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Eliza Patterson ‘22 reports on alcohol related EMS transports
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Volume 114, Issue 21
April 17, 2019
Ricardo Pinnock ‘22 and Phoebe Son Oh ‘22 call for support of Africana majors
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Lucas Weals ‘19 reviews legendary jazz musician Pat Metheny
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Emma Brentjens ‘21 profiles new Social Media Manager Jared Misner
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Africana Studies Department at Crossroads after Faculty Turnover JONATHAN LEE ‘20 SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Left to right: Dr. Devyn Spence Benson, Africana major Jade Polly ‘19, and Dr. Garry Bertholf pose at convocation. Photo courtesy of Jade Polly ‘19.
Nearing its fifth anniversary at Davidson, the Africana Studies Department is in a state of flux. While maintaining strong student interest, the department will find itself short-staffed next year according to some majors, prospective majors, and Africana faculty. They also question the long-term future of the department and whether, without more hires, it can sufficiently provide for student needs and interests. In the past academic year, six professors switched from core to affiliate status. Core faculty in Africana have voting privileges within the department and are obligated to be major and honors thesis advisors. Beginning next fall, department chair Dr. Devyn Spence Benson and two affiliate professors will be taking leaves of absence due to sabbaticals and other teaching obligations; a core Africana professor, Dr. Garry Bertholf, will leave Davidson entirely after this semester and another core member will leave the year after next. These departures have caused some majors to perceive the department as unstable. The history of department chair turnover adds to this picture. This turnover began with the departure of founding chair Dr. Tracey Hucks, who accepted the position of Provost at Colgate College in 2017. The department has been led by three different chairs in the past three academic years: Hucks, Dr. Caroline Fache, and most recently, Benson. Hucks came to Davidson in 2014 and served as the inaugural chair of Africana Studies, helping hire multiple core faculty, including Bertholf. Hucks “is the mother of Africana Studies at Davidson and sparked a movement in academia at the college,” said Daric McKinney ‘19 via email, who added: “Personally, Dr. Hucks was one of the reasons I came to Davidson.” Despite her impact on the Davidson community,
being offered Provost at her alma mater of Colgate “[was] a difficult thing to say no to for anybody,” according to President Carol Quillen. Benson, who chaired while on sabbatical this year, will not teach next year either. Instead, she will be writing and conducting research for her book project on Black Consciousness in Cuba, which is funded by a prestigious fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Though Benson will not teach nor have departmental duties, she will remain in Davidson and continue to advise students. The administration will choose a temporary chair to serve in her stead from the pool of current departmental faculty. Benson will continue teaching in the 2020-2021 school year, at which point she will also finish her time as chair. Six core Africana faculty have moved to affiliate status in the past year. In the summer before the 20182019 school year, Dr. Gerardo Marti (Professor and Chair of Sociology), Dr. Daniel Aldridge (Professor of History), and Dr. Joseph Ewoodzie (Assistant Professor of Sociology), moved from core to affiliate faculty. Before spring break this year, three more professors did the same: Dr. Hilton Kelly (Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies/Associate Professor & Chair of Educational Studies), Dr. Laurian Bowles (Chair & Associate Professor of Anthropology), and Fache (Chair & Associate Professor of French & Francophone Studies). While core faculty typically commit to teaching courses annually in the department, affiliated faculty can offer cross-listed courses that count for major credit, but are not required to do so regularly. Benson stressed that “affiliate faculty remain committed to Africana Studies. They will continue to teach the
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Examining Sustainability in Davidson’s Food Offerings JULIA KNOERR ‘21 SENIOR STAFF WRITER Often a food’s journey from field to Commons tray escapes students’ daily concerns in their trek to the salad bar or grill, leading to bowls of spinach and half-eaten burgers on the tray drop. Outlining food procurement, Dee Phillips, Director of Dining Services, and Craig Mombert, Executive Chef, noted that Vail Commons, Davis Café, and Wildcat Den share sourcing and production processes. Phillips revealed, “U.S. [Foods] is our food distributor, and they provide us with over 90% [of products].” Davidson participates in a group purchasing organization with other colleges, increasing purchasing power and maintaining cost. Mombert creates the Commons menu and purchasing list. Beyond U.S. Foods, Davidson also receives produce lists from Foster-Caviness and Sawyer Farms, which tend to source products from the Greensboro and South Carolina areas. However, they offer limited supplies of local and organic products, and Davidson’s high volume demand presents challenges. Similarly, geographic location also prohibits offering solely local, seasonal produce while fulfilling students’ desires for variety. Though schools in port cities or ideal weather conditions may offer greater variety, Davidson’s limited growing seasons and low regional demand for organic products often make them infeasible. Furthermore, Phillips commented on insurance limitations, stating, “In order for us to purchase from any provider, they have to carry a minimum of $1 million of liability insurance.” Many smaller farmers cannot afford to carry necessarily large policies to address risk of foodborne illnesses.
Patterson Court Council organizations, additional food providers on campus, plan and source meals independently. Debra Thompson, Turner House’s chef, orders large quantities from U.S. Foods and relies on Walmart for produce and BJ’s Wholesale Club for other items. Approximately 50% of offerings are pre-packaged. Comparatively, Brendan Krebs, the chef for Rusk, Kappa Alpha Order, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Phi Gamma Delta houses, purchases products through Sysco. Seasonal produce originates within 300 miles, while many meat products are also local. Specialty items come from Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. However, Krebs finds organic products cost prohibitive. To address limitations, students and faculty presented a number of strategies. Yancey Fouché, Director of Sustainability, discussed food hubs as an option for engaging local farmers while addressing high demand and offering larger insurance policies. Dr. Fuji Lozada, Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies, weighed food hubs’ feasibility, remarking they “are more able to provide the reliability that restaurants and Vail [Commons] need because they’re bringing in multiple farms.” However, he believes they would not be economically viable. Fouché noted, “[whether] are we willing to invest in this relative to other priorities on campus is an important question.” Adde Sharp ’20 also observed the need to adjust student and staff mindsets. Partnering with Barbee Farms, for instance, might necessitate limited supplies, but she sees such measures as better than none. Because the term “sustainability” encompasses environmental, economic and social practices, balancing priorities can prove challenging. Labeling often appears arbitrary; for instance, the Davidson College Farm is not certified organic
because of crop spacing, though it uses organic practices. Consequently, Environmental Studies major Lexi Wombwell ’20 advocates for knowing the farmer and visiting the farm rather than potentially misleading parameters. While farm lists would allow for informed decision-making, U.S. Foods does not specify source information. Dietician Elizabeth Allred further indicated difficulties to increasing source labeling, as the Commons menu constantly evolves, and all labels are handwritten. Such a system might be more feasible in the Café and the Den due to their static menus. Furthermore, economic concerns often counter environmental sustainability. Wombwell argued, “Research needs to be done on how to move away from U.S. Foods without increasing price, because food insecurity is a big problem on campus (which is why we started Lula Bell’s).” In fact, past students have conducted relevant research. Alumna Jennifer Burns ’10 focused her thesis on a cost-benefit analysis of moving towards a more sustainable food system at Davidson. She shared, “I found that the benefits far outweighed the monetary costs.” Sustainable food systems allow universities to become thought leaders, compete against peers, support local communities, and provide healthier food for students. Berns elaborated, “Our food system is extremely efficient, which makes for some really cheap food, but a lot of those costs aren’t actualized in the price tag.” Similarly, Lozada highlighted the industrial food system’s hidden costs that may not appear in prices. Attempting to act on such concerns, the Davidson College Farm serves as a platform for local sourcing. Farm Manager Theresa Allen shared that initially, “The goal of the farm was
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News
2 A Closer Look at Food Distribution, Health just to be a local source of food, literally replacing U.S. Food boxes on the truck.” Beyond offering Commons produce, Allen has previously partnered with Summit Coffee and Rusk House. Yet Lozada indicated the farm’s small operating capacity has inhibited it from reliably meeting student demand. In order to grow production, Allen sees the need for increased labor. As Allen departs Davidson this year, Sharp observed, “Having a transition time right now at the farm is going to provide us an opportunity to expand the functions…hopefully in a way that engages the Davidson community and the student community in a much more interactive way.” Sharp and other students plan to participate in an independent study next fall to further evaluate the farm. Because Davidson is one of the four Duke Endowment schools, three of whom have farms, unique opportunities for collaboration and learning have also arisen. Sharp underscored the value of connecting students with growing practices to reduce waste and reflect on privilege. Beyond the
farm, the Davidson Community Garden grows produce for the Ada Jenkins food pantry and offers volunteer opportunities. Sharp emphasized, “The salad bar at Commons is a privilege. Whether it is regional or local or ethical, even just fresh produce is a privilege.” Awareness of food privilege directly connects with issues of food waste. Because Commons and Davis Café have scratch kitchens, Sharp noted their success in largely eliminating both pre-consumer waste and post-consumer waste through composting on certain days. Davidson’s in-house, rather than externally contracted, food services also enable more flexible sustainability practices. In contrast, Sharp ranks PCC organizations lowest in the campus sustainability hierarchy for both food and plastic waste. Thompson similarly commented on Turner’s food waste, suggesting leftovers replace Friday lunch. While Krebs sees less waste through accurate meal counts and successful leftover consumption, he suggests donating to local food pantries. Moreover, notable plastic waste arises in PCC organizations, Davis Café, and vending
machines. Sharp recommends implementing a container system similar to Commons’ Green Box program. Houses could consistently stock reusable containers and fine individuals if not returned, thus providing convenience while reducing packaging. Furthermore, changes within Dining Services create room for innovation and cultural change, including through a new incoming Head of Dining Services. Kristina Johnson ’10 urges food service leaders to push U.S. Foods to provide options that reflect student values or evaluate other providers. Both Fouché and Sharp contemplated alternative food options on campus. Sharp offered, “Having a…food offering that serves a radically different niche...but really could prioritize more local, regional, ethical [items], as well as more dietary concerns…I think would be so well received on campus.” Melanie McKenzie ’21 also supports academic engagement with food through courses such as her Food and Sustainability seminar last fall. Similarly, Wombwell suggested that because students have little choice over dining options, research and academic avenues are
more accessible than advocacy or boycotting for change. Berns pushed a holistic viewpoint to instigate cultural change: “Food is so interdisciplinary, so it’s a way that we can look at everything from insects, to public health, to competing against other elite schools for the best and the brightest in the country.” To differentiate Davidson from other top liberal arts colleges, values beyond academics play a crucial role. Past measures have included themed local lunches and a grass-fed hamburger at Davis Café; Commons will serve an Earth Month themed lunch on April 24th. Moving forward, Allen proposed bringing in more vendors during the on-campus farmers market, while Wombwell suggested incorporating new student organizations. Dr. Patrick Baron, Assistant Professor of Public Health, underscored, “We have a lot of important choices to make as consumers every day; I would argue none are more critical than how we eat when it comes to our own health, and the ways in which our choices impact the world around us, for better and for worse.”
Africana Studies Undergoes Transitional Period CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 same courses that they offered before. This change does not affect the curriculum.” Ewoodzie and Fache will leave on sabbatical for the upcoming school year. Benson assured that “the departments that [these] people were in are also hiring sabbatical replacements for them.” Assistant Professor of History Dr. Alice Wiemers, another affiliate faculty, will be on sabbatical in the spring. Students particularly emphasized the impact of Bertholf’s departure. He will leave Davidson at the end of this semester. He was awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Faculty Fellowship in the Humanities Unbounded Initiative at Duke University for the 2019-2020 academic year. In the fall of 2020, he will begin a tenure-track appointment as an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Wesleyan University. Ultimately, Davidson was unable to match the career and financial opportunities Wesleyan offered. “It’s definitely sad to see him go,” Oge Ibida ‘21 expressed. “He’s made such an impact on this campus. He’s influenced a lot of students to be interested in Africana […] It definitely hit me hard, and a lot of students [hard]. I wish Davidson tried their hardest to make him stay. I guess they don’t realize the influence he had.” Benson characterized his departure as “a devastating loss for Davidson.” Bertholf was a joint appointment between Africana and English, and Benson explained that “the administration has committed to hiring in that same line [as Bertholf].” She clarified, “we’re not doing that search immediately because so many people are going to be on sabbatical.” “Next year, Dr. [Brenda] Flanagan will cover many of Dr. Bertholf’s classes including African American Literature, World Literatures, and a Major Thinkers course on James Baldwin,” Benson mentioned. Flanagan is an affiliate member of the department. Though Bertholf’s departure partly demonstrates the “challenges that institutions face in retaining faculty of color,” Benson asserted, she maintained that “those things are typical and happen at a lot of different places.” She added that “talented professors routinely move around and leave institutions for personal and professional reasons—it is a part of the academic life.” Both Benson and Chair of the English Department Dr. Shireen Campbell “very strongly and adamantly petitioned the administration to do everything that they could [to retain Bertholf],” said Benson. “We knew how important he was to Africana Studies and English,” she emphasized. Africana faculty, such as Benson, affirmed the school’s dedication to the department, while also acknowledging the validity of these concerns: “The commitment to Africana Studies is there on the part of the faculty [and] the commitment is there on the part of the administration [but] I can understand and appreciate students’ concerns.” Benson described the department’s current status as experiencing the “typical growing pains” of a young program. Quillen clarified the administration’s role and reiterated its support: “these structural questions need to be addressed collaboratively by these amazing faculty […] I can’t tell them what the plan should be; I can tell them I will be supportive of their plan.” Due to upcoming changes in the administration, Bertholf
Africana Studies majors gather at Sankofa induction ceremony last year. Photo courtesy of Dr. Garry Bertholf. stressed that Africana is at a crossroads: “A huge part of the administration is leaving. The future of Africana Studies is bound up with who the new Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty is.” Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty Wendy Raymond will depart at the end of the school year to serve as the 16th President of Haverford College. Despite vocalized support on behalf of administrators, students still feel that the institutional structure does not support their academic needs. In a Perspectives piece on page four of this issue, Africana major Phoebe Son Oh ‘22 and prospective major Ricardo Pinnock ‘22 call for a greater commitment to Africana studies and propose a cluster hire of Africana faculty. Other Africana majors and prospective majors expressed similar concerns. “I’m very angry. I’m angry at the institution. I’m angry that there’s this lack of transparency with the students,” Ibida said, who added: “Voices aren’t heard.” “I’m questioning the financial commitment,” Uyen Nguyen ‘20 stated. Saidah Rahman ‘20 highlighted faculty turnover: “It’s one of the fastest growing majors on campus, but if they can’t retain professors, what does that really say about Davidson?” Jalin Jackson ‘19 placed some of the onus on the department’s faculty: “The faculty need to take some responsibility in terms of determining the direction of Africana.” Some prospective majors have reconsidered Africana recently. “I was pretty set on Africana, but... I’ve been thinking about it again with what’s been happening,” Ashley Ip ‘22 said. Bertholf stated that he “had a number of conversations with students who have either recently declared or who were thinking about declaring that probably won’t now.” A few weeks ago, concerned students formed an anonymous student group using the nom de plume James Baldwin to vocalize their concerns to faculty and administration, in part by circulating a manifesto. On Thursday, March 21st, Benson and Quillen met with Africana majors to answer questions and reassure them of the department’s stability and the administration’s support. A major concern for Africana students is advising. Professors who have switched from core to affiliate are no longer required to take on Africana advisees, though they are still able to. These are usually verbal agreements with professors. In an email, Benson informed majors that “the department recently had a meeting to think about how to re-assign Bertholf’s advisees. Even in doing so, the only person who has
more than seven major advisees next year is me [...] and as always, the goal will be to keep their advising number on par or below the rest of the college faculty.” She added that “next year, Drs. Harper-Shipman and Nneka Dennie will serve as major advisors (along with the department’s other faculty) for the first time. They were not able to serve this year because they were in their first year.” While anxiety amongst majors and potential majors is clear, steps have been taken to alleviate some of the strain on the department. Next year’s two core professors, Harper-Shipman and Dennie, were hired in 2018. Harper-Shipman, a political economist and tenure-track hire, is a “100% full line in Africana studies,” according to Benson. Dennie is currently in the first year of her position as Consortium for Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies. She will stay at Davidson through next year, before taking a tenure-track position in Washington and Lee’s History department. These two remaining core faculty, plus a to-be-determined Visiting Professor of Africana Studies, will teach most of next year’s core courses, in addition to leading the department and carrying out departmental tasks. Dennie detailed how the lack of faculty will affect her: “Next year, I’ll need to advise some Africana Studies majors and may advise honors theses where appropriate. These responsibilities were not in my original contract.” “However, because I’m going to be compensated for taking on additional responsibilities, I don’t think that advising is in excess of what I (or other junior faculty) should be expected to carry out,” she added. Bertholf asserted that “the administration can always be doing more,” and stressed “there are so many peer institutions who have committed themselves to the field by way of a cluster hire. I think moving forward, that’s probably the best thing.” According to Inside Hire Ed, cluster hiring involves “hiring multiple scholars into one or more departments based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests.” Dennie agreed about the need for new hires: “The administration needs to grant the Africana Studies Department additional tenure-track lines in order to meet student needs and sustain, if not grow, the major.” She also noted that “two tenure-track/tenured faculty are not sufficient to consistently offer the required and elective courses necessary to complete the major and attract new students.” Dennie concluded her comments to The Davidsonian by saying, “I trust that the future of Africana Studies at Davidson is secure for the next few years because I know that the chair, Dr. Benson, is doing everything in her power to help the department live up to its potential. For the department to have longevity, though, the Africana Studies faculty and the administration both need to commit to retaining faculty.” “At the faculty level, this means allowing the department to go in new directions and being open to change. At the administrative level, this entails supporting faculty, whether it’s through offering competitive salaries, providing adequate funding for research, or reducing the service demands on faculty of color, who are frequently expected to take on additional responsibilities to champion diversity and inclusion at the institution.”
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April 17, 2019
From Hall to Hospital: A Look at the Transport System ELIZA PATTERSON ‘22 STAFF WRITER
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ew people want to believe that they are going to be transported to the hospital for alcohol related reasons. Yet, since this past August, Campus Police reports that 28 calls have been made to them concerning the wellbeing of a drunk student, and 21 of those calls have resulted in a hospital transport in Mecklenburg county. Similarly, from August of 2018 to May of 2019, there were 29 calls, with 22 resulting in transports. For this reason, it is important for students to understand how the transport system works and the type of support the school provides. Most students on campus admit that they do not know exactly how or when a student gets transported. Claire Collver ‘20 stated, “I think somebody calls 911 if they have a really drunk friend, and then they go to the hospital in an ambulance. Then they have to pay a lot of money.” These sentiments — that students will automatically be transported if Campus Police are called, and that it is extremely expensive — are echoed by other students. Lindy Bustabad ‘21 remarked that after someone has called Campus Police, “I think regardless of [the student’s] condition, they have to be taken. I think students do what they can to avoid it, partly because it’s so expensive.” However, in contrast with student perceptions, the student transport process is not concretely defined. According to Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life, Jason Shaffer, “usually what happens is somebody in the community observes a person who they are worried about, and they reach out to someone on campus, typically someone in RLO or from Campus Police.” From there,
that representative from the college can decide that “they are not worried about that person” because they’re coherent and in control of their actions, or “if there is a question or concern, they can get somebody who has the right medical training to evaluate the situation.” Fire Department Chief Bo Fitzgerald ‘99 said that “once the ambulance arrives, the medic crew chief has the ultimate say so as to whether a patient needs to be transported or not.” Essentially, even if medical professionals are called, they may decide that a student is coherent and stable enough to refuse transport. The school then “waits to provide support to those students based on what those medical experts determine,” said Dean Shaffer. This is shown by the fact that of the 28 calls before mentioned, 7 of the students were considered sober enough to decide they did not want or need to be transported. However, Bustabad felt that “the transport team is called more frequently than necessary.” Henry Stockwell ‘19, agreed and stated that “over my four years I have seen transports that I don’t think were necessary, but I know it’s a really sticky situation, because you want to be cautious.” The school is not blind to the belief that some students are transported unnecessarily. Dean Shaffer says that it can be really hard to determine when transport is necessary, and that it’s possible “in the time it takes to get the student to the hospital, the student’s liver has metabolized more of the alcohol, and they may then be sober enough to make decisions about further medical treatment.” Campus Police Chief Todd Sigler added on to this, responding that the school “will err on the side on of caution every single time. I’m sorry that a student would incur the expense, I really am. But at the end of the day, it’s safety we are
Illustration by Richard Farrell ‘22 worried about.” As for the cost of the transport, Dean Shaffer commented that “insurance companies cover different amounts based on what treatments were provided. Different insurances will bill differently, so the reason students are confused is because there isn’t one set charge.” Students have expressed their desire to avoid being transported. Stockwell says, “I think we do a good job taking care of people who are too drunk. I guess I most often see that take the form of just staying with somebody instead of actually calling 911.” Collver agrees saying, “I know personally if there was any way to not go to the hospital, I would like to avoid it, and I feel like a lot of my friends would too.” However, students also agree that if they
have a friend who might be in real danger, they feel comfortable reaching out to the school for help. “I think that if anyone on campus saw that someone needed to be transported, they would get them transported,” Collver said. Additionally, Stockwell remarked, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody not transported who should have been.” In that sense, the transport system effectively takes care of Davidson students. Nevertheless, Dean Shaffer believes “the bigger question is, what is leading students to this dangerous behavior and how we, as a college, can address and reduce it.”
Crime Log Time Reported
APRIL 11TH
Attendance
Takeaways
Agenda
LIZZIE KANE ‘22 SGA CORRESPONDENT
1.Chartering 2.Idea Trek 3.Website 4. Kitchen Tools
4/8/19 at 1215 hrs
Larceny Misdemeanor
4/8/19 at 0900 hrs
2nd Degree Rape
Sentelle, Further Investigation
Residence Hall, Pros. Declined
The Food and Housing committee is putting together a plan to buy kitchen supplies for all dorm kitchens. Sabid Hossain ’21 is the new Common Ground Chair. Jorge Torres Villalva ’21 is the new Vice Chair. There will be 2-3 trial group counseling sessions for sexual assault survivors of color this semester. Director of Sustainability Yancey Fouché came to introduce herself and to talk about sustainability on campus with SGA. According to Fouché, Davidson has already lowered its carbon emissions to the goal that was set for 2020. Fouché is also interested in putting together a fund for sustainability projects that students could be a part of. Idea Trek is a website where students can submit their ideas for ways to improve the college. A small team of students and the Director of Innovation will then make an opportunity assessment and get back to submitter. SGA is in the process of making a website. There is a new, non-SGA committee on “Academic Risk-Taking.” The group is evaluating pass/fail requirements.
79%
Description/Location
or
26 33
Tardees: John Billups ‘22 (excused) Non-Excused Absence: Chloe DeBeus ‘21, Brandon Harris ’22, Caroline Roddey ’20 Excused Absent: Wilson Pava ’19, Nick Nguyen ’22, Bess Li ’19, Sebastian Flores ’19
4/9/19 at 2210 hrs
Poss. Of Weapon KA, Dean Referral
Haven’t heard of idea trek? Time to check out ideas. davidson.edu! “Looking for ways to improve Davidson? ideas.davidson.edu provides the platform for you to voice your ideas. No matter if you are a student, alumni, or community member, we believe you have a unique role to play in shaping the Davidson experience. We will provide opportunity assessment and design facilitation to assist you.”
Perspectives
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Ricardo Pinnock ’22 and Phoebe Son Oh ’22
Adminstration: Africana Studies Needs Support
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few weeks ago, a current Africana Studies major came into a room full of interested freshmen and gave a brief, though incomplete, rundown of the things transpiring within the Africana Studies department as a warning not to declare Africana. “Dr. [Garry] Bertholf is leaving, and there will only be two professors in the department next year,” she said. The department is planning on hiring a visiting professor for the 2019-2020 school year, but from the point of view of declared majors and interested students, the department is essentially falling apart. The issues plaguing the department have been compounding since the department’s inception in 2014. The figures who were once core faculty have resigned themselves to affiliated faculty status—meaning they aren’t required to take on new advisees. Dr. Bertholf is leaving Davidson this year, which puts the assignment of his advisees into question. The department chair, Dr. Devyn Spence Benson, the department’s third chair in a span of five years, was on sabbatical this school year and is set to go on sabbatical next year. The school chose not to hire either of the two most recent post-doctoral fellows.
We should not have to take on the physical and emotional labor of keeping the institution in check and making sure that it follows up on its word, but here we are. These issues are catching up to the department in a short span of time. The insecurity of its faculty stands atop the inconsistency of the department’s leadership. Because Africana Studies is an “interdisciplinary major” by design, it is still possible to complete the major, but it has become more complicated on the side of finding a major advisor who fits you best. Recently declared and interested students are feeling the repercussions of the department’s issues the hardest. There is a lack of transparency between the faculty and the students when it comes to the faculty-to-faculty interactions, and reasonably so, but you cannot expect us students to be fine with feeling insecure in our department as a result of not knowing what goes on behind the scenes. We see what is going on, and we have the right to hold everyone involved accountable, from the President to any relevant deans to the department’s leadership to the department’s affiliated faculty. Your job is to serve students; therefore, as students, we can tell you that your job is not being done. We
should not have to take on the physical and emotional labor of keeping the institution in check and making sure that it follows up on its word, but here we are. Regardless of whoever should bear the burden of admitting responsibility, one thing holds true: we, as students, have been failed. The college, the administration, and the department have all failed us. We are concerned about the future. We are thinking of the students who would have found their home in Africana but might be robbed of this experience. We are thinking of the white, privileged students who would have had their minds blown and their perceptions altered after being in a single Africana class. Then we think about how robbing students of those experiences would have massive repercussions if those same privileged students went on to be world leaders, while not having the ability to think from the perspective of people in the margins. A new class of potential leaders are about to join the Davidson community, so time is of the essence. We have already felt the ethical dilemma of talking to prospective Class of 2023 students about their interest in Africana Studies, all the while knowing that the department is in disarray and how much of a risk it would be for them to come here if they want an Africana education. We, as first-years, are writing as the students who want the education we were promised a year ago when we committed to Davidson; the recent developments in the department complicates that promise. Davidson College’s motto says, “Let learning be cherished where liberty has arisen!” but we feel like that liberty is under threat right now. Speaking for myself (Ricardo) now, I don’t feel the liberty to declare Africana right now, namely because I do not know who my advisor would be. I know other first-years have abandoned declaring Africana, though they displayed a great interest just a month ago. For me, the saddest part is seeing my peers abandon the discipline—I cannot do anything about that. As I said, it feels like a risk to declare given the current circumstances, and it is their choice to take or not take that risk. Africana has affected us deeply, in a positive way, and it feels as though the department is doing all it can to preserve, or some say “salvage,” itself so that it can continue to have a profound effect on students. Speaking for myself (Phoebe) now, I am an ethnically Korean, dual-citizen of Panama and Australia, third culture kid who grew up in Hong Kong and Charlotte. My life has been one of transitioning between many cultures. Prior to coming to Davidson, I had heard about Africana Studies and it piqued my interest, so I decided to take Africana 101 with Dr. Bertholf. The more I read and the more I learned, or “unlearned” as Dr.
Bertholf would say, I felt myself being intellectually stimulated like I never had before. Learning about ideas of diaspora and double consciousness fascinated me and also heavily resonated with me, since I had weaved in and out of different cultures throughout my life. All of these factors inspired me to continue my studies in Africana. One of the biggest reasons I applied to Davidson was because I knew that I would have the resources and opportunities to pursue whatever I wanted to, but is that really the case? Next semester I will be losing a professor, a major advisor, and most importantly, a mentor who has helped shape my academic experience here. By studying Africana, I also took off the rose-colored glasses with which I viewed Davidson. As a naive high school student, I fell for the college’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion.” Coming from a small, Christian, predominantly-white high school in the South, where the effort for diversity and inclusion did not even exist, Davidson was extremely appealing to me. However, I quickly learned that the college would rather commodify us students of color to promote their “diversity” than truly invest in our needs. We are unsure of what these next four years look like as the department undergoes many changes, but what we are sure of is that we love studying Africana and are determined to keep pursuing it. The most important concern of ours—the thing to address first so that more students would feel comfortable majoring in Africana—is the number of core faculty and the diversity of expertise within that core faculty so students can find the best advisory fit. We suggest a cluster hire of Africana professors, not Africana and English or Africana and Latin American Studies, but squarely Africana. It just so happens that most of the individuals who are experts in Africana are people of color, so we also suggest Davidson renew its commitment to retaining faculty of color and to finding the resources to do so. Furthermore, all decisions that could impact the students, for example, hires, lead changes, etc., should include the students, so we avoid the possibility of students ever feeling failed again. Ricardo Pinnock ’22 is undeclared from New York City, New York. Contact him at ripinnock@davidson.edu. Phoebe Son Oh ’22 is an Africana Studies major from Charlotte, North Carolina. Contact her at phsonoh@davidson.edu.
Nick Pearson ’19
Student-Athletes Deserve the Same Respect as Other Students I played four years of football here at Davidson College. I’m an English major and Communication Studies minor, but, like most Davidson students, I’ve taken classes in nearly every subject. I’ve written papers on buses, completed tests in hotels, and walked into 6:00 AM lifts running on three hours of sleep. Everyone knows that Davidson can be difficult, but it sure can be fun to complain about it sometimes, especially as a student-athlete. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ensures that the college and, by extension, its professors are holding its athletes to the standard set by the rest of campus. That also means that regardless of schedules and competitions, Davidson student-athletes must keep themselves accountable. Yes, some teachers are accommodating, but only because that is who they are as educators, not because of our status as athletes. Conversely, there are some professors who seem to target athletes. They remain rigid on due dates and refuse to acknowledge the difficulties that come with balancing school and athletics. Student-athletes aren’t looking for handouts, but sometimes life happens and work gets delayed, and inflexible teachers can complicate even the most dedicated student’s life. Davidson prides itself on emphasizing the “student” half of the phrase and sometimes ignores the latter portion, while some of our peers only see us as athletes.
There are people who believe that athletes don’t achieve in the classroom like they do on the field, but I’m here to tell you that we do. The average student-athlete’s day includes a lift, team meetings, class, homework, and practice, but many athletes are involved in other things as well because the nature of our school is one in which many students can add any number of extra-curricular activities to that slate. All Davidson students know the weekly grind; by the time the weekend hits, everyone wants to relax and work at their own pace… except student-athletes have to compete, sometimes all weekend, and then restart the week on Monday. Unlike some meetings or activities, our sports are mandatory. There are no emails or excuses that can get us out of practice at the end of a grueling day, and, like it or not, our schedule is our schedule. You will have athletic requirements, like film and injury treatment, regardless of classes, labs, or seminars. Common Hours are consumed with field work and position meetings, instead of a much needed respite between 9:40 and 12:15 classes. If your schedule changes, like a shift in your professor’s office hours, and a conflict arises, then you can very quickly lose any free time that you hoped to have. Yes, athletes “love the grind,” but most of the time we say that to con-
vince ourselves, not you. To quote the great Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights, “You don’t pass, you don’t play,” and while that may have just been a television show, the saying applies in real life as well.
All that being said, I’ve run into students during my time here that believe the opposite is true—that athletes slack off, fail to turn in work without penalty, and drink every day, all just because they can.
Yes, each team has its slackers—I’m not trying to argue that point—but so does nearly every group of people on campus, athletes or not. Athletic programs require study halls, grade checks during the semester, and even tutors when necessary. When I got here, our coach required all players who didn’t achieve a certain GPA to attend two-hour study sessions every Sunday night, directly following lift, conditioning, meetings, and practice. Unlike other schools, most athletes at Davidson are dedicated students—perhaps even better in the classroom than they are on the field—because they have to be. Away games and travel eat up classroom absences, so if you’re sick or tired, you’d better suck it up. Late night homework and early lifts drain your battery, so it’s hard to inspire yourself to do much more than snatch a nap during the middle of the day.
This may be true of the wilder players at less stringent schools, but it’s not accurate for even the wildest ‘Cats at Davidson. Yes, each team has its slackers—I’m not trying to argue that point—but so does nearly every group of people on campus, athletes or not. No one forces us to play sports. We love it and wouldn’t have it any other way, but it can be confusing when you hear people say that athletes are uninvolved or privileged. Student-athletes, especially at Davidson, are busy and focused, but mostly just tired. Nick Pearson ’19 is an English major from Matthews, North Carolina. Contact him at nipearson@davidson.edu.
Sports
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Athlete Feature: Megan Scholvinck ‘19 Serving PATRICK DANIELSON ‘21 SPORTS WRITER
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he sport of tennis runs through the blood of Megan Scholvinck ‘19. The senior, from Mill Valley, California, has been immersed in high level tennis since birth. From a young age, her mother, a former professional tennis player, exposed her to high level coaching from the moment she could walk. Scholvinck embraced her bloodline, dropping her promising soccer career in favor of tennis in sixth grade. “I was playing high level competitive soccer, but I still always dabbled in tennis, so I made the decision when I was twelve to switch full time to tennis and to completely pursue that” Scholvinck said. Scholvinck’s biggest goal was to play division I tennis; a goal that was not always guaranteed. Scholvinck herself expressed some doubts about her skill early on in her career. “Division I was always the goal, and however far beyond,” Scholvinck reflected. “I definitely wasn’t by any means the best player
in my area, or coming out of northern California, for sure.” Scholvinck’s time in the varsity team at her school for the first two years of high school was a fun experience, but it was not a high enough level for her. She felt a need to constantly improve, and the best way to do that at the rate she wanted was to play in USTA, the United States Tennis Association. By the end of high school, she had developed into a threestar prospect and committed to Davidson. At Davidson, her freshman year was characterized by a shock that comes with achieving one’s dreams. “That’s all I wanted, and what I was working towards,” she said, adding, “It was a lot more work, but that’s what I wanted.” Scholvinck had wanted to play at a division one school for so long, and once she achieved this dream, she was thrilled to just be here. However, in her freshman year, a serve struck her in the head during practice, giving her a concussion. She was forced to skip all responsibilities athletically and academically for an entire week, which was hard for her. “Missing a day at Davidson is already hard,
so missing a whole week was really tough,” Scholvinck described. Scholvinck appreciated the car her coaching staff provided her and felt lucky to remain a part of the team despite injury. “I was definitely struggling for some matches when I returned” Scholvinck said. “They had a whole progression lined up, and would help me up every time I was failing.” Towards the end of her first season, in one of the biggest matches of the year, the fate of the entire team rested on her shoulders. In one of the biggest moments of her tennis career, after all the hardship following the concussion, she won. She beat her opponent two sets to three (7-5, 4-6, 6-3) to win the match for her entire team. Scholvinck described the match as very important to her, saying, “It’s just a really cool feeling to know that it came down to you and you were able to clinch it out for your team.” The team also made a good run into the A-10 conference finals, an impressive result. In her sophomore year, Scholvinck made a huge jump. She ascended her game to new
heights, taking on a new challenge by joining the doubles team, which she had wanted to do for a long time. Scholvinck’s game improved so much that she was named to the A-10 All-Second Team and received the team’s Most Improved Award. “It was nice to see the hard work I was putting in paying off,” Scholvinck described. The team was less successful during Scholvinck’s sophomore year, performing worse in the conference tournament, but in her eyes, it was compensated for by the individual achievements. She feels she has maintained the same high level of performance ever since. In the future, Scholvinck hopes to continue her tennis career as far as she can. While she does not expect to join the professional circuit, she would like to play recreationally for as long as she can. If the opportunity to follow in her mother’s footsteps presents itself, Scholvinck would be thrilled to take on the challenge, but in the case she does not turn professional, she would still like to have tennis be a large part of her life.
Baseball Builds Momentum as Tournament Approaches
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JAMES REILLY ‘21 SPORTS WRITER
espite an impressive roster and high expectations, the baseball season has not been perfect for the Wildcats. After a strong start, the ‘Cats have struggled through a grueling midseason stretch which saw them suffer a seven-game losing streak and stretched the roster thin. However, it seems the team has gotten to the other side, and the players believe their struggles will make them more prepared as the conference tournament looms. Last weekend’s series win versus Rhode Island was key, as it brought the ‘Cats back above .500 and boosted their conference record to 6-2, leaving them just two games back of Atlantic 10-leading VCU. Weather has been one of the toughest variables for the team to deal with so far this season. Just two months in, Davidson has already dealt with six cancelled games and numerous weather delays or postponements, including this past weekend when the team was forced to play a Sunday double-header. This is undoubtedly a difficult obstacle for a young coaching staff, including pitching coach Parker Bangs, to navigate, as so many schedule changes can disrupt the team’s rhythm and force the pitching rotation into awkward positions. Partially as a result of the unpredictable weather, the pitching staff has struggled in the past month, as the team ERA has risen to 5.20 on the season. Scheduling has not been the friend of the ‘Cats this month, either: last week they followed up a “home-away-home” weekend series with two away games during the middle of the week, one of which was against eighteenth-ranked North Carolina. Relief pitcher Luke Burton ‘21 discussed what Bangs has done to avoid the rotation being stretched too thin during the most brutal portion of the schedule: “Coach Bangs is great with keeping our pitchers’ arms healthy,” Burton said. “He has individualized plans for every pitcher so that [the relief pitchers] can stay available every game.” Senior starting pitcher Casey Sutherland ‘19 also chimed in that the pitchers “have been incredibly focused on the little details of day-to-day routines since the fall” and cited that detail-oriented mentality as the reason the staff has maintained good health during the tough midseason stretch.
Here’s the Wind Up: Senior Casey Sutherland Pitches against Rhode Island. Sutherland holds the lowest ERA of any ‘Cats pitcher this season. Photo by Emma Brentjens ‘21 Sutherland will be one of the keys to righting the ship from a pitching perspective. He has been the workhorse of the starting rotation, with a team-leading five starts of six innings or more. Even more impressively, he’s walked just three batters in 40.2 innings pitched. That kind of consistency will prove invaluable for a team looking to get significant innings out of its starting rotation in order to get the bullpen some much-needed rest. Asked what mindset he took to the game on start days, Sutherland responded that “figuring out who you are as an individual pitcher is critically important.” He added that he is “a guy that likes to attack the zone and make the hitters put the ball in play.” This simple approach has worked out on the stat sheet and in the win column, as he’s posted a solid 3.76 ERA and coupled it with a 5-0 record. On the offensive side, the Wildcats have relied heavily on power hitting. They lead the Atlantic 10 in home runs and are fourth in slugging percentage, while landing near the bottom in
The
Davidsonian Staff Editors in Chief Design Editor News Editors Perspectives Editors Arts and Culture Editors Sports Editors Photography Editor Yowl Editors Web Editor Art Editor Features Editor Senior Copy Editor Copy Editors
Ethan Ehrenhaft ‘20, Katie Walsh ‘20 Sebastian Sola-Sole ‘21 Hope Anderson ‘22, Emma Pettit ‘20 Raven Hudson ‘21, Lizzie Kane ‘22 Alyssa Tirrell ‘22 Drew Eastland ‘21, Max Pearson ‘22 Olivia Forrester ‘22 Malorie Hudson ‘22, EJ Kelley ‘20 Jake Carver ‘21 Richard Farrell ‘22 Caroline Roy ‘20 Adam Ferraz ‘20 Sarah Austin ‘21, Lindy Bustabad ‘21, Susannah Cate ‘20, Yashi Gunawardena ‘19
batting average and on-base percentage. The undisputed leader of the home run barrage has been sophomore designated hitter Ruben Fontes ‘21, who is tops in the conference with ten big flies through just 31 games. Fontes commented that he’s been focusing on “trusting his abilities and doing anything [he] can to contribute to the team.” So far, he’s been contributing by hitting bombs. Moving forward, the ‘Cats feel confident that the midseason struggles they’ve faced only make them a more dangerous team. “Our biggest challenge will be finding consistency,” Fontes remarked. “Because we know that we can beat anybody in the conference when we’re at our best,” he continued. Burton echoed these sentiments and cited the team’s faith in head coach Rucker Taylor as a main reason he believes the team will be focused and ready when the conference tournament rolls around. Having weathered their toughest regular season tests, the ‘Cats may be poised for a run.
Arts and Culture
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Have You Heard
An Evening with Pat Metheny LUCAS WEALS ‘19 MUSIC CORRESPONDENT
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Il lustr ated by R i rrell ‘22
In a long conversation that took the place of the traditional “master class” offered by visiting musicians, Pat told the Jazz Ensemble that songwriting is “like riding a public bus. You have to go to the bus stop to get on. The bus may never come, but you still have to go to the bus stop to get on.” Talking to students after his visit, and even just gleaning impressions from the way he plays with an ensemble and feels a crowd, I’m struck above all by Pat’s generosity: as a musician, as a mentor, as a massively influential figure in the music world. Part of Pat’s genius comes from just what he told the Ensemble, which is the sensation of the bus stop—public space, street noise. When he plays, he blends the slang, the vernacular, the purposely casual bends and lilts of blues melody and brass experimentation with the extraordinary rhythmic precision and tonal exactitude of progressive rock, Steve-Reich-inflected electronic composition, and Latin polyrhythm. His guitar style bears an influence from everyone on every instrument—Sonny Rollins’ sax, Miles Davis’ trumpet, Glenn Gould’s piano, Wes Montgomery’s guitar—and yet it’s totally his own, unmistakable from the first lick of Bright Size Life (1975) and on through to last Friday’s show. (Sorry, last Friday’s “gig.”) And he talks sort of like he plays. His comments on music express the remarkable fusions of style that you hear in his improvisations. In a 2018 keynote speech at a conference of the Society for Neuroscience (isn’t it telling that he was the keynote speaker at a neuroscience conference?), Pat oscillates between profound psychological and technical insights—“In that place, where the goal of maximum consciousness is an essential component of what it takes to be a great musician, that same sense of consciousness is also paradoxically the thing that you find disappearing completely”—and high-school-truant, shooting-the-shit clarity—“[The] number one key skill that is required for the gig is being a great listener.” It’s profoundly apparent that Pat Metheny is a great listener. He’s all about communication—music as language and improvisation as similar to extemporaneous speech. He called rhythm and groove “the core of everything.” As Matt Bell ’19 puts it, translating Metheny’s wisdom from a private lesson, “Harmony can be taught or read about in myriad different theory books, but groove communicates to people. Melody is ‘the
char d Fa
n a June night in 1965, Wes Montgomery took the stage with the Wynton Kelly Trio at the Half Note Club in New York City to play a jazz set. Listening to a live record of that forty-minute performance now, in 2019, it’s still easy to feel the way the crowd that night probably felt—that the guitar had never been played quite so well, and maybe never would again. I only know about Smokin’ at the Half Note because of Pat Metheny—a guitar soloist, composer, and general musician so legendary it still blows my mind that I saw him play last week—who once told the New York Times that the solo on “If You Could See Me Now” is his favorite of all time. If only Wes Montgomery could see Pat now. Metheny is the latest (and for my money the greatest) in a stunning cavalcade of jazz greats to play Davidson’s Duke Family Performance Hall in the last few years—Delfeayo Marsalis, Anat Cohen, Chick Corea(!). When he takes the stage the air changes, like it all got sucked toward him and blown back in our faces. We stand because it seems right to stand. He’s tall but he slouches in a kind of ’70s-movie-stoner way; he’s dressed in all black except for his pure white basketball shoes, and he’s carrying a very large and profoundly distressed yellow hollow-body. He’s also got an enormous mane of bushy grey hair, which if you haven’t seen a picture you really should. The 64-year-old son of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, gave a bow, mouthed some “thank you”s, and flashed an award-winning grin to his pre-set standing ovation. Then he counted the band in and they were off and running. Metheny played solo after mind-altering solo over pieces from across his diverse ouvre, alternating between his well-worn jazz guitar and a smaller guitar synthesizer, whose trumpet-like wails had audience members literally jumping out of their seats to cheer. The Davidson College Jazz Ensemble performed exceptionally, both as Metheny’s backing band and in their three opening pieces—“Tutu” (Miles Davis), “The Southeast Sixstep” (Eric Richards), and “A Hymn for Her” (Fred Sturn), the latter ballad a rare, though much appreciated, programming choice by Director William Lawing. Andrew Wright ’20, Ken Lee ’19, and Andrew Fay ’19 all turned in fantastic solos in the concert’s opening movement. Backing up Pat, the Ensemble demonstrated an especially fine sense of rhythm, evident on strangely-metered tunes like “Have You Heard,” which was my pick for the highlight of the evening. (In all fairness, it’s been one of my favorite Metheny compositions for a long time.) Set drummer Brendan Cassidy ’19 deserves special commendation for his
consistent and flavorful treatment of some truly difficult percussion.
mystery of music’ that ‘holds harmony and groove together like glue.’” In these wide-ranging and expressive metaphors, Metheny is getting close to describing something we all felt on Friday: that he is, in his words, “a musician before a guitar player,” and that music is a communicative thing, a place where people come together. All I know is that when I leave here in a month or so, watching Pat Metheny solo with Davidson’s Jazz Ensemble is a memory I’ll be especially thankful for. Next time I put on “Have You Heard,” I can answer, “Yeah.” Lucas Weals ’19 is an English major from Bethesda, MD. He can be reached for comment at luweals@davidson.edu.
A “Snappy Casual” Evening Review: President’s House MICHAEL HALL ‘20 RESTAURANT CRITIC
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orever nearby yet elusive, Davidson College President Carol Quillen is at times shrouded in an aura of mystery and awe. The idea of every senior having dinner at her house may be a terrific selling point on tours but is more than anything a tender evening that humanizes the college’s President. I strolled up to the President’s House on a Thursday afternoon, unaware of both the night’s menu and the impact the dinner would have on me. Dinner with Quillen began with a plus-sized nametag and a reception in her living room. Waters were brought out (ice included) as our group of 20-some seniors divided, clustered, and awaited a visit from the woman herself. Each table had eight seats, one of which was left intentionally without a place setting to signal it was President Quillen’s seat. Rolls were brought out, followed by wine (both white and red were offered), and the cue was given to dine. The salad was a fairly-typical largeevent starter: some mixed lettuces served with sliced cucumber, halved grape to-
matoes, and julienned carrots. Nothing stood out here apart from the frisée lettuce in the mixed greens, which, given its frills’ ability to get stuck in teeth, seemed like a poor choice for a formal event. Excuse me, “snappy casual.” The table was set with two unidentified vinaigrettes. Assuming them to be raspberry and ranch, I opted for raspberry but would’ve preferred a third option that wasn’t quite as heavy. The vinaigrette’s thickness prevented a thin coating when poured and instead resulted in uneven glops. The wine was poured at this stage and was overall agreeable, balanced in all categories potentially polarizing (viscosity, tartness, and level of tannins). The main course was brought out after some 15 minutes of dining. A grilled chicken breast (going off of visual signals not the level of char, which was nonexistent) was coated in a thin orange sauce atop green beans, with their own different sauce, and hasselback potatoes. The chicken was only a tad dry and its sauce carried little other than tomato and garlic, similarly the case for the green beans’ sauce, however this was more obviously tomato-centric and delivered the expected sweet, acidic flavor. TThe
green beans were themselves tender all the way throughout, surely as intended, and seemed to be the table’s favorite. After dinner, coffee came around to accompany the two-layered chocolate mousse cake. Two distinguished mousses were stacked on top of a dense crust and coated in a thin layer of milk chocolate. It seemed a bit like a dessert for a retirement home given there was no real necessity for teeth to eat the chocolate-on-chocolate dessert. Ultimately, the event was obviously catered by Davidson and was a pleasant step-up from Vail Commons, but not meant to hold its own with actual restaurants. Although the dinner might have been just average, the company was exceptional, and the ability to talk with President Quillen one-on-one has allowed me to finally form an impression of our curious, artistic, and cerebral head of college. Also, there is indeed a Picasso in the bathroom. Michael Hall ’19 is an Economics and Hispanic Studies Double Major from Savannah, GA. He can be reached for comment at mihall@davidson.edu
Dishes from the Senior’s dinner at the President’s House. Photo by Michael Hall.
Et Cetera
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New Social Media Manager Aims to Change College Web Presence EMMA BRENTJENS ‘21 STAFF WRITER Recently, many students have noticed a change in Davidson’s social media presence. That change is Jared Misner, who became Davidson’s new social media manager in February after running social media for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the Children’s Theater of Charlotte. Misner described his job as equal parts active listening, arranging social media content, and analyzing data. “I’m the one who actually is posting and responding and commenting, and sort of the being behind Davidson College’s accounts,” he said. Misner also oversees the school’s sub-accounts run by other people, like Davidson Theater and Davidson Outdoors. He has changed Davidson’s “official brand voice to be more a platform-specific, colloquial voice that actively engages and responds and listens to its audiences.” He also uses data to determine what the college should and should not post. For instance, Misner has found that audiences are responding well to “campus beauty shots,” and therefore is posting more pictures like that. “I sort of go based on what I know that audiences have responded to well, what audiences have not responded to well,” he said. After Misner took over, students were quick to recognize a difference in the college’s social media accounts. “I feel as though they’re trying to be more relatable,” said Alexa Landsberger ‘19, a communications major whose thesis is about so-
cial media and influencers. Something about the recent content that stuck out to Landsberger is that “it’s still perfected in terms of having really nice images that are professionally taken and then trying to create relatable captions for that.” She added that, as a student, “I don’t need the manicured image.” Thus, Landsberger questioned the page’s target audience. Misner said that, although students are an important audience, “there are a lot of different audiences that we’re always working with at all times,” including parents, fans, and alumni. “A major audience that Davidson College should want to address is more than just its students,” Communications major Lucie Desvallees ‘21 said, thinking of prospective students. “If the college is making memes or just adapting to what our age is into on social media, it’ll make the social media more interesting, which could really impact their interest in applying to the school,” she said. “There’s been some questions as to who’s running it,” Landsberger said. She expressed that since students do not see the face behind the account, “we don’t hear a voice, we just feel like it’s the school trying to sound like a student.” Misner wants students to know that “there is a real live human being” behind the account. Communications studies chair Dr. Amanda Martinez thinks that it is “kind of tricky for an institution to have some sense of a collective voice for the entire college.” “That’s a pretty big task to be truly representative across the various kinds of subgroupings” on campus, she said. Martinez also recognizes an “elevated ethical responsibility when you are speaking on behalf or at least representing an entire campus community.” Students have had varied reactions to the change in Davidson’s accounts. “Anecdotally, students have told me the nuanced voice that Davidson College social media platforms have taken they really respond well to,” Misner said. “I think they’re appealing to our age,” said Desvallees. “It makes them different and more interesting from other institutional college pages.”. Another student said, “I think it’s super cool that Davidson is putting effort into improving its social media presence in the first place and that it seems like they’re genuinely open to critique.” However, not all of the student feedback on the content is positive. Landsberger thinks “the general sentiment is that it’s outdated.” “This whole rebranding, it seems a little offbrand. What they’re doing is contradictory to a professional page,” she said. The anonymous student similarly stated,
(Top) Emma Brentjens ‘21 and social media manager Jared Misner discuss recent changes to Davidson’s social media presence and its impact on the community. (Bottom) Misner began his work with College Communications in February. Photos by Olivia Forrester ‘22 “The line between relatable and cringey for stuff like this is so thin, and relatable isn’t really something I care about from my college’s Twitter account.” He continued, “if it were up to me, I’d take professional over relatable.” According to Misner, social media can serve both purposes. “Official college announcements are a really important part of social media, but also social media is a place where president Carol Quillen can retweet our all-caps tweet about big fluffy dogs coming to campus and that’s okay, too,” he said. Desvallees agreed, “I think it’s fun and fresh enough to appeal to younger students and prospective students, but also professional enough to maintain Davidson’s reputation as an upstanding educational institution.”
cause of the information that was shared with them during recruitment. “I think that’s where people call into question ethical responsibilities around storytelling, representation, [and] framing,” Martinez said. Additionally, she explained, “you can paint the story in a way that is really attractive and then it actually doesn’t represent the full range of reality.” Misner will soon start holding office hours in the Union each week to hear students’ questions, concerns, and criticisms. Desvallees said, “A lot of success in media is thanks to focus groups and public opinion… asking students of different groups and identities on campus what they think about the media and how their school is being portrayed would be helpful as far as representation and
If the college is making memes or just adapting to what our age is into on social media, it’ll make the social media more interesting. -Lucie Desvallees ‘21 Martinez worries about the framing of the college’s posts, especially in terms of diversity. For example, even if the account’s Instagram captions are kept short, “there is still a story getting told by way of what gets included in an image,” she said. The framing of posts “says a lot about… what we value and how we want to be seen by other people,” Martinez said. Martinez has talked with students of color who had a certain impression of Davidson be-
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appealing even more to students that go here.” Martinez explained that social media “is a very public platform, and so it makes critical responses or perspectives difficult to spin or micromanage in the way that traditional PR would.” Misner likewise stated that the college’s social media accounts are “not a place where concerns go through a black hole.”
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Martha Kapazoglou ‘19
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Photos by Olivia Forrester ‘22
My grandmother’s fashion motto is “more is more,” especially in terms of jewelry. Growing up close to her, I was always wearing her jewelry and was thus deeply inspired by that philosophy. When I first came to the US, I sneaked into my suitcase some of my grandmother’s favorite pieces. My friend’s always joke about my jewelry, which they call decorations, and are excited to see how many I will be wearing at once.
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Exhausted Senior Reportedly “Only 15% In For Davidson” Page 15
April 17, 2019
Under Armour, SC30 to Sponsor New Performance-Grade, Moisture-Wicking Graduation Gowns for Seniors Page 30
Investigative Journalism: Have YOU Ever Seen Commons and Much Ado Catering in the Same Room? Page 9
The Panelists’ Issue
Agnostic Student Suddenly Returns to Christian Roots When They Offer Excuse to Skip Class on Good Friday Page 2
Quarry-Goer “Browns Out,” Wakes up with 15 Dinner Rolls Stuffed Into Jacket Pockets Page Rolls!
#EasterSZN: Davidson’s Fraternities to Organize Philanthropic Keystone Hunt on Patterson Court
Above: Disciplined and Creative Mind Firing on all Cylinders
Psych Department Offering $5,000 to Seniors Willing to Donate Disciplined and Creative Minds for Research E. CRAIG WALL JR. ACADEMIC CENTER –– Davidson’s Department of Psychology, in a joint venture with the college’s Neuroscience program, announced a groundbreaking new research initiative on Monday that promises, for the first time in school history, to scientifically examine the validity of the college’s mission statement. Davidson’s statement of purpose reads, “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.” While this axiom has long been cherished by the college and its flourishing alumni community, many professors have recently raised questions regarding the assertion of such a theory without proper scientific evidence. In response to these concerns, the Psychology Department and the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Neuroscience Program are teaming up to test the theory that minds of Davidson graduates are indeed disciplined and creative. “We’ll look at a variety of neuropsychological indicators and perform a complete biopsy of the brain tissue surround-
ing the cerebrum, while also looking at norepinephrine levels in the posterior region of the frontal lobe,” described Dr. Linda McDonald. Dr. McDonald noted that students will be involved in the research efforts, and in more ways than one. “While we certainly want our Psychology majors to contribute to this seminal research, we also are in need of minds to test. This is why we’re offering up to $5,000 to any senior willing to donate their allegedly disciplined and creative mind after graduation,” explained McDonald. The Yowl spoke with several seniors who were considering the opportunity. Said one anonymous member of the Class of 2019, “They say college is the best time of your life, so I guess if it’s really all downhill from here I might as well sacrifice my brain for a noteworthy cause.” Added another senior, “It would be kind of awesome to spend $5,000 during beach week. Go out with a bang, ya know?” At press time, local authorities were reportedly investigating how Davidson’s Institutional Review Board approved of such a project. The Psychology Department reportedly plans to justify the experiment “for the advancement of the college, the science, and mankind.”
PATTERSON COURT –– Recent Facebook posts advertising a watershed philanthropic event to be co-hosted by all of Davidson’s fraternities this Easter Sunday have gained nationwide attention this past week. “Keystones for the Kids,” to be held on Easter Sunday from 9-11 AM, has been marketed as a spin-off Easter egg hunt involving an underutilized resource that all the organizations have in excess––empty cans of Keystone Light. “It’s recycling, it’s for a great cause, and it’s fun for the whole family,” said Sigma Alpha Epsilon social chair Chad Kennedy ‘21. Sources tell The Yowl that each of Davidson’s nine fraternities contributed 50 empty cans to the cause. The 450 Keystone “eggs” will be hidden and scattered all across Patterson Court, on porches, and in trees. The effort is being heralded as an innovative modern adaptation of a classic pastime, one in which Davidson’s fraternal entities all felt inclined to rally behind. “We at SigEp are always down to help the kids,” remarked Sigma Phi Epsilon President Mike Adams ‘20, “donating some old Keystone cans was the least we could do.” As of press time, over 5,000 people from around campus, the Davidson community, and the Greater Charlotte area had made donations to a GoFundMe page dedicated to Keystones for the Kids. Kappa Sigma Philanthropy Chair Colin Weeden ‘21 commented on the surprisingly viral campaign, “It’s truly incredible how people jumped onboard once they saw this event being shared around on social media. It really speaks to the power of the human spirit and the compassion of the individual.” The hunt is set to begin at precisely 9:30 and last until 10:30, with refreshments and a live performance from Catfish Disco to follow. Prizes ranging from baby bottle-koozies to XXS formal shirts to the bestseller “Fraternal EDU: How to Start Preparing Your Child into for Pledgeship Today” will be awarded to the families whose children collect the most cans. All proceeds from the event will go to the kids (nobody contacted by The Yowl was able to elaborate any further). Following the Keystone hunt and the post-event awards and festivities, parents and children will have the opportunity to stick around to paint and decorate the repurposed beer cans with the assistance of fraternity members who are behind on their service hours. “I’ll be there painting with the kids all afternoon if I have to,” said newly-initiated Kappa Alpha brother Liam Owens ‘22, who still needs 10 service hours before the end of the semester. Unconfirmed reports also claim that a singular White Claw can will be hidden among the Keystones. Sources tell The Yowl that the child who discovers this de facto golden egg will receive a preemptive bid on the spot.
This Week in Panels: Union Board Holds Panel to Discuss 2019-2020 Panel Series “Secondhand Panels” 900 ROOM –– This past weekend, the Union Board held a panel to discuss a new weekly series coming to campus next fall. The series is titled “Secondhand Panels” and will take place on Friday evenings at 8 P.M. in The 900 Room. Every Friday, the panel will feature 6 or 7 Davidson students that actually attended a guest speaker event, talkback, or panel on campus during the week. The goal is to provide secondhand accounts of the academic activities that took place during the preceding week. Panel members will provide a summary of the event’s content, an overview of any ridiculous questions from students, and brief fashion review of the speaker’s fashion choices. If the campus event gave out any merch, Secondhand Panels will hold raffles to give their attendees a chance to win prizes and pretend that they attended the real event.
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Union Board hopes that some weeks the “Secondhand Panel” will actually feature the original speaker or panel member. These special features will occur in the event of lonely seniors who want more people to hear about their thesis, professors who love the sound of their voice, visiting speakers who hate their job/college, and speakers whose flights get delayed from April Snow Storms. “Secondhand Panels” is targeted at Davidson students who “have a lot on their plate” and “meant to go to that panel but just couldn’t find room.” Also invited to attend are students whose nap time always seems to fall during the time of campus panels and students who are simply overwhelmed by the number of panels and talks that the college puts on and cannot make a decision.
WRITERS William Rhonda Idk any I names Tom (or was it Tim?) Eleanor
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I think those grease blobs are turning green.” –– Editors who haven’t wiped down computer screen in 3 Years
Union Board hopes to cooperate with professors who provided extra-credit for students who attended the real event. “Our guess is the ability to paraphrase the summary provided by other Davidson students will give attendees the chance to half-ass their way into impressing their professor. So maybe they don’t get full credit for the Secondhand Panel, but we think a high-five will suffice,” Panelist Anna Brade ‘20 commented.
“‘Secondhand Panels’ is targeted at Davidson students who ‘have a lot on their plate’ and ‘meant to go to that panel but just couldn’t find room.’”
Food provided at Secondhand Panel will include the leftover food from weekly campus events that were advertised in hopes to attract more students. Therefore, Union Board told students to expect “a lot of Dominos, Chick-fil-A, Panera and Much-Ado Catering”. Access to the 900 Room “2 Forms of ID” Bar will be provided to attendees and secondhand panelists. “We hope that opening the bar will bring the event to the same caliber as Drunk History, mentioned panelist John Brester ‘21. If the series gains some success in the first semester, Union Board hopes to continue the program. Long-term goals include providing a half-credit for PCC EDU events, or the biggest feat of all, providing Union Board with clout among their fellow peers.
3 Students Who Didn’t Decide Davidson Last Weekend Tyler Chaseman – Tyler was once bullied by someone in the fourth grade who was wearing a High School Musical backpack. He loved the Davidson Community but has had a rampant fear of any and all students that identify with a Wildcat. Cassidy Longhorn –Was notified that she got off the waitlist of *insert ivy league here* while attending Decision Davidson. Sanya Blundell – Realized the Admissions Panel was bluffing when they told prospective students that “Charlotte is like really close by”.
Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian. Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth.