February 2024 Index

the index The student voice since 1888

The Haverford School · Haverford, PA 19041 · February 2024 · Volume 91, No. 5 · thsindex.org

Sixth Formers react to basketball fan behavior

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

A Peaky Blinders-themed fan event during a 35-49 loss at Malvern on January 12 Casey Williams ’24

O

n January 26th, Haverford basketball closed out an upset victory at home against William Penn Charter, finishing 51-50 in a tough Inter-Academic League matchup. The game was headlined by a strong performance from Third Former Silas Graham, Fifth Formers K.J. Carson and Jacob Becker, and Sixth Former Billy Rayer.

“It felt great to get that win and have our first Friday night home game in the [Inter-

Academic League] go how it went,” Rayer said. “Penn Charter is a really good team, and we’re super happy with the outcome.”

According to the players, the Haverford student fan section—consisting of about 120 students—played a key role in the team’s victory.

“The environment was awesome,” Rayer said. “[The student section was] loud and energetic, and it honestly made the game more fun for us and gave us a spark

— just seeing all your brothers in the stands supporting you.”

Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy agreed.

“For an hour and a half, [the game was] probably one of the best atmospheres that I’ve seen here at Haverford,” Murphy said.

“We had our songs going, our chants going and it was an unbelievable atmosphere. I’m fully convinced that it led to our boys competing the way that we competed and ulti-

mately winning that game.” When the buzzer ran out, Haverford’s student section—all wearing white togas—rushed to the court to celebrate with the team, specifically against Athletic Director Mr. Murphy’s instruction.

con’t on p. 4

Uptick of Honor Council hearings Tom Saul ’25

T

he Honor Council is a studentled organization with the responsibility to promote the institution’s core virtues—respect, honesty, and courage—while also emphasizing trustworthiness and fairness by addressing instances of academic dishonesty. It also works to educate the student body about the importance of upholding the Honor Code in academic and personal pursuits.

In essence, the Honor Council serves as a mechanism for students to hold both themselves and their peers accountable for maintaining high ethical standards and fostering a culture of integrity within the school community.

Middle School Musical, p. 16

COMMUNICATIONS

Academic dishonesty comes in many forms, such as cheating off of another student on exams, fabricating data, plagiarizing, and colluding. Administrators have noted a recent uptick in Honor Council cases, but the majority of them are not due to the aforementioned examples. Instead, they are a result of students’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically ChatGPT.

con’t on p. 3 The Honor Council deliberates over a recent case

C-Block World Tour, p. 11

COURTESY OF TATE CONKLIN ’24

Haverford Assembly, p. 12

COMMUNICATIONS

Zach Bryan, p. 15

INDEX STAFF

KATRINA PAISANO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

the index · editorial

Page 2

the index 2023–2024 Staff Ethan Lee ’24 Editor-in-Chief Adiyan Nayak ’24 Editor-in-Chief Christopher Schwarting ’24 Editor-in-Chief Arsh Aggarwal ’24 Senior Managing Editor Casey Williams ’24 Senior Managing Editor Ian Rosenzweig ’25 Managing Editor

February 2024

editorial A call for unity

W

e are into the second half of the school year, and, in the wake of recent events, our message is simple: stick together. It might sound banal, but it is often the most obvious advice that is most required in moments of adversity, and in moments of conflict.

Our message is not directed at the student body alone, but at each and every member of the community that makes this place so special. What separates our school from the rest is our undying support for each other, and that extends to every student, teacher,

and staff member that walks on this campus.

It is not our wish to make more of something than it is, but the last couple weeks have been a tumultuous time for the student body, its leaders, and its relationship to the administration. It is important now more than ever that we remember whose side we are on, and that we all stand there together.

Take accountability for your actions when it is due; if appropriate, stick up for yourself and your brothers, and do so with dignity and respect. Now is the time—es-

pecially for the Sixth Form—to protect the community we’ve worked so hard to cultivate, and to continue to foster a place of togetherness and loyalty.

It is easy in trying times to point fingers, to create and take sides, and to push others away in an act of stubborn defensiveness.

In what is often considered the dreariest time of year, let’s instead find the spark in each other to push towards the coming spring. Let’s get there together, and let’s do it the right way.

Connor Simpkins ’25 Managing Editor Milan Varma ’25 News Editor Tate Conklin ’24 Features Editor Elliot Lee ’25 Academics Editor Ryan Hu ’26 Junior Academics Editor Tripp Ronon ’24 Neighborhood Editor Luke Ganley ’25 Campus Opinions Editor Abdullah Kanchwala ’25 Campus Opinions Editor Grayson Morgan ’26 Junior Campus Opinions Editor Talan Maury ’26 Off-Campus Opinions Editor Tommy Saul ’26 Off-Campus Opinions Editor Russell Yoh ’24 Arts Editor

2023-24 Editors-in-Chief (left to right, Adiyan Nayak ’24, Ethan Lee ’24, and Christopher Schwarting ’24)

Letter from the student body president

Liam French ’25 Junior Arts Editor Charlie Keidel ’24 Sports Editor Quinn Sullivan ’25 Junior Sports Editor Pierce Laveran ’24 Senior Photography Editor Riyadh Rolls ’26 Junior Photography Editor Luca Aloi ’25, Sean Ngo ’24, Sam Pennington ’26 Staff Writers Ms. Emily Harnett Faculty Advisor Mr. Thomas Stambaugh 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 on 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 1152 community members, consisting of 952 students and 200 faculty and staff members.

Contact The Index: 450 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041 index@haverford.org Twitter: @Haverford_Index Instagram: @Haverford_Index Volume 91, No. 5 - February 7, 2024

Asa Winikur ’24 lue guys—the type of guys who will walk with you to the locker room when you forget your blazer, the type of dude who will tag along on the chippy run despite having zero intention of actually getting food, the type of dude who just has the clutch gene when it comes to being for the boys. Garrett Stubbs, Jack Cimino, the list goes on…

Glue guys are the ones you can depend on when the vibes are low. See, what’s special about glue guys is that they’re we>me. They think about the team before personal benefit. Right now, this community needs some glue guys.

These past few weeks, our community

G

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

has had some hiccups. Now’s the time for us to get back on track. We’ve read the Index articles, we’ve had the assemblies, now it is time for the bounce back. This moment is what makes the great ones great.

“Instead of focusing on how far we are away from the top of the mountain, take a second to look below and acknowledge how far we’ve come.”

A light-skin brother of mine, Drake, once said, “Never let the successes get to your head and never let the failures get to your heart.” Men, we must not ride the emotional roller coaster of life.

So, who’s gonna be the glue guy? Who’s going to get the vibes back to where they need to be? When we’re climbing the mountain of success we tend to only focus on the top of the mountain. Instead of focusing on how far we are away from the top of the mountain, take a second to look below and acknowledge how far we’ve come.

Appreciate what we have done so far, accept the road ahead of us, and keep on climbing. Godspeed.

the index · news

Page 3

February 2024

news

Uptick of Honor Council hearings, cont. from front page Tom Saul ’25

As many already know, ChatGPT is a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) designed to generate human-like text based on the input it receives, aiming to engage in conversation and provide helpful responses.

It’s utilized for various tasks including answering questions, generating creative content, assisting with language understanding, and facilitating dialogue in a wide range of applications.

“AI is very scary. No one truly understands it, and it’s always changing.”

TOMMY GOWEN ’26 While the GPT can be used in many functional domains, its abilities can easily be abused in a school environment by a student asking it to write them an essay on a certain topic or solve a math equation they are supposed to be doing by themselves. This is cheating, as the work is not their own.

“Is that the direction we want to take our community because we have so little trust?”

LUKE FESNAK ’24

After a teacher identifies when a student fraudulently uses AI (and it is often easy for them to do so), the case goes straight to the Honor Council, and that student finds himself in an unnecessary and difficult situation.

Fourth Form Honor Council member

“I think a lot of people would say students need to be more responsible because they are the ones committing the Honor Code violations, and this is true.”

they are the ones committing the Honor Code violations, and this is true. However, these students must be motivated to cheat by high-stress situations,” Fesnak said. “While it is in the students’ control to be honest, I think it falls upon teachers and administrators too to insert preventative measures like automatic zeros if a student cheats or moving all online assessments onto paper.”

According to Fesnak, it is possible to make cheating hard and successfully lessen academic dishonesty at the school.

Fesnak said, “Is that the direction we

want to take our community because we have so little trust, or are we going to continue to give the student body more chances when they have not proven that they deserve them?”

One recent step taken by the administration is the release of an AI Integrity Policy that clearly outlines how tools like ChatGPT can be used.

Without a doubt, AI poses a dilemma: each decision comes with its consequences.

Of course, the best possible option is simply not to cheat and to be academically honest.

LUKE FESNAK ’24 Tommy Gowen is concerned about the increase in Honor Council cases.

“AI is very scary. No one truly understands it, and it’s always changing,” Gowen said.

Also according to Gowen, Haverford is a community built on trust, and using a tool like Chat GPT unfairly symbolizes distrust—undermining what this community stands for.

Sixth Form Honor Council Chairman Luke Fesnak believes there are ways we can improve as a community and reduce Honor Council hearings moving forward.

“I think a lot of people would say students need to be more responsible because

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

Luke Fesnak ’24, Honor Council Chairman

Mr. Ator promises change to graduation projects A’mir Ibrahim ’24

W

ilson Hall will be quieter than usual. Many classes will be empty. The Fifth Form will move up to the first row in Centennial Hall.

The three weeks after May 19, when Wilson Hall empties its oldest students, the Sixth Form goes to show off the skills they’ve learned at Haverford by producing a graduation project.

Graduation projects are meaningful. They reflect a student’s time at the school.

Students have a rare opportunity to dedicate all their time to one project. Whether a student chooses to demonstrate their refined art skills or their business knowledge at an internship, graduation projects are a part of the Haverford experience.

“I’m encouraging [Sixth Formers] to reflect on what they’ve done each week.”

MR. MATT ATOR This independence, however, is often met with confusion. The end of the semester has some Sixth Formers mentally checked out and lacking ideas, and the screening process could be more transparent.

“I think if I had more time to think about what I wanted to do, I would’ve had a better plan going in,” Alir Gladden ’23 said, “I wouldn’t have spent those first two weeks just making ideas and scrapping them. I could’ve actually been productive.”

First-year graduation project coordinator Mr. Matt Ator heard these complaints. “I’m going to do freshman seminars at the end of the school year to talk about reflecting on the year,” Mr. Ator said, “If we can start thinking about the project as a freshman, and we build it up over four years, I think there’s plenty of people who will be doing something meaningful.”

According to Mr. Ator, students will pay increased attention to what they’re learning, what they enjoy, and what they do well, allowing them to enter Sixth Form ready to tackle a graduation project.

This change is mostly well received in the graduation project committee. Former graduation project coordinator Mr. Timothy Lengel said, “Students [can] build up a portfolio of interest over time, which should make the process smoother.”

Along with introducing the project much sooner, Mr. Ator also plans to have Sixth Formers create a poster board to present the project to family and friends.

“I’m encouraging [Sixth Formers] to reflect on what they’ve done each week,” Mr. Ator said. “Then everyone will do some sort of poster or presentation at the very end.”

This change is also well accepted in the graduation project committee.

Mr. Lengel said, “It’s not like the advisory presentations where students can blow it off. You don’t want to look silly in front of [your family and friends].”

Previous students being able to “blow off ” advisory presentations has been a bother to many Haverford students.

“This is supposed to be your biggest project at Haverford,” Sixth former Andrew

Bradley said, “and it seems like as long as you get your project approved, it doesn’t really matter what you do.”

Mr. Ator hopes that Sixth Formers will put more thought into their time away from school. His new plan also ensures that creative projects or not, all students will have a product.

For students making films, Mr. Ator also added, “The day before Honors Day, we’re going to do a film festival this year and show all of the movies.”

Creating a film, art piece, or internship, all Sixth Formers will have a product at the end of the year to demonstrate what their time went to.

Mr. Ator plans to focus more on the product made this year, rather than the time spent on the project. In previous years, getting a creative project approved was difficult because students had to convince

the committee their project could fill the 30-hours-per-week requirement by creating an in-depth schedule. This year, Mr. Ator is shifting his focus to the product rather than the time spent. “We work out the time that I expect to go into it,” Mr. Ator said, “but focus more towards the product.”

Mr. Ator also hopes to increase organization. He plans to sort feedback by groups to avoid group members receiving different answers. For art projects, he is sorting all art projects to send to first-year committee member, art teacher Ms. Kristin Brown, bringing in a new voice to help give feedback to creative projects.

“I feel like there are so many art projects that have been proposed in the past,” Ms. Brown said, and not having an art teacher’s voice on the committee has left those students struggling with how they can create a successful project without that feedback.”

JOEY KAUFFMAN ’23

Mr. Ator works with members of the class of ’23

Page 4

the index · news

February 2024

Sixth Formers...basketball games, cont. from front page “I directly looked at the guys and gave a directive saying, we’re not doing this,” Mr. Murphy said. “Then we went and did it, and it’s kind of like, ‘We’re gonna do what we wanna do.’ I think there’s a problem in that for us as an institution right then and there.”

Mr. Murphy believed that the game’s outcome didn’t warrant a substantial event such as storming the court—a scenario only reasonable in a more significant game.

“I think [it’s justified] after something like EA Day, winning a championship game, or something like that,” Mr. Murphy said.

“And even then, you know, we should make sure that we do it right. We give people space, let the team shake hands, whatever it may be, then recognize our Fords for their effort.”

The student body’s process of storming the court also interrupted a key part of the aftermath of the game: players acknowledging one another’s performances and giving each other respect.

“We immediately [went] over into what I think is something that is very unique and special about sports, which is a handshake line, which is where we acknowledge, ‘Hey, we just competed for an hour and did a great job. Way to go,’” Murphy said. “We inserted ourselves into that process.”

To Honor Council Chairman Luke Fesnak, the student section’s behavior is deteriorating.

“We as a community are sort of straying towards a sense of entitlement,” Fesnak said.

“We as fans think we have the right to go to every game and as teams think we deserve the right to have fans come to every game. I think we feel too empowered to do what we want, to give off this tough-guy facade.”

Moreover, Fesnak believes that the poor behavior could be coming from something deeper.

“I feel like we as a community project a lot,” Fesnak said. “We project a lot of insecurity and that shows an underlying issue in the community, and that makes us look like doofuses, wannabe thugs, and that is so ‘aspirational,’ and pitiful.”

Student Body President Asa Winikur agreed that the decision to storm the court was a poor one, fueled by misjudgment— something relying on the leadership of the Sixth Form.

“We were told not to storm the court, and we did,” Winikur said. “That was wrong, and I can take responsibility for that, as I was directly told not to.”

However, Sixth Formers in the front row of the student section raised a counterpoint that Mr. Murphy’s instruction to not storm the court wasn’t received by the whole student body—just several students in the front row.

“A guy in the second or third row had literally zero control over what happened and were not in the wrong.”

ASA WINIKUR ’24

“A guy in the second or third row had literally zero control over what happened and were not in the wrong,” Winikur said.

In addition to the student section going against Mr. Murphy’s directive, there were several incidents after the game involving Haverford students taunting opposing players and fans on campus, resulting in Penn Charter families feeling unsafe.

Following the Friday night events, administrators spent the next week holding

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

Student section celebrates “Senior Night” with the basketball team members meetings both between faculty and with various Sixth Form leaders to discuss the steps moving forward and to listen to students’ perspectives. Topics of discussion included dissecting the root cause of the events, safety concerns on campus, and general ways to remedy and move forward with the situation.

“We had a meeting with Mr. Casertano, Mr. Kolade, and Mr. Fifer, which was really productive,” Winkur said. “Seniors [in the front row] had offered to take the detentions or, you know, miss a game, and the school denied that. Seniors, on paper, took responsibility for that, but for whatever reason, the school did not want to do that.”

After the initial meeting, Sixth Form student council members followed up the next day with Mr. Fifer and Mr. Kolade to discuss the steps that would be taken. There, the following directives were announced: Sixth Formers who attended the Friday night basketball game against Penn Charter would not be allowed to attend any of Haverford’s athletic events on Friday, February 3, including the hockey game and wrestling senior night.

There would be no student section theme, and students would not be allowed inside the locker room before or after the game.

“I don’t think it was necessarily the right move,” Winikur said. “I have respect for Mr. Casertano, Mr. Fifer, and Mr. Kolade, and I think we can disagree with each other without having a hindered relationship. But, once again, I think that just the front row should have been punished.”

Winikur, along with other Sixth Form leaders, offered an alternative punishment during the meeting with Sixth Formers and administration: several seniors taking detentions to acknowledge their mistakes.

“We basically all agreed that if we had screamed out and told [the student section] not to storm, we don’t think they would have stormed,” Winikur said. “And yes, it’d suck that we couldn’t go to the Malvern game, but

we thought it’d be way more fair for us. If we want to be able to call ourselves leaders: when things go wrong, we have to be leaders too.”

However, the administration denied their request. “[That] consequence didn’t match the disrespect—the blatant disregard for a rule— that was issued,” Mr. Kolade said. “[Having several Sixth Formers take detentions] didn’t feel like the equivalent of that, and it didn’t feel right.”

Sixth Form wrestling captain Daniel Kaiser voiced disagreements with the overarching nature of the punishment for the form and how it affected the other events that night. For the wrestling team, February 3rd was their senior night—a wrestling match against the Episcopal Academy— during which they’d rely on a fan presence to boost morales.

“I think that the punishment that has been given is reasonable in every context other than the way that it’s affecting [the wrestling] team because it’s senior night,” Kaiser said. “All the people that they have in mind when they’re laying down this ban on seniors are the most impassioned about these games and things. Two years ago was the only time we ever had a student section, and having those people there to bring energy to these games is what allowed us to win that match.”

To Sixth Former Banks Young, the decision from the administration to not allow Sixth Formers who attended the Penn Charter basketball game was unfair.

“I guess I get it because they wanted to make a statement, but I just think it’s pretty ridiculous because it’s inconsiderate,” Young said. “It’s our last [Malvern basketball game].”

Sixth Former Kyle Morris echoed a similar sentiment.

“I just think that [storming the court] is a very normal thing at high school sporting events, and I wish that we had that environment where we could do that

without a punishment,” Morris said. “Those are the types of things that you’re going to remember in high school.”

Ultimately the punishment that the administration concluded upon was based on the student section’s lack of respect.

The message from some members of the community is clear: rules are in place for a reason, whether it be the safety of visitors on campus, students’ own safety, or even just how Haverford students should conduct themselves. “[It is my expectation that we will] be loud, be proud, support the Fords, and we’re going to eliminate some of these other things. If we’re told not to storm the field, we won’t storm the field. I truly think that we’re a place of character and have virtues that people follow,” Mr. Murphy said.

“Hopefully, this is a moving on point for us and we won’t have to deal with this in the future.”

Page 5

the index · News

February 2024

Students commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day Harrison Cross ’26

I

nternational Holocaust Remembrance Day has occurred every January 27 since 2005 after the United Nations elected to do so.

The day mourns the six million Jewish people and millions of other minorities murdered by the Nazi party in the 1930s and 1940s. This day was chosen because, on January 27, 1945, the Red Army of the Soviet Union liberated the Auschwitz-Berkinau concentration and death camp near the city of Krakow in what is now southern Poland.

On this day, commemorations are made

Survivors of the Holocaust meet at Auschwitz itself in a solemn commemoration, and speeches are made at the United Nations.

Israel has its Memorial Day later in the year but observes the 27th of January just as the other countries of the world do.

In commemoration of this day, the Jewish Student Union, led by Fifth Former Ian Rosenzweig and Sixth Former Daniel Kaiser, organized the creation of a poster board.

On the poster board is basic content about what the Holocaust was and what

IAN ROSENZWIEG ’25

JSU’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day poster, Febuary 4, 2024 all around the world, especially at Holocaustrelated museums such as Yad Vashem in Israel, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, to name a few.

happened to European Jews during WWII. Rosenzweig felt that it was important to include this, because of “How misinformed and under-informed people are about the world and how many people believe the

Holocaust either didn’t happen or wasn’t so extreme.”

Along with an outline of what happened, the JSU included statistics on antisemitic incidents that have taken place in the past few years, as well as images of Holocaust survivors related to JSU members.

The photographs are particularly important.

“It is a lot closer than people think, only 85 years ago, and people in our own community are still very closely connected,” Rosenzweig said.

The JSU feels that there is a lot of information that is not shared enough at Haverford, even in discussions about the Holocaust, and that putting it directly in front of people in the front lobby is a good start to spreading further awareness.

“There is never too much history that could be learned,” Rosenzweig added.

In light of the attack on Israel by Hamasled terrorists on the October 7, 2023, the JSU felt that it was especially important to spread Holocaust awareness.

“Some of the first reactions that we saw from people who justified the massacre were charged with Nazi symbolism and rhetoric.

There were swastikas at pro-Palestinian protests, people chanting ‘gas the Jews,’” Rosenzweig said. “That is not normal protesting.”

Some protests against Israel have quickly devolved into protests against the Jewish community as a whole. Just as Jews were blamed for Germany’s loss during WWI by the Nazis, several people have held all Jews around the world accountable for what they incorrectly see as the oppression of the people of Gaza by the government of Israel.

Recently, there has been a sharp increase

in anti-Semitism, especially on the internet.

Rosenzweig said, “I have been in contact with people who push directly antisemitic beliefs regarding Zionism and Israel as a whole.”

It is not so much that these people push anti-Semitic ideas and rhetoric online, but that there are places where people learn to hate Jewish people.

Rosenzweig said, “It is upsetting, but

“It is a lot closer than people think, only 85 years ago, and people in our own community are still very closely connected.”

IAN ROSENZWIEG ’25 the bigger issue is that I feel I am put into the position of having to be an educator because there is a system that has failed to teach these people the truth.”

As members of the Haverford JSU and Jewish people all around the globe mourn their family members that perished at the hands of the Nazi regime, many people fear the return of antisemitic beliefs not seen so prevalently since the rule of Adolf Hitler 80 years ago.

Now, more than ever, the Jewish community feels it is important to teach the history of their family and community and what they have been through.

Lunar New Year celebration approaches

Ian Rosenzweig ’25

T

he spirit and vitality of The PanAsian Alliance has allowed it to serve as a leader in the school’s cultural life. It boasts 45-50 members, holds frequent events in collaboration with other schools, and has a special plan for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Sixth Former and PAA leader Justin Fan said that Asian students’ increased interest in cultural education has allowed the Alliance to expand.

“We wanted to create that space where Asian students could be together,” Fan said.

But PAA’s success is also attributable to a philosophy of inclusion.

Fifth Former Alex Borghese, another PAA leader, said, “Over the past couple of years the PAA has made an effort to connect more with the greater populace, not only Asians but everyone. We have made it our mission to not only educate, but share our cultures and values, and try and excite as many as possible.”

PAA’s strategy not only brings its own community together but also welcomes all Haverford students to share in the cultural experiences of their brothers.

“We have made it our mission to not only educate, but share our cultures and values, and try and excite as many as possible.”

ALEX BORGHESE ’25 In its mission to provide a space for Asian students and educate the broader community, the PAA leaders have their sights set on the Lunar New Year holiday, this year on

Pan-Asian Alliance leaders at an inter-school movie night February 10th.

The group is looking to recognize the event, which holds significance to many students, while also incorporating the entire student body into the celebration.

Fan explained that the PAA will be creating traditional Lunar New Year gifts that symbolize good fortune and luck.

“We’re planning on creating red envelopes for all students in the upper school, middle school, and lower school,” he said. “In each red envelope there will be a small infographic that is talking about this year being the Year of the Dragon and some basic information about Lunar New Year.”

“Creating cultural connections at a young age allows students to have more open minds and hearts.”

MILAN VARMA ’25 The Lunar New Year initiative is but one of PAA’s many community-building activities.

In December, the group hosted a mov-

COURTESY OF PAN ASIAN ALLIANCE

ie night with other area schools. Beyond providing a space for connection based on shared experience, these activities also allow diverse groups of students to come together based on cultural curiosity, and PAA’s efforts to connect with all students allow them to stay vibrant.

“Groups have learned that celebrating each other’s differences but also similarities allow for a more interconnected, cohesive, and loving world,” Fifth Form PAA leader Milan Varma said. “Creating cultural connections at a young age allows students to have more open minds and hearts, and is a cornerstone of the Haverford community.”

Page 6

the index · news

February 2024

Inauguration of Ram Mandir in India Milan Varma ’25

T

he Pan Asian Alliance is a group made of students with diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, all of which are celebrated through the group.

The group has built substantial momentum recently, with an extravagant poster board and fundraiser during Diwali and the upcoming Lunar New Year Red Envelope celebration.

The club leaders hope to use this momentum to celebrate meaningful events with their community members. One landmark that the Pan Asian Alliance finds extremely important is the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in India.

The subcontinent of India has a long and complex history that contributes to its modern-day uniqueness as a country.

Due to this, India is a culturally diverse but also tolerant place. This is perhaps most noticeably demonstrated by the Hindu and Muslim populations in India.

India is 79.8% Hindu and 14.2% Muslim, with the clear majority being Hindus. India also has other ethnic groups, such as Sikhs, Jains, and Christians. These diverse ethnic groups make up what is now known as India, despite past conflicts.

For the majority of India’s history, it has been a Hindu state with many Hindu kings in different regions. Hinduism is practiced with idols and in temples called Mandir, integral sites of worship for devotees. However, in 1526 CE, invaders from the North called Mughals conquered parts of India by defeating local rulers, and establishing the Mughal empire.

This empire was founded and ruled by the first Mughal emperor, Babur. Babur was known as a staunch Muslim at the early stages of his life and rule but evolved into a more tolerant ruler as he progressed. However, the Mughal empire, under Babur, undertook a

series of temple raids throughout India, one of which was the raid of the Ram Mandir in 1528.

Ram Mandir is a specifically important temple in Hinduism as it is situated in the city of Ayodhya, which is also Ram Janmabhoomi, or the birthplace of the deity Rama. Rama is the protagonist of the ancient Hindu epic the Ramayana, and is a principal figure in Hinduism. Rama is also the avatar of the god Vishnu, the sustainer.

The destruction of Ram Mandir was one of many in a series of temple raids conducted throughout India under Babur. In order for the land to be repurposed and usable, the Mughal Empire constructed a new monument in its place, a mosque called Babri Masjid.

A principal difference between Islam and Hinduism is their interpretation of their God, though both religions are monotheistic at their core. In Islam, idols, or physical representations of God, or Allah, are strictly forbidden, as God does not share divine aspects with any human beings.

For this reason, the Mughals, as they tore down Ram Mandir, removed and destroyed many of the idols that were worshipped there.

However, devoted Hindus kept returning to their place of worship, which was now a mosque, setting up idols and continuing to pray. In 1858, the British administration barred Hindus from worshipping there entirely and built a platform adjacent to the mosque for Hindu worship to continue.

Babri Masjid stood until December 1922, when a rally grew violent and 150,000 volunteers ascended the mosque, tearing it down with their bare hands. This spark ignited other Hindu-Muslim riots around the country, resulting in a total of 2000 deaths.

Soon after, the Indian Archeological

Survey launched two excavations in 1978 and 2003, finding that the remains of the Hindu temple, Ram Mandir, still stood at the site of the rubble. Various legal battles ensued, but eventually, the land was handed over to a trust, created by the Government of India for the reconstruction of the Ram Mandir. Simultaneously, the Parliament of India also allocated land close by for a new Mosque to be built, allowing both religions to worship in their respective areas.

On January 22nd, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India performed the ceremony of the consecration of the

soon-to-be-finished Ram Mandir, marking a massively important milestone in not only India’s history but that of the world.

With a solution that showed religious cooperation and tolerance despite differences, the inauguration of the Ram Mandir is a sign that religious disputes are largely behind us as a society.

This reflects a cornerstone of the Pan Asian Alliance: he ability to put differences aside and create lasting connections while celebrating each aspect of each others’ cultures is what makes the group, and others like it, so unique.

PM’S OFFICE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a temple on January 22, 2024, marking a new national holiday for India

Students prepare for artistic journey to Morocco Connor Simpkins ’25

H

averford has long encouraged students to foster global engagement through its Global Studies Program, which offers several opportunities each year for students to explore different cultures and cultivate a greater understanding of global issues.

This year, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Formers are preparing for a summer trip to Morocco.

Led by two advisors, visual arts teacher Ms. Kristin Brown and middle school librarian Mr. Joshua Newman, the twenty-

one student participants have commenced bi-weekly Friday meetings to prepare for their journey.

Ms. Brown is excited by the threefold focus for the trip: street photography, indepth study of Islamic art, and travel writing, as well as exploring the rich architecture and culture of Morocco.

Ms. Brown holds a B.F.A. in photographic illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology and her master’s degree from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. An avid photographer, she

is eager for the opportunity to explore the streets of Morocco with students.

“Morocco seemed like a good fit for our program and a great place to photograph.”

MS. KRISTIN BROWN “I have been wanting to take a

photography trip and do some street photography for some time, and Morocco seemed like a good fit for our program and a great place to photograph,” Ms. Brown said.

Ms. Brown will be working with boys from an artistic perspective while Mr. Newman will focus on travel writing.

“We have started learning about the incredible architecture in Morocco.”

T.J. ROMERO ’25 The bi-weekly meetings will facilitate group bonding, provide an in-depth study of Moroccan culture, as well as cover the preparation and logistics for the trip.

“We have started learning about the incredible architecture in Morocco, and it’s creating a lot of anticipation within the group about the trip,” Fifth Former T.J. Romero said. “I’m excited to visit the mosques in person.”

Ms. Brown is looking forward to the trip and how boys will share their experiences with the wider community.

When students return, they will channel their experiences into a book showcasing their photographs and travel writing.

Ms. Brown also envisions a gallery show in the fall where images from the students’ explorations can be shared with the wider community.

Students on a summer 2019 trip overlooking the shores of Casablanca

ABUOBIADA ELAMIN ’20

the index · features

Page 7

February 2024

features

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano works in his office

A day in the life of Mr. Casertano Colin Toth ’26

T

he duties behind the Head of School position at Haverford are a mystery to many. Some might jump to the response, “He runs the school.”

But what does running the school actually mean?

Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano has had extensive experience in the field of education.

“I get time with [students], I get time with faculty, I get time with parents, with prospective families, the Board of Trustees, and alumni.”

MR. TYLER CASERTANO “I loved teaching, coaching, and advising. When I was asked to do some admissions work, I really loved doing that.

Then I was asked at my prior school [St. Albans School] to do some development work and I loved doing that. But I found that as I was introduced to all those areas of school life I wanted to do all of them. And that’s what a Head of School does. I get time with [students], I get time with faculty, I get time with parents, with prospective families, the Board of Trustees, and alumni.”

Spending time with as many people as possible is something that Mr. Casertano highlighted as one of his favorite things about his job. As the Head of School, most of his interactions are with the members of the leadership team.

“These eleven people lead every area of school life. A large part of my job is creating alignment with them, so that we as a school are all moving in the same direction. We have a common set of goals; we have an awareness

of a culture we are trying to build.”

Mr. Casertano also emphasized that he spends a large portion of his time with the Board of Trustees. Mr. Casertano works with the twenty-five board members to set up a strategic plan and set of goals for the school.

Haverford creates a new “strategic plan” every five years. These strategic plans deal with how the school can improve. One recent priority has been improving and creating new cross-division interactions.

Mr. Casertano is currently working with the Board of Trustees on an updated strategic plan, which will come into effect in 2025.

Through all of this work, one of Mr. Casertano’s largest objectives is to help Haverford achieve goals. He stated there are two different sets of goals that help the school: programmatic goals and goals of school identity.

“Every step of the way you are being provided with the skills, habits, and dispositions that you need to find success at the next level.”

MR. TYLER CASERTANO

Mr. Casertano’s main goal for the school program is unification through all aspects.

Between academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities, he makes sure they all pick up on each other.

“Every step of the way you are being provided with the skills, habits, and dispositions that you need to find success at the next level,” Mr. Casertano said.

He makes sure that all goals and challenges reinforce each other to make us stronger as students, athletes, and men of

character. Here these goals begin to enter the territory of identity. Much of Mr. Casertano’s work is geared toward helping Haverford as a school develop a certain identity.

Not every all-boys school is the same, and Mr. Casertano works to set Haverford apart from the rest.

One of Mr. Casertano’s fundamental beliefs is that education is heavily dependent on relationships—with classmates, teachers, coaches, and even the Head of School himself. When he is not meeting with the leadership team, Mr. Casertano spends much of his time connecting with the Haverford community.

He makes it a priority to be at lower school drop-off at least once a week to greet students and parents in the morning. This allows him to create relationships that will hopefully last for a long time.

And of course, he prioritizes getting to know the student body. Mr. Casertano believes that every student at Haverford deserves to be celebrated at one point. This can take many different forms, whether it be a game-winning goal, an award, or a standing ovation after a Reflection. Mr. Casertano is often on the front lines congratulating someone after a triumph.

“When Mr. Casertano referred to me as a ‘Haverford great,’ I felt complete.”

PAPI HARRIS ’23 One recent Haverford graduate, Papi Harris ’23, said, “When Mr. Casertano referred to me as a ‘Haverford great,’ I felt complete. As if I have effectively influenced my peers in a positive way. The sacrifices I made were not futile but worthwhile. He always made me feel empowered.”

Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade echoes a similar sentiment about the Head of School.

“I think it’s empowering to know that he cares about you. He listens to what you have to say, and he asks questions.”

MR. LUQMAN KOLADE “I think it’s empowering to know that he cares about you,” Mr. Kolade said. “He listens to what you have to say, he asks questions.”

Despite all of the great relationships formed, there are some less glamorous parts of being the Head of School.

As the adolescent mental-health epidemic gets worse every year, Mr. Casertano works tirelessly to promote student wellbeing. He is a strong advocate of the “sound body, sound mind” philosophy. This means there is a connection between the state of your physical health and mental health. Mr. Casertano strives to prioritize his physical health. He creates time at least three times a week for some sort of exercise. Mr. Casertano’s go-to workout is a cardio-strength workout on The Mirror, a smart-mirror for your home, with thousands of online classes to follow along. Mr. Casertano also enjoys walks with his wife at Haverford College.

Mr. Casertano also understands that athletic programs may be more intensive and demanding. To combat this, he works with Athletic Director Michael Murphy to set restrictions on the times practices end, and the amount of weekend commitments Haverford student-athletes are presented with.

the index · features

Page 8

February 2024

Garrett Kriebel and Billy Rayer ’24 launch the Lunchroom Legends Podcast Adiyan Nayak ’24

P

odcasts are in style. In recent years, media personalities, athletes, and everyone in between have taken a seat behind the microphone to make their presence felt in the world. As the school year winds down, two members of the student body have adopted the trend, hoping to make the most out of their final months in Wilson Hall.

Sixth Formers Garrett Kriebel and Billy Rayer are the co-hosts of the Lunchroom Legends Podcast, which they describe on their YouTube channel as “the podcast where we talk about everything you would hear in the lunchroom.”

“Garrett was the one who actually came to me with the idea originally,” Rayer said, “and he was just like, ‘Billy, it’s our senior year. Let’s start a podcast.’”

Kriebel had been looking to start a podcast for months before the first episode aired on January 16, 2024.

THE LUNCHROOM LEGENDS PODCAST

“I’ve always wanted to start a podcast.”

GARRETT KRIEBEL ’24 “I’ve always wanted to start a podcast,” Kriebel said. “At first, I thought I’d start just a sports podcast, since I love talking about sports. But then, talking to Billy, we were like, ‘Why don’t we just talk about anything?’”

The topics range from sports to school to entertainment, and the co-hosts have found the process for each episode fairly straightforward.

Rayer said, “We have our own notes that we type up for each individual that we bring on the podcast, and really we just look at what’s going on this week, the drama in

(Left to right) Billy Rayer, Quinn Bongiovanni, and Garrett Kriebel, all ’24, during a recent podcast episode the world, and we ask the individual what “Filming has been a challenge,” Kriebel finish line in sight. questions they want us to ask them, then go said. “We didn’t have the correct tripod for from there.” the first few episodes, so we were taping Part of what makes the work easier is my phone to a pole. An obvious struggle “We really enjoy that, to Rayer and Kriebel, it does not feel is actually getting people and figuring out what we’re doing like work. times. With sports and everything, it’s hard right now, and the “We really enjoy what we’re doing right to get people. We’re going to start trying to best part is, we get to now, and the best part is, we get to have a cut down on that challenge, record multiple fun time with our friends,” Rayer said. “It’s [episodes] in a day and have them stacked have a fun time with something that we have a fun time doing, up, so we can post them and always be ready our friends.” and it’s kind of giving us all an excuse to see weekly to put out the podcast.” each other and talk about stuff that we norRight now, they are taking things one BILLY RAYER ’24 mally don’t talk about, and have good con- episode at a time, and they hope that there versations.” will be many more to come.

To this point, the Lunchroom Legends “We’re really enjoying it so far,” Rayer “As long as we keep getting people who Podcast has hosted Sixth Formers Sean Brod- said. “Obviously through the school year we want to come on, and as long as it doesn’t nik, Alec DeLuca, and Quin Bongiovanni. want to continue doing it, and the goal is to plateau, as long as we have the passion to The co-hosts have run the operation keep it going towards the summer and see do it, and as long as people want to do it,” smoothly, but not without challenges along how it evolves.”

Kriebel said, “we’ll keep going.” the way.

As the spring approaches, there is no

Red 40: What’s really in the food you eat?

Adam Brown ’27

M

any of us have heard the term “Red 40” thrown around somewhere. But what is this mysterious Red 40 anyway? What products in Haverford’s dining hall use food dyes, and why may that be a problem?

[A] common trait among foods that use dye is the time they spend on shelves. The longer a product is designed to remain on a shelf, the more likely it is to contain a food dye.

Red 40 is one of nine food coloring dyes approved by the FDA. Others include Blue 1, Green 3, and Red 2. These types of dyes are used in beverages, dairy products, puddings, and other types of food. However, a common trait among foods that use dye is the time that they spend on shelves. The longer a product is designed to remain on a shelf, the more likely it is to contain a food dye.

Ms. Kim Sprangers, the General Manager for dining, catering, and the FORDSstore and a registered dietitian, shared her perspective.

“I don’t think that they’re good for you,” Ms. Sprangers said.

According to Ms. Sprangers, the dining hall does not use food dyes such as Red 40 in the food that they cook. However, she did point out that some packaged foods that students buy, like Lucky Charms, sometimes have colorings in them. Lucky Charms in particular, she said, contains Red 40. Ms. Sprangers also made note of the fact that food manufacturers use dyes to make their products appear good-looking after they have sat on shelves.

“They need it to be shelf stable,” Ms. Sprangers said.

There is very little to no conclusive evidence of side effects from food dyes, and Red 40 in particular. However, there is limited evidence that it may increase symptoms in children with ADHD, but it will cause no effects to the majority of people.

does not require it.

Ms. Sprangers said, “The FDA will approve things and has allowed things to be put in our food that [they] just shouldn’t.”

Students at Haverford should become

more aware of what is in their food. Aside from grams of protein, ingredients matter, too. Hopefully, the FDA will take inspiration from other countries and look deeper into what really is in the food that we eat.

“The FDA will approve things and has allowed things to be put in our food that [they] just shouldn’t.”

MS. KIM SPRANGERS Still, the European Union requires certain products that contain food dyes to have a warning label on them, whereas the Food and Drug Administration in America

Lucky Charms cereal contains Red 40 dye

SARAH MAHALA PHOTOGRAPHY VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

the index · academics

Page 9

February 2024

academics Student reactions to core English texts vary Jai Bonaparte ’24

W

hen walking into most English classrooms, one can always find the class’s mandatory readings in a row positioned on the dry-erase board. The English department carefully curates these texts, each serving a different educational purpose.

But feelings towards these works differ significantly amongst the student body.

Works such as Eleanor Burgess’s The Niceties and Ta-Nehesi Coates’s Between the World and Me result in mixed emotions from Sixth Form students due to their polarizing cul-

tural and political commentary.

“We know that some texts are tricky, that they’re sort of problematic in one aspect or another, and often [an English colleague] defends it and says ‘Yes, it is problematic, but it’s so great at doing this, this, and this,’” English Department Chair Mr. Thomas Stambaugh said.

The diverse cast of voices displayed in the English Department’s core texts aligns with the school’s mission statement, “The Haverford School community prepares boys for life by developing men of character,

intellect, and compassion.”

Sixth Former Chase Nelson feels the diversity featured among the selection is due to other objectives.

“The English department has been tasked with trying to teach critical thinking to boys at a very late stage in their lives when they’ve already formed their own opinions that are reinforced by media echo chambers that are easily accessible and that oftentimes misinform.”

“There’s talk about masculinity, but when you talk about masculinity and the topic of being perceived as gay comes up, you can brush over that in class dicsussions.”

AARON BONAPARTE ’25

INDEX STAFF

Two texts assigned to English IV students

“There are a lot of factors involved [in text selection],” Mr. Stambaugh said. “We want students to read from lots of different kinds of genres—some novels, some plays, some graphic novels, some poetry, some short stories. We want students to read some old things and some classic things, but we also want them to read very contemporary things and then things in between.”

The school’s principles of community

state, “[Our ​​ boys] Respect and value people of different genders, backgrounds, and opinions.”

It is no surprise that students also have feelings regarding books featuring voices the curriculum excludes.

Fifth Form Head of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Aaron Bonaparte said, “We have a pretty diverse curriculum, except gay people. There’s talk about masculinity, but when you talk about masculinity and the topic of being perceived as gay comes up, you can brush over that in class discussions.

We need to have a book about gay people.”

Critiques of the curriculum are not just aimed at a lack of diversity.

“I want to add a fictional book,” Fifth Former Cameron Ward said, “a book about someone fighting a dragon. This may be me because I’m tired of reading these sad, horrible life experiences venting about the black struggle, not that it’s bad. I love a good black struggle. I just need a palette cleanser. I need to feel happy about a book.

These books often just make me say, ‘yikes.’

Yes, negative realistic topics make for good conversation, but I don’t want to feel sad all the time when I’m reading a book.”

“There’s no way we can please fourhundred-fifty students, let alone nine English teachers in the upper school. You just can’t make everybody happy all the time,” Mr. Stambaugh said. “You just try to do the best you can, and we feel the texts that we have right now are meeting our goals, but we will continue to change things—a little bit here, a little bit there—along the way.”

FordsMUN wins three awards at ILMUNC Elliot Lee ’25

M

odel United Nations serves as an avenue for students to practice critical thinking, public speaking, and collaborating with people from all over the country.

This year, “FordsMUN” sent twelve delegates to the Ivy League Model UN Conference (ILMUNC) at the University of Pennsylvania. Three delegates—Fifth Formers Milan Varma, Mason Wiegand, and Ian Rosenzweig—won verbal commendations for their committees.

“The team this year was a lot more experienced than last year.”

DAVID STEWART ’24

Wiegand attributes experience and teamwork to their success.

“I worked well with my partner Milan, and we ultimately won an award because of it,” Wiegand said. “This was my third conference, and the experience gained in the process of Model UN helped me immensely.

Rosenzweig agrees that teamwork and planning were key to his success.

“In my experience, success at a Model UN conference comes from a combination of knowledge, confidence, and the ability to build relationships,” Rosenzweig said.

“Creating a successful resolution requires

depth of content, a well-planned and welldelivered defense, and a cohesive group that exchanges ideas well.”

Sixth Form Co-leader David Stewart believes that the team’s success comes from well-thought-out decisions.

“The team this year was a lot more experienced than last year. Last year’s team was an 8-4 ratio of people that have attended two or more conferences versus ones who haven’t, this year was the opposite,” Stewart said.

ILMUNC is a challenging conference due to its size and renown. As a result, FordsMUN has always utilized it to challenge delegates.

“Each committee has different challenge levels that require different things from the delegate.”

MASON WIEGAND ’25

“We’ve always wanted ILMUNC to be the testing ground for experienced delegates, and we were able to put this into action with our increased budget,” Stewart said. “We used the extra funding and time to prepare fully fresh delegates, while we brought the more experienced ones to ILMUNC and won a couple of awards.”

COURTESY OF MILAN VARMA ’25

Model UN members at the Penn ILMUNC conference, January 24, 2024 Their success was no small feat.

Gill took away valuable experience from “The emphasis on awards brings out the conference. a cutthroat nature in people leading to “It was a little disappointing that we unintelligent decision-making,” Wiegand came short, but we still have countless said. “Each committee has different opportunities to win more awards,” Gill challenge levels that require different things said. “It was definitely a very good learning from the delegate.” experience.”

In addition to sending experienced For many, half of ILMUNC is the delegates, FordsMUN also sent Fourth conference; the other half is the scenery.

Formers Ranvir Gill and Ryan Shams.

“I like that it’s in the city,” Stewart said.

“As a first-time delegate, I think we “Reading Terminal Market is right down the did pretty well,” Gill said. “There were long street and you have a lot of random run-ins committee sessions which were exhausting, with people you know from other schools but we met people from all over the world, and other conferences.” which was pretty cool.”

the index · academics

Page 10

Ronon is horrified by ChatGPT. “I think it will increase need for exams, because if I were a teacher and I knew that there could be a product a student could make that is decent—like a good B-minus student level paper without really any exerting any effort—I would like to test students on the spot, especially with handwritten things, to see how that would go.”

Student hand-writes an assignment, February 2, 2024

IAN ROSENZWEIG ’25

Teachers, students pessimistic about ChatGPT BrANDYN LUONG ’27

I

n a Thursday, January 18 assembly, Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade noted an uptick in end-of-semester Honor Council cases as a result of AI use.

It’s been a little over a year since ChatGPT’s launch on November 30, 2022, and the chatbot has garnered varied reception among teachers and students.

Students have utilized AI technology, including ChatGPT, for various purposes.

Familiarity with the technology is abundant in upper school circles. Students tend to use ChatGPT for things related to homework, although they rarely ask it to complete their assignments. For many, ChatGPT is just a supplementary resource.

English teacher Dr. Callie Ward has thus far been unimpressed with chatbots.

“I’ve played with [ChatGPT], to see what it would do. I’ve never actually used

anything it produced for me… I’ve given students examples of what it can produce,” Dr. Ward said. “I, for example, asked it to provide an analysis of one of the novels I was teaching. It did such a terrible job of it, that we were all laughing at how bad it was.”

With the stigma attached to ChatGPT, it seems like teachers have not been incentivized to use ChatGPT creatively in their classrooms. Faculty and students are concerned about ChatGPT’s effects on testing and assessments. Students fear testing will increasingly be limited to standardized models.

“I think it would increase the need for standardized testing, and I think standardized testing is an entirely flawed thing in the first place, but with ChatGPT there will be more of a reliance on it,” Sixth Former Tripp Ronon said.

“I think that English teachers especially are already thinking about how we can find prompts that are ChatGPT-proof, and how we can structure things to do more in-class writing, so that students aren’t tempted to utilize that outside of class.”

DR. CALLIE WARD Dr. Ward agrees, suggesting English and humanities testing may require heightened in-class, timed assessments.

“I think that English teachers especially are already thinking about how we can find prompts that are ChatGPT-proof, and how we can structure things to do more in-class writing, so that students aren’t tempted to utilize that outside of class,” Dr. Ward said.

“But it’s tough.”

“I don’t think it would affect testing that much.”

ADAM BROWN ’27 Underclassmen see pen-and-paper assessments returning to their classroom.

Third Former Lucas Crutchlow said, “I think we would stay with the paper. I would think ChatGPT might help someone cheat,

February 2024 so they’re going to make you write paper essays in English, for example. I do hate writing essays by hand.”

“The function of education in the future, if we continue the trend of ChatGPT, universities will become engineering and business factories.”

Third Former Adam Brown believes anti-AI technologies may also provide solutions.

“I don’t think it would affect testing that much, because we already have technologies that can detect if you’re changing browser tabs, or even the lockdown maps testing on Chromebooks,” Brown said.

Regardless, it is clear that students and teachers foresee changes to the classroom landscape within the next few years.

“We’re into a dystopian future already. I think we should regulate it, because it is going to ruin people’s livelihoods, it is going to ruin art in this state where we’re not expected to have standards of morals, it really is just making a profit out of something,” Ronon said. “English departments won’t exist in the future. The function of education in the future, if we continue the trend of ChatGPT, universities will become engineering and business factories. There will only be two degrees: engineering and business.”

Dr. Ward agrees.

“I would say that even though it is a challenge to keep track of my students, I still feel that not even all of the students are trying to come to me for one-on-one advice,” Dr. Ward said. Not even half of students I would say are using that time to come ask me questions, so they don’t feel like they have to be so overwhelmed to turn to other resources.”

Students react to the beginning of the second semester ELLIOT LEE ’25

F

or some, the beginning of the second semester, when schedules change and classes begin to ramp up, is cited as a major checkpoint in the school year. Still, many students feel not much has changed.

“The only thing that’s changed is the grade being reset,” Fourth Former Jack Ford said. “I’m not treating it any differently. I’m just trying to retain that standard of getting good grades and staying on top of my work.”

Fifth Former Finn Kelly disagreed.

“Every assignment right now, at the start of the semester, feels a lot more important than the ones during the middle of the semester,” Kelly said. “I’m taking the second semester more seriously.”

Fifth Former Cameron Smith also felt that his classes had become more difficult.

“The second semester is harder than the first semester for sure,” Smith said. “But I feel like I know what to expect after wrapping up the first semester.”

Kelly, however, finds that much of the difficulty comes from the change in schedule.

“My elective switched, and my free period also switched,” Kelly said. “It’s been a little weird because my free period used to

happen right before certain classes where I could use it to study, but now my free period comes after these classes, so I’ll need to switch up some of my habits.”

“My schedule’s become monotonous.”

CAMERON SMITH ’25

Smith, however, wishes that his schedule had changed.

“I wish I chose two one-semester courses instead of a full-year elective because it would have been nice to have a chance of pace,” Smith said. “My schedule’s become monotonous.”

Not all students taking full-year electives agree.

“I’m not getting bored since we’re constantly doing new things,” Ford said.

As students cross the halfway point of the academic year, some are using it as motivation to keep pushing forward.

“Being halfway through feels good,” Ford said. “It’s like being halfway through a

Students complete assignments in the Big Room, February 1, 2024 run and getting to the top of the hill, and I’ve gotten over the tipping point and now I just gotta coast into the end of the year.”

Third Former Hugh Williams is using the halfway point to check in on what lessons he has learned from the first semester.

INDEX STAFF

“I learned the importance of not doing your work the day it is due,” Williams said. “In middle school, this wasn’t a major problem because I could wing it. Now that my grades matter, I see the value of getting work done early.”

Page 11

the index · neighborhood

February 2024

neighborhood

C Block World Tour explores the neighborhood and beyond Tripp Ronon ’24

S

ixth Formers Brady Stallkamp, Tate Conklin, and Michael Wylie make the world their oyster. After signing out on the front desk iPad, the world tour begins.

“The trio formed during junior year Precalc. During ASBs we would talk about planning outings, like going rock climbing, hosting a barbeque, and going to obscure places,” Wylie says. “Over the summer, we began to execute these plans.”

When they found out they had the same C Block free period in August, they made it a goal to continue their journeys during the school day. An idea sprung among the group to somehow document their journeys.

On August 27th, Instagram account @ cblockworldtour was created.

“It was Brady’s idea to make an Instagram account to serve as an archive,” Conklin says.

Scrolling through the account reveals a diverse number of far-reaching locations the trio set out to during their free periods.

They’ve gone to Izenberg’s Deli in Conshohocken, Up-Ryes Bagels in Bryn Mawr, and Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House in Center City.

“Senior year is stressful, and free periods are all about stopping and smelling the roses, and taking a break and hanging out with friends.”

BRADY STALLKAMP ’24 “We mix it up, go to a lot of different places. Occasionally there’s a guest feature from Milan Varma or David Stewart,” Stallkamp says. “Senior year is stressful, and free periods are all about stopping and smelling the roses, and taking a break and hanging out with your friends.”

COURTESY OF TATE CONKLIN ’24

The C Block World Tour group with former English teacher Louie Brown ’15, Tate Conklin, Brady Stallkamp, Michael Wylie, all ’24 During a third period C Block in school all during one free period,” Conklin Christmas Card from C Block World Tour, September, C Block World Tour (CBWT) says. adorned with photos of the trio bearing made an excursion to The Cliffs at Callowhill, Documenting these journeys serves a holiday sweaters, illustrations designed by a rock climbing gym in Center City. As they real purpose. the group, and three signatures. “masterfully free-soloed the crimpy walls,” “The Instagram page doesn’t serve so Unfortunately, with the turn of the Stallkamp noticed someone familiar. much as a social media account, it’s more like semester and senior electives, C Block World “It was [our former] Teacher Brown!” he an archive. We want to be able to go back Tour has broken up. Wylie and Conklin now recalled. “We dapped them up and were like, in ten years and remember our senior year have A-Block free period, and Stallkamp has ‘Wow, it’s so cool to see you here Teacher and how much we fit in free periods,” says been banished to G Block.

Brown! And they said, ‘Don’t call me Teacher Conklin.

Despite efforts to concoct a schedule Brown guys. Call me Louie.’ That was so “I want to go, ‘Aw man, senior year of that maintains the group, the students cool.” high school was peak.’ It’ll be like a mini- and the registrar were unable to come to a Louie, former Haverford faculty and reunion every time we scroll through it,” says satisfactory second-semester schedule for all current rock climbing instructor, proceeded Stallkamp. three. to give all three world tourists free passes and “A C Block World Tour post brightens “C Block World Tour lives on in Fus calc a photo that lives on the Instagram page. my day,” says Haverford Alumni Alir Glad- and after school,” Wylie says. “For the rest of Louie also suggested that they should go den ’23. “It gives me hope that Haverford the year, we’re planning on truly becoming a to Chinatown and eat at Nan Zhou Hand still has such cool people. It’s the only way I world tour. Get ready for the Spring Break Drawn Noodle House. get to see what’s going on daily at the school.” and Senior Week post.” ical classroom,” Lee “That was our most efficient journey On the last day before winter break, said. “It is a lot easier to converse with others yet. It’s crazy how we went from school some lucky students received a letter handed when you are in-person.” to Center City to Chinatown and back to to them by the trio. Within this letter was a

Page 12

the index · campus opinions

February 2024

campus opinions Haverford Assembly brings excitement to history class Luca Aloi ’25

A

s a new addition to the curriculum, the history department has implemented the “Haverford Assembly” into the Fifth Form United States History course. The Haverford Assembly will span approximately two months, from January to March, and is obligatory for all U.S. History classes—both honors and standard.

The program is a mock representation of Congress, and each class period is treated as an official conference between representatives and leaders. These conferences aim to pass or veto proposed bills, find solutions, and discuss political issues to gain a deeper understanding of real-world problems.

At first, each student is a representative, but as the Assembly progresses, opportunities for leadership are available. Leadership roles include eight Rules Committee leaders, a Minority Party leader, Majority Party leader, and the highest position: Speaker of the Assembly.

Classes use parliamentary procedure, as the Fifth Form history teachers believe it is a great way to structure civic discourse.

According to the Haverford Assembly Canvas page, “[Parliamentary procedure] promotes the calm exchange of ideas while surfacing disagreements in straightforward and respectful ways.”

The Haverford Assembly requires significant student involvement and participation to make progress and succeed.

Each student is required to officially declare their party and share their political views.

COMMUNICATIONS

Kevin Covington ’25 submitting a bill topic to Nicholas Lu ’25 in an early activity in the Haverford Assembly process However, this requirement brings some thing that affects everyone in the room,” helpful because you understand your govcontroversy: opposing political views could Wiegand said. “Having uninformed people ernment more. It’s important because it gives stir up conflict, and students might not want voting or uninformed people discussing top- you skills, especially with the bill writing to share their political views. But I don’t see ics is dangerous.” process, because you get to learn how to pick these as real problems.

The Haverford Assembly also provides an issue and try to solve it, which is a really It seems this is the entire purpose of a nice change-up in the middle of the year. important skill for most jobs,” Crutchlow the Haverford Assembly: teaching students Apart from the fact that it educates us about said. to form opinions, properly debate opposing the government and politics and gives us The Class of 2025 is the first to ideas, and learn how the government crucial skills—such as learning how to vote, experience the Haverford Assembly. Since works. Aligning with the school motto, the debate opposing ideas, and form opinions— it is the first year, the system will inevitably Haverford Assembly “prepares boys for life.” the program is also a different style of learning have flaws, and the school should work to fix Fifth Former Mason Wiegand is enjoy- that engages us in an unconventional method these problems. ing the program. “I think [the Haverford of learning about politics.

Nevertheless, it is a great way to educate Assembly] is a good idea. I believe in the im“It’s always nice when a class changes up boys on how the government really works, portance of involving people in government, in the middle of the year. It’s a nice break,” teaching essential life skills and how to even if they don’t entirely want to, just to Fifth Former Michael Crutchlow said. manage difficult situations. understand the process. It’s ultimately some“I think [the Haverford Assembly] is

Peer Counseling should stay exclusive to upperclassmen

Sebastian Gillis ’25

P

eer Counseling allows upperclassmen to come together and support one another, whether by talking about the things going on in each other’s lives that they may be struggling with, or just spending some time with brothers in a supportive environment.

The exclusivity of Peer Counseling allows for students to connect on a more relatable, personal level. Providing mature and honest feedback, as well as indulging in vulnerable conversation topics, Peer Counseling allows upperclassmen to take a moment out of their day to connect with friends and converse.

Upperclassmen can find a place where they can feel safe expressing themselves and reach out for guidance, while in return

providing helpful insight and aid to their fellow Fords.

Numerous upperclassmen consistently attend meetings. Many enjoy it and find that Peer Counseling is beneficial and effective in forming connections with their peers.

According to Fifth Former Evan Tsiaras, “Peer Counseling is great. It allows for students to connect on a deeper level.”

With its strong student body support, why hasn’t Peer Counseling been offered to underclassmen?

I believe that aspect of discomfort may cause underclassmen to not uphold the virtues needed in Peer Counseling Meetings.

While Peer Counseling provides a place where students can feel comfortable talking about uncomfortable topics, I believe that aspect of discomfort may cause underclass-

men to not uphold the virtues needed in Peer Counseling Meetings.

With a sense of trust and belief in the Honor Code, brothers in Peer Counseling feel free to speak about whatever they’d like, without fear of it being spoken about outside of the Peer Counseling session.

Sixth Former Adon Gross feels that only upperclassmen should be allowed to attend meetings. He believes that with age comes a maturity necessary for the program’s success. “[Underclassmen] could easily take it as a joke and not care about the kind of Honor Code with it, ” Gross said. “It’s a privilege that needs to be earned over a certain amount of time, and I think those two years before joining is a good amount of time.”

Tsiaras agrees.

“As an underclassmen, you are not mature enough,” Tsiaras said. “You need to be mature enough to be able to listen and take it seriously.”

Underclassmen will eventually have their time to be a part of Peer Counseling, and according to Tsiaras, “the wait allows for a better relationship.”

Peer Counseling is a space where maturity and trust are needed to conduct productive meetings. In my opinion, inviting students at a younger age puts these virtues

at risk. I trust my peers more knowing they have the necessary maturity and respect for my feelings.

Peer Counseling is a privilege, and as such it creates incentive for eager underclassmen to want to earn it. But I do not think underclassmen should be allowed to attend Peer Counseling meetings until they have the maturity and understanding that comes with time.

Page 13

the index · campus opinions

February 2024

Buzz around the 2024 election race

Sam Pennington ’26

T

his year, the history department immersed the Fifth Form in the democratic process. The heightened level of enthusiasm and concern for the 2024 presidential election could be attributed to many factors, and the simulation and practice of civic engagement in history classes may unravel students’ political motivations and ask them to think of themselves as active citizens.

The current political moment impacts students’ lives powerfully. Racial injustice and economic inequality spark urgency amongst young people. But is the Haverford student’s sense of urgency for the same reason? Students see boys at this school either lightly debating politics, throwing out general statements nonchalantly, or getting into full-blown-out arguments about a political issue.

The grade-wide public polling provides a unique forum where students can discuss these topics.

The current generation of young people has become more empowered than ever before. Media engagement is at an all-time high, and so people feel the need to voice their opinions on social media platforms.

Kevin Li ’25, Patrick White ’25, and D.J. Pennewill ’25 work on their bills for Haverford Assembly The top issues heading into this election have been unemployment, health care, climate change, and immigration. Young political advocates tend to support a policy rather than a candidate, and this can lead to voters not being happy with their candidate.

As we see in current issues among the younger generation, even one policy can influence whom they vote for. For example, According to an exit poll by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, those who supported access to abortion preferred Democratic candidates (ABC).

Acknowledging the need to learn about why we vote for a particular candidate is particularly important for upperclassmen. It raises the question of whether those students are holding themselves with integrity when publicly revealing their views or side to the class, whether that’s Democratic, Independent, or Republican. Subconscious pressure from peers, or even pressure from a teacher’s perceived political view could easily sway, say, a Democrat to being independent, or a Republican to being a Democrat.

The grade-wide public polling provides a unique forum where students can discuss

COMMUNICATIONS

these topics. After this activity, you could see students making fewer general statements and being less biased.

A combination of the shift in the political landscape, empowered youth, and the history department all contribute to why students care for the election in the first place.

“Civic discourse is taught, and disagreeing with people [can feel] unnatural,” Government and Politics teacher Mr. Timothy Lengel said, “but all future voters must think of themselves as active citizens.”

Two snow days close out semester

Peter McConnell ’26

T

here is always something to love on a snow day. From the meteorology of the snow to the opportunity to sleep in, there’s some kind of enjoyment for everyone.

However, the recent snow days tested that enjoyment for some students and faculty.

When I look at the forecast and see snow in it, I’m ecstatic. There are two questions when it comes down to the forecast of a snow day: how much and when? Generally speaking, when there’s the potential for three-to-four inches, the possibility of a snow day comes into play.

But I was more ambivalent than usual watching the models for the two recent snowstorms.

Usually, I believe that any time we can get some snow is a good time because it has seldom snowed in the past few years.

However, with these recent snowstorms, the timing was a bit more challenging due to concerns about the semester ending, scheduled exams, and finishing up the work for semester classes.

Yet, I figured I’d take a snow day any day. And, it had been nearly 737 days since the previous snow day.

However, I also wanted to get the thoughts of having to study endlessly for the upcoming assessments lifted off my chest. I was not alone in my ambivalence about these snow days, there were definitely positives and negatives from other members of the community.

Fourth Former Thomas Nye saw the positive.

“My chemistry quiz kept getting pushed,” Nye said, “which gave me more time to study.”

Biology Teacher Ms. Tashia Lewis also saw the positives of the snow day.

“Teachers get just as excited about snow days as all of you,” she said.

But Ms. Lewis was also realistic about the snow days.

“There are always impacts to these fun days,” she said.

For Ms. Lewis, the snow day meant pushing her planned midterm to Monday.

The second storm at the end of the week ended up delaying the end of the semester by a day.

According to Nye, the delay was frustrating “because [he] had to miss the first class of woodworking.”

Fourth Former Brooks Brewington’s schedule was also impacted. His history midterm was also pushed to Monday instead of Friday.

But for Brewington, “it was a lot less stressful since [he] had a lot more time to study.”

Still, the snow days allowed for some extra study time amid the hectic end of the semester, and a bit of time to enjoy one of the beauties of the Earth: snow.

Jackson Harrington ’24 enjoys a snow day

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

Page 14

the index · off-campus opnions

February 2024

off-campus opinions DeSantis and Ramaswamy drop out of the presidential race Tommy Gowen ’26

O

n August 23, 2023, eight hopeful candidates took the stage in Milwaukee to run for the Republican nomination of 2024. 154 days later, only two candidates were left standing after the New Hampshire primary election, the second primary election on the Republican campaign trail.

Those two candidates are former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. While Trump contends many legal problems, they have not stopped him from taking a commanding lead in the election.

All signs are pointing to a dominating primary win for the former president, and Trump even began to widen his lead on incumbent President Joe Biden. According to a poll conducted by Morning Consult, Trump holds a five-point lead over Biden in the 2024 election.

Even the heavily divided Republican party started uniting under Trump. While not everyone in the party is thrilled with the idea of the Trump v. Biden rematch, more and more political figures in the race are throwing their eggs in Trump’s basket, including Governor Ron DeSantis, who was a competitive rival in the early stages of the primary.

DeSantis now fully endorses the former president. Same goes for Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Doug Burgham, all 2024 election drop-outs. Even Chris Christie,

another drop-out who built his entire campaign criticizing Trump, is not endorsing Trump’s rival, Nikki Haley.

So, after another huge win for Trump in the New Hampshire primary and then after building a steady lead in the polls vs. Biden, what could possibly stop him from being our country’s next president?

Well… a lot could.

Polls show that Haley would be better at leveling the blue wave, but seeing Trump’s current performance in the primary, she might not even touch the water.

As of February 2nd, there has been an effort to remove Trump from the ballot in 35 states. Two of those states have already removed him.

While both are being challenged and will likely be overturned, Trump has many legal roadblocks on his way back to Pennsylvania Avenue. Even disregarding the legal troubles, there are still many concerns about Trump’s electability.

In a recent poll conducted by Fox News,

GAGE SKIDMORE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Governor Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at the CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa Trump lost to Biden by one point, while According to a Gallup Poll, Biden’s apHaley beat Biden by four points. Haley also proval rating is at an all-time low of 38%. tends to receive far more support from mod- Trump’s camp is hoping for a low turnout erate and left-wing voters. from Biden’s base to win the election, but, as Trump is also banking on a new strat- we learned in 2020, Trump even motivates egy in 2024 that some supporters doubt. In those who are against his political beliefs to 2016, Trump found success motivating voter vote in the election. turnout, as he received even more support Polls show that Haley would be better than the polls at the time suggested. at leveling the blue wave, but seeing Trump’s However, it appears that he is hoping current performance in the primary, she for the opposite in 2024. might not even touch the water.

Biden mandates electric cars Abdullah Kanchwala ’25

T

hroughout my youth, I’ve seen a gradual increase in the usage and production of electric cars in the United States and internationally. When the production of Tesla vehicles increased in the early 2010s, I was skeptical: I couldn’t see a future where electric vehicles controlled the streets — gasoline was simply cheaper, more accessible, and already available.

For vehicle manufacturers to transition from gas to electric, they’d have to completely overhaul their supply chains, develop new technologies, and retrain or hire new staff — an extremely costly and timely process that I thought was impractical. In addition, the cost associated with installing electric vehicle chargers across the country would be astronomical. Although there are already many electric vehicle charging ports installed, with the number doubling in the past three years (IMAGE 1), charging ports are expensive — costing between $500 and $2500 to install. However, as technology has developed, more electric vehicle companies have arisen — Rivian, NIO, and others —and major auto companies like Toyota, Ford, Nissan, and more transitioned to electric vehicles. Federal legislation like up to a $7500 tax rebate for purchasing an electric vehicle, introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act has incentivized consumers

to buy more into the electric vehicle lifestyle.

In addition, California amongst other states has introduced the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) program, requiring auto manufacturers to sell a minimum number of electric vehicles. What is Pennsylvania doing? Not enough. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has introduced the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate program, providing eligible residents with rebates of $2,000 to $3,000 on electric and alternative vehicles. On a federal level, however, there has been initiative. Biden’s campaign has introduced new investments in electric vehicles, aiming for 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

They’ve committed to investing more in private and public sector electric vehicles to make electric vehicles more affordable to the public. In PA, I believe that we need to match federal goals in order to help combat climate change.

I’ve gradually seen an increase in electric vehicle usage across Haverford, which has been positive, but by the time electric vehicles are as dominant in the vehicle market as gasoline vehicles, it may be too late.

Haverford students along with state and federal governments need to be doing more.

Sixth Former Dalton Feild, who drives a Tesla Model S to school each day, believes that electric vehicles will continue to gain trac-

tion over the next few years.

“My family decided to get an electric car simply because we thought it would be more efficient in the long run, it’s a high-quality car, and it’s good for the environment,” Feild said. “I think that consumers will start to see that and as vehicle manufacturers start to do a better job, we’ll see more and more electric transportation.”

And I support Field’s prediction. We most definitely will begin to see more electric

cars, but at the rate that we’re headed, it may be too little, too late. At Haverford, we’ve seen more support for electric cars. Electric vehicle charging on campus and parking for fuel-efficient vehicles. But policymakers and government officials need to do more to encourage consumers and manufacturers to buy in to electric vehicles. There is only one Earth, and we need to prioritize it and keep it healthy — for the sake of my future, and the classmates around me.

CHRIS YARZAB VIA WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

A Tesla electric car is driven past a sign warning of extreme heat and the need to save power between 4-9 p.m., Los Angeles, California, September 2, 2022

Page 15

the index · arts

February 2024

arts

Students value Zach Bryan’s trailblazing views of masculinity Liam French ’25

O

kinawa isn’t too far from Oologah, Oklahoma, just about 6360 miles across the sea.

Oologah, whose contested name may mean “clouds” in Cherokee, boasts store fronts that haven’t changed since its settlement as a small frontier town in 1891. This is the hometown that country-folk artist Zach Bryan grew up in. Although he was born in Okinawa, Japan, into a navy family, he grew up in a “red dirt” district. If it weren’t for his honorable discharge after eight years of service, Bryan would still be serving America in what he calls “the world’s greatest navy.”

The brotherhood he formed in the navy gave birth to his music career.

He uploaded to YouTube his first single, titled “Godspeed,” while his friends recorded him in their navy barracks. After his rise to fame online and with two albums released, he dropped his 34-track triple LP, American Heartbreak, in 2022.

This is not uncommon for new artists, but strange for a country artist—a mixtape originates and is commonly found within the hip-hop community. Essentially, American Heartbreak is Bryan’s way of flooding the market with his sound to see what sticks.

Long story short, it stuck; “Something In The Orange” won Bryan his first Grammy nomination in 2023. While the name sounds cliche for a country album, American Heartbreak is a genuine narrative composed of intimate moments, a stark contrast in tone amidst a sonic landscape of pickup trucks and pretty women.

Christmas Eve 2022 also saw the release of All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks), an album version of his Burn, Burn, Burn Tour.

Zach Bryan, among other artists who cultivate dedicated fan bases, expressed disdain for the way Ticketmaster handles the buying and selling of concert tickets. Instead of using Ticketmaster for his Burn, Burn, Burn tour, he partnered with a smaller fanfriendly ticketing service. His commitment to his fans exemplifies the moral and familial feel found within his fandom.

Bryan’s decision resonates with Sixth Former Jack Long.

“The virtues that he holds, family, god, and love, are things that I think a lot of kids can relate to, due to how close of a community we are,” Long said.

Still, Long isn’t sure if Zach Bryan exemplifies the virtues on Haverford’s Walk of Virtues.

“Not exactly,” Long said. “He’s famous and he has flaws, but I think in some sense

he does.”

Yes, Zach Bryan—like all men—has flaws. He’s spent a night in jail for mouthing off to a cop and been through a divorce, but through all the pain and repentance he is still the same driven man.

Long said, “He keeps it real with his music and doesn’t go chasing after what people want him to do.”

Fifth Former Kellen Gardner agrees. “It feels like raw true music.”

After all, it’s Bryan’s honest commitment to his music and fans that have filled arenas and brought grown men to tears.

In the late summer heat of August, eight months after his last release, “Dawns (feat.

Maggie Rogers)”, Zach Bryan released the self titled Zach Bryan album. This album debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200. It saw the convergence of multiple fandoms featuring artists such as The Lumieres, Kacy Musgraves, and The War And Treaty, who are nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

“I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)” shot to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been in the top 10 for the past 22 weeks. It tells the story of an ill-fated summertime beachtown romance: star crossed lovers drinking to ease the pain of an unresolved breakup. This song was nominated for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The most powerful thing within the song, and what most people connect to is the emotion behind their voices.

“I like him cause his voice is raw, it sounds like actually showing emotion when he sings,” Sixth Former Banks Young said.

“It feels real.”

When Zach Bryan sings, “Blame it on the beach, grown men don’t cry,” he imposes a lyrical juxtaposition upon his entire brand.

Yet, coupled with the lyric “Strange words come on out of a grown man’s mouth when his minds gone,” this line implies that that the “strange words” are the sounds of him crying.

In this instance, alcohol—a core element in country music—grants Zach Bryan the clarity to feel his emotions. For boys brought into a culture where men are taught not to show emotion as it’s “a sign of weakness,” Zach Bryan flips the script and shows boys that it’s okay to let it all out.

Bryan brings up the phrase “grown men don’t cry” and blames his lack of emotion in this past relationship on something as dry as the beach symbolizing that their relationship was short, hot, and ended when she realized that he cared more about whiskey than her.

At the end of her verse Musgraves sings, “No, you’ll never be the man that you always swore /But I’ll remember you singin’ in that 88’ Ford.” She accepts the fact that the relationship will never work out even though they found companionship singing together in the car.

The car is one of the few places of privacy where boys are allowed to listen to whatever music they want. English teacher Ms. Emily Harnett speaks of this phenomenon in her classes: how boys don’t want to be caught listening to female pop stars, turning on rap the second their friends enter the car for fear of being thought of as effeminate or gay.

In this case, listening to Bryan in the car is a freeing experience. As Fifth Former Zack Oswald describes it, his songs are “especially screamable at the top of your lungs in the

car.”

Zach Bryan, providing a way for boys to freely release their emotion, is not free from the spotlight of the media, but still fights for independent control of his career. His record label, Warner Records, allows him a good amount of control over the music he produces.

In response to Bryan’s independence, Long remarks, “I feel like it’s a little more real in country… I feel like those dudes are like real people, and they don’t let what the media says or what other people are saying change what they’re actually doing. They know what they want to do, what they value, and they preach that in their music. The flaw

“People who don’t go to Haverford would describe us as one group, but everyone here is unique.”

BANKS YOUNG ’24

I see in pop is that the artists go after what people want to hear.”

While pop artists do seem to always be chasing a fad, in stereotypical “bro country,” artists like Morgan Wallen aren’t being inventive either. His song “Whisky Glasses” is essentially a pop song, the only thing making it country is the subject matter—whisky— and the instruments and tone in which it’s sung. It follows a pop song structure—excellently written, but not by Wallen. He’s not doing anything outside the box and the song itself is peak bro country. This “basic bro country” mindset is still popular among many Fords. As one matures and grows older, it’s absolutely necessary that one’s music taste evolves as well. If Fords listened to the same Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean songs all throughout their highschool careers, they would grow increasingly close minded in their music taste and worldview. Likewise, the mainline’s perception of Haverford is also close minded, clouded by the perception that haverford is a lax bro breeding ground.

Young, a representative of the Haverford community and avid Zach Bryan listener, comments on the negative way that

Haverford is portrayed in the media.

“People who don’t go to Haverford would describe us as one group, but everyone here is unique and a lot of people don’t see that because of Haverford’s reputation,” said Young.

Many see Haverford as a sonic landscape of “bro country” and Main Line white boys who listen to rap. However, the rise of Zach Bryan within the community can counter the stereotypes about Haverford.

Sixth Former Sebastian Perez states he found out about Zach Bryan by, “listening with my friends, and hearing the songs they put on. It just put me on.”

Young points at himself as starting the Haverford Zach Bryan train, and Perez responds with a grin, “probably Banks Young if I’m being honest. Just hearing it while we’re hanging out together, I related to the themes of family and God. It just made me enjoy it more.”

Long says he found out about Zach Bryan through his brother.

“He’s a musician, so he’s involved in all types of music. He definitely put me on a little bit. My friends Banks and Connor Nolan, we share music a lot, [which] picked up at the end of sophomore beginning of junior year.”

One thing led to the next, and pretty soon a Zach Bryan culture found a home at Haverford.

Gardner said, “There is always the bro-ey stereotypical country music listener.

Zach Bryan leans more into folk music. He’s broadening the spectrum of people who listen to country music.’

Clearly, Haverford is a mixed bag when it comes to music.

“I feel like in some instances we are the same,” Perez said. “In the sense that [we] listen to the same type of music, and we’ve found a love for it. However, it also took some time to search outside the box from ‘bro country’ to Zach Bryan.”

At an all boys school, it’s easy to get caught up in a hypermasculine front.

Thankfully, the softer soothing inflections of Zach Bryan’s voice may play a role in forming positive outlooks on masculinity within certain school subcultures.

Allowing boys to feel comfortable in the uncomfortable—expressing vulnerability— is integral in developing healthy perceptions of masculinity.

KATRINA PAISANO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Zach Bryan performing at Crypto.com Arena on Auguest 23, 2023

Page 16

the index · arts

Upper school students support middle school musical

February 2024

Russell Yoh ’24

F

or many, the weekend is a time to rele It seems everyone knows who Charlie Brown is. Generations now have grown up with the Peanuts characters, whether through their holiday specials, their catchy “Linus and Lucy” theme song, or most recently the 2015 The Peanuts Movie.

This year, the middle school took on performing the Peanuts musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

When deciding which musical to choose, middle school theater teacher and director Ms. Jennifer Hallman went with what would bring the most joy to the audience.

“It’s so fun and lighthearted,” Ms. Hallman said. “Everyone can relate to the Peanuts characters, you just kind of live life through these characters, and there are so many of them, so you can feature that many more kids.”

work so hard to teach them what they’re so supposed to do,” Ms. Hallman said. “When they’re really feeling it, that’s the best part of the whole thing.”

The show consists of many scenes and songs compiled together rather than a single storyline, which Ms. Hallman thinks helped her students become more involved in the show.

“There’s no real cohesive plot to the musical, so the kids really have to tune in and pay attention to what’s happening, and it creates these really beautiful moments in the wings of kids watching. It creates these really lovely friendships because they’re supporting each other, and each night they got closer and closer,” Ms. Hallman said.

Many upper school students, although in the midst of their own musical’s rehears-

als, also showed out to support the middle school show.

Sixth Former Sebastian Golderer went to see the show and had a great time.

“What I loved most was the collaboration between each and every member of the cast. The performances of the leads were all wonderful, particularly for middle schoolers,” Golderer said, “but what was perhaps even more pleasing to witness was the effortlessness with which the show’s numerous constituent players worked together.”

Fifth Former Aaron Bonaparte also noticed the top-notch performances from many of the lead actors.

“The middle schooler Bryce, who played Schroeder, did an incredible job in his song ‘Beethoven Day,’” Bonaparte said. “Also An-

gie, who played Lucy, has consistently done amazing in middle school shows. Two years ago she did an amazing Wednesday in Addams Family, last year she was incredible as Fiona in Shrek, and this year she absolutely killed it as Lucy.”

Having so many high schoolers attend the middle school show means a lot to Ms. Hallman, as well as to her students.

“It was really beautiful to see so many high schoolers in the audience,” Ms. Hallman said. “To have that connection is really beautiful, and it just supports the community and ideology of the brotherhood that we want our students to have. We see it a lot in sports, as people are there and cheering and invested in the game, so when you attend a show, it just fuels the love and pride they have for what they do.”

“What I loved most was the collaboration between each and every member of the cast.”

SEBASTIAN GOLDERER ’24 While the process of putting this show together was stressful, it came together just as Ms. Hallman and the rest of the cast and crew anticipated.

“The best part of the process is always show week, because, even as intense as it is, seeing each of the kids really come into their own character is so amazing because you

COMMUNICATIONS

Cast members of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Artists hunger for improved gallery spaces Russell Yoh ’24

W

alking through the hallways of Wilson Hall, one will see various drawings, sculptures and paintings along the walls.

But, since many are always in a rush to get to class or move on to the next thing, do members of the Haverford community properly acknowledge the work that goes into this art? Is the Haverford Visual Art Department getting enough appreciation?

Haverford offers courses in 3D Art, Ceramics, Digital Art, and Woodworking, among others, yet many of the art students and faculty feel that more could be done to

draw attention to the various creations from this department. The school’s website even says, “the many gallery spaces and art studios regularly host student shows and professional artist exhibits, who show their work and conduct workshops with classes.”

For one, many students don’t know what actually happens in art classes.

Art Department Chair Mr. Christopher Fox said, “I think the school’s intentions are very good. The school itself supports the arts probably better than any other school supports their arts program, and visual arts is no exception. But do people really understand

what we’re doing? I don’t always think so, because it’s not just painting pictures.”

Currently Haverford’s main art displays are in Centennial Hall’s gallery and upper school hallways, but many feel something else should be added to give the art more exposure.

“I would like to see a bigger, more robust gallery at Haverford,” Ceramics teacher Mr. Jacob Raeder said. “Centennial Hall’s gallery space, while it is often good for 2D work, really is not able to show 3D work in a more sustained and ambitious way. I think that without having a dedicated gallery space

Student artwork on display for the Sixth Form 3D art pop up gallery, February 4, 2024

CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTING ’24

with lighting and white walls and access to electrical things and being able to mount work on the walls, Haverford’s art will always be kind of second tier.”

Many students share this sentiment, and some have ideas for specific solutions.

Sixth Former Tripp Ronon, who is heavily involved with the visual arts department, proposes using one of Haverford’s most populated student spaces to get the job done.

“The Community Room has recently been utilized as an art gallery space through the Parents’ Gala, and I think it should stay that full time. I think we should get a big gallery wall and have cool exhibitions there,” Ronon said.

With events like the Gala recently displaying lots of art, it seems students are beginning to notice an improvement in the visibility of school artists.

Sixth Form art student Tate Conklin said, “I think that in the past there has definitely been a lot of underrepresentation for artists, but the school is taking steps to display more student art. I feel like we should continue to have events where parents, teachers, and students can all observe student art.”

Although creating an official art gallery is an ambition shared by members across the department, that is not the main focus of their work.

“As artists, we know that we don’t need to be seen. We don’t get our value from the audience and its reaction, we get our value from creating and the creative process. I think it would just be a great bonus to have people recognize that,” Ronon said. “Art is beyond decoration on walls. It should be elevated to having its own space.”

the index · arts

February 2024

Student artwork on display for the Sixth Form 3D art pop up gallery, February 4, 2024

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

Page 17

Scenes from the gallary: Art Portfolio: 3D Design time-pieces

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

“Out of the Void” - Tanner Vogel ’24

“Time in War” - Luke Putter ’24

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

“Supersized” Jackson Forte ’24

PIERCE LAVERAN ’24

“Space Time” - Joseph Herd ’24

ETHAN LEE ’24

the index · sports

Page 18

February 2024

sports Squash team looks to bounce back Elliot Lee ’25

C

oming into the winter season, Fords Squash held high aspirations: defeat their rivals at Brunswick School and Saint Andrews School, win the Inter-Ac for the third straight year, and win High School Nationals at the end of February.

They defeated Brunswick and Saint An-

drews in close matches, but fell short at the Inter-Ac championship, losing to Episcopal Academy.

“They surprised us with how strong their lineup is,” Sixth Form Co-Captain Render Ford said. “When we face them again in a few weeks, we’ll be ready.”

The team, dealing with illnesses and

injuries, fell in a tight 5-4 match against Episcopal. However, they look forward to improving for Nationals, hosted at the Arlen Specter Center from February 23-25.

“All of our players really wanted [a win] and were hungry enough to fight for it.”

DEVON LI ’25

Graeme Herbert ’24 in a 9-0 win over Malvern, January 25, 2024

INDEX STAFF

“All of our players really wanted it and were hungry enough to fight for it,” Fifth Former Devon Li said. “I’m honestly not thinking about the [loss], I just want the team to do their best so when we get to nationals, and if we lose, we know we did absolutely everything we could.”

Co-Captain and Sixth Former Drew Glaser echoed the sentiment.

“I still believe we can win a national championship, and we’ve shown we can beat the top two teams in the country,” Glaser said. “But the reality is, we need to get back to our ways at the beginning of the season.

The past couple weeks have been extremely hard for us to get good hard training in due to lots of matches, lack of available court times, illnesses among the team, and even snow days.”

Glaser believes that a combination of hard training and support from his brothers was the key to their early success, and will be the key to success at Nationals. “[To beat Brunswick and Saint Andrews] we trained extremely hard every

day and were able to have consistent, tough practices,” Glaser said. “Having the crowd was extremely important to our win.”

Fords Squash is looking to take advantage of the weeks leading up to Nationals to bounce back.

“Now we are healthy and have a good block for hard training. We will be implementing 6 a.m. practices,” Glaser said. “The

“The team... has never been more motivated to train harder than ever in preparation for Nationals.”

RENDER FORD ’24 team, for obvious reasons, has never been more motivated to train harder than ever in preparation for Nationals.”

Ford believes the team has something to prove, but realizes that success will require effort and dedication.

“At practice, we need to hold each other accountable. This is something we talked a lot about in our recent loss to Episcopal,” Ford said. “I want to see this team be number one in the country. I can’t wait to see this team prove to everyone that we are stronger than our losses and better than our wins.”

Li believes that the team has the grit and determination to hoist the national championship for the second time.

“We want the win more than them,” Li said. Glaser agreed. “I can definitely tell you that our season is far from over,” Glaser said.

Underclassmen take charge in winter track Quinn Sullivan ’25

T

he winter track team has adopted a unique training approach, stepping away from conventional methods. Navigating the corridors with a distinct strategy, they’ve turned the fieldhouse’s hallways into a dynamic training space. This unconventional routine challenges typical winter track preparations, revealing a story of adaptability and determination that transcends traditional training facilities.

Underclassmen now take the predominant leadership role, with Fourth Form Captains Henry Galia and Ahijah Goins, as well as Fifth Former Alex Dardarian.

Goins, described by Fifth Form teammate Nick Krakovitz as a “complete workhorse,” reflects on solid team improvement.

“The team so far is having a great season.

I’ve seen a lot of improvement throughout the team,” Goins said. “This season has been filled with many personal records, and I know there are more to come. Many athletes are ranked highly in the state, in relays and individual events. This indoor season has been solid all around, and we want to carry this morale into the spring season.”

Traditional training for track sticks to the basics—there is no ball, no goal, no point system, just pure speed, agility, and ef-

COURTESY OF JAMES GATES ’24

Sixth Former James Gates’ pole vault approach at an indoor track meet at Lehigh University, February 3, 2024 fort. While intense training measures, such as strenuous core sessions and rigorous band conditioning, maximize stamina and explosivity, they also take a toll on the athlete— physically and mentally.

Although young, Goins, a track veteran of ten years, motivates and encourages his teammates with a simple maxim: “run your race.”

“I encourage every athlete to believe in their training and to ‘run their race’ when at meets. At practice, I remind the athletes that practice is where you work the hardest. When practicing, many repetitions go into becom-

ing better runners, jumpers, and throwers,” Goins said. “I make sure the athletes know that they are all capable of completing the race or event they have set in front of them.”

This is what makes the winter track season such a grind.

Most times, the conditions outside are just not good enough to train in. The weather is too bitter, too dark, too cold.

The team must persevere through this, both together and individually.

Goins highlights the individual and the collective as two necessary viewpoints for achieving team goals this season.

“For the team, I want to see everyone succeed and continue to grow. One goal I have is for as many athletes on the team to make the PA Indoor State Championship,” Goins said. “I actively encourage athletes on the team to try and help them reach their goals. I want to bring the best out of each athlete so they can be the best they can be.”

Goins also strives to embody these qualities.

“As a young leader, I apply my experiences from my track career to help and push the members of the team.”

the index · sports

Page 19

February 2024

Embiid’s performs in historic playoff Nate Gill ’26

O

n Monday, January 22, Joel Embiid dropped seventy points on the San Antonio Spurs in a 133123 win. The Cameroonian center came out and welcomed the rising French rookie, Victor Wembanyama to the league.

Embiid, averaging 36.0 points per game this season, is coming off of an MVP season and looks like he might win again this year.

Going into the matchup, the 76ers record was 29-13, whereas the Spurs were 8-34.

The Sixers were predicted to win by 84%.

Embiid started off the matchup with an incredible 24 points in the first-quarter.

In the second quarter, he added ten points, giving him 34 points in the first half. In the third quarter, he began with a three and then an and one leading Head Coach Nick Nurse to say, according to ESPN, “Wait a minute, he’s already got like 37, 38, something like that. I was like, ‘Geez, that’s a lot, with a whole half to go.’” Joel then scored 25 more points leaving him with 59 at the end of the third.

“The only thing I told my teammates was please just don’t force it Let’s just play basketball.”

JOEL EMBIID Joel Embiid normally sits in the fourth quarter if the 76ers are winning, so it was unknown if he was going to check back in to go for his personal best or for the Seventy Sixers record which was set by the great

Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 against the Chicago Bulls when Chamberlain had scored 68 points. However, Joel checked back in with 6:25 left on the clock. He made a pair of free throws bringing his total to 61, surpassing his career record. “The only thing I told my teammates was please just don’t force it,” Embiid said. “Let’s just play basketball. If I’m open, pass it, if I’m not, make sure you make the right play.”

Joel continued to work against the San Antonio defense as he powered toward the 70-point mark. Getting a defensive rebound off the Spurs, Embiid proceeded to go coast to coast and lay a finger roll lay up in the basket for the 70-point mark with 1.22 left in the game. He then clocked out.

“I had it going.

I mentioned a few times... a lot of teammates are extremely unselfish, and they just kept giving me the ball.”

JOEL EMBIID Joel went 24 of 41 from the field 2123 from the free throw line and 1 of 2 from beyond the arc. In addition to his 70 points, he had 15 rebounds and 5 assists as well as a block and a steal. He became the ninth player ever to break the 70-point club joining Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant, Devon Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Da-

ALL-PRO REELS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Joel Embiid prepares for a free throw at a 76ers game, January 9, 2019 mian Lillard. Embiid’s, however, was done in the shortest amount of time as he reached the total in just 37 minutes.

“It was just a great night,” Embiid said according to an Athletic reporter, “I had it going. I mentioned a few times, a lot of

teammates are extremely unselfish, and they just kept giving me the ball, and I just finished it.” As we watch the rest of the season we hope that Embiid can keep up this MVPlevel caliber and carry the Sixers through the playoffs.

around the corner

13 16 23 28

Varsity basketball plays SCHA at home, 4:00 p.m.

Beginning of four day weekend, no classes, Presidents’ Day Weekend

Varsity Squash, Nationals Varsity Wrestling, Nationals

Parker History Lecture, Dr. Julian Zelizer

Wed., 2/21 - 8:30 a.m. - rm. 345

the index · sports

Page 20

February 2024 the team together against stiff competition.

“Some of the guys and I started talking about how special the team would be since middle school. In the end, what’s going to set us apart is buying into the team and support-

“In this group of swimmers we have going to Easterns, every guy has worked their heart out.”

EDDIE KOHN ’24

COMMUNICATIONS

Zack Oswald ’25 swims down the lane against Conestoga High School

Swimming and diving team looks to take home their second Easterns championship Ryan Wang ’26

T

he swim season is ending soon, but the stakes are higher than ever. For the last three months, the team has gone through eight grueling swim practices and two weight lifts each week. The swimming and diving teams are preparing for Easterns, the final swim meet of the season, which will take place on February 16 and 17.

Haverford Swimming and Diving has had many impressive finishes at Easterns in the past few years including a fourth place finish last year. This year, the Haverford swim team is looking to bring home their second Easterns Champions title.

This season, the swim team finished 3-0-1 and shared the Inter-Ac title with Germantown Academy. Despite the swim team’s great success so far this season, the boys are

not satisfied and are looking to bring home an Easterns title. This common goal has kept the team motivated and committed through tough practices.

“Going into Easterns we have one goal. To win.”

ZACK OSWALD ’25 On February 3rd, the Fords finished second behind Germantown at the Inter-Ac Invitational Meet, despite setting two pool records in the 200 medley relay and 100 backstroke. The rivalry between the Fords and Germantown is steeped in intense com-

petition.

“There’s definitely a lot of bad blood between us and Germantown, similar to the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry,” Fifth Former Zack Oswald said. “It sucks that we couldn’t win the Inter-Ac outright and the Inter-Ac Invitational Meet but all we can do is look forward to Easterns.”

Despite the loss, Oswald and the rest of the team are doing their best to prepare for Easterns.

“Going into Easterns we have one goal. To win,” Oswald said. “I have never experienced an atmosphere like Easterns in my entire career. Even though we’re a team that performs well year round, we can still step up to a different level, especially in an environment like Easterns.”

Brotherhood under heat serves to bring

ing our brothers louder than anyone else,” Oswald said.

“It has been difficult to not be able to help out my team in Inter-Ac meets this year,” Fourth Former Jack Grimley said. “I am very excited and look forward to swimming at Easterns and being able to contribute to the team I’ve trained with all season.

The Haverford Swimming and Diving team has been a great experience for me and I’ve gotten very close with the whole team.”

With the addition of Grimley to the swim team’s roster for Easterns, the team is stronger than ever.

“Easterns will definitely be very fun and I can’t wait to race for such an amazing team and win Easterns with them,” Grimley said.

“These last three months have been a grind. In this group of swimmers we have going to Easterns, every guy has worked their heart out,” said Team Captain and Sixth Former Eddie Kohn. “From waking up at 5:30 in the morning to practice before school to three and four-hour swims, everyone has put in the work.”

Once again, the brotherhood that the team has formed has made a huge impact on the season so far and will continue to be one.

“Training with these guys by my side has meant a great deal to me and our connection to each other will be a major factor as we roll into Easterns,” said Kohn.

With the hard work that has been put into this season, as well as the off-season training that many swimmers do, Fords Swimming and Diving looks ahead to a great meet at Easterns this year.

The Flyers future is the brightest it’s been in years Grayson Morgan ’26

F

or Philadelphia Flyers fans, these five words have been words of hope: A New Era of Orange. These five words have been words of change, an opportunity to start fresh. The “New Era of Orange” was the slogan implemented after the conclusion of the 2022-23 NHL regular season by organization executives who understood that the mediocrity of the past few years would no longer be acceptable.

GM Chuck Fletcher was fired, with Flyers legend Danny Briere succeeding him and Keith Jones, former Flyer, filling in as President of Hockey Operations.

Briere got his GM career off to a hot start, trading defensemen Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

He elaborated upon this decision, stating that “We have a chance to really kind of start building the team the way we want it, the right way that we’ve talked about…It kind of starts with that.” He proceeded to make a flurry of moves in an attempt to undo the atrocities left by his predecessor, inciting a traditional, official rebuild. The plan was to build through the draft, bolster the team morale, and add talent over time.

The result? A team of motivated men willing to sacrifice for their team. In under a year - two years under the projected timetable - Jones, Brierre, and Head Coach John

Tortarella have fostered the 14th ranked NHL team. After a bottom five finish the year prior in which effort and morale levels were cited as “problematic,” and “toxic,” the Flyers squad of this year have played as a team, and depended on each other late in the game. It is apparent through play and interviews that the organization leans upon each other, as well as their dedicated fans.

The City of Brotherly Love can be an electrifying city to represent in times of success.

The City of Brotherly Love can be an electrifying city to represent in times of success, and a demoralizing city to represent in times of struggle. However, the New Era of Orange has been all as promised. Brierre, Jones, and Tortarella have not disappointed eager fans, and in return, have been rewarded with immense support and loyalty. The future of the Flyers team is brighter now than ever before. The team has embodied brotherhood in a manner that should be strived for by all.

GOVERNOR TOM WOLF VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Flyers’ mascot Gritty welcomes Gov. Tom Wolf to the Wells Fargo Center, May 3, 2021