’ve been able to give other people tips. So, it’s a great circle of receiving help and giving help to other peoples in the community that pushes us forward.” To learn more, follow @the_btgfamily.
Contact Bella Ortley-Guthrie at ortlbs@wfu.edu
Fuzemee comes to Wake Forest University Designed by a Wake Forest student, this app seeks to help students connect through an accessible platform CHASE BAGNALL-KOGER Features Editor As classrooms fill up with new students and clubs begin their beginning-of-year recruitment with their posters and brightly-colored club fair tents, new students are bombarded with a variety of interesting yet disconnected ways to become ingrained in the elusive ‘college community.’ Different extracurricular groups around campus use various social media platforms, ranging from Instagram to Discord to GroupMe — to reach students who are overwhelmed by the amount of content coming at them from all digital directions. The same can be true for prospective students who are interested in seeing what a school may have to offer. “I would definitely say there is a lot of room for improvement in gaining a feel for the schools you are interested in,” high school senior Maia Bertheir said. “Non school-affiliated platforms like Instagram have been helpful, but it still feels like there are things that we are missing.” To address this issue, Wake Forest sophomore Jon Krouse and his co-founders created Fuzemee, an app that seeks to centralize this information in one place by combining aspects of advertising with the ability for current and prospective students to connect with each other. “The idea is to create a centralized college micro-community for students so that they can have the best possible experience during their years in school,” Krouse said. The all-in-one platform allows students to find (both school-wide and club-specific) events, chat with people who may have shared interests, and search for a potential roommate by filling out the roommate questionnaire included in the app. Users can “filter” through other users with a variety of categories, such as majors, interests and extracurriculars in order to find people that they may
be compatible with even before physically being on track classes before the app launched to the public. cluding Tufts, Hofstra and Bucknell. This semescampus. Since its initial conception, Fuzemee has evolved ter, that list expanded to include Syracuse, North “Looking back on my college experience, I won- to include several other features, one of which is Carolina State and, as of March 21, Wake Forest. der if there have been groups that I would have “Marketplace” which allows students within a According to Krouse, there are more on the way. been involved with as an underclassman if I had school to buy and sell items within the safety of “We have about 500 schools in our database known about them,” senior Ted Middleton said. “I campus. with each school posessing a ‘waiting room’ where feel like this app can really help a lot of people find “I think it’s going to really help students with de- we can see how many students have signed up to their footing.” cluttering the room, making extra money on being the page,” Krouse said. “Once the percentage stuThe idea for the program was originally devel- able to purchase things that at a cheap price that dents in the waiting room is high enough relative oped by three high school friends — Chris Tset- they couldn’t have gotten somewhere else,” Krouse to the student body population, we will launch to that university, too.” sekos, Krouse and David Graham. After commit- said. ting to three different universities, they were all Since Fuzemee is launched on a school-by-school Contact Chase Bagnall-Koger encouraged to join Facebook pages for rising freshbasis, it was originally limited to a few schools in- at bagncm21@wfu.edu men that Krouse described as “large and impersonal;” it was difficult for them to get more immersed in their respective schools and form connections with other incoming students. “We started discussing a problem that we were encountering because that’s how all the best ideas start — by noticing an issue and finding a solution,” Krouse said. After the initial rounds of fundraising resulted in $125,000 of investments, the three creators decided to invest the amount of time and labor they were contributing to Fuzemee. “We realized that since these people were putting in their key financial capital and to us, we needed to match that and put our full human capital into them,” Krouse said. “ So we all decided to take gap years.” Krouse explained that the first kind of steps involved putting all the initial ideas into a pitch deck and design book to present to a software developer to help bring the designs to life. This included hiring a Jakarta-based coder, who the founders contacted through a coding talent-search, to create screens with the functionality behind every step, every color and every font size. Courtesy of @fuzemee on Instagam This project, overseen by Professor Gregory Pool of the Entrepreneurship department, underwent Chris Tsetsekos, Jon Krouse and David Graham have dedicated the past sevbeta tests in entrepreneurship and pre-Wall Street eral years to desgning and testing Fuzemee before launching it to the public.
S ' N E WOM
OPINION
PAGE 8 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
OLD GOLD & BLACK
Sophie Guymon, guymsm20@wfu.edu Maryam Khanum, khanmg20@wfu.edu
The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board
A Woman's Place is in the Opinion Section
Women deserve greater representation in U.S. politics The United States should follow in the example of countries like Sweden and Finland by electing female leaders Aaron Nataline Staff Columnist nataae21@wfu.edu
In recent years, there has been much to celebrate concerning the gradually-eroding underrepresentation of women in U.S. politics. The 2020 election saw the first Black and female politician, Kamala Harris, elected to the office of vice president. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s recent confirmation will bring the number of women serving on the Supreme Court up to four when only six have ever breached that judicial position. She is also the first Black woman to be appointed to the nation’s highest court. At 144 seats, women currently hold more congressional seats than at any other time in U.S. history. That number means that 26.9% of our Congress consists of women — a percentage that deserves to be higher. Women hold 47% of the parliamentary seats in Sweden, and they are working alongside newly elected Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, the first female leader in the country’s history. Through 246 years of history, we have never elected a woman to lead the United States. In 2019, Sanna Marin became the third woman to become elected as the Prime Minister of Finland. Using Sweden and Finland as a point of comparison regarding gender inequality in politics is not doing the United States any favors, as Nordic nations are known to be some of the most progressive in the world. There are many other governments I could hold next to our own that would make the celebration of t h e dreadfully slow thawing of gender inequality in U.S. politics easier. But Andersson and Marin are two of the most important people in the world right now, especially in the wake of c u r rent
events. Russia began executing an invasion of Ukraine last February; an act of aggression that much of the world has condemned. World leaders have also been given cause to reconsider just how dangerous and erratic Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military arsenal are. Subsequently, debates on whether Sweden and Finland should join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — which was initially assembled during the Cold War in the hope of uniting European countries in collectively combatting external threats — have begun heating up. Many are in favor of Sweden and Finland submitting membership bids, which would be reviewed during the alliance’s upcoming summit in June of this year. Thus, Andersson and Marin find themselves in pivotal discussions with conclusions that could hold global implications. Wherever those discussions lead, seeing two women at the forefront of them is refreshing. Andersson landed her historic leadership position last November by way of an election that spoke to her determined nature. As the primary nominee for the Social Democratic Party, Andersson won, forfeited and then once again won the leadership position in the time span of a mere six days. NPR reported on the tumultuous election, citing Andersson’s very temporary resignation of the prime minister title as the result of her party’s budget being voted against. This led to her two-party coalition experiencing a falling out when the Green Party left Anders s o n’s
newborn government. While Andersson was then forced to temporarily step down, this development ultimately failed to deter her, as she then won the election for a second time, putting her at the head of a one-party government. Andersson’s courageous tenacity in stepping into the prime minister role despite the friction along the way is more than commendable. Becoming the first female leader of Sweden is a landmark event for the nation and something the United States should observe with internal change in mind. Andersson’s election represents something America lacks: the willingness to discard antiquated beliefs that lead to gender inequality in politics. In Finland, Marin has held her prime minister role since December 2019. She is the third woman to take up the mantle and the youngest leader in her country’s history. Finland elected its first female prime minister in 2003 and its first female president in 2000. The majority of Marin’s cabinet — 12 out of 19 members — are women, a fraction that would surely confuse some Americans. It is incredible to see both Marin and Andersson upset gender norms in politics. These two prime ministers set their nations’ progress in championing gender equality apart from that in the United States. Looking past the social factors that play into sexism within the political system, it is nearly impossible to find any logical reason why such progress is so stunted in America. Future elections, pertaining to all amounts of power and standing, in the United States should more fairly welcome women into positions that they have carried the qualifications for. Women have brought these qualifications for an objectively long time a n d deserved these positions for a frustratingly long time. It is time that the Un i t e d States recogn i z e s that.
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Opinion | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Page 9
Women in Media
Society must place trust in survivors Natasha Heisenberg Staff Columnist heisng20@wfu.edu
In 2017, Tarana Burke’s “#MeToo” movement garnered international attention. With upwards of 19 million tweets containing the hashtag within one year of its conception, the movement put sexual assault and harassment at the forefront of conversation in the United States and beyond. However, as women gained visibility and sought comfort in the comradery provided by the movement, the misogyny deeply entrenched within society persisted with the all-too-familiar vilification of women in the media. The demonization of outspoken women did not originate with the “#MeToo” movement, nor did it end there. Yet, it became particularly poignant as woman after woman was struck down by doubt and ridicule. Many supporters, activists and survivors alike had a substantial fraction of social media users and Americans devoted their efforts to discrediting victims for their claims. Rather than approach this issue with sensitivity and compassion, they attempted to craft an image of these women as evil, morally-corrupt indi-
viduals who were exploiting men to advance their self-interests. With each accusation that arose, suspicion circulated surrounding the integrity of both the claim and the victim. Suddenly, women voicing their past traumas were politically-motivated, regretful of their own choices and above all else — liars. This slander was hurled viciously at all of these women but was most notably and disproportionately directed towards those who brought accusations forth against figures in power. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, came forward after publishing an anonymous letter in the summer of 2018 accusing then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Ford voiced her reluctance to reveal her identity out of fear of retribution, as coming forward is difficult regardless of the backlash. Along with the support that Ford gained came a slew of criticism, mostly from those in favor of Kavanaugh’s appointment. These people questioned her incentives and believed her to be a fraudulent pawn for the Democratic party, they delved into her background in a desperate search for mistakes or moral failings. While disheartening, this ideology has remained consistent across decades as a method of dissuading women from speaking out against perpetrators and deterring
them from seeking justice. vilification of her character. Clinton, conversely, Although social media has made this behavior faced considerably more political chastisement more readily visible, its advent did not coincide than moral degradation and was allowed to repair with the beginnings of the “#MeToo” movement. his blemished image. Lewinsky was never graced As prominent actors, producers, politicians and with this opportunity. others were slowly removed from the limelight as It is unnerving that it is more acceptable to accusations from previous years mounted against disparage victims and condemn their character them, others remained unnoticed, formerly dis- than it is to hold assailants accountable for their missed at the expense of survivors in efforts to actions. The “#MeToo” movement has made pardon abusers. unprecedented strides in combating societal preAn infamous case paralleling the disdain dispositions regarding victims, yet the extent brandished towards Ford occurred 20 of this problem remains untouched. In years prior, when the scandalous affair order to move forward, as lawmakers, between then-president Bill Clinton as a country and as empathetic, unand White House intern Monica derstanding individuals, it is essenLewinsky erupted in the public tial to deconstruct this notion of eye. Despite the evident abuse of survivors as villains. To comprepower exercised by Clinton, hensively address this issue, there Lewinsky must be a foundation of respect was the and trust in those who have s u b historically been marginalject of ized by society when comharassmunicating their truth. ment Ultimately, by prioritizing and besurvivors, the vilification of ratement, women can be dismantled, and the and victims can besubsecome empowered quent to heal in an acPhoto of Christine Blasey Ford, courtesy of Time cepting world. public
Women in Religion
Islamic feminists continue to advocate for women bar, for instance, argue that the formative years of Islam created a predominantly male narrative Ethan Wearner tradition that rendered women invisible. Mernissi Staff Columnist and Djebar have worked to highlight the accomwearep19@wfu.edu plishments of Muslim women by reexamining Islamic history. Such an examination is also seen in Moustapha Akkad’s film “The Message”. To quote Elizabeth Thompson, "The Message" focuses on Within parts of the Global South, ‘feminism’ the Prophet Muhammad's message of “radical has largely been considered an alien concept. equality” and social justice. The film highlights the ‘Western’ or ‘secular’ feminism, in particular, is of- conversion of Bilal ibn Rabah, a slave owned by ten seen as a product of the West’s cultural intru- the Umayyads and a ban on infanticide (among sion that challenges differing cultural norms and other progressive measures). Akkad suggests that traditions. To preserve cultural and ideological Islam’s formation challenged the capitalistic cabal sovereignty, some feminists frame issues of gender in Mecca with an emancipatory conception of sojustice within the context of local norms and tracial justice. ditions. Over the last thirty years, a nascent Islamic feminists in South strand of feminist thought, known by Asia rely upon such an inmost as “Islamic feminism,” began terpretation to promote to emerge in the Middle East women’s empowerand South Asia. Islamic femiment. By recovering nism emerged to challenge and enforcing the patriarchal norms of the rights of women family and society by rewithin the Qur’an, interpreting the Qur’an these feminists have (ijtihad) through a femichallenged patriarnist lens. By engaging chal marriage norms with Islam directly, these such as gendered sefeminists seek to challenge clusion (nikah). In Inthe privilege afforded to dia, Islamic feminists have also made attempts to create Muslim males. Through distheir own religious spaces. In the ruption of Islamic doctrine and southern state of Tamil Nadu, customs, Islamic feminists seek the Muslim Women’s to usurp normative cultural Jamaat created and social attitudes an all-women’s from within. mosque in Fatima Pudukkotai. Mernissi and Photo of Assia Djebar, courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica Some of the Assia Dje-
most vocal Islamic feminists can be found in Iran. These feminists play an important role in expanding the discursive tradition of Islam and improving legal literacy within a religious framework. Despite their progress, many Muslim women working toward gender justice are wary of identifying themselves as “feminists.” Historical baggage associated with the term can create cultural barriers within the Global South. Those who call themselves Islamic feminists have faced pushback — both from Western feminist circles and from Islamic scholars. Western feminism generally displays discomfort with the confines of organized religion, and secular feminists have often contended that organized religion is not conducive to a liberating theory of gender justice. These feminists view the Islamic feminist project as inadequate or even dangerous to the pursuit of social justice. Haideh Moghissi, for example, contends that women’s rights should stem from universal premises and should not be undermined by specific socio-cultural barriers. In other words, so long as these feminists rely upon Islam, their goals will be circumscribed and compromised by local norms. The traditional religious establishment also tends to ostracize Islamic feminists who use ijtihad (independent juridical reasoning) to expand notions of tawhid (knowledge of God) to operate in the context of historical reality. You would be hard-pressed to find Islamic clergymen who accept the feminist reinterpretation of the asbab al nuzool (context of revelations) or the feminist recontextualization of the Hadith (traditions and sayings of the Prophet). Interference with sanctioned interpretations of Islam is viewed as a misguided and even heretical enterprise. With criticism from secular feminists and Islamic scholars, some have asked whether Islamic feminism can even exist,
raising the question of whether Islam is mutually compatible with feminism or a contradiction in terms. Given the multiplicity of feminist thought, I would contend that Islamic feminists deserve greater recognition. On a practical level, engagement within localized cultural and historical frameworks makes interrogation of gender rights impossible to ignore. Local officials cannot simply cast off “Islamic feminists” as products of colonial or Western thought if they base their theories on gender justice on Qur’anic thought. Islamic feminists can bargain with religious and state authorities because they understand historical and cultural realities. Discourse on Islamic feminism has created a lexicon that young women within the Global South are able to use to challenge patriarchal social norms. Accordingly, Islamic feminism has gained greater recognition and legitimacy within the Middle East and South Asia. It is important to remember that Islamic feminism is not borrowed, derivative or "secondhand” — it is a product of the efforts made by feminists within a localized domain. Perennial attempts to discredit these feminists simply because they inhabit the pro-faith position is misguided. Western feminists must realize that Islamic feminism speaks ‘in the name of’ women who refuse to choose between the ‘road to feminist emancipation’ and their ‘belonging’ to Islam as a culture and a religion, as Ghaliya Djelloul, a researcher at the University of Louvain, said. Whatever theoretical misgivings we might have with Islamic feminism should be considered secondary and not primary. So long as the stratagem of Islamic feminists is fruitful and advances the ideals of social justice established by the Prophet, all feminists should recognize the efforts of Islamic feminists.
Page 10 | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Opinion
Women in Politics
Women in politics should represent women's interests Women such as Amy Coney Barrett who support anti-women legislation should not be celebrated death of trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left an Staff Columnist empty seat for a candidate chosen by robels20@wfu.edu former President Donald Trump. The symbolism behind these two women is stark. While Ginsburg famously tackled issues of sex-based discrimination and argued for gender The term “feminism” is one that of- equality before and during her time as ten has a polarizing effect, even among the second female Supreme Court Juswomen. However, those who practice tice, Barrett was appointed by Trump exclusive brands of feminism diminafter he vowed to select pro-life ish the credibility of the movenominees who were dedicated to ment as a whole, and actively overturning (Roe v. Wade). hinder its progress. Barrett’s nomination and As more positions of powconfirmation reflect how oper are occupied by women, pressive patriarchal values we can see that this is not are reproduced within our always to the complete bensociety. Progress for women efit of women’s rights and does not come about simply social equality. because one woman achieves A fairly recent example is a position of power, espethe confirmation cially when they use of Amy Coney their power to furBarrett to the ther deny equality Supreme for marginalized Court in groups. 2 0 2 0 Recently, Texw h e n as passed a ret h e strictive abortion law that bans abortions after fetal carPhoto of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, courtesy of Wikipedia diac activity is
Lucy Roberts
detected, which typically occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. This ban is ultimately an attack on women’s reproductive rights and freedoms and seeks to limit the power and control women have over their own bodies. When asked to block the law, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against this request, with all three of Trump’s appointees voting against the block. It is unfortunate that on a Court that has historically been dominated by men, one of the women with the opportunity to create positive change for women's reproductive rights was involved in the decision to allow a blatantly unconstitutional and dangerous law to stand. This particular law poses a grave threat to women because they are unable to receive proper medical treatment due to the severity of the restrictions on abortion. Forcing women to carry pregnancies to full term can have consequences on both their physical and mental health, and these detrimental effects also impact Black indigenous women of color at a disproportionate rate. This highlights the dangers of complicity and the very real repercussions of putting anti-women figures into positions of power, regardless of whether they are women themselves.
Oftentimes, certain women are afforded power when they perpetuate systems of inequality at the expense of other women and marginalized groups. In Barrett’s case, she was nominated by a brazenly misogynistic and sexist president in the hopes that she could carry out his harmful agenda while also existing as a counterargument to any claims that either he or his policies were anti-woman. In a society that already works against the interests of women, it is very harmful when women in power contribute to efforts against the interests of their gender as a way to maintain the privileges that they have been allowed by the patriarchy. True feminism does not consist of supporting all women because not all women want to dismantle oppressive structures that they may benefit from. We cannot support female political figures simply because of their gender. We would be ignoring how some women rise to the top by refusing to challenge existing societal conditions. However, when addressing the issue of women in politics who effectively reinforce systems of inequality, it is important to criticize their principles without falling into sexist and misogynistic rhetoric ourselves.
Women in SCOTUS
Ketanji Brown-Jackson faces undue criticism Breanna Laws
Staff Columnist lawsbn21@wfu.edu
Following a 53-47 vote of the U.S. Senate, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became a confirmed nominee to the United States Supreme Court — 38 days after her nomination by President Joe Biden. This decision is monumental for a multitude of reasons — both in that it is President Biden’s first judicial nominee, but most importantly that it is the first Black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court. Since being confirmed on April 7, Judge Jackson has received much attention, both negative and positive. Many believe that Biden chose Jackson on account of her race rather than her experience. This belief is often pushed by those who believe in a “reverse racism” system — a system in which people of color are more likely than white individuals to receive professional opportunities. As the private business and governmental worlds become increasingly diverse, this, in turn, opens up more opportunities for these beliefs to be held. However, an examination of Jackson’s qualifications shows that the nomination process was rooted in a genuine
search for a qualified candidate. Jackson received a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard University in 1992. She graduated magna cum laude and continued her educational journey at Harvard Law School, from which she graduated cum laude in 1996. While pursuing her education at Harvard Law School, she also served as the supervising editor of the "Harvard Law Review". From her graduation in 1996 through 2003, Jackson worked as a law clerk and an associate at various law firms in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Some of Jackson’s noteworthy positions include an assistant special counsel for the United States Sentencing Commission (2003-2005), an assistant federal public defender for the Office of the Federal Public Defender in D.C. (20052007), the vice-chair of the United States Sentencing Commission (2010-2014) and a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2021-2022). All told, Jackson has had 26 years of experience within the legal system and was able to obtain an outstanding education at Harvard Law School. She is well qualified for a role on the Supreme Court. Jackson has also demonstrated the ideal of nonpartisanship that is extraordinarily valuable to serving on the Supreme Court. She received bipartisan support
in her Senate confirmation — albeit pens to be a Black person feels inherentsupport primarily from the Democratic ly biased. Judge Jackson is no different Party— and has also shown support for from any other judicial nominee, and a variety of issues for the Democratic therefore, does not deserve any higher Party (i.e., LGBTQ+ issues), as well as levels of scrutiny by constituents than those of the Republican Party (e.g., pro- all of the other Supreme Court justices. tection of law enforcement). I would certainly recommend that all As far as the implication that Biden voters examine past cases that Jackson nominated Jackson solely to obtain was involved in and make judgments of “brownie points” from people of color, I her character for themselves. After all, ask people to question why they believe being knowledgeable about your govthis so firmly. What is it about a Black ernmental representatives is imperative woman being nominated to the highest to the process of being a well-informed honor in the judiciary system citizen. It is important as a democratic that makes one immedisociety that we understand who is ately start doubting their controlling the system in which qualifications? we live. This being said, On the whole, this nominainquiring into the tion holds extraordinary sigexperience and nificance for multiple underviewpoints of your represented groups. Jackson is governmental one of the only six Supreme leaders should alCourt justices to be a womways be encouran, one of only four to be aged. However, a person of color, and the to suddenly first-ever Black woman. have skeptiOur government is cism tomeant to represent ward one our population, particuand the inclular indision of memvidual bers of minorw h o ity groups will s o always be imhap- Photo of Ketanji Brown-Jackson, courtesy of The New York Times portant.
Opinion | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 21, 2021| Page 11
YouTube Rewind and the issue with ‘nichization’ ADAM COIL
No one ever thought that YouTube Rewind was that great. The music was always boring, the dancing is uncomfortable to watch, the transitions are corny and there is always a late-night host or two to make you say, “what is he even doing here?” With that being said, YouTube Rewind used to be a lot better. In its infant stage, it was much more like a Spotify Wrapped than the disaster we saw unfold in 2018. It was simplistic and only highlighted the most viewed videos of the year. In 2011, Rebecca Black hosted the rewind — something I mention only because her song “Friday” was potentially the first instance of someone going viral on the internet for making art that people hated — and it was essentially just a collage of the year’s most popular videos. Then, in 2012, the model started to change, and this is when things started to go downhill. A corporation as giant as YouTube could never reconcile its need to maintain its public image with the desires and interests of the people that actually use its app. When YouTube decided to move away from the simple, objective model of previous years, it adopted the burden of having to consciously choose what to include — and, more importantly, exclude, from its rewinds. This heightened subjectivity would inevitably lead to hurt feelings, but you can see — for at least the first few years — YouTube did its best to hold it all together. This could only last so long, and 2015 was the year that YouTube went fully corporate and dove headfirst into the digestible, politically correct deep end. The video opens up with Lily Singh — who wouldn’t come out as bisexual until 2019 — dancing along a wall painted in the colors of the rainbow Pride flag. From there, we watch a bunch of people randomly dancing and smiling to whatever pop songs were popular that year until we return to the same rainbow-painted wall with more people randomly dancing and smiling in front of it. This rewind was symptomatic of a disease that would come to plague YouTube Rewind for the coming years, which is the peddling of empty virtue signaling that does nothing for the groups it pretends to be advocating for. Instead, it is merely a preemptive exoneration from all claims of insensitivity or inequality. It seemed like, from YouTube’s perspective at least, that the primary mission was checking off all of the right boxes so that no one could get too upset. The formula was really quite simple: bring together the most popular content creators that are white and family-friendly and then throw in enough people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ or international creators and call it a day. It waves in front of your face all of these deeply challenging social issues that are being fought over every day and then glazes over all of those problems with its signature tool: toxic positivity. Unfortunately, though, hand-holding, group dance circles and passing around a giant red button does nothing to combat exploitative infrastructures or give voice to those who are oppressed. Essentially, YouTube wants to eat its cake and have it too. It wants to present each passing year in some powerful, uplifting way, while also acknowledging social issues or global crises. It doesn’t, however, get past the surface level of anything, which begs the
question, “why even include this stuff at all?” Every message that comes through in these videos is so empty and insincere that it would really be better off just left out entirely. All of this, of course, culminates in YouTube Rewind 2018. Now, if you didn’t think that Will Smith requesting “Fortnite and Marques Brownlee” was that cringe, then I encourage you to take another look at the campfire scene, which is undoubtedly the most absurd portion of any YouTube rewind — even more absurd than Smosh twerking in a “Breaking Bad” RV to “What Does the Fox Say?” If you take a closer look at this scene, in which everyone is taking turns saying who they think deserves to be a part of rewind, you start to see how little sense it makes. It jumps from “the fierce, fabulous and empowering art of drag” to “all women in 2018 finding their voices” to “those people who have raised money in the field of education” to “the people who have put aside their difference and created something really special” and finally to “everyone who taught or learned something this year.” It gets to the point where you think to yourself as a viewer, “what are these people even saying?” What does this have to do with YouTube? Those aren’t all of the shoutouts that were made in the 2018 rewind, but you get the point. Any meaningful statement is drowned out by the sheer overload of pandering to as many communities as possible. This brings me to my second major point: YouTube Rewind 2018 was the moment that the internet gave way to ‘nichization’ indefinitely. Nowadays, especially on the internet, there is no sense of common knowledge. There are so many pockets of culture that are centered around shared tastes and interests that you really can’t expect anyone to know any one person or thing with total confidence. If you can, that person has probably been around for many years or decades, meaning they were popular before the internet became so fragmented. And so I see YouTube Rewind 2018 as one beautiful, terrifying moment in our cultural history because, for the first time, everyone on the internet banded together out of mutual disdain but more so out of mutual disappointment. I think that was the moment in which everyone realized that YouTube, the app that we had grown up on, had finally sold out for good — and that they set the precedent for other large corporations by doing so. We all knew that we hated the rewind, but what we didn’t know was that we’d never share this sense of community again. While I think the outrage was justified, what does it say about our society if the only thing that can bring us together is something for everyone to criticize? You might be skeptical to place so much cultural importance on this one flop by YouTube, but I encourage you to think for a moment about what makes the opening to that video so preposterous and laughable — it’s the fact that Fortnite and Marques Brownlee don’t go together. Even more ridiculous is the fact that Will Smith is the one that starts off the video. Yeah, that’s right, Will Smith — your favorite YouTuber! Remember?! The internet was branching off into so many different directions and YouTube was helpless to make all of those different areas connect. Gone were the days when PewDiePie and Smosh ruled the internet, now users were awarded the privilege of having a plethora
Photo Courtesy of IMDb
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins represented the Fortnite community in YouTube Rewind 2018 which reached almost 20 million dislikes, representative of the feelings towards the Youtube Rewind.
of channels and creators to support. If you’re not quite sold on this ‘nichization’ business — or if you want to see where it’s going in the future — just take a look at Tik Tok. The algorithm — which, let’s be honest, knows you better than you know yourself — curates a feed that is specifically tailored to your interests and likes. Tik Tok throws all of those standard social media features like a trending page or an explore page out the window and instead opts to find the content that is most relevant to you — which is completely unlike a YouTube feed, which is just as determined by the popularity of the videos as their personal relevance. You are pulled further and further away from the mainstream until your feed is a positive feedback loop where everyone is saying the same thing. I could go on about how Tik Tok has primed us to be passive, thoughtless consumers, but I want to get back to YouTube, and I want to tell you what I think is really the most depressing aspect of all of this. From fidget spinners to The Backpack Kid, there is a pretty good chance that you have entirely forgotten most of the things and people you see in these rewinds. Those people who once seemed so larger-than-life and important ended up being entirely inconsequential. Perhaps they might play a role in some graduate student’s thesis paper someday, but they don’t mean anything to us in any real sense. In the direction we are heading, we are entirely giving ourselves up to phenomenological extinction. Instead of building up a platform based on a person’s ideas or talents, a lot of creators simply ride trends — or become a trend themself. This evolution has been pretty subtle — Tik Tok makes sure that they show you one of your favorite, consistent Tik Tok creators every seven or eight scrolls — but it is certainly happening. If you really analyze the content you’re digesting, you will see that a lot of the videos you are watching are made by people you are completely unfamiliar with. When you scroll past, you will likely never see them again. Where is the humanity in reducing people down to their instantaneous entertainment value? This is a concerning trend because it makes it easier for the capitalist machine to use and abuse creators and their labor. There are Instagram models, people with a few viral videos on Tik Tok but no followers, one-hit-wonders, etc — there is literally a user on Tik Tok who has 73,000 followers exclusively from commenting “I hate Car Seat Headrest” on any Tik Tok involving Car Seat Headrest. If you don’t know who Car Seat Headrest is, thank you for helping me prove my point. All of these creators generate revenue, but what benefits do they themselves reap? It seems that almost everyone has a voice, but no one in the audience really has the time or energy to listen. What good is a platform if you can’t do anything with it? All of this is what allows (sometimes quality) content to be produced on a mass scale without anyone holding the social media companies that profit from it accountable. Holding on to the astronomically small odds that they could be famous, people will devote hours of their life every day to producing content for free. In many ways, the growth in these niche communities is a good thing. It’s nice to be able to go onto the internet and feel the comfort of talking to people who have similar tastes and distaste as yourself, especially when you can’t find those people in your real life. It’s nice that underground bands and movies that weren’t quite box-office get to enjoy a cult following of strangers on the internet. A lot of the consequences of the internet’s ‘nichization’ phase are good, but I am still pretty scared to see just how divided and disconnected we are allowing ourselves to be. When we so easily ignore most of the world for the sake of doubling down on what makes us slightly unique, we only make it more difficult to communicate with each other. How can we expect to work together if we don’t know what to talk to each other about? How can we work together if we don’t know how to talk to each other at all? I am thankful to YouTube for providing me with a time capsule to look into my own not-so-distant past. Most of the time, time capsules aren’t opened by the people who made them, but in this special case, we get to. The values and people that society deemed to be worthy of display have changed a lot in the past ten years, and there is a lot to learn from that in and of itself. But there is also a lot to learn from how differently we are primed to digest content today. We are made to romanticize our lives, picture ourselves as the main character, be as unique and quirky as possible and chase the influencer dream. Unfortunately, though, in all of this effort to make our lives special, all we have really done is made ourselves more efficient consumers.
SPORTS
Christina DeNovio, denoca20@wfu.edu Essex Thayer, thayse20@wfu.edu
Follow us on Twitter @wfuogbsports OLD GOLD & BLACK
PAGE 12 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
Photo Courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics
Women's golf claims ACC crown A strong back nine propelled the team to victory IAN STEFFENSEN Staff Writer
In the final round of the 2022 ACC Women’s Golf Championship, the top-seeded Wake Forest women’s golf team faced off against No. 2 Florida State. Despite being down early, the Demon Deacons found their stride on the back nine to win the title. This was Wake Forest’s seventh title in program history and second title in four years. The No. 4 Demon Deacons started
their quest for the title on Friday by facing off against fellow conference members in a 36-hole stroke-play match. Wake Forest led the field with a total of 130 pars and 26 birdies. Graduate student Virunpat Olankitkuncha and junior Rachel Kuehn set the tone for the Demon Deacons, each finishing at three under par. Junior Lauren Walsh had a stellar second round, shooting five under to close out her day at two under par. At the end of the day, Wake Forest and Florida
State were tied for the team lead each at eight under par. On Saturday, the top-seeded Demon Deacons faced off against the Virginia Cavaliers in the semifinal round. Sophomore Mimi Rhodes was first to put Wake Forest on the board, winning in dominant fashion after being five up with three holes left. Freshman Caroline Chacarra battled back from an injury to win on the 17th hole to move two up and win the match. This gave the Demon Deacons a 2-1
advantage over the Cavaliers before inclement weather forced a delay. After a slight lull in the action, Wake Forest came out firing. On the par-five 18th hole, Kuehn landed the green in two and sunk a five-foot putt for an eagle to win the hole and close out her match leading by two holes. The Demon Deacons won 3-1 and booked their ticket to the final step towards winning the crown.
See Women's Golf, Page 13
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Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Page 13
Women’s Golf: Continued from Page 11 In the final round on Sunday, the Seminoles came out red hot. At the turn, Florida State led three of their five matches, and the Demon Deacons seemed to have no answer. Yet, Wake Forest did not let up and began to find its stride on the back nine. Kuehn was down two strokes going into the back
nine but rallied to go into the final hole tied. She landed the green again in two strokes on the par five, and made a 25foot putt for eagle to clinch the match and put the first point on the board for the Demon Deacons. Olankitkunchai’s match was all square at the turn, yet with a strong showing on the back nine, she went into the 17th hole one up in her match. On the 17th hole, she closed
out with a par to win the hole and clinch the match point. Junior Lauren Walsh went into the final hole all square in her match. Walsh sunk a 55-foot putt for birdie to clinch the championship for Wake Forest. “We started the day playing well, but Florida State was playing outstanding,” said Head Coach Kim Lewellen. “We were down quite a bit. The team stayed
committed to the game plan and putts started to fall for us, the momentum changed, and we came out on top.” The team will continue to celebrate their ACC Championship win, before turning their focus toward the NCAA tournament, which will kick off in May. Contact Ian Steffensen at
Wake Forest drops series against Clemson ESSEX THAYER
Wake Forest’s hopes of achieving an NCAA ranking took a hit this past weekend. The Demon Deacons dropped a home series against Clemson, only winning one of the three matchups. Friday — a 1-0 Clemson victory — was a pitcher’s duel, as Wake Forest starter Rhett Lowder threw eight scoreless innings, only allowing three hits. Clemson starting pitcher Mack Anglin also did not give up a run in his six-inning effort. In the middle game of the series, both teams found their stride on offense. Freshman Tommy Hawke led the Demon Deacons with three hits. Redshirt junior Michael Turconi’s sole hit of the game — a three-run home run — proved to be the most important, giving Wake Forest the 12-9 win in extra innings. On Sunday, Wake Forest missed out on an opportunity to win the series, losing 10-8. Sophomore starting pitcher
Teddy McGraw drew the loss, allowing six runs in six innings. Despite the loss, freshman Nick Kurtz had a career day, hitting two home runs and a double in four at-bats. After eight scoreless innings pitched by Lowder on Friday, Wake Forest brought in sophomore closing pitcher Camden Minacci to keep the score tied at zero. After two singles to open the inning, Minacci hit the next batter, loading the bases. Later in the inning, the Tigers took advantage with a sacrifice fly, but Minacci was able to work his way through the rest of the inning with only one run allowed. After Turconi was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the nine, Geoffrey Gilbert retired the next three batters to secure the win. “Tonight was a disappointing loss,” Wake Forest Head Coach Tom Walter said after the game. “We have to find a way to score and get Rhett that win.” After being the only team to score on Friday, Clemson opened the scoring on Saturday in the first inning. With a run-
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics
Redshirt junior Michael Turconi celebrates with his teammates at home plate after hitting a walk-off home run in Saturday’s extra-inning victory.
ner on second, a single past third base brought home the Tigers’ only run of the inning. In the bottom half of the inning, though, Wake Forest’s bats caught fire. After Tigers’ starting pitcher Jay Dill walked the bases loaded to open the inning, redshirt junior Brendan Tinsman hit a grand slam to right field, giving the Demon Deacons a 4-1 lead. Later in the inning, with one out and two runners on base, Dill allowed another home run to graduate Kyle Joye, this time for three runs. With that, Dill’s day was done one out into the game. Wake Forest did not score another run in the inning. After allowing an RBI single in the top of the second inning, Wake Forest starting pitcher Rhett Lowder did not give up another run for the following two innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Demon Deacons extended their lead to seven runs, with redshirt sophomore Pierce Bennett knocking in a run on a single to right field and freshman Danny Corona hitting a sacrifice fly. In the next half inning, the Tigers clawed back with two runs of their own. With two runners on base, Clemson scored their first run of the inning on a single. Then, a fielder’s choice saw another runner reach home. Neither team scored again until the eighth inning. With the bases loaded, Clemson scored all baserunners on a triple to center field, reducing the Demon Deacons’ lead to two. In the next at-bat, Clemson scored again to get within one run. In the ninth inning, with a one-run lead, Wake Forest brought Minacci in again to close the game. But, similar to the previous evening, the sophomore allowed a run on a single to center field, forcing the game into extra innings. Minacci made up for his errors by not allowing a run in the tenth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Clemson walked two of Wake Forest’s first three batters. Then, with two outs, Turconi gave the Demon Deacons the win with a deep shot to right field, marking the first walk-off win for the program since 2020. After the game, Walter expressed his pleasure with not only the win, but also the crowd the Demon Deacons played in front of. An attendance of 2,227 fans was the second-largest in program history and helped Wake Forest eclipse their previous single-season attendance record.
“Today was a great day at the park,” Walter said. “We had a really great home crowd that was into the game. They were fired up and stayed until the end.” On Sunday, Wake Forest was the team to score first, doing so in the bottom of the first inning. With Hawke on second, sophomore Brock Wilken doubled to center field to bring home the freshman and give the Demon Deacons the lead. Then, Kurtz homered to extend the lead to three. In the next half inning, Clemson responded with two runs, scoring on two separate solo home runs off starting pitcher Teddy McGraw. In the third inning, the Tigers tied the game on a sacrifice bunt. The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth inning, with Kurtz’s second solo home run giving the Demon Deacons the lead once again. The Tigers did not score until the sixth inning, when a two-run home run allowed them to take their first lead of the day. In the top of the seventh, Clemson began to put the game out of reach. With runners on the corners, the Tigers hit their fourth home run of the day. Then, two batters later, the team knocked another home run, giving them a 10-4 lead. Despite the large deficit, the Demon Deacons did not back down. With two outs to open the bottom half of the inning, Tinsman hit a solo home run. Then, with a runner on second base, Bennett hit an RBI double. In the next at-bat, Reinisch knocked a two-run home run. In the span of four at-bats, Wake Forest had reduced Clemson’s lead to two. Despite the prolific scoring in the seventh, the Demon Deacons did not score another run in the inning. From there, Clemson closed the door on Wake Forest’s hopes of a comeback, not allowing another hit for the rest of the game. After the series loss, Wake Forest still remains the No. 3 team in the Atlantic division with a 10-8 conference record. With a 27-9 record and No. 15 RPI grade, the Demon Deacons were left unranked in any major poll, although they were listed as the No. 2 team in the receiving votes section of the USA Today Coaches Poll. The team will look to change that this weekend when they are set to meet Notre Dame in South Bend. Contact Essex Thayer at
Page 14 | Thursday, April 21, 2022 CHRISTINA DENOVIO Sports Editor
After a grueling four days, the women’s golf team has been crowned ACC Tournament champions. The team has a short time to celebrate, however, as the team approaches its next objective, the NCAA Tournament, which begins on May 9. I sat down to speak to redshirt freshman Georgia Ruffolo on Saturday, right in the middle of the ACC Tournament. The Tampa, FL native is an asset to the already impressive golf team at Wake Forest. In high school, Ruffolo was a semi-finalist in the 2019 Florida Women’s Amateur Championship, tying for 7th of 132 in stroke play. She also won the 2019 IMG Season Kickoff and ranked in the top-25 in FSGA’s Women’s Player of the Year point list that same year. As the season’s intensity increases, Ruffolo is grateful for the support of her teammates, coaches and family members thus far in her collegiate golf career.
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Georgia Ruffolo Deacon “Sportlight”
Christina DeNovio: When did you start playing golf? Georgia Ruffolo: I started a little late — I was 10. I had played tennis before, but golf was something that I really enjoyed because I could do it with my dad. My dad and I are super close. My dad didn’t play tennis, so when I played tennis, I couldn’t really hang out and play with him. So, I really started golf for my dad, and I stuck with it. I know 10 is a little later than most of the girls on the team or just college golfers in general. The thing about golf is you can pick it up and play at any age. That’s another thing that I really liked about golf — it’s very flexible. CD: Do you have an inspiration or mentor? GR: My dad for sure. My dad has been my biggest coach and role model. He’s been my number one fan for as long as I can remember. Being able to do this with him has been the most rewarding part of this whole experience. Even to this day, when people ask who I’m playing for back home, I have my whole family, but I always make sure to point out my dad. He’s definitely a motivating, propelling force behind everything that I do here. CD: Why did you choose Wake Forest? GR: I loved everything about it. As soon as I stepped on this campus, I knew that I wanted to come here. I love the size — how small it is — because I went to a really small high school. I love how close it is to home — I’m only a one-hour flight away. The drive is really not all that bad, either. The weather is great. I love having seasons — we don’t have seasons in Florida. To get to actually wear a jacket outside is really nice. The academics are great. A really large goal for my college journey, regardless of sports, is to get a good education and a good degree. I think that a Wake Forest degree is one of the strongest that you can have in the United States, especially as a student athlete, so it was really a no-brainer for me. I absolutely love it here. If I’m being honest, I can’t actually believe that I’m here sometimes because golf here is almost sacred. It’s a really, really cool thing to be a part of. To be able to contribute and be a part of that history is something that I will value for the rest of my life. CD: Can you describe the transition from high school to college golf? GR: The best way that I can describe it is I was this big fish in a small pond at home. Now, I am a big fish in an ocean. It’s definitely been a learning experience, but it’s actually made me a much better golfer, a much better person, and a much better student. The competition level now has increased, and I’ve had to match that. It was a little hard at first, but now I’ve begun to adapt to my surroundings and take advantage of what resources that are available around me. It’s been an awesome experience. CD: What’s your favorite part of being on the golf team here? GR: I would have to say the team dynamic. Being a part of our team dynamic is super special and really
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics
This past fall, Georgia Ruffolo competed in the Bryan National Collegiate and was the sechard to come across. We are all are each other’s support systems. You don’t always find that — a lot of the times girls have problems with each other or there’s issues with the coaches. I am very fortunate to say that every one of those girls on my team has my back and I have theirs. Being able to have that family and sisterly dynamic is special and something I wouldn’t trade for the world.
other schools. Her ability to coach younger women as a woman herself is is awesome. She’s really awesome, and I don’t really think of her as a typical coach but more like a second mom, honestly.
CD: What did you learn your freshman year when you redshirted?
GR: Last year, we lost in the ACC Tournament to Florida State. And this year now that we’re kind of back in that same boat playing against Florida State, again, with this opportunity to come out on top. It’s super big. And if we do manage to win the ACC Tournament, I think, going into the rest of the postseason, we’re going to be coming out of the gates really, really strong. We have a really good team this year. For the next couple of years, it looks like we’re going to have a really good setup as well. I’m really confident about how we are right now, all together, there’s a lot over the next couple of days that need to be fixed, but who doesn’t have that? All of our girls are super good about getting stuff done, especially when this time of year rolls around. Last year’s NCAA Tournament didn’t pan out how we wanted to — we got cut pretty early. I think that is definitely a motivation to do really well during this postseason, and everyone knows that, regardless of if they’re playing or not. How we were last year versus where we are this year is definitely pushing us to be the best we can be.
GR: It lit a fire under me, more or less. It really got me to realize to get into shape. When I came into college, I didn’t know I was going to redshirt, so having that year given to me was an opportunity to build my game and who I am as a person. It was the best blessing in disguise I could have asked for. Who I was coming into college and who I am now are two completely different people. Had I not had that year to build, focus and get better overall, I would have been put at a disadvantage in comparison to where I am now. CD: Have you faced adversity as a golfer? How did you overcome it? GR: I would say that my adversity would be my headspace and my own thoughts. I’m very hard on myself. It’s funny because I’m really not a perfectionist in any other aspects of my life other than golf. I came into college super hard on myself, and my coaches were like, “What are you doing? You’re only doing yourself a disservice by telling yourself negative things.” I think having to rebuild my mental space, which is a super important part of golf, was really hard. It’s been very rewarding because ever since I’ve started to think differently on the course and towards myself, my game has improved drastically. It’s been cool to see how breaking things down and building them up can actually do a lot more good than you think. CD: What do you think makes Wake Forest’s program so successful? GR: Our coaches are unbelievable. The way that they approach coaching is more of a mentorship than it is a business. They’re very good about keeping things casual while still lighting that fire as a mentor. I’m never scared to show up to practice or come to my coach for anything. For [Wake Forest Head Coach Kim Lewellen] to build that comfortable dynamic between her and her players shows a method to her madness. Being able to have that really close connection with your coach is something that I know a lot of players don’t have at
CD: Can you describe the team’s preparation as the NCAA Tournament approaches?
CD: Do you want to pursue professional golf? Do you know what you want to do after your career in golf ends? GR: It’s something that I’ve thought about for one time, but I think I’ve always known in my heart that I didn’t want to play professional. And I really came to realize that as I’ve been here in college. I’m an English and history double major. Right now, I’m on a pre-law track, and I’m planning to go to law school right after college. And I’m honestly super happy and confident in that decision. I realized that golf was meant for me for a certain part of my life, and when that part of my life ends, it’s going to be an easier transition now that I’ve really thought about that decision. I’m honoring golf as a very big part of my life. But I always knew that I didn’t want to play professionally. Golf is always going to be special to me, regardless of my plan forward.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Contact Christina DeNovio at denoca20@wfu.edu
PAGE 15 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
LIFE OLD GOLD & BLACK
Adam Coil, coilat21@wfu.edu Josie Scratchard, scraja20@wfu.edu
Jack Harlow uses his position for others The Louisville rapper uplifts Black rappers in his fame and fortune
for Best Melodic Rap Performance with Lil Nas X and Album of the Year as featured artist and songwriter. Harlow has also won two Billboard Music Awards for fan-voted Top Collaboration and Top Rap Song. Beyond just producing
great music, Harlow is a stand-out for being a successful white rapper/R&B singer in a predominantly-Black industry. Way back in 2017, Nicki Minaj made the comment, “It’s a great time to be a white rapper in America”, and she wasn’t wrong. While Harlow is immensely talented, a stream of white rappers followed the trajectory of Eminem, Machine Gun Kelly and Post Malone, all of whom have surpassed certain Black artists that may be better at rapping but fade in this industry. No doubt, it’s hard to be in the spotlight as a white rapper as there are tons of judgments, criticisms and comparisons thrown around, but that doesn’t really matter when the spotlight is where the money gets made. However, Harlow has been using the spotlight to highlight Black women and Black artists in general. He collaborated with Lil Nas X — an openly-gay, Black rapper — and on all his albums and in his music videos, he features women of color. While there is an argument to be made that it seems as though he’s sexualizing these women, it can easily
be counterargued that this is due to the nature of rap more than Harlow’s desire to fetishize and sexualize women of color. There has always been a fear that white people would one day take over the rap/hip-hop/R&B genre, but Harlow has always known his place. To put it simply: when talking about rapping and the influence that the greats had on him, he talks about how he started rapping as a kid and was influenced by some of the most famous Black rappers. Even further, Harlow has made Black Lives Matter posts and — during a freestyle rap — took time to address an incident of police brutality in Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown. If you are looking for a firm stance on how to feel about Harlow, I am not sure I could fully give you one. But if he were here, I’m sure he’d say: “Why do y'all sleep on me? I need reasons. Uh, I got plaques in the mail, peak season.” So maybe let’s see if he keeps making people go crazy and producing absolute killer songs.
from Bombay for England’s eligible bachelors. Edwina actress Charithra Chandran told “Today” about the importance of dark-skinned women being the season’s most coveted debutantes. “No one let me forget that I was dark-skinned growing up,” she said. “Whenever we’d go around India, they’d always say…‘She’s pretty for being darkskinned.’” Beyond subverting colorist norms, South Asian culture is seamlessly inte-
grated into the plot. The sisters affectionately call each other “Bon” and “Didi”, which mean “sister” and “elder sister” in Bengali and Hindi and are signs of respect between siblings. Kate’s first on-screen words are a Hindi exclamation, Baap Re. Additionally, many bilingual fans applaud the portrayal of accent-switching, a common phenomenon where nonnative speakers of a language hide their accents when talking to native speakers. Other scenes include the Sharmas oiling their hair — a popular practice
among Desi women — and hosting a traditional pre-wedding Haldi ceremony. They sip Masala Chai instead of English Breakfast, and their wrists sparkle with gold bangles. Should these details have been left out for the sake of historical authenticity? I think not, for more reasons than the interest that they add for the average viewer. Woman after woman has shared heartfelt reactions to finally seeing themselves celebrated on-screen instead of simply being exotic or undesirable. “Not once was their beauty seen as surprising, their culture seen as odd, their accents overemphasized,” Tik Tok user @fruit.lopes said. “To see them receive such deep, passionate love and attraction was more than beautiful. It was reassuring that we deserve and can receive the same.” Non-white women and girls deserve to see non-white characters in sweeping gowns waltzing to violin covers of their cultural music. They deserve to see the people who resemble them shine. People of color existed in Regency England. They must have their trials recounted and stories told, but not every narrative needs to discuss oppression. There is value in creating a fictional world in which they are treated as they should have been all along.
AMEYA BELLAMKONDA Contributing Writer
Jack Harlow's "First Class" wasn't just the song we wanted but the song we needed, and it dropped Friday, April 8. As we’re just coming out of a global pandemic, everyone from the girls to the gays to the theys is gonna be spending their entire hot girl summer blasting Harlow’s newest release. We needed a song to inspire the girlboss in all of us — and Harlow came through. Harlow, known as the man who sniffed a Victoria's Secret thong that was thrown at him during a performance, is an ideal man that people around the world unanimously love. This is his second release of 2022, coming after his single “Nail Tech” — another certified banger. This song is inspired in part by Fergie’s 2007 song, “Glamorous”, where Fergie sings “G-L-A-M-O-RO-U-S, yeah G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S”. The similarities can be seen in Harlow’s chorus “I been a (G), throw up the (L), sex in the (A.M.), uh-huh (O-R-O-US, yeah).” Harlow, 23, has won two Grammys
MELINA TRAIFOROS Staff Writer
Dresses, balls and longing looks all create the intoxicating atmosphere of a regency drama. Netflix’s “Bridgerton” brings all three to our screens, following the romantic pursuits of a viscount’s eight children in upper-class English society. The second season of "Bridgerton" has captivated fans with another whirlwind love story. Along with its success, a wave of critics has returned pointing out the show’s historical inaccuracies. Period pieces about the English regency notoriously lack diversity because their featured social circles historically included only white people. Unless they appear as servants, characters of color are glaringly absent. “Bridgerton” subverts this norm by practicing seemingly color-blind casting. Many significant characters like Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury — and even the main character Daphne’s love interest — are portrayed by people of color. According to writers, this alternate reality without racism is born of King George’s love for Queen Charlotte — he integrated society, so they could wed. Her character is inspired by the royal family’s reallife descendent who historians speculate had African ancestry. The show most recently paired the family’s eldest sibling with Kate Sharma, who, along with her sister Edwina, travels
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Jack Harlow performs during Osheaga music festival in 2018.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
'Bridgerton' allows minorities to gain a place in old English soci- Contact Melina Traiforos at ety, representing those who have not been as visible as others.
Life | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, April 21, 2022 | Page 16
'Gullibology' introduces controversy in music A new method of teaching has been making huge strides but not without backlash JOSIE SCRATCHARD Life Editor The next big thing on the horizon of musical learning is "gullibology". Artists and music theorists have described it simply as revolutionary for its innovation in the music world, but what makes it so new and transformative? Gullibology is a method of studying music that requires no listening or playing at all — it is simply silent. Since its recent founding at the Newport Conservatory of Music, it has become a universal sensation that institutions of higher education everywhere have been scrambling to implement into their curriculums. The college’s academic coordinator and co-creator of gullibology, Dr. Ann Onymous, PhD., describes its origin. “Gullibology was inspired by a combination of music theory, John Cage’s brilliant composition “4’33” and — believe it or not — the current rap industry. Yep, that’s right. Rap music has shown classical musicians and music theorists that rules are made to be broken, which has inspired us
to eliminate sound in musical learning.” Along with gullibology comes the hope that music will be learned in a more efficient and tactical way. Learning music without sound forces students to really understand the relationship between the notes and the mathematical side of music theory. As a result, music has become a more intensive discipline. The Newport Conservatory of Music’s
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Students cannot play in orchestras when studying gullibology.
Department of Gullibology requires four years of rigorous study that forbids students from playing instruments or hearing them. Students must learn from music theory textbooks and watch videos of performances that have been silenced to gain a comprehensive understanding and deep critical view of music. It has been predicted that those who graduate from this program will be able to simply pick up any instrument and be able to play it with no prior training. Not only that, but they will be able to write beautiful compositions for any size ensemble. “Students are writing whole symphonies without having heard a note of them. It’s fantastic,” Onymous said. While this new schooling method has produced exceptional strides in music, it has also sparked massive outrage in certain circles. Political personalities, parents of music students and some classical music experts all have expressed their dislike. Their concern stems from the inability to understand how one can learn to play and write music without actually hearing it. The Newport Conservatory of Music’s very own clarinet student Veruca Salt has
shared her distaste for the college’s radical choice. “I came to Newport Conservatory of Music to become a world-renowned clarinet player — and now I’m not even allowed to play my clarinet under gullibology,” Salt said. Onymous’ esteemed colleague and cocreator of gullibology Sery Verious said that this has been a common complaint about those who are not well-versed in music. “What people do not seem to understand is that music is an art after it is a discipline," Verious said. "One cannot learn art without first being disciplined." It seems clear that gullibology will be a hot-button topic in the music field over the next several years at the very least. But it also seems that this may be the point. Pushing the boundaries of any field that has been well-established is going to be risky and controversial, but so is any decision that is impactful and meaningful. Gullibology is just the beginning of a tremendous effort to reinvigorate music and its teachings. Contact Josie Scratchard at scraja20@wfu.edu
Sharing unique holiday traditions THE HOT LIST Each family has its own process for celebrating holidays
ABBY KOMISKE Staff Writer My family usually has a lot of drama on holidays because there are so many of us. Easter is no different. Over the years, we have added more people to our numbers on these special occasions. My usual holiday includes me, my parents, my sister, my twin brothers, my younger brother and my mom’s parents. If we are at my house, then two dogs and cats are roaming around as well — along with the occasional stray farm animal. My sister has basically been with her current husband for as long as I can remember because of the twelve-year age difference, so we can usually expect him to. My brothers — who are seven years older than me — have also wanted to bring someone to one holiday or another, which provides entertainment in and of itself. My younger brother is pretty chill about these family events, so we team up on holidays — so long as he isn’t sleeping through the family ordeal. My family also leaves our doors open for anyone else who may want to come, so my siblings and I have had a running rotation of close friends who stop by sometimes, too. Suffice it to say, it’s a lot considering my parents are always hosting. I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for tradition when it comes to holidays. We love to all go out — especially my mom. You can expect multiple boxes of decorations for any and every holiday — she doesn’t leave any out. Being with my family matters most to me of course, but our odd traditions get me extra excited for when we gather. For
example, on Halloween we always have tacos and cake, we open two Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve and then have a sleepover in my older brothers’ room, we make sushi and chocolate-covered strawberries on Valentine’s Day, we have a lobster boil on the Fourth of July and so on. For some reason Easter doesn’t really have a set tradition for us — maybe because with so many older siblings sometimes we travel to a college town or somewhere closer to them that is fun for a short weekend. We usually get up to some interesting activities, though. Last year we played an adult version of an Easter egg hunt with go-karts and high-stakes prizes hidden around our yard because we didn’t have any kids in the family at the time. A few years before that, we drove to Edisto Beach, SC and had a week full of badminton tournaments and bike rides to this hole-in-the-wall pizza place. The best memory I have was when we went to visit my sister studying abroad in Florence. We stayed on the Amalfi Coast for a few days before traveling to her on
Easter, and we took her best friend with us. We have family pictures with him in the center of the shots and her nowhere to be found — which is still a point of contention for her whenever she walks in our dining room — though we think it’s the funniest thing ever. The only true staples of Easter — no matter where we are for the holiday — are the great food, the terrible chore of doing the dishes that my siblings and I fought over for far too long and the Easter baskets. Whoever comes to our Easter celebration gets one of these famous baskets, which I think is a pretty great thing. My mom and dad pull out all the stops, giving out this great Baltimore candy called Rheb’s, Fisher’s Popcorn (a Delaware/Maryland specialty), Old Bay hot sauce (that’s usually for whoever is out of state at the time, we aren’t giving out Old Bay like dollar bills) and then very particular gifts for each person. Contact Abby Komiske at komiak21@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of PIXNIO
The Easter Bunny was popularized in America in the 1700s, with the Easter basket representing a nest for the bunny to leave some eggs inside.
TOP 10 THINGS TO SPEND YOUR REMAINING FOOD DOLLARS ON
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
An Old Gold A parking spot
Nyquil from the POD
Cookie Dough
Girl Scout cookies
A B-School degree A Cameo from Natty O.
Yakarma Condoms from the POD that you can get for free from Student Health A Camino's vegan brownie
