CXVIV Volume 2

The Tulane hullabaloo

“WHAT EVERYBODY’S BEEN WAITING FOR”

Tulane Football has found success: Can they sustain it?

LINDSAY RUHL BREAKING NEWS EDITOR

It was only two years ago that Tulane University struggled so much to get students to attend football games that they often offered free perks, like swagboxes and autographed helmets.

But after a historic turnaround and Cotton Bowl win last fall, the student section reached capacity almost an hour before the game against Ole Miss, and

crowds packed the sold-out stadium for the entire four quarters.

“This is what everybody’s been waiting for,” Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said.

Dannen said the first two weeks of this season brought the biggest two student crowds Tulane has ever seen. And after a hot season last year, the new 2023 football season plays a major role in determining what the future of Tulane Football will look like.

“What happened last year was incredible,” Todd Graffagnini, who has worked at Tulane since 1994 as the radio playby-play announcer and now serves as the radio voice for the New Orleans Pelicans, said. “Yulman became a different place to play football. It never was a true homefield type of advantage; there have been moments, but never sustained moments.”

But from mid-October last year on, Graffagnini said, “Yulman became a fullblown home-field advantage.”

Steve Barrios, a commentator who came to Tulane as a football player in 1969 and was inducted to the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000, said much of that success comes from leadership.

In his 41st year of doing radio for Tulane, Barrios has seen seven athletic directors and 11 head coaches. He said the future of Tulane Football lies within the hands of the head coach.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

COURTESY OF PARKER WATERS | TULANE ATHLETICS

Commons expands menu with better options, students say

ELLIE COWEN NEWS WRITER

Thousands of meal-plan wielding students file through The Malkin Sacks Commons every day. Returning sophomores may be pleasantly surprised to find the Commons upgraded with the Adobo Cantina Latin American food station, Baba’s NY Style Pizzeria and an expanded ice cream bar.

Other additions to the dining hall include Popcake pancake machines and new partnerships with local businesses like Community Coffee, Poke Loa, Ruby Slipper and Café du Monde. Iced coffee and cappuccino stations will also be available soon, according to Wesley Turnage, campus general manager at Tulane University Dining Services by Sodexo.

“We at Tulane Dining Services by Sodexo are constantly evolving our services and offerings to better meet the needs of Tulane students and the university community,” Turnage said. “We also rely heavily on feedback from students locally and nationally to understand the wants and needs of today’s students.”

Some students complained last year of mixed experiences with food quality, cross-contamination and dirty dishes.

Sophomore Ellie French said she is allergic to eggs, sesame, peanuts and treenuts; the latter two would cause anaphylactic shock. Last year, she said had three allergic reactions from the Commons’ food that were missing labels of her allergens. The third was from a churro twist served at break-

fast that did not say it included eggs.

“Two of the times that I had a reaction, it was because of a sauce that they added onto the chicken without saying that the sauce had sesame in it,” French said. “It’s not that I can’t eat anything from [the Commons], it’s that they didn’t list it.”

The Simplified station on the second floor, for students with food sensitivities and allergies, serves food without any of the nine top allergens. French said she has not used this room because the food is also gluten and dairy free, which leaves not many palatable food options for her.

“We work hard to ensure that all food items in the resident dining spaces are properly labeled and identified for the allergens contained in that item,” Turnage said. “All our management staff and Simplified workers hold valid AllerTrain certificates to ensure we are all educated on the most up-to-date allergen awareness and service information.”

Last year, sophomore Caroline Kinsey said she found pieces of metal in her chicken and pasta.

“It seems like they cooked it on a metal like tray or something and then scraped it so there were metal scrapings in my pasta,” Kinsey said.

Deionne Duplessis has worked as a baker in the Commons since October 2020. When speaking out about student satisfaction, Duplessis said students must be enjoying her baked goods based on how fast they leave the tray.

Duplessis said some issues with food quality last year could have been due

to staffing issues. She said two different temp agencies were supplying workers last year, which could lead to staff not experienced in their food serving station.

“People take pride when they know it’s their job and their responsibility,” Duplessis said. “When folks are coming and going, and just thrown into an area because, ‘We need you here,’ it’s a totally different story.”

Freshman Josh Sasson said he has an unlimited meal plan and “very much” likes the food, often stopping by the Commons six times per day.

French said she has an unlimited meal plan again this year and she still prefers the Commons over the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life. Foods are not labeled with allergens in the LBC and French said workers often do not know what allergens are in the food they are serving.

“[At] the Commons I can find [al-

lergens] online or I can look at the sign, which is way easier,” French said. “I just find this easier and I’m more comfortable.”

French said overall she is satisfied by the Commons food. She has noticed the Chef’s Table serving new cuisines, the pizza station making big improvements and is consistently impressed by the Commons’ breakfast offerings. “I love Commons’ breakfast. They always have smoothies,” French said. “It’s rare that there’s a bomb lunch and a bomb dinner … but I can always find something.”

Max: Tulane’s newest paw enforcement officer

JON KAHN NEWS WRITER

Tulane University Police Department has a new police officer, Max the dog. Max is a two-year-old chocolate lab who will serve students in two ways: therapy and bomb-sniffing.

“This is our first in-house dog,” Officer Vincent Silva, Max’s handler, said. In the past, TUPD would bring in agencies’ dogs for bomb searches.

TUPD acquiring a dog like Max has been in the works for a while. Lieutenant Anthony Dominguez said that the department started thinking of adding a therapy dog after hearing that Yale University had recently gotten one. He then assigned a lieutenant

to begin researching the benefits of having one, and the types of dogs that would best fit Tulane. After researching, Dominguez said it was a “no brainer.”

“This is something that’s going to benefit everybody in the community,” he said.

Silva and the police department want the student body to feel comfortable approaching Max because he is here to help, they said.

“He’s here for them,” Silva said.

“You know, I tell everybody, if you are having a bad day … any kind of negativity, any kind of stress, call us. We will bring him out. Animals change the atmosphere.”

Max has been featured at different events such as orientation and foot-

ball games, for students to know who he is and learn how he can help.

TUPD expressed excitement about Max and said that his popularity in his first year on the staff has exceeded expectations. “We knew it was going to be popular … but he’s taken off more than we thought,” Deputy Chief Frank Young said.

Max can be found on Instagram at @ofcmax_tupd. He has also been featured on TUPD’s Instagram page and President Mike Fitts’ instagram as well. Look for him at football games, campus events or just walking around

GABI LIEBELER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

TUA aims to increase presence on campus

ELLIE COWEN NEWS WRITER

Tulane Undergraduate Assembly faces challenges familiar to its predecessor, Undergraduate Student Government, in a lack of student engagement and unclear function on campus. Delegates hope though, with the redesigned structure of student government promoting equality and delegate initiative, that TUA can be a resource for student advocacy this year.

TUA co-chairs Akira Shelton and Zoe Freise said they both see the evolution of TUA as similar to that of a human. In its first year, TUA was figuring out how to sustain itself, and now as a toddler in its second year, the body can begin to walk and speak.

“It’s time to let our community know that we’re here,” Shelton said. “We did a lot of very impressive things last year, but a semester is just such a small frame of time in comparison to a full year. And now for the first time, we have a full school year to do more.”

Eleven first-year delegates were elected or selected to serve on the body in elections last week. Shelton said she is excited to see a new generation of student leaders join TUA that were not a part of USG’s abolishment.

“It’s very nice to see people who are brand new to the body, brand new [to] Tulane,” Shelton said. “We’re just so excited and eager. It just makes me really happy and I’m proud of [the incoming delegates].”

A main focus of TUA this year is increasing the organization’s recognition on campus. Freise said one flaw of USG was its insular organization that made little effort to engage with the student body at large. TUA committees are now encouraged to share information on social media and table on McAlister Drive to reach students.

“We redesigned our committee structure to ensure that anybody on campus would be able to participate,” Freise said. “In addition to that, simply having assemblies open to the greater [student] body to see. Senates were not promoted under USG as something non-representatives would be able to go to.”

Assemblies are open to all students to attend, share ideas and even join committees. Shelton said she would prefer to have more students on committees than TUA delegates themselves to gain the most diverse perspectives.

“We really want students to participate in our assemblies so that we can get more student voices directly,” third-year delegate Letitia Xiong said. “TUA’s assembly is a very welcoming place. [The] student body should come and join us, bring out their ideas to us and see what we are doing. We want to be as transparent as possible.”

Shelton said that one other significant effort of TUA this year will be increasing student civic engagement, especially with elections coming up this fall. TUA voted to establish a Civic

Engagement Committee last Tuesday to host voter registration drives and bipartisan education efforts.

Another significant departure from USG is that TUA no longer has control over the budgets of student organizations. Now student organizations’ finances will be handled by the Student Organizations Council, which has ties to TUA but is not governed by the body, according to Shelton.

Both Shelton and Freise said they were hesitant to run for the co-chair position after their experiences in the USG hierarchical system and the pipeline from the Freshman Leadership Program to USG elected positions. After speaking with former co-chairs DaSean Spencer and Jay Hartley, they were convinced to run.

“Watching the student body president be such a glorified position, I [didn’t] want to get all caught up in the mess that was that hierarchy,” Freise said. “After many discussions with Jay, DaSean and Akira, I was like, okay, I guess like I do have a lot of experience and I really want to see this body succeed.”

Despite its relative anonymity on campus and a vague set of powers, TUA represents a group of passionate students eager to begin work improving the Tulane community.

“For us, this is not a resume building organization,” Shelton said. “We want to do good with the privileges that we have as individual students, but also as delegates, to help everyone have the best Tulane experience possible.”

Does size matter? Students, professors weigh in

JULIA GOLDMAN STAFF WRITER

Students that arrive late to ECON 1010, a large introductory economics course, will be hard pressed to find a seat among the 190 other students taking the class in the auditorium of Lake Hall. On the other side of campus, only six students are gathered in a small classroom in Newcomb Hall to discuss their latest movie in Film Analysis.

The average Tulane University student will experience both of these classroom settings throughout their studies, but evidence shows that students perform better in smaller classes. According to Chalkbeat, “nine in 10 teachers said that smaller classes would strongly boost student learning.” While class size does impact the capacity at which students learn, it is not the only notable factor.

Tulane prides itself on its small and personal class sizes, highlighting on

the admissions website an average class size of 21 students with 94% of classes smaller than 50 students. This personalized attention is one of the major attributes to a private university education, and the reason that many of its students chose Tulane.

“Class size was definitely something I took into account when applying to schools,” sophomore Carlie Pavell said.

“I am so glad that Tulane has small classes available that let me connect to the other students in my class and participate in a meaningful way.”

While class size plays a role in students’ learning ability, it also impacts how a teacher can engage with students.

“I find advantages to these smaller classes to be more personable due to the smaller number of students in the sense of comfortable and dynamic dialogue throughout the semester,” English professor Beau Boudreaux said.

In a discussion-heavy environment

like an English class, class size impacts a student’s ability to participate fully.

“I prefer learning in smaller class sizes because I feel more engaged and connected to both the class and the professor,” sophomore Samara Ettenberg said. “I always feel I get more out of my smaller, more intimate classes, whereas in bigger classes I feel intimidated to speak up and I find it harder to stay focused.”

At Tulane, certain introductory courses are historically larger in class size than others, one of them being Diversity of Life, an ecology and evolutionary biology course. Jelagat Cheruiyot has taught EBIO 1010 for the past several years. She said her classes have grown in size, but that change has not necessarily impacted her students’ ability to learn.

“Performance depends on the student dynamics in the class,” Cheruiyot said. “You sometimes get a class where everybody feels comfortable to share …

the performance depends on the chemistry among the students and yourself.”

Cheruiyot said that one benefit to a larger class is its diversity, so students can work together to understand the class content.

Eat Now, Shake Smart to open fall 2024

DYLAN BERMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Tulane University Dining Services expects to open two new dining concepts in The Village, the living-learning space that includes Lake and River residence halls. The first is called Eat Now and will be located in The Small Family Collaboration Hub. The second new dining concept is Shake Smart, which will be located under River Hall.

Eat Now and Shake Smart are set to open for the fall 2024 academic semester. Tulane Dining Services has already introduced two new dining options to the Lavin-Bernick Center this year, Pei Wei and Wildflower Kitchen.

Wesly Turnage, the campus general manager of Sodexo, described Eat Now as similar to Provisions on the Thirtieth Parallel, but larger and with contact-free payment.

Eat Now “provides a market style, frictionless shopping experience where you can walk in, scan, then walk out with your chosen items,” Turnage said.

It “will offer a variety of nutritious and allergen-free products, in addition to the usual items you would find in a convenience store,” John Lange, assistant vice president of dining services, said.

Lange also said that the Eat Now store will replace Provisions once it opens.

“Eat Now autonomous market on campus will address the demand of today’s society wanting a touchless, fast, and efficient checkout process,” Lange said.

Other colleges have also started to

introduce autonomous grocery stores. Sodexo, in partnership with retail company AiFi, launched their Eat Now concept at the University of Denver earlier this year.

Shake Smart is the second new dining concept coming to The Village. Shake Smart will offer items such as smoothies, bowls and other nutritious items.

Shake Smart addresses “Tulane students’ dining requests of wanting a cleaner, more nutritious, allergen-free fast-food option,” Lange said.

Shake Smart is a national vendor which currently has locations on other college campuses such as the University of Arizona, the University of Alabama and Florida State University. Shake Smart’s website features foods including acai bowls, sandwiches and oatmeal. Its drinks include coffee and a variety of healthy shakes.

Shake Smart was started by two college students, Kevin Gelfand and Martin Reinman. It was launched as a response to a lack of healthy food on campus. The founders noticed students struggled to find food past 7 p.m. or before 10 a.m. They launched Shake Smart at their own university, San Diego State University, when they were juniors. In 2017, the company reported revenue exceeding $3.6 million.

The project timeline originally called for these dining services to open at the same time as River and Lake Hall. According to John Lange, the opening of these dining options were delayed due to “challenges beyond the university’s control.”

Tulane drops significantly in US News college rankings

DYLAN BERMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past week, the U.S. News and World Report released their Best National University Rankings of 2024. In the most recent rankings, Tulane University ranked No. 73 to tie with Indiana University Bloomington, falling from No. 44 in prior rankings.

Tulane’s dramatic drop in rankings may be attributable to the new methodology for 2024 rankings. In the 20222023 rankings, U.S. News did not consider first-generation graduation rates, but in the 2024 rankings, first-generation graduation rates are weighted at 2.5%.

Furthermore, the weight of “financial resources per student’” dropped from 10% to 8%. U.S. News did not consider class size which previously had a weight of 8%.

Other private universities also experienced a drop in their rankings. The University of Chicago dropped six places to No. 12 and John Hopkins University fell two spots to No. 9. American University, a private university in Washington D.C., faced a similar fate to Tulane, dropping from No. 72 to No. 105. Howard University fell from No. 89 to No. 115.

The universities which experienced a noticeable rise in rankings include Northern Arizona University, Texas State University and California State University, Fresno, which respectively

rose 68, 51 and 65 places. All of these universities are public.

In a statement, Tulane President Mike Fitts and Provost Robin Forman said the new rankings did not consider the academic quality of students, the number of small classes offered or financial aid devoted to students with the same weight as previous rankings.

“By almost any standard we are a better and stronger institution now than we have ever been,” Fitts and Forman said in the statement. “The academic quality and diversity of our students have never been higher, and over the past several years we have seen one of the nation’s largest jumps in yield and selectivity.”

Rosh Hashanah services draw crowds of all faiths

ELIANA MARKOWITZ

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As the sun set on the evening of Sept. 15, signifying the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, hundreds of students waited outside the doors of the Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center at Tulane University. Services had just come to an end, and over 500 students of varying faiths and backgrounds waited for the doors to open for dinner.

The celebration was hosted by Mushka and Rabbi Leibel Lipskier, who run various events through Chabad. The couple hosted services throughout the weekend, including ceremonial meals. Students could also choose to spend the holiday at Tulane Hillel, which also offered meals and services.

Preparation for the event began days in advance. Students from fraternities, sororities, different clubs and faiths came to Chabad the week before to help cook the food, make the desserts and bake

challah bread. For Friday night dinner, which had the highest attendance of all three days, Mushka Lipskier reported that 140 round challahs were baked, 150 pounds of brisket, 45 pounds of sesame noodles and 50 pounds of pesto pasta were prepared.

“It takes a village,” Mushka Lipskier said, when describing the week leading up to the holiday. “Really getting all the students to get involved and help out makes them feel like they’re hosting Rosh Hashanah for their friends as well.”

Chabad Board co-President Max Bernstein also commented on the students’ contributions to organizing the event.

“This is the first big Rosh Hashanah we’ve had here since 2020,” Bernstein said. “So, the fact that we were able to pull it off and be as organized as we were is a true testament to the board and everyone that came and helped out.”

When students entered the house, they were met with long rows of set ta-

bles and Chabad regulars running back and forth to keep up with students looking for chairs. Extra chairs had to be taken from the back of the house to make room for the larger-than-expected turnout. Ultimately, everyone was able to find a seat and Leibel Lipskier embraced all the attendees with a sentiment and customary prayers. After which, dinner was served.

Mushka Lipskier emphasized the importance of making sure that the event was accessible to everyone who wanted

to be there. Students were encouraged to bring their friends, and the team made sure that there was more than enough food in advance.

“Rosh Hashanah is a time where you come together as family, and we make sure that everyone has a place and a seat at our table and feels like this holiday belongs to them,” Mushka Lipskier said.

Most of the students stayed the length of the dinner which meant listening to the prayers, eating the ritualistic apples and honey to signify a sweet new year and hearing speeches from students who helped put the event together.

Will Baksht, a non-Jewish attendee, said his time at Chabad was the first Rosh Hashanah he had attended.

“I think it’s a fun environment. It makes me feel welcome,” Will added. “Being in a place where they have that sense of community is something that I really look for on campus.”

COURTESY OF MUSHKA LIPSKIER

After years of preparation, Tulane football looks to maintain success

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“I really believe that coach [Willie] Fritz is the best coach that Tulane has hired,” Barrios said. “The 2022 team is probably the new standard that future football teams at Tulane will be measured by.”

Though it seems like Tulane’s football program turned into a championship team in an instant, Dannen said the success has been years in the making.

Overcoming old adversity

Dannen has been at Tulane since 2015. Under his leadership, Tulane’s football program participated in three consecutive bowl games from 2018 to 2020, which were the first back-to-back bowl games in 128 years of Tulane history.

After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021, Dannen described how there was a change in attitude: they were “going to come out of this thing running,” he said.

In the 2022 season, Tulane did just that.

Last year, the football team won their first-ever American Athletic Conference football championship, the second conference football championship Tulane has had since 1949.

Even through the pandemic, “we didn’t really miss a beat,” Dannen said. “Then we came back from the hurricane.

“Between having been displaced for a month and a lot of injuries in that month because we couldn’t train in the way we needed to train, that season was kind of a lost season.”

While the change might have seemed sudden, Dannen said that it has taken eight years to accomplish this historic turnaround.

“When we talk about it coming so quickly, the switch did flip from an outcome standpoint last year,” Dannen said. “It didn’t happen overnight. There were a lot of things building up to it.”

Student support also drives the team towards success.

“We saw what happens when everybody gets on board,” Dannen said. “The revenue in the stadium is created by the ticket holders, the atmosphere is created by the students. With that conference championship game, most of us say that’s the experience we’ll never forget.”

A new beginning

Historically at Tulane, maintaining a successful football season has proven difficult. The last time Tulane was this successful was in 1998 when the team went undefeated 12-0.

“The one thing that’s happened at Tulane, when there’s been that great year of success, is that it hasn’t been sustained,”

Dannen said. But Tulane came back this year with a ranking. They retained Fritz and quarterback Michael Pratt. “There was a lot of expectation that we could sustain it for the first time ever.”

The sudden boom in football attention has brought a new wave of school spirit to campus.

“Just the spirit on campus, we saw it last year, but the positivity on campus just feels different,” Dannen said. “I joke, ‘The food always tastes better on Monday when you win a football game on Saturday.’ It feels like the food has tasted really good for a while now.”

With the change being so sudden, some seniors barely remember having any football experience.

Looking back at his freshman year, senior Ben Perry said he does not remember football at all and feels the school has completely changed.

“I don’t even know if games happened freshman year; I don’t remember it at all,” Perry said. “I remember a little bit sophomore year. It would be somewhat filled in the student sections for the first quarter, and then everyone would leave because we were getting smacked.”

On Sept. 9, crowds of fans rushed to Yulman Stadium to witness the sold-out historic rivalry game versus the University of Mississippi. The overwhelming influx of fans prompted Tulane to enact a new student ticket policy.

Students will now receive emails every Monday before home games with links to request football tickets. Tickets will be served on a “first come, first served basis” until the 4,000 free tickets are claimed.

Other institutions in the AAC have student ticket systems in place, such as Southern Methodist University, where students receive free admission for home games but have to claim their tickets prior.

The football game versus Ole Miss proved to be a major test of whether Tulane could handle the overwhelming demand of students and fans.

“The stadium had never been tested in the way that was tested for that game,” Dannen said. “There were six, seven thousand Ole Miss fans who’d never been here before, so they didn’t know their way around. Then we had the over-demand for students.”

Ole Miss alumnus Bob Hazelrigg described his experience as “an absolute mess.” Hazelrigg said when he received his ticket from Tulane’s Advocate Fan Deck, there were no directions on where to enter.

“I had never been in a situation like that,” Hazelrigg said. “I felt like it was gonna be a European-style soccer stampede. People were just lined up by the hundreds … I don’t think I’ve ever been to any stadium that seated 60 to 100,000 people where it was anywhere near as confusing

as that.”

Students also overwhelmed the entrance to the student section, and crowds packed Brown Field an hour ahead of kickoff. Event staff stopped letting students into the stadium half an hour after

Horton said one of the things that struck him most about the team is how well they get along.

“I guess you would call it a brotherhood,” he said. “You know any day that every single one of those guys on the team will be there for you.”

Graffagnini said that the key to Tulane’s new success in football is going to be the consistency in coaching.

“When Tulane would have a good season, there was just never any consistency,” Graffagnini said. “A lot of that would have to do with the coach leaving. That’s been the difference with this group. Coach Fritz has stayed and he has built his own program.”

they opened the gates.

Videos circled on social media of students breaking down the gates, pushing past security guards and climbing trees to get into the stadium. According to students who were present, the Tulane University Police Department confronted students who tried to break through the student entrance gates during halftime.

Junior Samara Patrucnick said she showed up an hour early but left before entering the stadium due to the massive crowd of students pushing the gates at the student entrance. She said entering the stadium felt “poorly managed.”

“Everyone was pushing up against the gate,” Patrucnick said. “At one point, they closed off the gate and refused to let anyone in. Then, everyone behind us was like, ‘Let’s jump the gate and storm into the stadium,’… So we tried to leave before me and my friends got trampled.”

Tulane said in the announcement that the ticket system would reduce congestion around the stadium.

Dannen said there were two problems.

“One, we could’ve been better prepared on our end, but two, I think there was such a lack of civility at the gate that it complicated a lot of things for a lot of folks that didn’t need to be complicated,” Dannen said.

Keeping up with the success

Despite the loss to Ole Miss, Tulane Football plans to keep the historic streak going. So far this season, Tulane is 2-1, with a game against Nicholls State University scheduled for this Saturday at home.

“We want to set a standard here that others will aspire to achieve, on the field, off the field,” Dannen said. “Getting there is easier than sustaining it. Everything now is: how do we sustain?”

Backup quarterback Kai Horton got his start this season at the Ole Miss game after Pratt suffered an injury and could not play. Last season, Horton led the Green Wave to defeat the University of Houston.

The September Ole Miss game was the first time Tulane has ever hosted a ranked Southeastern Conference team. Now, there are new expectations of what Tulane Football will accomplish.

“You’ve got to continue to have success knowing that you’re not always gonna go 12 and 2,” Dannen said. “We now know what we can do. Our own expectations are changing and evolving.”

The new energy that the football team has spurred has brought a new sense of community to Tulane.

“Coming from someone who’s been around the program for a very long time, it’s just been fantastic to witness up close,” Graffagnini said. “It’s just been great to see the campus, the students, and the community all come together like they envisioned when Yulman was built back in 2014.”

Barrios described how Fritz has not only changed the football players’ game, but also the connection between the players.

“He not only was changing the team itself, but he was changing the entire culture of Tulane Football,” Barrios said. “With his recruiting and with his philosophy, I could see personally that there was a shift taking place.”

Horton witnessed the 2-10 season his freshman year, so being the newest quarterback after a conference championship comes with a major responsibility.

“The Cotton Bowl and American Conference Championship [shows] just how well our coach has developed us into not only players, but men in general and learning how to do things off the field and they do a really good job of that,” Horton said.

As Tulane Football continues through the rest of the season, the student football experience will forever be changed for current students and the city of New Orleans.

“What I think has happened is that football has become an event, not just a game,” Dannen said. “It’s an event that you want to be a part of.”

“The food always tastes better on Monday when you win a football game on Saturday. It feels like the food has tasted really good for a while now.”

-Troy Dannen, Director of Athletics

Roll cameras: Looking back on movies filmed at Tulane

Over the years, plenty of cameras have rolled at Tulane University. With Romanesque buildings that line a picture-perfect backdrop of oak trees, Tulane exudes a quintessentially “Southern college campus vibe” that appeals to location directors.

That’s why, for many years, filmmakers have flocked to campus to film scenes of both stately academic buildings and quads filled with fun student life. Louisiana’s temperate climate and tax incentives also make filming easy and cheap, drawing filmmakers who embark on projects of all kinds. Tulane’s openness in accommodating film productions promotes economic growth within New Orleans and school spirit, especially as the Green Wave brand expands.

From comedy to crime thriller, here are some of Tulane’s most famous appearances on the big screen.

“22 Jump Street” (2014)

“22 Jump Street” stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill who play undercover cops Jenko and Schmidt. They are tasked with infiltrating and taking down a drug ring at the fictional MC State University, all the while navigating the trials of their partnership as their paths begin to diverge. Production took place on campus in 2013, filming on Gibson Quad, Newcomb Quad, McAlister Place, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Stern Hall and Hébert Hall, as well as the interior and exterior of Monroe Residence Hall. Not only is this buddy cop comedy hilarious and heartwarming, but it is also a fun depiction of the day-to-day antics on campus.

“The Pelican Brief” (1993)

This legal suspense thriller adapted from the John Grisham novel of the same name follows Tulane School of Law student Darby Shaw, who finds herself in the middle of a political conspiracy after she composes a brief about the recent murders of two Supreme Court judges. After her colleagues are targeted in connection with her research, Shaw’s only hope lies in the hands of an investigative journalist who wishes to break the story and expose the politicians involved. “The

Pelican Brief” has a star-studded cast, which includes Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, among others. The interior classroom scenes of this gripping film were shot in Jones Hall, the former Tulane Law Library. The remainder of the film was shot in the French Quarter and in Washington D.C.

“Bad Moms” (2016)

When Amy, played by Mila Kunis, a mother of two, grows discontented with the exhausting responsibilities she needs to fulfill to be a “good mom,” she and two friends set out on a wild, self-indulgent night. The results cause the moms to reevaluate their stressful parenting methods, but doing so puts them at odds with other mothers in their school PTA group. Although set in Chicago, “Bad Moms” shot a few scenes around New Orleans and Tulane. The soccer practice scenes, where Amy would drop off and pick up her kids, took place on Brown Field in front of Reily Student Recreation Cen ter. Additionally, the PTA luncheon which the moms attend takes place in Cudd Hall.

“So Undercover” (2012)

This action comedy stars Miley Cyrus as a young detective hired to protect the daughter of a witness in an organized crime case. Going undercover, she poses as a sorority girl at the University of Southern Louisiana — Tulane, in reality. The movie filmed scenes on Gibson Quad as well as inside Richardson Memorial Hall and behind Tilton Memorial Hall. The film’s writer and producer, Steven Pearl, is a Tulane graduate and current adjunct professor at Tulane, teaching Advanced Screenwriting. In a 2011 in terview with Nola.com, Pearl said that while writing “So Undercover”’s college scenes, he continuously envisioned Tulane as the setting: “That’s what I know, I love, and what got injected into the script.”

The list of films with scenes shot at Tulane goes on, including: “Green Book,” “Jurassic World,” “Our Brand is Crisis,” “The Big Short,” “Kristy” and “Hurricane Season.”

Which one is your favorite?

LILA

TUCP brings Michelle Zauner to campus

IAN FAUL ARCADE EDITOR

As an artist, Michelle Zauner is hard to pin down. In the alternative and indie pop sphere, she is known as the lead singer of the band Japanese Breakfast. In literary circles, she is known as the author of the memoir “Crying in H Mart,” which received widespread acclaim and status as a 2021 New York Times bestseller. Recently, she has journeyed into the world of screenwriting and film scoring, with a movie adaptation of her memoir currently in production.

When Zauner visited Tulane on Wednesday, Sept. 13 for a moderated session, her audience consisted of fans of all of her artistic media. The event — which included a giveaway of her most recent LP “Jubilee” and a copy of “Crying in H Mart” — was a collaboration between Tulane University Campus Programming and the Asian American Student Union.

“We want our events to appeal to as many students as possible,” TUCP president Isabel Kaufman said. “For some people, I’m like, ‘Japanese Breakfast, Grammy-nominated musician!’… and then for some people, I’m like, ‘Best-selling memoirist!’… and for some people, I straight up just yelled ‘Free event,’” they said, discussing promoting the event on McAlister Place.

The version of Zauner I was most acquainted with was that of her music: her singing voice has a heady, childlike quality, which is often set against a backdrop of lyrical depth. On stage, however, I saw a different person than I had imagined: Zauner couched herself

back in the corner of her chair, exuding a cool and mature air. Her look displayed a similar set of contrasts: she sported black knee-high socks, a white miniskirt, a baggy gray tee and a sleeve of tattoos. Opposite her moderating the talk was Karisma Price, professor of English at Tulane.

Price, a poet by training, lauded Zauner on her vibrantly written prose, especially her descriptions of the meals her mother cooked. Growing up in Oregon with a Korean mother and a white father, food was one of the main ways that Zauner connected with her Asian identity and with her mother, who did not always radiate the same warmth of the dishes she cooked. In the essay originally published in The New Yorker that gave her memoir its title, Zauner described H Mart — the Asian supermarket chain where she and her mother would buy groceries — as a “beautiful, holy place” where you can “find something you can’t find anywhere else.”

Nowadays, she cries in H Mart because of something that can no longer be found there. Her mother passed away in 2014 after battling pancreatic cancer, taking with her Zauner’s access point to her Korean heritage. In the same essay, which also serves as her book’s opening chapter, Zauner asks herself, “Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left in my life to call and ask which brand of seaweed we used to buy?” The rest of the memoir is an examination of this question, as well as an evocative, unflinching and deeply

introspective depiction of the ravages of cancer and the grieving process that follows the death of a parent.

“The way that she writes about grief and healing and how they can contribute to somebody’s creative process is a message that anybody can take something from,” Kaufman said.

Food was just as central at the event as it is in “Crying in H Mart.” Zauner proffered her preferences on kimchi, and in turn, Price introduced her to New Orleanian delicacies like king cake and snoballs. As a testament to food’s unique power to bring people together, it was in the discussion about snoballs that students began to call out the most absurd flavors they had tried — including the unholy combination of pickle topped with jalapeño — and this seemed to cause Zauner to open up to the audience.

Some other notable questions and answers:

Some sounds she loves: the “childishly tragic” tone of the harmonica and the sound of fists hitting each other during the hand jive.

Some sounds she hates: the sound of sports on TV and the sound of her husband — and bandmate, Peter Bradley — practicing guitar.

An album she wishes she could have made: any album by Björk or Radiohead.

A writer she wishes she could write like: Hemingway. “I wish I could write like that bastard,” Zauner said.

With over 200 people in attendance on a Wednesday night, it is undeniable

that Zauner has a following at Tulane. But for Kaufman, abiding by the TUCP motto of “the best entertainment for students, by students” means going beyond choosing artists with the widest appeal as a result of their fame or their cross-disciplinary talent: it means representing all parts of the student body.

“It’s no secret that Tulane is a PWI, and Tulane on the surface level is not that diverse of a school,” Kaufman said. “I love bringing in speakers from different backgrounds who are success stories and who are these amazing people who have faced different obstacles because of their identities.”

Despite the challenges Zauner has overcome on her path to fame, she continually imposes new challenges on herself. Her next artistic venture after the film adaptation of “Crying in H Mart” will involve her moving to Korea in preparation for writing her next book, which will focus on the process of language learning and cultural assimilation.

This was Zauner’s first time at Tulane or in New Orleans, so maybe she picked up on some of the culture and lingo here.

I like to think that she already has a Tulanian spirit to her: if she were a student in the crowd, she would almost certainly be one of the intrepid double or triple majors that are easy to come by on campus.

COURTESY OF WESLEY ALEXANDER

Tribute concert to NOLA jazz legend a rousing success

MAX HANDLER ARCADE EDITOR

Though New Orleans jazz legend Conrad “Connie” R. Jones left us almost five years ago, his memory still lives on through local musicians.

On Tuesday night, Loyola University New Orleans hosted a moving performance by the Connie Jones Legacy Band. The concert was the first in a series of performances made possible by a $1 million endowment from Connie’s daughter, Phyllis Conces and her former husband, Guy Conces.

Among the packed house in Loyola’s Nunemaker Auditorium was Connie’s widow, Elaine.

Connie Jones Legacy Band bassist and Loyola professor Ed Wise prefaced the performance with words on Jones’ musical prowess, as well his inspiration from the Bob Crosby octet, The Bob-Cats. The band’s makeup is unique in that every member of the ensemble played with Jones at some point in their careers.

The band kicked off the concert with a heightened tempo, opening with the classic swing number “Jazz Me Blues.” The tune,

a staple of Original Dixieland Jazz Band, elicited roaring applause just a few minutes into the show. Clarinetist Tim Laughlin and trombonist Charlie Halloran couldn’t miss a single note if they tried.

The septet also slowed it down with multiple mellow songs, changing the mood from joyous to melancholic on a dime.

Trumpeter Duke Heitger shined with multiple vocal performances, including a stirring rendition of “I’m Sorry I Made You Cry.” His crooning, paired with delicately played notes from pianist David Boeddinghaus, reverberated through the auditorium.

The Connie Jones Legacy Band’s biggest strength lies in their ability to create a sobering sonic atmosphere with just their instruments. Their rendition of “Pete Kelly’s Blues” was beautifully haunting. Saxophonist Tom Fischer rendered every mellow note perfectly, backed by the steady stirring of drummer Pete Siers.

Live music will return to Nunemaker Auditorium on Oct. 26 when Jazz Underground takes the stage.

Tickets can be purchased on Loyola’s website.

Seniors discuss their favorite classes

MAX HANDLER ARCADE EDITOR

This year’s seniors have weathered a great deal of adversity during their time at Tulane University. Many graduated high school in the throes of the worst pandemic in recent history. They weathered Hurricane Ida, the Category 4 storm that forced campus to shut down for four weeks in 2021. Despite these challenges, the class of 2024 looks back fondly on their college careers.

I was fortunate enough to speak with numerous seniors who extolled the virtues of Tulane’s robust course offerings.

Senior Catie May Carey looks back affectionately at her semester spent in Carolyn Barber Pierre’s Brazilian Dance class — DANC 1920. “We learned about samba, capoeira, batuque and various other dances and their origins. It was incredibly fun and I looked forward to it every week,” said Carey.

DANC 1920 provided Carey with a unique opportunity to fulfill her Aesthetics and Creative Arts requirement. Barber Pierre’s extensive background in dance — which started when she helped a friend form a Mardi Gras krewe in remembrance of Brazilian quilombos over 30 years ago — makes her a reputable academic in the performing arts department.

Senior Iker Yturralde highlighted the time he spent in a Capstone

Research Seminar for ecology and evolutionary biology — EBIO 5971. The course, led by Donata R. Henry, discusses the intricacies of literature relevant to the high-level research that took place in the classroom. “I loved having an extended period of time every week with like-minded people,” said Yturralde, “who were just as excited to discuss ‘fungal endophyte facilitated salt tolerance’ or ‘beetle-microbe plastic digestion’ or even ‘seed dispersal in Ecua-

dor’.”

The willingness of his peers to devote time towards the dissection of such complex topics made EBIO 5971 an incredibly rewarding experience for Yturralde.

The civility in which Tulane students conduct classroom conversations is a recurring attitude that seniors value. Senior Amy Gaffen spoke highly of her time in Politics of the Arab-Israeli Conflict — POLI 4670. The political science course, headed by Christina Kiel, delves deep into the makings of one of the most notable geopolitical struggles in contemporary history.

Kiel’s ability to foster an open dialogue about such a sensitive issue was one of the things that stood out most for Gaffen. “For such a contentious topic, I thought the class was taught incredibly well and I was able to get both sides of the argument.”

MAX HANDLER | ARCADE EDITOR

V iews

Southern prejudice, elitism still unacceptable, even at football games

GABI LIEBELER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“Hey Ole Miss: when we talk about M.I.L.F.s we don’t mean our own moms … Roll [expletive] WAVE!”

A handful, if not the majority, of Tulane University students and other football fans likely saw this insult on a banner hung on an off-campus house the morning of the Tulane vs. Ole Miss game.

If onlookers did not see this banner as they walked to Yulman Stadium, they most certainly glimpsed others of similar nature at tailgates or in passing. Students also flocked to Fizz, the popular social media app that facilitates anonymous posting, to target Ole Miss.

Gameday insults may seem harmless or even normal on first thought. After all, trash talking is integral in the sports world — whether uttered between opponents on the field or yelled from one fan section to another.

But it’s often the case that the scope of insults in the world of professional sports is limited. Insults typically target individual players and coaches of opposing teams and avoid making claims about opponents based on stereotypes. This self-regulation may occur due to the heightened scrutiny and media attention surrounding professional sports and its participants, players and fans alike.

Insults thrown in college sports, however, reach beyond the talents of players and in some cases, never mention them; like in the case of the Tulane vs. Ole Miss game, game day insults can make entire characterizations about student populations, colleges and universities and even geographic regions.

Many people may find college sports more exciting than professional sports. College sports showcase star talent on teams with loyal fans, and intense rivalries contribute to widely anticipated matchups. Consequently, competition reaches new heights — but should collegiate trash-talking do the same?

Banners directed at Ole Miss students and fans primarily addressed topics like incest, illiteracy, obesity and hygiene: “If you’re fat and

toothless, yell ‘Go Rebs!’”; “If you can read this, you’re clearly not an Ole Miss fan”; and “Don’t you Ole Miss your cousins?”

Fizz posts reflected similar ideas, pointing out the University of Mississippi’s high acceptance rate while occasionally adding accusations of far-right political affiliations: “Surprised the Ole Miss fans could read the scoreboard today, I heard they don’t teach you how to read until you’re a senior,” “90 percent acceptance rate into ole miss LMAO” and “I hope Turning Point doesn’t see all the confederate bumper stickers and trump flags and accidentally sit with the Ole Miss crowd.”

Tulane fans may have found these accusations to be amusing digs and impressive uses of the double entendre. But on second thought, is it not odd that as students attending a Southern school, Tulane students thought it appropriate to draw on elitist stereotypes of the South when insulting other Southern students?

It’s no secret that the majority of Tulane undergraduates are not from Louisiana — according to Niche, 86% of Tulane undergraduates hail from out of state. About 13% of Tulane undergraduates are Louisiana natives, but Tulane also pulls significant populations from New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida.

Compare these figures to the in-state undergraduate population of Ole Miss: 44.6%, according to collegefactual.com. Still, Ole Miss’s undergraduate population also pulls from at least 27 other states.

Given each school’s respective demographics, it seems that at least some of Tulane’s population — much of which is comprised of outof-state students who originate from affluent families, according to a study by The New York Times — finds it acceptable to draw on stereotypes about the South and its inhabitants when trying to intimidate their football adversaries.

The South is often regarded by outsiders as home to the caricatured southerner who is racist, uneducated,

backwards and often white. The trope completely disregards the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity of the South. Half of America’s Black-identifying population lives in the South as of 2019, and southern metropolitan areas are growing increasingly diverse. Some data suggest that New Orleans is more diverse than the U.S. as a whole.

Insults further ignore the fact that trends like low literacy rates are attributed to systemic issues of poverty and incarceration, and that accusations of incest may obscure the presence of sexual abuse within a family.

Tulane’s preferred insults against Southern schools show closedmindedness and a genuine disregard for the nuanced realities of the South. The greater region Tulane inhabits is, by no means, perfect, but it surely does not resemble what careless banners and social media posts portray it to be. Many Tulane students may say they

love the South, but it’s important to keep in mind that the South is not just warm weather, a relatively low cost of living, comfort food and Mardi Gras.

Beyond Southern stereotypes, it isn’t admirable to poke fun at a school for having a higher acceptance rate than our own. Educational elitism, while often accepted in the mainstream, is still a form of prejudice.

Sticks and stones don’t break bones, and in the sports universe, insulting one’s opponent is part of the deal. That being said, insults often say more about the person — or people — speaking than the opponent.

Maybe next time, we can avoid shouting accusations of having sexual relations with one’s cousin from the student section, as was the case in our football games against Ole Miss and University of Southern Mississippi. Cheap digs are a marker of ignorance, and after all, if we’re as intelligent as we claim to be, can’t we think of better insults?

Tulane’s ranking drops 30 points: Here’s why

CASEY WADE VIEWS EDITOR

On Monday, Sept. 18, U.S. News released their annual Best National University Rankings; Tulane University dropped 29 spots. In 2023, Tulane ranked at No. 44 for the nation’s best universities, while this year, Tulane ranked No. 73. What has caused such a massive drop in rankings in just a year?

U.S. News made their biggest changes to their ranking metrics in decades. This is a response to many who believe their rankings reflect a biased reality. Many institutions like Colorado College have stopped sharing their information with the newspaper because they believe the ranking does not promote diversity and an equitable admissions process. Even an institution like Princeton University, which consistently ranks in the top five, has labeled the ranking as “bizarre, ” unable to create a complete picture.

This year, U.S. News abandoned five of their previous metrics: class size, percentage of students in the top of their high school class, share of faculty with terminal degrees, level of alumni giving and the proportion of the graduates borrowing federal loans. The algorithm now places less importance on financial resources per student: the average cost

spent per student on cost of instruction. Eliminating these metrics affects small private schools such as Tulane, which typically have smaller class sizes and find value in hiring professors with professional degrees. Counterparts who have also fallen in this year include Wake Forest University, Brandeis University and Washington University in St. Louis. Furthermore, U.S. News changed their algorithm to place greater emphasis on graduation rates of students who received need-based Federal Pell Grants. The algorithm now considers the percentage of first-generation college students and whether graduates of a university earn more post-grad than people with only a high school degree. The newspaper added four metrics related to research: “citations per publication,

field-weighted citation impact, share of publications cited in the top 5% of journals and the share of publications cited in the top 25% of journals.”

In response to Tulane’s dropped ranking, President Michael A. Fitts said he was “shocked.” Should the Tulane community be shocked by this sudden drop, or is this a wake-up call?

The main goal of U.S. News’ changed metrics is to create a ranking system that prioritizes equity. Only 8% of Tulane students are awarded Pell Grants, while nationwide, 34% of students receive Pell Grants.

Diversity on college campuses helps foster a variety of ideas and research when students work with peers with different backgrounds than themselves. Diversity is an important and valid metric for ranking schools. It is imperative that universities value first-generation students and students with lower socioeconomic backgrounds to foster inclusivity and diverse thought on campus. Further, eliminating the metric that ranks schools based on the percentage of graduates with federal loans creates a more equitable algorithm for schools that accept more underprivileged students. This metric had inflated Tulane’s ranking since 69% of students come from families in the top 20% and may not need to rely on loans

The U.S. News ranking accomplished

its goal of creating an algorithm that promotes equity, but it may not truly demonstrate the rigor and strength of small private schools such as Tulane. Further, any dramatic changes in ranking reflect poorly on the reliability of these rankings to accurately determine a school’s stature. Tulane is an excellent school that may not have deserved such a harsh drop in ranking, but it is important that Tulane considers why this has happened. In part, the smaller class size metric has unfairly hurt Tulane’s ranking, but the school certainly does have room for improvement in diversity efforts. While the dropped ranking is frustrating to students and faculty who believe their hard work is not being reflected, Tulane should see this dropped ranking as an opportunity rather than an attack. This is an opportunity to reevaluate how Tulane operates and look to the future. Tulane’s motto is Non sibi, sed suis: not for one’s self, but for one’s own. The university prides itself on being an extraordinary academic community that supports each other’s differences, but in order to reach Tulane’s full potential, the university must value and encourage an increase in students of diverse backgrounds, including first-generation students and students with lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Tulane has more women than men, maybe that’s normal

Where are all the men? This may seem like a rather arbitrary question at Tulane University, which boasts almost 14,000 students. Yet a further look into Tulane’s metrics reveals a gender distribution of 64% female students to 36% male.

Susan Dominus recently addressed the same statistic in an article for The New York Times which fixated on Tulane. The article addressed the gender gap present at Tulane and other universities.

But when looking at the reasoning behind this issue and the ways to fix it, perhaps the issue is normal. A larger percentage of female students is consistent with national trends, yet as most colleges try to keep their rates to an even 50/50 percentage, Tulane’s ratio stands out.

In 1980, women first matched male enrollment rates at universities. But by 2019, the average female-to-male ratio in four-year universities reached 1.3. In her article, Dominus explains that many colleges grapple to keep the gender ratio even in an effort to eradicate fears that if a gender distribution ratio becomes too extreme at any co-ed university, “[both] genders will inevitably lose interest in

attending.”

Tulane is not exempt from outcry regarding its uneven gender ratio. Many students argue that an uneven distribution of women to men on a college campus prohibits a natural social dynamic and prevents healthy relationships between students.

“I feel like the gender ratio makes it very difficult for me and a lot of women I know to make platonic male friendships because there is a broadened sense of ‘hookup culture’ due to an uneven and unnatural ratio,” Tulane sophomore Esme O’Neill said. She said that the social implications of having an uneven gender ratio created a very “palpable” issue on campus, which had affected her and many of her peers, and noticeably reduced many of her peers’ self-esteem.

Looking at Tulane’s campus and the uneven split between men and women begs the question: should Tulane emphasize admitting men?

As addressed by Dominus, the solution to this question involves a different type of affirmative action, one that factors gender into account when looking at applicants. Many schools around the country, particularly smaller ones, have

begun to invest in more “male-interested” programs in order to increase male applicants. To reverse the general trend of the country and keep universities at a 50/50 gender distribution, Tulane admission counselors must inevitably turn down qualified female candidates in favor of less-qualified male candidates.

Tulane told The New York Times it is “an equal-opportunity educator” and said “the notion that Tulane has lower admission or academic standards for its male applicants versus its female applicants is completely false and without merit.”

The university’s uneven statistics show that the school likely does not favor men over women in the admissions process. While the social ramifications of such a gender ratio are palpable throughout the school, increasing the male attendance would simultaneously mean denying women who are equally, if not more, qualified. The trend is not one that is unique to Tulane’s campus, but rather a national trend which Tulane, unlike other college campuses, has let reflect through its student body makeup.

Perhaps a better solution would be earlier intervention to educate and motivate

more men to apply to higher education. Starting early in high schools through literacy programs, more preparation towards college would encourage more men to apply to universities and help even the percentage of male to female applicants, before it even reaches the admissions desk. After all, shouldn’t students want a university that prioritizes admitting its most qualified candidates and not just those who fulfill a quota?

MOHINI YADAV STAFF WRITER

TULANE MUST PLAY CATCH-UP ON CLIMATE

Over the summer, Tulane University professor Jesse Keenan made a trip to the White House to testify before the U.S. Senate. The topic was the burden of climate change on United States infrastructure. Keenan, a real estate and urban planning professor, said the U.S. was behind in climate-sensitive infrastructure and projected costs to maintain current infrastructure would grow by tens of billions of dollars each year.

Keenan made news last year for signing a letter demanding that elite institutions stop accepting fossil fuel money funding climate change research. Unfortunately for Keenan and Tulane, the signature left him vulnerable to the rhetoric of Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy.

“The Murphy Family of Murphy Oil and the Deming family of Murphy Oil have recently given Tulane $25 million,” Kennedy said, “You don’t see the hypocrisy here?”

Perhaps Kennedy is right. For a university that students, administrators and alumni love to deem “elite,” Tulane is lacking in climate and sustainability initiatives, let alone curtailment of oil-backed donor influence.

In recent years, the term “divestment” has become a buzzword on college campuses and in the finance world. The term entails an institution selling off investments tied to the fossil fuel industry. Two-hundred and fifty educational institutions, including Harvard University, Yale University and most recently New York University, have all announced steps towards divestment.

Divestment is easier said than done for Tulane. As Kennedy pointed out, Tulane has a long-standing history with the fossil fuel industry, and its endowment, at $2 billion, does not exactly play in the same league as the Ivies.

“In Tulane’s credit, it’s not easy to divest from fossil fuels overnight,” Keenan said, “and because they have so much interconnections with the oil industry, it’ll take time.”

Time, yes, but also transparency and willingness.

According to an independent auditor’s report, Tulane invested $15.5 million and $9.2 million in Murphy Oil Corporation common stock, but very few know the actual amount invested in fossil fuels. As a private school, Tulane does not have to disclose its investments, but Tulane President Mike Fitts maintains that Tulane encourages the companies it has invested in to “further the goal of a carbon-neutral economy.”

For many students, this is not enough.

“Not to say they’re doing evil, nefarious things with it,” Nico Acosta, member of Tulane environmental group Sunrise Tulane, said, “but as students, we should be able to know where this money is going to and how we’re benefiting from it.”

For years, Tulane has faced pressure to divest. Countless resolutions have been passed by the Tulane Undergraduate Assembly and in 2019, Divest Tulane organized a sit-in with over 70 students outside of President Fitts’s office. These arguments do not exclusively involve climate change — some students maintain it is the university’s fiduciary responsibility to shift away from investment in dying industries. Yet in the end, nothing really changes.

So what now? How do these campus groups avoid wasting their time? Maybe the answer resides in educating students through a more investigative approach. That may entail working to expose the true amount of money and connections the university has in oil and gas. Enough digging may reveal the real contributions to society Tulane makes by investing in certain private equity and mutual funds. This may run contrary to how Tulane intends to project itself.

Some members of the Sustainability and Divestment committee within TUA seem to be taking this approach. Still, as full-time students, not everyone is Woodward and Bernstein. “It’s kind of like we’re a little in over our head,” Adina Weizman, a member of the committee who expressed the need for students with financial backgrounds to aid in their efforts, said.

Perhaps students should widen the scope of their goals. Some may find Tulane’s ties to an industry arguably responsible for the jeopardy of the New Orleans community embarrassing; others would say our endowment is performing great and endangering donor support in favor of virtue-signaling would be counterproductive. In my opinion, what is most embarrassing is the lack of initiative for quick, tangible areas of improvement.

“We are way behind our peers in terms of climate investments,” Keenan said, citing Duke University and Rice University as

schools investing in geothermal and solar technologies, while also implementing detailed sustainability action plans unrivaled by Tulane.

Take Emory University for example, a school often compared to Tulane in regard to location and academic standards. Emory provides a vast array of plans and updates on sustainability measures, including increases in clean energy use, food sustainability and $54 million of its endowment dedicated to investing in various climate solutions.

Tulane has plans like these, albeit watered down in detail with distant goals. One entails a new 30-year partnership with Bernhard Energy, including plans for a solar facility. Greenhouse gas emissions are also tracked, while carbon neutrality appears to be a goal by 2050. Yet, one would be hardpressed attempting to find anything around campus to support this, including a single solar panel.

“Everyone’s investing in these green roofs and better drainage systems,” Weizman said, “Tulane doesn’t have any of that, our campus floods constantly. The green projects that people do want to start are often very underfunded.”

Weizman said there are plenty of innovative ideas from Tulane students, but without administrators to work with students regularly, nothing will get done.

Step one requires a more robust office of sustainability, an idea Keenan advocates for, with an office larger than the single employee currently on staff. This would allow for the collection and distribution of more detailed information on actual progress regarding climate and sustainability. As Keenan points out, “We really don’t have the leadership, we don’t have the manpower … Therefore,” he said, “our commitments for reduction in emissions is suspect.”

This revitalized office would also allow the opportunity for the administrators to meet regularly with students to foster their ideas. Tulane often promotes its partnership with Glass Half Full, a nonprofit founded by Tulane students dedicated to recycling glass into sand and using it to restore Louisiana’s dwindling coastline. Imagine the increase in similar ventures with improved unity between eco-friendly students and the administration.

Juniors and seniors remember the Hurricane Ida semester, and all Tulanians understand the legacy of Katrina. The endowment will continue to be an issue, but students can advocate for so much more in the meantime. As for the university, Tulane should be proud of its overall effect on New Orleans, its $3.14 billion impact on the city is difficult to downplay. All the same, if it truly cares about more than its reputation, the university would be wise to catch up with its peers.

HMANAGING BOARD

Gabi Liebeler Editor-in-Chief

Martha Sanchez Managing Editor

Alexia Narun Chief Copy Editor

Nathan Rich Production Manager

Doxey Kamara Personnel Director

Hannah Levitan Digital Director

Matthew Schuelke Chief Business Manager

BOARD

Ellie Cowen

Lindsay Ruhl News Editors

Aidan McCahill Associate News Editor

Carly Barovick Casey Wade Views Editors

Ian Faul Max Handler Arcade Editors

Scott Houtkin

Benny Greenspan Sports Editors

Shivani Bondada

Taylor Fishman

Campbell Harris

Ruby Motz

Nathan Rich Layout Editors

Riley Hearon

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Brooke Mason Copy Editors

Patrick Johnson Distribution Manager

AIDAN MCCAHILL ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

TAYLOR FISHMAN | LAYOUT EDITOR

n ews b riefs

Louisiana drought claims crawfish casualties

Dormant crawfish buried deep in Louisiana’s swamps have a new enemy: drought.

Usually, crawfish burrow down to nests in the wet earth to escape the heat. But after a scorching summer, that land is so cracked and barren they have nothing to eat and nowhere to go.

And now, farmers fear the crustaceans are dying.

That signals trouble for springtime boils. And a summer of little rain also means another problem: saltwater is creeping up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico. It is too early to know the true toll, but salt can also kill freshwater crawfish when farmers irrigate their fields.

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR

New Orleans Mayor chooses new police chief

Mayor LaToya Cantrell last week named Anne Kirkpatrick, the former leader of the Oakland Police Department in California, to lead the New Orleans Police Department. The choice ends a monthslong search for the NOPD leadership.

Kirkpatrick will now go before the New Orleans City Council for confirmation. She starts as interim chief on Friday.

TEMS, Acadian Ambulance Unit stolen within week

Kirkpatrick, 64, faces a challenge in the role: lead a city plagued by violent crime and a federal oversight agreement that has lasted 11 years.

Cantrell picked Kirkpatrick over Michelle Woodfork, the interim chief who took over after former NOPD superintendent Shaun Ferguson retired last year.

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR

LCMC to move Tulane residents, physicians to Metairie hospital

LCMC Health, which bought Tulane Medical Center last year, plans to move 500 Tulane doctors and residents to East Jefferson General Hospital by January, The Times-Picayune reported.

Many of the medical center’s equipment and programs will also move to the hospital in Metairie. The Tulane Medical Center emergency room will remain open downtown and the building will be used for a nursing program

and retail.

The Federal Trade Commission has challenged the merger, which left New Orleans with two hospital systems: LCMC and Ochsner Health. LCMC has said it acted lawfully because Louisiana’s attorney general approved the sale.

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR

Tulane to offer flu shots on campus this fall

Tulane University will begin offering flu shots on campus later this month.

The school required the flu vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said now it strongly encourages but does not require students to be vaccinated for the flu.

Students can attend clinics offered in September, October and November by making an appointment through Tu-

lane Campus Health Patient Portal. Tulane said it accepts walk-ins but prefers appointments.

Upcoming clinics include:

Oct. 2, 3 and 10 in the Pedersen Lobby of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 12 in Butler Residence Hall from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR

Theatre, Dance Department presents 1950s family melodrama

“Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” a family drama that explores the shifting racial and political landscape in the 1950s, will premiere on Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Written by Lynn Nottage in 1995, the play features the story of two young girls as they reconcile the death of their mother and relocate from Florida to

Brooklyn, New York.

Tulane’s Theatre and Dance Department offers seven showings of the melodrama directed by assistant theater professor John ‘Ray’ Proctor.

Tickets are available for purchase at the Lupin Box Office.

Tulane University Police Department responded to reports of a stolen Tulane Emergency Medical Services unit early Friday.

An officer spotted the vehicle traveling west on South Claiborne Avenue and turning right on Washington Avenue, according to Tulane police. The officer tried to stop the stolen vehicle using emergency lights but followed the vehicle through several streets.

The stolen unit crashed into bricks and debris on Walmsley Avenue, TUPD said. Backup officers found the door left open to the vehicle, but no one inside. Police also said a Mercedes-Benz sprinter unit, associated with Acadian Ambulance Service, was stolen outside Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson Parish on Sept. 19.

New Orleans police said that the two thefts were unrelated.

Masked Violence Volume 2 opens Thursday

For its second year, Masked Violence -- an exhibit addressing sexual violence on campus through a multitude of art mediums -- will hold an opening reception on Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Carroll Gallery in the Woldenberg Art Center.

Curated by seniors Sophi Tomasulo

Mississippi

and Francesca Curtin, Masked Violence, Volume 2 will be accompanied by workshops involving ceramic making, zine and collage creation.

The exhibit is funded by the Dorothy Beckemeyer Skau Art and Music Fund.

saltwater intrusion threatens drinking water supply

Mississippi River water levels have dropped to record low levels allowing salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to intrude upstream.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said if no action is taken, the intrusion could threaten drinking water supplies as far north as the French Quarter.

The Corps announced plans Sept. 15 to build upon an existing underwater barrier meant to block the intrusion of

saltwater further upstream. This intrusion has already affected drinking water supply for approximately 2,000 residents in Plaquemine Parish. If it breaches the current protective structure, the saltwater intrusion could risk the water supply of 20,000 residents in Belle Chasse by early October.

What changed with U.S. News ranking methodology?

U.S. News and World Reports – the system that has long ranked colleges and universities across the country –changed its methods of scoring in their most recent ranking.

That change threw some schools for a loop. Tulane dropped from No. 44 to 73.

The changes elevated some public schools over private ones. That is because U.S. News does not consider class

size or alumni giving anymore. The system also added a new metric to study first-generation student’s graduation rates.

U.S. News has said the latest iteration emphasizes factors including earnings after graduation, debt and how well students of various socioeconomic backgrounds do after graduating.

HANNAH LEVITAN | SENIOR STAFF WRITER

GABI LIEBELER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

GABI LIEBELER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR

Box Office Hits

BY NICK TAYLOR

DOWN

1 Ease tensions

2 Mystique

3 Like Drake on “Meltdown”

4 Acetaminophen brand

5 “You’ve crossed a line”

6 “Odds are...”

7 Princess of Alderaan

8 It might get under one’s skin?

9 Neg. perception

10 Sped away

11 One of many at a Taylor Swift concert

12 “RN”

13 More, in Quito

21 ...reduce, recycle

22 Eurasian mountain range

25 What Mr. T does to fools?

26 “Oh, I’m sure”

27 Fixes firmly

28 “The Bicycle Thief” director Vittorio

29 Go for pizza, say

30 Starbucks size

31 Alvin Kamara, e.g.

33 One might be seen on 53D

37 Unemotional

40 Southern cornbread

41 Spanish greeting

43 White and Whitman

45 Circles of light

46 Snake position

48 Malice

50 Of sound mind

51 Where Jazz players are found?

52 Malek, of Mr. Robot

53 Where one might watch a 33D

54 Chicago setting

55 Bond girl, De Armas

56 Locomotive unit

Green Wave enters conference play: Key takeaways from season so far

BENNY GREENSPAN SPORTS EDITOR

The Green Wave’s upcoming matchup against the Nicholls State University Colonels marks a critical turning point in the season:

State of the American

As all teams enter conference play, it is important to not only look at the standing of the Green Wave, but its American Athletic Conference conference opponents as well.

Currently, University of Memphis is the only team in the American with an undefeated start. This start will be tough to sustain. The Tigers face the University of Missouri at home this weekend, who are coming off a win against No. 15 Kansas State University.

Another main threat to the Green

the start of conference play. In its first three out-of-conference games, Tulane finished 2-1, with the sole loss coming from Ole Miss, which is currently No. 15 in the nation.

The bar is elevated in these confer-

Michael Pratt’s Health

Nobody knows what the outcome would have been, but it is safe to say that Tulane would have had a much stronger showing against Ole Miss if Pratt was healthy and starting. Pratt has been out the last two games after coming down with a knee injury late in the fourth quarter of Tulane’s win against University of South Alabama.

The good news for the Green Wave is that Pratt’s return seems like it will come sooner rather than later. “I’m hoping that Michael Pratt’s going to be able to play this weekend,” Head coach

ence matchups, especially with a return to a New Year’s Six bowl game on the line, which can only happen if Tulane both wins the conference and leads all teams in the Group of Five conferences.

Tulane Defense

The Green Wave defense is looking as formidable as ever, giving up only 3 points in the win against University of Southern Miss. They have been strong against the run, forcing a strong Ole Miss run game to average just 2.5 yards per carry, while Southern Miss only gained 35 yards on the ground the whole game.

The defense has also locked down on third down, forcing Ole Miss to go just 1-13 and Southern Miss to go 5-16.

The complementary play of the defense has largely been due to returning players stepping up. Defensive linemen

Here are a few key takeaways from the Green Wave’s out-of-conference play that are important to note as the team enters the next chapter of their season:

Running Game

One of the most interesting questions entering the season was who will be the guy to replace Tyjae Spears as the lead running back. The Green Wave entered the season with four candidates: Shaadie Clayton-Johnson and Iverson Celestine, who were both on the team last year, as well as newcomers Shedro Louis and Makhi Hughes.

After three games, Hughes seems to have asserted himself as “the guy” in the backfield. Hughes has led the team in aging 4.8 yards per carry on 45 attempts. Hughes must remain consistent for the

Final Thoughts

With Pratt set to return this weekend against Nicholls State, the Green Wave remain the front-runners to make it out of the AAC. The key to Tulane’s success is to continue playing complementary football, with all three phases of the game continuing to remain consistent after strong starts.

Tulane versus Nicholls State kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. CST.

Former Tulane coach Buddy Teevens dies at 66

MARTHA SANCHEZ | MANAGING EDITOR AIDAN MCCAHILL | ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Eugene “Buddy” Teevens, a former head coach of the Tulane University football team who transformed safety in college football, died on Tuesday. He was 66.

Teevens died of injuries sustained in a bike accident six months ago, according to Dartmouth University, where Tevens graduated and later served as head coach.

“Our family is heartbroken to inform you that our beloved ‘coach’ has peacefully passed away surrounded by family. Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained proved too challenging for even him to overcome,” the Teevens family said in a statement to Dartmouth.

“Throughout this journey, we consistently relayed the thoughts, memories, and love sent his way. Your kindness and letters of encouragement did not go unnoticed and were greatly appreciated by both Buddy and our family.”

Teevens became a prolific figure in college football over the course of his career. He played quarterback at Dartmouth from 1975 to 1978 and later became the program’s winningest coach.

He coached football for more than 30 years, including at Dartmouth, University of Maine, Stanford University and Tulane, where he served as head coach from 1992 to 1996.

At Tulane, he finished with a record of 11-45, yet many attribute Tulane’s undefeated 1998 season to Teevens’s recruiting.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of former Green Wave football head coach Buddy Teevens,” Tulane Athletics said in a statement posted online on Tuesday. “His contributions here, and particularly in his strong advocacy for player safety, has left an indelible mark on all levels of football.”

Teevens’s greatest legacy was the protection of his players. He was the first college football coach to stop live tackling in practices, with the belief it would help prevent head trauma and other injuries in young players. Instead, in 2010, he began using remote-controlled tackling dummies to teach players necessary skills without subjecting them to violent hits. Though the concept was initially criticized, other colleges and NFL teams later adopted his method.

Teevens was also known for advancing the role of women in football: he was among the first to hire women as full-time staff.

In 1996, he helped the Manning family found the first Manning Passing Academy at Tulane, now a nationally-renowned football camp, before his final season as head coach. Teevens returned for the next 26 years — even after the program moved to Hammond and later Thibodeaux, Louisiana.

But the camp wasn’t the same this year. His injuries prevented him from attending.

A pickup truck struck him on his bike in St. Augustine, Florida in March, leading to spinal cord injuries and the amputation of his right leg.

COURTESY OF @TULANEGREENWAVE ON INSTAGRAM

Eugene “Buddy” Teevens