March 2021 Index

the index The student voice since 1888

The Haverford School · Haverford, PA 19041 · March 2021 · Volume 88, No. 6 · thsindex.org

Haverford, still preparing boys for life?

PHOTOS AND DIGITAL ART - JEFFREY YANG ’22

Mr. Timothy Lengel ’07, Andrew Johnson ’22, Mr. Christopher Fox, Dr. John Nagl, Mrs. Kara Cleffi, A.J. Sanford, ’21, and Mr. Louie Brown ’15 Jeffrey Yang ’22

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he “Preparing Boys for Life’’ motto flies on our light poles, appears on our ID cards, and is inseparable from Haverford’s reputation, but, despite how often we see the phrase, seldom do we reflect on its significance. These four words define the basis of our education, our community, and our values. Yet whether or not the school fulfills its mission in each of these sectors is a question of its own.

For one, even the implications of what “Preparing Boys for Life” means differ between members of the community. Head of

School Dr. John Nagl referred to the school’s recently rewritten mission statement, emphasizing three words.

“The school community—community—means that all of us prepare boys for life by developing character, intellect, and compassion. I love those three [nouns]: character, intellect, and compassion.” Dr. Nagl said. “I think a boy school that thinks compassionate graduates are the outcome is a distinguishing characteristic for us.”

Biology teacher Mrs. Kara Cleffi believes that, beyond morphing students into

gentlemen, the mission means to equip students with skills that are useful in the future.

“I think that the school is trying to focus on skills that you can carry throughout both your education and beyond. That idea is that you know we want to focus on things like writing skills and research skills, and problem-solving and things like that that are not necessarily all content-specific,” Mrs. Cleffi said.

Fifth Former Andrew Johnson interprets the phrase as preparing boys to be leaders.

“I think it’s to prepare kids for being influential people in the future. A lot of us have the power when we grow up to influence the world, whether it be good or bad, so I hope Haverford is teaching its kids to influence the world in a good way,” Johnson said.

But the school’s focus was not always thus. Art Department Chair Mr. Christopher Fox, the most senior faculty member in terms of years of teaching at the school, cont. on page 4

Fords lacrosse eager, prepared for success Agustin Aliaga ’21

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ith lacrosse back in full swing, the Fords are in the midst of what hopefully will be their first uninterrupted season since the spring of 2019. The long period without practice or competition has presented challenges, but players and coaches have made a number of adjustments.

Varsity Head Coach Brendan Dawson explained how each year produces a unique challenge, but certain aspects of Haverford lacrosse remain the same, even during a year like this.

“We try to replicate a lot of the same things from year to year,” Coach Dawson said. “There are traditions—whether it’s how we walk out to the field, or the tradition of guys getting out on the wall in the morning and shooting in the morning. Things like

Track and field p. 30

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

that and the extra work have made Haverford lacrosse what it’s been, and that’s going to continue to make Haverford lacrosse what it is.”

While these aspects have remained a staple of the program, certain features of the team have changed. Since the last time the Fords had a full season, new leaders have risen, new faces emerged, and new protocols enacted.

“There is a yearly challenge that’s different from any other year, and it’s never the same,” Coach Dawson said. “There is a proven formula, but the shape the team takes every year is very different. It’s different players, different skills, and different personalities.”

Nolan Cooleen ’21 works upfield vs. Gilman School, March 11, 2021

cont. on page 28

Ms. Kori Brown p. 10

COMMUNICATIONS

Unique athletes p. 31

COURTESY OF THOMAS HALL ’21

JEFFREY YANG ’22

KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Critical race theory p. 21

the index · editorial

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the index 2020–2021 Staff Agustin Aliaga ’21 Editor-in-Chief Matthew Schwartz ’21 Editor-in-Chief Tyler Zimmer ’21 Editor-in-Chief Mitav Nayak ’222 Managing Editor Ryan Rodack ’22 Managing Editor

editorial

“The Golden Rule” of college decisions

I

n the coming weeks, many of your peers will log into their application portals, take a deep breath, and make that leap of faith. Writing college essays was more than a challenge. Each student made an attempt to define himself in strict increments of 150-to-650 words. But the most difficult part of the process began after these essays were polished and completed.

From New Year’s all the way through to the end of March, the majority of the Class of 2021 made a weak attempt to hide their feelings and nerves beneath a cool demeanor.

Yet each day that passed only added to the internalized stress that comes with waiting.

Now this wait is finally over.

While we hope that every member of the Class of 2021 is welcomed into their

Jeffrey Yang ’22 Managing Editor Quinn Luong ’22 News Editor Joey Kauffman ’22 Features Editor Jingyuan Chen ’22 Academics Editor Connor Pinsk ’23 Neighborhood Editor Austin Zhuang ’22 Campus Opinions / Design Editor Michael Tallarida ’21 Off-Campus Opinions Editor Kethan Srinivasan ’21 Arts Editor Jake LaRocca ’22 Sports Editor 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 88, No. 6 - March 17, 2021

March 2021

first-choice school, some may be unhappy with the first sentence of the virtual letter.

Some will feel cheated and their efforts all for naught.

To those that are lucky enough to read that coveted word at the top of their letter–– Congratulations!––we ask you to be mindful of your words and actions. Be proud of yourself, but remember that your unbridled excitement can make those who were simply told “no” without reason even more hurt.

Conversely, if you feel disappointed by the outcomes of your hard work, keep your head up: everything happens for a reason.

Use this time to weigh your options and find the place where you will be happiest for the next stage in your life.

And to the rest of the school, keep these situations of your brothers in mind.

Approach the topic with care and caution and make sure you ask your Sixth Form friends how they are doing.

Senioritis, coupled with the tension of these decisions, creates an environment full of stress and confusion. Be there for one another, smile humbly if you get in, and hug—or at least perform the COVID era equivalent—someone who does not.

Put yourself in someone else’s position, and ask yourself, “How would I want to be treated?”

2020-21 Editors-In-Chief Matthew Schwartz ‘21, Agustin Aliaga ‘21, and Tyler Zimmer ‘21

Letter from the student body president Cyril Leahy ’21

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any of my underclassmen friends have asked me for advice on their Haverford journey at course registration time, and I usually give the same advice: build a bond with your advisor, keep a few strong friends, always push your limits.

My advice culminates with the same course recommendation each time, though: any course with Mr. Hightower. I am one of the many students at Haverford that has taken a music class, but I am one of the not so many that has taken them all (except for the guitar class, which was a shame).

Taking Intro to Music Theory, I got to have some real fun learning about music with kids I had never met before, while also enjoying great seasonal games of football. I still see the guys from my class, and we talk about “Snow Bowl,” “Turkey Bowl,” or my personal favorite, “Bowl Bowl.” From there I underwent Music Composition/Music Production and Recording, where my peers and I got to explore the technical aspects of beat making and modern music technology while making fun songs on our own. In Advanced Music Theory, my classmates and I sweated through music history and learned about five of five chords.

The class taught me a lot about music, but the content has little to do with this mainstay advice. The classes are always my recommendation, no matter your musical prowess, because of the instructor behind them. Mr. Hightower, who is also my advisor, is the most fascinating teacher I have ever met. He is constantly working on music, teaching students new tricks to better them and sometimes himself.

Simultaneously, Mr. Hightower’s character is on display in each class. With his class, Mr. Hightower shows a fun-loving ideal for a teacher of young adults. Sometimes classes are focused, sometimes we discuss his time in North Carolina or sacking Matt Ryan (the NFL guy), and sometimes he’s outside catching passes with his students.

In his intermediate courses, Mr. Hightower

COURTESY OF CYRIL LEAHY ’21

COURTESY OF CYRIL LEAHY ’21

balances allowing independence through solo projects while guiding students through honest feedback and cool suggestions.

Finally, his advanced class teaches students what it means to be at a high level of craft; he has fun giving quizzes just to finish them in five minutes by himself. Mr. Hightower moves to the beat of his own drum, and his philosophy that students get out what they put in gives Haverford men a dose of reality.

This letter may seem a bit strange, as it does not have a singular purpose; yet,

I would have been remiss if I had not given my fellow Haverford students a final bit of advice on how to spend your time at this school.

Taking music has nothing to do with music.

Rather, I have found my best experiences in school have been spent when my classes mix, having a great time and learning valuable life lessons. Mr. Hightower is definitely that guy.

So take my advice or don’t; as Mr. Hightower might say, “it’s all about choices.”

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March 2021

news Faculty vaccinations key to future normal Gabe Gowen ’21

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ath teacher Ms. Barb LaPenta watched the ball bounce up and down in anticipation.

There she sat, at 5:15 p.m. at Bucks County Community College, watching a basketball game while waiting for her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. After what seemed like ages, a nurse called her back and administered the dose. After that, she went home. Simple as that.

The only side effects Ms. LaPenta felt were a little tenderness the next morning, and the good feeling knowing that she was now significantly less susceptible to COVID-19.

Every single person counts at Haver-

ford, but one teacher’s health faltering has a significantly greater impact than one student’s. Teachers, based on age, are generally more susceptible to COVID and its symptoms. With this in mind, teachers’ vaccinations are an obvious path to safety and future normalcy. The sooner more teachers have the experience Ms. LaPenta had earlier this year, the sooner we will finish our journey on the path back to normalcy.

Since the beginning of the year, as the majority of Haverford’s teachers have not yet been vaccinated, a few faculty members teach from home as a COVID precaution.

Along with those teaching virtually indefinitely, an in-person teacher will occasionally

Ms. Emily Harnett teaches an in-person English III class

GABE GOWEN ‘21

have to teach virtually in wake of possible COVID exposure. While the desire, or even necessity, of virtual teaching is completely understandable, there is no denying that the virtual education experience is markedly different from the in-person one.

“It takes away from so many things,” inperson Latin teacher Ms. Adkins said. “[Online teaching]is a pale comparison to what life in the classroom is like.”

In light of the pandemic, HIPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws allow teachers the privacy to teach virtually on the advice of their physician.

Obviously, these teachers are not choosing to work from home: they must for their own safety. However, that does not negate the effects of online instruction.

Teachers like Ms. Adkins aren’t the only ones who find the online/in-person hybrid method of teaching difficult. Sixth Former Michael Bozzi attended a class led by a virtual instructor this fall and felt a similar way.

“I’ve had one teacher that’s been online,” Bozzi said. “I feel like if we’re putting in the effort to be here every day, and be here in class to learn hands-on, face to face, then yeah, I think the teacher should also be in class.”

The hope is that these remotely taught classes can be returned to some form of normalcy with faculty vaccinations. Head of School Dr. John Nagl has been in contact with Montgomery County.

“The Federal Government is making Johnson & Johnson vaccinations available to all school faculty and staff; Montgomery County plans to begin the inoculations next Wednesday [March 17th]. We don’t yet know how many of our teachers will be receiving them next week, but believe that all

will be vaccinated within the next month or so,” Dr. Nagl said.

For now, vaccines are still being distributed by county. According to a recent poll, 40% of our faculty live in Delaware County, 28% live in Montgomery County, 24% live in Philadelphia County, and 8% live in Chester County. The diverse geography of our faculty suggests that, unless vaccinations are administered through Haverford as opposed to their counties, that parts of our faculty could be vaccinated months before the remainder.

According to that same poll, 96% of faculty say they plan on getting the vaccine. However, 4% were not certain they would accept it.

It is also worth noting teachers’ willingness to receive the vaccine. According to that same poll, 96% of faculty say they plan on getting the vaccine. However, 4% were not certain they would accept it.

“I would say yes,” Third Former Russell Yoh said, as to whether he thinks teachers should be required to be vaccinated. “I would say it should be enforced.”

Amid this year’s uncertainty, vaccinations are the bricks that build our yellow road to salvation and some form of normalcy. Until then, it’s obvious we need each other more than ever.

“I’m a fan of either everybody in or everybody out,” Ms. Adkins said.

George Lanchoney’s upcoming service project Ethan Lee ’24

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he average American throws out the equivalent of seven trees in cardboard each year. The Haverford School is no exception, as we use cardboard for a multitude of purposes every day.

Sixth Former George Lachoney and some of his peers have come up with a solution to reduce cardboard waste.

Every day, we use cardboard for packages, as it is a lightweight, easily accessible material. Sodexo uses hundreds of boxes every single day to pack up and send lunches to students. The boxes generate a lot of waste.

Lanchoney plans on collecting cardboard from all over the school and shredding them to create compost. This compost will then be donated and delivered to local farms.

“The current process for recycling cardboard is incredibly inefficient,” Lanchoney said. “It takes 75% of the energy used to make the cardboard initially to recycle the box.”

Only 50% of all boxes are recycled and reused, and 31% of landfills are filled with paper waste. Lanchoney plans on collecting cardboard from all over the school and shredding them to create compost. This compost will then be donated and delivered to local farms.

“We are going to start with just the lunch boxes to see how smoothly this will run,” Lanchoney said. “Eventually we want to compost all of the school’s cardboard waste and also have students bring in cardboard to campus.”

Furthermore, Lanchoney wants to talk to the local township and ask if they can fund this program at other schools.

“Hopefully, we can get the township to subsidize the project because it is eco-friendly and relatively cheap,” Lanchoney said. “This problem of paper waste is a problem that is inevitable with the rise of online shopping.”

The end goal is to create an organization that can collect, compost, and send out cardboard waste to help local agriculture.

The project is still in its infancy.

“The end goal is a very general idea,” Lanchoney said. “I am still focused on proving that this can work on a small scale before ramping things up.”

Lanchoney hopes that this venture will help solve the problem of paper waste.

“Our nature generally is to be good to

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

George Lanchoney ’21 poses with one of the ubiquitous cardboard lunch boxes he hopes to recycle more effectively the Earth,” Lanchoney said. “I don’t know anybody that wants to believe that they are wasteful. I think that it is in our nature to try and not be careless.”

This project will impact the community by giving students an easy way to be less wasteful and have a positive impact on the environment.

Lanchoney also hopes that Haverford can be an even more environmentally friendly place. Many of the buildings like Wilson Hall and the new Middle School are already designed for sustainability and contain fea-

tures that allow the building to minimize waste in water, electricity, and other natural resources.

“At Haverford, we have so much power and the resources to do, just stuff to help the world in general,” Lanchoney said. “But few kids actually act and do stuff because they are either discouraged by seeing massive companies or the government do huge projects or think that another person will take care of the issue.”

Lanchoney hopes to get this project up and running as soon as possible.

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March 2021

Haverford, cont. from front page recalls when Haverford was primarily a college-preparatory school. “[The current motto] marked a change when we said that, rather than just preparing you for college,” Mr. Fox said. For preparing you for a career—that was an intentional decision in my time here too—we would focus on the bigger picture.”

Even with the new motto, history teacher Mr. Timothy Lengel ’07 describes a much more competitive environment when he was a student. For him, the biggest change has been the mission’s infusion into the community.

“It was a much harder place; I had a lot more peers who struggled. The place was much more ‘sink or swim’ back in the day.”

Mr. Lengel said. “The competitive spirit I think sometimes pushed students to excel and achieve great things, but also, a lot of times, [it] made us distrustful of each other.”

The community has also changed in terms of bringing light to the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

English and history teacher Mr. Louie Brown ’15 said, “What it means to be prepared for life, not only in ways that we can find academic success or career success but, what I’ve seen a lot being back this year, has

The mission as a whole is a manifestation of the school’s virtues, each one engraved into the stone holding the Walk of Virtues together. The three that former Head of School Dr. Joseph Cox most valued still remain as the community’s core: respect, honesty, and courage. And others, such as teamwork, as Sanford discussed, compassion, as Mr. Lengel discussed, or intimacy, as Mr. Brown suggested should be added, also play a role.

“I think that respect is fundamental to creating a community that works,” Dr. Nagl said. “I think honesty is being honest to yourself, being honest about yourself, and is also essential to a community working.

But sometimes it’s hard to be honest if your friend is being disrespectful, to say,‘knock it off.’ And so I think courage is essential in order to be respectful and to be honest. I think all that wraps up together into character and becoming a man of character, which I hope will be the ambition of every one of our boys.”

Some might still view Haverford’s mission and values as in the past—that the school is no more valuable than a collegepreparatory school. To this, Mr. Fox explained how his goal through teaching art is

Fox said.

Dr. Nagl argues that preparing boys for college is intertwined with the school’s motto.

“College is the next phase of preparation for a life of meaning, for life as an informed and contributing citizen. And so my own belief is that there’s a lot of crossed lines here,” Dr. Nagl said.

Sanford believes that, while Haverford prepares its students well academically and cognitively, there are still some more material skills that are not fully introduced to students.

“I was never able to take finance, so [stock trading] was something I had to learn on my own,” Sanford said.

In addition, Mr. Lengel expressed concern about students’ lack of exposure to courses teaching how to engage with others beyond the Haverford community, especially at an all-boys school.

“Every young man at this school should have to take some version of the Human Relationships course. I think there’s great value in single-sex education,” Mr. Lengel said, “but I also think we’d do you a disservice if we don’t have you think long and hard about sex, gender, relationships, these sorts

The equilibrium between preparing boys for college or a career and preparing boys for life still is, and will always be, a work in progress.

Haverford is generally able to address these issues in whatever regard that the administration wants, but, as Mr. Fox explained, there are always improvements.

“Are we getting lighter on our feet by doing that [addressing known issues]? There’s always a struggle, and I think we’re an independent school for a reason: we should be able to do what we need to do at any given time. Sometimes we feel like we can’t make changes, but I have seen big changes, so I know it’s possible.” Mr. Fox said. “So, are we doing a good job? I think we’re doing a good job. Are we doing the best we could? Not yet, but we are leaning into it.”

Certainly, the balance between preparing boys for academia and for life and general has varied.

Mrs. Cleffi said, “I was teaching two

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Flags and Haverford’s seal and motto in front of Wilson Hall really improved a lot and refocused on issues of diversity, for example—on acceptance and inclusiveness.”

Mr. Brown emphasized the rate of change within the past few years.

“In a very cool way that has extended pretty quickly and pretty significantly is the kind of work that people are doing. Just five years ago, we didn’t have an PAA or a BSU. We didn’t have so many things and the student activism that we see,” Mr. Brown said.

“I think the mission is the same, but what the mission means has changed and become a bit more progressive.”

From the perspective of Sixth Former A.J. Sanford, who has attended Haverford since first grade, this shift and its impact on the faculty has helped him feel confident to speak about racism in the classroom.

“I have never been scared to share when we’re talking about race, and many times I’ve been the only black kid in the class. I feel safe to speak out because my teachers are understanding and supportive,” Sanford said.

to give students skills they need beyond just receiving a college admissions letter.

“The art world is an exciting place to pursue, but not everybody is going to

“So if I’m thinking about what I’m doing, if I’m only teaching people about art, then I’m kind of wasting the time.”

MR. CHRISTOPHER FOX become an artist, it’s too hard. So if I’m thinking about what I’m doing, if I’m only teaching people about art, then I’m kind of wasting the time. Yes, there’s an appreciation [for art] that is helpful, but are there skills that I can teach through art that would help you no matter what you want to do?” Mr.

of things, before you leave these halls.”

According to Haverford’s alumni reports, roughly one in three graduates between 2006 and 2015 have pursued a career in finance and banking. Mr. Brown believes that the decline in students following humanities path is also a trend for the school to be aware of.

“Interestingly, in previous times in Haverford’s history, we had a majority in humanities: history used to be the most popular choice for Haverford students in college,” Mr. Brown said. “There are a lot of things in English that has changed within the last 20-30 years on that front, but I think it’s probably more related to greater trends, people devaluing humanities or overvaluing college as a path to financial and career success as opposed to college as a time of personal growth.”

The equilibrium between preparing boys for college or a career and preparing boys for life still is, and will always be, a work in progress. As an independent school,

chapters [of biology] a week, and all we were doing was just going through information, so there wasn’t a research paper, and there weren’t any lab skills happening because I just had to get through all that information.”

In the context of inclusivity, the community has also shifted. This fight against discrimination is propelled by its damage to the community.

Dr. Nagl said, “It’s a source of great sadness to me when I hear about guys not treating each other well, guys not treating each other as brothers. So when I hear about homophobia, or about discrimination for any cause—racial, religious, whatever—that strikes at the very heart of who we are as a community, and that is something that we need to continue to work on, and we need to promise each other that we’re going to be aplace where every boy and faculty member is welcome. So we still have work to do there.” cont. on page 5

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March 2021

Haverford, cont. from p. 4 The concern with inclusivity is further compounded by the sarcasm that students sometimes express. This sarcasm, Mr. Brown explained, inhibits the intimacy of the brotherhood that is so defining of the Haverford community and an all-boys education.

The concern with inclusivity is further compounded by the sarcasm that students sometimes express.

“I mean, kids care for each other a lot here, but I think that something that is

unique to socializing boys and young men is that there’s a lot of bonding through joking and ribbing and being sarcastic. And that can be an obstacle for building really deep, genuine, and intimate relationships,” Mr. Brown said.

Awareness is only the first step in the effort to make Haverford and the community it breeds inside its walls the best possible.

But, every step, is a step towards somewhere.

“I would not have stayed here for 39 years if Haverford wasn’t growing and changing and if its eyes weren’t set on really doing right by our students,” Mr. Fox said. “Have we been slower at times to react than I wanted? Yeah. But we are a learning community, teachers are learning, administration’s learning, students are learning, and a learning organism grows and changes and matures.”

Haverford’s seal in the lobby of Wilson Hall

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Diversity Alliance pushes to reform history curriculum Austin Zhuang ’22

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n a school year filled with Diversity Alliance action and calls for reform, leaders are now working with the history department and others to adapt the curriculum.

Their demands include more focus on Blacks, Asians, LGBTQ+, and women, their roles and experiences in the world and American history, and a celebration of marginalized groups and their experiences rather than a focus on their suffering. These changes would be implemented mostly in Modern World History and United States History classes.

“Because we go to a single-gender, predominantly white institution, we often have our curriculums centered around manhood, a lot of white men in history, and that’s obviously the traditional history curriculum.”

RYAN NGO ’21 Sixth Form Diversity Alliance Co-Chair Ryan Ngo believes that the school’s history education must be altered to empower underrepresented groups.

“Because we go to a single-gender, predominantly white institution, we often have our curriculums centered around manhood, a lot of white men in history, and that’s obviously the traditional history curriculum,” Ngo said. “We don’t necessarily get to view other groups in that leadership power.”

Ngo also hopes changes will give students more perspective and allow them to leave the school better people.

This goal is shared by Sixth Form Diversity Alliance Vice-Chair Nachikethan Srinivasan, who believes an education that encompasses the perspectives of more peoples is beneficial.

“There seems to be a need for a specific focus on being able to look at the course of history and how we view and how we perceive specifically Black figures, as well as other minority leaders,” Srinivasan said.

In-class discussion and analysis of these topics is also a must for him because he thinks it creates a better understanding of the socioeconomic effects history has had on minorities, particularly for Black people.

History Department Chair Ms. Turlish recently listened to the Diversity Alliance Executive team’s proposals and opinions with an open mind and open ears in a meeting a few weeks ago.

Conestoga High School on October 30, 2020

The U.S. history textbook used in both standard and honors classes “I think that they presented their ideas very professionally, very thoughtfully, very respectfully,” Ms. Turlish said.

Ms. Turlish believes that many of the changes they are proposing are already in the curriculum, although she does admit that the students may not think the topics are explored enough. She also thinks that their petition could have asked for more.

The petition “was not comprehensive,” Ms. Turlish said. “There was no request to do any Latin American history. It’s not a criticism; I’m just saying, based on who was presenting the petition, none of whom were Latinx, it would be something the kids wouldn’t put in the document.”

And, for her, something like this highlights the need for the department and other teachers to embrace feedback and change.

Ms. Turlish praised the team for its desire to focus on important questions not discussed enough.

“One example [of a proposal] that’s great is the decades-long effort to demonize the Black Panther Party,” Ms. Turlish said.

“That narrative has really stuck, and so, to mindfully seek to unravel that narrative is something that I think is very, very important.”

This new push for reform is a result of events in the past year that have caused an increased awareness of racial inequality and stimulated many social justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

“Last summer was the catalyst for every

single change we wanted to make,” Ngo said.

“But now more than ever, we realize the importance [of these changes]. The fact that it’s 2021 and a lot of these issues are still prevalent is unacceptable.”

The issue of time is important for the Diversity Alliance because it wants to see changes implemented as soon as possible.

“Over the course of the next school year, or even within the next few school years, we’d like to see a gradual restructuring of specific electives and core history classes that aren’t necessarily meant to accommodate but rather to educate,” Srinivasan said.

FIRST LAST ’2#

AUSTIN ZHUANG ‘22

For Ngo, the promptness of the reform will determine its effectiveness and implementation.

“These conversations have happened before; it’s not the first time ever that someone’s been pointing out that the curriculum is biased and limiting,” Ngo said. “So that change is gonna happen immediately, it’s gonna be at the forefront of their mind and they’re gonna make it happen as quickly as possible, or it’s just not going to happen at all.”

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Kings Mills ballroom

WISEIMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

Despite roadblock, prom limousine shifts into gear Tyler Zimmer ‘21

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f the scale ranges from a typical Coronavirus-era event to “A Night to Remember” from High School Musical 3, you’d be surprised where our prom will fall.

Choreographed dancing and flashy limousines? Unlikely. But efforts made by a new group of party-planners should allow students to sport their prom king and the baby blue tuxedos, reintroduced by Sixth Formers Colby Kim and Eli Pollack in the Halloween costume competition.

“We aren’t technically allowed to have prom through the school,” Sixth Form Student Body President Cyril Leahy said.

“To my knowledge, there’s no prom,” math teacher Ms. Barb LaPenta said. “Given the current CDC restrictions, I don’t know where we’d be able to host it.”

If you stumbled into a student council meeting, there would be no party-planning committee, no students designing an invitation flyer, and no phone call with a ballroom venue on the other line. “[The prom committee] met a couple of times last year. We have not met in a long time,” Sixth Form representative Mac Zeller said.

Student leadership has taken a backseat approach to the event that, in normal circumstances, is their top priority. The reason?

The administration has yet to develop a clear

plan.

Head of School Dr. John Nagl and Upper School Head Mr. Mark Fifer agree: the school has not yet made a decision whether prom will be school-sanctioned or parentled.

“There are a host of reasons why the school would not want to be liable,” Mr. Fifer said. “By sponsoring, you’re taking responsibility for all potential outcomes.”

Administrators have just received the long-awaited results of a Montgomery County “Guidance for Prom” meeting.

Twenty-five people. The County Office of Public Health has concluded that indoor, end-of-year, school-sponsored functions are limited to twenty-five people.

The school can either provide the finances and chaperones for an outdoor event or the parents can take the reins. In short, according to Montgomery County, a Haverford-sponsored event must be outdoors.

Graduation, along with Episcopal Academy’s and Shipley’s proms, will be held outdoors, so this is still a possibility for the school.

“We will follow the county guidelines,” Mr. Fifer said.

While decision-makers contend with liability concerns and county restrictions, two parents have taken the initiative. Interim party-planning committee Ms. Lee Seaman

and Mrs. Pam Carlino have stepped in.

“I already put the deposit down for Kings Mills [banquet hall],” Ms. Lee Seaman said in a telephone interview. “$175 per couple, 150 people, 7:30 to 11:30 on June 11.

We’ll have a D.J., photo opportunity prior, and security.”

“We want the boys to enjoy their prom,” Mrs. Carlino said. “We’ve communicated with the school through class parents.”

But the parent committee and Dr. Nagl are not yet on the same page.

“We very much hope to provide the boys with a prom experience if we can do so safely and in accordance with the law,” Dr. Nagl said.

His intentions are clear, but perhaps the only way the school can provide such an experience is to change venues. Montgomery County’s twenty-five-person indoor limit that governs school-sanctioned events, coupled with a Kings Mills’ 150-person ballroom leaves no confusion: this will be a private event.

Kings Mills Events Coordinator Jessica Power-Venuti said, “Our staff will be wear-

“There are a host of reasons why the school would not want to be liable. By sponsoring, you’re taking responsibility for all potential outcomes.”

March 2021

around the corner, but until we know that our people are vaccinated, it’s hard for me to approve.”

“It’s just a very risky situation,” Ms. LaPenta said.

Once again, all for understandable reasons, the school is also taking a backseat role to the parents driving the prom limousine.

A simple solution might be to separate the school from the privately-organized prom, but problems arise. If Haverford sponsored, teachers would chaperone; if parents funded, parents would chaperone. But what happens when the parents who funded the event want teachers to chaperone?

“I’ve been approached by [parents] about chaperoning the event,” one teacher said. “It’s a serious conflict of interest.”

Another teacher admitted that parents reached out through phone calls and emails about helping out with a privately funded prom.

Assuming Haverford is dissociated with prom, these two teachers face a dilemma.

Should they chaperone, disobeying Mr. Fifer and Dr. Nagl to see their students one last time before college? Or should they spend their Friday night elsewhere?

Whether the dinner buffet is covered

by Haverford funds or parent checkbooks, whether your favorite teacher or your friend’s mother watches you twirl your date, whether the invitation is sent by Mr. Fifer or a parent, prom is on.

“It will allow me to have one last hurrah with my classmates that resembles something much closer to pre covid times,” Sixth Form representative Trevor Pettibone said.

MR. MARK FIFER ing masks, and you have to wear them in the food lines. On the dance floor, we encourage masks, but you’re permitted to take them off.”

Each hopeful prom king and queen must sign a release form before entering. If the Coronavirus is still a concern in June, Kings Mills will not be accountable for its spread; the sponsoring party will be, and therefore Haverford is unlikely to take responsibility by sponsoring.

“We’re uncomfortable staffing the prom with our own faculty,” Mr. Fifer said. “Attending a large social gathering seems to be

Advisory online game competitions renew social connections Ethan Lee ’24

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has made it increasingly difficult for students of different advisories to interact with each other. Realizing this problem, Sixth Former Matthew Wang thinks hosting different advisory games will bolster spirits and regain the sense of community that the school values so deeply.

Skribbl.io is a game in which players take turns drawing and guessing the word being drawn. It can get highly competitive.

“I thought we could do more to get advisories together than just the Wednesday surveys,” Wang said. “My advisory had already been playing Skribbl.io, and I thought that it would be fun if it was a school-wide thing.”

In past years, advisories would compete with different activities in Centennial Hall assemblies, but the protocols put in place to keep students safe from the COVID-19 pandemic have stopped the upper school from gathering in one place.

“It is exciting to do something schoolwide again,” Wang said. “The past three years I have been here, the upper school has done these school-wide activities. Especially for freshmen, this is a good reminder that

Haverford is not just an isolated space where students can only talk with their advisories.”

Even though these competitions are online, Wang hopes that they will open up different avenues for students to interact with each other.

Additionally, Wang hopes that the advisory competitions will open the school up socially.

Additionally, Wang expects these advisory competitions to include more than just online games in the future.

“The ping pong tables were a great way for students to meet and talk with each oth-

er,” Wang said, “but now they are just sitting in the school. I think that we will be able to get tables out for some play in the amphitheater when the weather gets nicer.”

“Especially for freshmen, this is a good reminder that Haverford is not just an isolated space where students can only talk with their advisories.”

MATTHEW WANG ’21 “We were able to get the website unblocked and then Mr. Kolade sent out the invitation to any advisory that wanted to play,” Wang said. “The fact that we are able [socially] open up the school again is great.”

CONNOR PINSK ‘23

Members of Mr. Stambaugh’s advisory try their hand at Geoguessr

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March 2021

Fifth Form breaks parking norms Agustin Aliaga ’21

T

he integrity of the upper school community surrounding the ever-coveted Red Lot Sixth Form parking spots has been put to the test by a harsh snowy winter which has made parking around campus a difficult task.

As everyone knows, only Sixth Formers are granted the privilege of parking on campus, and, at that, for only three-quarters of the school year. Historically, Fifth Formers have respected, or at the very least been made to respect through the threat of consequences, the central pillar of the parking code.

This year’s difficult parking situation seems to have emboldened more than a few of those once-off-campus parkers. More Fifth Formers suspiciously enter the school from the direction of the Red Lot, and many Sixth Formers claim to have even caught them in the act. Little action has apparently resulted.

“In an ideal world there would be parking for everyone, but there’s not even enough parking for every senior, and we all had to go through it our junior year,” Sixth Former Matthew Schwartz said. “I think it’s pretty inconsiderate.”

Sixth Former Kieran Dias-Lalcaca said, “It’s not that hard. Just wait, relax.”

However, Sixth Form victims are not the only ones upset with the new trend of entitled parking criminals. Off-campus parkers also feel for the Sixth Form.

Fifth Former and diligent off-campus parker Max Rosenberger said, “I kind of feel for the seniors that get one year to park, and it’s a special thing for them, especially during a COVID year.”

But perhaps the most affected of all parking factions are those Sixth Formers who

TYLER ZIMMER ‘21

The Sixth Form lot overlooking Memorial Field were not granted on-campus parking for one reason or another.

Sixth Former Nathan Tai, who has had to park off-campus for two years now, expressed grave concerns about the Fifth Form’s disregard for parking norms: “People do stupid stuff, but they should be held accountable for that,” Tai said. “You know, juniors just park in seniors’ spots; that’s not okay.”

Some parking victims suggest a reformed mode of punishment.

“The way that juniors can just park in senior spots and get away with it needs to change, and that’s partly on the seniors who need to like do a better job of taking pictures of license plates,” Tai said.

“If they’re a [Fifth Form] repeat offender,” Schwartz said, “they don’t deserve to have a spot their senior year.”

With displeasure surrounding this year’s chaotic parking situation, the student body wants answers about how this situation will

improve.

Sixth Form Dean Mr. Tim Lengel simply said, “Juniors are not allowed to park on campus.”

Moreover, Mr. Lengel expressed that punishments will begin to fall on illegal parkers with enough evidence.

“Mr. Kolade and I have discussed punishments for [Fifth Formers parking on campus] up to and including not being able to park next year on campus.”

Mr. Lengel thinks that perhaps the investigative burden of catching these parking thieves will have to fall on the students.

“I mean the Sixth Form has not given me any evidence of juniors parking on campus,” Mr. Lengel said.

Perhaps more Sixth Formers finding their younger peers leaving their cars and strolling through the Red Lot should collect evidence for Mr. Lengel and the school parking authorities, if not to protect one’s own spot, to protect fellow legal parkers.

“Just expose the juniors,” Tai said. “If you know who that is just send the word out –– let the whole world know.”

Sixth Formers scramble to find grad projects amid pandemic

BERNIE ROGERS ’21

Patrick Gilmartin ’21 prepares to call his graduation project contact mentor Bernie Rogers ’21

I

n a normal year, Sixth Formers thrive during their final weeks of school, completing unique graduation projects. Many students typically travel, obtain internships, or even pursue a personal study or interest. However, in a time in which everything has changed, COVID restrictions have left graduation projects more challeng-

ing than ever.

According to the student handbook, a Sixth Form student must have successfully completed a graduation project in order to graduate. This spring, Sixth Formers are adapting to new restrictions that coincide with the pandemic and graduation projects.

“I have no clue what I am doing,” Sixth

Former Reed Halpert said. “Originally, I wanted to go on a long road trip and travel across the country, but the travel restrictions are stopping me.”

Halpert’s statement aligns with many Sixth Formers, even as the project proposal deadline looms.

“Unfortunately we are still in a pandemic, and I would predict that most offices will be unwilling to host interns,” Sixth Form Dean Mr. Tim Lengel said. “If those internships are not available, then students are going to have to be more creative this year.”

Mr. Lengel, who helps coordinate graduation projects, emphasized that students need to be more inventive than ever before.

Lengel also reiterated that the proposal deadline is right around the corner, and Sixth Formers need to step it up.

“I am hoping to intern at Diamond Baseball Academy, where I train, but I haven’t reached out to ask yet,” Sixth Former Jacob Stacey said.

Like the rest of the Sixth Form, Stacey should get moving.

While most are attempting to procrastinate, a select few Sixth Formers have been on the ball.

“I have actually been planning this for a while,” Sixth Former Patrick Gilmartin said.

“After Tom Farell, who founded The Workshop Content Studios, spoke to us last year in an assembly, I immediately asked him for

a business card. If everything works out, I am going to be interning for his company.”

“I have no clue what I am doing. Originally, I wanted to go on a long road trip and travel across the country, but the travel restrictions are stopping me.”

REED HALPERT ’21 Gilmartin is in rare company.

Although internships and other opportunities are extremely limited, Sixth Formers need to think more creatively.

The school is offering a brand-new three-week course that helps students transition into the real world. The course includes a college-transition week, professional-experience week, and life-skills week.

The growing uncertainty across the country has stretched deep into the school community, and it has affected graduation projects this spring.

Mr. Lengel said, “It’s hard to predict how things are going to be in another two and a half months.”

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March 2021

Admissions adapts to shifting circumstances Matthew Schwartz ’21

L

ike everything else, the admissions office has been forced to adapt and change its procedures to match the current pandemic environment.

Back in October, The Index covered such changes, including a new interactive campus map along with meeting prospective families online through Google Meet. Since then, the admissions office has begun holding student-led in-person tours on the weekends as a way for these families to interact with and learn more about the school.

“I think it’s been a challenging year not having the ability to meet most prospective students in person,” Director of Admissions Mr. Donta Evans said. “You can obviously look at scores and teacher recommendations and report cards, but to not sit across from someone and look them in the eye and see how they react to certain questions and how they interact with other students and teachers made it a little bit more challenging for us in terms of not having as much information in making our decisions as usual.”

Still, virtual meetings have their benefits and going forward will remain commonplace during the admissions process, even after COVID, with faculty and staff using it

as a way to meet with families who may live far away or are unable to make certain events due to conflicts. One group of students this format will benefit moving forward is those living internationally. Unable to easily visit themselves, meeting through Google Meet will be simpler for them to communicate and understand the school. With international applications not permitted this year, the system was not yet put to the test, but by next year the admissions office should have a better idea of its problems and potential successes.

Even without international applications, the school did not see a significant drop in total applications. In fact, overall— across the upper, middle, and lower divisions—applications were down just 3.4% compared to last year.

Still, there was one noticeable difference from previous years. Normally, the majority of applications come in during the period between August and November, yet by November of this past year, applications were down 15%.

Not until the period between December and February did applications bounce back and gave the admissions office more comfort

heading into this upcoming school year.

With the hopes of reaching other markets of students and potential families where Haverford may not have as strong of a reach, in February the admissions office released their first-ever television commercial.

“I think it’s been a challenging year not having the ability to meet most perspective students in person.”

MR. DONTA EVANS “There are all different types of advertising but more people, because of the pandemic, have been watching TV than ever before, so we saw this as an opportunity to share Haverford’s story in a different way than we’ve done before,” Mr. Evans said.

Results from the first airings of the commercial should be available soon. Additionally, every Haverford application has a field where families can enter where they first

learned of the school. As of right now, the most popular response is word of mouth.

Some concerns did arise about what student retention would look like this year, but Mr. Evans reported a 96% retention rate for both this year and last year.

A big draw to Haverford in Mr. Evans’ eyes, is how well the school has adapted to the pandemic.

Not many institutions are running inperson classes five days a week and most families are excited about that, Mr. Evans said. Furthermore, Haverford was able to help a number of families financially impacted by COVID to make sure their boys can continue attending school.

In this challenging year for all parts of the school, Mr. Evans and the rest of the admissions office feel satisfied with how they adapted.

“We think we provided a really good experience virtually for families, gave them lots of options, opportunities to meet different people and learn about the school,” Mr. Evans said. “But we’re certainly looking forward to things returning to as normal as possible next year.”

SCREENSHOT BY MATHHEW SCHWARTZ ‘21

Online Virtual Map allows interested families to “tour” the school safely

PA eases travel restrictions, raising post-spring break COVID fears Jake Maddaloni ’21

A

fter almost a year of strict COVID protocols, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is in the early stages of lifting some restrictions. On the first day of March, Wolf terminated the “Travel Mitigation” order, allowing Pennsylvania residents to travel with no limits. Despite softening restrictions, Wolf still emphasizes the importance of mask-wearing and good hygiene.

The loosened restrictions mean students and faculty may travel to warmer states for spring break. Controversy surrounds the ethics of traveling into other areas of the coun-

try and returning with no COVID test or quarantine. Depending on how dangerous one deems the Coronavirus will likely influence one’s opinion on travel safety.

“I believe as the weather gets warmer, spring break travel should be allowed for Haverford students,” Sixth Former Matt Carlino said. “However, considering the fact that other students could be returning to school without a negative COVID test does give me some concern.”

The school will follow state guidelines, which means students and faculty will not

need to provide a negative test or quarantine when returning from another state. Even though the test is not mandatory, Haverford is still taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID. “The school continues to believe that the safest choice is to remain home and avoid travel, and as such, we are recommending that students/faculty do not travel over spring break,” Upper School Head Mr. Mark Fifer said.

Some students may opt to ignore to the school’s advice. Pennsylvania residents can

travel with no restrictions, so students and faculty may spend their upcoming spring break outside the state. With no mandatory COVID test, some students will take extra safety measures to ensure they remain COVID-free.

“Traveling for break should be permitted, but [students] should return to in person classes with a negative COVID test.”

MATT CARLINO ‘21

Students return from spring break on April 6, 2021

INDEX STAFF

“Traveling for the break should be permitted, but [students] should only return to in-person classes with a negative COVID test,” Carlino said.

Some students will take matters into their own hands and take a COVID test before coming to school. This extra step would hopefully prevent future outbreaks. Along with a negative COVID test, some students wish to see other students quarantine upon returning to Pennsylvania.

“Haverford students returning from spring break should probably take a week off before coming back to school or should get tested for COVID,” Sixth Former Edward Trumpbour said.

Neither Pennsylvania nor Haverford will enforce COVID tests or quarantine, so every student has the freedom to choose how they would like to spend their spring break.

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March 2021

features

Fords react to administration’s new schedule plan Ethan Chan ’23

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rior to the pandemic, no one would have imagined a schedule with only three classes a day. Yet, our three-class per quarter schedule is nearing the seven-month mark.

On March 8, Head of Upper School Mr. Mark Fifer sent a school-wide email communicating the continuation of our current schedule and additions to be made in the following academic year.

“With the expected course load for most students of three classes per quarter in a school day containing four periods, this means that for most students there will be at least one free block per day,” stated Mr. Fifer in his email.

The integration of a free block saw positive feedback from a majority of the students.

“I feel like this was needed and will help kids when doing homework or trying to fo-

cus in a class,” Fourth Former Neil Sawhney said.

Time to complete work was a major upside among students such as Sawhney. No matter their respective courses, this block of time will take some weight off the busy schedule for many students.

Aside from homework, the preservation of one’s mental health is important in finding success in the classroom.

“This block will give students a break and breath of fresh air and think, and make it easier to focus in class,” Fourth Former Roch Parayre said.

Even with dedicated time to get work done or study, there were still mixed emotions on the decision to continue the threecourse per quarter schedule.

“It’s rough,” Fourth Former Arnav Sardesai said. “It has both good and bad parts. It is simpler only having three classes and helps organize my time for homework.

But the downside is huge. There is no time between learning topics. I think the class time works out to be the same as a regular year but there is no time to truly internalize what we learn.”

The lack of time between classes contributes to many students’ feelings of not being able to internalize the learning topics.

“With a language or math class— courses that build on each other throughout the year—it was difficult to take a three-month break and jump right back in,” Parayre said.

This quarter schedule runs in contrast to the schedule of previous years, where students were able to learn consistently at a steady pace. In addition, students can’t choose to separate their honors courses into different quarters, which disrupts the balance many students seek to maintain.

“I’m really feeling the brute [aspects] of the quarter system right now. I have finals now when spring sports are ramping up and clubs are going at full force. Normally, finals would be at the end of the year when all extracurricular activities would be done or wrapping up,” Sardesai said.

Similar to a circus act, one can only juggle balls in the air for so long before it falls.

Many other students voiced concerns similar to Sardesai, as their workload has intensified.

Still, the new schedule aims to help gradually return the Haverford community to “normal” conditions.

“We are looking to move away from a single lunch period in which advisories eat together. These modifications will hopefully

allow us to return to some of the more traditional rhythms of the school day,” said Mr. Fifer wrote in his email.

Students and teachers alike have missed the atmosphere of being together in a physical sense. With changes to the system in the works, these are all variables of COVID-19 restrictions and are dependent on how the school can mitigate risks of spreading the virus.

“I feel the school has done a great job in trying to minimize the risk of getting COVID-19 through strict mandates,” Sawhney said. “Smaller classes, Virtue Village, and a grace period in between the end of school and sports, to name a few.”

An early draft of the 2021-2022 schedule

COURTESY OF MR. MARK FIFER

Jazz Band endures in-person meeting restrictions Adiyan Nayak ’24

T

he Jazz Band has been a popular group over the years—a place where students have bonded over music and formed valuable relationships. For two hours every Tuesday night, students as-

semble to play.

For Sixth Former and dedicated musician Decker Patterson, Jazz Band has been a pivotal part of his high school experience.

“I’ve been going to Jazz Band for four

Decker Patterson ’21 plays in the 2018-19 Winter Concert

COMMUNICATIONS

years now, and it’s been one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life,” Patterson said.

“You get together with the guys, you get to play your instruments, and you have fun.

Because of that, I think it’s been a really great experience for me, and I think for a lot of the guys as well.”

The pandemic has limited the Jazz Band’s presence to prevent the spread of the virus.

As a result, students were unable to follow the familiar pattern of rehearsing and performing, missing out on previous years’ interactions.

Patterson said, “The main [difference] is that we can’t get together. A lot of what Jazz Band was about was the camaraderie between all the guys in there and the fact that we could get together. Now we’ve got to do it over the phone. It’s a bit depressing that way, so I think we’re overall just missing that camaraderie between the boys.”

Jazz Band teacher Mr. Phil Giordano feels the difficulties of operating the club virtually too.

“It was definitely a challenge,” Mr. Giordano said. “We’re used to rehearsing every Tuesday night with everybody there.

I just thought the best way to do it was to let [the students] learn the music individually. The approach I took ultimately worked because we were able to get a song together.”

By recording the individual parts and putting them together, the band put out a finished product for the virtual winter concert. Although the group managed to create

a song, they were hampered by the restrictions and could not learn the music in the most effective way.

“What really has to happen is, and I’m talking from our band to professionals, is that they need to play together,” Mr. Giordano said. “So what I miss most is getting to play together and having rehearsals and performances as an ensemble. It’s a nice feeling when the band sits down with a piece of music together and it sounds really good.”

Patterson agreed with the assessment that students have not gotten the full Jazz Band experience this year.

“A whole lot of Jazz Band is being in-person, getting to hang out with [Mr. Giangiordano] on Tuesday nights,” Patterson said.

“I think we did the best we could under the circumstances.”

MR. PHIL GIORDANO Although this year’s students have not received all that the club has to offer, the fact that the band was able to play at all is still an impressive achievement.

“There’s the old saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” Mr. Giordano said. “And when I look back on the year, I think we did the best we could under the circumstances.”

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March 2021

COMMUNICATIONS

Form II history teacher Ms. Kori Brown in a pre-COVID photo

World cultures teacher Ms. Brown sparks global perspectives amid pandemic Christopher Schwarting ’24

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mong the many restrictions brought to us by the coronavirus pandemic is the limit on travel.

What was once a truly global world, connected by rapid means of transport, quickly became a sectional world—one where physically exploring and connecting with people across the globe is difficult. Despite this, middle school world cultures teacher Ms. Kori Brown has persevered in relating global views, educating a background of diverse cultures and addressing global citizenship to her students during a pandemic.

The Form II World Cultures class challenges students to become better, more engaged citizens of the world by exploring cultural context through the lenses of people and events across the globe. Ranging from pre-modern history to the present, Ms. Brown draws heavily upon active learning to simulate and stimulate the components required to be involved in our greater world.

“A lot of [World Cultures] is meant to be experiential or interactive. The idea is to get students up and moving and experiencing something instead of just learning about it in one modality,” Ms. Brown said. “Instead of just reading about something, students actually get to experience it a little bit more, and therefore, approach a culture from multiple angles, which gives a richer experience of what they’re learning.”

For Ms. Brown, being part of this evolving classroom setting is something she knew she wanted to do from a young age.

“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Ms. Brown said. “When I was a kid, I played school.”

Still, leading global investigations through the World Cultures setting was not always the curriculum she envisioned.

“I thought I was going to be a science teacher for a very long time. I started college thinking I was going to major in chemical engineering and go the science route, but I took some history and art history classes and absolutely loved them,” Ms. Brown said. “I realized that could be a really fun way to connect with students and to get them to think, to think about the world.”

Her new focus on history forged through college and eventually led her to

World Cultures.

“My formal training was in European and Asian history and art history, and so I think World Cultures just made the most sense for me,” Ms. Brown said. “Given where the world is right now, it just feels like it is such a relevant topic, and it allows me to explore everything that is going on with my students, and isn’t that what education should be about? Exploring stuff? And so, I think that’s why I was drawn to World Cultures and still am.”

For Ms. Brown, conveying a curriculum focused on experiential learning during a

“Given where the world is right now, it [World Cultures] just feels like it is such a relevant topic, and it allows me to explore everthing that is going on with my students, and isn’t that what education should be about?”

MS. KORI BROWN time where precautions for in-person learning are paramount can be challenging. To abide by the social-distancing rules, the middle school schedule split classes into two so that two sections share the same period. The single-classroom doesn’t exist in the middle school this year.

“In the absence of [experiential learning], I tried to find other ways of giving students the same classroom experience, or a similar experience, because they can’t get up, because they can’t move around, because we can’t do the stations and simulations of past years,” Ms. Brown said.

To cultivate an experience that fits both an altered schedule and pandemic precautions, Ms. Brown has moved digital resources to the forefront of class activity.

“Some of the ways that I found to continue engagement were through digital experiences,” Ms. Brown said. “We’ve done a couple of simulations online.”

These activities have all sorts of purposes and formats, ranging from civilization development games of medieval Europe to virtual tours of Russian and Southeast Asian landmarks, exploring the hidden landmarks of Northern Africa with the aid of Atlas Obscura, or learning of the recorded daily life of a manga creator in Japan. Class competitions have even made their way into the World Cultures classroom.

“I found a global competition put on by the Global Oneness Project where they asked students to photograph their culture and then write a mini-essay about it,” Ms. Brown said. “There were submissions from Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, and all over the world there were thousands of thousands of submissions—and [Second Former] Ian Rosenzweig was one of the ten winners. I give credit to all my students for making the most [of the opportunity].”

Many of these activities and challenges take form in a new enrichment journal—a tool for providing insightful activities into a larger global context.

Ms. Brown said, “I formalized the bonus tasks from the end of last year’s virtual classes into a formal enrichment journal.

Some of the kids have been really interested in them and have been doing all of them.

I think that it is interesting because they’re getting an experience without having to leave virtual spaces in our classroom.”

All of these additional learning opportunities derive from a common foundation: technology.

“Technology, within the last five years, has revolutionized [the classroom] and made more things possible, and so I think that when we think about how far we’ve come, I’m excited about continuing to evolve, and continuing to change, and continuing to incorporate new things into the curriculum,” Ms. Brown said.

World Cultures’ continued evolution has become more significant than ever. In addition to the necessity to adjust to pandemic classroom conditions, the course also

helps critically address recent events of the past year.

“The first unit [of World Cultures] is all about culture and the history of scientific racism, and revisiting that curriculum in light of what has happened in terms of the Black Lives Matter movement and race relations in this country has been really fascinating and crucial for me,” Ms. Brown said. “I think that there are many ways that we can work to dig a little bit deeper even into what we do and to provide more contexts there.”

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Ms. Brown feels there has also been much gained from this new classroom experience.

“As I have evolved with the class this year, I’ve found that many of the challenges with finding virtual learning opportunities have become ideas I hope to integrate into the future curriculum,” Ms. Brown said.

Ms. Brown also sees a strengthening in the student-teacher relationship.

“I think the challenges of this have allowed my students a bit of a glimpse into teacher lives,” Ms. Brown said, “and so, in weird ways, even though we’ve been cut off from each other more, I actually think that

“I actually think that the technology and the connections and doing some of this [learning] from home has allowed us to establish some connections that we wouldn’t otherwise have had.

MS. KORI BROWN the technology and the connections and doing some of this from home has allowed us to establish some connections that we wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

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March 2021

academics

SAT II decision changes college admissions game Jingyuan Chen ’23

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he pandemic has sped the progress tentional on dropping our AP curriculums,” of devaluing standardized Associate Director of College Counseling tests with college admission Ms. Heather Stinson said. adjustments and the cancellation of SAT II Since the upper school discontinued its subject tests. Meanwhile, some students also Advanced Placement programs in 2006, the look to AP tests as a substitute for the subject program has moved away from a mundane, tests to strengthen their college portfolios. test-based system.

“The College Board rather suddenly “The fact that we are still hosting exams said: no more SAT IIs ever again. I don’t is great, but it feels forced into our schedule. want to call it a bombshell, but it just seems Because we don’t have AP classes, we figured interesting that it led some kids to think out that kids are missing class to take about APs, and I think the college offices have a particular feeling about that,” History Department Chair Ms. Hannah Turlish said, “Yes. I do think that there are more AP registrations this year.”

With more students considering history APs, the situation has been different in PHOTO AND DESIGN BY JEFFREY YANG ’22 the math department.

Math teacher Mr. Matt Ator said, “When I taught Calculus I last year, thirty to forty percent took the APs. With ambiguity regarding when the test will be administered this year, I haven’t heard as many students taking it. With the quarter system, we won’t be finished with Calculus in quarter four to be prepared fully for the AP, so it makes it a challenge to take the exam without outside study on your own this year.”

Student decisions seem to confirm Mr. Ator’s observations.

“I am planning on not taking the AP tests,” Fifth Former Samuel Kohl said. “I know a bunch of students like me that were taking these tests,” Ms. it but are canceling because there’s no reason Stinson said. to take them.”

Teachers observed that some students Time-restraints are not the only diffi- took the AP as a replacement for SAT IIs for culties. Haverford had purposefully dropped their college admissions. its AP courses before the beginning of the “In the short term, kids are going to get pandemic. in their mind that they need to show some“The most important thing to under- thing to colleges with scores on it. There’s stand is that Haverford dropped its AP cur- this larger world of forces that are overhaulriculum a long time ago. We were very in- ing our college admissions process in ways

that are beyond us. I think there’s going to be an uptick in the short run,” Ms. Turlish said.

Mr. Ator said, “Maybe more students will tend towards APs as a replacement.”

The College Counseling Office tries to clarify this misconception.

“A message that we keep trying to make clear to Haverford boys is that the AP was never de-

signed to be used for admissions. The AP curriculum and exams are in place, so colleges know where to place students once they are enrolled,” Ms. Stinson said. “There aren’t any colleges that require AP tests as their admissions requirement.”

While Haverford and college admissions have been moving away from AP tests, teachers have mixed emotions about the ef-

fectiveness of AP tests in determining a student’s ability. Some parts of the AP curriculum were, in fact, educational.

A key element in AP’s humanities course is the document-based question (DBQ) essay.

The history department sees the effectiveness of these questions and applies them in their curricula.

“DBQs are the closest you can get to what historians do without doing a fullblown research paper,” Ms. Turlish said.

“You’re looking at documents you’ve never seen before, you’re given something to argue and prove, and that’s what historians do.”

“I have some conflicting emotions about APs. I’ve been inspired by some DBQs. I have a lot of critical things to say about the College Board, but I do think they put an enormous amount of thought and work into crafting the exam,” Ms. Turlish said.

The math department also incorporates AP questions as a part of their course curricula.

“In our class, I have implanted AP questions.

The questions are great challenge questions that are going to be something in context: you’re working from a graph and you have to demonstrate that you know what the concept means and can twist its use,” Mr. Ator said. “But part of the silliness of APs is they like asking specific questions about specific topics that have minimal bearing on the course as a whole.”

As for the AP tests: their role in college admissions will continue to decrease along with other standardized tests.

“We’re in this really beautiful place in time. It’s a little messy, but it’s really good where barriers to higher education in our country are being broken down,” Ms. Stinson said. “We have to take that barrier away because it’s just not a possibility for many students who deserve a shot at college. I think that the schools are doing the right thing by scrapping the subject tests entirely.”

the index · academics

Page 12

March 2021

Next year’s schedule may allow for more flexibility

for honors classes. But we’ll see,” Mr. Fifer said, referencing last Friday’s course registrations on Conference Day. Fourth Former Charlie O’Brien has been able to push himself academically because he has fewer concurrent classes.

“If [the classes] are broken up between quarters, I feel like I just have more time to focus on that subject instead of thinking about six little homework assignments I have in the old schedule.”

CHARLIE O’BRIEN ’23 Hard copy of the course catalog for the 2021-2022 school year

MATTHEW SCHWARTZ ’21

Joey Kauffman ’23

A

new schedule affects almost every facet of school life, yet course registration and the scheduling process is most directly linked to the schedule, particularly early on. With almost all course-registration forms submitted on March 12, the process of assigning students classes for next year has begun, and the schedule’s layout has made the process less complicated than it was this year.

“In a schedule, it’s always recommended that you have one more block than the required number of courses for students to take, and we did not have that this year,” Registrar Ms. Karen Skidmore said. “[In] the quarter system for next year, we’re adding an extra carrier, an extra block, and that allows a lot more flexibility with where we can put things.”

The new schedule, with its continuation of the quarter system and its new four-byfour model—four periods a day, four days in a rotation—will alter which classes students take, the difficulty of the classes they choose, and the number of electives offered.

“This model should allow us to increase the number of total sections because there

will be fewer faculty members in leadership roles on a course reduction.” Head of Upper School Mr. Mark Fifer said.

This increase in the number of sections will allow more students to take electives.

Mr. Fifer said that he “wanted to qualify this [his predictions] in saying this is based upon projections right now” and that “It could change.” If everything goes according to plan, Mr. Fifer said, “[the schedule] is going to increase the number of students who have access to electives, particularly Fifth Form students, who typically don’t have access to certain electives because priority is given to Sixth Formers.”

Ms. Skidmore agreed with Mr. Fifer.

“Adding that extra carrier [block], that’s going to be significant when it comes to getting kids maybe their more preferred electives. It’s not as tight,” Ms. Skidmore said.

The new schedule will not only allow more students to get the electives they want; it will also make running electives easier for departments.

“The quarter schedule allows us to have a bit of flexibility,” the head of the Math Department Mr. Justin Gaudreau said. “In this

schedule, especially with the four-by-four, they may be more able to run classes in a quarter block, one eight-week finite period, than there would have been in our old schedule two years ago.”

The math department, Mr. Gaudreau said, “[has] been thinking about adding more mathematics electives, not only to our top students but to our standard level students who just have an interest in math.”

Next year, the department will finally be able to do this. They will add two more electives—the first a Logic class and the second a class on Math Modeling to Solve Social Challenges. These classes’ entry into the course catalog has been accelerated because the new schedule has made it easier to run electives.

This is just one example of how the schedule has changed the landscape of course registration. Another example is the difficulty of the classes students choose to take.

“You will have fewer concurrent classes, so that might lead more students to feel as if they can navigate and manage concurrent honors classes and therefore they might be more inclined to push themselves to register

“If [the classes] are broken up between quarters, I feel like I just have more time to focus on that subject instead of thinking about six little homework assignments I have in the old schedule,” O’Brien said.

“Honors history I got recommended for, but in a normal year, I don’t think I would have considered it,” O’Brien said. “But now I’m strongly considering it.”

Teachers’ curricular plans meet reality Owen Yu ’23

W

ith the conclusion of the 2019-2020 school year and transition into the summer, teachers began to redesign their courses for the upcoming school year.

COVID-19’s unpredictability caused teachers to experience several challenges as they maneuvered through the planning process.

Overall, teachers needed to make their courses flexible.

“I think it was most difficult to think about a curriculum that could be delivered in both virtual and in-person formats that were also ready to be fully virtual or fully in-person at any moment,” Ancient World History and Finance teacher Mr. Brian Long said. “We had to be ready should the school need to clean or go virtual.”

Previous courses that often involved group work and collaboration had to be modified as well. Spanish and Latin teacher Mr. Javier Lluch had to adjust the majority of his courses.

“I had to take all the things that I had and rework them so they could be COVID compliant,” Mr. Lluch said. “All the collaboration and pair work [went] out the window.”

Chemistry teacher Mr. Will Leech noted similar difficulties planning of his course,

specifically regarding lab experiences and hands-on activities for virtual students.

To replace this, Mr. Leech utilized online resources.

“We’ve paid subscriptions to various different websites for animations, softwares, and things like that,” Mr. Leech said. “We’ve really tried to accommodate our virtual students.”

Despite planning throughout the summer, many adjustments were still needed as

“During the beginning of September, [my students] were so overworked and overwhelmed.”

MR. JAVIER LLUCH the year began.

“During the beginning of September, [my students] were so overworked and overwhelmed,” Mr. Lluch said. “I had to tone things down.”

As the year has progressed, teachers have noticed their preparations in effect.

Throughout this change, teachers recognize that students may lose out on content.

Mr. Stroud leads a middle school music class outside “Frankly, we’re not going to hit a unit or two that we usually do,” said math teacher Mr. Nathan Bridge.

Still, Mr. Bridge believes that the level of learning is on par and in some ways better than previous years.

“I see richer and deeper thoughts come about as a result of the assessments that we’re doing in class this year,” Mr. Bridge said. “I feel better about it. I feel like I’m getting to know my students better in terms of their thinking about the material.”

Mr. Long shares the same feeling.

“This year I don’t think we’ll get through perhaps the same amount of volume of content, but I think we’ve still been able to ad-

TYLER ZIMMER ’21

dress, work on, and assess all of the skill sets that I think are important for my students to have,” Mr. Long said.

Regardless of individual course challenges, teachers are pleased with the way their courses have turned out.

“I feel like I have taught better this year than I have any other year of my career because I had to prioritize the learning,” Mr. Leech said. “I haven’t had that excess time to throw more facts and figures [at my students] for them to remember. I want to make sure [my students] are coming out of my class truly with the skills to master the subjects we’re talking about.”

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the index · academics

March 2021

Mathletes put to real-world testing Kethan Srinivasen ’21

P

erhaps you had a free study block in the Big Room on a recent Monday. You’re making your way to the third floor to use one of the side classrooms, only to find a few others working away—on a particularly tight deadline.

Members of the Math Club participated in the Math Modeling Challenge, a fourteen-hour mathematics competition on March 1, 2021.

The challenge encourages Fifth and Sixth Formers to work together to tackle real-world problems with limited time and resources.

The challenge is run by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in University City, Philadelphia, and sponsored by MathWorks, a private company known for mathematical computing software.

Mathematics teacher Mr. Nathan Bridge encouraged these Math Club members to sign up and prepare.

“Every time of the year, they [SIAM] write a prompt, and usually, the prompt pertains to challenges that society is facing in the United States, or really around the world,” Mr. Bridge said.

Competitors could use mathematical skills for problem-solving and the internet for research purposes.

The teams were then tasked with compiling their research, thought processes, and models into a 20-page paper submitted between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the same day.

For this year’s challenge, students mod-

eled the state of internet access (or the lack thereof ) in certain parts of the country.

“The paper takes note on why this is pertinent, how it’s hurting people, and how some people are having inequitable access to some resources,” Mr. Bridge said. “Most recent examples include, of course, the vaccine rollout, because the way that you register for the vaccine shot is all online now.”

For Fifth Former Bram Schork, this required some more intensive outside-the-box methods.

“This year was definitely more programming intensive,” Schork said, “but it also definitely required a good amount of math.”

Well-versed in programming, Schork had the opportunity to create a different approach towards a potential solution. “I built a program that was able to tell you where you should place cell towers in a region in order to provide optimal cell coverage,” Schork said.

Considering the challenge’s level of rigor, one would be forgiven for thinking that it takes a substantial knowledge of math, but participants say otherwise.

“For the most part, a lot of it is less of actually using algebra or calculus, and more of just having a higher understanding of how those factor into building a model,” Fifth Former Elijah Lee said.

His teammate, Sixth Former Gary Gao, concurred. “It’s not exactly like college-level stuff, but you need to know some things that are outside of the standard math courses,”

Gao said.

For such a competition to involve such intense time pressure and complex problemsolving skills may intimidate the average student, but the Math Modeling Challenge is meant to encourage new problem-solving approaches.

“You don’t need a very high level of mathematics in order to do this,” Mr. Bridge said. “In fact, for the students who report back after they take it, the most important thing is that you know how to make sense of a problem or issue.”

For Schork, the challenge emphasizes solving problems that real people face across the country.

“I think that just by learning how to problem-solve solutions like this, people will actually see students when entering the workforce,” Schork said.

“It’s applied mathematics,” Lee said.

“You are applying mathematics to real-world situations, and I think that this is a good opportunity to get a good introduction to what that looks like.”

COURTESY OF COMMUNICATIONS

Fifth Formers Elijah Lee and Adamya Aggarwal discuss possible solutions during the Mathworls Math Modeling Challenge, March 1, 2021

New digital teaching tools may outlive the pandemic Gary Gao ’21

I

n the “Advanced Physics” class this year, students do not hold rulers, stopwatches, or multimeters in their hands. Instead, they engage in simulations and interact with videos of the experiments and analyze data on their computer screen.

During the unprecedented pandemic, Haverford’s teachers have to follow the health protocols and prepare for intermittent school closures such as the ones around Thanksgiving and winter break. The faculty members who teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) classes face even more challenges. The explorative and collaborative nature of those disciplines

makes the restriction of in-person contact and paper materials a major challenge in ensuring the course’s normal proceedings. As a result, teachers need to devote extra effort to design alternatives for conventional lab activities, homework assignments.

Fortunately, new digital teaching tools can help.

“The challenge is that I can’t put lab equipment in your hands,” biology and physics teacher Ms. Carol O’Brien said.

“Having PhET, Gizmos, and Pivot’s data allows you to approximate the experience the best we can under these circumstances.”

PhET Colorado, Gizmos, and Pivot

are all applications that provide online lab simulations to educators and students. These digital tools have helped the science department overcome the current challenges.

“I think they are all useful for different classes and purposes,” Science Department Chair Dr. Daniel Goduti said. “Pivot Interactive is really helpful, especially for physics classes, because it’s so focused on real data.”

The need for increased use of digital tools not only stays in the science department. Teachers in the mathematics department also integrate more online tools for collaboration in their classes.

“I had a lot of students use Jamboard,

COURTESY OF DR. DANIEL GODUTI

Science Department Chair Dr. Daniel Goduti works on Pivot Interactives laboratory’s “Height vs. Velocity for a Puck on a Ramp”

which is like a whiteboard writing tool,” math teacher Ms. Barb LaPenta said, “and I had students create posters through Google Slides.”

Besides the new tools, teachers also access tools already used in many Haverford courses. A notable example is the note-taking and sharing software OneNote.

“This year I have been using OneNote to manage my courses and post almost all of the materials,” math teacher Dr. Mark Gottlieb said. “A lot of people are using OneNote as a major teaching tool, and I will probably continue to use it. It’s more convenient.”

Of course, the professionally developed websites are subject to some limitations, but teachers generally appreciate their helpfulness.

“I think Gizmos is really helpful for conceptual-style stuff; it works well in biology and chemistry class,” Dr. Goduti said, “but it’s not based on any experimental observations. So you lose a little, but I also think you have gained by having students thinking more about what is actually happening versus managing all the parts of an experiment.”

The digital tools can provide more than just assistance. Ms. LaPenta hopes to keep some of the structural changes of her classes.

“Instead of doing homework in which you are doing problems, you are actually learning the material. My students just watch videos for homework now,” Ms. LaPenta said, “and I think I’m going to keep that moving forward.”

In addition, the flexibility of digital teaching tools also offers students and teachers extra convenience in the post-pandemic world. “[Gizmos] has some built-in simulation tools that I could use to demonstrate things I don’t have equipment for,” Ms. O’Brien said.

“When the equipment is too expensive, we can still get that experience.”

the index · neighborhood

Page 14

March 2021

neighborhood Haverford College Nature Trail remains closed Colin Stewart ’22

T

he Haverford College Nature Trail was, while it was open, in constant use from those in and around the school community. Its canopy of leaves provided shelter from the harsh summer sun and its soft ground ensured protection against

impact injuries for those who ran on it. The school’s own cross country, track, and crew teams frequently used the college’s facilities.

On November 9, 2018, the cross country team used a section of this trial in their race against Episcopal Academy on EA Day.

Closed signs at the Railroad Avenue entrance

TYLER ZIMMER ‘21

Their intimacy with this 2.2 mile stretch of dirt and gravel was so great that they even named this section of trail “Nad” for “Dan” backwards. The reverse of this loop had been named “Dan” by assistant cross-country coach and Mr. Tim Lengel. The trail’s influence was felt strongly by those who used it.

On March 12, 2020, Governor Tom Wolf issued an executive order instituting, among other things, state-wide school closures.

Along with their academic facilities, the college closed down the Nature Trail entirely, only partially reopening in the fall of 2020 to college students who were both required to wear masks and stay socially distanced.

The school’s athletes were forced to find new places and new loops to run.

For Fifth Former Ben Szathmary, the shutdown of the Nature Trail has posed a specific problem.

“As a very avid runner that runs all year round, I have found that it’s important to run on soft surfaces to protect your legs,” Szathmary said. “Haverford College is always the go-to when it comes to soft surfaces near school. Not being able to go to the Nature Trail forces us to run on the concrete, which is a little bit more rough on our bodies.”

Still, Szathmary understands and respects the college’s decision.

“It doesn’t make sense to open to just a certain group of people, whether it’s

a runner or only a runner from the Haverford School. Once it’s open for one person it’s open for everyone. Their decision makes sense. It would be nice for us, but it’s better to keep everyone safe. It gets a little crowded there sometimes so it’s better to keep it closed.”

“Not being able to go to the Haverford College forces us to run on the concrete which is a little bit more rough on our bodies” BEN SZATHMARY ’22 The decision to reopen Haverford College’s campus and Nature Trail resides solely with College President Wendy Raymond.

Director of the Haverford College Arboretum Claudia Kent said, “As of today [March 5, 2021] there is no opening date, and the general consensus is that we would be closed through summer.”

Even though the Nature Trail will not be open for another few months, when it does, you are bound to see a few Haverford gentlemen getting in their summer miles.

Wawa’s burger, not worth the calories or the money Tyler Zimmer ’21

E

verything tastes better when you’re hungry, I thought. I tested this theory, mainly because I wanted to write a positive review.

Dunkin’ coined the phrase “running on” something, but I truly run on Wawa; from a morning Sizzli to a mid-afternoon sandwich, the majority of my spending money goes to Wawa cash registers and tip jars. So on Wednesday, March 10, I donated my schoolsupplied turkey-bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich to a hungry Liam Harkins, with the intent of giving the Wawa burger and fries a favorable chance for a five-star review.

My excitement was as loud and obnox-

ious as the grumble in my stomach. I packed up early, trying to beat the crowd, but was stopped in my tracks. Mr. Stambaugh did not find it appropriate to leave the already shortened Wednesday journalism class three minutes early—I made an awkward gesture to unpack the computer I had just placed in my bag. He looked away and I slid it back in.

The rush served no purpose. After three minutes of struggling to find the burger and fries on the Wawa touch screen, a customer service associate snapped at me. He then pointed upwards to a sign that read, It’s time for Dinner at Wawa, and in small print, Every day starting at 4 p.m.

Wawa’s newest meal: the hamburger, served only after 4 p.m.

Tyler Zimmer ’21 takes a first bite of the Wawa burger

TYLER ZIMMER ’21

Of course, I knew that this employee was not responsible for serving a common lunch item so late, so I thanked him with a toothless smile and left. Ninety minutes later, I returned, and five minutes after that, I took my first bite.

I enjoyed the brioche bun. It had a smooth gradient from a toasted brown top to a tan base. I finished the moist, flavorful bun even after the pseudo-Angus beef patty was gone.

I will also give Wawa credit for this: nowhere else can you customize a burger on a touchscreen kiosk. It is a shame that the lettuce, tomato, and onion add-ons could not make up for the driest fast-food burger I have ever tasted. I expected a burger made with more love than McDonalds but less than Kelly’s Taproom or Five Guys. I received a meal that I finished only because I had not eaten since breakfast.

Here is what I found eerie: less than five minutes after I grabbed my receipt and brought it over to the register, my meal was

TYLER ZIMMER ’21

ready. Cold cuts can be fully cooked and ready for use, but Angus beef should not be.

If you have noticed, Five Guys cooks their meat after your order has been placed. Given that my food was made in five minutes, and that it was room temperature when I took a bite, I concluded a harsh reality: this burger was no fresher than a Starbucks plasticwrapped breakfast sandwich made weeks prior.

I am suspicious of premade fast food.

The same goes for the french fries that were not fried in front of me, but rather unpackaged and microwaved. However, the seasoning resembled Popeyes’ cajun fries, and for an additional one dollar, it is a viable addition to a meal in dire need of flavor.

For those watching their intake, 770 calories should be enjoyed elsewhere. For those counting their change, seven dollars can go much further.

And for those who also rely on Wawa for snacks, sandwiches, and sanity, stick to your go-to.

the index · campus opinions

Page 15

March 2021

campus opinions At Haverford, the Holocaust has become history Tyler Zimmer ’21

J

ewish history is fading from the memories of more than American adults, and it is hardly taught at the Haverford School.

A United Nations organization documented the Holocaust in “Who Will Write Our History.” The New York Times and Holocaust Memorial Museum coined the phrases “Never Forget” and “We Remember.”

We have forgotten. We don’t offer a course on the Holocaust, and both our students and our reputation suffer because of it.

“41 percent of American adults did not know what Auschwitz was,” a 2018 New York Times survey concluded.

The history department offers a broad scope of topics our first three years: ancient,

modern, and American. Many students engage beyond requirements and load their Sixth Form schedule with electives. But this unoffered elective is problematic to both Jewish students and historians.

On one hand, the history department meets its own course catalog philosophy,

We are in a position to respect the pleas of Auschwitz survivors. closely investigating topics that typical courses may pass over; “Modern Black Lives”

German Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, 2007

JORGE ROYAN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

and “European Dictators” are viable examples, but there’s one glaring void, forgetting to account for the six million deaths in Nazi Germany.

I have no memory of the Holocaust being taught in “Modern World History,” although teacher Mr. Brendon Jobs says he mentions it every year. Canvas allowed me to revisit lesson plans and readings from this class that covered the 20th century. My “command F” search on the Canvas page yielded zero matches to “Holocaust,” “Judaism,” or “Hitler.” I spent the last month of the course writing a decolonization story of the Bahamas.

Students in “European Dictators” attended under forty classes in the second quarter due to the Coronavirus schedule.

They spent one-third of the time on Adolf Hitler. Studying Hitler, they were assigned just two Holocaust readings spanning three classes, according to Sixth Former Thomas Hall.

We are in a position to respect the pleas of Auschwitz survivors. Other independent schools such as Baldwin and Germantown Friends offer “Holocaust” as an advanced topic or explorative course. We should too.

Two arguments—more like rationalizations—why we do not offer it: assumptions that curriculum adjustments are difficult to facilitate and that there is little desire from Jewish students.

It is not too difficult. Last year, there were seven history electives; this year, nine.

The History Department prioritized the new “History of Science, Sex, and Culture” and “History of Global Health” over a Holocaust course.

The English department has made progressive adjustments of their own. Spurred by student advocacy, they incorporated George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, recounting Asian suffering in World War II concentration camps. I suggest the history department makes a similar change.

Jewish students will choose this class; we want to learn about our own culture from a historical perspective.

Mr. Jobs leads the class “Modern Black Lives,” exploring the realities faced and movements led. Black students currently represent eight of the ten class members, just as Jewish students would sign up to learn about their own history.

Our communal priorities leave out my Jewish peers whose great grandparents’ stories deserve to be told.

Auschwitz survivors plead to the new generation to study and learn from their suffering, and each year, there are fewer survivors.

We must learn—the history department must provide the opportunity to learn— their stories before it’s too late.

Online learning needs to be more effective

Gary Gao ’21

I

did more in-class assignments while learning online than while learning in an actual class, and I don’t think it helped.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the country, presenting our educational system with an unprecedented challenge. It has been a year since American schools first shut down due to the pandemic, but online learning hasn’t improved. Students still have to face awkward online classes, technological struggles, and distractions from other people and events in their homes.

The online environment and the consequent schedule disruptions impede normal class activities. Teachers are not able to arrange an interactive class as if the conver-

sations were face-to-face, given the harsh reality that students tend to say less to a computer. Communication is just not that effective. As a result, the solution naturally goes to letting students work at their own pace more often, which means more in-class assignments. I can always finish early in this situation and then mind my own business.

But this made me sometimes wonder: what is the point of logging onto the Meet and not doing any productive work in it?

The environment plays a major role in the quality of learning. I am among the privileged who can enjoy attending online classes in a room separated from other parts of the house by a door, but many of my peers cannot. I have reached an age that allows me

to take care of myself, but my peers’ younger brothers and sisters have not; they have to be supervised for properly attending classes and completing assignments, and now that burden has fallen onto the shoulders of the parents. For some, excessive parental intervention can also make learning more difficult. Teachers are not able to satisfy every demand from all parents, which creates conflicts between the teaching side and the learning side.

Studies have shown that the failure rates of students have skyrocketed in the past year.

For example, The Associated Press reported that in Houston, 42% of students received at least one F in the first grading period of 2020. This shows the ineffectiveness of our

current online learning scheme.

We need to reduce the disadvantages of online learning. Rather than experimenting with abnormal ways of learning, teachers, students, and parents must work together to make online classrooms as close to reality as possible. Teachers can do this by increasing the conversational component in online classes; students can help by engaging in every class; parents with extra time capacity can help by focusing on giving their children emotional support and letting them have classes peacefully.

In the end, the remedy comes down to a simple question: do we want to do the least amount of work or try our best to make the situation better?

Page 16

the index · arts

March 2021

JEREMY CALLAHAN ’23

A selectio ’23, Q3, MATTHEW STRAUB ‘23

GAVIN WRIGHT ’23

the index · arts

Page 17

March 2021

MATTHEW STRAUB ‘23

WOODWORKING I STUDENTS

on of 3’s: 3D arts LOUIS ATKINSON ’23

CONNOR PINSK ’23

CONNOR PINSK ’23

Page 18

the index · on-campus opinions

March 2021

PHOTO BY COMMUNICATIONS, EDITED BY JEFFREY YANG ’22

Decker Patterson ‘21 in the Walk of Virtues, September 2020

An unknown force: student mental health Decker Patterson ’21

O

ne fateful day in September, I started sophomore year. It was a fresh start. I finally had my learner’s permit. I decided to take harder classes. I also started working out for a sport I would never do again. I walked into a year believing it would be like all the others, but the stone steps leading up to the high school building would lead me into a new year with new experiences.

The first time I skipped sports was when I texted my mother to pick me up after school. She asked me, “Do you want to drive home?” I replied with a “no” and shifted the passenger seat back. Everything went dark, and my stream of consciousness slipped. The next thing I knew, my mother woke me up telling me that we were home.

Suddenly, that one moment became a common occurrence. I would find myself either in too much pain from pushing myself—one time I found myself limping—or generally tired from a lack of sleep. Soon, the typical text was “hey can u pick me up at 3:15 today?” In the beginning, my mother would ask why, and I would reply “I don’t feel good,” “I have a sh*t ton of homework,” or something else to that extent. After a while, the message just became “OK.” Some days, I wanted to escape from the stressful fires that burned this place called “school.”

... I found myself becoming more apathetic and unmotivated.

Over the course of days—turning into weeks, I found myself becoming more apathetic and unmotivated. Games occupied my time. I sat in the basement for hours, staring

at a virtual series of images, dancing at sixty frames per second, training me for nothing.

Traditionally, video games meant spending time with friends on the weekends, where we would all join a call and play various types of games from shooters to strategy games. The flashing colors, well-executed gameplay, and the ingrained idea of fun flooded my brain for hours at a time. Even so, the embedded image still did not help me, as any enjoyment seemed non-existent. I lacked any motivation to do anything.

It took me three months to find out what was wrong with me.

I did not learn it from a shrink, nor some kind of epiphany. It was from my mother, the woman who has done the most for me. She told me I experienced depression for the first time. It all started to make sense.

Fatigue is a symptom of depression. I was gaining weight because I ate all the time. I did not want to do anything because I lacked the motivation and care to do so. I felt some of the classic symptoms the National Institute of Mental Health defines under Teen Depression.

A Business Insider article stated younger people are experiencing depression at a higher rate, something they claim to know the reason for. The article states that depression rates in teens are higher because we do not talk face to face with each other as much as people did back in the late ’80s. A study in The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships states, “High-school seniors today spend a full hour less socializing in person than teens in the late ’80s did.” I would argue a good portion of the lack of socializing is due to the duty of school work, but I also believe it comes from social media. From my experience, whenever I looked at Twitter or Instagram for a prolonged period of time, I became apathetic, hopeless, and generally

more unhappy than when I started perusing.

I made the conscious decision to delete the apps. I felt much better.

One method behind my thinking is that we like comparing ourselves to others.

We like to see where we are in life relative to others. When we see that someone has what we do not have, we get jealous, mad, or sad.

A simple idea for sure, but one that either empowers the human mind or breaks it.

If you already suffer from low self-esteem, then you will probably fall deeper into depression. This depression stays for a while, and after it is gone it only revives itself every time your eyes touch the light emanating off of that social media page. It could also be the ways things in the news are portrayed, as everything is kind of seen as negative. In the modern era, everybody is always looking for something to make themselves look better than everyone, and telling others why they are now inferior to them.

... a land of negativity never to be traversed without getting stabbed.

Combine these two reasons, and it makes an equation for a cesspit of opinions and arguments—a land of negativity never to be traversed without getting stabbed. As a hypothetical, someone will say something like, “Guys we need to band together to do something about X,” and then proceed to tell people why they are not doing enough for this problem. These people try to be moral while choking their readers with the “fact” that their audience is lower than them.

When coming across these people online, es-

pecially when growing up with this, it is no wonder that kids have such intense mental problems. Kids live their lives surrounded by negativity.

All for what? So that they can stress about things they cannot control while they should be enjoying themselves? So that they can be influenced by those who are pushing an agenda? So that they can feel devoid of hope in this world? It starts to make an observer, who went through all this, think “what’s the point?” and “why do I even bother?”

Negativity on social media and all the areas that surround it certainly cannot be good for the mental wellbeing of children, and it is sad that it arrives on the doorstep of so many teens. I was and still am trying to find out how the world works, and it makes me feel something that I have never experienced when writing this.

I do not know what to call this feeling.

All I know is that it exists within me.

In life, happiness is hard to attain. I once stated—without trying to sound edgy—that life is just long blocks of suffering, with bits of happiness in between. I know what spurred on that thought: observation. I looked at everything around me, and looked at myself and thought that about the human condition. If you asked me if I was right, I would reply, “I dunno.”

As much as I do know, I have yet to find a solution to it myself, and I want to wait before trying any medication.

Maybe I will never find a solution, and I doubt I will.

Depression is a serious topic for most, even if we joke about it. You never know what might send someone over the edge. After all, the only thing separating a dry, grassy hill from the fires of hell is a simple matchstick.

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March 2021

off-campus opinions $1.9 trillion stimulus package is full of reckless spending Dan Curran ’21

O

ver the past weekend, the Biden administration scored its first major legislative victory when the Senate passed the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill by a vote of 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill. Despite Congress having passed five bipartisan COVID-relief bills to date, there was not a single Republican who voted in favor of the bill. Democrats claim this is an example of Republicans not doing enough to fight the ongoing pandemic. In reality, Republican opposition stems from the hundreds of billions of wasted dollars within the bill.

Record savings this past year is evidence of that, and sending checks out won’t increase consumer spending.

Biden has said we must act swiftly to get this pandemic under control, something I very much agree with. However, only $123 billion of the 1.9 trillion dollar package, roughly 6%, goes directly to COVID. On top of that, the Congressional Budget Office found that over $800 billion won’t be spent until 2022 or later, undercutting the claim that such a large bill is justified due to the need for swift action.

The bill also attributes the current unemployment problem to a lack of money in the American pockets, but I argue that is a result of the pandemic. Record savings this past year is evidence of that, and sending checks out won’t increase consumer spending. Once this pandemic is behind us, customers will come back.

On top of this, this bill calls for $350 billion to bail out states. According to JP Morgan, 21 states had a surplus last year.

The majority of other states drew into rainyday funds. Very few are actually in financial distress. California for example would be receiving $24 billion, despite the fact that they had a $20 billion surplus in 2020. Sending unneeded money to states is both wasteful and harmful, as it would incentivize poor spending habits.

President Biden claims that passage of this bill is necessary to get kids back in school, but this bill does not provide a meaningful plan to do so. On top of that, the Congressional Budget Office says that only 4% of the money in this bill would be spent in 2021.

If Biden is serious about getting kids back in school five days a week within the first 100 days of his presidency, as he promised on the campaign trail, he must take on the teachers unions. The CDC says schools can reopen if they follow certain measures. We must listen to what the experts are saying.

This bill must target those who are in need. Extending unemployment benefits, as this bill does, is a good thing. There are lots

Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell

THE FEDERAL RESERVE VIA FLICKR

within this bill that merits bipartisan support. But sending out unnecessary money will only worsen the national debt and risk inflation.

There was room for bipartisanship on this bill. The $600 billion proposal by ten Senate Republicans would have given the necessary funds to extend unemployment through June, speed up vaccine delivery, increase testing, and the necessary funds to get schools open.

President Biden has called himself the unity candidate throughout his presidential campaign. Jamming through a $1.9 trillion bill without a single Republican vote in congress would say otherwise.

Biden’s Afghanistan problem Sam Kohl ’22

O

n the night of October 7th, 2001, the crew of the USS John Paul Jones was on alert. Not even a month had passed since the 9/11 attacks, and the cruise missiles of the John Paul Jones were to be the opening salvo of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led NATO campaign to unseat the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and destroy Al Qaeda. Simultaneously, officers from the CIA, armed with AK-47s and millions of dollars in cash, covertly landed in the Hindu Kush mountains.

They were to establish a secure communications base, meet with their Afghani allies, and set the stage for further deployment of special operations forces in the area.

The plan was a success, and the operation to overthrow the Taliban, spearheaded by the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group, came to a relatively quick end; in 102 days, after decisive U.S. victories at Mazar-i Sharif and Kabul, the Taliban was toppled from power, though Osama Bin Laden, unfortunately, escaped to Pakistan. It seemed that combat operations, besides the hunt for Bin Laden, were largely over. Yet, nineteen years later, there are still U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

One doesn’t need a degree in international relations to understand that a full

withdrawal of troops from the region would be a geopolitical disaster, a much bigger one than if we stay. This is precisely what is laid out in Trump’s peace agreement with the Taliban.

Among other things, the deal calls for a total withdrawal if certain conditions are met by the Taliban, such as reduced violence.

By agreeing to such a deal, the U.S. is engaging in, as ret. LTG. H.R. McMaster would put it, “strategic narcissism,” or viewing foreign policy in an exclusively American-centric fashion.

By entering into this deal, the United States is fighting the enemy that we want to fight, rather than the actual one. The reality of the situation is that if coalition troops withdraw, the Taliban will not suddenly become a human rights organization—there is no incentive, once the deal is complete, for the Taliban to remain peaceful (not that they really have been, as the Taliban routinely murders Afghan citizens and government workers across the country, even after the peace deal was signed). And the Taliban know, just as everybody else does, that once U.S. troops are out of Afghanistan, they will likely never return.

There is really no good solution to the American quagmire in Afghanistan.

But a full withdrawal would mean more destabilization to an already destabilized region, more violence towards civilians, especially women, and more Al Qaeda influence.

It might even mean a full-on civil war.

What would we do at that point? Provide arms and funds to the Afghani government? How did arming the Afghanis work out last time? And then what if the government loses and the Taliban seizes these weapons and funds?

These complicated questions are ones

we need to grapple with if a full-scale withdrawal is on the table—but it shouldn’t be.

It’s an easy political message to say that America needs to end its “forever wars’’ in the Middle East. It’s also true that the U.S. has lost thousands of service members and spent trillions of dollars fighting this war with troops who were not alive during the event that spurred it.

But we need to take a long-term perspective on this issue: the deal is not in America’s—or Afghanistan’s—best interest.

Joe Biden visiting Afghanistan in January of 2011

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March 2021

For the GOP, it is once again a time for choosing Bowen Deng ’22

W

hen talking about important elections in United States history, 1964 may not stand out. Lyndon Johnson, riding the coattails of the late JFK and his recently passed Civil Rights Bill, easily won. Yet, despite the Republican party’s loss, it was a crucial turning point in the political alignment of the party.

In the leadup to the 1964 election, the Republican party was divided between its two wings.

On one end of the spectrum were the moderate, liberal Republicans, best embodied by Nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York. As supporters of certain New Deal programs, they agreed to some government regulation and were not afraid to reach across the aisle to their Democratic counterparts. On the other end of the spectrum was a rising conservative vision—most notably espoused by Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona—determined to wrest control of the party from the “liberal Eastern establishment.”

They opposed the New Deal in its entirety, seeing it as an overreach of government, instead emphasizing a laissez-faire economic system with less welfare and government spending. In 1964, the conservative wing of the GOP triumphed over the moderate wing.

At the Republican National Convention, the nomination went to Barry Goldwater despite vehement opposition from the moderate wing of the Republicans; amid boos, Rockefeller warned against rising “extremism” within the Republican party.

Goldwater’s acceptance speech offered no compromise to the GOP moderates; instead, it was a flatout rejection of the moderate wing: “Anyone who joins us in all sincerity, we welcome. Those who do not care for our cause, we don’t expect to enter our ranks in any case.” To those critical of his views entrenched in “extremism,” Goldwater had a response: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in

the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

He never had a chance. The majority of Republicans were disillusioned with the direction their party took, and the incumbent LBJ easily portrayed Goldwater as a radical, right-wing extremist in a series of brutal ads.

He trounced Goldwater in a 44-state landslide.

And yet, in the ashes of Goldwater’s campaign was a phoenix waiting for rebirth.

One bastion of support for Goldwater’s ideals was Ronald Reagan, then an actor, who propelled himself to political fame through his “A Time for Choosing” speech supporting Goldwater. In 1980—16 years after Goldwater’s failed bid—conservatism triumphed when Reagan won his own 44state landslide while running on the same values as Goldwater, bringing about the Reagan Revolution of the 80s.

Goldwater laid the foundation for the transformation of the Republican party towards conservatism.

Today, the majority of Republicans align themselves with the fiscal views initially espoused by Goldwater and put in practice

by Reagan: less government interference to the economy and fewer federal programs.

Moderate Republicans in Congress are few and far between in an era of increasing partisan polarization.

Today, the Republican party is at a turning point once again. This time, Republicans are not divided about ideology, but loyalty to a former president.

The amount of influence Trump still has over the GOP is undeniable. It will not take Trump sixteen years to change the Republican party, he may do that in four.

For example, you could point to the second impeachment trial following the January 6 insurrection. Just ten Republican House members voted to impeach, and all have faced attempted or successful censures within their local or state Republican branches for their decision. It was the same case for the seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President Trump.

NATUREOFTHOUGHT VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Senator Josh Hawley speaking after his Missouri Republican Primary victory Or, take Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who stated that he would support a 2024 nomination of Trump after calling him “morally responsible” for the January 6 insurrection just a few weeks before.

Alternatively, you could look towards Senators like Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, or representatives like Matt Gaetz, Laura Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, the list goes on and on. These members of Congress still seem to believe that Trump and Trumpism has a future in the GOP—even embracing it, speaking alongside him at CPAC 2021.

The point is that, despite everything, Trump clearly has leverage over the Republican party.

If anything, the unprecedented second impeachment has solidified his influence on the party, and Trump himself knows this. At CPAC 2021, he openly named the seventeen Republicans in Congress who voted to impeach him, calling them “RINOs”—Republicans in Name Only—implying that any-

THE WHITE HOUSE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Then President Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2020

thing other than unwavering loyalty to him makes them somehow non-Republican. Just like Goldwater’s message towards the moderates, Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will be no compromise between the anti-Trump and pro-Trump wings of the party.

Yet not all Republicans share the same acceptance of Trump’s hold over the party.

Representative Adam Kinzinger and Senator Ben Sasse have both been loud critics against the former president, despite almost always voting along party lines, and are determined to steer the GOP away from Trump and Trumpism. Both voted for impeachment.

Both are very much conservative, yet very much anti-Trump. Of course, there are other, less outspoken GOP members who want the party to turn away from Trumpism, such as Mitt Romney and Susan Collins. But as of now, they seem to be in the minority.

And thus, the GOP tug of war begins.

In 2022, the ten House members who broke party lines during impeachment will inevitably face challenges by Trump-backed or proTrump opponents. The stakes are lower for those in the Senate, with only Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski defending her seat in 2022; the rest are either retiring or will not face challenges until 2024 or 2026.

There is no doubt 2022 will be a major indication for the future of the GOP based on the Representatives and Senators they elect. But the definitive indication will come in 2024—exactly 60 years after Goldwater was on the ballot. Win or lose, the Republican nomination for the election of 2024 will determine the party’s swerve towards a return to “traditional” conservatism or Trumpism. Will it be a “normal” candidate, a Trump loyalist, or Trump himself?

By 2024, all of us in the Upper School will be eligible to cast our ballot for the next President of the United States. Regardless of political party, this will be an important election for all of us. If you are a Republican, I highly recommend you pay attention to the direction of your party.

The GOP is, once again, at a historic turning point that will define the party for a long time, and you must make a decision based on the direction it goes.

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March 2021

According to some, Critical Race Theory is “anti-American.” Here’s the truth.

Nachikethan Srinivasan ’21

D

uring the first presidential debate on September 29, 2020, President Donald Trump was asked to explain a memo published by his administration’s Office of Management and Budget that stopped training programs for government workers. The memo in question also singles out “critical race theory” and “white privilege” as examples of ideas that portray the United States as “an inherently racist and evil country.”

His answer? “I ended it because it was racist.”

And it’s not just an issue exclusive to America. During a debate in the British House of Commons on Black History Month in October, Tory minister Kemi Badenoch MP expressed her opposition to allowing teachers to “teach their white pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt.” She said any school that goes to such lengths to feature this theory in their curriculum is “breaking the law.”

Let’s just stop right there.

Comments like this are ridiculous. We cannot discount the desire to create a fair nation governed by a like-minded justice system. But doubt lingers about whether people like Mr. Trump or Ms. Badenoch have any decent understanding of this so-called “toxic propaganda.”

Let’s separate the facts from the fables.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic practice conceptualized by legal scholars of color during the 1980s, including Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and Derrick Bell. In its earliest forms, the theory attempted to explain the disproportionate punishment of Black citizens in the justice system, despite the formal guarantee of equal rights.

In an interview with CNN, Crenshaw explains that it is an approach to “grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what’s in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.”

HEINRICH-BÖLL-STIFTUNG VIA WIKIMEDIA

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 2018 CRT’s existence stems from the material realities of present-day America. Look at our schools, where white school districts receive almost $2,000 more than nonwhite districts per student enrolled. Look at our prison systems, where Black Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white citizens, with some states being nearly ten times more.

On a more relevant matter, there are often methods that teachers can use to equip themselves and their students with proper knowledge and teaching of racism in the 21st century.

On a more relevant matter, there are often methods that teachers can use to equip

themselves and their students with proper knowledge and teaching of racism in the 21st century. Many students are left to encounter teachings of racism through the means of acclaimed literature that can exacerbate racial trauma, or not at all. Following a report by the British race equality watchdog, the Runnymede Trust, many teachers have expressed that they are severely under-equipped to address matters of race confidently with students. This is where having alternative means like CRT can help — the framework helps to focus on issues that disproportionately affect certain groups.

While critiques of the practice can be made, such as its detachment from the economic structure we live by, to pretend that CRT is an illegitimate and biased form of academic inquiry is preposterous. For Crenshaw, the criticisms levied against the practice of being “anti-American” is only another barrier to acknowledging events of the past and of the present. In her words, “it bears acknowledging that we’ve been here before.”

And she is right. During his lifetime as a civil rights advocate, Martin Luther King,

Jr. was one of the most disdained popular figures in America, and was even targeted by the FBI alongside other social justice movements and advocates under COINTELPRO. Black Lives Matter has been repeatedly labelled a “terrorist organization.” And now, we see frequent smears against Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times for creating the 1619 Project, the celebrated journalistic project that views the course of American history from the struggles and contributions of Black Americans.

It’s a shame that today’s politicians would rather reproach and censor alternative material like CRT instead of engaging sincerely with it—whether they are state legislators acting against their principles of free thinking and free speech, or a high-ranking cabinet minister whose role is dedicated to highlighting and eliminating inequality in all its forms.

To not acknowledge a whole side of history and identity is tantamount to erasing it from existence.

To willingly call out or to criticize a nation’s problems is true patriotism.

Drinking age of 18 will save lives eye on them, alone they may consume copious amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time.

Lowering the legal drinking age would decrease underage binge drinking, allowing currently underage people to consume alcohol at a more healthy rate in a regulated environment.

Mike King ’21

T

he U.S. legal drinking age is 21, why should it change? It’s the safest way to regulate drinking for teens and prevent unnecessary accidents, right? Wrong. Many Americans and congressional leaders share this misconception.

Law enforcement hardly regulates the drinking age. Two in every thousand cases of underage drinking result in legal action, yet its illegality gives teens an adrenaline rush, a chemical release that could result in binge drinking.

The CDC defines binge drinking as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 g/dl or above.” In short, four to five drinks in two hours is considered a binge. Because teens are restricted from restaurants and bars where waiters and bartenders can keep an

“It’s estimated that about half of all alcohol-related deaths in the United States are related to acute intoxication, and most of the economic costs are also related to binge drinking.

DR. TIMOTHY NAIMI “It’s estimated that about half of all alcohol-related deaths in the United States are related to acute intoxication, and most of the economic costs are also related to binge drinking,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, profes-

sor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and co-author of the CDC’s binge drinking study.

Binge drinking increases the chances of death by alcohol poisoning and causes a depressed gag reflex, which may lead to someone choking on their own vomit. The change of the drinking age will more effectively regulate the drinking rate of younger people, keeping them more safe.

Some argue that lowering the legal age of alcohol consumption would increase drunk driving accidents, but statistics prove otherwise. In the U.S., drunk driving accidents account for 31% of traffic accidents, even with a drinking age of twenty-one.

Other countries drink earlier but are safer: 16% drunk driving accidents in the U.K. (MLDA 18), 9% in Germany (MLDA 16), 4% in China (MLDA 18).

The legal drinking age must be changed to improve the safety of all drivers. This circles back to regulated areas for teens to safely consume alcohol. In fraternity houses and home-parties, nobody will stop an eighteen year-old from jumping behind the wheel, but in a restaurant or a bar, a more public scene, someone is more likely to hold a teen accountable.

Changing the drinking age to eighteen

This change would save lives and prohibit future alcoholism among generations to come. would not only improve safety among teens, but also contribute to limiting drunk driving accidents. Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 50 minutes. This change would save lives and prohibit future alcoholism among generations to come.

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A sign displaying the drinking age of 21 years

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With COVID, it’s one step forward, two steps back Bowen Deng ’22

I

n school, we are taught to listen to the science about various issues. Thus, I should not have to explain why, one year later, COVID-19 is still a significant problem that plagues our daily life.

But there is a glimmer of hope. While it does appear that the future looks hopeful with regards to the pandemic, after reaching 300k new cases in a single day on January

8, new case counts and daily deaths have dropped rapidly throughout the country.

Furthermore, vaccine production has been increasing and expanding at rapid rates; the Biden administration hopes to have enough vaccines for all adults by May. We have gotten through the worst part of the pandemic, but it should go without saying that we still must remain vigilant.

However, some states have been lessening COVID restrictions in response to the

ADAM SCHULTZ VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

President Joe Biden walks with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, at the Harris County Emergency Operations Center in Houston

drop in cases and deaths. This is not necessarily a bad thing; businesses do need to reopen at full capacity and eliminate safety protocols: it is possible to operate safely while returning to some sense of normalcy.

But, on March 10, Texas and Mississippi insisted on removing their statewide mask mandate, joining twelve other states that do not mandate masks. Additionally, businesses have been allowed to reopen at 100% capacity. Texas will be the most populous state to not require a mask mandate.

There should be no explanation as to why this decision is reckless and problematic. For starters, we have only just begun to round the curve on the virus. While Texas is second in vaccines administered per state, 2.6 million fully vaccinated citizens is still less than 10% of Texas’s population. There is no scientific doubt that masks have significantly prevented the spread of COVID-19, and lifting the mask mandate while a significant portion of Texans have not been vaccinated seems almost like a death sentence.

Combine that with businesses at full capacity, and you have optimal conditions for COVID-19 to spread. Furthermore, Texas and Mississippi have been identified as “red zone” states in February, meaning the states have a COVID positivity rate—percentage of COVID-19 tests that return as positive— of over 10%.

Ultimately, I worry that lifting the mask mandate will only result in unnecessary tensions at various levels and more time to defeat COVID. Firstly, businesses still have the right to

mandate a mask on their grounds; most major retailers across the country will continue to mandate masks, as will local businesses, but I can imagine that certain customers will not take this decision well after the statewide mandate has been lifted. There have already been incidents with certain customers not taking a restaurant’s mask requirement lightly across the country, so I have no doubt that these incidents will only continue to rise in states without a mask mandate.

Secondly, lifting the mask mandate will continue to exacerbate the political issue of COVID-19, which should not be a political issue at all.

In fact, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened to sue Austin County and Travis County for continuing the mask mandate over Abbott’s orders.

Finally, and perhaps most relevant, is that this easing of regulations will affect all of us. I’m sure we all long for some return to normalcy, but doing it now when COVID cases are finally decreasing is not the sound decision.

If this trend of lifting mask mandates and operating at full capacity continues, it will only exacerbate the issue until a vast majority of the population is vaccinated, and put unnecessary risk on certain people.

If I have not convinced you that this is a bad decision, ask yourself this: would you be comfortable walking around Wilson Hall filled with maskless peers?

I think we all know why we still have to social distance, wipe down our desks, and wear masks six months into the school year.

The lost generation: solitude and social media in the COVID era Thomas Hall ’21

I

t’s a Friday night, you’re sitting in your bedroom mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, and the days of the week just blend altogether. If you go to that party, you’re at risk of spreading the virus and giving it to your parents. If you don’t, it’s just another night at home, alone.

We are a lost generation Beginning in March 2020, a normal week for students involved online school all day, homework until dinner, and most likely more screen time after. Almost all teens were interacting with their friends strictly through social media. How you look on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok became the determining factor of you and your personality. The current generation of teenagers is like no other.

We are a lost generation.

Teens are supposed to meet friends, become social, try new things, and learn. With the pandemic, this does not happen, hence limiting teen development. The New York Times writes, “The most powerful forces driving development for middle and high

schoolers are increased independence over time, along with being with one’s peers… and the virus curtails both of those things.”

Lack of socializing is proven to lead to depression and anxiety. According to The New York Times, “A few months into the pandemic, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention warned that anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide were on the rise.”

According to a CDC study on mental health, “Symptoms of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder increased considerably in the United States during April–June of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.”

The fact is that teens are locked up in their bedrooms, on their phones, on their computers, and not socializing. They are not allowed to interact with society.

The first step in solving this crisis would be to wear a mask and limit the spread of the virus to ensure a quick return to normal, but that will not happen for some time. Parents, teachers, friends, and family should all check in with each other and understand if a loved one is not doing well. With an increase in access to therapy or counseling, there will be a place for teens to figure their problems out.

There may be no parties or social gatherings for a few more months, but if we all wear a mask and check in on each other, this tough time will make everyone stronger.

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Kamala Harris brings mixed record to the vice presidency Colin Stewart ’22

K

amala Harris became the first female and second minority Vice President on January 20, 2021.

Harris is the daughter of immigrants, her mother from India and her father from Jamaica. In California, she held the positions of Deputy District Attorney, District Attorney, Attorney General, and Senator before she was elected to the Vice Presidency.

Though Harris originally ran for the Democratic nomination herself, she dropped out of the Democratic primary. Many attribute this to the polling that expected her to garner less than 1% of the national vote.

Kamala Harris quickly became a household name after President Joe Biden named her as his pick for Vice President, but throughout all the coverage I heard very little about her track record and accomplishments. Conservatives wrote off Harris’s nomination as nothing more than a bid for minority and female voters. On the progressive side, few spoke about Harris’s track record except for former Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) who denounced Harris’s record as the District Attorney of San Francisco during the second Democratic Debate.

I am writing this article to examine some of the half-truths and falsehoods I have heard around campus that could largely stem from the little coverage Harris’s past received from either side of the aisle during her run for the presidency and subsequent nomination as Vice President.

First, I will start with Harris’s accomplishments and other actions that I believe to be commendable.

During her tenure as the Attorney General of California, Harris created the Back on Track program which aimed to keep the first-time, non-violent drug-trafficking defendants out of jail. This program for 18-24-year olds lasted for 12-18 months.

Participants develop a personalized plan establishing their goals for the future, which often include education, parenting, and finding work. The program requires 220 hours of community service, employment, and full-time enrollment in school. The Back on Track program was largely successful. It was the first of its kind in the nation and has been used as a model for other statewide efforts since.

VWhile Harris served as California Attorney General, the state became the first state to mandate body cameras for all state troopers. In prior years, Harris had opposed the mandate. Some attribute this bill’s failure to her condemnation of it. But when the time came around, she did not take a stance on AB-66, the bill which eventually became the law mandating body-cameras.

During her tenure, California also became the first state requiring implicit bias training for police officers. This bias training was an effort to overcome barriers to neutral policing and rebuild trust between law enforcement and communities. Critics argue that implicit bias training has been proven to be ineffective and that it was a waste of taxpayer money. If this training changed one officer’s attitude or approach to minority communities, it was worth it.

Harris supported a California law that required local police departments to report and publish statistics relating to injuries caused by or during police interactions.

California’s policing system had the highest rate of fatalities per police interaction in the country that year. Any well-intended effort to make policing more transparent is a good one.

Lastly, as State Attorney General, Harris argued important cases that impacted the residents of California. Her first big win came in the form of a $25 billion settlement with five major banks. California sued these major banks for improper foreclosure practices. At this time in California, 10 million had lost their homes largely stemming from predatory lending and the wider economy collapsing. Roughly $18.4 billion in mortgage relief was provided to California homeowners as a result of Harris’s actions.

The second case that then-Attorney General Harris settled was against Corinthian Colleges. The settlement was for nearly $1.2 billion for predatory and unlawful practices including misrepresenting job placement rates and school programs. These practices targeted low-income students and left tens of thousands of alumni without jobs

and crushed by student debt. This settlement was given to the former students in the form of loan relief.

Though Harris accomplished many things throughout her political career, there were also actions that one can objectively deem to have hurt her constituents.

In 2011, Harris fought a California Supreme Court ruling demanding that the prison population be reduced by 33,000 inmates over the following two years due to overpopulation resulting in starvation, inhumane treatment, and on occasion, death. A later case in the Federal Circuit Courts required that these 33,000 inmates be nonviolent, first, or second-strike offenders. Harris fought this in court.

Harris took a hard stance against truancy while serving as the San Francisco District Attorney. She advocated for a law that

allowed the city to charge parents of students who skip school with criminal misdemeanors, or up to a $2,000 fine. This was, of course, incredibly controversial in San Francisco. She doubled down on her support of this law and its enforcement during a speech at the Commonwealth Club where she stated, “I decided I was going to start prosecuting parents for truancy. Well, this was a little controversial in San Francisco.”

The troubling part for many was the laugh she had with the crowd afterward about targeting parents of truant students.

In 2010, Harris knowingly withheld information about a police laboratory technician that was accused and later found guilty of intentionally sabotaging work and stealing drugs. She was obligated by law to inform cont. on page 24

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Then-Senator Kamala Harris during a moment of silence for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor

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the index · off-campus opinions

March 2021

Kamala Harris, cont. the defense counsel in this case, a case that this laboratory technician had provided evidence for, that this technician was a criminal.

Harris, instead of admitting her wrongdoing, argued that the judge, whose husband was a defense attorney who had spoken outwardly about the significance of disclosing evidence, had a conflict of interest and could, therefore, not fairly rule on Harris’s transgression.

Harris lost and more than 600 cases handled by this technician, many of which were actual prosecutions of real criminals, were dismissed.

Finally, and most notably, Harris has a hypocritical past with marijuana. In 2010, then-San Francisco DA Harris spoke out against Proposition 19, a law that would legalize marijuana statewide. From the start of her career and until 2018, Harris stood by this position and was, in fact, so steadfast in her position that marijuana should be illegal that she prosecuted roughly 1,900 people for marijuana possession. Every single one of these offenders was nonviolent and not charged with tracking offenses. The vast majority of those prosecuted were low-income, minorities, 1,560 of whom ended up in state prisons.

Harris’s position on this issue switched in 2018 when she co-sponsored Senator Cory Booker’s bill “The Marijuana Justice

Act.” She said, “Marijuana laws in this country have not been applied equally, and as a result we have criminalized marijuana use in a way that has led to the disproportionate incarceration of young men of color. It’s time to change that... Legalizing marijuana is the smart thing to do and the right thing

listened to Tupac and Snoop Dogg while smoking back in her college days (1986) yet neither artist had started releasing music until 1991 and 1992 respectively.

As with every politician, there are two sides. It is important to understand this.

No politician is going to have a perfect past, though many disregard this universal fact with politicians that they idolize.

Harris also developed a troubling record as the San Francisco District Attorney. to do in order to advance justice and equality for every American.” This quote obviously draws a stark contrast to not only her public position but her actions as a prosecutor.

The issue I take with her actions isn’t a policy issue but rather a moral one.

She claims to be a voice for those disproportionately punished by drug laws in sponsoring Senator Booker’s bill, yet she served as a crucial gear in the machine that she now believes oppresses those same citizens.

In February of 2019 Harris went on to the Breakfast Club radio show for an interview where she admitted to smoking marijuana in college. All the while laughing.

Tangentially, Harris claims to have

ADAM SCHULTZ VIA FLICKR

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a “get out the vote” event at Rennisance High School in Detroit, March 9, 2020

Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party is actively holding back Charlie Keidel ’23

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fter weeks of struggle amongst Senators, mainly Democrats appeasing their moderate counterparts, President Joe Biden signed into law the 1.9 trillion dollar COVID-19 stimulus bill on March 11th, 2021. This came after moderate Democrats in the Senate, such as Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema

(D-AZ), struggled to settle with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) over the fifteen-dollar minimum wage add-on to the bill.

The add-on was not popular and had eight Democratic Senators and all 50 Republicans opposing the bill, meaning it did not pass at 42-58. In the end, Sanders’ add-on was removed and the moderates all voted in favor of the bill, with Vice President Kamala

Harris casting the deciding vote to make it a 51-50 win.

The fallout from the week led to many of Sanders’ and the more progressive—or dare I say radical—wing of the party, to act out against the senators who voted no on Sanders’s add-on.

The major problem the farther left has is they are so unbelievably politically ineffec-

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema meets with solar power representatives in 2019

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tive. They called to “primary” people, like Manchin and Sinema, who hold valuable seats for the Democrats in the Senate. Both are Democrats in Republican states: when a Justice Democrats (Progressive Political Action Committee) backed candidate ran in the West Virginia Democratic Senate primary race, Paula Jean Swearinger was blown out by a margin of 70%-30%. The answer is not to primary moderate Dems in purple states, it is to win more seats in the 2022 midterms to where you do not rely on Joe Manchin’s vote in the Senate.

This is also quite possible: the president has a 57% approval rating, and the Democrats are only defending fourteen seats in the Senate in 2022, compared to the 20 the Republicans are defending. Senator Pat Toomey’s seat is a must grab for the Dems here in the great state of Pennsylvania.

When the farther left wing leans into primarying moderate Dems, they have only shown the capability to win in districts such as NY-14 district of Alexandria OcasioCortez where Democrats usually win by 40+ points.

Congresswoman Abigail Spangenberger was leaked on a call after election day talking about buzzwords such as “socialism,” “ACAB,” and “defund the police,” all phrases parroted by those on the far left and an active detriment to any moderate Dem trying to win in any swing district. They also actively hurt the movement towards their goals when they let Republicans take seats in our legislative bodies.

If the progressive wing wants to implement the change they believe will help Americans in their everyday lives such as Senator Sanders’ fifteen-dollar minimum wage, they must figure out how to actively engage with the Democratic Party without being a detriment to the goals of the party itself.

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arts

the index · arts

March 2021

Honoring our own: Justin Moore’s “The ones who didn’t make it back home” Jacob Stacey ‘21

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he thought of a loved one never coming home is a sickening feeling. For many military families, it is a constant one, especially during a deployment. Constantly on edge, overthinking, and worrying makes being a part of that family almost as hard as serving.

Although not one of the most wellknown country songs, Justin Moore’s “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home,” released in 2019, struck the hearts of many, representing the hardships of having a loved one in the military.

Moore honors those who fought and lost their lives for our freedom by “raising a glass” to them. In today’s society, the military is a controversial topic because some people believe that our soldiers are not important, and many people forget the sacrifice that the men and women in the military make to keep Americans safe and free.

Moore’s hit song opens up with a loud, fast guitar and drum beat followed by soft lyrics that contrast the opening beat and set the tone for a sad song.

“She was planning a welcome home barbecue… there was a knock on the door ‘round two o’clock, two uniforms and her heart stopped, yellow ribbon ‘round an oak tree, blowing in the breeze.”

The idea of a yellow ribbon around an oak tree is as old as war itself. Tony Orlando and Dawn released a song called, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” in 1973, around the end of the Vietnam War, and the artists emphasize the respect of soldiers by tying the ribbon around an oak tree, and asking if people will still love them after being gone for so long.

The excitement of a loved one returning from deployment is a feeling like no other, but the feeling of seeing two other military personnel appearing will sink one’s heart.

Moore explains the heartbreaking feeling of seeing those two men outside your home, as

a family knows what will come next. The yellow ribbon is a common symbol for supporting the troops, and many people display this ribbon by putting it on their cars or trees.

“The hold up a beer ones, the wish they were here ones, the not forgotten but gone.

They’re in a better place up there but they sure left a hole down here, we just go on living and go on missing the ones, the ones that didn’t make it back home.”

Moore also touches on not only the loss of family members, but of friends and communities, bereft of people who had a significant impact on the people and places around them. Moore depicts how towns hold up a beer and wish to have the ones they have lost by their side, and emphasizes how even though they are dead, people remember, love, and miss the soldiers who lost their lives. War is horrible and Moore remarks on the soldiers being in a better place than the battlefield after they have passed.

“The whole town shut down, the whole town showed up, sang ‘Amazing Grace’, watched a slideshow of his 22 years. There was laughs and there was tears, and that preacher talked about sacrifice.”

Moore reiterates the impact that the people who served had in the towns they were from and the people they were around.

“The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home” demonstrates how the soldiers lose a significant portion of their lives from serving and possibly being killed in action, while having so much more to live for. The true definition and example and of sacrifice.

“Back to that front porch, back through that front door, to the life they were fighting for.”

Moore’s closing verse before the final chorus puts a heavy emphasis on a soldier’s remembrance from their family and friends back home, and the reason that they are fighting—to keep their loved ones safe, happy, and free.

Slava llyayev’s Sweet Talk Morgan Shatzman ’21

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an a metamorphosis occur within a work of art with the flick of a switch? Slava llyayev, a modern impressionistic artist, has done just that with his painting Sweet Talk. The Russian-born artist has reinvented the technique of oil on canvas and mastered the art of light deception. His unique style entices his audience as he is able to transform one painting into an-

Student views Ilyayev’s Sweet Talk

other by adjusting surrounding light. Slava llyayev is known for his impressionistic style and colorful perspectives.

His incorporation of texture, color, and light brings his works to life. This technique invites onlookers to experience a moment of time that changes as the angle of vision is altered. Ilyayav invites his audiences into his world of peaceful meditation as his subjects disappear into his canvas.

Sweet Talk’s tree-lined path welcomes

JOEY KAUFFMAN ’23

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

Justin Moore playing live, March 2018

the viewer into the world of the unknown couple enjoying a moment alone under an umbrella. Though the sky is bright during this colorful fall afternoon, the audience wonders why the umbrella is necessary. Does it protect the couple from the elements, or does it provide anonymity?

“This painting reminds us that time with our family is sometimes lost in the hastened shuffle of our daily lives.”

The colorful trees lead us down the path from darkness to light. Ilyayev’s use of perspective is undoubtedly one of his most impressive talents. Not only does he embrace the use of color but also acknowledges the need to keep the trees tall and proud. They stand like soldiers saluting the couple in the distance and are reinforced by layers of comrades east and west of the path.

The most engaging feature of this painting is its perfectly placed textured masses of oil paint on canvas. A lift to each leaf allows the brilliant fall colors to meld into the brightly lit background figures. Slava llyayev tastefully adds similar texture to the land below the trees, which bring strength to the path. However brilliant this technique appears, the secret is how its message is transformed by the quality and intensity of light.

An amazing metamorphosis occurs as

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the angle and the quality of light is adjusted on the painting. In a bright light, the dimensional qualities of the piece are much more subtle. This lightens the mood and forces the audience to focus on the couple under the umbrella. When the light is positioned at an angle, the brilliance of the texture brings focus to the trees and the path that lead to the couple. As the observer strolls by this work of art, the visual interpretation of the piece changes. This movement of the observer potentiates the effect of light and can transform this painting from an afternoon stroll to a post dinner affair.

What does Ilyayev offer the modern world? He takes his audience back to a more simple life where technology is less advanced and where spending quality time with loved ones is paramount. The world has suffered mass isolation as a consequence of the current pandemic, which has resulted in bringing our families closer together. With its bright and brilliant use of color, this painting reminds us that time with our family is sometimes lost in the hastened shuffle of our daily lives.

Slava Ilyayev studied at the Baku College of Arts in his native Azerbaijan and then moved to Israel, where he currently resides.

He generally works with color and is interested in the affects of light on his paintings.

His technique works in three stages.

He applies the oil base, adds layers, and then sculps with a knife the finished product. These works take at least a year to dry.

Day or night, Sweet Talk amazes crowds and leaves behind a heartfelt peace for the couple as they stroll through the canvas.

Page 26

the index · arts

March 2021

“Why do fireflies have to die so soon?” - Grave of the Fireflies Nachikethan Srinivasan ’21

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nown for its light-hearted creations, Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli’s 1988 anime feature Grave of the Fireflies carries a message with haunting relevance to our modern day.

June 28, 1945. Okayama, Japan. In broad daylight, flocks of B-29 bomber planes drop a barrage of cylindrical napalm canisters over the city. Scores of people in the streets are desperate to flock to local shelters, watching on in horror as the canisters light up the sky in yellow sparks. Among those people is the late Studio Ghibli animator Isao Takahata.

Takahata was well known in the anime industry for his willingness to rethink and push the boundaries of animated storytelling, in due part to his personal experience. In a time when Japan had undergone economic recovery, the glaring truths of the country’s wartime demise are either deliberately glazed over or forgotten. In his response to those growing sentiments, his 1988 piece Grave of the Fireflies came about, utilizing his realist methodology to speak to the mistakes that led his country askew, while simultaneously delivering perhaps one of the most haunting and unorthodox anti-war pieces of all time.

Based on a 1967 novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, Grave of the Fireflies takes place during the United States air raids on the Empire of Japan during the closing stages of World War II. In the film, a young boy named Seita and his sister Setsuko navigate life in post-war Kobe, Japan, on their own terms in a time where survival means a lack of generosity and support.

The children lose their mother to the air raids, while the father has gone away to serve in the navy. With both parents out of the picture, Seita tries his hardest to follow his

father’s example and leaves his aunt to care for Setsuko himself, an act of arrogant selfsufficiency. But as an older brother, he is burdened with the duty to keep his sister’s playfulness alive and her health stable. The sea becomes a giant bathtub, Setsuko’s collection of marbles and flowers exemplifies fortune, and fireflies quell Setsuko’s fears of the dark.

But that happiness can only be temporary, as food grows scarce, along with little Setsuko’s lifespan. Her health grows frail before quickly escaping her like the short-lived fireflies she treasured in the darkness, before circling back to the present with Seita’s death from the opening sequence.

The plot of Grave of the Fireflies does not shy away from the neorealist intentions of its creators.

The plot of Grave of the Fireflies does not shy away from the neorealist intentions of its creators. Both Takahata and Nosaka waste no time in embellishing the storyline with melodramatic struggles laced with heroic dialogue, because they understand the cruel sadness of those days as survivors themselves.

Each and every frame is crude and silent in its appearance, giving the audience the time to watch and to process the private moments—whether it be the children watching the fireflies flutter around them or Seita’s attempts to sustain his withering sister with watermelon.

Takahata is also unyielding in his demonstration of the duality between responsibility and victimization through symbolic references, reflected in both the brother-sister pair, and modern-day affairs. Seita’s pride and insistence to survive, combined with his infatuation with the army offers a sharp criticism of nationalist sentiments.

Takahata himself was one of Japan’s staunchest critics of such sentiments, which were revived under former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Known for his desires to recast Japanese pacifism, Abe managed to bring forward a security bill that proposed to remilitarize the country, which both Takahata and his Studio Ghibli colleagues vehemently opposed. In an interview with The Japan Times, Takahata remarked, “You cannot keep the peace by picking up a weapon.”

Setsuko’s innocence reflects the horrors of war impacting the guiltless and purenatured. The eponymous fireflies exemplify the impermanence of brightness, while at the same time, delivering a haunting resemblance to those napalm canisters that ravaged their lands.

The visuals presented before the viewer are reminiscent of the old films of desolation that spanned the Japanese mainland. Even now, the destruction and plight Setsuko faces harks to the present with the humanitarian crises faced in post-war Sri Lanka, Syria, and Darfur. Takahata himself has denied Grave of the Fireflies being an anti-war film. But even this could not outweigh the fact that the late Roger Ebert himself declared the film should belong “on any list of the greatest war films ever made.”

Grave of the Fireflies tells a moving story outside of the safe confines of the aforemen-

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The poster for the feature Grave of the Fireflies

It is not heroic to merely survive. tioned pieces—to inspire deep grief compared to surface-level sadness. Not for a second does the film give a hint of heroism in the actions of any character.

It is not heroic to merely survive.

To live stably and peacefully is a desire we all strive for, even when we know it is most certainly not likely. And for such a story to not once be considered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, that is beyond any viewer’s comprehension.

Truth amid the lies of The Departed Thomas Hall ’21

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o you lie?”

In Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film The Departed, a young State Trooper, Billy Costigan (Leonardo Dicaprio) goes undercover to dismantle Frank Costello’s gang (Jack Nicholson). As Costigan begins working for Costello, he gains the gang’s trust and takes part in their illegal activities.

Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) infiltrates the investigative unit of the South Boston police department, aiming to keep Costello out of jail. Sullivan feeds information to Costello and Costigan feeds information to Captain Queenin (Martin Sheen). Both sides catch

The Departed film logo

on to the lying and deception and work to oust the rat. The police put Sullivan’s and Costigan’s identities in danger. The constant battle between liars eventually boils over and leads to a fascinating ending.

Throughout the film, lying and deception is repetitive. Good and bad guys rapidly exchange information for their own benefit as Costigan is placed into Costello’s prominent Boston gang. Viewers experience a modern-day mob collecting money from their businesses, shooting those who don’t pay, and exchanging stolen goods for millions of dollars.

Specifically, when Frank Costello has a drug deal set up, Costigan would contact Captain Queenin, but before an arrest could be made, Sullivan would call and advise Costello what to do. Sullivan would discreetly ring his ‘dad’ while the sting operation took place. He would say, “I won’t be home for supper,” and Costello would play it safe and promptly leave the scene. At the same time, Costigan would perform the same maneuver and guide the police to Costello’s location. This included cop cars storming to run-down warehouses in abandoned areas of Boston.

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The exchanging of information on both sides leads to heated scenes at the police department. Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) is one of the first to understand that the rat is in the observation room. He instigates a physical altercation with Sullivan and Dignam is assigned a leave of absence.

In the early scenes, Collin Sullivan asks his girlfriend out on a date. There, he simply asks, “Do you lie?” She answers, “Sometimes, yeah.” Sullivan is a complete fraud.

He is a living rat. Scrocese shows that the ones who lie become afraid of being lied to.

The difference between him and Costigan is that Sullivan himself is a born liar.

Raised and trained by Costello, Sullivan has always wanted to be bad. On the other hand, Costigan is a normal guy who picks up a new identity. Because of Costigan’s truthful past, his new identity leads to anxiety and insomnia, something that does not occur with Sullivan. Costigan is forced to act like someone he isn’t.

Costigan is also living two lives because of his undercover identity. Costigan is doing everything he can to get the murderer, Costello, off the streets, but to do so, he needs to lie and change his ways. Scorsese provides breathtaking plot twists and action filled scenes to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Scorsese attempts to illustrate the difference between a good lie and a bad lie: in order to take down liars, you must lie to yourself and others. The film’s motive is to show that even the most trusted still lie.

the index·sports

Page 27

March 2021

sports Mask and travel restrictions challenge laxmen

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Thomas Hall ’21

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asks must be worn at all times,” Assistant Athletic Director and Lacrosse Head Coach Mr. Brendan Dawson often tells his players.

With guidance from the school, the Inter-Ac, and the PIAA, the lacrosse team has required all players and coaches to wear masks. The 2021 spring season is packed with in- and out-of-state games. Although the schedule changes almost every day, the lacrosse season is on.

“The schedule is very much a moving target,” Coach Dawson said.

On March 1, Governor Wolf revised

mitigation orders on gatherings and lifted out-of-state travel restrictions. According to the official Pennsylvania Government website and Governor Wolf, “Pennsylvania is taking a measured approach to revising or lifting mitigation orders… We need to balance public health with leading the state to a robust economic recovery.”

With the spring season underway, the removal of the out-of-state restrictions has allowed the lacrosse team to play other schools.

On March 6, the lacrosse team sent 45 members of the team (including coaches) to Archbishop-Spalding High School in Mary-

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Track sprinters Guillaume Laforest ’21, Mekhi Ajose-Williamson ‘21, Coach Ron Hunter, Musa Jabateh ’24, and Manny Winikur ‘21, March 11, 2021

Lacrosse scrimmage against Gilman School, March 11, 2021 land. “Obviously, this Saturday we have our nose and all of the sudden it’s down over first scrimmage. We are going to Maryland. your mouth. Or if you get hit in the helmet, But there’s rules and stipulations about how your helmet can move and knock your mask we travel there,” Coach Dawson said before off. There are times where the mask comes the contest. off, but we are diligent about telling guys “Each kid going to the game has to to put their masks up and make sure that get taken to the game by a parent or family they’re doing their best to keep them up,” member,” Coach Dawson said. “They can’t Coach Dawson said. carpool and they can’t drive themselves.”

The lacrosse team is simply grateful to When the team arrives, specific guide- be out on the field. “I’m getting used to the lines are in place on what players can and mask and just happy to be playing. Especialcannot do. “When we get to Maryland we ly since the long break, everybody is excited won’t use a locker room. We’ll just go right to be out there,” Fifth Form starting goalie out to the field. We’ll start warming up, play, Chuck Cacciutti said. and get in our cars and drive home,” Coach Coach Dawson has structured a safe Dawson said. and efficient practice to prevent the spread The same protocol is in place for visit- of COVID-19, “Our practices are fast paced ing teams at home, “They’re not using the and moving, so there’s never a time on the locker rooms here. If they need to use the field where somebody would be standing restrooms, they use the restrooms,” Coach around another player for over 15 minutes.

Dawson said. “They get dressed, play a It just doesn’t happen. Even if a drill goes for game, and leave.”

15 minutes, which is very rare, people are According to Coach Dawson, players filtering in and out of the drills and movand the PIAA understand that the mask is a ing to different spots,” Coach Dawson said. nuisance. “The PIAA has made some recom- “They’re never in that same spot for an exmendations that just like in football, sports tended period of time or what would be that wear mouthpieces it’s considered dan- considered as a close contact with somebody gerous to wear a mask and have a mouth- else.” piece in,” Coach Dawson said. “It is hard to Just over a year after the 2020 season breathe.” came to a halt, Saturday, March 13 meant Fifth Former Peter Kaplan said, “Nor- the lacrosse team’s scheduled season opener mally people complain a little, but I think against Maryland’s Boys Latin School, which people have just accepted the circumstances, resulted in a 10-13 loss. and they’d rather just play with a mask on.”

“I just feel fortunate, and honestly lucky With a lacrosse helmet on, wearing a that we are able to play, and so if they tell mask is difficult. us that we have to wear masks, it’s a small “You wear a chin strap, and you put the sacrifice,” Coach Dawson said. “We certainly chin strap on and it pulls it down over your won’t use it as an excuse.”

Interested in the news? Have strong opinions about events on campus?

Look for an upcoming email to find out how you can write for The Index!

the index · sports

Page 28

March 2021

Lacrosse, cont. from front page In response to this year’s unique challenges, the team devised unique solutions.

“We’ve been incorporating a lot of Google Meets in our routine to go over plays and film,” Fifth Former Avi Mehl said. “It’s gotten to the point where we’re ready to go even before we set foot on the field.”

“It’s a product of the pandemic,” Coach Dawson said. “We can utilize some of this technology to do things that we used to do in person. Not that we’ll never [watch film] in-person again, but we can definitely utilize time wisely, and we want to make sure we’re adhering to protocols and limiting group time together.”

In addition to the Meets, Coach Dawson is having his players read James Kerr’s Legacy—a book about a remarkably successful New Zealand rugby team called the All Blacks.

The book outlines the different traits an All Black player must have, including sacrifice, dedication, preparation, and hard work.

“You learn these things about how the All Blacks are the best rugby players in the world, but they still do the simple things,” Sixth Former Quintin Campbell said. “For instance, they clean out their locker room after every game by themselves. And the point of that is: ‘Nobody takes care of the All Blacks, we take care of the All Blacks.’”

said, “focussing on the basic things such as our traditions and carrying on the legacy.”

Fifth Former Pat Gillin said, “We can take something we’ve learned from the book and change it into our own kind of outline for how this year’s going to go and what each of us has to do to make the team the best it can be.”

“It helps us identify what we want to focus on as a team,” Sixth Former Nolan Cooleen said. “We can use [the All Blacks’] success as a template.”

On the physical side, players have held themselves to high standards while school practices were suspended.

“It was on the players individually to take care of their bodies,” Cooleen said, “especially after hard practices.”

Campbell added, “The guys stayed in touch. We did a lot of running, lifting, all sorts of conditioning, and then everyone was

sort of champing at the bit during the school year to get out on the field and use the wall.

When we finally got the okay to get on the wall, we had a great turnout.”

The team is certainly developing both mentally and physically, and Sixth Form leaders are gradually stepping into their new roles.

Still, the pandemic has introduced some difficulties.

“The senior class never really got to grow into a junior role; seniors were kind of thrown into just the highest leadership role, and neither the freshmen nor the sophomores have really gotten to play,” Campbell said. “We’re keeping in mind that this has happened to every team, and every team is going to have a learning curve, and we know we’re going to get through it.”

To help the Sixth Formers grow into leadership roles, Coach Dawson has turned

to previous leaders.

“We had a special group of seniors last year—just great guys who really bought into the team culture,” Coach Dawson said. “One of my biggest disappointments was that our current team didn’t get to see that throughout the season in-person with our seniors. I really wanted [the former seniors] to be involved in teaching the younger guys, so we just gave the seniors that graduated last year a little bit of freedom to meet with the group in Google Meets just to talk about Haverford lacrosse and what it meant to them.”

Overall, the Fords are optimistic that all of these efforts will prove fruitful over the course of the season.

“It’s not a regular year,” Gillin said. “But I think we’re rolling with the punches and take whatever we can get and get better every day.”

“We’ve been incorporating a lot of Google Meets in our routine to go over plays and film” AVI MEHL ’22 The players believe reading the book has helped with their mentality.

“It helps us keep level-headed in terms of focusing on our common goal,” Mehl

Varsity Lacrosse vs. Gilman School, March 11, 2021

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Locker room restrictions affect all athletes Grayson Walker ’21

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n 1903, the Haverford Third Alpha played the Haverford Third Omega in a ninth-grade football game. It was a low scoring game: Alphas 10 and Omegas 0.

Before and after the game the Alphas likely changed in a gym locker room, where they mentally prepared for the game. The team likely bonded in this locker room and became a closer and better team. The tradition of the Haverford locker room dates back to the early 1900s.

Now, every day after school, students head over to the athletic center to change in the locker room before practices and games.

In the locker room athletes adjust from student to athlete and bond with their teammates.

This mental switch is key to many teams’ success. Due to the pandemic, the locker room is collecting dust.

“We have had to alter the way that we do many things to try and make the environment as safe as possible for students and faculty. Locker rooms are no different,” Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy said.

Restricting the locker room was strictly a safety decision.

“We got dressed next to the court during the games, which was odd. I understand the reasons, but it was just a weird time,” Sixth Form basketball captain Zach Genther said. “The locker room in past years was a place where the team came together.”

Some athletes’ moods have changed now that the locker room is out of commission.

“I looked forward to getting fifteen minutes with the guys and team,” Sixth Former Matt Carlino said. “And it was a time where the boys could be the boys.”

“After practices and games the locker room was where we could crack jokes and distance ourselves from the seriousness of the practice of games,” ZACH GENTHER ’21 Many athletes have come to love what the locker room brings to a team.

“After practices and games the locker room was where we could crack jokes and distance ourselves from the seriousness of the practice of games,” Genther said. “I think the locker room is crucial to our team.”

“Once changed and ready to go, no matter where it happens, athletes need to be able to flip a switch, get focused and ready to compete,” Mr. Murphy said.

To many athletes, the locker room means more than just a place to change.

“Especially over spring break we do a lot of hanging out in the locker room. So we’d do a lot of bonding with the older guys and younger guys.Without having that, we will lose that bond with the younger guys,” Sixth Form lacrosse captain Micheal Bozzi said.

The locker room seems to be a place where teams grow and get closer.

“The biggest part is no adults,” Fourth Former Billy Brosko said. “You get to see the real side of a person, when they are not in front of teachers and adults. The locker room is a place where there is no pressure to be a certain way. This is what I believe leads teams to become closer.”

The locker room stands empty, March 10, 2021

GRAYSON WALKER ’21

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Page 29

with what’s been going on,” Sixth Former Matthew Schwartz said, “but I would certainly be disappointed and saddened that people are mistreated, and I would hope that other countries step in diplomatically to help these marginalized groups.”

China believes in its strong economic leverage to coerce countries and corporations against boycotting the Olympic games.

Critics believe that the allegations against China are accurate and that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Members of the The Haverford School community are mostly aware of China’s actions and are sympathetic towards the Chinese citizens.

“I personally believe that the Chinese are committing these acts out of hate for certain ethnic groups,” Sixth Former Tyler Neave said. “They claim that they are doing

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A Chinese soldier guarding the southern entrance of the Forbbiden City in Beijing, dominated by a giant portrait of Mao Zedong

Students weigh in on a possible Beijing 2022 Olympics boycott Morgan Shatzman ’21

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hina has begun its preparation for the 2022 opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Though many wait with great anticipation, others are deeply concerned that supporting the event will condone the alleged political interventions and social injustices committed by the government of China.

Human rights groups around the world recognize China as a controlling state of brutality against various ethnic, political, and religious affiliations.

These groups are urging governments

around the world to consider boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics. Steven Lee Myers, in his New York Times article “China Is Preparing for Another Olympics in Beijing, Like It or Not,” states that China continues to be critized for desolving its democratic intentions in the city of Hong Kong and for its discrimination against Uighur Muslims living in the city of Xinjiang. Knowledge of this controversy has brought awareness of China’s aggressive policies and has negatively impacted its image.

“I can’t say I would or wouldn’t be surprised as I haven’t been following closely

“If the boycott is really, really effective, I would feel bad for the atheltes that trained super hard over the last four years, especially during the pandemic time.”

GARY GAO ‘21 counter extremism, but in reality I believe it is ‘ethnic cleansing.’”

This is not the first Olympic boycott.

For example, in 1980 the United States did not attend the Olympics held in Russia in protest to their invasion of Afghanistan. In 1984, “The Soviet Union and its allies stayed away from that event in retaliation for the United States-led boycott,” writes Myers in his New York Times article. Would a mass boycott of the 2022 Olympics have any effect on China’s policies?

“If the allegations are true I would support the boycott, violating human rights should never be trampled on no matter where you are,” Sixth Former Will Schaefer

March 2021 said. “I don’t believe it will work, though it might show other countries that we don’t like it. But it most likely won’t lead to any long-lasting change.”

If the boycott is successful enough to result in cancelling the event altogether, it would have a serious impact on the athletes that dedicated their lives in preparation for this event.

If China does not listen to those who object their practices, many feel that it is the athletes who will pay the price.

“If the boycott is really, really effective, I would feel bad for the athletes that trained super hard over the last four years, especially during this pandemic time,” Sixth Former Gary Gao said. “Many winter sport athletes will miss the golden years for international competitions if the 2022 Games get cancelled. Therefore, I wouldn’t support a boycott unless there’s a well-organized alternative of the equivalent importance, which I think is pretty hard to arrange.”

China is a communist country that is considered the second leading world economic power.

This gives the country the potential power to retaliate against countries that might consider boycotting the 2022 games.

A boycott that is successful in protesting what is called by the Associated Press as the “‘Genocide Games’ because of reported human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other minorities in China” may trigger and world-wide response.

“I am not surprised about the allegations,” Sixth Former Matthew Wang said.

“The boycott is necessary. It is a step in the right direction, but more has to be done on a United Nations and international level.”

If the United States boycotts the 2022 Olympics, it could potentially affect Chinese-American life.

The Haverford community is proud of its efforts to embrace all members of its diverse community as brothers.

“For me personally it does not impact my situation as a Chinese American at Haverford,” Wang said. “I hope that there will be no negative tensions at our school.”

Tennis enters season with a well-balanced roster Matthew Kang ’23

H

aving won ten out of the last ten Inter-Ac championships, this year’s tennis squad is hungry to defend its record breaking streak of dominance.

With Sixth Form Captain Patrick Bottin leading the pack, this year’s tennis team also includes Sixth Formers Max Feracci, George Laveran, Andrew Minnis, Matthew Schwartz, Augie Aliaga, and Joey White who are excited to finish out their senior year strong after missing last year’s season due to COVID. Although the team has a lot of young players as well, Bottin emphasizes the balance between old and young.

But experience doesn’t always come from one side. Fourth Former Jay Crowther said, “As a regular tournament player, I can offer advice for my peers with how to handle the big pressure situations and perform better in games.”

“We have a whole new group of underclassment talent and upperclassmen expirience.”

Even with the relative inexperience of this year’s team, the Fords have high expectations for this season.

“My goals for the upcoming season are to develop and grow everyone’s game, and to create a family within the team.” Bottin said.

“And to add another Inter-Ac championship to our name.”

The short lived period of warm weather gave an opportunity for the team to get back out on the courts as the snow melted away.

And, with the current courts at Haverford covered by Virtue Village, the varsity team will be practicing at Baldwin for the rest of the year.

PATRICK BOTTIN ‘21 “We have a whole new group of un- derclassmen talent and upperclassmen experience, which will be valuable especially since the team has not played a match since the 2019 season,” Bottin said.

“I can offer advice for my peers with how to handle the big pressure situations and perform better in games JAY CROWTHER ‘23

DR. MICAH DEL ROSARIO

Adamya Aggarwal ‘22 (left) and Joaquin Arias ‘23 in practice, March 11, 2021

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Track’s Sims and Sanford adapt to new coaching staff Ryan Rodack ’22

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fter a one year hiatus as a result of the pandemic, the track and field team is armed with a new coach and several seniors ready to lead the team to success.

Most recently, new Track and Field Coach Mr. Ron Hunter led the 4 x 800 indoor relay team to the state championship.

Hunter’s athletes broke fifteen of the school’s individual and relay records at Academy Park, his alma mater.

Taking notice of Coach Hunter’s success, Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy worked to make Coach Hunter the Fords’ Track and Field Coach for the 2021 season.

“Coach Hunter has a unique ability to push his athletes to be their best selves both on and off the track. This, combined with his competitiveness, make him an outstanding addition to The Haverford School’s ath-

letic programs,” Mr. Murphy said.

As the first few weeks of practice have gotten underway, track athletes have felt the impact of Coach Hunter’s presence. “[Coach Hunter] instantly connected with the guys, and all of our athletes have the utmost respect for him and his training plan,” Sixth Former Distance Runner AJ Sanford said. “He gives great advice and has a vision for our running goals.”

“There’s a new energy to the track team,” Sixth Form Runner Chris Sims said.

“I feel as if people are a little more serious.

Although it is still fun, there is a lot of focus on the team.”

While Coach Hunter’s leadership has been evident throughout the first couple weeks of practice, he has also implemented changes in practice to try and improve his athletes. One of the first changes he made

JEFFREY YANG ’22

Fifth Former Josh Allen works on his long jump in practice as teammates look on, March 11, 2021

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

Sprinters (left to right) Amani Brown ‘23, Manny Winikur ‘21, Guillome LaForest ‘21, and Mekhi Ajose-Williamson ‘21 at practice, March 11, 2021

was introducing longer warmups to the athletes.

“Some athletes appreciate the longer warm ups in the cold because it highly reduces the risk of injury,” Sanford said. “While the warm up is longer than some people are used to, they can appreciate that they will at least be warm and ready to sprint.”

“We practice for a little longer and a lot more specific event training,” Sims added.

As the season approaches, the Sixth Formers are enforcing their leadership skills and beginning to establish goals.

“I just want everyone to improve,” Sims said. “No matter if it’s by one second or one inch, if everyone improves, I will be happy.”

While Sims’ goals for the season are

more direct, Sanford has higher expectations for the team’s success this season.

“I think we [Sixth Formers] want a championship title. Last year we were absolutely on pace to repeat the Inter-Ac, but the season was cut. I believe a few of us seniors have some school records in sight and with this great new coaching, these goals are definitely achievable,” Sanford said.

In order to achieve Sanford’s lofty expectations, a team effort will be necessary.

“Everybody is working hard and serious about their craft,” Sanford said. “We want to inspire the young guys too and make sure they are putting their best effort towards getting better.”

Mr. Brown joins Ultimate Frisbee program Jeffrey Yang ’22

W

alk out to Eagle Field in the afternoon, and you will find yourself amid a sea of flying disks. You might also see a Frisbee getting bigger and wonder why; then, it hits you.

On the single grass field of the entire campus, you have just walked into a game of Ultimate Frisbee.

With the addition of Mr. Louie Brown, Ultimate has entered a new season with a new coach. Mr. Brown’s decision to assume the role, coaching alongside Dr. Andrew Fenton, comes from his experience of playing the sport at Haverford.

“I was a wrestler, and I played Ultimate—it was a favorite sport of mine, and it was awesome. I think there’s something important about the makeup of the team that I like,” Mr. Brown said.

Despite just starting the season, Mr. Brown feels that coaching has allowed him to interact with students in a way that is different and more expansive from teaching in the classroom.

“It lets me see a different side of the students that we play with and meet students that I don’t have in my classes,” Mr. Brown said. “The role of a teacher is very different from the role of a coach.”

Mr. Brown described coaching Ultimate like counseling at summer camps, where he first started working with young people.

“Being a coach feels much more like being a counselor than a teacher to me. And there’s something about that sort of intimacy, the familiarity that I really like about sport coaching,” he said.

Yet, Mr. Brown is not without any hesitations or worries, some of which involve playing different schools during a pandemic and bonding with the team. While he has

served as team captain, coaching Ultimate is a new experience, but Mr. Brown is eager to iron out his concerns.

“I know there’s going to be some growing pains, but I think the things that I’m hesitant about are also the things I’m most excited to explore and what will teach me the most about how to connect with our students and about how to make something meaningful out of playing Ultimate for an hour every day,” he said.

Mr. Brown is eager to have some games, which currently are scheduled but, as he noted, are not entirely promised for this season.

Beyond playing, Mr. Brown also hopes to see the team grow.

“We have a pretty small team, and we have some really solid players and a lot of a lot of very promising freshmen this year and promising players of all years,” Mr. Brown said.

Though he calls himself a competitive person, Mr. Brown prefers to compete with himself to gain self-improvement, something which he accomplished while playing rugby in college.

“It’s less important that I’m better than someone else. It’s more important than I’m better than I was last practice or last game or whatever. You can be better at something if you practice and take your time with it and focus,” Mr. Brown said. “So I’m just excited to see the way that we improve as a team, and the way that people not only improve as individual players, but as little team community, as a small family. ” Mr. Brown encourages those interested in Ultimate to join the team.

“If you wanna play ultimate play Ultimate, we’ve got unlimited room on our team,” Mr. Brown said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The field beckons the ultimate squad

COMMUNICATIONS

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Spring sports prep for full schedules, as pandemic wanes

Jacob Stacey ’21

E

arly last March, Sixth Form catcher Eric Genther walked down to Memorial Field’s baseball diamond.

He stretched his arm out with his usual exercise-band routine before lacing up his cleats. Genther clasped his catcher’s gear into place before jogging out to the field and settling behind home plate. Little did Genther know, this would be the last time he geared up for the baseball season. The 2020 spring sports season at Haverford was cut short due to the Coronavirus, leaving countless spring athletes demoralized.

In 2021, the tables have turned for athletes like Genther.

Fall and winter sports teams have both suffered an abbreviated season, often only playing games against other Inter-Ac teams and having a smaller window to finish the season. From the first week of the spring season, spring sports appear set for a resurgence, and athletes will be rewarded with a full schedule of league and non-conference games. The lacrosse team currently has 20 games on the schedule while the baseball team has 27 games, showing that outdoor sports are easier to operate safely under new protocols.

Athletes have mixed emotions about the inequity of each season’s schedule. Winter sports had much more restricted schedules.

“There was a lot of pressure,” Sixth Form basketball and football player Matt Carlino said, “We had no time for scrimmages and less time to practice before each game. There was an increased sense of urgency from coaches and players, and there was no time to screw around or goof off with the team.”

Anticipation for spring sports such as lacrosse heightens amongst members of the Haverford community surrounding opening day.

“I’m glad spring sports are getting full

seasons because I’m excited to see lacrosse play. The games are exciting and are a big part of school culture,” Carlino said.

The state of Pennsylvania has slowly relaxed restrictions on COVID-19 protocols as vaccines are dispersed. According to the Montgomery County Government, about 10.2% of residents have received a COVID-19 vaccine as of March 1, 2021. The Havertown Patch claims that 40% of Delaware County residents in group 1A have received the vaccine. Keep in mind that the people getting vaccinated are in groups 1A and 1B, consisting of elderly citizens and first responders, not high school athletes.

“As cases steadily decreased and the state restrictions changed with more vaccines given, it allowed us to consider a full season,

one with non-conference games,” Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy said.

The state rules have played a big role in how each season’s sports were able to schedule and play safely. According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, outdoor events, like most of the spring sports Haverford offers, are now open to 20% capacity, as of March 1.

The new safety measures give athletes hope for a promising season ahead. The cancellation of all spring sports last season still haunts community members.

“The fact that spring athletes missed an entire season last year certainly has been something discussed along the way, however, it would not have been a determining factor if the AD [Inter-Ac athletic directors’] group

The catching group, with Eric Genther ’21 (center), at practice, March 11, 2021

felt it was unsafe to play,” Mr. Murphy said.

As the season begins, players are hesitant but excited to play. “We’re taking this year step by step, we don’t want to take anything for granted. It’s always a good feeling to be back out there, but we never know what will happen tomorrow,” Sixth Form lacrosse player Michael Bozzi said.

Despite slight hesitation of possible spikes in the coronavirus and changes to safety restrictions, morale is high and excitement trumps any thoughts of being cancelled again.

“There’s a new sense of excitement for every practice and playing games has been long awaited, the suspension is killing us,” Sixth Form lacrosse player Quintin Campbell said. “We’re ready to start the season.”

MR. THOMAS STAMBAUGH

Unique athletes make unique students Magnus Weissenberger ’21

W

hen people think of Haverford athletics, many think of lacrosse and squash. Haverford has one of the most prestigious athletic programs in the country, yet several students competing in sports outside of the school’s offerings are just as impressive as our highest-ranked lacrosse or squash players. Wilson Hall hosts a number of top athletes from lesser-known sports.

While all athletes need to balance their schoolwork and their sporting endeavours, athletes that compete on their own have unique difficulties. Unlike school-sponsored athletics, students who compete in alternative sports often have schedules incompatible with Haverford’s academic calendar.

Tyler Neave, a Sixth Form skeet shooter, has spent a number of weeks missing classes due to shooting competitions. Neave has been shooting for much of his life and has travelled to and competed in numerous competitions over the country.

Keeping up with homework does not seem to be too much of a hassle for Neave.

“It’s easy to keep up with the work as it’s coming in, but actually catching up with the stuff that you miss in class is actually harder to make up,” Neave said.

Like Neave, Sixth Former Thomas Hall has competed in an unconventional sport since a young age. Hall started sailing at the age of seven and quickly became one of the best sailors in the country. In sixth grade, he qualified for a World Champion-

ship alongside only four other American sailors. When asked about his academic challenges, Hall praised his teachers for being so

flexible with his unique schedule.

“I think they are supporting and they do ask how it was and check in,” Hall said.

“They do support and understand if you couldn’t do that paper or you couldn’t do this or that.”

COURTESY OF THOMAS HALL ‘21

Thomas Hall ’21 (left) with Sam Gavula ’19 sailing to a second-place finish at the I420 Midwinter Championship in

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Diamond Fords cut out for twenty-seven game season Tyler Zimmer ’21

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ater fountains, short sleeves, and constant heat flow. One would think that on a wintry March weekend, Fords baseball would seek refuge indoors. Sub-forty temperatures and twenty mile-per-hour wind gusts are what forecasters describe as a day to read The New York Times by the fire, or at least practice indoors. This group of eager ball players could not disagree more.

“The cold is just a mindset,” Sixth Form second baseman Jacob Stacey said. “We love it out there.”

Coach Joe Martin responded to Stacey’s claim: “I hate the cold. The boys hate the cold, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. That being said, it will never stop us.”

Despite being outside for the previous three days in temperatures dipping to thirtyone degrees, Head Coach Bob Castell ultimately decided to move practice indoors to 11 a.m. on Saturday.

“We value the time we have, and we have to set a good example for the younger guys.”

JONNY FLIEDER ’21 But as I walked up the gymnasium stairs, met by an aromatic blend of chlorine and sweat, the entire team was already hard at work recreating the outdoor field, indoors.

By 10:45, players and coaches had rolled out two astroturf mats, lowered batting cages, and measured pitching distances.

Sixth Form shortstop Jonny Flieder said, “We get here at least fifteen minutes early so that our practice can be the entire two hours.

We value the time we have, and we have to set a good example for the younger guys.”

A nine-man lineup with eight starting upperclassmen provides both an easy way out—taking on a senior-first attitude—or an opportunity to unite. They chose the latter.

“We want the underclassmen to feel included,” Sixth Form pitcher Grayson Walker said. “We get them involved in warmups and drills.”

Fourth Former Ryan Getz has been promoted to starting right fielder. Very rarely does an underclassmen receive this role, but his blazing speed and down-to-earth work habits are undeniable. “[The Sixth Formers] are my guys. We’re friends in school, and they’ve welcomed me to the point that I’m not nervous about my role,” Getz said.

Fifth Former Ryan Reed shared this sen-

Jonny Flieder ’21 hustles to first base in 12-2 rout of Friends Central, March 10, 2020 timent. “I’ve been with the current seniors and they even use their own equipment.”

Castell said. “I’m excited. The kids are exsince freshman year. They make me feel like Not only do the players abide by health cited. The parents are excited.”

I’m one of them,” Reed said. and safety protocols, it has become second “We’ve been waiting so long for this,” The Sixth Form not only sets an exam- nature.

Sixth Form catcher Eric Genther said. ple through high-quality repetitions and vo“There’s an understanding that we could Some players are anxious to take the cal leadership, but also through Coronavirus be done at any point, and if wearing masks field on game day, others to feel the camaraprotocols. Needless to say, many teams have keeps us on the field, I’m wearing mine,” derie; Sixth Former Chris Griggs is ready to struggled with the balance between safety Sixth Form outfielder Ben Fosnocht said. resume his pregame ritual.

Players and coaches will do anything “I eat two Rice Krispies on the way they can to avoid a repeat of last season. down to the field. It gets me in the right “They have no fear of Long story short, in the span of twenty-four mindset,” Griggs said. anything.” hours last year, everything disappeared.

Fords baseball culture is defined by cold “It came from nowhere. We had a game Saturday morning practices, unity amongst PITCHING COACH MIscheduled with Germantown Friends on a all classes, and the lighthearted spirit from Friday last year. They cancelled, and with players like Griggs. But a decision by one CHAEL PALUMBO that, I was informed that we would have no former player— notably selected to the 2019 more practices,” Coach Castell said. first team all Inter-Ac—will define this seaand effective practice all year. Baseball has In the fall, sports were heavily limited. son: Luke Kania ’19 has returned to coach. found the balance.

Winter sports saw Inter-Ac competition “I came back for the closeness, the de“I’ve been beyond impressed by the only. Spring sports will shift into full throttle. sire to help each other improve. I helped boys,” training intern Caitlin Hargrave said.

Barring a dramatic turn of events, this build this culture, and there’s nothing I want Hargrave attends every practice, attending season will live up to the anticipation. As more than to help continue it,” Kania said. to hit-by-pitch wounds and bandaging turf practice that Saturday transitioned from Players, former players, and coaches burns. For the majority of practice where individual to intrasquad work, a tangible seek a state championship, and they are wellplayers are injury-free, she has closely wit- gratitude filled the room from players and positioned to compete. nessed how seriously the team has taken pre- coaches alike.

“They’re united, and they have no fear cautions. “In the outfield, they’ll take their “We have twenty-seven games this sea- of anything,” pitching Coach Michael Pamasks off. In close quarters, it’s always up, son. Last year, we had one game,” Coach lumbo said.

LUKE KANIA ’19

LUKE KANIA ’19

Michael Tallarida ’21 tags a baserunner in attempted pickoff, March 10, 2020

Eric Genther ’21 hits a line drive into right field, March 10, 2020

LUKE KANIA ’19