February 2022 Index

the index The student voice since 1888

The Haverford School · Haverford, PA 19041 · February 2022· Volume 89, No. 5 · thsindex.org

Mitav Nayak ’22

Basketball approaches final stretch, eyes EA rematch

D

uring a difficult yet exciting season, Fords Basketball has overcome a number of challenges including injuries, player transfers, and misfortune. In many games, they have been a bounce or two away from a win.

The players have maintained their poise, hoping to end the year strong.

“We have a really good team this year.

We all work hard,” Sixth Former Ryan Rogers said. “We all play for each other and move the ball. And it’s been fun to watch us succeed in getting better as teammates and individuals.”

Sixth Former Matt Kearney discussed his excitement for the final push. “​​I’m really looking forward to our senior night,” Matt Kearney said. “We left a lot on the table against EA in the first game.

I think we can play a lot better than that, and I think we will. There’s a good atmosphere there. We missed that last year and I value that a lot. That’s something I really want to experience.”

In the last matchup, Episcopal went ahead early. Although the Fords clawed their way back in the fourth quarter, their comeback fell short by one point. On Friday, during their last home game of the season, they will have a chance to play them again.

“They beat us the first time, so we need to get them back,” Rogers said.

David Kearney ’22 shoots over Cardinal O’Hara in a 42-53 loss, December 15, 2021

COMMUNICATIONS

con’t on p. 16

Community opposes Tennessee school board’s attack on free speech, banning of Maus Joey Kauffman ’23

M

aus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel that recounts a Jewish family’s story in the Holocaust, is summer reading for the Fourth Form World History course. It is a remarkably engaging way to expose students to Holocaust history. Thus, community members were shocked to see the national news that a school board in McMinn County, Tennessee, unanimously voted to remove Maus from their classrooms (specifically an eighth-grade curriculum) because of the book’s “unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide.”

“When I first read [Maus] in the 1990s, I thought it was fantastic,” World History teacher Mr. Kevin Tryon said. “[Maus] is such a good story; it’s such an accessible story.”

Mr. Tryon has seen Maus’s effectiveness in engaging students in the complicated sub-

Encanto, p. 13

DISNEY

ject of the Holocaust, especially through its depiction of the character of Vladek, a father and a Holocaust survivor.

“For some students, there’s a lack of knowledge about the Holocaust. And Maus is so easily accessible… Like any text, I think it’s just a lens, or a window, into a past that [students] might not have clarity on,” Mr. Tryon said.

While Mr. Tryon didn’t pin the banning of Maus explicitly on antisemitism, he couldn’t see validity behind the reasoning of banning the book based on obscenity.

“I just am flabbergasted by that idea that profanity or nudity is the standard by which they’re basing this,” Mr. Tryon said.

Community members beyond the history department have also come to oppose the ban. When Ms. Brown, Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, first read the news of Maus’s banning, she responded by going to the library and reading the book.

Mr. Arthur King, p. 6

MITAV NAYAK ’22

JOEY KAUFFMAN ’23

The Severinghaus Library exhibit on Maus “The first thing I thought about was, ‘I should read it,’ because I don’t think you can comment on something that you haven’t read, and I wasn’t familiar with the text,” Ms. Brown said.

She went into the reading unbiased, purposefully having not looked at the rationale behind Maus’s banning, so as not to influence her reading of the book. What she found, after reading the book, was that the ban didn’t make sense.

“I wonder if the folks who banned the book actually read the book, and I don’t think they did,” Ms. Brown said.

Dr. Callie Ward, p. 6

DR. CALLIE WARD

The conversation she had been reading from the people who banned the book was based on Maus’s use of a specific set of bad words. But after reading the book, Ms. Brown couldn’t recall any obscene language in Maus.

“And so if I can’t think about what [the bad words] were, that means they couldn’t have changed the story drastically, or they were appropriate in the placement as to where they were,” Ms. Brown said. con’t on p. 7

Squash, p. 14

COMMUNICATIONS

the index · editorial

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the index 2021–2022 Staff Mitav Nayak ’22 Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rodack ’22 Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Yang ’22 Editor-in-Chief Austin Zhuang ’22 Senior Managing Editor Senior Design Editor Jingyuan Chen ’23 Managing Editor Joey Kauffman ’23 Managing Editor Connor Pinsk ’23 Managing Editor Quinn Luong ’22 Senior News Editor Ethan Lee ’24 Assistant News Editor Owen Yu ’23 Features Editor

February 2022

editorial

Don’t let COVID-19 distract you from the relentless AIDS epidemic

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n 2019, there were 15,815 deaths among adults and adolescents with diagnosed HIV in the United States.

This is unacceptable. With COVID-19 taking over headlines since early 2020, the past 22 months have represented the first period of time in decades in which the advice and guidance of public health experts have taken center stage for such an extended period of time.

While many of us, rightfully so, are so caught up in the statistics and precautions resulting from COVID-19, it is important to remember that the coronavirus is not the only epidemic we are still combating in America; AIDS/HIV can be just as dangerous and upsetting as COVID-19, though in different ways. Because the forefront of the

public health focus is on COVID-19, we as a school are not doing enough to educate students on the importance of protecting themselves from HIV. The severity and potential consequences of the disease make this lack of education unacceptable.

For those of you who are unaware, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex, or sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV. HIV can also be spread through sharing drug injection equipment. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

By providing sexual health education,

health services, and safe and supportive school environments for all students, we can make a difference and help end the HIV epidemic. Although there is an uptick in HIV education in schools, there are still almost 16,000 HIV deaths per year, all of which are preventable because we have the resources necessary.

Haverford students study HIV/AIDS during a brief unit of health class in Form IV, a class that the current Fifth Formers did not even take due to last year’s schedule change.

We encourage students, faculty, staff, and the administration to remember that there are other public health concerns aside from COVID-19, and we must continue to stay vigilant and informed.

Adiyan Nayak ’24 Academics Editor Ethan Chan ’23 Neighborhood Editor Arsh Aggarwal ’24 Campus Opinions Editor Bowen Deng ’22 Off-Campus Opinions Editor Colin Stewart ’22 Off-Campus Opinions Editor Christopher Schwarting ’24 Arts Editor Jake LaRocca ’22 Sports Editor Pierce Laveran ‘24 Staff Photographer Mr. Thomas Stambaugh Faculty Advisor Ms. Emily Harnett Faculty Advisor

The Index is a student-run publication of the Haverford School that does more than bring news: it provides the diverse perspectives of the Haverford student body. It is an outlet for student writers to take stands on issues they deem important. It chronicles the daily struggles and accomplishments of the Haverford community. The Index also provides a forum for discussion of pertinent issues, such as student culture, academic policy, and Haverford’s place in world affairs.

The Index presents new ideas and aspires to influence constructive change.

All opinions and viewpoints expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The Index or the school. The Index is designed and produced digitally. Photographs may be retouched. Submissions and letters to the editors regarding any and all articles are welcomed at index@haverford.org.

The Index, a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, is composed using the applications of Google Suite and Adobe Creative Cloud. Its surveys are conducted via Google Forms and are advertised via email to current Haverford students. Graphic designs are created by Index staff via Canva. Southern Dutchess News prints 200-400 copies of each issue, and its editorial staff distributes them in the upper school on the day of release. The Index serves the needs of a total school population of 1160 community members, consisting of 960 students and 200 faculty and staff members.

Contact The Index: 450 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041 thsindex.org index@haverford.org Twitter: @Haverford_Index Instagram: @Haverford_Index Volume 89, No. 5 - February 11, 2022

2021-22 Editors-in-Chief (clockwise from the left): Ryan Rodack ’22, Mitav Nayak ’22, and Jeffrey Yang ’22

CONNOR PINSK ‘23

Letter from the student body president Mitav Nayak ’22

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ear Fords,

I hope your third quarter is off to a terrific start. As you settle into new classes, meet new teachers, and prepare for the final stretch of winter, it is important to continue to think about your community.

How do you want to impact Haverford?

What do you have to say about yourself or about this school that others may benefit from hearing?

I am sure many of you have answers to these questions. Others of you may not; but regardless, I know that every student at Haverford has something to say, whether they have realized it or not. Either way, I would urge you to consider giving a reflection.

Reflections are one of my favorite parts about this school. During my freshman year, I was genuinely surprised at how insightful and articulate students could be during these assemblies.

It is fascinating to hear one of our peers or a teacher go up in front of the school in Centennial Hall and speak about something they are passionate about—some piece of themselves or some insight about the school that they share which, in turn, impacts Haverford.

Every reflection I’ve heard has impacted me in some form. With every speech I’ve giv-

COURTESY OF MITAV NAYAK ’22

Mitav Nayak ’22 en, I’ve attempted to impact others. Through the reflection program, every student has the opportunity to make comments—however large or small—that affect others. And I find that amazing.

The reflections we have had this year have been fantastic. In the coming months, I

would love to see more students—hopefully some underclassmen as well—step forward and share with us all whatever it is they are passionate about.

Sincerely, Mitav Nayak

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the index · news

February 2022

news

NASA engineer Ernie Wright looks at The James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror segments

DAVID HIGGINBOTHAM, NASA VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

James Webb Space Telescope poised to change our understanding of space Connor Simpkins ’25

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n Christmas morning at the edge of a tropical rainforest in Kourou, French Guiana, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), folded into the back of an Ariane 5 rocket, successfully launched. A partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the telescope has been 25 years in the making and is poised to change our understanding of space.

“The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it’s what we don’t yet understand or can’t yet fathom about our universe,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a December 25, 2021 NASA press release.

JWST, also known as Webb, is an orbiting infrared observatory that will extend the discoveries made by the Hubble Space Telescope. According to the Space Telescope Science Institute, JWST “will offer scientists the opportunity to observe galaxy evolution, the formation of stars and planets, exoplanetary systems, and our own solar system, in ways never before possible.”

Over the next several months, the JWST mission team of scientists and engineers will engage in a process of aligning the telescope’s mirrors so that images can be captured.

The telescope is designed with a mirror (made up of 18 individual hexagon shaped segments) that is 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter and a tennis-court sized sunshield, making it the largest space observatory ever launched. Due to its size, both the mirror and sunshield had to be folded for launch and then, once the telescope was in space, had to undergo a perilous unfolding process.

The good news is that the mirrors successfully unfolded about two weeks into the

mission and, about a month after launch, JWST completed its nearly million-mile journey to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point (LS2), an area of gravitational balance between the earth and the sun where the telescope will orbit. JWST will be positioned so that the sun, Earth, and moon stay to one side, and the telescope’s sunshield will act like an umbrella providing shade for the Webb’s mirrors and protecting instruments from the sun’s heat. Over the next several months, the JWST mission team of scientists and engineers will engage in a process of aligning the telescope’s mirrors so that images can be captured. The first images from JWST are expected this summer.

According to NASA, several new innovations contributed to the development of JWST. Microshutters, tiny windows measuring 100 by 200 microns (approximately the size of a bundle of a few human hairs), were designed to work with a near infrared spectrograph to record the spectra of light from distant objects. The backplane was designed to hold and support the telescope’s mirrors, which may sound simple, but the backplane also had to withstand temperatures of less than negative 400 degrees F. According to NASA, the “backplane was engineered to be steady down to 32 nanometers, which is 1/10,000 the diameter of a human hair.”

Wavefront sensing and control was developed to control and correct any errors with the JWST’s 18 mirrors, making sure they can work together as one single unit.

The telescope’s sunshield consists of five razor thin membrane layers made of Kapton, a high-performance plastic that was then coated with a reflective metal that will help reflect the sun’s heat.

The innovations and technology of Webb are sophisticated and impressive. But at the essence of Webb is foundational science and engineering, much like what is taught in science classes at Haverford. According to alumnus David Sternberg ’08, the physics he learned at Haverford built the foundation for his career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Dr. Sternberg is a Guidance and Control Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; he has worked on the Lunar Flashlight,

MarCO, and the Psyche missions. In 2018, Dr. Sternberg was Haverford’s William Edward Gwinn ’86 Memorial Lecturer. While he has not directly worked on the JWST mission, his career path is a concrete example of how science learned at Haverford creates a foundation for careers in STEM and the ability to work at agencies like NASA.

“The launch of any spacecraft is a momentous occasion, especially for a spacecraft as large and complex as JWST,” DR. STERNBURG ’08 “Haverford prepared me well for starting MIT, which in turn prepared me for

JPL. Haverford’s science courses taught me to be investigative, persistent, diligent, and mindful of human error,” Dr. Sternberg said. “The ability not only to understand a concept but to see the concept ‘come alive’ through experimentation helped me learn and develop my own intuitions about how the world works.”

In this era of instant gratification, the 25 years it has taken to build and launch JWST is a testament to the idea of perseverance. It is a reminder to us all that it is small steps that lead to big accomplishments.

“The launch of any spacecraft is a momentous occasion, especially for a spacecraft as large and complex as JWST,” Dr. Sternberg said. “JWST is the product of countless hours of work by an amazing team from around the world. It’s always exciting to read current events, think about implications of the current spacecraft state or of data products that have been sent back, and envision the years of effort coming to fruition in the form of in-flight operations.”

BILL INGALLS, NASA VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

NASA engineers celebrate an accomplished step of the launch process

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February 2022

Community reacts to new schedule

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Fifth formers hanging out in the library before class Ethan Chan ’24

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ver the past two years, the school has seen drastic changes to its schedule in response to the outbreak of Covid-19. From virtual learning to three 90-minute classes to the current schedule of four 75-minute blocks, the 2022-2023 school year will have another significant change that may alter how the curriculum is taught entirely.

“This structure [for the 2022-2023 schedule] will allow students to enroll in year-long courses that meet continuously over the entire academic year or semesterbased electives that meet continuously for the full semester. A standard course load will return to 5-6 courses per semester,” Head of Upper School Mr. Mark Fifer said.

With almost double the number of courses, along with a series of adjustments, members of the student body express similar sentiments about the current schedule.

“I think that having the new schedule will help with class fluidity as well as provide beneficial social coherence throughout the school year that was lacking these past two years,” Fifth Former Roch Parayre said.

Students and teachers share similar feelings in regards to the social disconnect that has been negatively impacted.

“We feel that the current model severely infringes upon our ability to cover material in the depth and breadth that we set as a core circular goal.”

MS. HANNAH TURLISH “In a way that is perhaps specific to the way I teach U.S. History, I cannot have au-

thentic current events discussions with all of my students when I only see half of them at any given time; I have greatly disliked the disjointed nature of current events conversations in this quarter model,” History Department Chair Ms. Hannah Turlish said.

“As a near-unanimous group [the History Department], we feel that the current model severely infringes upon our ability to cover material in the depth and breadth that we set as a core curricular goal.”

Academic coherence in conjunction with social unity is another major discussion point among students and faculty. Not to mention, the two-month hiatus with the current schedule also impacts the overall learning experience.

“We also believed that the schedule merited further exploration to investigate the extent to which the underlying structure—fewer concurrent courses and daily class meetings during designated periods of the year—influenced student learning and the overall school experience,” Mr. Fifer said.

Using feedback about the previous and current model, students and administration discussed in “focus” groups suggestions to form the new schedule.

“In a focus group, facilitated by the faculty and administration of the upper school, which was intended to gather multiple student perspectives surrounding the benefits and negatives of both schedules, the overwhelming consensus was that the quarter system is easier to manage in terms of workload, but in terms of course fluidity and overall academic enjoyment, the year-long system should be in place,” Parayre said.

Other aspects were considered over the last three months in addition to the focus groups.

“I have been so impressed with the care and professionalism that my school colleagues have shown in this process. There was a Scheduling Committee that did a

lot of work to produce an exceptionally thoughtful and comprehensive compilation of the views of faculty and students alike,” Ms. Turlish said.

The administration ultimately deemed the new schedule as the best fit.

After an analysis of the myriad factors and feedback over the past three months, the administration ultimately deemed the new schedule as the best “fit.”

“We believe that a continuous academic schedule best supports the boy’s overall learning experience and creates the conditions that cultivate strong relationships in service of meaningful community connection and personal growth,” Mr. Fifer said.

“We also believe that a continuous model best fits within the architecture of the full school program and aligns more cohesively with other divisions and the existing academic calendar.”

For underclassmen that have experienced only the 3-4 block per quarter schedules, the new 5-6 block continuous model is a major change.

“The new schedule honestly seems intimidating since we have been with this schedule for my high school career so far. I don’t like the thought of having all the classes at once. The workload will have a huge increase. Given that I will be a junior, this will honestly have such an impact on my experience, I will be taking all of my honors classes at once,” Fourth Former Casey Williams said.

Workload varies among students, but balancing the new up to six classes a day may be a challenge.

“I think because I will be taking mostly

electives as a senior, it will not have as large of an impact on my personal experience; however, for those with year-long classes, students will likely not experience the same gap and rigidness of the quarter-system schedule.

It may be difficult for them to balance 5-6 classes at the same time,” Parayre said.

While the continuous model has been decided, further iterations are to be made.

“We plan to take the next several weeks to determine the specific length of class periods and the class meeting pattern that create the best possible learning environments for our faculty to generate high levels of student engagement, collaboration, agency, and growth,” Mr. Fifer said.

Other aspects such as flex, a time where students can meet with teachers, and clubs block have also not been implemented into the new schedule.

Among mixed opinions, students and teachers still look forward to the new continuous schedule.

Among mixed opinions, students and teachers still look forward to the new continuous schedule.

“I am excited for the next phase and the things I will again be able to do in the continuous model,” Turlish said.

“I am happy that we are switching back to the year-long schedule for my senior year; however, I am curious as to how the other grades will react to the non-quarter schedule,” Parayre said.

Until March, the finalized new schedule won’t be ready, but students and faculty of the upper school can expect a more sustained academic and social experience.

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February 2022

Poetry Out Loud returns, in reduced form Jingyuan Chen ’23

W

ith support from English Department members to maintain a recent campus tradition, Poetry Out Loud returned to Haverford this year, attracting contestants within the school community.

“Poetry Out Loud is this national competition, where students memorize poems and then recite them with their whole full presence,” upper school English teacher Ms. Taylor Smith-Kan said. “Starting from the school level, winners progress to the regional competition, and then from there, to states and the national event.”

Though participant scope was limited due to the quarter schedule, contestants who performed at the competition achieved fruitful results.

“This year, I was impressed with the students’ performances. Though some accuracy issues may have kept certain people from getting further, they all seem to understand their poems, which made them confident and believable,” Ms. Smith-Kan said.

In her seven years directing the school’s Poetry Out Loud program, Ms. Smith-Kan has witnessed the community’s continued excellence at this event, where top students consistently made progress at regionals.

Continuing the trend this year, Sixth Former Quinn Luong qualified for runner-up at the regional event.

“Every English class had Poetry Out Loud, so I got introduced to it since freshman year. In my first two years, I did not qualify at all,” Luong said. “This year, at the school level, I recited ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou, which I also performed my freshman year. I did it well this time and won the school competition.”

Luong explained his connections with the piece. “‘Caged Bird’ talks about a bird being trapped within a box. All my life I felt like I’ve been trapped within the box: this bubble on the Main Line. The bird is longing for the outside, yelling for freedom, but is stuck. It’s a very sorrowful poem, but a bit hopeful at the end. That summarizes my life, and why it resonated with me so much,” Luong said.

Moving into regionals, Luong made further preparations to put up a skill-

ful performance.

“At the regional competition, I recited three poems with a story arc. First I recited ‘Revenge’ by Letitia Elizabeth Landon, which was deep, dark, and in [a formal rhyme scheme]. Then I proceeded to a calmer tone with Li-Young Lee’s ‘Eating Together,’ which was about Chinese culture and the joy of eating with your family. Lastly, I ended my performance with ‘Caged Bird,’ which was a hopeful conversation about oppression and social justice,” Luong said.

“Poetry is the language of our culture.”

MS. SMITH-KAN Luong shared his experience managing his emotions before the performance.

“Despite memorizing and perfecting every single line, I was still extremely nervous before the performance. I think we are all scared of going on stage and being by ourselves,” Luong said. “What got me so far is

how I was able to be confident and tell myself, ‘You know, this is your moment.’”

Finishing second at the school event, Sixth Former Will Rubin also made great gains at the competition.

“I picked ‘Beautiful Wreckage’ by W.D. Ehrhart,” Rubin said. “It is a reconciliation with the horrors of the Vietnam War and the final realization that what happened was wrong. As the second to last line of the poem reads ‘Would the wreckage be suddenly beautiful?’ Ehrhart doubts if we can repaint history and turn wreckage into something beautiful.”

Though it was his first time at Poetry Out Loud, Sixth Former Damian Ferraro put up a great performance and placed third at the school event.

“I performed ‘Thoughtless Cruelty’ by Charles Lamb,” Ferraro said. “From the performer’s perspective, I’m addressing this guy named Robert who just haphazardly killed a fly. The poem took a deep dive into the small deeds that we do every day, like killing a fly.”

“I loved the execution of the poem, which addresses someone who seems to be

Poetry Out Loud performances took place in Ball Auditorium, January 13, 2022

egotistical and brings him back to reality,” Ferraro said. “I structured the performance in a way where I was talking to myself: a conversation between me and my brain.”

Beyond the scope of the competition, Ms. Smith-Kan applauds the achievements of students in Poetry Out Loud as a testament to the open and inclusive nature of the community, which nurtures boys who are comfortable to share their emotions, vulnerabilities, and challenge common gender biases on the subject of poetry.

“Poetry is the language of our culture.

It’s great to have Poetry Out Loud at Haverford because poetry, English, and disciplines tend to be feminized in our society. A lot of people have the bias that women are better at talking about their thoughts and emotions,” Ms. Smith-Kan said. “Yet this is an all-boys school, and we have dominated poetry competitions. It’s a testament to the well-roundedness of the education at Haverford and how we make it a safe place for boys to recite emotional poems and not feel embarrassed or ashamed.”

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

Dining hall hopes to offer tasty, healthy food choices Kevin Li ’25

L

unch is a time most Haverford students look forward to: to socialize with their friends, relax, and most importantly, fuel up for the rest of their day.

The Dining Hall’s Sodexo professionals

have a huge task of providing food to over a thousand students, faculty, and staff every day.

“The staff starts as early as 6 a.m. to have breakfast finished by 9 a.m. and lunch

Isaiah Shuchman ’23 eats his lunch

CONNOR PINSK ’23

ready by 11 a.m.,” Catering Manager Ms. Maria Faracchio said.

It is clear that the kitchen team works extremely hard to prepare the students’ food and are here at the campus before most students even wake up. Still, some community members question the meals’ quality and nutritional aspects.

Sixth Former Pranav Dixit said, “The food is sometimes stale, but it is sometimes very good.”

Third Former Devin Carpenter said, “Haverford’s food is pretty good.”

Additionally, science teacher Mr. Adam Myers said, “The food is fine and is better than most schools.”

These diners share mostly positive reactions to the food’s taste. How about the quality?

According to Ms. Farrachio, Sysco, a popular food product distributor, supplies the food to the Dining Hall. Sysco’s website says one of their goals is to “deliver exceptional produce, custom cuts of meat, highquality seafood, and imported foods offering global flavors.”

Haverford’s lunch menu consists of a variety of foods: pizza, chicken parmesan

sandwich, tacos, and the famous blackjack chicken. These foods are constantly on rotation at Haverford, but what are we truly eating? The chicken parmesan sandwich, according to Ms. Farrachio, has 430 Calories, 10 grams of fat, and 80 milligrams of cholesterol. According to the University of San Francisco Health, the recommended amount of cholesterol is less than 300 milligrams a day. Therefore, the sandwich is not necessarily the most unhealthy option out there.

The amount of dietary options a school has to offer is also crucial in determining the quality of lunch because after all, what meets the dietary standards of one student may not meet the standards of another student who may have dietary restrictions.

“We always have a vegetarian option daily on the hotline and of course, there’s always the salad and deli stations which have gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian choices,” Ms. Farrachio said. “When menu planning, we also try to balance the menu out. For example, if the action station is breaded, we like to have a non-breaded option on the hotline. We also try to make the action station have a vegan or vegetarian choice when able.”

the index · features

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February 2022

features Dr. Callie Ward offers new migration literature course Jeffrey Yang ’22

A

lthough largely unknown to students outside of her new Sixth Form English seminar “Matters of life and death: literature of migration,” Dr. Callie Ward explores the world of migrants and their stories with her class.

Dr. Ward’s passion for migration literature emerged from a combination of her academic studies and extracurricular pursuits: while studying for a Ph.D. in Literature at Stanford University, she volunteered for a human rights organization.

“The more and more I started volunteering for legal organizations for people seeking asylum in the United States—a big part of that process was collecting the testimonies of these people—I started thinking about how their stories are narratives at their core, much like the literary texts I was writing about in my dissertation,” Dr. Ward said.

At the organization, she translated the stories of migrants, predominantly from Central and Latin America, from Spanish into English, for judges and attorneys.

“It was really heartwrenching work.”

DR. CALLIE WARD “It was really heart-wrenching work. It requires a lot of trust and empathy to listen to people who’ve gone through such harrowing experiences and extremely violent persecution,” Dr. Ward said.

Her practice of absorbing and sharing stories in her classes, not through legal studies, helped her articulate these narratives in trials.

“I felt a lot of pressure to tell their stories right,” Dr. Ward said. “I put my translating in literary skills to good use because, not only does it have to be accurate, but also

concise and convincing to show that they have good enough reason to be seeking and, hopefully, granted asylum.”

But, aside from this experience, people’s movements around the world have always fascinated her, especially the reasons that might cause or force people to migrate. Dr. Ward’s passion for learning further encouraged her to teach, even while she was in graduate school.

“I love sharing my passion for learning and everything I’m learning about with others, and teaching is a great way to do that.

And also I was a teaching assistant for a course on Latin American film and migration, and so I’ve always been eager for the opportunity to do my own course on literature and migration,” Dr. Ward said.

However, during her Ph.D. program, she felt isolated as candidates focused heavily on their own research; teaching, especially in a younger setting, provided a different learning environment. “[In the Ph.D. program] It could happen that somebody spends a lot of time in the library alone, and I found teaching a really beautiful way to connect with students and share what I’m interested in but also to hear their ideas and learn from them,” Dr. Ward said. “I appreciate what younger high school students are thinking about these days.”

Appealing to the spectrum of her students’ interests in her class, she hopes to share with them many different perspectives and the ways in which stories about migrants can be written by analyzing novels, short stories, documentaries, and even graphic novels in this quarter.

Dr. Ward said, “I’m excited to show how widespread genres and forms can present the same issue, and how it’s a very global issue, so I’ve decided to branch out from my Latin American focus and include some things dealing with Vietnamese refugees and those from the Middle East, for example.

Dr. Callie Ward visiting The Grand Canyon in the winter Dr. Ward also looks to prepare her students for the future.

“I know that my students are going onto colleges and universities so soon, and I’ve taught at that level, so I do tend to think about what I can do to prepare you because I know exactly what lies ahead, at least in the humanities courses,” Dr. Ward said.

And within this goal, but also useful beyond college, she aims to help students with their writing skills, so that they may better express their ideas. Less concretely, however, Dr. Ward also wants her class to recognize the greater impact of literature.

“Just as important, I hope to [students] foster or solidify an awareness [in students] of the evocative power of storytelling and narratives: the power of language, really,” Dr. Ward said.

Outside of school, she enjoys some hobbies that she grew up with: dancing ballet, rock climbing, and hiking.

“I haven’t rock climbed in a while: recent times have been hectic moving to Philadelphia from across the country,” Dr. Ward

DR. CALLIE WOOD

said. “But when I was in Nevada, which is where I’m from, I did a lot more climbing.

And I hope, when the weather gets better here, to look for some places to go hiking.”

“I’m already learning a lot from the students; so, as passionate as I am to share my own intersts, I’m just as excited to hear how they think.”

DR. CALLIE WARD On a final note, she expressed excitement to continue her learning journey here.

Dr. Ward said, “I’m excited to be here and to get to know everyone. I’m already learning a lot from the students; so, as passionate as I am to share my own interests, I’m just as excited to hear how they think.”

Mr. King’s high-profile art commisions Ethan Lee ’24

W

hile walking through the hallways, you may see an unfamiliar face near the art

rooms.

Taking the place of 3-D art teacher Ms. Stephanie Kantor, who is on parental leave, Mr. Arthur King now lends his expertise to students in the classroom after years of working in a variety of different media and businesses.

Mr. King attended the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where he majored in sculpture and object design.

“I mostly focused on fine arts and making large objects,” Mr. King said. “I liked to work with solid materials like metal, concrete, and wood.”

As he left university, he started a nonprofit organization that would create artfocused youth programming. “[The non-profit] focused on art and being creative. Also, alternative activities like skateboarding, mountain biking, and BMXing were introduced to kids,” Mr. King said.

“We built skate parks all over the world.”

While working with the non-profit, Mr. King realized that he needed to work to make money and support himself.

“Non-profit work is very rewarding, but

also did not pay very well,” Mr. King said.

“Nobody was buying sculptures because they are functionless objects, so I had to take the skillsets I had developed from my sculptural experience and apply them to something that would pay the bills and feed a family.”

He began to design furniture and other functional objects. In addition, Mr. King began to work with developers to flip houses in Los Angeles.

“These developers wanted original designs,” Mr. King said, “and that is when I got into architectural design. I [was] mentored under an architect for a while and went off on my own to make my own architectural firm.”

Some of the architecture that Mr. King worked on has been for large tech companies.

“Some of my favorite projects are for tech offices.”

DR. MIKE KING “Some of my favorite projects are for

tech offices,” Mr. King said. “Any time you have a client like a tech company that likes to push the envelope, they tend to like the more sculptural art pieces.”

He has worked on the headquarters of many media companies like Giffy, Wave Media, and Collab Creators.

Mr. King has also done some work with big names, like P Diddy and Raheem Sterling.

“I lived and worked for a long time in Los Angeles, almost a decade, and being in LA and doing a lot of high-end design work allowed me to interact with celebrities with big budgets,” Mr. King said. “They like to do really interesting pieces, and I was able to do some really fun architectural design.”

Mr. King is continuing to design buildings for high-profile people and is even working on some of The Revolt’s (a musicoriented production company owned by P Diddy) offices and their newsroom.

“There is one downside to working with these contracts is that there is a lot of red tape,” Mr. King said. “There are a lot of people to please, and you need to be at the top of your game. You need to listen to a lot of people and combine all these ideas into original and functional design work.”

Mr. King Photo

MITAV NAYAK ’22

Page 7

the index · features

February 2022

Banning of Maus, cont. from p.1 RYAN RODACK ‘22

Connor Pinsk ‘23 marvels at Maus Confronted with this evidence, Ms. Brown struggled to see the purpose of the ban. “[The school board] didn’t like these eight words, and so they would throw out an entire novel for what it can do, one that they based a whole module of study around, for eight words? When they could have been redacted?” Ms. Brown said. “So I just don’t understand it.”

The banning of Maus might seem like a distant, insignificant problem, but it is nonetheless an attack on free speech that demands a response from those who care about literature and expression.

“The response to a question of freedom of speech is always more speech,” Ms. Brown said. “When someone feels that speech is being limited, the best way to address it is to speak more about it.”

Severinghaus Library, in an act of support of free expression, displayed a copy of Maus I and II along with a printout of an article about the banning. This exhibit is a clear action that positions Haverford in opposition to the banning of books.

“For librarians generally, as a profession, our job is to provide access, and when someone else decides who [can] and who cannot have access, that’s something that librarians just really do not like,” Head of Information Services Ms. Lisa Snyder said.

Restricting access to books hurts children, plain and simple. Avid reader and Pegasus editor-in-chief Will Cordray believes in the power of books on the young mind.

“I would say that I was formed by books,” Cordray said. “[Books] have been a large part of my understanding of the world, my opinions, my ideas.”

In a culture that has increasingly strayed from books, many educators and students believe censoring the books kids find in libraries is a cruel attack on young readers.

Removing a book from a school’s curriculum because of unknown, likely deeply ignorant motives, distorts the journey of readers and lovers of knowledge like Cordray.

Cordray noticed the sad irony that Maus, a book about the evils of Nazis, is now facing a situation similar to that of the countless books burned in Nazi Germany.

“It’s reminiscent of the Nazi book burnings, where essentially it’s like, this is our way

to communicate knowledge and communicate history and communicate our society,” Cordray said.

It’s difficult to make sense of Maus’s ban. We don’t know how relentless or destructive this push to limit free speech will be in the coming years.

Mr. Tryon emphasized that fostering a dedication to the truth, to having a factbased understanding of the past, isn’t about adopting any one view of history as much as it is about having broad, accurate depictions of history before coming to one’s own conclusions.

“History is an argument about the past,” Mr. Tryon said. He acknowledged that there are some situations where we should accept one historical interpretation as truth, but

this hardly accounts for all of history.

“Our job is to basically sift through the evidence and try and figure out which argument is most logical and credible based on what we have,” Mr. Tryon said.

Giving students access to Maus means giving them an accurate, compelling narrative about the Holocaust.

Mr. Tryon referenced a statistic: one survey found 23% of American adults from the ages 18-39 said they believed “the Holocaust was a myth, had been exaggerated or they weren’t sure.”

“And as all your Holocaust survivors are at the point where they’re recently dead or very very old, you wonder how their story will resonate through future generations,” Mr. Tryon said.

“History is an arguement about the past...our job is to basically sift throughthe evidence and try and figure out which argument is most logical...”

MR. KEVIN TRYON

Art Spiegelman, author of Maus

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Page 8

the index · art spread

February 2022

art spread It all started with Jan van Eyck (oil painting from the second quarter’s 2D Art II*)

Oyster

HENRY GOWEN ’23

ZACH ELDER ’23

ZACH ELDER ’23

Waves

Lotus flowers in Xi Hu, Hang Zhou

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Page 9

the index · art spread

February 2022

Complex space (colored pencils)

AMANI NDEGWA-BROWN ’23

Golden Gate Bridge

Living room

Spectator at a museum

IVAN HARLAMOV ’23

JOE PARIANO ’23

the index · academics

Page 10

February 2022

academics SAT going digital in 2024 Arsh Aggarwal ’24

E

ach year, over 1.5 million students take the SAT. Recently, experts in education have questioned the extent to which the test can serve its primary purpose: determining “college readiness.” In the past few weeks, the College Board has released plenty of information about a new, digitized SAT for 2024 that aims to gauge more accurately a student’s college readiness.

A number of critics say it could be the start of the end of the SAT as a whole.

Apart from digitization, one of the major changes to the test is its new adaptability.

Each subject will be divided into two sections, and based on a student’s performance on the first section, an algorithm will determine the appropriate difficulty for the next

section. The College Board says this change will help determine a test-taker’s score more efficiently and allow them to shorten the test time from three hours to only two. While the idea of a shorter test seems appealing to many, the concept of adaptability in a standardized test is also a bit confusing.

For example, if two students take this new SAT, their first sections in each subject will have the same level of difficulty. Student A gets everything right in his first section of reading, but this makes his second section harder, so he gets three questions wrong in section two. On the other hand, Student B gets three questions wrong in his first section, making his second section easier, where he is then able to get all of the questions cor-

rect. Albeit theoretical, this example highlights the major flaw in adaptive testing, which is that Student A had an objectively more difficult test than Student B, yet they both walked out with the same score in the reading section. The SAT is meant to provide colleges and universities with a common data point to compare all students, however with adaptability, this singular common data point is replaced with a test that may give the same score to people with vastly different levels of aptitude.

Fifth Former Arnav Sardesai said, “It seems like a last ditch effort for a dying standardized testing industry to stay relevant. As someone who is studying for the ACT, I wish I had the option to take a shorter test, but part of the test is keeping up the intensity for three hours, and shortening it would take away some of the rigor.”

“It seems like a last ditch effort for a dying standardized testing industry to stay relevant.”

ARNAV SARDESAI ’23

Joey Kauffman ’23 fills out an SAT answer sheet

AUSTIN ZHUANG ’22

The new SAT will also offer a number of other changes. Instead of long reading passages with multiple questions, each passage will be just one paragraph, with just one question to answer per. Also, an in-built Desmos calculator will be available for every math problem on the test.

“Although I think the new changes on the SAT make it less stressful, it takes some of the challenge away from it. I personally disagree with the changes, but I think people who don’t prioritize the SAT will like them,” Fourth Former Max Zhang comments.

Akil Bello, a Senior Director at FairTest, points out in an article for Forbes that whenever new changes to the SAT are made, they often reverse another research-supported change that had been made in the past.

For example, when the SAT v13.0 was introduced seventeen years ago with a running time of almost four hours, the College Board argued that a student’s fatigue was not a factor in test performance. However, avoiding test fatigue is part of the justification for the change to the upcoming shorter, digital test.

New psychological and scientific evidence is expected to come out and be implemented, but in Bello’s opinion, the “constant tinkering with the test and producing research to support it raises questions about what standardized multiple-choice test performance actually demonstrates [...] Perhaps 100 years and more than 15 versions have shown us that the test is more influenced by underlying design decisions and test-specific preparation than by content or question format.”

These questions surrounding the SAT and standardized testing in general have been around for years, and colleges’ thoughts on the topic can be reflected in the fact that nearly 80% of U.S. institutions have become test optional. In the incoming wave of no testing requirements, it could be that this new SAT is just one last hope to stay relevant.

neighborhood Service board launches athletic gear project Abdullah Kanchwal ’24

A

s we all know, many community members take the school’s sports culture very seriously. The Service Board, a student-run upper school organization, wants to take advantage of the number of athletes at our school. The Service Board’s main initiative is to make a connection between learning and service, and also to help young people who might not have easy or affordable access to the equipment necessary to participate in sports.

“We want our students to become active participants in their world, rather than merely spectators. And we use service as an opportunity to make that happen,” said Director of Service Learning Ms. Loos.

The Service Board recently launched the Athletic Gear Collection Project, designed to help “level the playing field” by providing support to kids who cannot afford equipment for certain sports.

We Help Athletes Together is a foundation that works with low-income communities that do not have access to the proper sporting equipment and facilities. Haverford partners with the foundation to help donate collected equipment to other schools and organizations that are not so fortunate.

The need for equality in this day and age calls for students to help out others in need. The foundation is in need of gently used gear, protective equipment, and

sports clothing for all sports. Cleats, lacrosse sticks, baseball cups, bats, tennis and squash racquets, soccer balls, and shin guards are among the many needed items. Students can

find collection boxes in front of the ServiceLearning office, and in front of the library, as well as in the field house.

All items should be clean and in good

Bryan Kim ’23 and Justin Fan ’22, the creators of the service project

condition. If you have any questions, contact Brian Kim or Justin Fan, leading this ongoing project.

JOEY KAUFFMAN ’23

the index · campus opinions

Page 11

February 2022

campus opinions Acknowledge the truth: most students don’t care about COVID Joey kauffman ’23

I

t’s been almost two years. Two years of masking, social distancing, holding events virtually—and the pandemic doesn’t seem to be stopping.

Daily cases in the U.S. are higher than ever before. But when walking around campus, interviewing students, I sense a dominant attitude: We don’t care about COVID. Not everyone. There are certainly those who continue to take precautions seriously.

But with the indoor dining, maskless indoor sports, and lack of any virtual school option, there isn’t much acknowledgement or assistance for students who don’t want to risk contracting (and spreading) COVID. I’m not here to criticize this relaxed attitude. The isolation from the pandemic has taken a serious toll on everyone’s mental health—what The New York Times called an “​​epidemic of loneliness.” We are tired of, and maybe just oblivious to, COVID. “After the amount of time that COVID’s been going on, everyone cares about it, but we don’t. Like, we care, like: it’s spreading, we want to keep the mask on. But at the same time, we’re like, we’re done with this,” Student A , a Fourth Former, said (I conducted anonymous interviews to ensure students’ honesty about opinions on COVID restrictions).

Student A reveals a common attitude regarding COVID: knowing on one level that our actions are likely contributing to the spread of COVID, but on another level, not caring enough to change our actions.

“I want to say that I care about [COVID], but at the same time, like, I feel relaxed about it. I feel like it is over, but it isn’t, like

with all the cases coming up now,” Student B, a Third Former, said.

This attitude is buoyed by the fact that many Haverford students don’t believe they would get that sick if they contracted COVID. We’re young; we’re (hopefully) vaccinated.

“I mean, myself, personally I don’t worry about it because I’m very healthy. I don’t have any respiratory conditions, so I’m really not afraid of it cause I’m vaccinated, I got the booster, so I think I’ve done the maximum things that I could do to prevent people from getting COVID and myself from COVID,” Student C, a Fifth Former, told me as we sat unmasked in the dining hall.

Obviously we’re not doing the “maximum” amount of things that we could do to prevent COVID; we just do as much as is comfortable for us. Indeed, our community—and America as a whole—has failed at stopping the spread of COVID. Data from Johns Hopkins shows that at least 20% of Americans have contracted COVID at some point in the pandemic. If you haven’t gotten COVID, you certainly know someone who has.

“A lot of people have gotten COVID at, like, our school, but no one’s really gotten too sick and died, and I don’t know anyone that’s died from COVID,” Student D, a Fifth Former, said.

Students feel like COVID is unavoidable, and many aren’t socially distant outside of school.

“I’m about to be with my friends after school. The second I get into that car, my mask is going to be off,” Student B said.

Thus, any on-campus COVID restric-

Ryan rodack ’22

CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTING ’24

It is indeed complicated. I don’t want to shame us for not being cautious about COVID, but I also don’t want to say that student flouting of the rules is without consequences. COVID is still causing pain and destruction, from the death of loved ones to the struggle of healthcare workers at overcrowded hospitals.

Rather than ignoring the subject or justifying our actions with dull excuses, we should acknowledge that we’re tired of feeling isolated and that our actions may cause others pain. We want to be with friends and see each other’s faces. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we should take responsibility for our roles in spreading COVID. You don’t have to look far into history to see that the condition of deluding oneself into thinking one is innocent may be more destructive than any virus.

Haverford should be responsible for off-campus parking

P

arking: an issue that persists year after year. Despite neighbors growing increasingly frustrated, students arriving late to class, and reserved campus spots stolen, the administration has struggled to address the parking dilemma.

Upperclassmen have all fought various parking dilemmas before.

It is 8:15 a.m. and you do not have a reserved spot on campus. There are no open spots in nearby two-hour parking or surrounding neighborhoods, so you end up finding an empty, but reserved parking space in the red lot. As you rush through the upper school doors and make your way to class, you are ten minutes late to first period,

COVID-19, by the numbers tions dictated by the school have less of an effect than one might think.

“Because most people like hang outside of school with each other, so they’re like, ‘Why should I really care about social distancing at school if I’m literally just going to be next to them outside of school?’” Student D said.

We’re left in a strange situation. Haverford’s COVID restrictions are rendered virtually meaningless because of indoor dining, sports, and students’ activity outside of school; more and more people continue to get COVID; and yet, we don’t want to return to the isolation of last year. Students might not get seriously sick from COVID, but they can still spread it to people who will. After acknowledging this idea, Student D came to a conclusion: “But, I don’t know. It’s kind of like, complicated,” Student D said.

disrupting the class and leaving you feeling behind. A few hours later, you get an email from Mr. Kolade, Ms. Kenna, or Signet Society notifying you that you have taken a student or faculty member’s reserved spot, and that person now has nowhere to park.

Students park off-campus due to limited parking on-campus

RYAN RODACK ’22

You are then threatened with future parking privileges and detention.

But, say you are lucky enough to find a parking spot on Millbrook Lane.

You arrive at class on time and do not have to stress about moving your car or being in someone else’s reserved spot. When you return to the car later in the day to go home, and you find that your license plate is bent, your mirror is taken off, you have an exchange with a neighbor, or there is a sign with a “bad word on your car,” as one student attested to last year.

For some who have had enough of the daily parking headache, they purchase a spot at a nearby facility for $80-100 per month.

Parents are already paying a great amount of money for their sons to attend school, so Haverford’s lack of parking spots for all student-drivers should not be passed on to students and their families.

Acquiring parking spaces for students without reserved spots on campus should be the financial and logistical responsibility of the administration.

Haverford must stop blaming students for parking problems and instead take it upon themselves. There are many nearby businesses and facilities with sizable parking lots that Haverford could partner with.

Or, they could reach out to the township to work out ways to create spots for Haverford students.

The least the administration could do is make an effort to resolve this situation.

There is already enough stress in a school day—between assessments, homework, sports, and extracurricular activities— and something like parking should not be a stressor for students who may already feel overworked.

Page 12

the index · off-campus opinions

February 2022

off-campus opinions Pennsylvanian Senate candidates vie for Pat Toomey’s seat Charlie Kiedel ’24

W

hen Pat Toomey announced his retirement, an open Senate seat became a desirable proposition to any politician with aspirations in Pennsylvania. The Senate is currently split with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans; because the Democrats currently control the presidency, they hold a slight majority with Vice President Kamala Harris as the deciding vote. Every seat matters, especially in a battleground state. There are many candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties vying for their party’s nomination.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll detail only the two frontrunners in both parties.

We’ll start off with the Republican Party, and there is no candidate more representative of the state of politics and the new Republican Party in 2022 than Dr. Mehmet Oz, whom you should know from his syndicated daytime television show, Dr. Oz. It is clear that Dr. Oz is purely an opportunist.

Dr. Oz doesn’t know a thing about Washington, and it’s pretty clear that while he is polling well, his popularity, which stems mainly from his name recognition in a Republican field that has none, is bound to fall off a cliff.

Dr. Oz has never even lived in Pennsylvania; the absurdity of a Senator from a state they have never lived in is remarkable. The only reason he is permitted to run is that he chose to change his voting address to his in-laws’ house in Bryn Athyn. Never mind the fact that Dr. Oz lives in a Cliffside Park, New Jersey, mansion.

When it comes to Dr. Oz’s political views, he is a Trump-like Republican. His campaign ads present him as a new-age Re-

publican populist. The 60-second campaign video on his website condemns the federal response to COVID-19, in which he claims, “Washington got it wrong. . . and took away our freedom without making us safer.” Dr. Oz is not a high ranking virologist like Dr. Anthony Fauci but believes he understands the Coronavirus better than Fauci.

The other Republican candidate worth noting is Jeff Bartos. Bartos, a real estate developer from Lower Merion, is most known for his creation of the Pennsylvania 30-Day Fund, a non-profit giving forgivable loans to Pennsylvania small businesses throughout the Commonwealth. Bartos’primary campaign promise has been to lower taxes and support small businesses, while also parroting some Trump lines and speaking out against BLM and Biden’s administration, labeling Joe Biden, “Broken Promise Biden.” Bartos, like Dr. Oz, attempts to play to Trump’s core base, but Bartos does it in a much more shrewd way than Dr. Oz. I would liken Bartos to Jack Ciatarelli, the New Jersey gubernatorial candidate that narrowly lost to Phil Murphy. Bartos, like Ciattarelli, is running on lowering taxes and stabilizing the “Trump” economy that’s not doing as well under Joe Biden.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, sees Toomey’s retirement as a real chance to win a much-needed seat. The Democratic frontrunner is Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman. Fetterman is viewed as a progressive Democrat with more moderate views on environmental and economic issues that directly affect Pennsylvanians, such as fracking.

Fetterman is a supporter of Medicare for All,

Charlie Keidel ’24

publican legislation during his tenure in the House. Lamb’s main appeal is personability and the range of voters he attracts.

The race is still in the early stages. We won’t know who the two candidates are in the general election in November until the party’s primary elections are carried out in May.

OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL

Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks to U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill

Stephen Breyer’s retirement and it’s ramifications for the Court & Democratic Party

W

hen Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not step down from the Supreme Court during Barack Obama’s presidency, she cost her party a seat in the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer won’t make that same mistake.

He announced on January 26 that he would step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term. Breyer had a 27-year Court career, in which he made notable rulings on everything from abortion to healthcare. Breyer’s retirement opens up a seat in the Court and affords President Joe Biden an opportunity to capitalize on the open Supreme Court seat, but his retirement also shines a light on the outdated and fundamentally flawed Supreme Court nomination process.

In wake of Breyer’s retirement, President Biden announced that he would nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, a move attempting to regain some recently lost support in the Black community and fulfill a campaign promise. The president is in desperate need of a boost, with his approval rating down fourteen points since the beginning of his presidency. While surveying his options for the open seat, the president and his Democratic colleagues will have a couple of things in mind, which greatly diminish the integrity of the selection process. Legislatively, Democrats can’t seem to come together on the president’s monumen-

marijuana legalization, and prison reform.

Fetterman leads in many of the polls but is trailed closely by Conor Lamb. Lamb, a member of the House of Representatives since 2018 and a former Marine, has been known as a conservative Democrat. He defends moderate Democratic positions and has crossed party lines and voted for Re-

tal piece of legislation, his “Build Back Better” plan, so an inability to pass a Supreme Court nominee would show dysfunction in the Democratic ranks.

It’s important to realize that President Biden and the Senate Majority leader will have a tough job on their hands as they attempt to satisfy all 50 Democratic Senators; without one of them, a nominee’s confirmation will likely fail, but there is also the possibility that moderate Republican Senators see this confirmation as a chance for a sliver of bipartisanship. Whether Republican Senators vote for the nominee or not, it is imperative the nominee does not alienate progressive and centrist Democratic Senators alike.

When assessing the candidates for the open seat, the primary attribute Biden looks for is age. Considering the Supreme Court has a lifetime appointment, anyone nominated by a sitting president and confirmed

by the Senate serves until retirement or death. The President has no reason not to nominate someone who could serve on the court for 30 or more years; he’s a liberal politician and will attempt to put a liberal justice on the court that will outlive his presidency.

Of the 115 justices to have served on the court, only seven have not been white men.

Something that came up during the 2020 campaign and has been an ongoing discussion between Court-watchers is the fact that the Supreme Court is in desperate need of perspectives other than those

of white men. Of the 115 justices to have served on the court, only seven have not been white men.

While I agree with the fact that the Supreme Court is in desperate need of more perspectives, Joe Biden’s announcement that he would be nominating a Black woman is purely for optics. Furthermore, it lends credence to the lackluster and frankly bigoted arguments that will be levied towards the eventual nominee. Biden’s announcement makes it seem like the nominee’s credentials cannot stand on their own. Instead of just announcing his nominee and having the added bonus that she represents a minority and new perspective on the court, he opened up the potential nominee and his party to bad faith but optically effective criticism.

No matter whom the president nominates, this narrative will surround the candidate; this issue was entirely avoidable.

the index · section title

Page 13

Month 202#

arts Preparations Begin: Student actors rehearse for Something Rotten!

Owen Yu ’23

F

ollowing the success of Peter and the Starcatcher, the theater department now sets its sights to prepare for this year’s spring musical, Something Rotten!

As student actors study the script and master the blocking, Haverford’s community eagerly waits for another dazzling performance.

Like Peter and the Starcatcher, Director Mr. Darren Hengst chose Something Rotten! for its comedic moments.

“After a year like last year when there were no mainstage productions, I wanted to do a season of all comedies and feel-good plays, and Something Rotten! fits that role perfectly,” said Mr. Hengst. “To put it bluntly, the musical is hysterical.”

Despite being a comedy, the story has a message many can relate to. “[The musical] takes place in the Renaissance, and it is about William Shake-

Something Rotten! dancers rehearse, February 6, 2022

CONNOR PINSK ’23

speare and his rival, a fictional character, called Nick Bottom,” Mr. Hengst said. “It’s a wonderful story about staying true to yourself.”

Musicals require additional planning because they involve many complicated parts, such as singing and dancing. As a result, rehearsals are becoming more frequent and structured as opening night approaches.

“Rehearsals are generally on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., as well as Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.,” Fifth Form lead actor Julian Caesar said. “They are separated into three categories: music, choreography, and staging.”

Despite the already demanding schedule, rehearsals will only grow in intensity as actors become more familiar with the material.

“Rehearsals will steadily become more intense, and we’ll start to have rehearsals where we just run an entire Act,” Fifth Form actor Colin Kelly said.

Kelly also notes that, as the final weeks of preparation approach, actors will rehearse nearly every day.

“In the last two weeks [of preparations], we’re called every night, and the last week is called ‘tech week,’ where we run a dress rehearsal every night,” said Kelly. “The last Sunday before the show is an eight-hour sitzprobe, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., where the orchestra learns to time their music with the actors.”

The cast consists of not only Haverford

students, but many students from nearby schools. With a large number of people on stage, certain aspects of rehearsal become slightly more complicated.

“In terms of staging, the difficulty is somewhat higher as there are way more people in the musical compared to the play,” Caesar said.

Additionally, specific musical elements also add difficulty to a typical rehearsal.

“Singing and dancing make every musical rehearsal a notch more intense because there are just so many more moving parts than there are in regular scenes. We need to coordinate with everyone else to make it seem as elegant as possible.” Kelly said.

Despite the difficulties, preparations have been fruitful and effective.

“So far, I think everything is going well,” Caesar said. “It’s surprising how we are almost halfway done; it felt like we started yesterday.”

Kelly shares a similar opinion.

“To my knowledge, all the leads have already memorized most of their lines, and the songs are also coming along very well.”

Kelly said.

The musical is progressing smoothly, and there is no doubt that the cast and stage crew members will produce another excellent show.

“Come see the musical on March 11, 12, and 13,” Caesar said. “Everyone is working really hard to make this musical the best it can be.”

Review: Encanto tackles toxic family dynamics with spectacular soundtrack Austin Zhuang ‘22

E

ncanto, Disney’s 60th animated film, tells the tale of the exceptional Madrigals. Hidden away in the mountains of Columbia, they inhabit a magical sanctuary, an Encanto, that has blessed every child of the family with a gift, from super-strength to shapeshifting—that is, every child but one. Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz), with no special power to her name, must find a way to save her family’s magic after discovering it’s in peril.

Set in Colombia, every part of the Madrigals’ community mathces the country’s real-life culture and appearance.

Disney’s attention to detail helps immerse the viewer. Set in Colombia, every part of the Madrigals’ community matches the country’s real-life culture and appearance.

Whether it’s the shoes, skirts, and shirts they wear, the houses they live in, or the arepas con queso they eat, Encanto makes sure the magical world it builds mimics reality. Adding to this realism is the fact that every voice actor has Latin American heritage.

But as always, Lin Manuel Miranda’s

soundtrack steals the show. His songs drive the story forward and shed light on each character singing. We’re introduced to the family Madrigal with the eponymous tune “The Family Madrigal” as the protagonist Mirabel runs through the gifts of each of her family members.

All seems well with this upbeat song, but after her family takes a family photo without her, she expresses her loneliness being the only child without a gift in “Waiting on a Miracle.” Her feelings highlight the toxic pressure of familial expectations that affect every member of the family.

The rest of Encanto is filled with songs that dazzle.

When the candle that is the source of their magic begins to fade, Mirabel’s sister Luisa (Jessica Darrow) sings about how worthless she feels without her superstrength in “Surface Pressure.” She feels trapped by what the family expects of her, as if her gift defines her.

The centerpiece of the Encanto soundtrack by popular vote is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” as it recently knocked Adele off the top spot of the Billboard’s Hot

Encanto film poster 100. The catchy tune, with its Broadwayesque singing and choreography, talks about the family outcast Bruno; because his gift to see the future only seemed to cause chaos, he was pushed away, disappearing from the family for good. The song features the voices of countless side characters, from Mirabel’s cousins to the townspeople, and it provides a sound unique to any Disney movie.

The rest of Encanto is filled with songs that dazzle, from hits like “What Else Can I do” that push themes and character development forward to soft ballads like “Dos Oru-

DISNEY

guitas” that wrench the heart.

Miranda has hit again, using his lyrical genius to turn Encanto into a movie worthy of its monumental status as Disney’s 60th. It meshes magical elements with real-life struggles like the weight of expectations to create a story full of twists and turns. The family Madrigal is far from normal, but after watching their adventures, chances are they’ll seem a little more relatable. Because, special powers aside, they’re still a family of people, just like any family.

the index · sports

Page 14

February 2022

sports

Peter Kaplan ’22 leads Fords hockey into season-defining stretch Jake LaRocca ’22

C

oming into the hockey season after a two-year break, the team’s leaders did not know what to ex-

pect.

“I think that it was hard to truly set some solid expectations at the start of the year,” Sixth Form Captain Peter Kaplan said.

“Our team had not played the previous season, and we knew that the league was going to look very different since it was the last time we took to the ice as a group.”

The two-year hiatus greatly impacted the team’s roster, with a lot of players graduating from the program. It took a while to adjust, but the team is not the same since first stepping on the ice in November. Kaplan is impressed with the team’s growth.

“I think that we have grown tremendously as a team as the year has gone on. In the two years that COVID has started and ended up canceling the 2020-21 season, our

The team confers with Coach Lindberg before a December 8, 2021 game vs. GA team has seen a lot of turnover, losing a lot of upperclassmen and starting basically from scratch with a new group of players,” Kaplan

Peter Kaplan ’22 skates against GA, December 8, 2021

MR. JIM ROESE

said. “From where we were back in November, where we had almost no chemistry as a group and a lot of us were still learning more fundamental skills as players, to now we are pushing the top teams in our league to their limits, has been tremendously impressive as I have so much respect for the effort that our new coach Thomas Lindberg and group of players bring to every game and practice.”

At this point in the season, the team’s eyes are on the playoffs.

The next couple of weeks will essentially define their season. Kaplan knows what is necessary for the team to sneak into the playoffs.

“We have a game that is basically a must-win against the Pennington School. Although we lost to them 5-1 in our first meeting back in December, I think that we have come together more as a group and I believe that we will find a way to get the right result from that game to get us the highly coveted playoff spot,” Kaplan said. “Once we get into the playoffs, as you know, anything can hap-

MR. JIM ROESE

pen, and we will make some noise for sure.”

Since the team graduated many players in the last couple of years, Haverford Hockey has an entirely new setup.

Kaplan is pleased with the underclassmen’s ability to step up and is excited to see what they will accomplish in the future.

“We had a team of mostly upperclassmen and experienced hockey players, but now we have a team with a lot of underclassmen making important contributions to our success this year. I personally have a lot of respect for the younger guys for holding their own against the older and more experienced players in our league and for how much they have all grown as the season has gone on,” Kaplan said. “There are not many other teams at Haverford that have so many younger guys contributing in such big ways to a varsity team’s success, so there’s a lot of credit owed to them, and signs of a very bright future to come.”

Squash team prepares for nationals after a dominant season Bowen Deng ’22

T

he Fords Squash team has historically been a strong program, usually ranking top three in the nation. The team always fields a talented roster with lots of depth, and this year is no different.

As they came off an unusual 2020-2021 season, the squash team was hungry. Despite being clear favorites to win the Inter-Ac, the Fords knew not to be complacent and continued their strong work ethic throughout the season.

“I’m very proud of how the team rose up to the challenge, and we really stepped up when the pressure was on” MITAV NAYAK ’22 “We know that it will be a challenge every year,” said Sixth Form Captain Mitav Nayak, “when you’re one of the best teams in the area, everyone is trying to beat you.”

Indeed, their hard work paid off. With four upperclassmen and five underclassmen in the varsity starting lineup, Fords Squash dominated league play once again, going undefeated on their way to another Inter-Ac Championship. Outside the Inter-Ac, the Fords also went undefeated, never looking back after a massive win against The Brunswick School (whom they hadn’t beaten since 2017) early on in the season.

“Brunswick was our most difficult match for sure; they were number two in the country, we were number three,” Nayak said, “I’m very proud of how the team rose up to the challenge, and we really stepped up when the pressure was on.”

Now, the team is preparing for their toughest challenge yet. From February 2527, Nationals will be held at the Arlen Specter Center in Philadelphia. It will be the team’s biggest tournament of the year, with the best teams across the Northeast.

In preparation for Nationals, the team will put in more work in the gym and the squash court, making sure to keep in shape and maintain their skills with the racket.

In recent years, the Fords have had strong showings at nationals, usually placing second or third; the team even won Nation-

als in 2017. Brunswick has won every year since then, but with their prior win fresh in the team’s minds, the Fords are looking forward to a potential rematch against the de-

fending champions.

“We really want to win nationals,” Nayak said, “and this year might be the year.”

COMMUNICATIONS

Mitav Nayak ’22 faces Conestoga in a 7-2 win, December 13, 2021

the index · sports

Page 15

February 2022

Novak Djokovic faces conflict with the Australian Open Ian Rosenzweig ’25

“D

ue to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event has been canceled.”

“This facility requires proof of vaccination for entry.”

“Mask required.”

These statements have become all too familiar over the past two years. School, inperson working spaces, and social gatherings have all changed drastically. However, one of the industries that has been the most heavily disrupted by COVID-19 regulations has been professional sports, and, in particular, professional tennis.

Professional tennis functions on a tour system, with the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tours traveling across six continents over the course of the year. The almost weekly international travel is extremely challenging in the context of the pandemic because each country has its own rules and restrictions. Both tours have worked to create consistent and safe travel, although some countries require players to quarantine upon arrival and remain inside a “bubble” while in the host country.

Australia took extra precautions before hosting the Australian Open, one of the four biggest tennis tournaments of the year, from January 17-30, 2022. Vaccinations were mandatory for all players and spectators at the event. Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, told the Australian Associated Press, “If any player, fan [or] workforce is on site here—you’re either vaccinated or you have a medical exemption that’s approved and you’re on the Australian Immunisation Register…That provides us with safety and an extra level of comfort on site.”

Tiley announced in November 2021, and many unvaccinated players rushed to get vaccines in the following weeks in time to play in one of their most prestigious tournaments. One player whose vaccine status was unknown became a topic of conversation throughout tennis circles: Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, who plays under the Serbian flag,

is the current World Number 1 and a 20time Grand Slam champion. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Djokovic had previously refused to share his vaccination status but had voiced his general opposition to vaccination. In May 2021, he said that he’s “always believed in freedom of choice.” He was hoping to win a record-breaking twenty-first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, a feat which he came one win short of at the 2021 US Open against Russian World Number 2 Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic traveled to Australia on January 4, 2022, breaking his silence about his vaccination status with a post on his Instagram account.

Djokovic traveled to Australia on January 4, 2022, breaking his silence about his vaccination status with a post on his Instagram account. He said, “I’ve spent fantastic quality time with my loved ones over the break [from the tennis season] and today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission.” The exemption to which Djokovic refers was granted to him by a panel of medical experts and approved by the Australian state of Victoria. His exemption was granted on grounds of recent COVID-19 infection and recovery. Djokovic did indeed test positive for the virus on December 16, 2021, and tested negative on December 22, 2021.

With his medical exemption confirmed

by Tennis Australia and Victorian officials, Djokovic landed in Melbourne on January 5, 2022. Upon arrival, his travel visa was canceled, and he was detained by Australia’s Border Force, the country’s equivalent to America’s TSA. This prompted Serbia’s presi-

dent, Aleksander Vucic, to make a statement on the evolving situation. “[The whole of Serbia] is doing everything to see that the harassment of the world’s best tennis player is brought to an end immediately,” Vucic said.

However, the drama had only just begun. On January 10, 2022, an Australian judge overturned the Border Force’s visa cancellation and Djokovic was released. “I am pleased and grateful that the judge overturned my vias cancellation. Despite all that has happened in the past week, I want to stay and to try to compete at the Australian Open. I remain focused on that,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram beneath a picture of him and his coaches on Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena.

Many fans believed that with the court’s ruling, Djokovic would be allowed to compete at the Australian Open. 21-time Grand Slam champion and eventual 2022 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal said in a press conference prior to the tournament, “They have said he has the right to play in the Australian Open, and I really believe that is the fairest thing if the issue has been resolved, which seems to be the case.”

Soon after, Djokovic apologized for any miscommunication and misinformation on his behalf and took responsibility for the situation. On January 13, 2022, he was included in the official Australian Open draw, seeded first, and scheduled to play on January 17. The issues seemed to be resolved.

Just one day after the draw was released, Australian Immigration Alex Hawke used his “discretionary power” to cancel Djokovic’s visa a second time, citing a potential risk to the country, and Djokovic was officially deported from Australia. Although Djokovic attempted to take this decision into the court, his challenge failed. He was removed from the tournament and replaced by “lucky loser” Salvatore Caruso, who had lost in the qualifying tournament prior to the event.

Reporters asked many of the world’s other top players about Djokovic’s situation during press conferences, casting a shadow

over the upcoming Australian Open. Some players offered neutral statements or statements encouraging vaccination, but many quickly became disgruntled by the questions.

When asked about Djokovic’s situation, two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka said in an Australian Open press conference, “Is my opinion going to help anything? I’ll pass on that. Thanks though.”

Despite the players’ wishes, the focus of the tennis world leading up to the Australian Open was on Djokovic.

Djokovic, the heavy favorite to win the tournament and break the record he had then shared with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most Grand Slam titles, is now technically banned from Australia for three years.

Former World Number-1 and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Lindsay Davenport called the saga “sickening to watch.”

Meanwhile, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova said that the entire situation was “started all by Novak” and could’ve been avoided if he’d gotten vaccinated.

The 2022 season remains uncertain for Djokovic. The next Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, will take place this May. French law has recently changed to stipulate that in order to enter the country without a vaccine, one must have tested positive for COVID-19 up to four months in advance—a window that does not include Djokovic’s positive test in December 2021.

Djokovic will be forced to decide where his priorities lie in the coming months if he wishes to remain on tour and maintain his World Number 1 spot, which he has held since November 2018.

Novak Djokovic’s situation is a public example of the choice many face if their workplace mandates a vaccine. Although Djokovic’s career earnings hardly make him comparable to average workers, his inability to do his job—play tournaments on the ATP tour—has certainly called attention to the unintended consequences of workplace vaccine mandates.

Wrestling’s next-man-up mentality guides season Adiyan Nayak ’24

T

oughness is essential in sports, and especially so in wrestling. This season, the Fords wrestling team has relied on physical and mental toughness to overcome adversity. The team has been plagued by injuries to key wrestlers, preventing some of the early success they had expected. However, after a rough start, they

have improved to a 3-6 record, recently defeating EA in an impressive showing.

Head Coach Mr. Jesse Sataloff reflected on the sporadic season to this point.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Coach Sataloff said. “We’ve got some really talented wrestlers on the team who’ve worked hard and really grown, but we’ve also had a lot of

Matt Brosko takes down his opponent

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

injuries with our more experienced guys.”

Injuries have been the toughest opponent for the Fords this season, but their depth has proven vital as they turn their season around.

“I’m really impressed with the younger, less experienced guys who are working hard and stepping up to fill those holes,” Coach Sataloff said.

These less experienced wrestlers have been thrust into difficult situations, including some of them playing above their weight.

Fourth Former Daniel Kaiser has made the most of the challenge.

“I’ve been wrestling 195 [pounds], which is 15, 20 pounds up for me,” Kaiser said.

“I’ve been getting it handed to me a little bit, but I’ve been doing my best. I didn’t expect to have to wrestle so much varsity, but that’s the way it went.”

Accepting and embracing adversity is a common theme among these younger wrestlers.

“Daniel Kaiser, he’s really stepped up his game,” Coach Sataloff said. “He’s achieved some of the goals he set for himself and won us some big matches. [Fourth Former] Ben McComb, a second-year wrestler, he just loves to compete. We needed someone to bump up a weight class and he volunteered to go out there, and he got us a big win against Kiski.”

Despite the difficulty, McComb is capitalizing on the opportunity.

“I probably wouldn’t be wrestling varsity if we didn’t have injuries, but I have enjoyed the opportunity,” McComb said. “I got my first varsity [win] last weekend, so that was pretty nice.”

While the younger wrestlers have been crucial so far, the seniors have still provided tremendous leadership.

Coach Sataloff said, “We’ve got [Sixth Former] Max Rosenberger, who’s made some personal growth and won some important matches once he decided to go all in. [Sixth Former] Tommy Kohlenberg just loves it and goes out and does battle all the time. So they’ve been really important for our team as well.”

Through the leadership from the more experienced wrestlers, and the fearlessness from the others, the team has built a special bond. “[The camaraderie] has been amazing to watch,” Kaiser said. “We’ve built a really close team, and that’s the only way freshmen and people like me have been able to do what we have.”

This closeness between teammates has defined the season so far, and will ultimately be the biggest reason for future success.

“We’ve really focused on being a family, which means that we’ll support each other, but we’ll also push each other,” Coach Sataloff said. “We’ve focused on growing, improving, and coming together to work in solidarity towards a common goal.”

the index · arts

Page 16

October 2021

Swimming and diving teams share a winning bond Connor Pinsk ’23

W

ith Easterns approaching, Haverford’s swimming and diving programs are making strong progress.

With both teams having few Sixth Formers, the teams rely on underclassmen more and more.

“Usually the oldest guys are at the top, but when you have freshmen dropping some of the fastest times, it forces the team to be significantly more collaborative and connected,” said Sixth Form captain Bram Schork. “I may be a senior and have two freshmen in my relay, and you can’t be caught up in the fact that you are racing with guys younger than you on the team. You can’t let that affect your mentally. you just have to say these are my teammates and they are fast and we are going to win this relay.”

While swimming and diving are two very different sports, swimming’s team dynamic is similarly reflected in the much smaller diving team.

“Our best guy is [Fourth Former] A.J. Rosenburger, who dives outside of school,” said Sixth Former Fisher Bond. “We can bring three people to a meet so it’s always me, A.J., and someone else.”

Bond is the only senior on the diving team and captains it by himself.

“I’m not an iron-fist guy that bosses freshmen around. I try to keep practices fun, I personally kind of still feel like a freshman a little bit. Practices are really lighthearted and Coach Gaudreau is a great coach. We obviously are serious about the sport, but we also try to keep things fun.”

Schork co-captains the team with fellow Sixth Former Jake LaRocca and likes to make sure that the team feels close and that the swimmers support each other during practices.

“You can’t come to a swim practice with a bad attitude,” Schork said. “If you are willing to change that, and be lifted up by the guys around you, that’s what we’re there for.”

“In comparison to the rest of the Inter-Ac, having few seniors makes it very challenging, but we do have some very impres-

MR. JIM ROESE

Bram Schork ’22 competes in freestyle in a 98-82 win over EA, December 14, 2021 sive freshmen, which has altered the team dynamic,” Schork said. “You can’t have the traditional hierarchy that you would see on a lot of teams. You have to be able to rely on the younger guys and be able to hype them up and expect them to contribute as much as the older guys.”

The differences between the sports are notable, but this season the two teams have been closer than perhaps ever before.

“In past years we have been pretty separate. The swimming team has done their thing and the diving team has done theirs.

This year everyone seems closer,” Bond said.

“Someone will fail a dive and the swim team will clap really loudly. It’s pretty cool. It’s a lot more connected this year then previous years, which I think is good coaching from Head Swimming Coach Sean Hansen and Coach Gaudreau.”

Basketball, cont. from front page

COMMUNICATIONS

The Fords huddle in a 63-55 win over Friends Central, December 1, 2021

Both teams prepare to head to Easterns on the weekend of February 24, 2022. They will compete against dozens of schools and are hoping to place as well as they can.

“... we are going there to expect the guys on the team to drop best times because that’s all that matters: dropping times and getting faster yourself.”

BRAM SCHORK ’22 “Our head coach Sean Hansen gave us a speech today, and he pointed to the banner

Matt Kearney’s twin brother, Sixth Former Dave Kearney, explained the challenges the team has faced this season.

“Coming in with a lot of new guys and guys who haven’t seen a lot of varsity minutes is something that we’ve definitely had to grow with this year. We’ve had to gain experience as we’ve gone along, and we’re just trying to leave a good mark for the young guys.

We want to be good role models for them.”

Coach Bernie Rogers has high praise for the Sixth Form leaders.

“The practice has been excellent. We’ve had eight great seniors who have been great examples and have been ready to play and coachable and really cared about each other on the bench,” Coach Rogers said. “They have really done a good job of including younger guys, leading by example, and trusting the coaches. They’re ready when their number is called, and if they’re not on the court, they’re supporting whoever is.”

Ryan Rogers believes this emanates from the team culture.

“The culture is very, very positive in the locker room environments. It’s easy for people to make mistakes, but everyone has each other’s backs, and we’re able to pick each other up every time,” Rogers said.

When it comes to being a mentor for the younger players, Rogers believes the Fords have done a fantastic job.

“We have a lot of young kids in the program,” Rogers said. “And so we’re trying to set the expectations that even if we’re not the most talented team, we’re always a team who works hard and plays to the final whistle.”

that read Easterns’ champions 2018 and said that was our mountain to climb, “ Schork said. “When you look at that [2018] team we had like six D-I athletes going to big college programs. Right now we don’t compare to that team, so going into Easterns we have everything to gain.”

“We are not going into a meet like this expecting to win, but we are going there to expect the guys on the team to drop best times because that’s all that matters: dropping times and getting faster yourself. The cherry on top is the other teams there have everything to lose,” Schork said. “If we can capitalize on that, if we can get second instead of third or first instead of second every once in a while, then we might be able to steal some points and claim the victory.”

“We’re just trying to be good teammates, and then we’re just trying to compete,” Dave Kearney said. “We want to show them that to win games, you have to complete the whole game and at practice—everything matters.”

Matt Kearney spoke about his desire to have an impact on the basketball program.

“I want to finish strong, show the younger guys how to win, leave this season on a good note, and give us some momentum going into next year. The future of a basketball program here means a lot to me,” Matt Kearney said. “I want to be a positive influence and help the program in the future with winning and being the best teammate I can be.”

Coach Rogers sees a lot of talent in the group.

“We’ve had a great group that battled every game. The ball really hasn’t bounced our way ...”

COACH BERNIE ROGERS “We’ve had a great group that battled every game. The ball really hasn’t bounced our way,” Coach Rogers said. “So we’re hoping to finish strong and try to get a couple more wins, and maybe, you know, have a good run in the pace of the playoffs.”