The
Davidsonian
Independent Student Journalism Since 1914
inside
davidsonian.com Davidson welcomes Lisa Forrest as the E.H. Little Library Director
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Volume 114, Issue 2
September 12, 2018 Carl Sukow ‘21 reflects on the importance of registering to vote before the midterms
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Personal Essay feature: the reality of reproductive rights in North Carolina
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President Quillen Issues Advisory Students Regarding Freshman Plague
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Men’s Basketball Team Visits Auschwitz EMMA BRENTJENS ‘21 STAFF WRITER
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Students participate in the annual Hackathon, located this year at the Hub. Photo by Emma Brentjens ‘21
Hurt Hub Hackathon Promotes Communication, Innovation JACK DOWELL ‘21 STAFF WRITER
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ast Saturday, the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College hosted the annual Hackathon, during which teams of students used coding and communications to create applied solutions to a given challenge. This year’s event followed an inaugural on-campus Hackathon in the spring of 2017. The competition was relocated to the Hub as construction is complete and the space is newly opened to the student body this semester. According to Dr. Michelle Kuchera, one of the event’s organizers and a member of the Physics Department, the competition was held at the Hurt Hub
because the Hub is “a great co-working space ... and [the Hackathon] is also in the spirit of the Hub in that we’re bringing a lot of people of different backgrounds together to achieve a goal.” The prompt challenged participants to “create a digital submission that allows some targeted group of people to experience Davidson in a new way.” While the term “hackathon” suggests coding, students were allowed to tackle the given problem in any way they desired. According to Kuchera, one of the most targeted skills at the Hackathon is communication; “if you can’t communicate [your idea] well, people won’t know you’ve done something great.” The competition was structured to promote innovation; the prompt was released
at 8:30am, and students had until 5pm to complete their entry. They were also tasked with preparing a presentation to be shown to a panel of judges, who would evaluate it for a trio of awards categories: an overall award winner, a coding award, and a communication award. Kuchera pointed out that “for the communication award, the students didn’t have to do any coding at all.” Unlike some other Hackathons that require certain skills or coding languages, Davidson’s event made a point of being accessible to participants of all levels. According to Kuchera, “We wanted to create a challenge that was open-ended
mid the flurry of the March Madness tournament, Davidson men’s basketball coach Bob McKillop received an unexpected email from Amanda Caleb ‘02, a former member of Davidson’s field hockey team. Caleb, an advisory board member of the Maimonides Institute for Medicine, Ethics, and the Holocaust, invited the Davidson basketball team to a summer trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau, known as one of the most savage Holocaust concentration camps located in Poland. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching Davidson basketball over the years and have been repeatedly impressed with the ethos of the program, which is about more than winning games: it’s about character,” Caleb wrote. Caleb considered the basketball team as a candidate for the trip so that they could “bear witness to the atrocities of the past, and ... support human dignity and justice for all peoples.” The team was accompanied by Eva Mozes Kor and her nonprofit organization, CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors [2]). As a Holocaust survivor and victim of Josef Mengele’s experiments on twins, a notoriously inhumane study conducted by Nazis to reinforce hereditary hierarchy over environment, Kor has turned her personal experience into advocacy and forgiveness. McKillop explained that Mozes Kor played a prominent role in the team’s experience. “I think the most poignant aspect of the experience was standing on a selection platform with Eva Kor,” the same platform where she was separated from her family 74 years earlier. “For her to recapture that moment so vividly for us, and for her to have forgiveness in her heart was perhaps the most powerful message that I saw,” McKillop said. When asked if he felt the same impact returning to Auschwitz four years after his first visit, McKillop felt it much more personally “because of the presence of Eva and knowing what she went through and how graphically she explained and recalled what her experience was.” For sophomore on the team Kellan Grady ‘21, Kor’s stories were especially harrowing and unforgettable. He mentioned one instance in which she and other victims of the twin experiments “were starving, and there was no food for days.” While there was a table of food in a nearby house, Kor had a
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North Carolina’s Loophole in Defining Consent
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SAVANNA VEST ‘22 AND BETSY SUGAR ‘21 STAFF WRITERS
n North Carolina, “no” does not always legally mean no. Through the 1979 court ruling in State v. Way, North Carolina’s Supreme Court explicitly ruled that once a woman gives consent, it is valid for the rest of the act, and if she withdraws consent, it does not have to be considered by the other participating party. The law emerged from a 1979 second degree rape trial, in which the judge said that consent is reversible; the jury disagreed, and a loophole was thus legally created. The final
verdict states that “If the actual penetration is accomplished with the woman’s consent, the accused is not guilty of rape” (State v. Way). State legislators have since interpreted the law to mean that once a woman consents to penetration, the initial consent holds over for the entire act, even if she changes her mind. Last summer, two women’s legal proceedings and encounters with this law garnered media attention. According to the individual women, each had given then withdrawn consent, and their respective partners ignored the request to stop. Yet, since the alleged incidents occurred within one act of penetration, police told the women there would be no way to prosecute for rape.
That same month, Senator Jeff Jackson (D) proposed Senate Bill (SB) 553. SB 553 was the second iteration of a bill to overturn State v. Way. Jackson proposed a bill that stated: “A person may withdraw consent to engage in vaginal intercourse in the middle of the intercourse, even if the actual penetration is accomplished with consent and even if there is only one act of vaginal intercourse.” But, the Republican majority Senate never allowed Jackson’s bill to be heard on the floor. In a 2017 interview with The Fayetteville Observer, Senate leader Phil Berger (R) claimed he did not feel that changing laws
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reports of alleged sexual misconduct from 20142017. Source: Davidson College three year summary of sexual misconduct reports
News
2 New Library Director Promises Changes DREW EASTLAND ‘21 STAFF WRITER
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his semester, students might notice some changes to the campus’s main library. New E.H. Little Library Director Lisa Forrest seeks to push the library into the future with bold brainstorming and collaboration. “Right now, libraries are at a very interesting place… [this is a] great opportunity to have a voice in the future of the library,” Forrest remarked. “The more student voices I have in helping me develop a plan…I think the higher our chances of…making the money we need to renovate the space.” Hailing from Cottonwood, Minnesota (population 1,230), Forrest described herself as never expecting to attend college. She instead directly enlisted in the US Army as a Counter Intelligence Assistant. She started taking classes at night in what she recalled as a “tin trailer campus.” “I would be looking at this guy next to me, and he’d be like, ‘I’m going to take a class at night,’ and I’d be like, ‘wait a minute I am just as smart as you, if not smarter,’” Forrest remembered. “So, I just started taking classes at night.” After the army, Forrest attended the University of Buffalo. After graduation, she chose to work in occupational therapy for seven years. She described the work, often with children with cerebral palsy or autism, as a rewarding challenge. “She has deep empathy,” Technology and Innovation (T&I) Director of Digital Innovation Kristen Eshleman expressed. “The medical field really [gave her] an insight into human behavior in a [unique] way.” Forrest’s journey to becoming a librarian happened spontaneously. She described overhearing a conversation at a coffee shop about someone studying to be a librarian. “What?! You have to go to school to be a librarian…I had no idea,” Forrest exclaimed. “I thought, ‘That sounds really great…I could hold books all day’ (which I don’t).” Fourteen years later, Forrest still works among stacks of books. She began her career at SUNY Buffalo State, where she fostered lasting relationships and is still in touch with some former students. She also held poetry readings on the library roof while there. Following her time at Hamilton College,
Forrest joined Davidson this summer, and so far has enjoyed working with both staff and students. She described Davidson students as free-thinkers and collaborators with “can-do” attitudes. “I really agree with the College’s purpose, and I really appreciate the diversity you can find here,” she said. “[At Davidson] there is a different culture [and] a spirit of creativeness.” Forrest hopes to work with a variety of groups on campus: T&I, research librarians, and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). “[Forrest] is a collaborator like no one I have ever seen,” Eshleman said. “She will bring an energy and an enthusiasm for innovation for student centered designs.” Forrest also wants to involve students in the process. Students who have already worked with her expressed excitement for her new ideas and gratitude for her value of student opinions. One example of this occured back in early August when Forrest brought in three sample chairs and allowed students to vote on which chair they preferred. “I think she really values student opinions,” Brian Sawe ‘21 commented. “[In allowing students to sample the chairs] she would get an idea about the students’ preferences with regards to the new furniture.”
“I’m interested in how the library can be the crossroads for interdisciplinary scholarship.” Lisa Forrest Forrest’s goals for the library are both digital and spatial, from improving the research platform to function like a “Google search” to clearing out old, dusty periodicals. Forrest hopes to direct the library towards becoming a more modern sanctuary of resources. “Digitally, our library system is not the best.” Forrest said, “We have an opportunity to look at these large runs of print journals that are taking up the basement.” She believes that better organization of these areas can create more student space. In addition to Forrest’s technology concerns, she also envisions the library involving
Library Director Lisa Forrest looks to make the library an innovative, welcoming campus location. Photo by Maya Eggert ‘19 itself more with on campus activities: poetry, at club libs, such as art and poetry displays. art, and sports. Forrest is focusing on connect“[Our] primary goal [is] to make the liing with student organizations on campus to brary more student-focused,” Access and Opcreate a central hub. erations Assistant Ian Hicks ‘17 stated. “[We] “We have a great opportunity to really want more transparency between the library support and showcase the scholarship of this and the student body.” One way that Hicks it college.” Forrest quipped, “[I’m] interested in trying to encourage communication between how the library can be the crossroads for inter- students and the library is through the library’s disciplinary scholarship.” social media accounts, including Facebook While Forrest promises changes, she also and Twitter (@DavidsonLibrary). quickly pointed out that changes will take While Forrest’s ideas and plans are quite time. So, what might change this year? Goal bold, Hicks remarked: “I don’t think she’s one is new furniture: tables and chairs. Don’t suggested anything that is unattainable…She’s worry, the beloved rocking chairs aren’t leav- very ambitious, and a lot of the changes are ing either. After that, expect to see more events going to take time.”
Men’s Basketball Wrestles with Concentration Camp Trip CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 feeling that the food was poisoned and did not eat it. Grady was moved by “her resilient approach to live.” “It’s crazy to think what basketball can do for you because we wouldn’t have been given that opportunity if it wasn’t [for] the basketball team,” said Grady. McKillop said of his players and Kor, “I was so impressed with this interaction between 19, 20, 21-year-old men and an 84-yearold woman… At dinner each night, you’d see one or two of our guys sitting with her at dinner, gazing intently in her eyes and listening to every word she said.” “We really want to make sure we live [by] Eva’s example in our everyday lives,” Grady said. Senior guard on the team, KiShawn Pritchett ‘19 said that initially the team had “mixed emotions because of what [Auschwitz] was associated with.” Looking back in hindsight, the team is extremely grateful. “We understand that it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. Pritchett reflected on the team’s relationship after the trip: “I’ve been a part of four
different teams, and I think this year’s team is the closest that it’s ever been…[Before the trip,] we had never gone through such experiences with each other, and we had never cried to each other,” he said. McKillop said, “We all as a team have grown, benefited and were impacted powerfully by this experience.” Grady agreed, “When we weren’t touring Auschwitz and when we weren’t at the concentration camps, it was also a really good bonding experience for all of us as well.” The team’s experience has influenced others beyond Davidson. While they were recruiting during the following month of July, McKillop explained, “We were approached on a number of occasions by an extraordinary number of college coaches who complimented us on this experience… and hinted that they might be looking into doing something very similar to this.” Back on campus, Simon Lowen ‘19 and Alex Sinks ‘21 who recently traveled to Auschwitz, along with other concentration camps and museums, with Davidson’s Hillel, a Jewish international student-led organization, reflected on their own trip last spring. Lowen, Co-president of Hillel at Davidson, said that
their trip was made possible by an anonymous donor who “wanted to help Jewish life on campus… by building connections among Jews...A great way to do that is to go on a trip, and the most apt trip to go on is to a place that’s so central to our history.” According to Lowen, “The goal [of the trip] was to wrestle with really hard truths and learn a lot about ourselves and about humanity.” “It wasn’t something I was expecting to see from the Men’s Basketball team,” Sinks said of the team’s trip to see Auschwitz. However, he thinks “it’s really good that the basketball team went.” Lowen agreed; “I think it’s a good thing for everybody to experience.” “Because they have more prevalence on campus, it brought the topic to more light... but I think it shouldn’t be something exclusive to the basketball team,” said Sinks, who wishes that more students have access to such opportunities. McKillop emphasized that he “did not just feel this was special for Men’s Basketball,” but that a trip like this “would be important for any team or any group of students on our campus.”
A distinction between the trips was that the Hillel trip required an application. “I don’t think it’s weird that we had to apply because it’s a limited program with limited space,” Lowen said. Since the trip only took eight people, it was “really important that those eight are fully committed and involved, invested, willing to grapple with the tough stuff,” he continued. Sinks noticed a difference in the attention levels given to both trips. “I think it’s… interesting how it was covered when the basketball team went, not when we went,” he said. Davidson circulated a video about the team’s trip, and McKillop published a perspective piece in The Washington Post. Despite this, Sinks feels that “regardless, if you’re Jewish or even if you can’t identify with any of the other half-dozen groups that were also targeted in the genocide, you can still connect to the human cost, and I think that can give anyone a better perspective.”
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September 12, 2018
Davidson’s Consent Definition Differs from Amorphous State Terms CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 should be rushed. The law in question is well over 30 years old, and there has been no complaint until now (“NC unlikely to consider rape consent bill this year”). After the failure of Jackson’s bill, media coverage dissipated. Even though the media has forgotten about this issue, lawmakers have not. This past July, Jackson introduced a third version of the bill to close the loophole. But, as with the two preceding renditions of this bill, the Republican majority never allowed it to be heard on the floor. The Democratic senator plans to continue to propose bills until he can close the loophole. But where does sexual misconduct on Davidson’s campus stand in relation to this law? Davidson College’s definition of consent differs from that under which the North Carolina courts operate. The Davidson College Sexual Misconduct Policy defines consent as “the affirmative, unambiguous, and voluntary agreement to engage in a specific sexual activity during a sexual encounter.” The school policy furthermore states consent is “mutual and ongoing” expanding upon that idea by clarifying if any participant feels that there is “confusion or ambiguity [...] on the issue of consent, it is incumbent upon each individual involved in the activity to stop and clarify the other’s willingness to continue.” This divergence in state law and Davidson’s policy means that students have more protections set in place on campus than through the state. Under Davidson policy, the types of cases described in State v. Way can be pursued and brought to justice through Davidson’s internal disciplinary council. However, students who may seek to take their cases beyond campus to state court will encounter laws which differ from campus policy and could have trouble finding a legal pathway to prosecute.
Hackathon Connects Campus with Community CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 enough that people could come, learn something new, and apply it.” With this level of flexibility, students chose many different ways of approaching the prompt. A team consisting of Aidan Edmonson ‘21, Braden Kronheim ‘21, and Ben Pelczynski ‘22 decided to focus on the college’s admissions data. They used the information that Davidson provides through Inside Davidson to analyze “all the admissions data which considers ethnicity, geography, study-abroad data, female to male ratio and everything like that, and look at how it’s changed over time,” Edmonson explained. With that information, Edmonson said, their plan was to both “compose all of this into a webpage that will go through and display all of this graphically and visually for people to appreciate” and use machine learning to predict how demographic trends will change in the future. Another team consisting of Davidson Technology & Innovation (T&I; a rebranding of ITS) employees decided to “[work] on an interactive map of Davidson College.” They were inspired to do so because “currently we just have a 2D version of it where you have to cross-reference a legend,” Ashley Alexander-Lee ‘17, current Cybersecurity and IT Operations Fellow. This design would allow students to “just visit the map and hover over a building and see what it is.” The winning team consisted of Marianna Ghirardelli ‘21, Eleni Tsitinidi ‘21, Sarah Hancock ‘21, and Natalie Kucher ‘19, the only all-women team at the competition. Ghirardelli
PSA
In addition, Davidson’s policies do not define any form of sexual misconduct within the male-to-female gender binary, whereas North Carolina laws do. The state defines rape as “Engaging in vaginal intercourse with another person by force and against the will of the other person.” This definition limits who can be considered a survivor, and therefore who could pursue legal retribution; furthermore, the law never defines or even mentions consent. For comments on the heteronormative wording within North Carolina’s legislation, we reached out to Isabel Padalecki ‘22, a mentor in Davidson’s Queer Mentorship Program and a member of Queers and Allies. She points out the exclusion of “non-heterosexual sex contributes to the overall societal narrative that violence within and against the LGBTQIA+ community is somehow justified.” While there are other legal pathways to pursue retribution for the violence Padalecki refers to, it would be of a lesser degree and result in a lighter sentence. To understand more about how the student population thinks about consent, we conducted an anonymous poll that posted in the college Facebook group with the main question, “What is consent?” One student defined consent as “a continuous thing” consisting of “a series of verbal check-ins [...] throughout any sexual event or experience.” Another respondent answered similarly, outlining consent as “ongoing and enthusiastic communication.” While responses varied in length or wording, the overall trend pointed to consent being understood as affirmative and reversible. North Carolina is the only state in the country with this specific consent loophole, but that will not be true for long if Jackson comes to succeed in the upcoming January session. The result would mean that survivors at Davidson, and all over the state, would finally be able to look forward to legal retribution and justice.
explained that the group decided to “create a resource to kind of explain Davidson and Davidson’s opportunities, especially for women in STEM and sciences.” Their target audience was “high school and college-aged women who are interested in exploring the possibility of a STEM career at Davidson.” They took a four-pronged approach to the prompt, building a pair of Python apps to share trivia about women in STEM at Davidson, matching students with potential mentors, sharing stories of their own experiences, and building a web app to organize the other three components. While given the time restraints, the project wasn’t completely finished, Ghirardelli and her team hope to continue their work soon. The Hurt Hub will be taking a greater role on campus this year. Certain classes such as ECO 295 will be held in the space as they analyze Summit Outpost as an example of a microeconomic theory. Dr. Diana Leyva’s psychology seminar on early childhood education will be pitching its own product in conjunction with a local business whose work is based on a theory taught in that seminar. Hackathon organizers believe that the event furthered the Hurt Hub’s overall goal, which Dr. Laurie Heyer, a computer science professor, the Hurt Hub’s Faculty Director, and co-organizer of the Hackathon, describes as “connecting campus with community, especially our entrepreneurs and industry partners.” will not be true for long if Jackson comes to succeed in the upcoming January session. The result would mean that survivors at Davidson, and all over the state, would finally be able to look forward to legal retribution and justice.
Note from Campus Police about bicycles left on campus from the summer: Students, Please note that bicycles left on campus over the summer were collected by the Public Safety office. The bicycles are in the custody of the Police Department and will be stored for an additional 30 days following receipt of this notice. If you left your bicycle on campus over the summer and believe that it could have been picked up by Public Safety, please stop by our office in the basement of Tomlinson Residence Hall to claim your property. You will be required to provide a detailed description of your bicycle and will need to provide supporting documentation to claim your bicycle (i.e. serial number or purchase receipt). If bicycles are not claimed within the 30 day time period they will be donated. Thank you. Crime Log: Campus Police has not published the Crime Log as of 8:41 PM on Tuesday, September 11. The updated crime log will be published on our Online news site upon publication.
Perspectives
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Register to Vote in Davidson CARL SUKOW ‘21 I’ll be the first to admit it: in election years, the simple phrase “remember to register!” becomes meaningless. Despite its noble sentiment, sheer repetition of this phrase turns it into nothing more than a soundbite, a drone to which even the politically engaged become numb. Although most of us share the philosophical ideal that higher voter participation leads to a healthier republic, encouraging registration loses meaning when it is presented only philosophically, without any justification of why registration can have real-world, hard results. To push back against the aloof drone, I’ll give some real-world, results-based backing as to why you (yes, you!) ought to register to vote in Davidson, even if it means withdrawing registration elsewhere. Essentially, Davidson’s location and partisan competitiveness give its elections high de facto levels of political influence, from the contests that will decide our state representatives this fall to the slew of statewide and national elections coming up through 2020. If you find competitive elections downright fun or if you care about government policy and want your voice to carry as much weight as possible at all levels, there is no reason for you not to become a Davidson voter. Before I begin, I should admit that I do have biases; there is an outcome that I’m hoping for this fall. Still, I hope that my argument for Davidson’s importance and the importance of voter registration is neutral to partisan affiliation. Beginning with more local elections: this 6th of November, Davidson will vote for three representatives. One will go to the United States House of Representatives, one to the North Carolina State House, and one to the North Carolina State Senate. I admit that our national House district is uncompetitive and boring, but believe me when I say that our State House and Senate districts are anything but. The facts of the matter: our state currently has a Democratic governor, but Republicans in the legislature have a strong enough majority to override a governor’s veto. To break that supermajority, Democrats would need to flip four House seats or six Senate seats. Democrats only need to break one chamber’s supermajority to unlock the governor’s veto. All
North Carolina state senators and representatives are up for reelection this fall. Republicans currently hold the State House and Senate districts which include Davidson, but there are Democratic challengers in both. The starting lineups are set, but what will happen once the game begins? Hypothetical-
We are not locked into a deterministic political path - we can freely choose our symphony’s next movement. ly, if both of Davidson’s state districts were to flip, Democrats would be 25% of the way to breaking the House supermajority and 17% of the way to breaking the Senate supermajority. This potential outcome should be a call to register in Davidson regardless of your party identification. Republicans will need high voter registration and turnout to hold these
districts and improve their chances of keeping a supermajority. Democrats will need every vote to flip these districts and better their chances of breaking the supermajority or even pulling even in the legislature. You may be wondering why our districts might flip. After all, both have been Republican-held since they were drawn in 2011. One word: redistricting. From early 2017 to June 2018, one of the most confusing legal battles I’ve ever seen was fought over illegal racial gerrymandering in North Carolina. It took over a year of litigation, multiple stays from courts (including the SCOTUS!), and the appointment of a “special master” (which sounds like a cross between a Doctor Who villain and a racist plantation owner from 1850), but in the end, our districts were redrawn. The redrawing made the districts intensely competitive. Davidson voters were beyond lucky in the redistricting process, hitting the jackpot with competitive State House and Senate districts. It is not an exaggeration to say that our town’s votes have a greater de facto weight than votes
in almost anywhere else in North Carolina. Beyond the local level, North Carolina statewide politics are just as exciting – they’re just less immediate. Except for a partisan election for the North Carolina Supreme Court this fall (nothing to sneeze at, but less eye-catching than a presidential or gubernatorial election), North Carolina will not have statewide elections until 2020 – but then, it will be a bonanza. That year, we will elect a Governor, a US Senator, and, of course, a President. There is no reason to think that those elections won’t be as competitive our last gubernatorial election (decided by 0.22%) or our last three presidential elections (decided by 0.32%, 2.04%, and 3.66%). Should you register in Davidson this year, your vote will be crucial in elections at all levels for years to come. This is simply because in elections decided by few votes, literally every vote matters. There are promising signs for the future of both the Republican and Democratic parties in our state at all levels. State-level redistricting has aided Democrats, but Republicans have a structural advantage in the legislature. Our governor is a Democrat, but our state voted for Trump and has two Republican senators in Washington. These dissonant signs are the mark of a swing state, but what will win out? How will the dissonance resolve? That, my friends, is for you to decide. If you can get into Hamilton while it’s in Charlotte before Election Day, listen for one line that concisely summarizes what I’ve been trying to say: “America, you great unfinished symphony.” Not only is our story unfinished, but our future unwritten as well. We are not locked into a deterministic political path – we can freely choose our symphony’s next movement. North Carolina will make a weighty contribution to that movement. Davidson, in turn, is positioned to punch above its weight in deciding the complexion of North Carolina’s contribution. But as easy as it is to talk about “red states” and “blue towns,” states and towns don’t vote on their own. Municipalities don’t write symphonies. People do that. And only registered people will write the next movement at the ballot box. Carl Sukow ‘21 is a Physics major from Lexington, Virginia. Contact him at casukow@ davidson.edu
#Throwback From the Evening of September 11, 2001 On September 12, 2001, The Davidsonian’s editorial staff published the transcript of a speech delivered by then Davidson College president Bobby Vagt ‘69 in the wake of the events of 9/11. The Davidsonian has decid-
ed to republish this transcript in hopes of prompting the college community to (re)consider how it engages with tragedy, assigns responsibility in response to horror, weighs the complexities of individual experiences, expe-
riences collective memory, and creates space for multiple perspectives. Submit responses to perspectives@davidson.edu
Sports
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First-Year Athletes to Watch: Part One
DREW EASTLAND ‘21, ANDREW ERLER ‘22, & BEN CUTNER ‘22 SPORTS WRITERS Volleyball: Hattie Rodriguez Hattie Rodriguez was a three-year starter for Charlotte Catholic High School’s volleyball team. For her outstanding play her senior season, Rodriguez was awarded conference player of the year honors and selected to North Carolina’s all-state team. She characterized the transition to Davidson as “a big step up from high school,” but credited the team’s upperclassmen for helping adjust to college athletics and academics. This season at Davidson, Rodriguez has already seen significant playing time at outside hitter. Rodriguez playfully described her role as “bringing down the hammer” with powerful spikes at the net.
asked to play some outside back this season. Myers’s potential versatility will be a key determinant for his playing time. As a former state champion, Myers brings a winning mentality to Davidson soccer. “Being part of a winning team is something very exciting; I see a lot of the same components with Davidson College,” Myers said. “Every single day I try to be the best I can be.”
Women’s Soccer: Emma Nguyen Stand-out first-year phenom Emma Nguyen has already logged many minutes on the pitch for the girls’ soccer team, playing 55-75 minutes in each of the first six competitions. Soccer runs in the Nguyen family; Nguyen’s twin sister Sarah plays for Richmond. “[Davidson] is challenging to the point where I know I’m growing and learning,” Nguyen said. “I want to be challenged in school.”
Men’s Soccer: Jake Myers Jake Myers hopes to bring his versatility to the Davidson soccer pitch. A proven winger, scoring 76 goals and notching 54 assists in three high school seasons, Myers has been
Men’s Cross Country: Coleman Mitchell The cross-country team discovered a gem in Coleman Mitchell. In his first collegiate
race, Mitchell placed 5th overall. The meet featured George Mason, Richmond, Virginia State, William and Mary, and VCU. Mitchell was also named the A-10 men’s cross-country rookie of the week on September 4th. Hailing from Cary, NC, Mitchell looked at larger D-1 schools: NC State, Georgetown, and Michigan. “The team chemistry is part of the reason I came here,” Mitchell commented. “I didn’t think I was going to go here until I took the visit.”
Women’s Cross Country: Anna Kathryn Kilby
Football: ChiChi Odo The Wildcats have also landed Odo, a Defensive End from McKinney, Texas, where he was First Team All-District, First Team All-County, a scholar athlete for The Gridiron Club of Dallas, and a Dallas Morning News Sport Hero of the Week. On the field, Odo loves the brotherhood that is fostered amongst teammates and hopes to learn as much as he can from the seniors while helping the team grab some wins this season.
Field Hockey: Chloe Appleby
AK Kilby represents the face of Davidson class of 2022 cross county. Kilby only started running cross country her freshman year of high school. In her first race at Davidson she finished 3rd on the Davidson team. Kilby described college cross country as a greater challenge with greater competition. “I didn’t have any girls that pushed me [in high school],” Kilby recalled. “Here, everyone keeps up with me, and I have training partners.”
Chloe Appleby was a four year starter on the field hockey team at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC. Appleby was named All-Conference three times and All-State twice, and was a team captain her senior year. Appleby played defense mostly in high school, but is transitioning more to midfield here at Davidson. Appleby said the college game is faster paced, and noted that carpet turf is much quicker than the football fields she played on before. This year’s field hockey team is much improved and looking to keep getting better.
Field Hockey with Hot Start to Season
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JONATHAN SWANN ‘19 SPORTS WRITER
ith a program-high 12 home games, Davidson Field Hockey is looking to rack up the wins on their home turf this season. So far, their efforts look promising, notching wins against Towson and LIU-Brooklyn. The ‘Cats look to keep the momentum going as they enter a 3-game homestand versus Saint Joseph’s, William & Mary, and Longwood. Saint Joseph’s won the A-10 conference championship last year, and William & Mary finished last season ranked 17th nationally, meaning the Wildcats need to be on the top of their game to come out victorious. In the season opener against Georgetown, the Wildcats lost a close game 0-1. Against Towson, the team had an excellent second half, dominating the time of possession by a wide margin and scoring 2 goals in the process. The game versus Rider was a tough loss, but the team bounced back against LIU-Brooklyn, outshooting the Blackbirds 20-8 and winning 5-2. This past Friday, the Cats fell by a score of 3-2 to Appalachian State, with the game going to 2OT. Sydney McKenna ’21 scored the two goals in the loss. Finally, the team played their first road (technically was a neutral site) game of the season this past Sunday against UC Davis, losing 0-3. Led by the efforts of Leigha Nortier ’19 and Kristin Kisa ’19, the Wildcats have averaged 10.5 shots per game and have enjoyed 34 penalty corners overall. Nortier enjoys a stellar shot percentage of 30%, meaning a third of her shots are goals; in addition, almost 70% of her shots are on target. The offensive output is aided by sophomore Caitlyn Gund’s 3 assists, along with the efforts of Valeries Hajek ’21 and Kate Singletary ’19. Nortier emphasized that the whole team is supportive and feeds off success; “[we are] good at building off each other’s positive emotions as well as pushing our physical limits in hard practices, which prepares us for our competition.” In goal, Sarah Zeszotarski ’20 leads the way, having started 5 of the 6 games the Wildcats have played. Zeszotarski is keeping the momentum going from last year where she was ranked
nationally in save percentage with .726. This season, she sports a .762 save percentage and a 2.39 goal against average. Captain and senior Bean Rodriguez is also providing the Wildcats with a solid performance in goal. Almost all defensive starters have graduated, but senior captain Courtney Byler provides a strong and experienced presence on the backline for the Wildcats. Byler, who has the Davidson single-season record for both assists and defensive saves, was named All-Conference last year and looks to match her sustained success as the season progresses. As a captain, she also feels that she has an added responsibility to “inspire her teammates to push themselves even when they feel like stopping.” Both Nortier and Byler are pleased with the effort the team has put in this season but highlights the need to keep working hard. Byler hopes the team can “continue our scoring momentum and start shutting teams out on our defensive end.” Nortier emphasizes that the team needs to “keep pushing our limits because we don’t yet understand how good we can be...sometimes we don’t play confidently or consistently.” Ginny Turner, now in her 13th season as Head Coach of Davidson Field Hockey, remains a steadying force on the sidelines. Named A-10 Coach of the Year in 2015, Turner guided the Wildcats to a berth in the A-10 conference semifinals before the ‘Cats fell to top seed Richmond. With only the top 4 teams in the regular season making the conference tournament, the ‘Cats must excel in every game. But now in their 5th year in the A-10 conference, the Wildcats have shown they can hold their own against the 8 other teams in the conference. Nortier says the expectation ever since last spring was to go to the A-10 tournament, and the team, especially the current seniors, are hoping to go back to the tournament. Byler adds that the team is not only looking to qualify for the tournament but win it and subsequently make the NCAA tournament. Looking ahead, after the homestand, the team enters conference play facing Saint Louis, which has a 2-3 record cur-
Words of Wisdom
Weekly Sports Update
What is something that you might say to an athlete that needs a little help getting over a mental barrier in the middle of a game?
“Just because you lose doesn’t make you a loser, and just because you win doesn’t make you a winner. Success is a mindset, and mentality not a result of an event.” Steven Jackson, Defensive Line Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, Davidson Football
rently, and then UMass, who finished 13-8 last year and is 2-3 this season, before finishing the road trip against Yale. With the many home games this season, Davidson fans can view plenty of field hockey action well into October. Nortier says that the team appreciates it when the fans come out to support the team. Both she and Byler agree that the team is eager to prove to fans and foes alike that Davidson Field Hockey is hungry for success.
Davidson Field Hockey has big plans for this year’s A-10 Tournament. Photos by Genevieve Husak ‘22
Wildcat Standings: Volleyball Team Davidson Dayton La Salle Duquesne Fordham Rhode Island VCU GW George Mason St. Louis
W 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
L 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 5 7 8
T
Pct.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.6 .6 .56 .44 .44 .44 .4 .375 .22 .11
Arts and Culture
6
Review of “Revisit: Artwork from Visiting Faculty” LUCAS WEALS ‘19 ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
O
n August 30, the Van Every/Smith galleries opened their first exhibition of the year, entitled Revisit: Artwork from Visiting Faculty. I went to see the work, and then I went again, because a revisit seemed apt to the subject matter. Across remarkably varied media—including video, graphite drawing, 3D modeling, animation, blown glass and monotype collage—these artists, each a former visiting faculty member at Davidson, grapple with a number of overlapping and interrelated issues. In a sort of curious correspondence, these works of “revisitation” seem deeply concerned with how to represent the present moment in light of a past that’s often painful and a future that’s often difficult or impossible to imagine. The larger Van Every gallery features artwork from Debra Fisher (b. 1954), McArthur Freeman, II (b. 1974), Liss LaFleur (b. 1987), Lydia Musco (b. 1978), Nathaniel Rogers (b. 1980), Clinton Sleeper (b. 1986), and Felicia Van Bork (b. 1962). I was first struck by Rogers’ works, which are all incredibly detailed self-portraits, some in graphite and some painted. Each piece features a deeply surreal element: be it an enormous, inflatable infant (Fatherhood, 2015) or a grown man pedaling a tricycle through an abandoned suburbs, a severed goat’s head perched atop him like a crown (Despite Sacrifices, He Was Haunted By Past Success, 2017). The notion of haunting by past success seems deeply entangled with the exhibition as a whole. Many of the featured artists are reflecting explicitly on lives spent in the arts— on what they feel they’ve accomplished, and what they still have left to do. In his artist statement Rogers explains why he’s chosen to display self-portraits: “I find it most easy,” he writes, “to cast myself in the role of the fool or the tragic hero because I can most clearly see my own mishaps and foibles, especially as they parallel many of our greater societal issues.” Read in this light, Rogers’ uncanny fixation on childhood, and on the figure of the “man-baby,” speaks to a certain crisis of time: how can we produce a future that doesn’t simply reiterate the mistakes and futilities of our past? At the gallery opening, Van Bork referenced the relationship between her collages and the contemporary political scene. A number of works, including How to Hold November (2016) and How to Stand Up (2016), evoke the crisis-point of the 2016 election. The role of the artist feels particularly uncertain in a time of such uncertainty. Van Bork works by creating beautiful prints and then cutting them to shreds, rearranging until she arrives at a new and unexpected configuration. “What emerges,” she writes, “is a symbolic narrative with an allusive title”: all of the works bear “How To” titles, which she connects to “our society’s love of bootstrap independence.” But I get the feeling that the work here isn’t quite satirical—“bootstrap independence” may be silly as a neoconservative cliche, but there’s an overwhelming sense, right now, that something must be done. And it’s precisely the questions this urgency inspires, like “How do I stand up?” or “How do I hold the past while working for a new future?” that Van Bork confronts in her titles. The works themselves are difficult to categorize, and often dark and dreamlike: How to Bridge an Ocean (2015) makes the titular act feel simultaneously attractive and elusive, an incongruous, dark chunk positioned at awkward angles between an aqueous blue and a stormy, graphite gray. Sleeper lets his works wear their politics even more on their sleeve: not only are his titles politically inflected (the main photography series, yet unfinished, is called Teaching
Top: Nathaniel Rogers, Portrait of the Ego of the Artist; Bottom: Ray Kleinlein, Lemons; Right: Nathaniel Rogers, 2017. Photos courtesy of Van Every/Smith Galleries. Capitalism to Nature), but the works enact Freeman’s work should be read in conver- haps in the pop-art-like coverage of the canvas what he calls “the humorous/tragic end of cap- sation with the work of Darren Douglas Floyd with a single type of brightly-colored form, italism.” In each photograph the artist stands (b. 1972), displayed across the hall in the or in the rejection of classical staging. Clay’s in stunning natural landscapes, reading aloud Smith gallery. Floyd’s work responds to his work drives deep into the past in a kind of spirfrom works of classical economic and politi- diagnosis and struggle with stage four prostate itual primitivism: a solution to the “seeming cal theory. Here, again, is the sense of an end- cancer—he uses 3D modeling and animation disorder of shifting space” she locates in “the ing: the present moment is stuck between past to examine forms both bodily and abstract, changeless, the universal, God.” It’s certainly theory and future destruction, but it’s hard to a process that reminds me of Freeman’s, al- a more positive vision than some of the more articulate either. though Floyd’s animations remain digital. At cynical approaches in the exhibition. Sleeper says the “final iteration of his the close of his artist statement, Floyd writes, The artists I haven’t yet mentioned take work” will negotiate a “punchline of futility,” “Cancer always comes back. The bigger trick their own unique approaches—from Musco’s a phrase which certainly combines the tragic is surviving the return.” In a more morbid beautiful sculptures, which combine architecand the comic, but which still remains undone. world, Surviving the Return might have been tural precision with natural color; to Fisher’s Directly in front of Sleeper’s photographs are a title for the exhibition as a whole. In ways defiantly chaotic drawings and woodcuts, Freeman’s sculptures, another display which that are sometimes funny, sometimes mordant, which navigate her own relation to sickness consciously engages with humor. Using tech- sometimes explicit, sometimes vague, and al- and mortality as well as the histories of her nologies of the “future”—cutting-edge tech- ways distinct and jarring, these artists consider family and the innocence of childhood; to Liss niques like 3D modeling and printing—cou- what, in their later years, returns from the past, LaFleur’s multimedia performances of gender pled with resin and bronze casting, Freeman and how it might shape their imagination of a and trauma, especially through the tantalizcreates what he calls “strange figurations”: ee- potential future. ingly fragile form of glasswork. These works rily organic, slick, bodily forms that seem both Alongside Floyd’s work in the Smith gal- add rich layers to the exhibition’s general dismostrous and funny. He connects the bodily lery are the paintings of Ray Kleinlein (b. course: a discourse of loss and hope, sober redisruptions to “hybridity and identity,” and 1969) and the works of Tonya Clay (b. 1975). flection and radical imagination. It’s certainly particularly to “the historical monsterization Kleinlein relates himself to the past in a proud an exhibit worth visiting, and more than once and exoticization of black bodies.” Looking to evocation of the “longstanding tradition” of if you can—if only to fit the theme. futuristic models and “specimens” of creatures representational still life, which he takes up that don’t exist, Freeman explores another with the intention of “transcending the sense problematic of the future—namely the ques- of nostalgia” attributed to the form. In his tion of the post-human, and of what our art and largest and most striking piece, Lemons (for Lucas Weals ‘19 is an English major from our bodies might look like when definitions of Ingress) (2018), it’s unclear where we ought Bethesda, MD. He can be reached for comhumanity change. to locate the transcendence of nostalgia—per- ment at luweals@davidson.edu.
Et Cetera
7
Personal Essay: Olivia Daniels ‘19
It’s not just an abortion; it’s an abortion in North Carolina We are introducing a new Personal Essay feature in The Davidsonian and plan for this to appear every other week. Editor-in-chief Olivia Daniels ‘19 has written our first essay, and her piece reflects her personal views and experience. We welcome further submissions to davidsonian@davidson. edu. When my body expelled my IUD about three months after its painful insertion, I didn’t even feel it. Somewhere at some hour, minute, and second, I joined the few women whose IUDs, and with them trust, security, insurance, had vanished. Two months later, I went to the campus health center after about a week of nausea, convinced I needed sinus medication. The campus doctor asked if there was any chance that I could be pregnant. I laughed. I laughed. I shook my head effusively. She questioned my confidence in my answer. “I have an IUD,” I explained. When my pregnancy test returned positive, I thought the announcement a mean joke to play on a college junior three days from spring Reading Day. As the news flailed in my mind before resting along the increasing beat of my heart, I broke down. What were the odds? Without hesitation and in one breath, I asked when I could get an abortion. Desperation forced me to the ground. Now it was my reality. I understand that my decision is not every woman’s. I respect everyone’s rights to consider other options when faced with the same news. On May 7, 2018, however, I shook with fear until I called Morgan McGrath, desperate to secure an abortion; her reassurance calmed every sharp breath, heaving cry, and shaking muscle. An easy decision? For me, yes. I am fortunate. I was empowered by the support and love of my boyfriend, friends, and family members. I could pay for the procedure. I attend an institution that offers an invaluable
Cal Freundlich ‘20 and Ki Morgan ‘20
Day 1
oasis in the Health Education Office. That Tuesday, I sat in Health Educator Georgia Ringle’s office, anxious to make the appointment. Georgia explained my options; I chose a surgical procedure over the pill, relieved that the ordeal would be quick and complete within a single visit. I made an appointment for that upcoming Friday, the earliest available; Georgia assured me that in the morning, there was little chance of protesters at my chosen clinic. For the first time in eighteen hours, I breathed deeply, becoming conscious of the exhale. The next few days would be between me, my boyfriend, and the state of North Carolina; I believe that any woman in the same situation should understand the state-based legislation which guides the process. Along with Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, and Oklahoma, North Carolina mandates a 72-hour waiting period between state-mandated counseling and the abortion procedure. Of the 33 states that require a waiting period, most necessitate only 24 hours. My state-mandated counseling took place via phone, while I paced the health center’s porch. If I had missed the phone call and not gone through the counseling, I would not have been permitted to receive an abortion that Friday. The Charlotte clinic was discreet, and the staff kind. My mother and boyfriend drove me and were told that the clinic would call them to drive me home when the procedure was complete; they could not stay. I paid the $347, which included my student discount. The nurse led me back to change into a surgical gown, and I went for my ultrasound. North Carolina, once again, joins a cohort of fairly conservative states in mandating pre-abortion ultrasounds. NARAL Pro-Choice America describes this practice as “medically unnecessary” and “designed by anti-choice politicians solely
We’re both from New York but have grown up in completely different worlds from each other. Cal: I’m from the West Village. Ki: I was born and raised in the Brooklyn Thus, we have been exposed and influenced by New York style since we were young. Ki: For me, New York style is simply expressing yourself the way you’d like. There’s no formula, expectation, or prototype—the NY
Day 2
Davidsonian Staff
Editors in Chief News Editors Perspectives Editor Arts and Culture Editor Sports Editor Photography Editor Yowl Editors Design Editor Web Editor Art Editor Copy Editors
way is simply YOUR way. That’s how I dress every day. Some days I wear joggers and a cropped tee, other days I’m a romper girl. But no matter what, I’m always a sneaker-head. I buy my clothes from Free People, athletic sites (Nike, Adidas), and…Cal’s closet! Cal: To tell the truth, I only really started to care about how I dressed in the last few years. The style of the NBA has had a lot to do with
Day 3
The
Laura Dunnagan ‘19, Olivia Daniels ‘19 AJ Naddaff ‘19, Emma Pettit ‘20 Kayla Edwards ‘20 Lucas Weals ‘19 Sam Thomas ‘20 Elayna Daniels ‘21 EJ Kelley ‘20, Katie Walsh ‘20 Sebastian Sola-Sole ‘21 Hope Anderson ‘22 Richard Farrell ‘22 Sarah Austin ‘21, Lindy Bustabad ‘21, Susannah Cate ‘20, Yashi Gunawardena ‘19
to intimidate, shame, and harass women who seek abortion.” I now understand that an abortion in such states as New Jersey, New York, or California is a vastly different experience, likely one with focus on empowering women’s choices; instead, I faced a system designed to discourage my decision and inhibit my fundamental rights. My abortion brought relief, insight, and frustration. I resent the IUD. I resent the fact that an abortion is accessible in some parts of this country in a way that it is not in others. I resent laws like that passed in May 2018 in Iowa outlawing abortions as early as six weeks; mine would have been illegal there. I resent the shaky foundation upon which Roe v. Wade rests as we all wait for the next, likely conservative, male Supreme Court Justice to decide the foreseeable future of reproductive rights. Yet I write with hope, in awe of the women who have campaigned for these rights for centuries across the world. I am indebted to Davidson’s support in the forms of Georgia Ringle and Morgan McGrath. I am thankful for politicians, attorneys, and activists who fight daily for women to have access to safe abortions and resources. I appreciate every vote in favor of and donation toward organizations like Planned Parenthood and NARAL, which fill gaps in access to and education about reproductive health where our government fails us. The midterms are fast-approaching, and there are countless opportunities to educate yourself about pro-choice candidates and voting strategies. Policies shape concrete truths, and the dignity of human choice should never be discounted as an abstraction.
Day 4
that. Not that I necessarily model myself off of them, but I’ve definitely wanted to push the boundaries more often. Also Ki really encourages it too. One of my favorite places to shop in NY is Kith—their stuff is pretty expensive so I can only get something every once in a while. But I always feel like it adds a lot to my style.
Day 5
The
Yowl
Irreverent student journalism since 2004. Castigat Ridendo Mores.
inside
davidsoniun.com Town of Davidson’s Population Found to be 65% Blonde Moms Double Fisting Golden Retriever Leashes Page 65
Volume 1, Issue 115
September 12, 2018
Annoying: Guy Calls Other Guy “My Guy” Page 4
Campus Entirely Unsure as to Purpose of Disgusting Sinks in Laundry Rooms Page Ick
Totally Not Mad at All, Student Settles on “Co-Secretary” Position After Several Failed E-board Campaigns Page TLC
Student Forgoes Favorite Fountain Drink in Union After Assessing Size of Grease Blob on Screen Page 9.73
Quillen Pens Urgent Freshman Plague Notice to Student Body, Advises Extreme Caution in Dire State of Emergency The following email was sent from Davidson College President Carol Quillen to all students, faculty, and staff late Tuesday evening in regards to the everworsening First Year Plague. The message is presented here in its entirety.
Davidson College Freshman Plague Infirmary in 1928. The building would later become the Health Center.
Report: That Flickerball Douchebag is Really Insecure Deep Down Inside IMACS — Multiple sources have confirmed that flickerball asshole Patrick Lawson ‘22, who punched an opposing player, spit on his own roommate, and threatened to decapitate a referee during a 41-23 victory over 3rd Belk on Sunday, suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a fragile sense of masculinity that developed over years of toxic upbringing. Lawson has been heavily influenced by male figures over the years, including several football coaches and his father. Pat Lawson ’82, who his son described as his “number one role model” in a 2009 Father’s Day card obtained by The Yowl, was a former defensive lineman who reportedly has only ever demonstrated love and affection toward his only child when he achieved high levels of athletic success. Lawson’s abusive high school coaches, whom he wrote about as some of “his biggest influencers” in a number of leaked college application essays, enjoyed constantly belittling players and viewed physical violence and homophobic slurs as acceptable motivational tactics. Lawson himself appears to have employed these same tactics on the flickerball field. The Yowl spoke with Rachel McNulty ’20, a second-year Flickerball referee, regarding Lawson’s behavior. “I know he really came across as a massive douchebag
out there, and don’t get me wrong he certainly was,” remarked McNulty. “But he was actually super pleasant afterward, explaining that his conduct on the athletic field is simply a byproduct of years of his father’s disapproval and a toxic high school locker room culture normalized by sadistic coaches who shaped the man he is today. I knew not to take the decapitation stuff personally once he clarified all that!” Lawson’s roommate, Charlie Conway ’22, echoed McNulty’s statements when asked about the behavior displayed on the flickerball field Sunday. “Pat is actually known as a pretty nice guy by our hall and a lot of the other kids in Watts who know him,” said Conway, elaborating, “The kid’s got a wide range of interests, from philosophy to European history to vegetation. It’s unfortunate that almost everyone hates him because he’s an absolute asshole during flickerball games. I mean he is a DICK! Like actually an awful person. But only on the field.” At press time, Lawson was seen arriving late to a flickerball practice on the Old Tennis Court Lawn after volunteering at a local nursing home. Several onlookers confirmed seeing the freshman violently bash his coach’s head off the stone benches when asked why he was tardy.
Dear Davidson students, faculty, staff, and virus carriers, You likely are by now aware of the current projections showing that the Freshman Plague has been present on campus for almost one week now. At this time, infection rates don’t show signs of slowing down until late September. However, even if the chronic illness is reduced from “plague” status, it will remain dangerous. Continue to expect animalistic coughing that will annoy the sh*t out of you in the library and powerful sneezes that could potentially snap power lines and turn tree limbs and other objects into projectiles. PLEASE, my dearest underlings, please read this message. In the event that you still have not contracted the plague, please follow this guidance: · Upperclassmen students should take shelter in senior apartments and will be notified if you need to move to an alternative location. · Meals should NOT be eaten in Vail Commons, as this is the hub of freshman students who have yet to fully understand the range of campus meal possibilities. · Upperclassman should NOT be shaking hands with freshman. This could not only lead to the spreading of the plague--but worse, opening the door for you become an involuntary “mentor” and risk frequent exposure to contagions. · Opening doors to freshman residence halls from outside should be done with protective gloves or wiped down with Lysol first. Follow the directions of RLO staff members. · Harsh whisperings and pointing will be used to communicate directly which fellow peers are infected by this epidemic. If you observe any dangerous or damaging conditions, such as that girl who lost her voice and is still trying to make thorough points in seminar, keep clear of the hazard and contact campus police at: 704-609-0344. Any decision about cancelling the class of 2022 will be communicated through email, social media and posted on both Inside Davidson and the college’s homepage. Let your roommates and hallmates know where you are going and, if you have to leave campus, warn any family members you will interact with at home. Godspeed and good luck, Carol E. Quillen
Innovative BIO 114 Class Observes and Researches Freshmen Packs for Lab
Yowl
The report goes on to add, “Freshmen are inherently opportunistic and fearful creatures, and exclusively travel in packs. Whether it’s studying, going to F, or eating, freshmen move in cohorts. A lone freshman is a rare sight, and it’s almost always accompanied by a campus map and an uncertain demeanor. They mostly inhabit Belk, Commons, and F, and venturing to a new location on campus can be stressful for them.” In the classroom, researchers have observed that first years can frequently be heard asking the professor about material covered by the syllabus. An unfortunate young soul may even ask the professor if they can go to the bathroom.
Magical Malorie Hudson, Satirical Sammy Davis, Unnamed Area Man (and the rest of the gang)
THE BOX
The
WRITERS
CRAIG E. WALL BUILDING — In a major curriculum change this fall, Davidson’s Integrated Concepts in Biology II class is shifting its research focus toward litters of freshmen students instead of the laboratory rats traditionally analyzed in the course. The class offers a unique opportunity to study the life, development, and social interactions of first year-students. In a brief overview of initial findings shared with The Yowl, representatives from the class noted, “Physically, freshmen can be distinguished by their propensity to dress ‘nicely,’ their stylish key-lanyards, and their large numbers. They can be seen losing their CatCards, room keys, and general sense of hygiene.”
This year has seen a record number of Pre-Med students, and a record numbers of breakdowns are expected for this coming winter. Some students are already at wit’s end after receiving their first B’s.
“A lone freshman is a rare sight, and it’s almost always accompanied by a campus map and an uncertain demeanor.” In the social sphere, freshmen can be spotted shrewdly double fisting light beers at F, boasting about SAT scores, and asserting that they’re
Still working through all the submissions. Shoutout to Katie for editing while sick. Champions perform through adversity.
“basically sophomores” with all the AP credits they have. The obsequity of this year’s freshman class has been noted, with ‘mandatory’ hall meetings reaching 100% attendance. When asked to comment on the study, a resident biology professor declared: “We were so preoccupied with whether or not we could study freshmen, we never stopped to think if we should.” This will be the last year the biology department chooses to observe students as it has been generally “sad and demotivating.” At press time, the Biology Department announced that, next year, BIO 114’s focus will be on less depressing campus fauna, such as the local raccoons, skunks, and cockroaches.
Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian. Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth. We don’t make the news, we fake the news™.