The Eagle November 2022

the EAGLE November 2022

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What's on your plate?

Recent health inspections cause student concern over food safety

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theEAGLE November 2022

theEAGLE

Delivering American University’s news and views since 1925

MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief Nina Heller Managing Editor for Online Eliza Schloss Managing Editor for News Sarah Mattalian Managing Editor for Life Olivia Kozlevcar Managing Editor for Sports Lee Clarke Managing Editor for Opinion Kayla Kelly Managing Editor for El Águila Daniella Jimenez Managing Editor for Multimedia Carly Johnson Managing Editor for Copy Sophia Rocha Business Manager Eddie Rogers Assistant Copy Editors Emilia Rodriguez Katie Mass Leta Lattin Lexi Kallaher Isabelle Kravis Natasha LaChac Ryan O’Connor Sarah Clayton Sarai Batallas Sophie Meyers Stella Guzik Assistant Online Editor Rebecca Oss Assistant Operations Editor Taraji Ellingon Social Media Editors Aaron Russell Alana Parker Neev Agarwal Sam Hiergesell Sarah Flakus

Talia Pantaleo Photographers Josh Katz Izzy Fantini Lia Chien Gabriel Zakaib Ava Falkenrath Videographers Jolie Abdo Tristan Au Maddie Gerber TikTok Director Mariana Trujillo Valdes Audio Editors Lydia LoPiccolo Natalie Flynn Graphic Design Editors Gabby Allen Jacob Fishman Haley Dymek Imaan Hassan Administration and Local News Editor Ben Johansen Campus Life Editor Kate Corliss Features Editor Mina Allen Community Engagement Editor Zoë Bell Investigations and Data Editor Jordan Young Investigative Reporters Weslan Hansen Abigail Turner Isabella Brown Student Government Beat Reporters Mackenzie Konjoyan Owen Auston-Babcock Arts and Entertainment Editor Hannah Langenfeld

Silver Screen Editor Spenser Hoover Food, Fitness and Fashion Editor Sara Winick Music Editor Jenna Schwartz Environment Editor Kylie Bill Sports Beat Editor Marco Gacina Sports Culture and Analysis Editor Liah Argiropoulos Assistant Opinion Editor Alexis Bernstein Satire Editor Nora Sullivan Satire Columnists India Siecke Jared Bowes Jasmine Shi Staff Columnists Jelinda Montes Emily Brignand Anna Gephart Meliha Ural Nick Blanco Allie Grande Rebecca Samano Alice Still Edozie Umunna Bryan Amador Rivera PJ Cunningham Staff Reporters Ian Gunderson Hannah Newlon-Trujillo Jensen Bird Kendall Thompson Samantha Myers Riley Gillis Aline Behar Kado Ellie White

Maria Tedesco Vera Tsang Bailey Hobbs Maya Cederlund Mary Kett Kathryn LaLonde Gabe Castro-Root Grace Harman Maeve Fishel Mia Bowman Sophie Cazares Olivia Alafriz Marina Zaczkiewicz Young Min Miller Isabel Umekubo Delaney Hoke Kyra Benzing-Plourde Justin Morgan Adelaide Escott Sachi Carlyn Lozano Melissa Howell Ana Velez Clair Sapilewski Walker Whalen Abigail Hatting Ella Rousseau Soumya Sahay Alfie Pritchard Connor Sturniolo Lauren Andreala Noah Peretz Kathryn Squyres Paige Craig Jesse Weinstein Joey Malaczewski Penelope Jennings Laura Graytok Isabel Umekubo Silvio Guzman Victor Pagan

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CORRECTIONS The Eagle has a commitment to accuracy and clarity and will publish corrections or clarifications. To report a mistake, email the editor-in-chief at editor@theeagleonline.com.

MISSION STATEMENT The Eagle, a student-run newspaper at American University, reports news involving the campus community and surrounding area. The Eagle strives to be impartial in its reporting and believes firmly in its First Amendment rights.

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theEAGLE November 2022

Letter from the Editor: Support the next generation of journalists

Help us continue our work to make The Eagle newsroom more inclusive

LIA CHIEN / THE EAGLE

If you’re reading this, you know how valuable The Eagle is to the American University community. But if we can’t pay AU’s student journalists for their work, we can’t create a newsroom that reflects the diversity of the campus community.

Every year, we make it a goal to expand the diversity of our newsroom. The reality is, this won’t happen until we can compensate our staff for their work. That’s why we need you. For the rest of the year, we’re raising money to expand stipends for our staff. Our staff spends their days (and oftentimes nights, too) keeping The Eagle up

and running, which is in addition to being full-time students and working additional jobs or internships.

The Eagle Innovation Fund, established in 2018, was founded after staff and alumni from The Eagle came together to create a $50,000 endowment to help support our journalism. Each year, we are allowed to spend the interest from this fund, which supplements our funding from student fees, not replaces it. While the interest we can spend is typically a small amount, growing the fund would help expand our ability to support our staff.

Thanks to the support of donors, our Eagle Innovation Fund has been able to compensate managing editors for the past few semesters with stipends ranging from $100-200 per semester. I hope you’ll consider donating to The Eagle Innovation Fund and help make expanding these stipends a reality. Managing editors work at least 20 hours a week, often more, to keep their sections running. And that doesn’t account for the rest of our staff, from reporters to designers, copy editors and more.

Many AU students may be pushed away from the opportunity to join The Eagle because they cannot afford to work in a job that does not pay. Student journalism shouldn’t just be for those who can afford to work for free. With your help, it doesn’t have to be.

Staff at The Eagle work hard to keep the AU community informed. We do it because we love it and believe so strongly in the value of the work we do.

The Eagle has served as an important training ground for young journalists — our alumni work in almost

every major newsroom across the country, scattered from coast to coast, thanks to their experiences at The Eagle.

We want people to apply to The Eagle knowing they will be welcomed and valued. We want people to stay at The Eagle, and not be driven away because they cannot afford the hours of unpaid labor it takes to work at a college newspaper.

The Eagle has been covering AU for almost 100 years. With your support, we can make The Eagle a more inclusive place and ensure its success for years to come.

Nina Heller Editor-in-Chief 2022-2023 nheller@theeagleonline.com

Scan this QR code to donate to The Eagle Innovation Fund

INDEX NEWS 4.

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A celebrated sculpture will call AU home Graduate students, adjuncts and staff reflect on working for AU, and the future of unions Recent health inspections cause dining dilemmas American University freshmen reflect on their expectations for the University An on-leave professor brings many different disciplines together to solve common problems

LIFE 10.

10.

11.

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AU professor Dara Padwo-Audick explores global themes through documentary filmmaking Dining discrepancies: How cuts, changes and overall dissatisfaction with food options have affected students during the fall semester Gospel Choir brings faith and community to AU Collaboration is Key: AU Second District Records is creating the soundtrack to the school Whose Land We Live On: How both local and global Indigenous issues intersect in DC Potter Clark releases ‘Tremors’

SPORTS 15.

15.

16.

17.

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Charllene Boshoff: South African sensation Jack Green's actions speak louder than his words Going for Gold(berg): How the AU volleyball head coach wins on and off the court Lacking football, AU struggles with student interest in sports Looking for a club sport to join?

EL ÁGUILA 18.

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‘Fuerza en los números’: Como la comunidad de AU apoya la comunidad de Puerto Rico El programa de traducción de español y como estudiantes de AU ayuda la comunidad Latina Opinión: Latinos en la fuerza laboral

OPINION 20.

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Opinion: The lost Black city Opinion: ‘Danger’ wasn’t in the job description Opinion: Admin, the pandemic isn’t over because you’re tired of it Opinion: Urban planning disparities further inequities Opinion: Letts Hall and dorm lockout policy: Where is our money going?

Satire: New University-wide participation policy requires students to deliver impromptu State of the Union speech in front of the entire United States citizenry Satire: SPA requires great deal of begging to be re-subscribed to digest Satire: American University claims it was preparing Jewish students for the professional world ignoring their most important holidays Opinion: Where do we cross the line in classroom debate?

Staff Editorial: Food safety on campus doesn’t have to be a challenge

COVER PHOTO: IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE

NEWS

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theEAGLE November 2022

A celebrated sculpture will call AU home ‘Marabar’ sculpture given a second life across from Katzen

by Grace Harman News Reporter

In 1981, artist Elyn Zimmerman was commissioned by the National Geographic Society to design a sculpture for the plaza of its D.C. headquarters.

More than three decades later, Zimmerman returned to what she thought would be the permanent site to re-imagine her million-pound piece before it is moved nearly four miles to American University’s campus.

Zimmerman coordinated her installation with architect David Childs, who led the earlier renovation of the Society’s headquarters. Zimmerman said it was especially unusual for a relatively young, female artist to be chosen for such a large-scale project.

“I didn’t realize that the piece would become as popular as it was and that it would lead, for me, to a lot of other commissions,” Zimmerman said.

The extent of the sculpture's popularity became evident after its continued existence was threatened.

In 2019, National Geographic filed for approval to renovate the plaza of its headquarters. The plans included a new main entry pavilion and a rentable rooftop garden, but no “Marabar.”

Dismantling the purportedly permanent artwork generated significant backlash from the broader artistic community. Museum leaders, architects and art critics sent dozens of complaint letters expressing their desire that “Marabar” be preserved.

“It made me feel valued and that the work was valued by people who had experience in the art world or architecture,” Zimmerman said.

Public outrage culminated in an organized campaign to save the piece, launched by the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

“I was very grateful to the Cultural Landscape Foundation,” Zimmerman said. “They reached out to me and they said ‘Can we help you,’ and I didn’t know how to approach getting this situation remedied.”

National Geographic eventually agreed not to

IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE

dismantle “Marabar'' — committing rather to fund its removal, transportation and installation somewhere else. The Society considered Canal Park, located approximately a block away from the Navy Yard metro station. However, Zimmerman did not think the expansive park landscape was conducive to her piece.

“It was just a big open space, and it didn’t have any context,” Zimmerman said.

After visiting various potential properties, Zimmerman chose a spot across the street from the Katzen Arts Center, where the structure will be visible from Ward Circle. Zimmerman said Canal Park was so open that it felt vulnerable, whereas the smaller and tree-lined site on AU’s campus offered some protection.

In its original iteration, “Marabar” consisted of fractured granite boulders surrounding the perimeter of a 60-foot rectangular reflecting pool. Three of the boulders had polished faces mirroring each other, giving the impression that they were once a single monolithic form. Zimmerman compared her design to geodes — rock structures lined with minerals that are often cut open and polished.

The name “Marabar” originates from fictional caves in E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to India.” Zimmerman said Forster’s description of the caves stuck with her and reminded her of real-world caves she saw during her own visit to India. It was seeing these intricate chambers carved out of solid rock that first inspired Zimmerman to sculpt.

“You discover something, and it sort of sets you off,” Zimmerman said. “I feel like I went to India, I was a painter — I came out of there and all I wanted to do was make stone sculpture.”

“Marabar’s” boulders have already been removed from the plaza at the National Geographic Society.

There were safety concerns, both for the relatively fragile polished stones and for whoever was tasked with moving the piece, but Zimmerman said the removal went off brilliantly and referred to the people who performed it as heroes.

Returning to the project after nearly four decades is bittersweet, Zimmerman said. Given its site-spe-

cific nature, certain elements of the sculpture’s design will be reconfigured to fit the new location.

“Marabar” will be renamed to reflect the changes.

The adapted structure will be titled “Sudama,” after one of the elaborate Indian caves that inspired Forster’s fictionalization. “Sudama” not only pays homage to the original name, but relates to Zimmerman’s own artistic journey.

The reason I started working with rock and with granite in particular was that I had gone to India in 1976, spent four months there and I visited a number of these sites,” Zimmerman said.

Construction is underway across from Katzen Arts Center to prepare the site for the “Sudama” installation. The installation and landscaping is anticipated to be completed no later than spring 2023, according to University spokesperson Jasmine Pelaez.

“I was very nervous about something possibly going wrong … things being damaged,” Zimmerman said. “But I see that the people that are engaged, working on it are very capable and everybody wants the same positive experience at the end.” gharman@theeagleonline.com

You discover something, and it sort of sets you off – Elyn Zimmerman

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theEAGLE November 2022

Graduate students, adjuncts and staff reflect on working for AU, and the future of unions All unions at American University have their contracts ratified

by Maya Cederlund and Abigail Turner News Reporters

Leila Hernandez gave birth to her daughter in May 2021, but she can only afford to put her daughter in daycare because of her partner’s job. Working in the American University Career Center as a customer service specialist, Hernandez says she is not able to be the primary earner for her family.

Hernandez protested for better compensation and working conditions back in August as a member of the AU staff union. The staff union is one of four unions at the University, along with the graduate student union, adjunct faculty union and WAMU union. “​​You have to be in a position of privilege to be able to afford to work at AU,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez attended AU for graduate school and chose to work as a staff member at AU to give students the same experience she had.

Aubrey Hill, who is also an AU alumna, now serves as a systems administrator in the Career Center and was part of the formation of the AU graduate student union during her time at AU. Hill says it is very common that students go on to work for the University, going from “really low student wages to still really low wages.”

“Having student loans after having been a student at American University, and trying to then live on an American University salary was very, very difficult and continues to be difficult,” Hill said.

Kylie Stigler, an academic advisor in the School of Communication, is also part of the AU staff union.

Stigler started working for AU in January and said she has a passion for helping people, especially students, realize what they want to do.

“It’s hard advocating for yourself and advocating for more money and better health care coverage and everything that we did fight for when you have people that don't want to budge on anything,” Stigler said.

In August, after months of negotiations with AU, the staff union went on strike during All-American Welcome. Over the course of five days, the strikes delayed the move-in process, and freshmen walked out of convocation in support of the staff union.

Hernandez said seeing the support of freshman students made her want to continue working at AU. “Seeing the love and support of AU students makes me giddy,” Hernandez said.

The strike ended when the staff union and the University agreed on a contract, which was then ratified by the union. Before the contract was signed, Hill said AU was telling staff union members that the contract would go into effect Oct. 1.

“We are proceeding under the assumption that it is enforceable right now that people can start to bring grievances if they need, that people will be seeing those pay raises,” Hill said before the contract was signed.

Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Matt Bennett said in an email to The Eagle that the University is working to upload compensation increases into the payroll system. Updated pay for bi-weekly paychecks was rolled out on Oct. 28, and monthly paychecks on Oct. 31.

Additionally, Bennett said AU is establishing a Labor-Management Committee and working with SEIU-Local 500 to develop the processes for collect-

ing union dues and agency fees.

“Implementation of the CBAs is underway and teams across the university are updating procedures and systems,” Bennett told The Eagle in an email.

Now, all four unions at American University have their contracts signed: provost and enrollment division staff, graduate students, adjunct faculty and WAMU content staff.

David Jacobs — a member of AU’s adjunct union — said the student walkout during the freshman convocation “had an effect” and the union came to an agreement before classes started on Aug. 29, 2022.

For many staff members, adjuncts and graduates, the unions helped address the issues they had with working for the University.

However, many still have grievances with the administration and the way they address the issues that union members face.

James Bryan is a member of AU’s graduate student union and a current P.h.D. candidate in the School of International Service. He said he enjoyed working at AU but found his salary insufficient.

In a separate email, Bryan wrote, “It [the Consumer Price Index] was 252.2 when I started in Sept.

2018 and was 296.8 in Sept. 2022.” Bryan added that the Consumer Price Index represented a 17.7 percent increase in prices and that prices are continuing to rise.

Bryan has taught six sections of Introduction to International Studies and said his salary was inadequate for the cost of living in D.C. He described a “dual reality” of greatly enjoying the work and program at AU but realizing that he and other P.h.D. students weren’t being paid a livable wage.

Bryan thought P.h.D. students weren’t compensated for the work they are doing in addition to research for their degrees.

Similar to Bryan, Jacobs felt frustrated with how the administration handled the union process.

Jacobs is an adjunct professor of management in the Kogod School of Business. He said the administration ignored the adjunct union for four months and that they were “stonewalled” for an extended period of time.

In an email, Jacobs wrote that Lou Cannon was on the council but didn’t make the policy.

“We were pointing out that the rate of the inflation had risen substantially and that departments were having difficulty seeing their course stat because of turnover,” he said.

Jacobs said he has been at AU long enough to see significant changes in the school’s dayto-day operations. Jacobs started as an adjunct in 1981 and was a full-time faculty member from 1986-2002. He’s been an adjunct since 2020.

“And it’s been since the 1980s, in particular, that universities have begun to rely so extensively on adjuncts and have possibly undervalued their labor more generally,” Jacobs said.

A 2016 study published by the TIAA Institute found that from 1993-2013, there was a 114.5 percent increase in part-time faculty at universities. And because universities currently depend so much on adjunct faculty, Jacobs wants to see the universities they work for — particularly American University — value

their work.

“I would like AU to invest as much in its employees, as it has done recently, in landscape development,” Jacobs said.

He added that the University considered “how students, as consumers, would relate to the quality of the landscaping and the buildings themselves.”

Jacobs said the University needs to continue and consider its investments in terms of increasing salaries for its adjunct professors. He also emphasized that the University’s human resources practices not only affect professors and staff but also the students and the larger AU community.

Jacobs said, “I’m hoping that we have good faith bargaining continuing and that we can all have conversations with the administration about how there are opportunities for us all to mutually benefit …”

Like Jacobs, Bryan hopes to build on the progress made by last year’s negotiations. Bryan also wants the union to leave a lasting impression and organize more efficiently and earlier.

“So, I’m hoping we can sort of build off the momentum from the last year and stay engaged with each other, even though we won't be negotiating another contract for three years,” he said.

Looking forward, Hill hopes to support the AU staff union by establishing an internal governance structure while also encouraging other campus workers to unionize. The union elected 15 representatives that will help other members understand the new contract.

“If we can prove that it's worth it, then that will help clear away the fears and concerns that have held people back in the past from organizing,” Hill said.

Stigler also hopes the union will grow and continue to successfully advocate for its workers. She said the student support she received during the work stoppage reaffirmed why they were striking and what they were doing.

“It’s nice to know that no matter what happens, our students do support us just as much as I want to support them,” Stigler said. mcederlund@theeagleonline.com aturner@theeagleonline.com

IMAAN HASSAN / THE EAGLE

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theEAGLE November 2022

Recent health inspections cause dining dilemmas

Students grapple with health concerns when eating on campus

by Jordan Young, Mariana Trujillo and Liah Argiropoulos One meal swipe at American University is equivalent to about $12.50, but despite the price, health code violations found in recent food safety inspections and inconsistent food quality have left some students worried about what is on their plates.

DC Health conducted three inspections in 2022 of the Mary Graydon Center at AU, all of which showed multiple violations of food safety regulations. MGC currently houses most of the University’s main dining locations, such as Paper Lantern, True Burger, Einstein Bros. Bagel, District Pickle and Terrace Dining Room — the only dining hall on campus.

“For all the money we're paying in tuition, it's really disappointing to hear and see all these people who refuse to eat there,” said Julianna Greenberg, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs. “We get sick from eating there.”

The inspections of MGC took place on March 24, Sept. 21 and Sept. 28. Some of the observations made by the inspector in the reports include but are not limited to workers not wearing hair restraints, unlabeled plastic squeeze bottles filled with unknown liquids and containers of prepared food not being properly labeled with dates and contents.

According to University spokesperson Jasmine Pelaez, all violations found in the March 24 and Sept 21. reports were fixed by the Sept. 28 inspection. However, new violations were found on Sept. 28, such as workers not having properly washed hands, no accurate thermometers provided and improper disposal of garbage and facility maintenance.

Inside the inspection reports The Eagle obtained the three health inspection reports of MGC from 2022 as well as other 2022 inspection reports of the campus’ Subway and Starbucks locations from the DC Health’s food inspection report online database, which houses all safety reports conducted by the DC Health Food Safety and Hygiene Inspection Services Division.

An inspection report includes the establishment name, address, phone number, Basic Business License number and license period, establishment type, type of inspection, email address and risk category.

Some violations, referred to as Core Violations, must be corrected within 14 days of the inspection. Priority Violations must be corrected within five days. Violations that need to be corrected include out of compliances. When a violation is marked as Corrected On Site, it means that it was fixed during the inspection,

eliminating the need for a future inspection into the matter.

ity complaint form or by email. A complaint against a facility will automatically initiate an inspection.

Pelaez wrote that, contrary to what was stated on the inspection report, the Sept. 28 inspection was a “reinspection,” not a complaint. Pelaez did not say whether or not the University thought the classification of “complaint” on the Sept. 28 report was a mistake on DC Health’s part.

“The University stated that the 9/28 inspection of the Mary Graydon Center (MGC) was a reinspection, not a follow up,” Pelaez wrote in an email to The Eagle. “This was based on the University’s understanding from the health inspector that the 9/28 inspection was a reinspection based on the 9/21 complaint inspection. The health inspector and the D.C. Department of Health are responsible for the report categorization and content.”

There is no inspection type listed on DC Health’s website called a “reinspection.”

The Eagle requested to interview University officials, but the AU Office of Communications and Marketing would only provide written responses to ques-

For all the money we're paying in tuition, it's really disappointing to hear and see all these people who refuse to eat there. We get sick from eating there.

-Julianna Greenberg The inspections of MGC, Subway and Starbucks included routine, follow-up and complaint, as noted on each individual report. A routine inspection is an unannounced periodic inspection part of a regulatory regime. A follow-up inspection is the purpose of re-inspecting items that were out of compliance. Complaint inspections are carried out in response to complaints that the health department receives.

All three of the inspection reports for MGC were listed as “complaint,” meaning that a complaint was submitted about the facility to DC Health via their online facil-

* †

DATA ANALYSIS BY JORDAN YOUNG GRAPHICS BY CARLY JOHNSON †Only includes establishments classified as "Delicatessen." *Only includes establishments classified as "Restaurants."

Sources: DC Health 2022 Food Establishment Inspection Reports for the Mary Graydon Center, Epicurean and Company, Royal Jacket, The Eatery Dining Hall, Chartwells Food Court, Buff and Brew and GWU Inn.

Sources: DC Health 2022 Food Establishment Inspection Reports for the AU Starbucks, AU Subway, Crop Chop, Georgetown Starbucks (not hospital location), Chick-Fil-A, DC Taco House, DH Pizza and Pasta, DH Halal Shack, DH Crisp and DH TrueBurger.

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theEAGLE November 2022 tions over email. The Eagle also reached out individually over email to multiple AU Dining officials for interviews, but they did not respond.

Risk categories vary, with “one” representing the lowest risk level and “five” representing the highest. The purpose and range of any specific food establishment determine the risk category. The more hazardous ingredients and specialized processes being used in the facility, the higher the risk level will be. Higher risk facilities get routine inspections without prior notice more frequently than lower risk ones.

Regardless of the given risk category, a complaint will result in an inspection. The University was categorized as a moderate risk of “three” from all three inspections in 2022.

The Eagle reached out to DC Health to speak with Ross J. Gateretse, who inspected AU’s dining facilities, but was told

by DC Health Spokesperson Robert Mayfield over email that the “reports speak for themselves.” DC Health did not respond to follow-up questions after multiple attempts to reach out via email and phone call.

sity post all timely inspection reports, according to Pelaez.

“We are working to improve the visibility of these postings,” Pelaez wrote.

“Starting in January 2023, we will transition to a more visible and easily understandable health inspection posting system. As part of this system, we will make our D.C. Department of Health inspection reports and other routine independent inspection reports available electronically to our community members.”

Even before news of the inspection was spread by students and parents, some had already noticed irregular quality in the food they were being served and the conditions of the dining facilities.

“I've been [to TDR], and the plates have been dirty or the utensils will be dirty,” Greenberg said. “I've noticed undercooked meat, like nine out of 10 times that I've eaten meat there. I know people who've gotten food poisoning, who've had stomach pains or nausea. I personally had stomach pain from eating there.”

Greenberg specifically mentioned how she has been served “rotten lettuce” and “tomatoes that are frozen still” at the TDR salad station.

I was saying to myself, ‘I don’t really have a need to go to TDR this year,’ and now it's kind of like ‘yeah, I'm not going to TDR this year.’

-Dan Sirota

What students say After hearing about the Sept. 21 inspection report of MGC through social media, some students expressed frustration over the violations and how they were handled by the University.

“I'm surprised that they were allowed to keep serving food and not face any repercussions because of the violations they faced,” Greenberg said. “I know that they had five days, I believe, to fix the food, but I've still noticed problems since I've been there.”

Despite the wide circulation of the report on social media, some students were still unaware of the violations found Sept.

21.

“I think an email would have been good,” said Sarah Mangham, a sophomore in SPA who had not heard of the inspection or the violations that were found until an interview with The Eagle. “I mean, I haven't been on social media in the past few days. They probably posted about it.

Or maybe not, actually, though. But if they did, cool, if they didn't, they should post about it.”

The University did not post about the inspection results on social media nor send an email to students, though the inspection reports were posted in TDR, as DC Health code requires that the Univer-

Dan Sirota, a junior in the School of Communication, also noted that the state of the food being served can sometimes be unpredictable.

“You could have something really fantastic one day and then go back the next day and order the exact same thing and it’ll be completely different,” Sirota said. “It’s surprising. There are a lot of really strange inconsistencies that you don't expect to have in the food service industry.”

Cat Goff, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she once had a “fruit sticker still on the tomato in [her] pizza.”

Impacts on safety Many of the regulations AU was found to be out of compliance with during the inspections of the University’s dining facilities in 2022 have strong implications on potential hazards in the food being served.

“The issues identified by DC Health related mostly to lack of docu-

MORE THAN

45,000 MEALS SERVED PER WEEK mentation or records to demonstrate consistent adherence to the identified health code provisions,” Pelaez wrote. “Had the inspection identified any unacceptable risks, DC Health would have ordered additional actions. The University promptly corrected the findings, which included immediate cleaning, and disposal of food items in the vicinity.”

However, Bart Dobek, a food safety consultant based in Illinois with BD Food Consultants LLC, raised concerns after examining the three 2022 inspection reports of MGC. According to Dobek, even though no food was found to specifically be unsafe at the time of inspection, the findings have broader implications on safety for consumers in general.

It was found during the March 24 and Sept. 21 inspections that perishable foods in MGC were not being stored at the proper temperature, which D.C. Health defines as 41 degrees Fahrenheit and below.

On Sept. 21, it was found that raw beef was being kept in the walk-in refrigerator at 46 degrees Fahrenheit, American cheese was being kept in one of the open display refrigerators at 51 degrees Fahrenheit and one of the open display refrigerators as a whole was being kept at 49 degrees Fahrenheit.

“This could lead to growth of microorganisms including pathogens,” Dobek wrote in an email to The Eagle. “Pathogens such as Listeria Monocytogenes or Salmonella can cause illness or in some cases death.”

Listeria monocytogenes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can cause both milder intestinal illness and a

more serious invasive illness, especially in newborns, those who are pregnant, over 65 or immunocompromised. Intestinal illness symptoms usually start within 24 hours of exposure and include diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms of invasive illness start within two weeks of exposure and include fever, flu-like symptoms, headache, confusion, loss of balance, stiff neck and seizures.

Dobek also explained that unsanitary conditions in food establishments can increase the risk of foodborne illness.

“Inadequate sanitary conditions at a food establishment may lead to development of environmental pathogens (in this case the most probable would be listeria monocytogenes),” Dobek wrote, referencing a violation from the Sept. 21 inspection of MGC, which included observations of an unclean and rusty can opener, an unclean meat slicer and an unclean prep table.

Dobek also examined inspections conducted of the Subway and Starbucks on the University’s campus on Sept. 21, 2022.

“Starbucks had one finding that is concerning about [an] unclean table where food is made and some mold growth in [a] food prep area,” Dobek wrote. “This could lead to food cross contamination and potential illness for consumers.”

This violation was fixed by Sept. 28, according to the follow-up inspection report.

He did not find any major concerning violations in the Subway report.

“The D.C. health inspection reports reflect a moderate risk rating and a correction period for the documented items because those items, if uncorrected moving forward, could pose an unacceptable risk to food safety,” Pelaez wrote. “Risk can never be completely eliminated in any food service program. The items documented in the DC Health report indicate the potential for risk if they are not addressed promptly, which they were.”

Continued on page 8

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Although MGC received moderate risk ratings, according to DC Health, risk ratings are not a reflection of a food establishment’s condition upon inspection, but rather if hazardous foods, such as raw ingredients and specialized procedures are being used to prepare food.

Not just AU AU is not the only university in the district to be flagged as out of compliance with health regulations this year.

An analysis by The Eagle using inspection reports ranging from Jan. 27, 2022 to Oct. 7, 2022 found the average number of health regulations out of compliance per inspection in dining facilities classified

by DC Health as “restaurants” at George Washington University was two, four at Georgetown University and five at the Catholic University of America. The average amount of violations found per inspection at AU was seven.

According to DC Health, a restaurant offers food services to customers who order while seated, are served while eating and pay afterward. Restaurants also include providing services such as carryout services. At AU, the

theEAGLE November 2022

only dining facility classified as a restaurant is the entirety of MGC, but all the other universities examined house multiple restaurants.

The analysis also found that from Aug. 4, 2022 to Oct. 7, 2022 the average number of health regulations out of compliance per inspection in dining facilities classified

by DC Health as “delicatessens” at Georgetown was three. GWU and AU both had an average of about one per inspection.

There was no data on delicatessens available for CUA in 2022.

According to DC Health, a food establishment is classified as a delicatessen where food, drinks or other refreshments are made and sold to be consumed outside of the premises.

Looking to the future AU says it has taken steps to fix the violations that were found as well as prevent them from occurring again going forward.

“The safety of the food we serve to our students and community members is always a priority for us,” Pelaez wrote. “Over 45,000 meals a week are served in our dining hall and campus retail venues. We follow a continuous improvement model in our dining operations to ensure we meet and exceed health, quality and best practice standards.”

After the March 24 inspection of MGC, Pelaez wrote staff members were retrained in procedures such as how to maintain appropriate documentation and post required notices. They also increased preventative maintenance and routine maintenance

“I've noticed undercooked meat, like nine out of 10 times that I've eaten meat there. I know people who've gotten food poisoning, who've had stomach pains or nausea. I personally had stomach pain from eating there.”

-Julianna Greenberg

work on all equipment and employed a firm that specializes in maintaining the equipment used in campus dining facilities.

AU also provided The Eagle with its DC Health-approved hazard analysis and critical control points plan, which is a strategy that must be approved by DC Health to prevent safety hazards in food, for their sushi rice acidification process.

This process was noted as being out of compliance during the March 24 and Sept.

21 inspections.

“The University’s sushi operator had both an approved HACCP plan and variance before service of these items began,” Pelaez wrote. “Unfortunately, our sushi operator did not have these documents available and visibly posted for the Health Inspector to observe. This is a good example of the type of errors found involving documentation. We are addressing this through additional training.”

After the Sept. 21 position, staff were again retrained in maintaining appropriate documentation, posting required notices and adherence to maintenance and replacement schedules for equipment.

This was also done after the Sept. 28 inspection, according to Pelaez.

In terms of students paying for meal plans being reimbursed, Pelaez wrote that AU Dining “encourage[s] any community member who has concerns about our dining program to reach out to us at mealplans@american.edu. A dining team member will reach out and set a time for a call or in person meeting to discuss community member concerns.”

The University has also hired a thirdparty health and safety firm to conduct

random inspections and a full program audit.

“These inspections are more rigorous and detailed than the DC Department of Health’s inspections,” Pelaez told The Eagle on Oct. 17. “The first additional inspection was last week and resulted in a five out of five-star rating.”

Pelaez later added, "Third party inspections have always been a component of the University’s efforts to maintain the highest health and safety standards. The third-party health and safety inspection firm was hired to conduct additional random inspections and a full program audit to help us identify any procedure, training and equipment issues."

Despite these solutions, some students are still wary, as AU still has not made direct communication with students in regard to the inspections.

“I think that they need to follow more health protocols,” Greenberg said. “They need to cook the meat right so people aren't getting sick. They need to listen to students because I feel like these complaints have been going on for years.”

Although some students must rely on AU Dining facilities this semester, including underclassmen living on campus who are required to pay for meal plans, those who have more discretion in where they eat say they will be avoiding campus food upon hearing about the health code violations.

“I was saying to myself, ‘I don’t really have a need to go to TDR this year,’” Sirota said. “And now it's kind of like ‘yeah, I'm not going to TDR this year.’” investigations@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

American University freshmen reflect on their expectations for the University

by Weslan Hansen Investigative Reporter When she first arrived on American University’s campus, Melanie Scheel, a freshman in the School of Communication, was expecting an experience full of new friends, academics and finding independence. Instead, and unexpectedly, she was faced with union protests.

“I started getting emails from my advisor explaining the protests and explaining the union and how he was actually a part of it too,” Scheel said. “Honestly, I was a little worried, because it was like the first impression I had and I was moving in.”

During the Class of 2026 convocation, many firstyear students walked out when AU President Sylvia Burwell began to speak. Scheel said she got to participate in the protest, which she didn’t get the chance to do back home in Guatemala.

“Protests are going to be something part of the D.C. experience. I never had a lot of experience [with] pro-

tests surrounding me. I was always taught to avoid them growing up,” Scheel said. “I did walk out with my roommate. And I saw that it mattered a lot to teachers ... I think it actually was a good lesson to see that the University allows for people to speak their mind and join together.”

Kate Travis, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she also expected the University to be very politically active and expected better administrative procedures for processes such as Title IX. She said she expected the school to offer more victim support and better investigative procedures.

“I had heard that the administration was not the greatest, which seems to be the case, especially with Title IX stuff,” Travis said. “[The school] promotes its progressivity a lot, it's unfortunate that they don't put more effort into rectifying the [Title IX] situations.”

Many students are drawn to the University for its politically active student body and progressive marketing. Abigail Nowell, a freshman in the School of International Service, decided to enroll because she liked how

accepting the University seemed.

“Everybody seemed to be like, super advocating for change, with a slogan and everything,” Nowell said. “I thought it was interesting, to get here and see all the protests going on. And the response to that versus what [the University] put themselves out to be on the website itself.”

Yet despite everything happening walking into her first semester of freshman year, Travis found it encouraging to see the community come together to advocate for change, a process that she said was good to be a part of.

“On the one hand, I was disappointed to see that my assumptions about the administration being terrible were correct,” Travis said. “But on the other hand, it was nice to see that the workers could join together and that we could actually affect change by protesting.” whansen@theeagleonline.com

An on-leave professor brings many different disciplines together to solve common problems

by Mackenzie Konjoyan Student Government Beat Reporter For Sauleh Siddiqui, wearing many hats has helped him find his passions. Siddiqui, an environmental science professor at American University, is currently on a two-year leave from AU to take on the role as chief energy modeler for the Energy Information Administration, as well as continuing his research on the Multiscale RECIPES project and running as a commissioner for Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C. Siddiqui said he found his focus, despite being involved in many things, by learning something new and bringing people together to resolve pressing issues of the day through researching for the RECIPES project and working as an ANC commissioner for over two years.

“They're busy, but they're also very exciting and you know, I can extract joy from them, which is I guess what counts,” Siddiqui said.

Siddiqui said he had never been able to find an academic home because he was always interested in multiple areas of study.

“Many students come to me to be like, ‘what major should I pick?’” Siddiqui said. “I’m probably the bad person to ask that because my opinion is that you don’t have to put yourself inside this.”

His work with the Multiscale RECIPES project has been especially important in bringing together people from different backgrounds and across multiple institutions.

“Now what we’re seeing is that more and more of the problems that we are tackling in society don’t have to do with one discipline,” Siddiqui said.

The team working on the RECIPES project continues to strive toward expanding knowledge on food waste in order to, as Siddiqui said, find a whole new way of looking at the food system.

“This is not just a supply problem or demand problem. It is a systemic problem,” Siddiqui said. “And so in-

stead of addressing the symptoms, what this project does is it says let's reimagine the food system and let’s rethink how we look at the food system.”

Siddiqui said the RECIPES project was also focused on maximizing “sustainability, equity and resilience” while making sure that the information on their website was accessible for disabled individuals.

Rachel Weiss, program manager at the Center for Environment, Community, and Equity — AU’s new center for environmental studies — who also oversees the grant #2115405 from the National Science Foundation on food waste, found working with Siddiqui challenged her breadth of knowledge and introduced her to a more interdisciplinary work environment.

“He’s very open to working and helping and supporting everybody,” Weiss said.

Weiss said it was refreshing to work with Siddiqui because he was always trying to bring diverse perspectives into work conversations.

She added that he is committed to his students and has given up multiple weekends to conduct all-day workshops with them.

Siddiqui said he remains dedicated to his students despite being on leave and encourages them to learn about relevant issues.

“You're going to college because you want to make society better and you want to learn new things, right,” Siddiqui said. “The best way to learn new things and figure out how to make society better is to tackle the most important problems of our time.”

Ethan Ziegler, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a student researcher for the RECIPES project, agreed with Siddiqui on the importance of working on knowledge production tackling some globally fundamental issues, especially food waste.

“We are the future. This is going to be our problem to deal with so may as well start now,” Ziegler said.

As a student in Siddiqui’s Biodiversity and Ecosystems class in fall 2021, Ziegler said he felt comfortable

and respected because of the inclusive environment fostered in the classroom.

Outside of the classroom, Siddiqui was dedicated to committing positive change through bettering the community in Cleveland Park in which he resides as the commissioner for ANC 3C05.

Siddiqui said he saw a need in his neighborhood for leadership as housing prices were rising and businesses were being closed down. He joined a volunteer committee and then community association before running for elected office over two years ago.

“There was a huge desire to be able to improve where I live and make where I live better,” Siddiqui said.

Cleveland Park has historically been segregated with 74 percent of the neighborhood white. Siddiqui said he realized a lack of participation by him and others in the community meant those in power could keep the neighborhood the way it was.

“I am very surprised that even though we live in D.C. and we live in the richest ward in the city and one of the richest neighborhoods, at a local level politics can get very regressive,” Siddiqui said.

Editor’s note: The views expressed by Siddiqui do not represent the Department of Energy. mkonjoyan@theeagleonline.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAULEH SIDDIQUI

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LIFE

theEAGLE November 2022

AU professor Dara Padwo-Audick explores global themes through documentary filmmaking

by Riley Gillis Life Staff Reporter American University Professor Dara Padwo-Audick uses her platform as a documentary filmmaker to inform viewers on issues like women’s empowerment, media literacy and disability rights. An adjunct professor in the School of Communication, her current project, titled “Climate Changemakers,” profiles the youth climate justice movement in both the U.S. and Egypt.

Padwo-Audick began her career as a documentary filmmaker in the 1980s working for International Information Resources in D.C. She then worked for National Geographic Television for five years before she started teaching as an adjunct professor at AU in 2004.

Soon after, she opened up her own media company, Creative Strategies Media. Since then, she has contributed to broadcast programs and commercials on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and ESPN. Her work has taken her to Africa, Asia, Central America and every U.S. state.

In 2018, she was hired by the Department of State as a media co-op producer through the Foreign Press Center. There, she partnered with foreign journalists to help them tell stories about the U.S. She aimed to help foreign

journalists learn about how Americans organize around issues and communicate with each other through the documentaries and programs she filmed and produced.

In a recent partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo, she produced a documentary on media literacy.

“The goal of this project through the Foreign Press Center is to educate the world about the way organizations and people in the United States get their messages across, which is very different from the way they do this in other countries,” she said. “We’re trying to show them what it is to express things in a democratic society.”

She also expressed her dismay at the oppressive political realities many of the journalists she partners with live under. Many of the journalists she works with live in countries like Russia and Egypt that do not have the same protections afforded by freedom of press, she said.

“We're trying to show them what it is to express things in a democratic society, realizing that they cannot implement everything we show them,” she said.

For “Climate Changemakers,” she will be partnering with Egypt Today journalist Angy Essam and videographer Amira Nour. Together, they are producing a mini-documentary and magazine piece on climate justice groups run by young people in D.C., Miami and San Francisco. They will be interviewing groups including

This Is Zero Hour, Dream in Green and the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, which are youth activist organizations focused on educating adolescents about environmental justice and empowering them to take action in their schools and local communities.

After filming meetings and interviews for American climate activist groups, the series will follow young Egyptian climate activists ahead of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cairo this November. Padwo-Audick’s goal in creating “Climate Changemakers” is to educate Egyptian youth and empower them to become more involved in climate issues. She believes freedom of speech and youth empowerment are important to the current Egyptian political climate.

As an adjunct professor at AU, Padwo-Audick teaches the art of documentary filmmaking in classes like “Writing The Documentary Film.” She said one of her favorite parts of teaching is seeing her students craft films around topics that impact them.

“All the time my students inspire me, particularly at AU, because we're very social justice oriented, so I love to hear their points of view,” she said. rgillis@theeagleonline.com

Dining discrepancies: How cuts, changes and overall dissatisfaction with food options have affected students during the fall semester

by Jensen Bird Life Staff Reporter

As American University has made multiple changes to the school’s dining options, students are frustrated with a lack of food options for students with dietary restrictions.

In the past year, AU Dining has replaced Wonk Burger and Absurd Bird with True Burger, Pom & Honey with Paper Lantern and moved Hissho Sushi to Kerwin Hall, putting Baba’s Pizza and Halal Shack in its old location. These changes, combined with TDR’s recent health code violations, have left some members of the AU community feeling underwhelmed with their eating options.

Limited campus dining has forced students

JOSH KATZ / THE EAGLE

with food restrictions and insecurities to rely elsewhere for their meal options. For some, this has led to increased expenses on top of the 100-block meal plan required for students that live on campus.

Issues such as Create closing and District Pickle only being open for a few hours five days a week limit students' friendly dining options, and others feel confined to TDR, an environment that has made some students feel unsafe. “[Students] don’t have enough variety. They eat the same thing, they feel really torn and stuck in their options,” said School of Public Affairs sophomore Elise Buellesbach.

Vegan and vegetarian students, such as Mina Dunn, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, have had a hard time finding on-campus options that meet their dietary needs. Dunn said that often, due to restrictive dining hours and few options at those stations, she can only find-

ing two or three places to eat on campus — and those options don’t always have what she’s looking for.

“I can’t imagine being gluten free or vegan here because everything I do eat as a vegetarian has dairy or bread in it so I don’t really know how they’re balancing that,” Dunn said.

Students like Buellesbach have expressed concerns about campus dining options via social media and dining advisory meetings, but have often been met with silence and stagnance. At an AU Dining Advisory Council meeting on Oct. 19, several members of the Disabled Students Union voiced their concerns regarding food options on the meal plan and a lack of flexibility in accommodations.

“The reality is that the meal plan can’t accommodate us, and that TDR doesn’t do a good job of accommodating those of us with dietary restrictions,” Buellesbach said.

Many students with allergies find it diffi-

cult to eat at TDR’s “allergy friendly” section, G8, as well. According to TDR, this section caters to the eight most common allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans.

“It seems like they kind of forget that students have allergies that are not G8,” said Gabrielle Bertrand, a junior in SPA. Students whose allergies are not catered to within this section have found themselves stuck between risking cross contamination and eating the same meals every day to get enough food. The Eagle emailed AU Dining for a comment on the students' concerns but did not receive a response.

At the Dining Advisory Meeting, Bertrand pointed out that ingredient changes and other allergens are not always updated on the dining app or ingredient cards.

“They say they have paper recipes that we can ask for, but how were students supposed to know they didn’t update the app?” Bertrand said.

Students across campus have found a lack of variety and consistency with meal options this semester, and many don’t feel heard when it comes to making necessary dining changes at on-campus locations.

“The problems that the students with dietary restriction have are not singular to our group, but it's a universal trend.”

Buellesbach said. “How do we make food more exciting and more interesting? How do we make this a more accessible and more equitable experience?” jbird@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Gospel Choir brings faith and community to AU Members share their experiences and personal ties singing with the group

by Bailey Hobbs Life Staff Reporter With songs of joy, struggle and praise, American University’s Gospel Choir is lifting spirits and creating an important space for Black students on campus. From traditional songs to modern tunes, the vocal ensemble provides a platform for all of its members to showcase their voices and connect with other students.

Gospel music, a form of Christian worship music, is inextricably linked to the religious practices and cultures of Black Americans. It incorporates traditional Christian hymns and Black spirituals with harmonies and stylistic elements of genres like jazz and blues, both of which were pioneered by Black musicians.

“It’s a stylized form of Christian worship that also speaks to the African-American experience,” said Choir President Faith Anderson, a senior in the School of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences.

Founded in 1976 by a group of students under the direction of Rev. Clarence Cross, the Gospel Choir has flourished through the dedication and commitment of its many generations of members who remain connected through the choir’s extensive alumni network.

While some students grew up singing gospel and worship music in Baptist churches across the country, PHOTO COURTESY OF ZAKEERA MONTOUTH the group welcomes anyone with a passion for music. rally, meaning that there is no sheet music: the members “Everyone is from everywhere. We've got a good listen to recordings and pick up the different parts by ear. mix: we have students who grew up singing in church, Gospel is a storied genre, with an extensive reperbut we also have exchange students who haven’t sung toire marking decades of achievement by Black musigospel music a day in their lives,” Anderson said. “So it cians, and the AU Gospel Choir incorporates songs from helps that we have people who grew up in the setting and across the canon. understand it and then also to have fresh eyes and the “We sing it all,” Rogers said. “We sing songs that my perspectives of people who just want to be a part of the grandma knows all the words to, and we sing songs that community as well.” just came out a few months ago.”

Their rehearsals take place every Wednesday in the An important element of this music is tradition; Kay Spiritual Life Center. They begin and end with a many gospel songs have been passed down from generaprayer led by professor Sylsestea Sledge, the choir’s di- tion to generation and came from melodies dating back rector and the Minister of Music at the First Mount Zion centuries. The AU Gospel Choir works to keep the stoBaptist Church in Dumfries, ries behind these works alive, Virginia. He has led the learning the historical context group for over 20 years and We get to relate in our shared of each song and the stories brings an infectious energy experience, of growing up in the of the artists that created and and positivity to rehearsals sang them. church and having that similar and performances that is “Professor Sledge encourpassed on to its members. upbringing, and that can be a safe ages us to understand the “He's very passionate. space. But also for Black students culture when each song was He always has a great smile as a whole, we all have this under- made, what those songs relate on his face and by the end to, what social movements standing of how spirituality and were going on, what people of one song, Sledge is going to be wiping his brow with faith in God has shaped a lot of would be wearing and things sweat; he puts everything like that,” Anderson said. the African American experience. into it” said Lexi Rogers, Although singing gospel a sophomore in SOC and – Faith Anderson can be a challenging experia soprano in the Gospel ence, the choir members noted Choir. “But what's most imthe powerful healing qualities pactful for me is that he commutes over an hour every of the genre.

Wednesday to come and sing with us and to direct us.”

“I lean on gospel songs in general when I'm going “Sledge is like everybody’s uncle,” Anderson said. through something,” said Rogers. “And you can see peo“He's a very good teacher, and he always makes you feel ple come into the chapel with burdens, and then by the like you have the ability to do it. Even if you hear a song time that we break and we do our final prayer after praisyou’re thinking: ‘they just modulated five times and I ing for over an hour, they're lifted. We give our worries don't think I can sing that high,’ he always just says, ‘you to God, and after that, it's on him and he knows the rest.” can do it.’”

“We have a specific song that we sing that’s called Unlike other choirs, all of the music is learned au- ‘The Storm is Passing Over,’ and it's one of my favorite

songs that we do,” Anderson said. “Especially during times like midterm season, Sledge comes in and just starts playing it, and everyone knows to jump in. We sing that song and it is balm to your soul, so healing and cathartic.”

The Gospel Choir has also become an important source of community for its members and for Black students on campus.

“Black students are always wanting to come to our events because we can’t go to Baptist Church every week like some of us are used to doing,” Rogers said.

“And so to be able to sing songs that remind us of those times before we came to college is really nostalgic and it's comforting to just be in that space. Even people who don't go to church, they usually have grandmothers or grandfathers or great aunts who went to church, and it reminds them of that.”

While gospel music is rooted in faith and Christianity, its themes of love, optimism, resilience and triumph transcend religion and connect with deeper, universal emotions. For many, Gospel Choir is a place of shelter and hope from the uncertainty of the outside world.

“For members specifically, we get to relate in our shared experience, of growing up in the church and having that similar upbringing, and that can be a safe space,” Anderson said. “But also for Black students as a whole, we all have this understanding of how spirituality and faith in God has shaped a lot of the African American experience. It provides a space where we can lay whatever our burden is and just enjoy being together. Whatever is going on, we can link arms together.” bhobbs@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Collaboration is Key: AU Second District Records is creating the soundtrack to the school Student-run record label and artists work together to produce songs and organize performances for the end of the semester

by Maria Tedesco Life Staff Reporter Secluded from American University’s main campus in the basement of the Kreeger Building is the production room where singer-songwriters and producers part of AU’s student-run record label, Second District Records (SDR), spend their Friday afternoons.

Livvy Billington, a sophomore in the School of Communication, signed with SDR as a singer-songwriter in the fall 2021 semester. Billington is in the process of recording her new single, “front porch,” where she sings of times where she’s laughed, cried and spilled secrets on her front stoop. Since joining the record label, Billington has found not only her music supported, but also a sense of community.

“It's fun to be surrounded by people who love music, and especially at this school,” Billington said. “So the fact that I was able to find people who are genuinely just so passionate about music is like, all I've wanted.”

Aside from the artists, SDR divides their members into teams based on interests and strengths. Members are sorted into either the PR/creative team, PR/marketing team, audio-tech team or artists and repertoire team.

Grace Becker, a senior in the Kogod School of Business, is the PR/marketing leader of SDR. Additionally, Becker helps Billington with writing in the studio. As a freshman, Becker tried to join SDR as an artist and was rejected, so she thought she would never be involved with the label. In the fall 2021 semester, Becker rejoined SDR and became the co-president with Rudolph Travers, the current audio-tech team lead.

“Rudolph and I were basically the only members of SDR come fall 2021,” Becker said. “So we worked our best with really trying to get campus awareness of it, letting people know that there’s a student run record label, tapping into audio tech and tapping into business entertainment people who would be interested.”

The club, which now holds 104 members, has grown by finding performances and venues for their artists throughout the local D.C. community and at AU. For their revival concert last spring, the artists performed at Union Stage.

Becker also encouraged Liv Wood, a sophomore in SOC, to audition to be an artist after she’d worked on the public relations team. Now, Wood is working on her own high-energy pop EP that recalls her and her friends’ messy breakups, planning to release it at the end of the semester. Wood is experimenting with a new U.K. synth genre called garage, while sticking to her singersongwriter roots.

“She was so supportive and she was the one that really helped me actually, like formulate ideas,” Wood said of Becker.

Drew Dale, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and SDR’s co-president, focuses on planning events. Musically, he loves experimenting with different genres, like Wood. He has mostly worked on producing electronic music, but he also aids artists in other genres of music.

“I think one of my main goals is to give my members as much access to all the resources that AU provides,” Dale said. “So whether that's with us, or whether that's with another club, I want them to be able to have access to whatever interests them creatively, whatever interests

GABRIEL ZAKAIB / THE EAGLE

them professionally.”

Dale collaborated with SDR artist Kang Ewimbi, a junior at the University of Maryland College Park also taking classes at AU, to record an amapiano style song.

Amapiano is a South African deep-house genre with longer, more drawn out music that is exclusively created from synths.

“I released an Afro type song, coming off the heels of the R&B song I released in August or July,” Ewimbi said. “And then the next thing I believe is gonna be: who knows?”

Jordan Model, who performs under the name Wrenmo, a sophomore in SOC, is planning to release an album with SDR this semester. Although Model records and produces his electronic style music on his own, SDR helps him mix and master his songs and release his music on streaming platforms.

“Seeing just a few people express interest in my music and show support around campus, it's very warming,” Model said.

For his upcoming album, Model is planning to collaborate with artist Ari Guzman, who performs under the name Ari The Indigo, a senior in the School of International Service. Guzman wrote and rapped verse for Model’s song in five minutes after she listened to the funky electronic track titled “Baby Now.” “Ari is the first person I met here that I'm doing a collaboration with,” Model said. “I think her style is really unique from the other artists that I've worked with.”

Singing and rapping heartfelt hip-hop tracks in both Spanish and English, Guzman draws inspiration from her Mexican culture and family. After signing with SDR last year, she plans to release her first song in only Spanish.

“I don't want to be boxed in,” Guzman said. “I don't

want to just be a female rapper or a female, Latino. I just want to be an artist, I want to be known for whatever I put out whether it's singing, rapping.”

To make SDR artist's music available on all streaming platforms, the club purchased a subscription to a platform for every artist that distributes music called DistroKid. The artists own all the rights to their music.

PR/creative team leader, Isabella Horowitz, a junior in Kogod, is planning new content this semester. She is currently planning TikToks, music videos for artists and Spotify canvas videos.

“We kind of give them a glimpse at how a real record label would work in terms of PR,” Horowitz said.

Although every member has their own niche, the club also wanted to create a learning environment. Any member can come into the studio during a session and learn how to use a soundboard.

“We’re trying to help them create a story and how people can relate to it,” Becker said.

Outside of their weekly meeting as a club, artists can reach out to their producer anytime they are ready to get in the studio and record. SDR also plans to host social events for their members at least once a month, such as karaoke nights.

“The fact that I was able to find people who are genuinely just so passionate about music is all I've wanted,” Billington said.

Billington’s new single, along with the rest of AU SDR artists’ new releases, are planned to be released at the end of this semester. mtedesco@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Whose Land We Live On: How both local and global Indigenous issues intersect in DC Students reflect on their experiences of being Indigenous at AU

by Kendall Thompson and Kathryn LaLonde Life Staff Reporters The D.C., Maryland and Virginia region occupies the land of several tribal nations. D.C. specifically occupies the land of the Anacostans, also documented as Nacotchtank, and the Piscataway tribe, and roughly 4,163 Indigenous people reside in the district today. At American University, Indigenous students are paving the way for the ecological and emotional interests of their communities.

The Piscataway tribe, which lived along the Potomac River, gained land recognition from the state of Maryland in 2012. However, the Anacostan tribe has received no recognition to date, even though this tribe was the steward of many famous places in D.C., such as the Anacostia River.

Historically, both the federal and state governments have implemented policies that directly target the land and wellbeing of Native American tribes, such as the Homestead Act of 1862. D.C. is home to numerous National Parks, but government ownership of nature preserves, like Rock Creek Park, prevent Indigenous groups who lived there from accessing the land.

Beyond policy, there is also cultural disregard of Indigenous people in the district. Multiple statues of colonizers are scattered throughout the city, and D.C.’s football team was previously named the Washington Redskins, now named the Washington Commanders.

Although these issues may seem separate from the environment, protecting Indigenous rights is inherently tied to achieving sustainability. Not only do Indigenous people protect over 80 percent of the global biodiversity, but their environmental value systems, such as ethical farming and soil preservation tactics, are crucial to preserving nature.

The environmental consequences of excluding Indigenous groups from conservation management can be seen through the pollution of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers.

Anacostan and Piscataway people have been prevented from fishing there for decades, and activists are pushing for these tribes to regain free fishing licenses to these rivers.

Indigenous students at

AU are bringing these issues and stories to light through organizations and mobilizing voices. The Indigenous Initiative, created by the School of International Service Undergraduate Council, is a community for Indigenous students and provides educational resources for allies who are interested in Indigenous issues.

Olivia Olson, president of the Indigenous Initiative and a junior in SIS, hopes to facilitate a space for Indigenous students and advocate for land acknowledgement at AU through working with the University administration.

“There's really limited representation of Indigenous students, especially Native American students," Olson said. "We're hoping to create that community.”

Recently, the Indigenous Initiative has formed a coalition with several Indigenous student organizations on campus, such as the AU Hawai’i Club, Students for a Free Tibet and Students for Justice in Palestine. The coalition runs events centered around creating a safe space for Indigenous students. Past initiatives include the “I Am On Native Land” mural in The Bridge and the Healing Circle, an event for students to share personal stories about their experiences as Indigenous students at AU. Tsetan Namdol, president of Students for a Free Tibet and a junior in SIS, described the comfort in having a coalition.

“Even though we're so far away from each other, we're so interconnected based on how settler colonialism affects our people, how we get displaced and how we really heal from the trauma,” Namdol said. “I just think it's so inspiring and resilient that we can all come together as a group at AU.” AU is a predominantly white institution, which for many Indigenous students, makes it difficult for them to

speak up in class and feel heard at AU. “I grew up in a predominantly immigrant community, refugee community, where we were all bluecollar workers, very hard, essential workers,” Namdol said. “Coming to a PWI was definitely very interesting, because your experiences where you're from versus where you go are just so different.”

She said she felt like there was a lack of space for her to feel accepted, and that even University-led inclusion initiatives like AUx did not provide her with an environment where she felt she could openly express herself.

Sarah Husseini, the president of Students for Justice in Palestine and a sophomore in SIS, had a similar experience, but she believes that her organization and other Indigenous groups on campus have done significant work to fill the gap left by AU. “I feel like the space we have created has welcomed people and made them feel comfortable. I always hear people say, ‘I can't talk about this in my classroom, I can talk about it here.’ So that freedom of expression, freedom of speech and just overall, a sense of community, is really what we built,” she said.

Tori Brown, the president of AU Hawai’i Club and a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, shared a similar experience being of an Indigenous organization on campus: “Having that club is definitely great for people who are from Hawaii, or are Indigenous to Hawaii.

And again, collaborating with these clubs, it's definitely important … it feels good to be seen and recognized.”

Through building a community to educate and uplift each other at AU, Indigenous students hope to display how the liberation of Indigenous groups, both international and local, is interconnected.

Olson hopes that these new projects Indigenous students are creating and the community they are forming will be encouraging for Indigenous students who consider applying to AU. “[They] can see that that community is here and available to help support them and feel welcomed by that, is definitely a goal that we have,” Olson said.

To learn more about land justice and recognition, visit Native-Land.ca, which displays where Native Lands and Indigenous Nations reside across the globe. kthompson@theeagleonline.com klalonde@theeagleonline.com

CARLY JOHNSON / THE EAGLE GABBY ALLEN / THE EAGLE

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theEAGLE November 2022

Potter Clark releases ‘Tremors’

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AU alumnus talks sophomore album release

by Bailey Hobbs Life Staff Reporter Potter Clark, a former American University music grant recipient and College of Arts and Sciences 2022 graduate, spent his summer celebrating the release of his first beat tape and second album “Tremors” for his 22nd birthday.

“It’s a long road from where I started to making electronic music and doing production,” Clark said. Clark began playing the fiddle and mandolin, learning bluegrass and folk music and studying classical violin throughout middle and high school. It was this path that inspired his first album “If a Tree Falls & No One is Around,” a collection of contemporary classical pieces featuring a number of AU musicians.

Even while studying classical and folk music in school, Clark quickly developed an interest in hip-hop and rap.

“It was in high school that I really got into rap,” Clark said. “One, because of the beat production and the excellent lyricism, of course, but also the physical timbre of the rapper’s voices and the way that they manipulate it both to fit a rhythm and to fit a flow. I was fascinated by that.”

Clark cites the U.K. grime and drill scenes as his main influences for the beats across “Tremors.”

“U.K. grime and drill are a lot more intense and rooted in that EDM sound; intense bass, intense drums, and I really, really dig that.”

That dark and moody production is present across the entire album, from the gritty beat of “untrustworthy” to the thundering bass of “kickback.” He started making beats like many other young producers: with a laptop and a passion, using easily accessible audio software and the

wealth of knowledge in the AU community and online to hone his craft.

“I was making the most terrible sounding trap drums,” Clark said. “But as I got into the AU music program and especially as I was working with people, I learned how to manipulate sound and get nice layering. I just kept listening and started messing around with my own sound and seeing where that would take me.”

In his free time, Clark took the project into his own hands, learning through “a lot of trial and error, a decent amount of YouTube videos.”

With the accessibility of computers and audio technology, audio production has quickly become its own cottage industry, with producers like Clark creating and mixing beats all from their bedrooms.

“It was a really different project for me because I'm used to working with live instruments,” Clark said. “I had a lot less control over my classical pieces because I just gave the music to a performer, so the biggest unknown was whether the music would actually sound how I wanted to. With this, I had no excuse for it to sound anything other than exactly how I wanted because it's all on the screen in front of me. I'm doing all the routing, all of the tracks are controlled by me, and if it doesn't sound how I want, it's something I did.”

After years of practice and months of composing and mixing beats, “Tremors” was a labor of love for Clark. Audio production is an industry filled with detail-oriented, time-consuming work, including hours of adjusting instruments and frequencies by fractions of a decibel and programming digital instruments to match a specific sound.

“For ‘haze,’ I designed this flute just through a synth and I programmed in all the tiny little ornaments and ev-

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PHOTO COURTESY OF GVANSTA KHAKHIASHVILI

erything,” Clark said. “I was trying to go for something that would sound sort of like a folk flute from Ireland.

That was a good three hours of programming, just making the one melody for four bars.”

Although beats are often treated as set dressing for a rapper or vocalist, Clark took on the unique challenge of making each track able to stand on its own.

Songs across the album feature subtle textural changes and masterful layering along with full mixes that do not suffer from a lack of vocals.

“For each song, I was less concerned about fitting other people into it and more worried about what I could fit into this one production,” Clark said. “From beginning to end, I wanted to make it exciting and be climactic.”

Clark is currently working as a full-time musician, teaching string instruments to students, performing classical and folk music and continuing to produce and write his own music.

“I'm still trying to feel the industry out and figure out who my audience is, not just for listening, but for artists who might want to use my work for their own,” Clark said of his future projects. “But I'm really looking forward to just continuing making beats, continuing to put them out there and seeing who I can meet up with.” bhobbs@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

SPORTS

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Charllene Boshoff: South African sensation The senior defender is a strong, steady force for AU field hockey

by Penelope Jennings Sports Staff Reporter Charllene Boshoff knows how to win. In 2019, her first year at American University, the team won the Patriot League championship for the first time since 2016.

While that may not sound like a large gap, it is for a team like AU field hockey, which won 11 Patriot League championships in 14 years from 2003 to 2016. And she’s not going anywhere just yet. The senior captain, who will play a fifth season with the Eagles as a graduate student, is still focused on this year.

“I really just want to put it all out there on the field,” Boshoff said. “I'm still having another season, but since it’s my class’s last few games, I really just want to put it all out there for them.”

Boshoff has started every game of her college career, but she was nearly forced out of the sport just before getting to AU when she broke her hand during her senior year of high school.

“I'd never had an injury before that, and then it was my senior year. It was like the most critical time of my hockey career, what I thought was my hockey career,” Boshoff said. “I was devastated. Basically, that taught me that there's more to life than just hockey.”

This understanding persists, as she’s made the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Academic Squad every year so far and the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll twice. She is currently studying international business administration and will attend graduate school at AU next year to study business analytics. She has always had big aspirations and wanted to come to D.C. to study.

“I mean, it's the capital of the most powerful country in the world. How cool is that?” Boshoff said.

Boshoff has excelled in field hockey her whole life,

earning best defender honors in high school, but her game has only improved throughout her collegiate career.

Field hockey defenders typically don’t score many goals, but she had eight this season, compared to her previous rate of one per year. Three of her eight goals this year came in American’s 8-0 defeat of Colgate on Sept. 24.

“I was really grateful because [goal scoring] is something I've been working on my whole career to get to. Now that I'm a senior and I've been promoted to take on those roles in the team, it's really nice to see that hard work paid off and that I've really stepped up and tried to do what I know how to do,” Boshoff said.

Boshoff ’s commitment to her game and her team is obvious to anyone who’s seen her play, especially her coach, Steve Jennings.

“Charllene is full of life. Passionate, loves hockey, loves her academic pursuits, is a very grateful person and very warm and optimistic,” he said. “She's a tremendous talent on the field, very powerful, somebody who's critical for both our deep defense and for scoring goals in corner situations in particular. When you have people who love the game, and who bring that every day, that creates an incredible template for the team.”

American had a spot in this year’s playoffs, but just making the playoffs was not their end goal. The Eagles have high expectations placed on them by fans and outsiders, but the expectations they place on themselves are even higher. The Eagles fell to Lehigh in the Patriot League semi-final.

“Anything less than a championship is unacceptable for us,” Jennings stated.

Boshoff has internalized these expectations, but they don’t consume her. That desire to win and reach the top drives every player, but she also seems content to take it one game at a time. When she plays, she is graceful.

Though she excels at what she does, it would be disingenuous to say that it appears effortless because it’s also

CLAIR SAPILEWSKI/THE EAGLE

clear that she’s worked hard to get where she is today. Her efforts have been rewarded as she was named to the 2022 All-Patriot League First Team.

Her career past next season is uncertain as she entertains ideas of pursuing a career in business or potentially playing field hockey internationally. The future is not her focus because today she is grounded in the 2022 field hockey season and has championship aspirations.

“The pressure is on because you're an upperclassman and you’ve got to show the freshmen coming in like this is what is done,” Boshoff said. “It's what is expected. This is what we did. And it's possible for us to do it again.” pjennings@theeagleonline.com

Jack Green's actions speak louder than his words

Green’s humility and leadership have been a spark for men’s soccer

by Justin Morgan Sports Staff Reporter Soccer is the epitome of team sports. Throughout the history of the game, the best teams have consisted of players who accept their role on the team, regardless of how much it affects their personal accomplishments. While buying into your role at the expense of the spotlight can be difficult, men’s soccer midfielder and senior Jack Green has done this with humility and positivity.

As a freshman, Green’s chances at finding his role on the team were improbable to say the least. AU’s coaching staff had completely changed since the time he was recruited and before he played his first minute of college soccer.

“All they had were some highlight tapes of me from my sophomore year of high school,” Green said. “The new coaches really just didn’t know me.”

In addition to being unfamiliar with Green, the new coaches were also cutting several freshmen to downsize the roster. While Green was confident in his abilities, he was nervous about the possibility of being cut during his first season as a collegiate soccer player. However, throughout the course of the 2019 season, head coach Zach Samol saw that Green would be a key contributor on his roster.

“During that first season, I knew that Jack had the soccer skills to be a good player,” Samol said. “But he also had this work ethic that allows him to improve every year.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF AU ATHLETICS

Since his freshman season, Green’s role on the team has become clearly defined. As an experienced senior, he knows that he needs to stabilize the offense when he comes off the bench.

“My coaches play me off the bench because the beginning of the games are hectic and back-and-forth,” Green said. “When I come into the game, that’s when the game is settled.”

Although being on the bench may prompt anger, bitterness or resentment from seniors, Green seized the opportunity to be a role model for his teammates. According to Samol, Green’s selfless mentality has been critical to establishing the team’s culture.

“Younger players look up to him because he’s an older leader who doesn’t lead with his voice,” Samol said. “He’s a team-first guy; he’s always been that way.”

Since Green settled into his role on the team, he has been a potent offensive catalyst. Over his junior and senior seasons, Green has racked up four goals and five assists so far while being a starter in only two games. Additionally, he became the first midfielder in Patriot League history to be named Midfielder of the Week in two consecutive weeks during the 2021 season.

For Green, his stats and accolades are not a testament to his personal talents and hard work alone. Instead, they are indicative of his team’s ability to give everybody an opportunity to contribute in the best way they can.

“I know the impact that I bring coming off the bench, but it’s really a team effort,” Green said. “As much as there’s things that I do individually, it’s really about the mentality of the guys and them knowing the job that needs to be done and letting people execute that in the way that they can contribute.”

While Green’s play on the field is critical to the team’s success, his positive attitude has been equally as important. According to Samol, Green’s positivity has been the focal point of his leadership.

“He’s not a vocal born leader, but he leads us as a positive guy,” Samol said. “He’s somebody that you can always count on to show up, play and have a great attitude.” jmorgan@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Going for Gold(berg): How the AU volleyball head coach wins on and off the court

by Delaney Hoke Sports Staff Reporter The name Barry Goldberg has become synonymous with winning. As head coach of the American University women’s volleyball team for 34 years, Goldberg has created his own legacy.

Under his guidance, the Eagles have won 16 Patriot League Championships and made the NCAA Tournament 18 times in the past 25 years. On top of these achievements, Goldberg is ranked fourth in wins amongst all NCAA Division I coaches. Despite this, Goldberg has chosen for his legacy to not be defined by wins, but the impact he’s had off the court.

Goldberg’s passion for volleyball started long before his successful career. Growing up in Pittsburgh during the late ‘70s, Goldberg joined his high school’s volleyball team. He attributed his interest in the sport to his appreciation for his own coach. "[He] taught volleyball as an interesting sport when everyone else was playing baseball or basketball," Goldberg said.

Off the court, Goldberg also cited his coach as an instrumental source of inspiration in his life and future coaching career: "He was somebody who tried to connect with and care about people."

His time spent on the high school team encouraged him to stick with the sport in college. He aimed to walk on the team at the University of Pittsburgh. However, the Pittsburgh coach cut him during tryouts.

“I thought my career was over in volleyball,” Goldberg said.

Fortunately for Goldberg, two players quit the team three months into the season. The coach offered him a spot, and he eagerly took it. At the time, this volleyball team was one of very few men's teams in the country.

Goldberg was lucky enough to play a part in paving the way for more men to get involved in the sport.

"I was really making strides," he said. "I loved playing.

It was really a lot of fun."

His success even led him to become captain of the nationally ranked team during his junior year. Unfortunately, the university decided to cut the program before Goldberg's final year in college. The team was demoted from varsity level to just a club sport. Not letting this discourage him, Goldberg stepped in and took over the team.

"That was the beginning of me getting even more into volleyball," he described.

After graduating from college, Goldberg went out to California and pursued a career in outdoor sand volleyball. Two years later, he was roped back into the coaching world by the head

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AU ATHLETICS

coach of the University of Pittsburgh women's volleyball team. He worked as the assistant coach for two years while simultaneously obtaining his master’s degree in counseling education.

After graduate school, Goldberg had to leave volleyball when he moved to D.C. to start a career as a drug rehabilitation counselor.

"I thought my volleyball career was over again," Goldberg said.

Then, a new opportunity presented itself: he began coaching the Georgetown University team at night.

Balancing these careers together got him recognized by American University, where he was offered the position of head coach in 1989.

Goldberg and his team knocked at the door to the NCAA tournament until 1997 when they finally broke through. With that, the dynasty of Goldberg’s Eagles was born.

Since Goldberg was hired, the Eagles have won the Patriot League Championship 16 out of the last 21 seasons and have made the NCAA Tournament 18 times in the last 25 years. Goldberg, the seven-time Patriot League Coach of the Year, reached his 800th win this season and is currently ranked fourth in wins among all active NCAA Division 1 head coaches. Since Goldberg’s first season as head coach, the Eagles have accumulated a 362-73 record in Bender Arena.

Looking back on his career, Goldberg marks 2013 as the year that stands out the most. While making it to the NCAA tournament was the norm for Goldberg's teams at the time, 2013 was the year that the Eagles crashed through to the Sweet 16 for the first time in history. This included taking down renowned teams like the University of Georgia and Duke University on their road to Omaha, Nebraska.

Importantly, Goldberg never let American University's small-school status discourage them in the fight to win.

"In the NCAA tournament, you will find the big schools. We were not the big school, but we established a good team anyway," he said.

That was Goldberg’s mission: to build something at American.

“Every year we saw coaches who would move but

never were around long enough to put something together. The grass is always greener on the other side, but you can make the grass green right here too. And that’s what he was doing the whole time,” his wife, Bonnie Goldberg, said.

This is reflected in the teams Goldberg has carefully crafted the past 30 years.

“I look for people who are determined. People who are fighters, who have strength about them,” he said.

Goldberg aims to instill his players with the knowledge of how to take care of each other. This loyalty is visible in the dozens of old players who returned to campus to support Goldberg in his most recent game, the Bender Pink Out. “We see them everywhere we go, they all come back for him,” Bonnie Goldberg said.

Goldberg's legacy is evident in how his players talk about him.

Julie Crum, a former player, told the Eagle in 2013, “He’s not just concerned with making us better volleyball players, but he wants us to be better people too.”

"He realizes that we're here for more than just volleyball," Erin Allgaier, a former AU volleyball player told the Eagle in 2003. "I like that part about him, noticing that he was focused on volleyball, but that there were other things to life."

Goldberg seconded that statement, agreeing that the most important part of his coaching career is who his players are off the court. “I don’t really see collecting wins as the goal of what I’m doing here. It’s not the most important thing. The important thing is how you deal with all the kids here playing, how they can become a team, and how determined they can be.”

“It isn’t really a number that makes you do what you want to do. It happened that way. It’s nice, but it’s not ‘I have to get that win.’ I have to get them. Those who are on the team. I have to get them.” Goldberg said.

Goldberg has proven it is possible to put your athletes first and still be the fourth most winningest coach active in the NCAA. “Each game is a game, and it’s an important game, even from the first games we played,” he said. “Little by little becomes a lot.” dhoke@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Lacking football, AU struggles with student interest in sports

by Marco Gacina Sports Staff Reporter On college campuses across the United States, the words “game day” strike like a bolt of lightning. As Vince Young, Pete Maravich, Reggie Bush, Cam Newton, JJ Redick and more demonstrated, some of the most electrifying athletes to ever grace the airwaves did so only as long as they were passing their classes and steering clear of fraternity parties.

So where are the tailgates, the ESPN College GameDay broadcasts and the whiteouts at AU? AU sponsors 14 NCAA Division I sports, all of which compete in the Patriot League. The Patriot League is not a “power five” conference, a designation given only to the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and PAC-12 conferences. These five are by far the biggest earners in all of college sports, predominantly due to their sponsorship of football.

Some of these “power five” schools face scrutiny for essentially operating as football programs masquerading as academic institutions. AU, a member of the financially-dwarfed Patriot League, does not even field a football team.

Big Ten’s Ohio State University spent $220.6 million on athletics in 2019 to sponsor 36 varsity sports, according to Yahoo Sports. This means each sport on average receives about $6.1 million in

funding, although sports like men’s football and basketball in practice receive a far larger share of the funding. Compare this to AU’s reported $15 million total sports budget and the discrepancy becomes clear — each of Ohio State’s 36 sports receives over a third of AU’s total sports budget in funding.

School of Communication sophomore Lucas Torregrossa enjoys attending AU basketball, volleyball and lacrosse games, but said the student body’s attitude towards AU sports is “not good.”

“I don’t even know if it’s about our school’s performance in sports, moreso just general disinterest in sports from the student body,” said Torregrossa. “Students here have interests other than sports, and I think that causes them to miss out on what AU provides.”

School of Education sophomore Laura Gyan thinks AU and its student body are at a stalemate regarding sports interest.

“I feel like they try,” Gyan said. “[AU] probably think[s] that people aren’t interested in it, so they don’t push it as much as they probably should.”

These beliefs about sports raise a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma between the school and its students. Are students less passionate about sports because sports are not a huge part of AU’s culture? Or are sports not a big part of AU’s culture because students are less passionate?

Freshman Lane Thimmesch, a casual sports-goer, occasionally attends games

but prefers when AU incentivizes attendance.

“I’m not really that engaged with the sports here unless there’s an event with something happening,” Thimmesch said.

“I went to a men’s soccer game once because they had a Surfside truck.”

Thimmesch believes the lack of a football team greatly dampens student interest in sports.

“Compared to my other friends … who go to state schools in Virginia … their days kind of center around [football] a lot,” she said. “I feel like the tailgating and the social aspect … around football is kind of missing here. I don’t personally need it, but I know other people would probably enjoy that.”

Torregrossa agreed.

“I think a football team could be a good start just in getting people into sports in general here,” he said. “Football teams have the whole social reputation that at least my friends and I try to get with the basketball team.”

Torregrossa and Gyan both feel that basketball picks up some of the slack left by the lack of a football team.

“Basketball I feel is more of a social thing,” Torregrossa said. “I’m able to go with my friends more and enjoy that just for the entertainment component.”

Men’s basketball home games attract just 758 fans to the 4,500-seat Bender Arena on average, according to AU’s athletic department. However, this low

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student turnout does not necessarily indicate a lack of die-hard fans. One of the most public AU basketball fans is sportswriter and alum David Aldridge, who broadcasts “AU Eagles fan” in his Twitter bio to his nearly 700,000 followers.

Even with a football team off of the table, AU can still bolster student interest in sports. The women’s basketball team’s recent appearance in the NCAA tournament is certainly a start, because as students like Torregrossa and Gyan pointed out, basketball is the most social of AU’s sports. However, the women’s team averaged just 400 fans in attendance per home game despite hugely outperforming the men’s team in their respective conferences. The men’s team making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014 would certainly grow interest, especially considering how the men’s tournament is nationally televised.

For the foreseeable future, AU will not sponsor a football team, so whether the basketball team can pick up that slack similar to other football-less schools remains to be seen.

But maybe cultivating a sports culture just isn’t on the agenda at AU. “Some people don’t care about [a sports culture],” Gyan said. “I don’t care as much, so that’s why I came here." mgacina@theeagleonline.com

Looking for a club sport to join?

An overview of four inclusive club sports for those looking to compete and have fun

by Hannah Newlon-Trujillo Sports Staff Columnist Club sports at American University provide a friendly and inclusive environment for everyone, whether you have been playing a sport for years or if you are a novice and want to try a new sport for the very first time.

Many players on the AU women’s club rugby team have never played rugby prior to college. AU women’s club rugby is the ideal team for anyone looking to join an accepting and approachable team.

The team is set up to allow rookies to have the best introduction to rugby they can possibly have. The team has bigs and littles as well as a “rookie mama” in order for new players to not feel intimidated.

“The team is something where what you put into it, you get back tenfold,” said senior Talon Hyatt.

AU women’s club rugby displayed their dominance of the game by clinching the title of spring 2022 conference champions in their division.

Women’s club rugby is a Division II team in the Potomac Rugby Union in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union.

The team competes against other DMV club rugby teams, which include George Washington, The University of Maryland at College Park and William & Mary.

The love of the sport continues even after college graduation as some of the AU women’s club rugby players play for The DC Revolution, a local rugby club.

AU’s women’s club lacrosse is a community founded

on a mutual love for lacrosse. Often students believe they will not be able to play the sport they love once they come to college; fortunately, with teams such as club lacrosse, students can continue to play their favorite sport with other club collegiate athletes.

The club was originally founded in 2014 but unfortunately became inactive after two years. As a sophomore, Ginger Schwarz refounded the team in 2019 and it has been active ever since.

Although the club is relatively new, they will be joining a league in the spring. The team defeated GWU last semester.

This season, the team routinely competes against teams such as GWU, Georgetown University and Towson University.

Club lacrosse also competes in a variety of tournaments such as Playday, which is hosted at GWU, and the Kelsey Classic Tournament.

A majority of the team played lacrosse on a varsity level in high school, making them a competitive team to face.

Although most of the club lacrosse team players have previous lacrosse experience prior to joining the team, the team encourages anyone to try out.

“We always find someone a spot on the team,” Schwarz said.

Club volleyball is a community for all of those who love the sport and want the opportunity to carry on their passion into their collegiate years.

Club volleyball has two teams, a red and a blue team.

Although the club is separated into two teams, they still have a bond.

“We are like family,” club volleyball co-president, Asia Fares, said.

A sense of community is a consistent theme throughout all the club sports teams.

For those available on Wednesday nights and have spare hockey gear, AU’s club ice hockey may be the club sport for you.

“Anyone can play if they have equipment and want to learn how to play,” team captain and president Steven Blum said.

AU club ice hockey competes against teams in the DMV, such as UMD and William & Mary.

Last season, the team made it to the regional playoffs. The team is on the come up, and Blum sees the team to be a force to be reckoned with.

“Everyone wants to win,” Blum said.

Students who play club sports say they are a great way to continue to play the sport they love in college while meeting new friends and having fun.

“Everyone is happy to have the opportunity to play in college,” Blum said. hnewlontrujillo@theeagleonline.com PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM HARRIS

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EL ÁGUILA

theEAGLE November 2022

‘Fuerza en los números’: Como la comunidad de AU apoya la comunidad de Puerto Rico

by Daniella Jiménez and Ana Vélez El Águila Managing Editor and El Águila Reporter El Huracán Fiona dejó daños en la isla dejando a muchas familias sin agua, alimentos, electricidad y medicinas. Mientras sus familias estaban en Puerto Rico, muchos estudiantes puertorriqueños estaban en D.C. durante el golpe.

En medio de la incertidumbre, organizaciones dentro American University como AU League of United Latin American Citizens (AU LULAC), AU Latinos En Acción (AU LEA) y The Puerto Rican Student Organization (PRSO) mostraron su apoyo a esos estudiantes, recaudando fondos de ayuda y hablando sobre el desastre que dejó el huracán.

Estudiantes dentro la PRSO de AU nos compartieron sus sentimientos y esfuerzos tras el paso del huracán.

“Fue bien difícil el día del huracán porque me sentía culpable en un sentido ya que mi familia no tenía electricidad y yo estaba acá pretendiendo que todo estaba normal”, dice Mariely Suarez, co-presidenta del PRSO. Este sentimiento que expresó Suarez, un estudiante de la Escuela de Artes y Ciencias, fue muy común entre estudiantes.

Andrea Vázquez, estudiante de la Escuela de Artes y Ciencias y también co-presidenta del PRSO, compartió el mismo sentimiento, “fue bien extraño de ellos (su familia) allá yo acá, un poco de culpabilidad por tener electricidad y ellos no”. Además, Vázquez compartió “un sentimiento de impotencia de ver toda la destrucción desde afuera en las redes sociales”.

Este sentimiento de impotencia es lo que impulsó a los estudiantes a actuar.

La organización reportó que tan pronto se anunció el paso del huracán, el grupo de Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora (BUDPR), reunió a estudiantes de los PRSO de diferentes universidades en D.C. para una reunión en la cual compartieron sus sentimientos sobre la situación en la isla.

Vázquez compartió con nosotros los es-

LIA CHIEN / THE EAGLE fuerzos del club para recaudar fondos. Los PRSO del área organizaron un evento juntos en un restaurante.

Estos fondos fueron donados al capítulo en Puerto Rico de Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). Los estudiantes se contactaron con esta organización por su trabajo luego del Huracán María en el 2017.

“Queríamos asegurarnos de que los fondos se quedarán en el local. Es una organización sin fines de lucro con un capítulo en Puerto Rico localizada en el área sur”, dice Vázquez. Además, nos narró que, “una maestra es quien está a cargo de todo. Nos reunimos por Zoom con ella y nos explicó paso a paso para que serían utilizados los fondos”.

Este desastre golpea cerca de casa para Nicolás Caraballo, un estudiante de la Escuela de Asuntos Públicos y presidente de AU LULAC. Después de mantenerse en contacto con su padre que vive en la isla, entendió que muchos estudiantes en campus estaban en la misma posición que él.

“Sentimos la obligación de intervenir con recursos para aportar y donar”, dice Caraballo. “Actualmente estamos trabajando solo en información general sobre la situación política en Puerto Rico y cómo la privatización de las redes eléctricas ha dificultado la vida de las personas”.

Caraballo habló sobre la unión con otras organizaciones Latinas en momentos de necesidad de la comunidad y la fuerza de los números cuando se unen. Expresó que AU LULAC continuará abogando contra las injusticias y disparidades que las comunidades latinas experimentan a diario.

Otras organizaciones, como AU LEA, promovieron la recaudación de fondos para apoyar a la comunidad puertorriqueña con recursos y herramientas para ayudar directamente a la comunidad.

Sin embargo, otros negocios dirigidos por estudiantes se están uniendo a la conversación y recaudando dinero para los fondos de ayuda para la gente y estudiantes de Puerto Rico.

David Gonzalez, gerente de The Bridge Cafe en American University, organizó con el Centro de Diversidad e Inclusión y el Centro de Participación Estudiantil un menú inspirado en América Latina.

El evento se llamó “Un Semestre Sin Ti”, que fue

inspirado por el reciente álbum de Bad Bunny, para ayudar a recaudar fondos para el fondo de ayuda por huracanes y celebrar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana.

“Acababa de ver el video de El Apagón y estaba tan inspirado por la habilidad de Bad Bunny de usar su plataforma para levantar las voces marginadas de la isla”, dice González. “Pensé que era importante si íbamos a inspirarnos, también necesitamos crear conciencia sobre qué áreas de nuestra comunidad necesitan ayuda”.

Como guatemalteco-puertorriqueño, González expresó alegría de ver varias culturas diversas al crear bebidas especiales en el menú. Explicó que quería que los estudiantes Latinos vieran el menú y se recordarán de su hogar y su cultura en The Bridge.

El menú incluía inspiración de la cultura Latina y de Miami como el cortadito, la horchata, el cafecito cubano, el mojito, el agua fresca, el tepache de piña y el latte de tres leches. El evento también incluyó presentaciones en vivo de Ari the Indigo, una rapera Latina, y obsequios para los estudiantes.

Duró tres días, sin embargo, González explica que fue un éxito con casi recaudar más de $500 dólares en ganancias de bebidas especiales. En el futuro, espera colaborar con otras organizaciones estudiantiles para seguir creando espacios seguros y significativos en The Bridge.

A medida que muchas organizaciones se unen para generar apoyo y empatía dentro de la comunidad puertorriqueña, hay una fuerza en los números.

González y Caraballo hablaron sobre la solidaridad entre la comunidad Latina a través de la organización de eventos, el diálogo sobre temas importantes y la creación de un ambiente acogedor para los estudiantes Latinos.

“La unidad entre grupos de afinidad es especialmente importante ya que nuestros objetivos e intereses están muy alineados”, dice Caraballo. “Pero específicamente en las organizaciones Latinas, encontramos que este año hay un fuerte sentido de colaboración”. djimenez@theeagleonline.com avelez@theeagleonline.com

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El programa de traducción de español y como estudiantes de AU ayuda la comunidad Latina Estudiantes de AU hablan sobre sus experiencias dentro el programa de traducción

by Sophie Cazares and Bryan Amador Rivera El Águila Reporters El programa de traducción de español es parte de la Escuela de Artes y Ciencias en el departamento de Lenguas y Culturas Mundiales. El programaofrece a los estudiantes la oportunidad de aprender las nociones de la teoría y práctica de traducción dentro de la comunidad Latina.

La directora del programa, Julia Isaac, ha estado a cargo del programa por cinco años y medio. Este semestre, ella enseña las clases de traducción a los niveles de introducción y avanzada, y una nueva clase que se llama traducción especializada.

“Hay pocas clases ofrecidas, como un programa solo hay cinco. Solo da la introducción a la práctica, pero muchos estudiantes prueban una clase sin tener previsiones, y terminan con ganas de aprender más”, dice Isaac. “La traducción es como la quinta habilidad en el aprendizaje de idiomas. Se aprende cómo leer, escribir, hablar, y escuchar. En general, los estudiantes no practican cómo traducir. Es una nueva manera de afrontar la lengua que la mayoría de estudiantes no han hecho en el pasado”.

En la clase de introducción, los estudiantes tienen que completar un componente comunitario, en cual tienen que ser voluntarios en lugares donde pueden

practicar sus habilidades de traducción. El componente comunitario ayuda a los estudiantes a apoyar la comunidad con actos de servicio cómo enseñar inglés, traducir casos legales o ayudar en organizaciones.

Timothy Neckermann, un estudiante en su tercer año en la Escuela de Servicio Internacional, seleccionó una organización sin fines de lucro que se llama Trabajadores Unidos. Él ayuda con el departamento de inglés, enseñando a inmigrantes recientes con un nivel de inglés intermedio. El enseña cada miércoles, y este es su tercer semestre ayudando en Trabajadores Unidos.

“Fue una oportunidad increíble trabajar con una organización Latina. Soy muy apasionado por los lenguajes, y veo la traducción como una manera de conectar con culturas”, dice Neckermann. “Se puede hablar con gente nueva y aprender cosas nuevas del mundo. Cada persona debe aprender otra lengua, es increíble”.

Melina Calarco es una estudiante en su último año en la Escuela de Comunicaciones. Ella se concentra en la Lengua Extranjera y Medios de Comunicación dentro de este programa. Su interés en la traducción es la razón por cual ella estudió comoextranjera en España.

Durante su tiempo en Madrid, Calarco pudo usar su conocimiento del español y el inglés en un internado con una organización llamada Marcablanca Press.

En este internado, ella tradujo documentos del inglés

al español para la organización. Calarco expresó que esta oportunidad la motivó a seguir estudiando traducción.

“La traducción es importante porque a pesar de que tenemos herramientas como el Internet, las habilidades que tiene un traductor no se pueden reemplazar, especialmente cuando se trata de usar elementos culturales”, dice Calarco.

Henry Burke-Manwaring es otro estudiante que es parte del programa de traducción de español en American University. Él está en su último año de universidad en la Escuela de Servicio Internacional y está enfocándose en cómo usar el español en su carrera.

Burke-Manwaring tuvo un internado con Fulbright Spain cuando estaba estudiando como extranjero en Madrid. Ahora, él se ofrece como voluntario para una organización en Washington D.C. donde trabaja como intérprete para casos legales. A BurkeManwaring le apasiona que todos tengan las mismas oportunidades y por eso él quiere “ayudar a cerrar la brecha entre diferentes culturas”.

“No puedo recomendar el programa lo suficiente.

Aprendiendo nuevos idiomas abre tu cerebro a nuevas posibilidades, y te convierte en una persona más inteligente”, dice Neckermann. scazares@theeagleonline.com bamadorrivera@theeagleonline.com

Opinión: Latinos en la fuerza laboral

by Nick Blanco El Águila Staff Columnist Aunque la comunidad Latina en los Estados Unidos enfrenta varios desafíos económicos en la actualidad, es vital destacar su progreso en los últimos 20 años. El discurso político no puede solo centrarse en las limitaciones económicas sin reconocer el crecimiento de la comunidad para proporcionar perspectiva.

Según un informe realizado por Hispanic Star, los Latinos en los Estados Unidos lideran los grupos minoritarios en GDP y poder adquisitivo con $2.7 y $1.9 billones, respectivamente. Actualmente, si los Latinoamericanos fueran una nación independiente, su GDP sería el séptimo más grande del mundo. Los Latinos se están convirtiendo en los empleados y consumidores del futuro: en los últimos diez años, esta comunidad ha visto un crecimiento sustancial en el ingreso (77 por ciento), y la participación en la fuerza laboral civil (17 por ciento). Además, el 40 por ciento del crecimiento de la fuerza laboral de EE.UU. es Hispana.

Continuando con las tendencias positivas, los Latinos también están abriendo camino en la educación. Una investigación de Eastern Washington University muestra que los estudiantes están logrando índices récord de graduación de la escuela secundaria e inscripción universitaria. Además, ha habido un aumento sustancial en la representación en las carreras de Administración, Negocios y Ciencias. Sin embargo, persisten dos problemas, primero son las discrepancias en los salarios de trabajadores Latinos en comparación con estadounidenses blancos. Un análisis comparativo muestra que a nivel nacional, los Latinos ganan el 73 por ciento de lo que ganan sus homólogos blancos. Esto está relacionado con la mayor participación de Latinos en industrias de

trabajo manual que no generan un salario alto.

Un segundo problema tiene que ver con las bajas tasas de graduación que persisten en la comunidad. El Informe de Logros Educativos cita a los Latinos como el grupo con la tasa de finalización más baja para obtener un bachillerato, lo que sugiere que muchos de ellos carecen del título para acceder a salarios más altos.

Provenir de entornos con menores condiciones socioeconómicas, hace que los Latinos comienzan su carrera universitaria con bajos recursos. Esto crea una situación en la que los Latinos están menos preparados y genera altas tasas de deserción educativa. El informe de EWU establece: es más probable que los Latinos comienzan en un colegio comunitario, con una mezcla de asistencia de tiempo completo o medio, y que continúen en la universidad después de seis años. Cada año adicional invertido para la obtención de un título ejerce más presión económica sobre los estudiantes Latinos Los programas existentes como el apoyo para el primer año, son pasos en dirección para reducir las tasas de deserción escolar. Estas soluciones sirven para facilitar la transición a una carga de trabajo universitaria con recursos sustantivos para preparar más a los estudiantes. Sin embargo, estos programas solo existen para el primer año, dejando a los estudiantes Latinos solos en los últimos semestres. Mantener programas más allá del primer año podría animar a Latinos a completar sus títulos. Las universidades con programas de apoyo incorporados, como EWU, muestran un aumento significativo en las tasas de graduación, específicamente aquellas que provienen de hogares de bajos ingresos, lo que provoca un efecto dominó que se traduce en mayores participaciones en la fuerza laboral.

Al mirar la realidad de los Latinos en el mercado laboral nos lleva a un tercer y último punto. Las soluciones institucionales son difíciles de escalar si los problemas

IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE económicos que afectan a la comunidad Latina no están en el discurso público. Los Latinos necesitan una voz en los medios que priorice la deliberación sobre la realidad de su situación. Sin embargo, como sugiere Axios, la representación Latina en los medios se ha estancado.

Es importante destacar el poder de la representación en los medios, hay Latinos aptos para puestos claves de comunicación, y es necesario incentivar a la industria para que cultive la diversidad e inclusión en los medios.

Podrían argumentar que el concepto se ha convertido en un remedio rápido a las demandas de justicia social que solo sirve como distracción a problemas más importantes. Pero, la diversidad e inclusión en los medios de comunicación puede tener un efecto profundo para movilizar la comunidad a nivel local y nacional, para mejorar la participación de los Latinos en la fuerza laboral. nblanco@theeagleonline.com

OPINION

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Opinion: The lost Black city Modern-Day Residential Segregation in DC

JOSH KATZ / THE EAGLE

by Meliha Ural Opinion Columnist As move-in day approaches in late August each year, D.C. is bustling with energy and activity with new silhouettes appearing all around the district. Whether it’s an American University or Georgetown University student, the exhilarating journey to explore every part of the city begins. With annual traditions of drunken night monumenting and thrills of scavenger hunts and museum trips, the nation's capital welcomes novel faces as its history remains buried once again.

The year is 1957: D.C. becomes the first city with a Black population majority as it depicts a portrait of Black culture and perseverance. The year is now 2022: D.C.’s Black population goes down to 41 percent as the city faces the highest rate of displacement in the country. The nation’s “Chocolate City” perishes as the Anacostia

River divides the city not just naturally but also racially and economically.

This is the tale of two cities.

To the west of Rock Creek Park, consisting mainly of Ward 3, are the wealthiest and most exclusive neighborhoods, as the zoning codes are put in place to shape up the white and affluent population. The property values are higher here than anywhere else, and it’s zoned for only singlefamily homes. AU’s campus resides here in Ward 3, where the ward population is 80 percent white. The average household income is $155,813.

To the east of Anacostia River, marked as a “low concentration zone,” where the population keeps increasing with no economic growth, is the most racially isolated part of D.C. 90 percent of the east-of-theriver neighborhoods are Black and at the most risk for displacement. The poverty rate is three times higher than in the rest of the city, and food insecurity is prevalent. The average household income for this part of D.C. is $34,000.

As a modern version of racial inequality, residential segregation serves to group people into neighborhoods and communities based on race while depriving them of access to good schools, nutritious foods, healthy environments, well-paying jobs and more. Unlike school desegregation, no deliberate, proactive effort was made to integrate neighborhoods, according to the Othering & Belonging Institute. Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited

discrimination in housing based on race and played a crucial role in assisting with integration, its role in the long run was not efficient.

The city’s growing diversity only meant one thing for Black homeowners: They would become strangers to their neighborhoods as their lifelong homes turned to ruins. As property values increased and property taxes skyrocketed, more than 20,000 Black D.C. residents were displaced between 2000 and 2013.

According to an analysis by WUSA, predominantly non-white neighborhoods in the lowest tax brackets had a property tax increase by three percent relative to income. Meanwhile, wealthy communities only faced a one percent increase since 2000. The gentrification tax placed on the vulnerable communities made leeway for displacement as D.C. poverty rates were on the rise, especially in the city’s segregated neighborhoods.

The exclusionary zoning laws made up the D.C. we know today: 23 percent of D.C.’s land area and 80 percent of land west of Rock Creek Park is restricted to detached single-family homes, where growth only takes place in a few areas of the city, putting the rest at stake. Not only are people pushed away from their homes, but they are also pushed away from transit after leaving a dense urban zone. Low-income, Black residents who have not historically relied on a car are left vulnerable as a further resource is stolen from them.

One of the many communities gentrification targeted was the Shaw neighborhood, formerly known as the “Black Broadway.” This wasn’t your average neighborhood; it was the soul of Chocolate City. However, it didn’t matter to multimillion-dollar real estate agencies that the city birthed the Black Renaissance, or that it was the center of Black businesses, entertainment, religion and education in the District. As stated in the Jetset Times, the 90 percent Black community in the 1970s dropped to 30 percent in 2010. The median home price went up to $781,000 from $147,000. The $50,089 average family income was replaced by a $145,096 average income. Due to the influx of white newcomers, the Shaw neighborhood was dissipated, leading to the residential, cultural and political displacement of its people.

Spanning from 1950-1970, the Urban Renewal project in Southwest D.C. struck another blow to the district. The project was said to have a public health initiative and planned to get rid of alleyway homes and slums. According to an article in Story Maps, the 70 percent Black population in the region vanished; a $500 million budget cleansed 23,000 residents, 1,500 businesses and 6,000 families. The project failed to re-establish a sense of community in the region where it lacked commercial, entertainment and restaurant institutions. Although the program initially created substantial economic growth, it also contributed to urban inequality and the displacement of thousands and ultimately failed to create a long-lasting, economically prosperous community.

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman quoted, “Washington, D.C. should be the best-planned city in the world and a Capital befitting the dignity and ideals of a great nation in a family of nations.” Is this the D.C. he envisioned, representing the ideals of a great nation by turning its people into profit and replacing them with real estate deals?

D.C., the capital of the nation in all its glory and an opportunity hub for many college students who want to pursue a career in politics. D.C., the capital of the nation that has witnessed the displacement of thousands and watched its culture slowly fade away.

We can’t claim to love the city without its other half. We can’t claim to love the city without picking up the remnants of its abandoned history. We can’t claim to fight for human rights without lending a hand to communities that have been bleeding for decades.

Meliha Ural is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and School of Communication and a columnist for the Eagle. mural@theeagleonline.com

HOUSE IN WARD 3 (LEFT), AND APARTMENT COMPLEX IN WARD 8 (RIGHT)

GABRIEL ZAKAIB / THE EAGLE

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Opinion: ‘Danger’ wasn’t in the job description

American University has a duty to ensure that their student workers, especially women, feel safe and comfortable in their work environment

JOSH KATZ / THE EAGLE

by Anna Gephart Opinion Columnist Safety is one of the most important expectations a person has for their job. We expect to work in a safe environment under an employer that has measures in place to protect employees. American University, employer to a vast amount of student workers, had failed to provide a safe work environment for female-presenting desk receptionists for far too long.

Working an overnight shift in any student job is stressful and can be concerning, especially for femalepresenting students. There are many different student jobs on campus which have late night shifts. This not only includes desk receptionists, but also student library workers with the library open 24 hours and the Cassell and Jacobs Fitness Centers open until 11 p.m. and midnight,

respectively. Walking home alone at night after a shift is deeply unsettling and a legitimate fear for women everywhere.

The Guardian wrote an article in 2021 in which they spoke with women about this fear. The article consists of quotes from many different women, yet all with the same feelings: “I don’t relax until I reach my destination” and “I’m always aware there is potential danger.”

This isn’t the first time The Eagle has made note of the concerns from student workers. Just last year, 37 desk receptionists signed a letter regarding the elimination of the $18 hourly pay rate for night shifts as opposed to the then-normal $15.20 hourly pay rate. The letter also referred to the communication issues from the superiors in Housing and Residence Life.

In September of 2021, female employees who were walking home after working late night shifts were followed by a man in a car. When they had reported this to AUPD, they were offered the University’s safe walk program “but were told not to make a habit of utilizing that resource,” according to the letter. The incident and University response were included in the letter.

Many also are put in uncomfortable situations while on the job. In that same Eagle article from 2021, Talon Hyatt, a desk receptionist, also noted that “the

concerns of other desk receptionists were never communicated with HRL as dealing with aggressive residents and visitors was an expected part of working the night shift.” Working through difficult situations is reasonable when working a front desk job, but dealing with aggression and dangerous situations alone at night should never be expected.

There have been a few changes made since these unsettling incidents. Desk receptionists are no longer required to work night shifts, but much of the changes made have not been widely shared with the greater student body. It is difficult to find any information regarding changes made for better safety which can make any student, especially women, concerned with their protection for simply trying to work a student job. AU has the capacity to do more as a university to protect and provide resources to its valuable student workers to ensure they feel comfortable not only during their shift, but at every step getting to and from their shift.

Some will say those with concerns should work another student job instead, but that lends itself to even more cause for outcry and is victim blaming, which is damaging to those who have this fear and to the greater culture of the community.

Women should not have to avoid a student job altogether because of an issue

AU refuses to resolve. The University should have protections in place and better communication with its student workers. Adequate and advertised resources should always be available to student workers, and supervisors should be communicative and supportive when students come to them with questions and concerns. This is not solved by femalepresenting workers quitting their job, but by a true community of care that values its students through safety measures and a comfortable environment for all.

In a world where college women ages 18 to 24 are three times more at risk of sexual violence, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, and fear simply walking down the street, universities have a responsibility to make their female-presenting students feel safe in every aspect of their campus. The lack of comprehensive security and concern for a large group of people who often feel unsupported and unprioritized by society is disheartening. AU and Housing and Residence Life can and must do better by those it educates and employs to change the culture of a community that is consistently violent towards women.

Anna Gephart is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and a columnist for The Eagle. agephart@theeagleonline.com

Opinion: Admin, the pandemic isn’t over because you’re tired of it University COVID-19 policies leave students vulnerable

by Alexis Bernstein Assistant Opinion Editor At 2:30 a.m., my fingers suddenly began intensely burning. I felt like I had placed my hand under a boiling stream of water that I couldn’t move away from.

I washed my hands over and over and tried smothering my fingers in aloe gel, hydrocortisone, Benadryl cream, olive oil and ice. I took a Tylenol and an Advil, but nothing worked. I fell asleep in tears, scared that the pain would never cease.

My alarm blared at 8:30 a.m. My fingers tingled, but the burning had finally stopped. I continued my day as usual.

After class, I passed by the Mary Graydon Center coronavirus testing machine and took a test. While I wasn’t experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, I had planned on getting tested weekly at American University this semester.

Late that night I received my positive COVID-19 result. The day after that, I learned that burning fingers are a lesserknown COVID-19 symptom.

Before my positive result, I was not aware of the massive changes AU made to its COVID-19 policies this semester. Now that I’ve experienced it firsthand, and have received the resources sent to students with COVID-19, I have several grievances to air:

First, and most glaringly to me while I was sick, the University eliminated isolation housing. Last year, if a student received a positive coronavirus result, they were immediately whisked away to a hotel off campus. There, they were provided with room service and, most importantly, isolation from others.

Now, when infected with an extremely contagious virus, students are told to isolate themselves in their regular housing arrangement. For many students, particularly underclassmen, that means their shared dorm with another student.

This policy puts their roommates at risk of also getting COVID-19 and does not offer any recourse for these students.

Students in traditional-style dorm rooms will need to leave their shared rooms to shower and brush their teeth, practices that will expose other students to the virus.

On a smaller note, AU does not supply meals for students with COVID-19. While I can order pick-up from TDR, it costs a meal swipe and requires me to leave my isolation and go to a populated area of campus. Eliminating this important safety measure unnecessarily exposes many more students to COVID-19.

Next, the COVID-19 health dashboard is gone. Students, faculty and the community surrounding AU have

no way of knowing how many cases of COVID-19 are on campus. This lack of information is extremely worrisome coupled with the elimination of isolation housing as we have no idea how fast the virus is spreading.

All of my professors have expressed concerns about the number of students absent from class due to COVID-19. It is alarming that the University is deliberately hiding these statistics from all of us, claiming that it is “no longer a critical tool in our day-to-day management of COVID-19.”

More recently, no one is wearing a mask anymore. It’s been a long couple of years of quarantine, masks, isolation and panic. All I’m asking is that students and faculty wear our masks in public, crowded spaces like in classes. With AU eliminating the mask mandate, COVID-19 is only going to become more transmittable in our community. We, unfortunately, must take it upon ourselves to prevent the spread.

Lastly, testing is not as accessible on campus. Last year, students were able to take as many PCR tests as they wanted.

This semester, students are only allowed to take a single PCR test per week. I was testing myself twice a week to ensure the safety of myself and others. The day after I received my positive PCR result, I

COURTESY OF ALEXIS BERNSTEIN took an at-home rapid antigen test, just to see what would happen. It came back negative. I tried again two days later. Same result. There are four options based on these results: I have a COVID-19 strain that doesn’t appear in rapid antigen tests; I performed the test incorrectly; I have had COVID-19 for so long that it doesn’t appear on rapid tests; my PCR was a rare false positive. Without being able to take multiple PCR tests during this time, I have no way of testing these options.

This is my first time having COVID-19 after being extremely cautious; it wasn’t until the first week that AU loosened guidelines that I finally got sick. We must bind together as a community to protect one another, especially those on campus who are immunocompromised. While we as students may not be able to do much other than wear masks and get tested, the AU administration has the power to protect us. They are choosing not to.

Alexis Bernstein is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and the Assistant Opinion Editor for The Eagle. abernstein@theeagleonline.com

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Opinion: Urban planning disparities further inequities Benefits of urban green space cannot be overlooked

COURTESY OF PJ CUNNINGHAM

by PJ Cunningham Opinion Columnist My friend and I glided through the greenery, pedaling our aging bikes over the pavement. Under a conflicting canopy of tall oak trees and abandoned steel mills, we explored a world that was entirely alien yet mere feet from the bustling, concrete web of streets. This was the Major Taylor Trail, a short, novice-level bike trail in Chicago’s Southwest side named for trailblazing cyclist and civil rights activist Marshall “Major” Taylor.

While not difficult or long, this trail is exceptional for what it represents: the powerful notion of creating natural green space in underfunded urban areas. Green space can be defined in many ways, but the broadest definition provided by the EPA is “open space … on underdeveloped land … open to the public, partly or completely covered by [greenery].” Under this definition, everything from public parks and public sports fields to bike trails and forest preserves is green space. While this vast array of public spaces constitutes mil-

lions of acres in cities across the country, urban green spaces are neither created nor distributed equally.

Similar to other urban planning inequalities, such as housing and schooling inequity, access to high-quality and wellmaintained green spaces are unequally distributed along race and class-based lines. Although this is a trend evident across the nation, my hometown of Chicago and American University’s hometown of D.C. are two great examples of this. Despite these cities being vastly different in size and demographics, they share a key commonality: urban planning that disproportionately places its greenery and natural areas away from low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

In Chicago, wealthier, whiter and already greener neighborhoods receive hundreds of thousands more new trees than their counterparts, as reported by the Chicago Tribune in 2022. The same trend is true in D.C., where lack of access to green space in Wards 7 and 8, two lowincome majority-Black areas, has forced nongovernmental community organizations to step up. Government inaction for the existing inequalities of urban green space puts citizens directly into harm's way by poor urban planning policy.

Neighborhoods in both cities experiencing economic hardship, especially those with higher percentages of people of color, lack proper access to green spaces.

An official 2020 air quality report from the City of Chicago, measured air contaminants in parts per million and then cross-examined them with existing socio-

economic data by neighborhood. The poorest neighborhoods, many of them made up primarily of Black and Latine residents, were disproportionately at risk of air quality issues.

Unsurprisingly, the areas where air quality was the lowest correspond directly to the Tribune’s findings on racially disproportionate tree planting between neighborhoods. Similarly, D.C.’s Black residents, especially those living in green space-insecure Wards 7 and 8 located south of the Anacostia River, had the highest mortality r a t e from diseases attributable to air pollution.

These health risks constitute violence by the hand of city governments as both Chicago and D.C. continue to fund polluting industrial projects in green space-insecure neighborhoods, such as a massive bus depot project proposed in Ward 5’s Brentwood neighborhood. New greenery and recreational areas tend to instead accompany a gentrifying influx of wealthy, majority-white citizens.

Although this issue may seem far away to many of us at AU, I urge all Eagles to take action. If you’re registered to vote in D.C., vote for your fellow Washingtonians suffering

Opinion: Letts Hall and dorm lockout policy: Where is our money going?

Residents experience poor conditions given the cost of room and board, exacerbated by the recent lockout fee

LIA CHIEN / THE EAGLE

by Alice Still Opinion Columnist As we find ourselves at the mid-semester mark, many freshmen, including myself, are moving past the “honeymoon phase” of the first weeks of college. With this comes the realization that American University, the alleged most liberal university in the U.S., is still a money-hungry, capitalist institution.

It’s no secret that we are paying an arm and a leg in tuition and room and board, not to mention books and various other fees. Just a few weeks ago, Hous-

ing and Residence Life announced a new egregious policy, stating that “students will now be allotted two lockout requests per semester and, on the third request, will be charged an administrative fee of $25 per lockout.” This news further amplifies the commonly asked first-year question: where is our money going?

After a five percent tuition increase this year, the thousands of dollars we already pay evidently do not guarantee freshmen a pleasant living environment. As a resident of the infamous Letts Hall, I can attest to the many things that wrongly slip through the cracks.

In the first two months on campus, residents of Letts have experienced mold in the already empty soap dispensers;fleas in the south side of the building; faulty showers that lead to students standing in two inches of water because they don’t drain; out-of-order laundry rooms for days on end; 80 degree rooms; and stoves that only work occasionally, just to name a few. Instead of using the money that we pay to live here to fix those things, AU

decided to implement yet another unnecessary cost for students who simply make a mistake and forget their One Card.

From the get-go, the idea behind this policy is flawed. No students, especially first-years who are still getting used to carrying their ID everywhere, are intentionally getting locked out of their rooms. A potential $25 fee is not going to cross every student's mind each time they exit their room, magically deterring them from mistakenly leaving their One Card behind. Not to mention there are extenuating circumstances that may arise that require students to leave their room in a rush and possibly forget their One Card, such as the multitude of fire alarms that go off every week.

This is not just an issue of an unjustifiably explained fee; it also does not take into account the financial implications that this may have on students. Many students are making extreme financial sacrifices to receive their education from this school. In fact, Ohio State University’s National Student Financial Wellness

from the dangerous mental, physical and social negatives of inaccessible and lowquality green space. Enjoy hiking Rock Creek park, enjoy our beautiful campus and use that love for nature to fight for accessible green spaces both here and wherever you call home. Recent policy shifts in both Chicago and D.C. by Mayors Lori Lightfoot’s and Muriel Bowser’s administrations prove public pressure from stakeholders, including ourselves, can make a difference on this issue if we work for it.

PJ Cunningham is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and a columnist for The Eagle. pcunningham@theeagleonline.com

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study found that 70 percent of college students are financially stressed. With An extra $25 could be the difference between making tuition payments on time or not, or a trip to the grocery store to avoid consuming rock hard mystery meat from TDR. No student should have to undergo even more financial stress than is already present when attending a school with increased tuition costs simply for slipping up three times.

There is an extreme lack of transparency between HRL and the AU administration with the students. Where are the thousands of dollars we spend on housing going if not to ensure we have basic necessities available to us?

Where would this $25 fee end up after the students pay it? This is a flagrant cash grab on behalf of AU. No student should ever be expected to pay in order to be allowed back into the room that we already pay for. Instead of creating flawed policies that have no measurable benefit, the University should focus on using the money we already pay to fix the things that actually negatively impact students.

Alice Still is a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and an opinion columnist for The Eagle. astill@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Satire: New University-wide participation policy requires students to deliver impromptu State of the Union speech in front of the entire United States citizenry

by Nora Sullivan Satire Editor The following piece is satire and should not be misconstrued for actual reporting.

Any resemblance to a student, staff or faculty member is coincidental.

On Tuesday, the Amalgamated Political Science Teachers’ Union of American University ratified a participation policy requiring students to deliver an impromptu State of the Union speech in front of the entire United States citizenry in order to receive class credit.

The new policy has been well received by students of all backgrounds.

Janine Botero, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, has a fear of public speaking. While she initially expressed concern about the extemporaneous speaking requirement, she ultimately embraced the spirit of the policy.

“I expect that this requirement will crush my soul profoundly and repeatedly,” she said. “But I completely un-

derstand why it’s necessary. Unless I can adequately deliver a televised speech to the entire population of the country with no preparation, I don’t deserve participation credit. In fact, I don’t even deserve attendance credit at all.”

Edmond Wellington Mellington Clinton Koch Rockefeller VII, a freshman in SPA, embraced the policy from the start.

“I love public speaking more than anything. I prefer to speak every word as if it were being spoken in front of a live televised audience of my compatriots,” he said. “I’m blending in perfectly here at AU. When I was in the bathroom yesterday, one of my floormates started debating the ethics of robotizing the pharmaceutical industry through the stalls. When the debate got heated, each of us just screamed our position louder. I was quite proud of my performance.”

He even suggested the union take the policy a step further. “I actually think speaking loudly and out of turn should be a participation requirement too. Passionately

voicing one’s opinion at incredibly inappropriate times is a super important skill for every SPA student to develop.”

The union agreed.

On Wednesday, they added the “loud and untimely interruption clause” to the participation policy. Incidentally, some students reacted poorly at the prospect of this clause going into effect.

“I just don’t see how I can make a State of the Union speech and interrupt a peer in the same class,” said Chinyere Musa, a senior in SPA. “What if I don’t interrupt my peers loud enough?” asked Mae McClain, a sophomore in SPA. Another student expressed concerns about how professors will measure the forcefulness of her interjection, fearing she may fall short of “interruption.” Yet another feared her interruption may be perceived as too “timely” by a grouchy Ph.D. in need of a lunch break.

Given the unyielding influx of questions regarding the policy, the union expects to

assemble a working group to ensure that administrators are supported and given adequate punitive authority as confusion increases.

While the Amalgamated Political Science Teachers’ Union declined a request to comment on the matter, rumors are circulating the school regarding the organization’s next steps. Sources indicate that the union intends to encourage complete expulsion of all students who do not flawlessly deliver their impromptu speech in front of a nationwide audience and interrupt their peers (who will not be present during the speech) while doing so.

Luckily, in a small pilot run of the policy, students exceeded expectations.

Even if the rumors are true, The Seagle expects very few, if any, punitive measures will need to be taken at all.

Nora Sullivan is a senior in The School of International Service and The Eagle’s satire editor. nsullivan@theeagleonline.com

Satire: SPA requires great deal of begging to be re-subscribed to digest

by Jared Bowes Satire Columnist The following piece is satire and should not be misconstrued for actual reporting.

Any resemblance to a student, staff or faculty member is coincidental.

Scandal has plagued American University after the School of Public Affairs accidentally unsubscribed students from the digest, a regular email blast which informs students of events and breaking news within the school.

Despite a plethora of emails to those in charge, SPA refuses to resubscribe students to the digest. One student, Eddie Fallden, a freshman in SPA, has decided to share his story with The Seagle in regards to his struggles in trying to stay informed about his school.

On Sept. 6, Fallden decided to finally email the higher-ups due to a concern that he was not receiving regular updates from the SPA digest, while his col-

leagues have. He expressed agitation with the SPA administration for keeping him in the dark.

“It’s extremely frustrating to see all of my friends informed about literally everything when I'm, like, actively being kept out of the loop,” he said. “I’m used to clear and constant communication from AU, so this period of time has been a kick in the shin if you ask me.”

Eventually, Fallden heard back from SPA in an email stating that he “should be receiving regular updates,” and that “no unsubscription had occurred,” which surprised him immensely.

“I’m used to clear and constant communication from AU, so this was a kick in the shins if you ask me,” claimed Fallden.

A few weeks later, SPA released an email confirming that many students in SPA had been accidentally unsubscribed from the digest and that they should contact Johnny Boys, the senior administrative assistant, to be resubscribed.

When Fallden’s attempts to reach Boys failed, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

By greasing the hands of a few professors, he was able to get information on a meeting between SPA’s dean and other administrative heads. He patiently waited along with some of his peers who had experienced the same excommunication from the school.

As the meeting let out, Fallden screamed, “This ends now!” He and his posse proceeded to challenge the heads of SPA to a dance battle in order to force their way back into the digest. The dean’s security team attempted to usher the administrators out of the building to no avail.

“They are attempting to silence us! We have to beg, bribe and battle just to stay informed!” Fallden screamed from his pedestal to the rest of the crowd. The posse then began to break dance with a series of successful serves to administration.

After narrowly escaping the break-

dance beatdown, Boys sent out a statement the following day. “I know it is troubling to see students go to such extremes to be informed. But this was not enough. If an SPA student wishes to stay informed directly through our school, they must go to the greatest lengths to prove to us they truly desire information. Hopefully this inspires better attempts at groveling in the student body.

Thank you.”

The Seagle reached out to Fallden for a response to Boys’ statement.

“Next time I'll produce a one-man, four-act musical and maybe that’ll show ‘em how much I want back in!” Fallden said.

The Seagle expects a sit-down between SPA staff and students in the coming weeks and will provide full coverage.

Jared Bowes is a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and is a satire columnist for The Eagle. jbowes@theeagleonline.com

Satire: American University claims it was preparing Jewish students for the professional world ignoring their most important holidays

by India Siecke Satire Columnist

The following piece is satire and should not be misconstrued for actual reporting.

Any resemblance to a student, staff or faculty member is coincidental.

After not canceling classes for any of the Jewish High Holy Days, American University administrators claim the decision was in students’ best interests. Despite having one of the largest Jewish populations of any private university, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanna and Sukkot all passed with little recognition from administration beyond a tasteful Canva graphic. This decision confused and angered many Jewish and non-Jewish students alike due to AU’s public commitments to di-

versity and inclusion. When pressed, AU administrators responded in the email below: “Here at American University, we strive to prepare students for the competitive job market. From being bureaucratically confusing to ignoring minorities, AU does our utmost to mirror the ‘real world.’”

While most professors were understanding, with some even canceling class to support their students, others were not.

Reports of breaking fast in Kogod to Sukkah building in Hurst show how affected students were.

After her home synagogue’s Rosh Hashanah service crashed due to the lack of adequate wifi in Leonard Hall, Ella Cohen, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, weighed in.

“At first, I was upset about not being able to spend the holiest day of the year with my family, doing our sacred traditions. But then I realized nothing was more traditionally Jewish than being denied a basic right my Christian counterparts don’t have to think about,” Cohen said.

Some professors, however, defended their choice to follow the University’s schedule due to the importance of their class. AUx advisor Nelson Bale stood firm in his decision to hold class, making anyone who missed his section of AUx on Yom Kippur write the standard seven page makeup paper to keep up their attendance grade.

“Listen, I totally get why the spiritually-important start to the new year might be a reason to skip a nonessential,

non-major related class students take.

But AUx is non-negotiable. Students must learn how to set healthy work-life boundaries; if they have to compromise their faith to do so, so be it.”

There are some Jewish student defenders of AU, though. One student, who chose to remain anonymous, reached out to the Seagle.

“Look, I’m not saying AU’s perfect by any stretch. But, I did have the easiest fast I’ve ever had due to the quality of food on campus. Even one day without having to worry about getting food poisoning at TDR was a relief.”

India Siecke is a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and is a satire columnist at The Eagle. isiecke@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE November 2022

Opinion: Where do we cross the line in classroom debate?

It’s time to reexamine the way we foster academic discourse among peers

IZZY FANTINI / THE EAGLE

by Jelinda Montes Opinion Columnist Anger is a valid emotion, but should it be invoked in classroom debate?

Should conversations be pushed to the point where students are yelling, crying or leaving the room?

Heated, lively discourse is something that should be encouraged, but too many times I have seen debates in my classes turn ugly and unproductive. College is supposed to be a laboratory for figuring out how to have tough conversations and answer hard questions, but often the teaching element is left out when students

are not held accountable for harmful comments or fallacious talking points.

There is a sort of tacit endorsement of these viewpoints when professors refuse to intervene and allow debate to reach the point of extreme emotion. When a student crosses a line with either hateful, offensive or personally charged comments, the professor should be the intervening force, not the other students. When professors decline to step in, debate can easily devolve away from decorum into the realm of ad hominem attacks. That is not the point of an educational debate, or at least I hope it isn’t.

No one should come out of the classroom feeling like they were personally attacked or targeted — even if they were the ones in the wrong. Students deserve grace to learn from their mistakes, but that requires being held accountable by an authority figure and not their peers speaking from anger.

When someone begins their point in a classroom debate with the phrase, “To play the devil’s advocate…,” eyes are sure to roll and the discussion is likely to turn more divisive.

The “devil’s advocate” is a tactic involving sharing a controversial opinion, that even the speaker may not agree

with, to elicit a more lively debate. This concept does not open the door for more interesting discussions and often only elicits emotional responses and further entrenchment in one’s own beliefs.

True dissent is what drives productive debate, not the devil’s advocate, but such true dissent needs to be monitored carefully in the classroom. Professors need to intervene in discussions and be active participants in helping students work through productive discourse that doesn’t involve ad hominem attacks or endorsement of harmful talking points.

During syllabus week, a litany of professors call for students to be tolerant of values and political ideologies separate from their own, which is not inherently a bad thing. However, where is the line drawn when certain beliefs advocate for the harm of others and where do professors step in to correct these actions? The preoccupation with remaining fair and balanced has opened the door for extremist views to have a platform in the name of hearing out both sides.

College is a time for learning and making mistakes. Oftentimes, students employ dangerous talking points — like logical fallacies, dog whistles or purely inaccurate information — with-

out knowledge of their implications and find themselves at the center of a classroom controversy. Other times, students purposely engage in harmful discussions, either as devil’s advocates or devils themselves.

Both these groups should be held accountable, but not berated. I’m not arguing that professors simply lambaste offending students. Instead, I want these scenarios to open doors for educators to correct harmful behaviors by explaining their faults, either in logic or ethics. Then, lay down rules of operation for productive debate where students aren’t afraid to disagree and actually learn something from their experience.

We should be able to talk about difficult situations, tough questions and controversial issues in class, but we should do so in a way that students leave the discussion with insight, not indignation.

Jelinda Montes is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and School of Communication and a columnist for The Eagle. jmontes@theeagleonline.com

STAFF EDITORIAL Food safety on campus doesn’t have to be a challenge AU’s lack of safe food options is alarming and must be addressed

by The Eagle Editoral Board The Sept. 21 health inspection report has confirmed students’ widely held beliefs that the food on campus, particularly in TDR, is not safe. For students with allergies and other dietary restrictions, TDR may be their only choice on campus, as it is the only food choice on campus with gluten-free and allergy-safe options.

The lack of food options at American University is an issue in and of itself. While the AU student population grows every year, the quantity of food options has decreased. Megabytes Café closed in November 2018 following health and safety concerns. It occupied the space next to Starbucks that has been vacant since 2019. In the four years since its closing, there have been no announcements to fill that space with a new student restaurant. In the Mary Graydon Center, the space that used to house Hissho Sushi and Create has still not opened the newly announced restaurants: Halal Shack and Baba’s Pizza. Spaces that provide meals are overcrowded during busy hours due to the lack of options,

making it even more difficult for students to eat. Try to get a meal at True Burger in under 30 minutes during the lunch rush; it will prove difficult.

AU students commonly joke about how Einstein’s is always out of bagels, the chicken in TDR is always raw or that food poisoning is inevitable. When tour guides are asked about the food at AU, they often either dodge the question or tell potential applicants that it is mediocre. Jokes about the quality of food on campus should not be commonplace. Basic health and safety should be a given considering the costs of mandatory meal plans.

With TDR being the main source of student complaints at AU, the quality of our contractor, Chartwells Higher Ed, comes into question. Nearby, Catholic University also contracts Chartwells for their dining services. When it comes to restaurants, AU had on average seven violations found per inspection and Catholic had five per inspection in 2022, respectively. George Washington University had two, and Georgetown University had four. While this may just be a coincidence, the high number of health violations in Charwells’ schools brings into question their methods of practice. Perhaps it is time for a new dining contract at AU. The Eagle Editorial Board would like to clarify that the burden of fixing these issues should not fall

on kitchen staff, who may already be working in lessthan-desirable conditions. Instead, it is up to AU to address student health concerns, potentially by increasing funding for food services on campus. Students and administration both need to treat the kitchen staff with more respect and kindness. AU should look at other universities, like GWU, for guidance on creating safe food environments.

Students expect thoroughly cooked and properly stored food, transparent information, clean plates and silverware, accurate menus and enough accommodations to support a growing student body. AU must be more transparent in issues concerning the health and safety of students. While the public commotion over the health inspection report has progressed, there has still been no communication from AU to the general body. The lack of transparency from AU surrounding these health issues is alarming; a hush-hush attitude does not assure students that we are safe. Administration must restore student trust toward our food and health by being honest about these issues and delivering clear action plans for solutions. editor@theeagleonline.com