Paint Memphis
Artists create largest collaborative mural in tennessee
#Takeaknee Two writers weigh in on NFL protests
Focus of Controversy
Memphians debate removal of confederate statues
The
Lodge
St. George’s Independent School Collierville, tn Vol. 2, Issue 2 GryphonLodge.com @ NewsGryphs
Nov. 1, 2017
L THE
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D G E 2 the Lodge
ABOUT US
STAFF
The Lodge is dedicated to serving as an authentic voice for the students of St. George’s Independent School. We at the Lodge strive to be an open forum for student expression, to act in the best interests of the student body and to embody the principles of journalistic excellence. The Lodge is affiliated with the Tennessee High School Press Association and the National Scholatic Press Association. The Lodge is funded by advertisers, donors and St. George’s Independent School and is published once every six weeks during the school year by schoolprinting.com. The Lodge prints and distributes 300 copies of each issue to 700 students and faculty on the St. George’s Collierville campus. Bylines indicate the primary writer(s) of each article, and additional contributors are indicated in the shirttail. The Lodge provides free advertising for student clubs, events and activities and paid advertisements for local businesses. The Lodge welcomes letters to the editor and article submissions. To submit a letter, article or request for advertising, email our staff at thelodge@sgis.org.
Editor-in-Chief
Carolyn Lane ’18
Managing Editor Annie Murff ’18
Editors
Annika Conlee ’18 Lauren Purdy ’18 Merryn Ruthling ’18 Caroline Zummach ’18 Emma Bennett ’19
Designers
Katelyn Grisham ’18 Kaitlyn Bowman ’19 Will Brown ’19
Photographers
Alice Crenshaw ’18 Laura Beard ’19
Illustrator
Emily O’Connell ’18
Web Editor
Spence Burford ’18
Reporters
Hudson Beaudry ’18 Connor Lambert ’18 Emma Pounders ’18 Omar Yunus ’18 Evan Dorian ’19 Rainey Zaugg ’19 Andrew McDowell ’19 Cary Robbins ’20
Advisor
Dr. Margaret Robertson
Cover Photograph by Katelyn Grisham
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAINT MEMPHIS
4 THE PUMPKIN SPICE BRACKET
# 18 MEMPHIS CONFEDERATE STATUES
# 12 SHOULD ATHLETES KNEEL?
22 REAFFIRMING OUR EPISCOPAL IDENTITY
8 NEWS BY THE NUMBERS
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By Laura Beard Design by Katelyn Grisham
S
tepping into Altown skatepark, the world descends into beautifully controlled mayhem. To the left, someone outlines what looks like a psychedelic marshmallow onto the cement floor. Across a small slope, a mural of the night sky begins to take shape. In just a few hours, the artists will complete the largest collaborative mural in the state of Tennessee. The Paint Memphis event at Altown brought 150 artists to paint a city block on Willet St. between Central Ave. and Lamar Ave. St. George’s, one of the few schools there, painted a mural with the help of art teachers Ms. Rose Doherty and Mrs. Allison Webb and the Art Club on Sept. 20. This event marked a historic moment for Paint Memphis, a non-profit organization that sponsors the creation of street art in Memphis. For its director Karen Golightly, this is one step closer to
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a long-held dream. “I started shooting street art about seven years ago, and at the time there was very little in Memphis in terms of street art at all,” Golightly said. “You could go in abandoned buildings and go in ditches, and they were really amazing pieces that people had done, but there was so little in the streets. So I was hoping to change that, and I approached the city, and they said I was just crazy.” Faced with data on how street art helps communities, three years later Memphis would set aside its first legal place for street art. In Paint Memphis’ inaugural event, 70 artists came together in 2015 to paint their first wall on Chelsea Ave. and Evergreen Ave. “It changed the area. It had been like a dump; tires, mattresses. The weeds were taller than me, and then it became more of a green space,” Golightly said. “The neighborhood started taking
better care of it, and the city started taking better care of it, and now anyone can go out there and paint.” After their success at Chelsea and Evergreen, Paint Memphis moved its focus to other areas. Altown Skatepark was the next big goal. “A church group had come without permission from the busi-
ness owner and painted over every single bit of murals and graffiti that was in there, to the chagrin of the skateboard guys because they loved it,” Golightly said. “So they really were happy that we came back and helped clean it up, and it became something they really could be proud of.” Mr. Brock Berriel, who helped found the park and now helps
walls “canThesebecome a destination point. ”
This page, top to bottom: In this photo illustration, artists work to complete various parts of the mural. Over 150 artists were involved in the Paint Memphis collaboration; An artist spray paints part of the skatepark. The Paint Memphis organization began beautifying the city of Memphis in 2015 through murals around the city. Opposite page: Seniors Katelyn Grisham, Alice Crenshaw, and Lexi Oliver beautify concrete walls. These St. George’s artists helped create the largest collaborative mural in Tennessee; A skateboarder grinds on a metal railing. Alton Skatepark was repainted on Sept. 20 due to the efforts of Paint Memphis.
maintain it, shared Golightly’s enthusiasm for the return of murals to Altown. “The city council has been trying to crack down on the graffiti,” Berriel said. “It’s very inviting for other garbage to show up, you know. When we do get great pieces of art they leave lasting impressions, and people don’t mess with it, and it looks awesome.”
Art teacher Ms. Rose Doherty approached the Paint Memphis event with the hope that it would allow St. George’s students to appreciate others’ art while showcasing their own. “It’s always students for me that get me excited about anything, mainly because it was a new opportunity to do something different,” Ms. Rose said. “But I also
like the aspect that we are going into a community, we’re bringing our love of art to the community, and we’re sharing our ideas publicly.” Ms. Rose credited the success of St. George’s section of the mural to the work ethic shown by the students of the Art Club. “I’m the most impressed with the four student leaders who worked on this project because I always look at myself as a coach,” said Ms. Rose. “I really want the students to take ownership to the project and they did.” Senior leaders seniors Alice Crenshaw, Katelyn Grisham, Lexi Oliver and Whitney Ziegenhorn collobrated for weeks, proposing ideas to administrators, creating stencils and helping to supervise the volunteers. Junior Rachel Umansky, who create the St. George’s portion of the mural, enjoyed watching the skate park’s transition from a dull gray to vivid
color. “Getting to where the art was happening, where they were putting up murals, it was really inspiring to see this new change of scenery,” Umansky said. Ms. Golightly herself had a dream for the skatepark when the event was over. “These walls can become a destination point as opposed to something people pass on their way to work or school,” Ms. Golightly said. As for Mr. Berriel, he is looking for Altown to get “some soul, color.” “It won’t be so stale,” Mr. Berriel said. “It’ll make it alive. It’ll bring the park to life again.”
Photography by Katelyn Grisham, Laura Beard and Mrs. Rose Doherty
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By Omar Yunus, Evan Dorian and Caroline Zummach; Design by Kaitlyn Bowman
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It is an event that is central to campus life at St. George’s, but how much do you really know about it?
T
Story and design by Carolyn Lane
o some students, the changes to chapel services this year may have seemed small: we do not say the Pledge of Allegiance, we no longer recite the Honor Code, though both remain a part of assemblies, and in place of former chaplain Mr. Brendan Gorham, we have new guest chaplains for each service. Some may not have even noticed that anything changed significantly. But, while these visible changes may be small, understanding the reasons behind them requires one to go back nearly six decades to the very founding of St. George’s and the core of its identity.
ILLUMINATING OUR PAST When the St. George’s Germantown campus was founded, a parish school was created, meaning that St. George’s Day School – St. George’s Independent School prior to its renaming in 2004 – and St. George’s Episcopal Church shared a religious identity, property and funds. For years, this parish relationship was beneficial to both parties: the church supplied the school with a religious identity while the joint campus allowed both to function without paying for the construction of a new space. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, this relationship changed. During this time, St. George’s Day School began a capital campaign to raise funds for the construction of the Collierville Campus. As the school’s funds for the project began to grow, the relationship with the parish school made it
difficult to discern which funds belonged to the school and which to the church, and questions arose as to what the church’s role would be on the developing campus. Those conflicts culminated in complaints registered with the Germantown Municipal courts on Sept. 12, 2003, leading to ninemonth conflict with the church that ended on 29 Jun. 2004. During this span, the two sides were required to communicate via arbitration, using mediators to resolve the issue in an effort to prevent a lawsuit from being filed. The resolution permitted St. George’s Day School to purchase the land St. George’s Episcopal Church owned on the Germantown Campus, ending the parish relationship between the two bodies and officially separating St. George’s Church from the school.
DECIDING OUR IDENTITY With this separation, St. George’s lost the only religious identity it had ever known, forcing the school to decide whether or not the Episcopal identity was one it should maintain. “What I love about the Episcopal Church is that it is grounded in both a belief in faith of a higher power and in reason, so in that exercising both faith and reason, there’s room for lots of people,” Associate Head of School Mr. William Bladt said. There is a belief that “every child, being a child of God, is endowed with gifts and talents that they have the wonderful opportunity to develop and then share with the world.” It was this doctrinal inclusivity that led Mr. Taylor and the
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Light streams in through the windows of the empty Adape Chapel. Upper School Director Mr. Tom Morris and Middle School Director Mrs. Traci Osterhagen-Brock are responsible for planning grade-level chapels this school year. Photograph by Laura Beard.
St. George’s Board of Trustees to realize that Episcopal beliefs remained in the heart of the St. George’s community, whether or not there was an official connection to the church. “The version [of the school’s religious statement] that the board committee – and this involved parents too – came upon was almost the exact same religious statement that existed before the school separated from the church,” Mr. Taylor said. Upper School Director Mr. Tom Morris remembers that many of the school’s chapel practices also remained the same. “When we left, the Diocese [the governing body of the Episcopal Church] was very gracious and allowed us to use the Book of Common Prayer and to let us continue to say that we are in the Episcopal tradition,” Mr. Morris said. They “let us, in many ways, function and feel like an Episcopal School without necessarily being one.” During the next six years, St. George’s remained closely associated with the Episcopal identity, which pushed Mr. Taylor to begin speaking with Right Reverend Don E. Johnson, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee, in 2010 about St. George’s possible reaffirmation to the diocese. “It began very slowly. He and I
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would have lunch together or we’d meet for coffee together,” Mr. Taylor said. “We’d just begin to try to say, ‘How can we make this happen?’” As years went by discussing the logistics of reaffirming with the Episcopal Church, one of the greatest advocates for this movement learned that he would be departing St. George’s before an official reaffiliation could occur. “About a year before I decided I was leaving to come back up [to Trinity-Pawling School in New York], I said to the Bishop, ‘At some point, I’m not going to be here anymore, and you and I have a very good working relationship. I’d like to see if we can fast track this,’ and the Bishop agreed,” Mr. Taylor said. “So I had tried to get [the reaffirmation] done before I left. The timing of meetings on the church side just prevented that from happening, but I’m delighted that it was able to happen [eventually].” After the departure of Mr. Taylor, newly-selected Head of School Mr. Ross Peters continued Mr. Taylor’s work with the church. “I just sort of picked up the reins from Bill Taylor and pushed it through that last year of discussion with the Diocese, but it was important to me having grown up in Episcopal schools and having gone to an Episcopal college,” Mr. Peters said. “I know
how an Episcopal school feels, and the school already felt like an Episcopal School, so it was more an expression of who the school already was rather than reinventing who the school is.” Mr. Peters’s continuation of this work culminated with an official reaffirmation with the Episcopal Church in May of 2016, less than one year after his arrival on campus.
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interactions between members of the Episcopal Diocese and the school. For example, Reverend John Leach of Holy Apostles Episcopal Church now maintains an ex-officio status on the St. George’s Board of Trustees, meaning he provides counsel to the Board as the Bishop’s representative but holds no official vote. Alongside changes regarding Episcopal membership on the Board, St. George’s reaffiliation altered the religious requirements of its chaplaincy. Last spring, Mr. Gorham announced his departure from St. George’s. During his time as chaplain, he had played an integral role in both giving and coordinating chapel talks for grade-level and division-level chapels. For the first time in 12 years, St. George’s had to begin a search for a new Collierville Campus chaplain. Only this time the search was different. As an Episcopal school, St. George’s is required to employ an ordained Episcopal minister as the head of religious life on campus, which can add an extra layer of difficulty to the search. In the spring of 2017, after an intense search and interview process, St. George’s believed they settled on a candidate, but as the school year came to a close, the
There is a belief that every child, being a child of God, is endowed with gifts and talents that they have the wonderful opportunity to develop. DEFINING OUR DIRECTION
Although many administrators, including Mr. Peters, Mr. Bladt and Mr. Morris, believe this affiliation changes little regarding the school’s religious identity, the new relationship did necessitate closer
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candidate was forced to withdraw due to the complications associated with relocating to Memphis. “We took a big step this spring and thought we had an answer that turned out not to play out,” Mr. Peters said. “One thing I know is I don’t want to make a bad hire.” With the school year well
underway, finding an ordained Episcopal minister has become more difficult as some potential candidates are still completing their studies at seminaries across the U.S. “That means it would be a winter or spring hire, so we’re not likely to solve it this fall,” Mr. Peters said. “There are a couple candidates that I met in the process last year that I was really excited about, who were probably a year away last year, who might become candidates this year, and so I’ve stayed in communication with them.” Despite this, the administration has continued to search for potential candidates, remaining “all ears” to hiring a chaplain this school year if the right person “walked out of the woods,” according to Mr. Bladt. In the meantime this empty position has led members of the St. George’s community, including Lower School Chaplain Mrs. Jessica Abell, to assume new roles to ensure an ordained minister is scheduled to speak at Collierville Campus chapels and that speakers are also scheduled for grade-level chapels. “We met as a group with Reverend Jackson, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Osterhagen-Brock, Mr. Link, Mr. Peters and Mr. Bladt, and we decided that we would divvy up responsibilities,” Mrs. Abell said. “I try to make sure that there is a member of the clergy here to speak at our big chapels on Fridays – our all-school chapels – and try to make sure that there is a leader, whether that be Mr. Morris, Mrs. Osterhagen, Mr. Jackson or myself, as well,” Mrs. Abell said. “Then Mrs. Osterhagen and Mr. Morris take care of the more dayto-day chapels like the grade-level chapels.”
By involving more members of the school community, the school has been able to grow into its Episcopal beliefs and truly understand what that identity entails. “I think that there are some drawbacks to it. I’d rather have it all in place, but there also are some advantages to this in that we have to bear the weight of the chaplaincy as a school and build those muscles up,” Mr. Peters said. “I think what we’re having to do is compensate for that loss, and I think in the wake of that we all get a little bit better at being members of an Episcopal School.” Not only has the absence of a chaplain allowed the school to grow into its Episcopal identity but it has allowed individuals to determine what qualities it wants to look for in potential candidates. Prefect of Chapel Caroline Zummach hopes any chaplain candidates would be willing to become deeply involved with students in our community. “I would want a chaplain to serve not only as a public figure but also someone that students could come talk to if they need help or just need another adult perspective,” Zummach said. “We want someone whose door’s always open, and we can go talk to them about anything. Someone who you’re not afraid to ask questions, but they also know how to engage students when they’re talking to them.” Like Zummach, Mr. Bladt also hopes a new chaplain will have greater interactions with students body, specifically in regards to their spiritual journeys. “My dream of that perfect person is somebody who kids could have the opportunity by themselves or in small groups to actually like have a chaplain that they could visit with and
spend time with, that they can explore their own journey of spirituality,” Mr. Bladt said. “In a totally non-judgemental way, I want somebody who, as an Episcopal Minister, has a really wide belief system – that it’s love for all people, no matter what they believe and whether you’re a Baptist, or whether you’re an Evangelical, or whether you’re an atheist, whether you’re a Jew or Muslim – and you could actually find a listening voice of a kind heart as you go on your own personal faith journey.”
Top to bottom: Mrs. Eyleen Farmer, grandmother of sophomore Caroline Finch gives a chapel talk to Collierville campus students. Mrs. Farmer was one of many guests who volunteered to speak at all-campus chapels. by
Photograph Katelyn Grisham.
Seniors Olivia Barton, Margo Valadie, Abbie Cloutier and Anna Camille Stoddard bow their heads in prayer during chapel.
Due to the school’s
desire for clarification
between chapel services and assemblies, the legiance and
Pledge of AlSt. George’s
Honor Code were removed from chapel services. Photograph by Katelyn Grisham.
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Focus of Controversy
Memphians debate removal of Confederate statues 12 the Lodge
By Lauren Purdy Design by Rainey Zaugg
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his past August, the “Unite the Right” rally led by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va. shocked the nation, as protesters violently demonstrated over the removal of a Confederate monument. One person died and several others suffered injuries after one white nationalis’s car plowed through a crowd of counter-protesters. In response to the deadly clashes in Charlottesville, a group of protesters in Durham, N.C. toppled a Confederate statue themselves, later being charged with two felonies. These events called attention to a debate over Confederate statues that has been raging in other cities across the country. A list compiled by the New York Times noted that over 30 cities have removed or are removing their Confederate monuments in the wake of these events, and amongst these cities is our very own Memphis. Memphis is home to two Confederate statues: the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Health Sciences Park and the Jefferson Davis statue in Mississippi River Park. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a prominent Civil War general, a slave trader and the Ku Klux Klan’s first “Grand Wizard.” The Health Sciences Park was originally named Forrest Park in 1899 to memorialize the Memphis native, and New York designer Charles Henry Niehaus created the statue that was installed over the midtown graves of Forrest and his wife in 1905. Jefferson Davis Park in downtown Memphis is thought to have been created in 1907 to honor Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America. His statue, sculpted by Alto Pera of Italy, was installed in 1964. Like many Confederate monuments, those in Memphis were not constructed directly after the Civil War, but at times
of controversy over civil rights for African-Americans. During the early 1900s when the Forrest statue was erected, Jim Crow laws, established in the wake of Plessy v. Ferguson, significantly restricted the rights of African-Americans and instilled a widespread fear with lynchings. The Davis statue was installed during the controversies of the Civil Rights era and in the same year as the Civil Rights Act. Unlike statues erected immediately after the Civil War to memorialize the fallen, these statues may have served a darker purpose: to intimidate African-Americans from pursuing greater freedoms.
These statues have been a source of controversy in the city for decades. Protesters first
vandalized the Forrest statue in 1984 with references to the Ku Klux Klan, and in 1994, racist epithets were spray-painted on both Confederate statues. In recent years, calls to have the statues removed have intensified. Several groups have demonstrated against the commission’s decision to preserve the Confederate monuments.
Those associated with the “Take ‘Em Down 901” activist group led by Ms. Tami Sawyer have recently protested outside FedExForum in black clothes, holding signs and staging “dieins,” where they laid on the plaza pavement. The group has also announced the continuing of demonstrations using their social media hashtag #TakeEmDown901. Calls for the removal of the statue have been met with widespread agreement in our local government, also. In 2015, the city council unanimously voted for the removal of the Forrest statue, as well as the remains of Forrest and his wife. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Governor Bill Haslam and other city officials, are fierce proponents for the
removal of the statue. Yet it remains standing due to the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act and the efforts of the Tennessee Historical Commission. Passed in 2013 and amended in 2016, the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act “prohibits the removal, relocation, or renaming of a memorial that is, or is located on, public property,” according to the Tennessee Historical Commission’s website. The commission is the State Historic Preservation Office for Tennessee whose main focus is to preserve and maintain historic sites and projects. It is ultimately up to that commission to decide whether or not it will accept a waiver to remove any particular memorial in Tennessee. The commission consists of 29 members: 24 members are
“The statue is the headstone, the marker for the two graves...You don’t touch headstones, you don’t bother them.” – Mr. Douglass Jones, a representative of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
A police car watches over the statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Health Sciences Park. The Memphis Police Department has had to allocate further resources to protect the statue from vandalism. Photograph by Katelyn Grisham. Opposite Page: The statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest stands underneath the American flag. The Memphis City Council has voted repeatedly on whether Forrest’s statue and remains should be removed from the park. Photograph by Katelyn Grisham.
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The statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest stands above the burial site of Forrest and his wife. The statue of the Confederate general and early member of the Ku Klux Klan was erected in 1905. Photograph by Katelyn Grisham.
appointed by the governor, and the other five are ex officio members, or those who are a part of it by virtue of holding another office. The commission is also authorized to vote on new laws when necessary, and they play a significant role in the debate to remove the Confederate monuments in Memphis. According the Commercial Appeal, the 29-member commission includes several supporters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), who are significant opponents of the statue’s removal. In public statements, the SCV have expressed their concern that the country is eradicating “all things Confederate,” and although Tom Strain, the commander-in-chief of the group, did not respond to the Lodge’s
request for comment about the matter in Memphis specifically, Mr. Douglass Jones, a representative for the group, spoke recently with the Commercial Appeal. Jones said that the five living heirs of Forrest were opposed to moving the statue and that the statue itself does not represent racism. “The statue is the headstone, the marker for the two graves... You don’t touch headstones, you don’t bother them,” Mr. Jones said. The United Daughters of Confederacy President General Mrs. George W. Bryson recently provided a statement on the nationwide removal of statues, assuring readers that the group is not affiliated with those that promote racism or white supremacy in preserving
“What message do we want to send by honoring people whose bad deeds outweigh their good deeds?” – Memphis City Councilman Martavious Jones 14 the Lodge
the statues. The group hopes that the nation and its citizens “will continue to let its fellow Americans, the descendants of Confederate soldiers, honor the memory of their ancestors.”
Those supporting the removal of the statues
see them as having purpose beyond honoring ancestors who fought in the Civil War and remain unpersuaded by arguments that taking them down is erasing history. In an interview over email with the Lodge, University of Memphis History Professor Aram Goudsouzian argued that statues in public places are not necessary for preserving history. “The stupidest argument against the removal of the statues is that they are ‘erasing history’,” Professor Goudsouzian wrote. “No one is denying that Nathan B. Forrest or Jefferson Davis was a significant figure. Historians will continue to analyze them and explain their historical impact. But a statue is not an educational tool it is a symbol of what a community deems honorable and valuable. Those statues do not represent
our city’s values.” Memphis City Councilman Martavious Jones has a similar outlook and was one of the councilmembers who made remarks during an August meeting at City Hall debating the removal. In a phone interview with The Lodge, he questioned the logic of preserving the statues. “The question that I would ask [the SCV] is, should we have a memorial for Osama Bin Laden? Because he took up arms against the United States much like the Confederate States of America,” Councilman Jones said. “Who you choose to honor sends a message to the rest of the world. What message do we want to send by honoring people whose bad deeds outweigh their good deeds? Nobody is perfect, but do we honor figures whose bad deeds overshadow their good deeds?” Councilman Jones also said that it is more complicated to protect the statues in Memphis than to remove them, as protesters will likely continue to vandalize them. “There is verbiage in the [Tennessee Heritage Protection Act] that charges we, the city
“Those statues are a reminder of our nation’s dark past, and removing them will promote the peace we seek among our community and put that sensitive part of the past behind us.” – Pastor Chris Conlee, the lead pastor of Highpoint Church
of Memphis, are ‘to accept responsibility of maintaining a memorial, and we shall have the authority to take the proper and appropriate measures in emphasizing the appropriate and proper means for the care, preservation, protection, repair, and restoration of the memorials’,” he said. “If the memorial remains there in its current form, you can have vandals come by and spray paint it with graffiti, and we have to keep repairing it and restoring it.” Some, like Councilman Jones, have also pointed out that protecting the statues is costly for the city. According to a report from the Memphis Police Department, the city spent $16,530 on overtime for monitoring rallies and also spent an additional $8,796 in regular pay for officers at the parks, which brings the city’s total cost of patrolling the parks to over $25,000. In 2016, the city council first applied to the Tennessee Historical Commission for a waiver to remove the statues, but it was denied. Following an additional denial in 2017, the council voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance for the immediate removal of the statues. However, without state approval, this cannot be done. It was decided that they would have a plan by Nov. 21 to remove them. When reached out to by the Lodge, Mayor Strickland agreed to comment on the matter once it was resolved. Mayor Strickland has formed
a coalition of over 170 religious leaders that have shared their support for the removal of the statues. Amongst these leaders is Pastor Chris Conlee*, the lead pastor of Highpoint Church and an executive team member of the Memphis Christian Pastors Network. Pastor Conlee works with other pastors to promote outreach in the greater Memphis area. “We’re coming together to say, ‘How can we unify as pastors, and how can we unify as churches when it comes to racial issues?’” Pastor Conlee said. “When we think about these monuments, the monuments that are not just in Memphis but around the country, and if you study when they were erected, they were built at a time to combat civil rights. Those statues are a reminder of our nation’s dark past, and removing them will promote the peace we seek among our community and put that sensitive part of the past behind us.” The Tennessee Historical Commission has delayed the next meeting with the city council until February, meaning that the statues could remain standing into 2018. Since 2015, several cities have removed their Confederate statues, including Austin, New Orleans, St. Louis, Orlando, Durham, San Diego, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Baltimore, The Bronx and Kansas City. It remains to be seen if Memphis will join them.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS 1861-1865 The American Civil War
1904 Against Forrest’s expressed wishes, his remains are moved to Forrest Park.
1964 A statue of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, is placed in Confederate Park (now named Memphis Park).
2013 Memphis City Council votes to change the names of the parks. Confederate Park and Forrest Park are renamed Memphis Park and Health Sciences Park, respectively.
2016 The Tennessee Historical Commission rejects the request of statue removal.
1899 A park located in downtown Memphis is named Forrest Park after Nathan Bedford Forrest.
1905 A statue of Forrest is comissioned from Charles Henry Niehaus.
1995 A vote is held to remove Forrest’s statue and remains. The Center City Comission votes against it.
2015 The city council votes for Forrest’s statue and grave to be removed.
2017 The Tennessee Historical Comission denies Memphis’ request to remove Forrest’s statue.
*Full disclosure: Pastor Chris Conlee is the father of editorial board member Annika
Conlee.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT CROSS COUNTRY: The cross country team runs strides at practice. For the third year in a row, the boys cross country team finished first in the West Tennessee Regional Championship, with all seven runners running 5Ks in less than 18 minutes. The girls cross country team also finished first in regionals for the second year in a row, with runners taking first, second and third place. “I think everyone on our team has definitely improved since the beginning of the year,” freshman Maggie Wilson said. “It’s great how we encourage each other to do better.” The team will compete in the state championship on Nov. 4. Photograph by Alice Crenshaw. CHEER: Sophomore Mary Locke Bryan is lifted into a oneman by Junior Sara Washington while cheering on the Gryphon football team. As the football team enters their post-season, the cheer team has begun to shift into their competition season. In a competition on Oct. 28, the team qualified for nationals in Orlando. The team gained a new member this year in the Gryphon mascot. Sophomore Anna Kate Beaudry is thrilled to be a part of the team and to step into the mascot role for the school. “I love being the mascot,” Beaudry said. “I look forward to Friday night every week, even more than usual.” Photograph by Carolyn Lane. GIRLS GOLF: Juniors Grace Higley and Victoria England hold their state championship plaque. England ended the girls golf season by winning the state championship. Her six years of experience were evident at the championship where she accomplished all of her goals and was satisfied with her performance. While England still has a couple years at St. George’s, she has started to plan for her future. “I definitely would like to try to be a professional,” England said. “I think if it’s not working out, I am not going to force it.” Photograph courtesy of Grace Higley. GIRLS SOCCER: Junior Kate Murphy searches the field for someone to throw the ball to. The varsity girl’s soccer team ended the season as the Division II-A State Championship. The team won 2-0 against Chattanooga Christian School after freshman Livi Tanzer scored twice in the second half. The camaraderie and teamwork really shined in the game. “The team has really come together,” senior captain Grace Kenley said. Capping off a thrilling year for both team and especially the senior players, senior captain Olivia Fitzgerald was “super excited” by the win. Photograph by Omar Yunus. FOOTBALL: Sophomore Reagan Burford looks back at the field after the conclusion of a play. The varsity football team is looking forward to entering the playoffs and rising to the occasion as the postseason arrives. With several players returning from injuries, the football team’s potential is great. Junior Cooper Newman has missed several games since having surgery on his arm but has “tried to stay involved by still coming to the games and supporting the team from the sidelines.” Newman believes the team has “performed decently but not to [its] full potential,” and he thinks the team “can give a little more effort and work harder in some areas.” The first round of the playoffs will begin on Nov. 3. Photograph by Carolyn Lane. VOLLEYBALL: Senior Miaya Smith spikes the ball against the University School of Jackson team. The varsity volleyball team ended their season in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. The theme of family and teamwork was an influential part of the team’s season and led to great success. “Our greatest strength was being able to come together as a family,” senior Carly Owens said. Perseverance and determination were also integral parts of their journey. While Owens’s volleyball career at St. George’s is over, she left her teammates with one final message: “To never give up before the final bell rings and to never stop believing in yourself until it’s completely over.” Photograph by Andrew McDowell. BOYS GOLF: Senior Davis Irving finishes his swing. The varsity boys golf team finished runner-up at state this season. Irving enjoyed the team’s camaraderie.“I like the team aspect. I play a lot of individual tournaments so it was nice to have a team,” Irving said. “It’s a good group of guys that we have.” After high school, team captain senior Winston Margaritas has committed to playing golf for Texas Christian University. Photograph by Alice Crenshaw.
Athletes in Action Story by Annika Conlee, Andrew McDowell, Connor Lambert, Evan Dorian, Spence Burford and Hudson Beaudry; Design by Carolyn Lane
Pumpkin Spice started out as a harmless, festive concoction introduced by Starbucks in the fall of 2004. Now, whether you hate it or love it, you can’t escape it. It stocks our shelves in all different shapes and forms, no longer just offered as a friendly, loveable latte, also as all types of unreasonable, unthinkable foods. Pumpkin Spice no longer lives the short, seasonal life of September to January, but finds a way to show up earlier and leave later each year. Ten pumpkin spice-flavored items were tasted or cautiously smelled by myself, Rainey Zaugg, to determine which was the absolute worst.
By Rainey Zaugg Illustrations by Alice Crenshaw Design by Will Brown
The Pumpkin Spice Bracket
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FULL HARVEST
SHOULD BE SQUASHED
TEA Deliciously perfect and appropriate.
OREOS Cookies and cream. That’s your job, Oreo. Stick to it.
OREOS The trash bag I had came in handy. This was disgusting.
HERSHEY’S KISS If vomit took a solid form this is what it would be.
HERSHEY’S KISS Never, ever again.
CANDLE Pleasantly, appropriately autumnal.
COUGH DROPS Why?
COUGH DROPS I’ll say it again, WHY? And HOW did they think this was a good idea?
LATTE Is it worth the hype? No. Is it worth the hate? No.
MARSHMALLOW Marshmallows are blessings we are grateful to receive. Why would you try to ruin that? Shame.
CHEERIOS It’s not bad, but I will not be purchasing again.
MARSHMALLOW A beautiful, year-round deliciousness that is not meant to be misused like this.
THE ROTTEN PUMPKIN PIE-NALISTS
OH MY GOURD: THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST HERSHEY’S KISS Sometimes, I think about the fact I ate this, and a small part of me dies.
HERSHEY’S KISS I honestly believe this ruined food for me.
COUGH DROPS Who, why and how? I am not suggesting finding the people responsible, but I am suggesting finding the people responsible.
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OPINION
OPINION POLICY: The Lodge opinion section is a venue for the free expression of student views at St. George’s Independent School. The opinions represented in this section are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Lodge staff or of the St. George’s community at large. The Lodge strives to be an open forum for the thoughtful and deliberate exchange of comment and criticism and therefore welcomes letters to the editor. Letters to the editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper, should not exceed 300 words and must be signed and accompanied by a verifiable email address. These letters will not be printed if the content is judged obscene, violates the privacy of others or encourages physical disruption of school activites.
Why we need an arts prefect
T
By Emma Pounders he St. George’s community is without a doubt one that values the arts. Students are required to take art classes in both middle and upper school and can choose from a selection of visual arts classes like pottery or drawing and performing arts classes, such as acting and directing or Modern Music Ensemble. There are plenty of ways to enjoy from afar or get involved. Every season the thespians put on a new play or musical, and the choir and band hold concerts each semester. Students remain hard at work throughout the year on the literary magazine, visual art shows and forensic competitions. Sadly, despite our arts department’s acclaim and success, this year we lack one key piece: a prefect. That doesn’t seem right, does it? Our athletes have their teams, trophies, the Bleacher Creatures and their own prefect. Our high-achieving students have their honor societies, their academic awards and their own prefect. We’ve even got not one, but two prefects representing student authority: the prefect of leadership and the head prefect. When student artists walk into chapels and assemblies and are greeted by those prefects, we can’t help but feel a little left out.
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The arts serve as a creative outlet for young people, and involvement in the arts has been proven to increase test scores and lower dropout rates. According to a collection of statistics compiled by Americans for the Arts, cognitive neuroscientists at several reputable universities have found strong links between arts education and cognitive development in areas like problem solving, concept understanding, information processing and intelligence as a whole. Apart from the statistical effects, arts involvement is hugely impactful in the lives of students in terms of social interaction and mental health. In my personal experience, participation in the arts has made an unparallelled difference in my life. I began my career on stage when I was in preschool and have carried my love of theater with me throughout my middle and high school years. Performing has given me a confidence I never had before, and I have formed more meaningful, diverse relationships than I believe I could have in any other place. The absence of a prefect raises concerns for those of us who care deeply about this facet of school life. Young artists deserve to see themselves represented in
our student body. A prefect of the arts would be someone student artists could look up to, and their very presence would show student artists that the community cares about the work we are doing. It would show us that our voice matters in the greater scope of our school. So how do we fix it? We adjust the voting process that is currently in place. Each year, students in the upper school are sent a ballot and asked to vote for “up to eight rising seniors.” Without more structure, they tend to nominate the people that first come to mind. In some ways, this is a positive. Our prefects for this school year are wonderful, smart and talented young adults who
deserve the recognition they have received, just as their predecessors did. This method of voting, however, leaves us with a group of leaders that sometimes can represent a limited section of the student body. In order to diversify the scope of representation, we should vote instead by category. Students should be asked to consider who is best suited to embody the different elements of school culture. By encouraging that few minutes of thought, students would use their vote in a more meaningful way, and the school would end up with a more well-rounded body of student leadership.
OPINION
Editorial:
Tell me something I don’t know
I
t’s addictive, it’s dangerous, and it’s only getting worse. We feel good when we have it, so much so that we need it all the time. What is it that’s so darkly addictive? Being right. Discovering new information that reinforces your own beliefs feels good. We all feel satisfied answering a hard question in class or guessing the correct answer on a test, while learning we were wrong is often unpleasant. Our desire to be right can lead to what psychologists call confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the principle that we are naturally predisposed to interact with people and media that reaffirm our ideas. We choose the articles we read, the shows we watch and even the people we befriend, partly out of our desire to be right. Technology can make this problem worse. In 2009, Google introduced “personalized search.” By tracking the stores you shop at, the news articles you read and
the websites you visit, Google tailors its results to stories you are more likely to read and its advertisements to items you are more likely to buy. No longer does everyone get the same search results when they google the word “dog,” let alone the word “abortion.” Personalized search has some benefits. For example, if you search “flood” after a recent flood destroyed ten homes in your city, one of the first results will concern local news stories about it rather than the dictionary definition of a flood. But “personalized search” can also filter out stories and ideas that disagree with your already-held beliefs. Even if one is trying to escape this “filter bubble,” it may be harder than it seems. For instance, if a conservative who regularly browses right-leaning publications searches “climate change,” they may be more likely to see articles from climate-change skeptics, rather than from climate change scientists. This can deepen disagreements, instead of bridging
them. This mistrust of people with opposing beliefs, now more than any other time in American history, has turned our civil discourse into a wrestling match. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are more divided along ideological lines now than at any other point in the last two decades. No longer are we just disagreeing on the issues. We cannot even agree on the foundational facts. Thankfully, there is a solution. By intentionally reading articles on both sides of the political spectrum, we can get all the facts and base our opinions on reality. There are resources that can help us pop our filter bubbles. The app Read Across the Aisle tracks what news stories you read and the political ideologies reflected in those stories, then charts that information on a blue and red spectrum. As you begin to read too many stories from Fox and Breitbart or from Slate and
CNN, Read Across the Aisle will alert you to the ideological slant in the news you are consuming, giving you the opportunity to read the other side as well. The website AllSides.com takes a different approach. AllSides collects viewpoints from multiple sides of the political spectrum – from the left, the right and the center – then juxtaposes all sides of the issue in one story. By using websites and applications like these, we can break free of our filter bubbles, start reading about things we disagree with and become more accepting of other people’s opinions. But this won’t happen until it starts with us. We have to be willing to find articles that we disagree with. We have to be willing to open our minds to other opinions. So, will we continue to be influenced by computer-generated bias, or will we break free from the filter bubble?
Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board. The following count represents our editorial board’s stance on this editorial. As always, letters to the editor in response to the editorial are encouraged. The Editorial Board: Carolyn Lane, Annie Murff, Annika Conlee, Lauren Purdy, Merryn Ruthling, Caroline Zummach, Emma Bennett, Katelyn Grisham, Kaitlyn Bowman and Will Brown
Agree: 10/10 Abstain: 0/10 Disagree: 0/10
CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS: The Lodge strives for accuracy in all articles. However, mistakes are sometimes made. When this happens, you will see corrections here.
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OPINION
A
s the 49ers prepared to take the field on Aug. 26 of last year, Colin Kaepernick, now a household name, knelt during the national anthem in order to protest police brutality and social injustice in America. Over the past year, other players, including Michael Wilhoite, have joined in the kneeling, while some teams, including the Tennessee Titans, opted to not take the field until the anthem ended. Both President Trump and Vice President Pence have called for the players to cease their protest as they perceive it as an affront to the flag, country and military. While the NFL can legally prevent players from protesting without violating their first amendment rights, Kaepernick and other players in the NFL believe that their platform as football players should allow for action. For some...
It’s a matter of freedom
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By Connor Lambert
ome people would have you believe that, by kneeling during the National Anthem, NFL players are not only anti-veteran but also anti-American. However, the simple fact is that these players are only exercising their First Amendment rights. Not only are these players not assaulting American soldiers
Illustration by Emily O’Connell
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or our anthem by protesting, they are using the platform they have earned through their talents to express their beliefs. Simply because these people are NFL players doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a voice. If you are offended by these players and their protest, don’t hide behind the excuse that this is an affront to veterans and soldiers. We live in a country
where our citizens are legally allowed to burn our flag without fear of repercussions, a right to freedom of expression fought for and protected by our soldiers everyday. And while some of the public may not agree with this particular demonstration, to tell someone not to protest endangers the very basis of American society. If players are criticized for peaceful demonstrations on the field, it calls into question their ability to protest at all. The same critics of the NFL protests also cry out against rallies and marches based on fears of riots. If not on the field or in the streets, then where? Past protests – now hailed as examples of peaceful demonstrations – were neither convenient nor well liked at the time, from the Greensboro sit-ins to the march on Selma during the national civil rights movement. Nor are these athletes alone in using their position to make a statement. Olympians John Carlos and Tommie Smith both used their platform politically when they raised their fists in support of the black power movement during the 1960s. There was outcry then, but now it’s hailed as a great moment of resistance. So why draw the line between those protests and the current situation with the NFL? I thought we learned this lesson back when preventing peaceful protests placed you on the side of the Bull Connors and the George
Wallaces of history. Our nation has many controversial issues that we should be discussing more than kneeling during the anthem. The Brady Campaign reports that every 24 hours, 315 people are injured by gunfire, on top of the 47,000 gun incidents that have already occurred in 2017 alone. One month after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, 74 percent of Puerto Ricans are without power acording to Vox, with more than a third still without running water, according to Times. CNN confirms tens of thousands of DACA applicants have not renewed their status and face the fear of deportation to countries that they have no memory of. There are plenty of issues that warrant debate, but football players exercising their First Amendment rights about police brutality and racial injustice should not be thought of as a controversial attack on American values. In reality, the attack on American values occurs when critics try to say when and how to protest. Once we remove the freedom from expression, there can be no voice given to the voiceless, no power to the powerless and no hope to the hopeless.
OPINION
It’s a matter of fairness
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By Hudson Beaudry
ome people would like you to believe that the NFL is an area free from judgment, where freedom of speech abounds. But it’s not, and it has never been. While standing during the National Anthem has never been a mandatory rule in the NFL, those who believe players have the unequivocal right to express themselves in any manner they choose ignore all of the other rules and regulations that restrict players’ freedom of expression. This disregard of league rules is ludicrous. For example, the NFL shows public support for many charities such as Crucial Catch, NFL Green and Know Your Stats, yet when players show support for these very same causes, they are fined for breaking various uniform rules found in Rule 5 of the NFL Rulebook. In 2015, Pittsburgh Steelers player Deangelo Williams, a native Memphian, wore eyeblacks inscribed with the words “Find the Cure” during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and was consequently fined $5,787, according to ESPN. Another Steeler’s player, William Gay, was also fined $5,787 when he wore purple cleats in honor of his mother, who was shot and killed by her husband when Gay was only seven years old. By fining Williams and Gay, the NFL took a clearly defined stance on players supporting causes during nation-
ally-televised games, so should the same rules not apply to those kneeling during the National Anthem? The NFL’s inconsistent enforcement of rules does not end with supporting public causes. It also extends to their enforcement of uniform policy. Rule 5, Section 4, Article 1 of the NFL Rulebook states that players must wear either league-or club-issued attire or Nike-sponsored attire while representing the NFL or risk being fined. In 2013, former Washington Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin III participated in warmups before a preseason game wearing an Adidas shirt. Despite Griffin’s Adidas sponsorship, the NFL fined him $10,000 because he broke their rule. In August of 2017, however, several Miami Dolphins players wore #IMWITHKAP, non-Nike-sponsored shirts, during warmups yet the NFL turned a blind eye. This behavior is rampant throughout the NFL, and shows how inconsistent they are when enforcing their rules. Many Americans are upset over players’ protests, and they have started to make it clear. Viewings have tanked 8.2 percent from this time last year and 18.7 percent from this time two years ago, according to SportingNews.com. The NFL is losing money, fast. Suspiciously, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who once supported athletes’ right to protest, has reversed his
position regarding the matter. Now, he wishes no players would kneel during the anthem to keep the league out of politics. Goodell is just saying what he believes people want to hear in attempt to save his business, at the cost of losing his integrity. Like Goodell, owners have also begun to get antsy. On Oct. 8, the owner of the Miami Dolphins required his players to stand for the anthem, while Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, said that any player who is disrespectful to the flag won’t play. Later that day, Vice President Mike Pence attended an Indianapolis Colts game but left after players knelt during the National Anthem. “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS (Trump) and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem,” Pence tweeted. However, upon his exit, he was lambasted by the same people who praised the players for their freedom of expression. They attacked him with insults and claimed it was a stunt, though the very real possibility was that he was simply standing up for something he believes in, not unlike the kneelers those people venerate for “taking a stand.” Can they just not see their own inconsistency?
Illustration by Emily O’Connell
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