Issuu

The

Davidsonian

Independent Student Journalism Since 1914

inside

davidsonian.com

Spring Convocation Awards Students for their Achievements

Volume 120, Issue 19

April 20, 2022

Brooke Whitcomb ‘22 pens an Earth Day Reflections

Read an Interview with Battle of the Bands Winner Trophy Husband

Try Your Hand at a Yowl History Trivia Quiz

To Be Blunt: A Look at National and Collegiate Level Marijuana Policies Percentage of U.S. college students that had used cannabis within the past 3 months as of fall 2021, by frequency 40

ly ai tD

lm os

ly th

Tw or

M on

0 ev

or ly ai D

n North Carolina, possessing, distributing, and cultivating marijauna is illegal. Punishments range from a small fine for possession of under .05 ounces, to 18 years in jail for possession or cultivation of 10,000 pounds or more. Federally, marijuana remains illegal, and is classified as a schedule I controlled substance. This classification also includes drugs like ecstasy and LSD, as they “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.” However, all over the U.S., there have been pushes to legalize or decriminalize marijuana use. Eighteen States and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana use for adults, and 37 States have legalized medicinal use of cannabis. While North Carolina has not legalized either medicinal or recreational use, there have been multiple bills proposed in the State Legislature to do so. One that has gained the most traction, the NC Compassionate Care Act, is expected to reach the senate floor for a full vote later this spring. The bill would legalize medical marijuana use for a select group of patients with Cancer, Epilepsy, HIV, or other debilitating conditions, as well as a confined group of patients diagnosed with PTSD. It would be one of the most restrictive legalization bills in the country, but could pave the way for further legalization in the future. According to a 2021 poll conducted by Elon University about North Carolina opinions on marijuana, 73 percent of respondents favor legalizing medicinal use of marijuana, 54 percent support legalizing recreational use, and 64 percent believe that legalization would support the state economy. Although the majority of the population supports legalization in some capacity, NC politicians have adapted typical partisan attitudes on marijuana.

CANNABIS IN COLLEGE

MCKINLEY LETTRE ’24 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER

Democrats tend to favor legalization, while Republicans oppose it. These partisan stances are clearly presented in the race for NC’s US Senate seat that is up for grabs in 2022. Cheri Beasley, projected frontrunner in the May 17th Democratic Primary for US Senate, supports the legalization of marjiuana. In a Tweet from July, 2021, Beasley states, “It’s past time we legalize & regulate cannabis in NC. Taking this action will strengthen our economy, help family farms, & reform criminal justice.” The NC Republican Primary for US Senate is slightly more contested, although both frontrunners, Ted Budd (currently +10 in polls) and Pat McCroy, do not support marijuana legalization efforts. As US Representative for NC’s 13th District, Budd repeatedly voted against laws to legalize or decriminalize marijuana. In a 2020 memo, Budd, with a group of 10 other Republican Representatives, specifically stated, “We remain opposed to liberalizing drug laws.” McCroy, former Governor of NC, in 2018 stated that before any laws were passed to legalize mariuana, “we need to educate the public on long-term addiction, safety and mental health issues related to all drugs including marijuana.” At Davidson College, as described in the student handbook, students possessing or using marijuana are subject to campus disciplinary proceedings, in addition to criminal prosecution. However, it is not clear what the campus disciplinary proceedings look like, nor who enforces them. When asked about the role of campus police in marijuana policy, Chief Coaxum replied, “the police department doesn’t have anything to do with creating or enforcement of policy, that is handled by the Dean of Students office.” Dean Snipes, the Dean of Students, replied that all of the college’s stances on marijuana can be found in the student handbook, which is managed by Dean Buchanan. Dean Buchanan failed to respond to a request for comment. The handbook states that “possession of paraphernalia associated with the use, possession or manufacture of a prescription

IAN MACEL’24 (HE/HIM) POLITICS EDITOR

Statistics Courtesy of Statista drug or controlled substance” is strictly forbidden. The first two times a student is found violating marijuana policy, they are required to participate in a drug education program and perform five hours of community service. Their families are also contacted. The third violation may result in suspension for one or more semesters. If a student is

found selling marijuana on campus, they are suspended indefinitely. These consequences differ from those for underage alcohol use: most students who are caught drinking underage are solely required

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Humans vs Zombies: A New Hope for Humanity ELLIE STEVENS ‘25 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER

n important, possibly zombie-related announcement was posted to the Union Board Instagram on March 30, 2022. Scientist Dr. Van Nostrand explained that an experiment intended to make Davidson students more productive had gone wrong and had turned them into zombies. Since then, students have been running around with multi-colored bandanas and participating in antics such as hiding in trash cans, sprinting across campus, and riding around on bikes. After a three-year hiatus, Davidson’s Humans vs Zombies game is back. The organizer of the game, Jared Herr ‘22,

explained it as “a multi-day, giant game of tag that is played 24/7 across the campus.” While donning a fake mustache and glasses in his Dr. Van Nostrand costume, Herr shared fond memories of playing the game as a first-year. Herr was very impressed with the 355 students who signed up this year as there were only 150 people playing his freshman year. The game originally was founded in 2011 with the title “Davidson Zombie Apocalypse.” As it has evolved, different organizers have put their own spin on the event. This particular iteration of Humans vs Zombies involved four teams of humans each represented by a different bandana color: purple, blue, orange, and pink. Meanwhile, the zombies sported a yellow bandana. Groups of humans could protect themselves against the zombies by holding hands.

If the humans outnumbered the zombies, they were safe, but if there are more zombies the humans could be tagged. The first zombie, or patient zero, was Peter Rock ‘24. Herr explained he chose Rock as the first zombie because “Peter […] he’s got that ambition and that drive that I knew he would be able to get it done. Also, he’s got a bike so that helps.” Bikes have been key this year for zombies to increase their efficiency in tagging tactics. The game began on Sunday, April 10 at 5 p.m., and Herr said on Monday afternoon, 55 humans had already been tagged. Rock loved his role as patient zero, saying, “Being patient zero is great. It’s such a treat to play tag in a better form than when we were kids.” Throughout the week, as more zombies were tagged, the stakes for the human teams

grew. Each team had its own GroupMe chat to communicate and strategize against the zombies. Herr said one of the most difficult parts of organizing the game was keeping up with all the kills. He had to remove each human and add them to the zombie group chat every time someone was tagged. “It’s not a very big operation…just me and my phone,” Herr says. He also devised different tasks throughout the week as the number of humans decreased to create opportunities for immunity. For example, on Monday Herr said “Today I’ll be at Summit at 10:30. If anyone comes and answers three questions correctly, the first one from each team will get an immunity band.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

News

Spring Convocation Honors High Achieving Students

The Convocation Ceremony in Duke Family Performance Hall this past Thursday. Photos by Bailey Maierson ‘25.

SOHAN GADE‘23 (HE/HIM) STAFF WRITER On Thursday, April 14th, 2022, dressed up in their cap and gowns, graduating seniors filed into the Duke Family Performance Hall for the Spring Convocation Ceremony. The Ceremony was a presentation of athletic, academic, and leadership awards recognizing student achievements from this year. Due to the pandemic, the last in-person convocation ceremony took place in 2019, when the current graduating seniors were newly-arrived, first-year students. Seniors expressed their excitement for the in-person event. Helen Zhang ‘22, who received the William Gatewood Workman Psychology award, expressed her gratitude to the department and for the event. “I really liked the in-person convocation. It was great seeing the smile on everyone’s faces

and other students’ accomplishments [...] It was a huge honor to receive an award from the psychology department to recognize my four years of hard work. I have learned a lot from my phenomenal professor and brilliant peers, and I can’t wait to see what we will all accomplish outside of Davidson,” said Zhang. The ceremony began with an invocation from ChiChi Odo ‘22 and Class President John Billups ‘22. Billups discussed his class’ unity and competitive spirit, referencing the ongoing Humans versus Zombies (HvZ) game. Also in attendance was Jared Herr’ 22, lead organizer for the game. Herr even implemented a three hour immunity period, freezing the game during the event. “Given the formal nature of convocation, it seemed best to keep the zombies away [during the event]. Organizing HvZ was an incredible amount of work, but worth every second to see the way the student body enjoyed it. For it to have even gotten a mention at convocation really made me smile,” said Herr.

Following Billups’ address, President Carol Quillen spoke about how the event was her final Convocation ceremony as College President. Dean Byron McCrae followed with a presentation of the leadership and service awards. The Ben Callinder Award was presented to former SGA President, Brandon Harris’ 22, for his long standing background in community service and advocacy. Not all of the awards were given to the graduating seniors; some awards were given to sophomores and juniors. Claire Hendrix ‘23 received the James Baker Woods III Award for her service in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. She expressed her gratitude toward her classmates and the program. “It felt really rewarding. We all work so hard and it felt nice to be recognized for all the hard work we put in,” said Hendrix. Athletic Director, Chris Clunie ‘06, proceeded with athletic awards. The Tommy Peters Award, recognizing a male athlete,

went to Davidson Basketball’s star and current Atlantic-10 player of the year, Luka Brajkovic ’22 for his leadership record on and off the court. The Rebecca E. Stimson Award, recognizing a female athlete, went to swimmer Siena Senn ‘22, two-time conference champion for the 500 free, for her athletic and academic achievements. Dean Phillip Jefferson then began the academic portion of the awards ceremony. Each academic department gave out an award, generally to graduating seniors, to recognize their accomplishments. Brandon Harris’ 22 and Samantha Ewing ‘23 presented the SGA faculty awards. Concluding the event, College Chaplain Rev. Robert Spach led a benediction to pass on his blessings to the graduating class. Concluding the event, College Chaplain Rev. Robert Spach led a benediction to pass on his blessings to the graduating class.

43 Humans Survive Zombie Outbreak Unscathed

A Collage of the Humans vs. Zombies game that took place on campus this past week. Photos to the left by James Shakow. and the far right photo by Sydney Schertz ‘24

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Another student found his immunity band from underneath a Borat DVD in the library after Herr texted the clue “Borat” to the human group chats. There was also an immunity period from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday so that the humans could safely attend the Oops! Improv Comedy basketball game, as Herr, is a member of the troupe. Immunity opportunities

continued throughout the week as well as opportunities for the zombie team to advance. One of the rules of the game is that humans can not be tagged in buildings. Herr would then occasionally announce a “purge”— buildings were no longer safe and zombies had free reign. Human teams also had to complete specific tasks to safely advance to the next day of the game. One of the tasks involved pushing giant beach balls from the tennis

courts to Cunningham theater. Unfortunately, foul play was in the air; a few members of the zombie team found one of the beach balls and deflated it with car keys. Both sides utilized their creativity attempting and avoiding being tagged. The game concluded at the last minute on Thursday at midnight, with 43 humans winning by collecting the “zombie antidotes” and delivering them to Dr. Van Nostrand. Ultimately, Herr says he loves how the student

body has embraced the game. As Herr put away his Dr. Van Nostrand glasses and mustache, he ended on a hopeful note. “People want to have reasons to be fun and silly with their friends in the midst of all of this stress,” he said. “I love the unification this game has created and that all of these people have come together. It gives me hope for humanity.”

April 20, 2022

Are the Davidson Police on (High) Alert? to write a paper or do an educational project on alcohol abuse. There is no requirement to go to counseling, nor are their families contacted. A third alcohol offense results in a meeting with the Code of Responsibility council, not a suspension. If a student who is drinking underage calls for medical help, they are given amnesty. The student handbook explicitly states that “amnesty does not apply to behaviors other than consumption of alcohol,” meaning that a student who calls for medical help while using marijuana will face punishment from the college. The role of enforcing marijuana policies on a day to day basis falls mainly on student Resident Advisors (RAs). Current RAs are not allowed to speak to the Davidsonian about college policies, but according to former RA TJ Elliott ‘21, the RA’s job is “to report any suspicion of the use of marijuana in the dorms.” RAs are also told to look for drug paraphernalia during room checks. If an RA sees or smells marijuana, they are told to report it to their Area Coordinator (AC). “I personally haven’t had to deal with it, but I know the ACs would come in and sometimes campus police would come and handle the problem,” says Elliott. “From there, it’s out of the RA’s hands.” The pressure of getting caught using marijuana is especially high for student athletes, who face random drug testing. According to Chris Clunie, the Director of Athletics, drug testing is done “at a minimum of once a semester,” though the NCAA reserves the right to test at any time. The first time the Athletic Department finds a student to be using marijuana, they “handle

the violation in-house,” says Clunie. The Dean of Students office is not notified until the second offense. Athletic eligibility is not impacted until the third offense, which leads to a 50% suspension for competition. All scholar-athletes caught with marijuana are required to go to counseling. Policy towards marijuana use for athletes has been recently amended to be more relaxed. “We’ve had some good conversations with scholar athletes and faculty and staff specifically surrounding marijuana,” says Clunie. “We’re trying to come at it from more of a partnership and support perspective as opposed to hey, we’re trying to bring the hammer down.” The school’s policy towards drugs in athletics differs from the NCAA’s. “With the NCAA, it’s one and done. Doesn’t matter what it is, you lose a whole year,” Clunie disclosed. Policies regarding marijuana use in athletics are significantly less strict than those for other drugs. Use of any other drug leads to an automatic referral to the dean, as well as a 10% suspension for the first offense and 50% for the second. It is not abundantly clear who is in charge of enforcing marijuana policies, or how consistently they are enforced. It is also not clear why the consequences for marijuana differ from the consequences for underage drinking, both of which are illegal. As marijuana use becomes increasingly more common, as new legislation is introduced both at the state and national level, Davidson will have to reassess their current marijuana policies and how they are enforced: and the impact both of those things will have on students

The Davidsonian is currently recruiting new writers to join its staff! Email brmccarthy@davidson.edu or kastewart@ davidson.edu for more information.

The

Davidsonian Editors-in-Chief News Editors Features Editor Senior Political Correspondent Perspectives Editor Arts and Culture Editor Sports Editor Living Davidson Editor Yowl Editors Photographer Web Editor Cartoonist Multimedia Editor Social Media Manager Business Manager Design Editors Copy Editor

Staff

Brigid McCarthy ‘25, Katie Stewart ‘23 Anika Banerjee ‘24, Georgia Hall ‘25 Samantha Ewing ‘23 Ian Macel ‘24, Bilal Razzak ‘25 David Sowinski ‘25 Campbell Walker ‘25 Andrew ElKadi ‘23, Varun Maheshwari ‘23 Nora Klein ‘24 Emma Begley-Collier ‘25, Josie Hovis ‘23 Bailey Maierson ‘25, Sydney Schertz ‘24 Ben Gordon-Sniffen ‘23 Richard Farrell ‘22 Bailey Maierson ‘25 Sahana Athreya ‘25, Hailey Tsuda ‘24 Landon Schabes ‘22 Isabelle Easter ‘25, Bailey Maierson ‘25 Anaya Patel ‘25

Crime Log

SEPTEMBER 23 Attendance

SAMANTHA EWING ‘23 SGA CORRESPONDENT

55%

15 27

ABSENT UNEXCUSED: Hanting Wang ‘22, Ben Santiago ‘22, Jess Villiger ‘22, Collin McGuirt ‘23, Rojina Kheimehdooz ‘23, Erin Martin ‘23, Atticus Hickman ‘23, Shreya Sharma ‘24, Tess Finke ‘24, Cali Koerner ‘24, Sarah Willoughby ‘25

Agenda

Takeaways

EXCUSED/LATE: Alex Koskoski ‘23, Saffron March ‘25, Harrison Grooms ‘25 Meeting called to order at 8:02 Elliott Polin ‘22 came as a guest speaker for Q&A Discussed concerns about the name of the new football feild: may increase jokes among both Davidson students and visiting students at the expense of the queer community Spoke about controversy within Fellowship of Christian Athletes(FCA) about queer leadership within the club Asked for SGA’s help addressing the housing form which only includes male, female, and transgender gender identifications Shawn An ‘24 was sworn in Jereme Corbin ‘23 reviewed the purpose of each comittee Changed individual committee meeting time into a group forum given the low attendance Senators shared ideas for each committee Anaya Patel ‘25 announced that PCC house 12 will become a PASA/OLAS space Charters for the Sustainability Collective, Entrepreneurship Club, Davidson Dharma, and Minds Do Matter were passed Israel Palencia ‘23 announced that conversations about reversing the dining dollar restriction to food-itmes only are ongoing

1. Guest Speaker 2. Comittee Work 3. Potential Projects 4. Charters

Time Reported

Description/Location

Consumption 04/02/2022 at 0035 Underage (non-student) hrs Warner, Citation/Banned from Campus

04/02/2022 at 2032 Vandalism/Larceny Misdemeanor (Letters) hrs Flowe, Inactive 04/02/2022 at 2230 Larceny Misdemeanor (Stop Sign) hrs Ridge Road/Patterson Court, Inactive

04/09/2022 at 1430 Larceny Felony (Bicycle) Belk, Further Investigation hrs Consumption/ 04/09/2022 at 2338 Underage Simple Assault hrs

Davis, Citation for Underage Consumption/ Prosecution Declined for Simple Assault

04/10/2022 at at 1747 Extortion/Blackmail Knox, Inactive hrs 04/11/2022 hrs

at 1130 Larceny Misdemeanor (Bicycle)

Belk, Inactive

Perspectives

An Open Letter on Campus Sustainability A Moment of Reflection This Earth Day BROOKE WHITCOMB ‘22 (SHE/HER) Dear Future President of Davidson College, Thank you for your commitment to our school. Over the coming year, you will be laying out your positions on major issues relevant to the school’s needs and our collective future. I am writing to argue that one of your top priorities as a president should be the sustainability of Davidson College. I have worked for the sustainability office for three years of my college career. In my role, I play a heavy part in our greenhouse gas emissions reporting and have a front-row seat to the progress the school is making on its commitment to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. We, the student body, are deeply concerned about our future. Climate change is the greatest challenge that our generation faces. Our focus at school is education and our development as global citizens. Your focus as our decision-maker is to take responsibility to be a leader in solving the climate crisis. The primary purpose of Davidson College is “to assist students in developing humane instincts and disciplined and creative minds for lives of leadership and service.” This purpose is reflected in our residential community and our liberal arts education. What we learn and see at Davidson translates into what we create in the world outside the campus. Disappointingly, Davidson does not present itself as a sustainable college. This translates into the way students view their own sustainability values and goals. Without a concerted effort by the school to eliminate waste and bring down carbon emissions, students who value sustainability feel like these issues are an uphill battle. There is

a disconnect between their values and the school’s operational practices. We learn ways of knowing to interpret the world and ourselves -- sustainability as a lens should be a way of knowing. The onus should not be on students to push forward Davidson’s reputation as a sustainable school. It should be a directed school effort to present itself as a place where sustainability is a central focus. I implore you to read our Climate Action Plan carefully. Reporting is fundamental to maintaining goals. As the adage goes, what gets measured gets managed, and when done well, reporting helps Davidson achieve benchmarks towards clear goals. Davidson College made its commitment to carbon neutrality in 2008. Above is a snapshot of our net emissions. A serious consideration for the school is how it plans to expand. Note three spikes in our net emissions. These are related to the years in which we added buildings to our campus. The school has plans to expand, including a new football stadium. The administration should have considered the environmental footprint of this project before agreeing to build. This should be a consideration every time the school makes plans to expand. Our ability to achieve efficiencies in our energy consumption, replace carbon-emitting energy with carbon-neutral renewable energy, and adopt higher emission standards for ourselves as our campus grows will bring us to carbon neutrality. Finally, I want to say my impression of the college’s the attitude towards sustainability goals is auxiliary and viewed as an aside rather than a centrally focused initiative. Sustainability as a community on campus is mainly underground and disparate. Because there is no central effort to rally around, studentled ambitions for fighting climate change and bringing awareness to sustainability efforts are

Trajectory of Carbon Emissions. Photo courtesy of Brooke Whitcomb. stifled by the short time we have on campus and our other commitments to our education and student activities. This year, SGA and the sustainability collective are starting a Green Fund to use student-controlled money for projects related to improving the school’s sustainability. A similar effort was started in 2019 but lost traction after the pandemic. In my first year, I started a composting project in our dining hall, and while talking to administrators and older students, I found out that someone a few years back had tried to do the same thing and failed. There is a pattern of trying and failing, and institutional knowledge doesn’t pass between generations of students on this subject. We come to Davidson hoping to make a difference. We can not keep this cycle of trying the same idea over and over only to have it lose steam. If we had administrative support to keep

projects like the Green Fund alive year-toyear and let students push it along in small ways, we could start a movement. If changes only come from students, we will fail -- it’s on you. There is no reason that Davidson College should not be a leading institution in mitigating climate change. As an alumnus, I want to be proud of my institution. I expect to see great changes come from you and the school in the following years. Best, Brooke Whitcomb, Class of ‘22 Brooke Whitcomb (she/her) is an economics major and computer science minor from Menlo Park, CA. Brooke can be reached for comment at brwhitcomb@davidson.edu.

A Disconcerting Trend in the Administration SAMANTHA EWING ‘23 (SHE/HER) PERSPECTIVES COLUMNIST

s Davidson students, we all know well by now what happened. At the beginning of March, members of PPGA wrote an article detailing how they requested information on how to add dining dollar functionality to Wellness Wendy—this idea in practice would have increased the accessibility of sexual wellness products for Davidson students. However, they were turned down with the argument that dining dollars should be used exclusively for food items. When they responded that non-food items were available to be purchased with dining dollars in other parts of campus, Auxiliary Services threatened to exclude non-food items from dining dollar usage. Less than a month later, an announcement was made through the Davidson College Dining Services Instagram that they had carried out the threat. The writers from PPGA already did a thorough job of discussing why the school’s attitude towards the accessibility of sexual wellness products was upsetting in their earlier article. In addition to their insight, there are other aspects of the decision that I found troubling, one of them being the timing and manner in which the dining dollars announcement was made. First, the decision was made public at the end of March—about ten weeks into a sixteen-week semester. If the school is going to make a decision that so drastically affects how students are able to pay for resources on campus, it should at the very least allow for

ample time before students select their meal plans. With the restriction going into effect mid-semester, students were stuck with meal plans they had chosen under a different set of expectations for how their money would be able to be used. While most major decisions from the school are announced through emails to the entire student body, one peculiar aspect of this decision is that it was announced through a social media page. It’s worth thinking critically about why this was the chosen form of communication for such a critical announcement. The dissemination of information through a Davidson-affiliated social media page created a nuanced effect that left students wondering where the decision came from. In fact, were it not for PPGA’s earlier Perspectives article, we would have no idea who was responsible for the decision at all; I, along with many other students, was left confused about who to discuss my concerns about the decision with. I think this method of communication begs the question if the decision was intended to fly below the radar to minimize backlash from the student body. There is also no way to monitor or ensure how many Davidson students follow the school’s social media pages—why would the school not have chosen a more universal method to communicate a decision that would impact the majority of Davidson students? Currently, the Instagram announcement is deleted or archived from the page, leaving no documentation of the mid-semester decision. This dining dollars decision was far from the first announcement impacting student life

to be made with little to no input from the students. With the exception of the few students who were corresponding with Auxiliary Services, most of us had no idea such a change was being considered at all. Students should have, at the very least, been informed that restricting dining dollar access was being discussed. Between the inconsistent COVID policy announcements throughout the pandemic and the sudden delayed arrival to campus earlier this semester, the school has displayed a dangerous pattern of silencing student voices in decisions that impact us the most. As I wrote in my article about our delayed return earlier this semester, the college shouldn’t have the universal, unpredictable prerogative to change major aspects of students’ lives at a moment’s notice. Lastly, the school’s approach in responding to PPGA’s request has set an ominous precedent. What message does it send to students trying to communicate their needs and priorities when they are met with threats? In general, the school should meet student concerns with more kindness and understanding—regardless of whether or not Auxiliary Services ultimately saw fit to instill dining dollar functionality to the machine, the correspondence should never have resulted in a punishment for students voicing their needs. For a school that prides itself on its liberal arts education that challenges students to think critically, I am unsettled by the mixed signals the college sends when it tries so overtly to stifle student voices. I have been very glad to see that there have been petitions to reverse the decision—I know

from my personal involvement that SGA is working to discuss solutions with the administration and that there are many other groups of students reaching out to advocate for their needs. It gives me hope that despite the administration’s consistent lack of effort to consider student needs, that Davidson students continue to make their voices heard. According to an article about the decision published by the Davidsonian Editorial staff, it seems that the Center for Student Health and Well-being is working with PPGA to make sexual wellness resources more accessible to students. I believe this could be a step in the right direction, however, it does not negate the damage caused by the way PPGA’s request was handled. Davidson loves to advertise that its students are treated as members of the community rather than numbers. I’m frustrated and tired of seeing the student body treated with so little consideration and as though our voices don’t matter. Going forward, I hope the school re-evaluates and gives students the space to be informed and have a voice in decisions that impact our day-to-day lives with direct communication and thoughtful responses to our concerns. Samantha Ewing (she/her) is an English major and communications studies minor from Atlanta, GA. Samantha can be reached for comment at saewing@davidson.edu.

Sports

Men’s Tennis Sets Sights on A10 Tournament Success VICTOR TAYLOR ‘24 (HE/HIM) SPORTS WRITER

avidson Men’s Tennis is in the process of completing another successful season, one that will conclude in a likely top-4 finish in the Atlantic 10 for a 3rd consecutive year. With the team sporting a 6-11 record after playing a difficult schedule all spring, and a singular match to go in the regular season against conference foe George Mason, the team will face a quick turnaround to prepare for the A-10 Tennis Championships in Orlando starting Thursday, April 28th.

The team started out their season in almost the most difficult fashion possible, taking on a top 10 team in Wake Forest on the road. The final score was a 7-0 defeat, but a new look squad put up a good fight against multiple nationally ranked players and a team who finished second in the perennially powerful ACC. Even with the tough loss, multiple big non-conference wins followed, such as a 4-3 victory over DePaul, with Juancho Perez Gongora ‘25 clinching the win in a dominant second set tiebreak. Perez Gongora said of his clutch performance against the Blue Demons, “It was an incredible moment as a freshman and I was very lucky to be able to give the team the win. It was an extremely rewarding experience in my first season with this team.” The team followed that match up with a commanding 6-1 win over The Citadel the next weekend, dominating wire to wire. With most A-10 teams only playing a

handful of conference matches each year, Davidson knew it had to make the most of its two home matches against strong teams in Dayton and Richmond. VCU is normally the cream of the crop in the A-10, but these three teams compete hard every year for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots in the conference standings. The April 8th match against Dayton was a heartbreaker for the ‘Cats, as they were narrowly edged out by the Flyers 4-3. The doubles point came down to Court 3, where a 3-0 lead held by the freshman duo of Perez Gongora and Nico Pinzon ‘25 was flipped into a 6-4 loss. Davidson went down 3-1 in singles with some quick straight set losses, however Perez Gongora and Max Kachkarov ‘24 fought hard and won at Courts 4 and 3 to tie the match at 3. It came down to Court 5 and Sam Karavana ‘22, where a single break midway through the third set was the difference in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 decision. While the Dayton loss was a tough pill to swallow, Davidson still had to complete the weekend against Richmond two days later, which head coach Drew Barrett described as a “likely fight for third place in the conference.” The ‘Cats answered the call from an evenly-matched opponent, starting doubles strong. All three teams were in top form, and in the end, Alejandro Solares Midence ‘24 and Udday Singh ‘25 took Court 1 6-1, and Kachkarov and Will Clark ‘23 won at Court 2 6-2. With the doubles point in hand, Kachkarov won his match 6-2, 6-3

before the two seniors, Brooks Green ‘22 and Kavarana brought the huge 4-1 win home from Courts 5 and 6. Pinzon, who was teamed up with Gongora and dominating doubles on Court 3, said that “the Richmond match was circled on the calendar for the entire season” and “we kept the energy up all match and really took it to them in doubles and singles.” With the biggest part of the team’s season coming up, Singh described the excitement around the next two weeks. “We’re extremely pumped for another

conference match against George Mason. We’ve been training hard and the conference matches are the ones that matter the most. It should be another tough one this weekend and we’re hoping to come out on top” he said about the team’s trip to Fairfax this weekend. “I think we have a good chance to make it to the finals this year after our matches against Dayton and Richmond,” Singh predicted. If this comes true, the ‘Cats will have one of their most successful seasons in years.

Sam Kavarna ‘22 in action for the Wildcats this season. Photo courtesy of Tim Cowie; Davidson Sports and Information.

Senior Track Star Anna Davis and her Record Breaking Career HARRISON TURNER ‘22 SPORTS WRITER

his season has been one to remember for both of the men’s and women’s track and field teams. After the men took second place at the indoor championships in late February, the wom-

en have continued to break school records and achieve a top 4 finish in the A-10 in the 400m relay. Leading this effort has been senior captain Anna Davis who has had an incredible career over her four years at Davidson. Freshman year, Anna did not qualify for the Sunday final of the outdoor championship in the 400m hurdle, her signature event. Sophomore year,

the team was not able to compete due to covid. And now, after finishing second in the A-10 last year, Anna aims to take first in the outdoor championships in May. After her second place A-10 finish last year, Anna went on to compete in the NCAA Eastern Regional Qualifier, solidifying her status as a top national hurdler. She is the first woman to break 60 seconds in the

Anna Davis ‘22 jumps a hurdle during a race at High Point. Photo courtesy of Tim Cowie; Davidson Sports and Information.

400m hurdles in Davidson’s history, having since broken her own school record multiple times over. The improvement Anna has seen over her time at Davidson is a testament to her coaches and support, but most of all her incredible work ethic: “I’m so proud of how far this team has come in my time here at Davidson. Track has become such an important part of my life here and I am so thankful for my teammates and coaches for helping me get to where I am today. I am excited to see what we can do with the last few weeks left!” Consistent with success across the team this season, Anna has continued to bring in accolades throughout the year. Her two A-10 Track Performer of the Week awards over the last month along with her leading the indoor 4x400 relay team to school records this spring have proven Anna’s outstanding growth and leadership throughout her senior season. Her contribution to the program along with her personal growth by improving her times each year, month, and week during her time at Davidson continues to impress her teammates and students across campus. Anna currently holds the 60m hurdle, 100m hurdle, 400m hurdle individual school records along with the indoor and outdoor 4x400m relay team records. Anna looks to continue to represent the ‘Cats in the A-10 outdoor championships coming up in May at UMass Amherst and beyond in the NCAA prelims.

Arts and Culture

Battle of the Bands Champions: An Interview with Trophy Husband CAMPBELL WALKER ‘25 (SHE/HER) Arts and Culture editor Campbell Walker ‘25 interviews members of the band Trophy Husband: Emma Bruehrer ‘24, Cece Woo ‘24, and Kate Spencer ‘24. The Davidsonian: Can you introduce yourselves and your roles in the band? Emma Bruehrer: I’m Emma Bruehrer and I’m the vocalist for Trophy Husband. Cece Woo: I am Cece Woo and I’m on the electric guitar. Kate Spencer: I’m Kate and I’m on drumset. TD: How did you guys meet, and why did you decide to form a band? EB: Last semester, Cece and I were talking about forming a band when we were in Nummit. After talking for a while, we decided to reach out to other female musicians. I had heard through a friend that Kate plays the drums, but we didn’t really know each other personally. Then I heard that Josie [Hovis] plays bass, and so I reached out to her the same day. My roommate [Daisy Hoover] plays keyboard and had been in a band in high school, so she immediately wanted to be a part of it.

TD: How did you come up with the name “Trophy Husband”? CW: After we had found the members of the band, we were wasting time in Nummit once again, and we were running through band names. We put random words into a band name generator online. EB: I think we wanted to be kind of cheeky about being a non male band, since there wasn’t one on campus up to that point. CW: And you hear “trophy wife” a lot, and we wanted to own that. Later we were like, “Why not Trophy Husband?” We just really wanted it to be a name that was something that we could reclaim as non males and was empowering. We want it to be empowering for other gender minorities and females on campus. TD: What were your reactions to Battle of the Bands? EB: I was so overwhelmed, but in a good way. I was really nervous going into it because, to our knowledge, we were one of the newest bands on campus, and we’d never performed before. CW: Yeah, no one had ever heard us play. Other bands had done gigs before or had just been around for longer. Some people knew about

Trophy Husband’s lead vocalist Emma Bruehrer ‘24 and bassist Josie Hovis ‘24 performing at Battle of the Bands. Photo credit Joe Claire. us because our friends like to talk. They had never heard us play. EB: I definitely did not expect the amount of support that we got. It’s honestly been really crazy, and we’ve just been really grateful and encouraged by it. KS: The crowd was not how I could have ever imagined. It was so energetic. It was so fun and everyone was dancing. It was the most fun musical performance I’ve ever done. TD: Do you guys write your own songs or do you mostly perform covers? EB: Right now, we’re just doing covers. We’re all going abroad, but when we come back I’d like to write original songs. We’ve been focusing on a lot of songs written by other girl bands, but not really limiting ourselves to just that. We’ve played songs by The Strokes, Olivia Rodrigo, The Regrettes, and even Joanna and the Jets. We’ve got a really wide range, so we wanted to make sure we were playing music that we were individually obsessed with. TD: Do you have a favorite song to perform?

Trophy Husband performing for the Battle of the Bands audience. Photo Credit Joe Claire.

KS: Mine was “Celebrity Skin” by Hole. I had never really heard it before, but it’s actually

super badass. We all kind of went into the band leaning towards a lot of pop and indie music, but I think everyone ended up really loving playing rock music. EB: “Celebrity Skin” was awesome. Josie sang that, and she just killed it like on every level. CW: My favorite guitar was probably “Toxic” by Britney Spears. It was so fun to play, and it’s not super difficult. The fact that it’s so well known, and you just play that first chord and everyone recognizes it was really fun. EB: I think toxic was also my favorite. When we played it live, the crowd matched our energy, which was so cool to see. TD: Do you have anything upcoming? EB: We’re trying to play at Nummit in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully in the beginning of May or end of April we’re going to play on a Friday night. You can find Trophy Husband on instagram @ trophyhusband_theband. Campbell Walker ‘25 (she/her) is an intended neuroscience major from Dallas, TX. She can be reached for comment at cawalker1@ davidson.edu.

New & Noteworthy Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore April 15, 2022 The third in the Fantastic Beasts series, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, follows Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as they attempt to stop the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) from taking control of the wizarding world.

Freewheelin’ Woman, Jewel April 15, 2022 Singer-songwriter Jewel released her first album in seven years, featuring a soulful and groovy sound. The uplifting album incorporates welements of pop and R&B, showcasing her iconic voice.

The First Lady April 17, 2022 The First Lady drama depicts the lives of Michelle Obama (Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson), uncovering the impact of the first ladies’ personal and political lives.

Living Davidson Free Styling at Semester’s End 73 Kind of bacon Down 1 Erstwhile carrier once controlled by Howard Hughes 2 Pet doc 3 Some hang-ups 4 Exploits 5 Assembled 6 MPG rating group 7 “Maximum weight” unit 8 Say it isn’t so 9 Alpha opposite 10 Incoming flight info 11 Especially elegant 12 Horse not likely to win, place, or show 13 Quaint exclamation 18 Essential 22 Campaign word 24 Breakfast hrs. 25 Car horn sound 26 Domain 27 Abbr. in a bank window 28 One asked to show up 29 Ad bovine 32 Footnote abbr. 35 1983 Keaton comedy 37 Ankle-length dress 39 Adagio, for one 40 Blueblood 41 Creole vegetable 42 Sans ice or mixer 46 ___ Moines 47 Why should one take up crossword solving? 48 Poet Levertov 49 Alanis Morissette hit 50 Far from abundant 51 Basic gymnastics move 54 Boiling-blood feeling 56 Arrests 59 Ctrl, Alt and Delete

61 Former U.S. terr. 63 Simile’s middle 64 Papa 65 “___ Be Seeing You” 66 “Jazz Masters” org. 67 Classic diet cola brand

Answers:

Across 1 Commercial break 5 D.C. subway 10 Ancient Dead Sea land 14 “If I ___ you” 15 “I think that I shall never see / ___ lovely as ...”: Kilmer 16 Cast open? 17 Perfect ___ (achievement for a Sunday school pin) 19 “Battle Cry” actor ___ Ray 20 Cee follower 21 Store in a cask, say 23 Granite State sch. 24 Belittle 27 Test of importance 30 Sea, to Sartre 31 “We ___ Start the Fire” (Billy Joel hit) 33 Lyric lamentation 34 Appear (to be) 36 Roy G. ___ (rainbow mnemonic) 37 Banquet hosts, initially 38 Class follower? 43 Club ___ 44 Avery or Ritter 45 Barely managed 47 “Loose as a goose” or “talk turkey” 50 “___ I care!” 52 “Insecure” creator/star Issa 53 Assigned composition 55 Hurdles for atty.-wannabes 57 ___-cone 58 Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ ___ Prayer” 59 Craft shop buy 60 Discover 62 Kind of average 68 Govt. cultural org. 69 Op-ed piece 70 “Don’t hurt me,” for one 71 Adam’s apple spot 72 Curls up with a book

Crosswords by Victor Fleming ‘73

Last Time’s

Crossword

notes:

C A S S

O P E C

B E R E F T

L A U R I E

S T T O L O

L E A R

A S S U M U E R B S A T N A A R T A R R E C K

B O S C A C H O O N S I N V A B A P S N M O O N A D L I B S I N U D E N O S K L E O I N G O T E D S I N Y O T R A P Y E N T

H O T D O G

S E E S A W E D

I F T R L E S U N

H I T O R

S T S Y P X E A U R S E

L I N E A I L N S T E Y A R M O

O T E L L O

T H E I S T

R E I N

O S L O

Zayna Abuhakema edited for length and clarity. Q: It’s the day after the last show of the spring musical, The Addams Family. I have here with me Zayna Abuhakema, a wonderful human being, and a member of the ensemble. Zayna, do you want to introduce yourself with your class year and major? A: Hi! My name is Zayna and I’m a sophomore. I’m a physics major and a theatre minor.

SAHANA ATHREYA ‘25 (SHE/HER)

Q: How did it feel to be in the Addams Family?

We Are Wildcats is a human-interest column that aims to share the extraordinary within the ordinary at Davidson College and to showcase the inspiring things that make each and every Wildcat unique. If you wish to be featured or know someone whose story needs to be heard, please feel free to contact saathreya@davidson.edu! Stay tuned for future stories! This interview has been

A: It was a very rewarding experience. I haven’t been in a full-blown production since COVID. I’ve been in little things here and there, but not to this level. Being a STEM major, I spend a lot of time doing problem sets and don’t get to do a lot of arts-related things. So when I saw that there were auditions for The Addams Family and that I don’t have to be a theater major to do it, I decided to give it a

shot. It was such a fun time. The cast is absolutely incredible. I got to know each of them so well, and they’re all really close friends of mine now. I’m just really glad that I get to keep doing musical theater at Davidson and I can’t wait to be in more productions. Q: Have you been involved in other Davidson productions? A: I was in Unveiled and Unvarnished last year, which was a student-devised play about stories of discrimination and injustices on our campus and outside of our campus- just things that us as a student body wanted to highlight to our peers. Then this year, we started the Social Justice Theatre Troupe and we did something similar, but we ended up working with a Davidson alum, who wrote a play based on our experiences here. Q: Coming back to The Addams Family, what was the best part about the show and the rehearsal process?

A: The best part about the show was how all the elements kind of came together. It was crazy to see how we started in Room 100 in Cunningham, just learning choreography, not having costumes or design elements or lighting or anything like that. And then once we got into the Duke Family Performance Hall, we started to add those elements in order one by one and it was just amazing how well everything worked together. The department here is just amazing in general, so seeing it all come together was really rewarding. Q: How do you feel now that the show is over? A: It’s bittersweet. People ask me this question a lot, because I have more “free time” now. So that’s good. There are no rehearsals every night anymore, but honestly, I miss it. I see the people in the cast all the time, but I don’t see them every day anymore. I’m excited to be in another show soon.

The

Yowl

Irreverent student journalism since 2004. Castigat Ridendo Mores.

inside

yowl.com/blazeit

PSA! Please Slap Worm Out of Bird’s Mouth on No Meat Mondays Page Birds of Pray

April 20, 2022

Does “Herbs and Spices” Station Imply Herbs and Spices Are Not Used in Other Commons Stations? Page Saffron Everything

College 101

forgot about pollen. For two years, my mask protected me from more than just COVID. It kept angry particles of pollen from stuffing up my nose and coating my throat in mucus. For two years, I lived in ignorant bliss. But alas, that positive externality has now come to a close. I have no more tissues and am too lazy to buy more, so for substitute tissues, I’ve broken into the many rolls of toilet paper that my dad insisted on packing for my dorm room back in August. He used these few conversation ending arguments to force my agreement: 1) “You don’t wanna be usin’ that wimpy 1-ply shit to wipe your ass for two whole semesters, do you?” (And frankly, he was right. I am too bougee for 1-ply toilet paper, but once again, my lazy ass never thinks to bring toilet paper with me to the bathroom.) 2) “There’s plenty of room in the car. If we get there and you have no space in the dorm, I’ll just take it back home.” (Yeah right, I should have known better. There was no way he was ever going to bring toilet paper all the way back home.) 3) “We have so damn much at home from the early days of COVID when we

“You Are Hot But That Table is Hotter”: Pickup Lines to Sit With Someone at The Shady Nummit Table Page SPF Sexy

single-handedly caused the toilet paper shortage at our local Walmart, so you might as well help us go through it.” (Sorry shoppers. I come from a family of disaster-prepping horders.) 4) “Just shut up, and take the damn rolls.” (Can’t argue with that one.) So naturally, I ended up with sixteen rolls of toilet paper under my bed that I did not touch for seven months. And then the mask mandate lifted, and everyone—not exaggerating, every single one of my hallmates contracted some sort of cold or flu virus—suddenly needed tissues, including my sorry ass who went through all his tissues way back in the days of SPE virus. But one sick hallmate had a revolutionary idea: if tissues are just soft paper to wipe your nose and toilet paper is just soft paper to wipe your ass, why can’t toilet paper wipe your nose too?

Penultimate (Maybe?) Issue

Extreme Sport: Writing a Paper While Nummit Blasts The B-52s “Love Shack” on 85% Volume Page In this Essay I Will Boogie

Squishmellows Commodifying the Urge to Squeeze Infants Page SIDS

How Well do You Know Us?

he Davidsonian is currently looking for a new Yowl editor for the future. As I am sure you all know, knowledge of the Yowl’s rich history is a major pillar of the Yowl institution. Therefore, for this first round of screening, we are publishing a quiz of the Yowl’s history. Bring your score to one of the Yowl editors and see how you fare. 1. Who was the Yowl’s founder? A. Josie Hovis B. Mallorie Hudson C. Woodrow Wilson D. Carl Quilen E. Asher (Ash) Hull, Class of 1840 Answer: Ash Hull. Empirically funny name, he was bullied into the position. Villain origin story, as they say.

2. What year was the Yowl founded? A. 112 BCE B. 1837 C. 1836 D. 2004 E. 1920 Answer: 1836. The Yowl was actually so successful that they contributed a massive sum of money to the founding of Davidson. This date is widely known and instead 1920 is a common answer, because the Yowl saw a massive resurgence during prohibition when folks had to get their euphoric joy.

3. When did the Yowl win its first Pulitzer Prize? A. The Yowl has never won a Pulitzer Prize B. 1917-- The first award ever awarded! C. It was actually a Nobel Prize. In fact, Alfred Nobel described the Yowl as “in the field of literature, [producing] the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction.” D. None of the above. Answer: The Yowl never accepted its Pulitzer in an act of protest against the hierarchicalizing of literature. This subversive act landed the Yowl its Nobel Peace Prize. 4. What is the most frequent article topic in the Yowl? A. Commons. B. Eating houses. C. COVID D. Webtree Answer: COVID. But not the COVID-19, another influenza virus, H1N1 influenza A virus. The 1918 Influenza was comedic gold well into the 1920s (also due to prohibition). In fact, most of our COVID content has been copy and pasted right from the 1918 archives! We just command+find the word “bathtub gin” and enter in “borge punch.” The Vietnam war is a close second, but that was when the Yowl page was replaced with a giant ad to join the army for a decade, paid for personally by Nixon.

Housing to be Based on How Good of a Person You Are

nce again, the housing lottery is in full swing, with all of us having to completely restructure our evenings in order to make sure we are ready to go at exactly 6:53pm or whatever time you were assigned. These one-minute increments can be hard to translate into “Good Time/Bad Time,” but suffice it to say, if you’re logging on after 7:15, that’s a Bad Time. If you’re out here bemoaning your luck, and listing off the many ways in which you enrich this campus community and therefore deserve a better time slot, we’ve devised an impartial and fair way to determine what your actual worth is and, based on that, what housing lottery time you Deserve.

How Good of a Person Are You? 1) You finish your borg at Battle of the Bands during Frolics. The theme was “1944: Battle of the Borg” (see graphic). Clever title, but, frankly, we don’t give a shit about the name, we care about what you do. Do you: a) Throw it away. b) Pass it off to a friend. You’re too drunk to deal with it. c) Use it as a piss jar for the rest of the night. d) Leave it on a Commons table for some-

The

Yowl

one else to clean up, presumably an employee who does not get paid enough to deal with your garbage. 2) You want your significant other to sleep over, but you live in a double. Do you: a) Wait for a night when your roommate is out of town. b) Sexile your roommate for a couple hours that night. c) Seduce your roommate so you can kill two birds with one stone and also megabed every night. d) Although it’s shocking you even have a significant other, you have them sleep over nearly every night despite the fact that your roommate is right there across the room. 3) Your professor is having trouble working the projector in a Chambers classroom. You’re not a tech wiz. Do you: a) You’ve got T&I on speed dial. You know they’ll be there in a jiffy. b) You know some things about computers, but you don’t think you can figure it out and decide to just sit there. c) While the class is held up with the tech issue, you’re just on Yik Yak, flaming some

WRITERS Love Shack! Emma BCE (PC Version) JoJo Squeeze

wrestlers. d) You start doing impressions of your old professor. He’s so old! It’s hilarious. 4) Nummit is out of bagels on a Wednesday morning (not surprising). How do you react? a) You weren’t even at Nummit–you don’t have any dining dollars left to spare, and you’re also hoping to donate a swipe to Lula Bell’s at the end of the semester, so you’ve got to be smart about food on campus. Yay for imposed food scarcity making some of us martyrs! b) You sigh and head back to your table to drink some iced “wood chip flavor” coffee. c) You figure that the emotional damage done by the loss of bagel in your morning is equal to about a strawberry galette– you grab your due and leave. d) You’re such a dick to whatever poor queer-coded baby bi employee they have at the front of the house that day that their

faerie-inspired eye makeup runs. What the fuck!? Key: If you answered mostly As, you are about as good of a community member (or goody-two-shoes) as any Davidson brochure could hope for. You get the prime 6:01 pm spot! If you answered mostly Bs, you’re generally alright. Like a solidly average comms or art history major that can tell a half-witty anecdote at a party. Not bad! You get 6:34 pm. If you answered mostly Cs, you’re a wise guy. Pretty funny when you want to be, but you are also kind of a flake. People hang out with you but don’t trust you. You get 6:59 pm. If you answered mostly Ds, you’re probably a piece of shit. 7:35 pm!

I recently ran into a friend who asked “What is the theme of the Yowl this week?” Admittedly, we haven’t thought about a Yowl theme in a while. But as they say, never show your flaws or be vulnerable to your friends, so I was quick with a response on the Yowl’s endeavor on the post truth, post-modern, no theme era. So for all of you committed enough to the Yowl to read The Box, as far as you know, the Yowl is experimenting with avuntuh-gaurd, anti-catagoricalicalizing, anti-boxicifying atmissfear.

Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian. Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.