Spring 2024 Mag

THE KNOX STUDENT

Cover by Addision Stienbach

Letter from the Editor

The Knox Student was the first student organization I joined on campus. I went into that first meeting on a Monday evening, week two of my first year of college, nervous and excited.

That was the first time I entered the pub office, a room that is now where I feel the most at home on campus. The staff was small then, and still recovering from a year of online courses.

They were looking for staff writers and hired me on the spot. I knew almost nothing, and my first few articles are almost embarrassing to look back at.

But I think maybe my whole life was changed in that moment.

That first year was chaotic to say the least, which was the fault of nothing but circumstance. No one was quite sure what TKS should look like post-pandemic. Would we return to the much-awarded model of the past, or look to the future and try something new?

But that year I learned, from our then new advisor Jane Carlson, and then sophomore Ellen Miller Garrett who would later become my partner-in-crime, my co-editor-in-chief, from whom I learned much of what I learned about news writing and leading the paper. Together, along with the rest of the staff, we dreamed of what TKS could be, what we could make it be together.

And we made it great. And it made me great.

It feels like TKS is a plant that we’ve been nurturing for years as a team. The roots are 145 years old, different flowers growing through the decades. The pandemic uprooted us a little. But we stuck our hands in the ground and dragged it into existence again, blooming new flowers, for a new time.

And you know, I think maybe TKS grew me too. It reached into the heart of me and pulled out who I want to be, what I want to do, the life I want to live.

And it gave me moments, so many moments. Moments where I wrote something and just knew I was doing something important, something that could make change. Moments where I was in the midst of reporting and just knew, this is what I want to spend my life doing. Moments of pure joy and validation, winning awards for work that I knew was my best.

Maybe even better moments, watching my staff feel those things too.

And that little TKS plant has flourished over these past two years. It grew its first bud when Ellen came up with the idea of a newsmagazine, and blossomed when we first published it. With each new idea, a redesigned website, a radio show, a newsletter, more flowers sprout.

I look at it, and I am so proud that some of that can be credited to me.

I have poured my heart and soul into this organization, dug my heels in and fought for it. I gave it quite literally everything I have to give. My grip on it, and its grip on me, is so tight, I’m not sure I can let it go.

But it is that time. Graduation is nigh.

Who I will be without TKS, I don’t know, I’m not sure there’ll be anything left.

But I do know what TKS will be without me.

It will be bigger, stronger, better, because I know those I leave behind are equipped to take it to even higher heights.

This magazine is the best thing we’ve yet made in my time here. It’s my vision for the future of TKS. What we can be, what we should be, what I know we can continue to be in the future, with or without me.

So it’s time to unclench my hands, and let go.

This is my goodbye column.

Goodbye to Knox, I hope I’ve done well by you in my reporting.

Goodbye to my staff, especially my editors, I love you all dearly, none of this would’ve happened without you. To those staying, I believe in you, make TKS what you want. It’s yours now.

Goodbye to Jane and Ellen, you taught me everything I know, this is as much your baby as it is mine.

And goodbye to The Knox Student.

I know we made each other the best we can be.

Eleanor Lindenmayer

Students and faculty split on fairness of Knox one credit system

The Knox credit system creates all classes equal, though class hours and homework levels can vary vastly across classes and departments. Students and faculty are split on the equity of this system.

The 2023-2024 Knox Course catalog defines a credit as “the equivalent of 210 minutes per week of instructional time for ten weeks… students are expected to devote a ...

What does the smoking initiative mean for Knox’s campus?

In an email sent to students, faculty and staff on Tuesday, Feb. 6, Knox College announced an initiative named Promoting LifeLong Health at Knox. The initiative aims to build a smoke and vape free campus policy to encourage a healthy campus. This policy will go into effect in June 2025 and will

apply to all students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Campus responses to the proposed policy ranged from angry to confused to understanding. In the coming months, the campus community can expect to participate in policy development and will likely see their questions answered soon.

The term started off with a change in Student Senate leadership, a new president and vice president were chosen.

DISCOURSE

Hope amidst despair

The student-led efforts for Palestine at Knox College

With nearly 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, brutally killed by the Israeli army, and thousands more believed to be trapped under the rubble, the genocide has undeniably taken a toll on humanity. In an age where we claim to have evolved and conceitedly float notions of empathy to the world around us, the reality of the 21st century is in fact quite the opposite.

We are faced with a heavily documented genocide which has left humanity as a whole in a very vulnerable state. There are ...

Booths, flags, and food:

I-Fair’s delightful retro renaissance

Day of Dialogue, Knox’s Flunk Day for the soul

The Day of Dialogue is my second favorite Knox annual event, only after our Flunk Day, because they both connect people together. Flunk Day connects us by having fun; the Day of Dialogue connects us by having discussions about our differences.

Usually scheduled after winter midterms, Day of Dialogue ...

Knox swimmers hope to rebuild program after withdrawing from 2023-2024 season

The Knox swim team withdrew from competitions for the 2023-24 season and is no longer holding team practices. Practices were still being held during fall term, but only a few people consistently attended. There were not enough people to make a full team.

Normally, the swim season lasts from Oct. to Feb., but the team did not compete at all this season, nor will they.

To be eligible as a team, 16 people — eight competing on the ...

Alumni return to the ‘family’ of the Knox ultimate frisbee team

Current members and alumni of the Knox Ultimate Frisbee team share what being part of the team means to them as they compete at the 29th annual Natalie Veneziano Winter Whiteout tournament.

HOROSCOPES

Students and faculty split on fairness of Knox one credit system

Eleanor Lindenmayer | she/her Editor-in-Chief

The Knox credit system creates all classes equal, though class hours and homework levels can vary vastly across classes and departments. Students and faculty are split on the equity of this system.

The 2023-2024 Knox Course catalog defines a credit as “the equivalent of 210 minutes per week of instructional time for ten weeks… students are expected to devote a minimum of two hours of study outside of class time for every hour in class.”

210 minutes is three and a half hours. This may be the minimum, but some classes spend up to eight hours in class a week. This disparity is because many classes meet four or five times a week, use double periods, or have labs.

But by definition, all these courses are one credit.

Other colleges that use credit hours would count these four and five day a week classes differently than a three day a week seminar. The more hours a student spends in

class, the more credits they would receive.

Dean and Provost of the College Mike Schneider says the hope of the Knox system is that the other work a student does outside of class evens out all classes.

“There are ways in which there may be more parity than is sometimes apparent in terms of contact hours,” Schneider said.

But, the two hours study time for every hour in class inherently implies some classes are more

work than others. By this system, a class that meets five times a week would have 10 hours of homework, leading to more time spent on that class than a one that meets three times a week.

Because of this, many professors take the two hours as a suggestion, and instead think of college as a student’s full time job.

“When you get to this realm of students are spending a heck of a lot more time in this course than they should and their other course work could suffer because they’re dealing with that, that creates a kind of inequity that would need to be addressed,”

“As a professor, I expect to have one third of their time, including class time, plus study hours, and the assumption is that the work they would do outside of class, say reading a novel or watching a movie for a humanities social science class sort of makes up for what they might be doing in lab,” Professor Emeritus of Physics Chuck Schultz said.

This sentiment was repeated by many professors including Schneider, Chair of Chemistry Helen Hoyt, Chair of Computer Science David Bunde, and Chair of Physics Tom Moses.

One third of a full-time job is 13.3 hours a week, but some professors feel students should be working 15 hours a week, and others think 10 is appropriate.

Hannah Terry in a chemestry research lab

Photo by Addison Steinbach

“When you get to this realm of students are spending a heck of a lot more time in this course than they should and their other course work could suffer because they’re dealing with that, that creates a kind of inequity that would need to be addressed,” Schneider said.

Schneider believes it is up to professors and departments to make sure their disciplines are assigning a fair and achievable amount of work. He acknowledges that humanities classes often have more flexibility with the amount of content they need to cover, and lab classes often

meet for far more hours a week.

“I think it’s completely legitimate to debate the system… there are reasonable arguments on both sides of it,” Schneider said.

Some, like Shultz, think a quarter hour system would be far more equitable. In this system, classes with more in-class hours would count for more credits.

“Professors are aware that some classes might just demand more than one third of the time and hope that students can adjust,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it’s

fair that you don’t get more credit hours for those hours you put in.”

Junior and biology major Caroline Tieman agrees this would be better.

“My three credits right now this term is 19 hours… whereas other people spend only 11 or 12 hours in class each week, and they also get three credits,” she said. “I think that maybe if they really wanted to, they should be able to take another class. Like if I’m allowed to be in a class for 20 hours, other people should also be allowed to do that.”

Students working extra hours in SMC Research Lab

Photo by Addison Steinbach

“I spend like four hours before every class reading six pages because it’s so much denser material, and then I’m only getting the same amount of credit for that as my intro level anthropology class where I was barely skimming the reading,”

-- Devan

Boone

This would solve a problem that junior and psychology major Sasha Jeffries has. They take classes in the music department, where many classes are listed as zero credits. This is so students don’t have to pay an overload fee but doesn’t feel fair to Jeffries.

“You can do the same amount of work everybody else is doing… and not get anything for it,” they said.

Chair and Associate Professor of Educational Studies Scott DeWitt says the Knox credit system doesn’t account for time outside of seat time. Students in the Education Studies department do 20 hours of volunteering for many of their

classes; STEM students do labs; art students spend time in the studio.

“The traditional assumption of ‘in class’ is some professor standing up in front imparting wisdom and telling you all the important things you need to know,” DeWitt said. “So that lab time is somehow separate, when arguably you’re learning as much or more in the lab.”

Junior and anthropology & sociology (ANSO) major Devan Boone says that because all classes are considered the same, students don’t always know what they’re getting into when they sign up for a class.

She says the intro level and upper level ANSO classes have vastly different workloads. She spends significantly more time on Social Theory than other classes she’s taken.

“I spend like four hours before every class reading six pages because it’s so much denser material, and then I’m only getting the same amount of credit for that as my intro level anthropology class where I was barely skimming the reading,” she said.

Associate Professor of History and advisor Danielle Fatkin is

Terry performing an expirment in the research lab

Photo by Addison Steinbach

aware of this. She says advisers talk about which classes are considered heavier workloads and help their students create schedules that seem manageable. Chemistry Department Chair Helen Hoyt has similar conversations with her advisees as well.

“We talk a lot about balance and trying to find what works for that student to balance out a lab studio,” Hoyt said.

The conversation about credits comes up every few years amongst the faculty, but due to the complexity of the issue it hasn’t gained enough traction to make any changes.

But there are pros to treating all classes as equal, and many professors are in favor of it.

“Physicists like symmetry, and we like simplicity, and the simplest most symmetrical thing that you can do is have every course count one unit,” Moses said.

Schneider, Moses and Hoyt agree that it can be difficult to compare disciplines, as they often do such different kinds of work.

Hoyt feels that to create something really “intelligent, thoughtful, different,” in a humanities or arts class takes at least as much time as a lab.

“You can always put more time into a paper, you can always put more time into a story, into a creative project, into studying chemistry,” she said. “You can always put more time in and learn more and do more.”

But Hoyt acknowledges that for any class, if a student is only doing the minimum to pass they likely aren’t putting in that 10-15 hours a week. Many students agree on both points.

“The workload is easy to compare when it gets to higher level classes because you’re doing seminars or research papers… but when it’s not comparable is the intro level classes,” said Jeffries.

As Boone pointed out, sometimes it can be easy to simply not do a reading, or not try very hard on an essay. But Tieman says in biology, if you don’t do all the work and learn all the things in an intro class, you won’t make it to the advanced class.

Student taking notes in Native Arts of the Americas.

Photo by Red Engel

“I think a lot of it is more required time for STEM majors,” said Tieman. Those extra hours in class and daily required engagement can make them feel as if they take more time.

When it comes down to it, the amount of time a class takes up seems to come down to the student and not the class.

“Different students are different people too, right? So they respond to those challenges very differently,” said Schneider.

Some people take longer to read and write, others cruise through math sets. Some are trying to do their very best, and others just want to pass.

Tieman spends 20 hours a week in biology and physics courses, and she does so gladly and easily, but she finds humanities classes more difficult.

“I do think humanities classes have ‘less’ work, but they still take up the same amount of mental space because they’re not what I’m used to thinking about,” she said.

Sophomore and computer science and physics double major Naysha Jain agrees, saying that for herself, writing an essay is far more difficult than writing a code for her computer science class.

“What do you need to spend willpower on? What fills you up? What feels like more work?” said Hoyt.

Because of the complexities of different types of work, classes, and students, creating all classes equal seems the easiest solution to Moses.

“I like the simplicity in the absence of being able to make a good comparison,” he said, “if we made slight distinctions, who would be helped by that?”

Schneider has similar feelings. He worries that this debate pits discipline against discipline. As a liberal arts school, he says, this can be dangerous.

The conversation about credits comes up every few years amongst the faculty, but due to the complexity of the issue it hasn’t gained enough traction to make any changes.

The faculty have discussed adding an extra half credit for two period lab classes, but that has consequences that the college would then need to solve, like the rules that define a full-time student and class overload.

Changing the credit system would also impact faculty contracts. Right now, full-time faculty teach two courses a term. DeWitt says this is supposedly equitable, but he acknowledges that inherently, teaching some classes does take more time than others. If the credit system was changed, Knox would need to find a new way to define a full-time professor.

“Talking about simplifying things so they’re administratively possible also means they’re not accurate,” he said.

Leo Dunn, Grace Zieman, Ezren Herzog, Bill Carruthers, and Aleah Shallack working in an Art History Lecture

Photo by Red Engel

Smoke free by 2025

What does the smoking initiative mean for Knox’s campus?

In an email sent to students, faculty and staff on Tuesday, Feb. 6, Knox College announced an initiative named Promoting Lifelong Health at Knox. Over the next year and a half, the initiative aims to build a smoke and vape free campus policy to encourage a healthy campus.

While still considered an “initiative”, this policy will go into effect in June 2025 and will apply to everyone present on campus. The overall goal for the policy is to form a healthier campus specifically by discouraging the habit of smoking.

A smoke and vape free policy means that anyone on Knox College’s campus—students, faculty, staff, and visitors alike—would be expected to leave campus property if they wished to smoke.

“We all know the dangers of smoking and vaping. It causes health issues, mental health issues, sustainability and environmental issues,” Associate Director of Health Services Kristin Wight said.

Smoke and vape-free policies also “hold particular significance” for institutions which serve demographics that are disproportionately affected by tobacco use, as research shows that these communities have poorer health related to tobacco use. This includes racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ communities, individuals residing in low-income areas, military personnel, and individuals with mental health conditions.

Another reason for the policy, cited in the email, is the precedent smoking policies set by other colleges across the US.

“Many other institutions have this policy. They’ve had it for a very, very, very long time,” Vice President for Student Development Dr. Marquita Barker said.

As reported in the announcement email, more than 2,000 college and university campuses across the country are smoke free, and four states (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, and Louisiana) have laws that require

smoke-free policies on public college campuses.

Because Knox College is a private campus, that law does not apply here.

Immediately following the email, a handful of posts were sent to the campus community on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak. Responses ranged from angry to confused to understanding.

“It seems more productive to just install and enforce designated smoking/vaping areas on campus than expect people to quit,” one comment said.

Dr. Barker also reported having heard dissent from members of the campus community.

“It’s not really going to ruin my life or anything, but it’s something I look forward to, to break up the day, a little downtime,” Dining Services employee Sarah Sazama said.

When federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks, many employees rely on the “short

Jenna Schweikert | she/they

Published Mar. 6 2024

Red Engel smoking in the CFA Bowl

Photo by Jenna Schweikert

break”, lasting five to 20 minutes, to provide a short break from the hustle and bustle of their job. Because these breaks are so short, federal law considers them to still be compensable work hours.

“I think that smoking for a lot of people especially in this country is a way of life,” senior Diya Goyal said.

As of 2021, the CDC estimates that 12% of Americans smoke cigarettes.

Goyal believes that a large percentage of the campus population are smokers (whether that is of nicotine or marijuana) and that this policy may motivate students to transfer or not attend Knox at all.

The proportion of smokers on campus is largely unknown, but Wight believes that more people are actually not smoking because of a greater awareness of the negative effects of it. Nationally, however, this does not appear to be the case, especially with the prevalence of e-cigarettes, or vapes.

In 2015, Hawaii became the first state to raise its smoking age to 21, setting off a national shift in states gradually raising their smoking ages to 21, in large part due to the teenage vaping epidemic.

By 2019, eighteen states and the District of Columbia had their minimum purchase ages at twentyone. In December of 2019, former president Donald Trump raised the federal age for smoking to 21 in a further attempt to combat the vaping epidemic.

Goyal is also concerned about the consequences of taking away students’ right to smoke without any support.

“If they are trying to make Knox a smoke-free vape-free zone, they should at least start some kind of program to help people quit smoking,” Goyal said.

Goyal also suggested having designated areas for smoking instead of banning smoking altogether. Although designated smoking areas do already exist on campus, it is wholly unclear where they are or if smokers even use these spaces at all.

“I feel like as long as you’re the required amount of distance from entryways, you should have the freedom to smoke,” Sazama said. “And you know there are still going to be kids that smoke, how will they enforce [the policy]?”

According to Dr. Barker, Knox will enforce this policy just like they enforce the current smoking policy. For now, students may be able to smoke cigarettes while roaming around campus, but because Knox College is federally funded, they cannot smoke marijuana while on campus. Any students found doing so will find themselves in a meeting with Dean of Students Deb Southern.

In any case, the purpose of the smoke-free policy is not to penalize students for smoking, but rather to encourage not smoking at all, Dr. Barker said.

“I think it’s going to be counteractive mainly because people already smoke so much in their rooms,” senior Sitanshu Satapathy said. “They’re just going to do that more often now.”

Two comments on Yik Yak sent after the initiative was announced even encouraged students to begin smoking and vaping in their rooms.

One running joke among students at Knox revolves around the perpetual odor of marijuana present in the dorms. In the coldest winter months, many students choose to smoke inside their rooms or common areas rather than make the trek into the snow outside.

Smoking inside presents many concerns for the community, including the effects of secondhand smoke, and the residue left behind from smoke.

“The goal of the policy is to ensure the health of our campus and we hope students will not smoke in their rooms. This is already against the policy and presents other issues such as fire safety,” Wight said.

Policy enforcement and the possibility of students smoking in their rooms were not the only questions raised about this policy, because the exact phrasing and meaning of this policy has not been determined as of yet.

In the coming months, the campus community can expect to participate in policy development and will likely see their questions answered soon.

The proposal and ensuing development of the initiative began pre-2020. It may have been introduced prior to this year, however, Covid-19 presented challenges in the implementation.

In the process, Knox “consulted with many campus stakeholders,” the email said, some of whom include the Faculty Affairs Subcommittee, Staff Council, student groups, and the trustees board.

Moving forward, Knox will form a task force including faculty, staff, and students. This task force will carry out project activities for policy development and implementation, the email said.

Knox plans to conduct a campus survey to gauge the resources needed for the implementation of the initiative. As soon as next term, students can expect to see events and programs designed to bring further awareness to the policy.

Winter term in Student Senate

The term started off with a change in Student Senate leadership. A new president and vice president were chosen.

New Student Senate president

Jenna Schweikert | she/they EIC-in-Training

Former Student Senate Vice President Sikander Mateen stepped into the position of president following the resignation of junior Karla Perez.

Prior to this, sophomore Mateen was voted in as interim vice president on Oct. 5, 2023 after the resignation of former vice president Subhaj Sapkota. At the Oct. 19, 2023 general Student Senate meeting, Mateen was officially voted in as vice president.

Matten looked forward to his term as president, saying that ever since his first year, “Senate was on the list of things I wanted to do.”

Although the position opened unexpectedly, Mateen was already planning for the upcoming terms.

In order to increase student engagement, Mateen proposed a new bylaw for a mandatory Student Senate representative from every club and organization, this measure has since passed.

“Most of our cultural clubs are succeeding right now. I see a lot of people there, a lot of engagement. We can use that as our starting point,” Mateen said.

Student Senate is also working with disability services to make Carl Sandburg into a sensory room,

Mateen also said.

Published Jan. 13 2024

Mateen was first elected to Student Senate during his first year, when he assumed the position of Dining Services Chair from winter to spring terms of 2023. He was then elected as Campus Life Chair during Student Senate elections in the spring of 2023.

“I want to make sure that every club and organization is a comfortable place for people,” Mateen said, voicing his concerns for the student body. “There are a lot of people who don’t go to any clubs but we want them to be included as well.”

Areesha Saif appointed vice president

Megan Shafar | she/her Staff Writer

Published Feb. 1 2024

Senior Areesha Saif was appointed by Mateen as the vice president of Student Senate. The Senate General Assembly (GA) and the executive committee voted to approve the appointment.

This process was different from Senate’s typical elections, which go to the whole college.

“[There] was a lot of leadership change going on there, so it was a very different situation; it was very difficult to have elections in that situation,” Saif said.

Photo courtesy of Sikander Mateen

Plus, Senate is looking to decrease the frequency of elections.

“I think last year, it even became a running joke around campus that Senate’s always having elections,” Saif said. “So we kind of wanted to avoid that repeated election process, and we’re also working on changing the bylaws to make sure that if something like this happens, it’s the executive committee that decides instead of repeated elections.”

She added that there are concerns that frequent Senate elections have resembled popularity contests.

Saif has been part of Senate since the fall of 2022. She started as a class senator and worked on the diversity committee. In the fall of 2023, she was elected as the secretary.

Furthermore, one of Saif’s top priorities as vice president is increasing accountability for senators by enforcing attendance policies more strictly and ensuring people adhere to the bylaws, which she said have not always been followed.

To increase accountability and motivate members, she wants to improve the Senate incentive structure.

Each term, senators are paid $150, and executive members are paid $350. Saif said she does not think this is enough to motivate people to work more and do their best. While she does not think the current budget can allow for increased stipends, she wants to create non-monetary incentives, as well.

“For me, it’s how do we restore that credibility and how do we become an organization whose laws people follow, who people respect, and that we have that kind of trust and credibility with the student community?” Saif said.

New senate bylaw sparks debate

Julia Maron | she/her Staff Writer

Published Feb. 26 2024

Mateen’s new club bylaw was passed at the Jan. 25 meeting early in winter term. It states that every club funded by the Senate will have to send a representative to attend the five general meetings in the term staring in the spring.

Club presidents think the new policy will improve communication, but they shared a few concerns and elements they believe could be improved.

The representatives will have full voting rights and will be able to raise motions. The attendance of a representative will be mandatory, and in case of a club not sending a representative, the club will be subject to denial of funds for next year.

President of the Student Senate, sophomore Sikander Mateen, said the new plan will be a good oppor-

tunity for the Senate to engage and communicate with organizations.

“I think it’s a good thing. I think it is going to help the Senate in terms of engaging with organizations, so it’s easier to spread the message of everything that the Senate is doing and everything that clubs are doing,” Mateen said. “Plus it’s a good opportunity to make announcements there, so if anyone is having an event they can say it there, and every club on campus will know about it.”

The clubs will be able to fulfill the requirement in three ways: by appointing a new executive whose role would be representing the club in the assembly, by appointing someone already from the exec to fulfill that role, or by rotating exec members that will attend the meeting. There will also be a duo-representation policy, in which one student can represent two clubs.

“It’s easier for the person and for the clubs that way,” said Mateen.

Mateen believes that the new bylaw will achieve more engagement, and the goal is to make communication more systematic and reduce the need for compulsory meetings to obtain funds.

“We want to achieve more engagement in terms of people knowing what is happening (…) when everyone comes in to ask for funds, we don’t have to have compulsory meetings that ‘if you don’t show up, you don’t get the money’. I think to make it more systematic will be the best way to put it,” said Mateen.

Co-president of Aaina, sophomore Tisya Goel, agrees that the new policy will improve communication. She believes that, even though it will be difficult to bring a representative to every meeting, the new policy can be beneficial.

New Senate Vice-President Areesha Saif

Photo courtesy of Areesha Saif

“On the one hand, it’s gonna be difficult to send someone every time, but it’s a good opportunity for everyone to talk,” Goel said. “Increased communication means more collaboration and less clashes in events.”

However, Goel argued that representatives’ attendance should only be mandatory when club matters are being discussed. She also believes reps should get paid for attending meetings.

President of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) junior Diya Goyal, is concerned about the organization in the general assemblies since there are many clubs on campus. She, however, believes that as long as the meeting has an agenda, progress can be achieved.

“I think that that is a good step towards collaboration and efforts to make Knox a more tightened community, but at the same time I feel that it will have a shortcoming because if there are too many clubs coming to the table it will become a fish market,” Goyal said.

Quickly after passing though, the bylaw became subject of a larger debate. At the Feb 22. Meeting many students protested this new measure in public comment The general unhappiness was mainly about the apparent risk of budget removal in case a club did not send a representative.

Mateen and McLean clarified that the bylaw did not have the intention to threaten students, and the denial of funds was meant only as a last resort. Following the clarification, students raised concerns about miscommunication around campus.

Sophomore Phoebe Amiri was the first to make a statement in Public Comment. Amiri’s speech urged the bylaw’s removal before implementation. She acknowledged the

intentions of the policy as promoting campus connectedness, but she argued that forcing students to show up under the pressure of getting their budgets taken away would cause students to connect against the Senate.

“I, as well as many others, believe this policy is harmful and will cause

event planning, homework, and personal well-being to fulfill its requirements. Amiri argued that the law is also harmful to small clubs since they have fewer people to provide availability to attend Senate meetings.

“Because of this new policy, how many people do you think are

a lot of issues on campus. And I’d like to ask you to remove this policy before it comes into effect,” said Amiri. “I’ll start by saying that I think promoting campus connectedness is really good… I do think that this will promote club connections, but we will be united against you in this absurd policy. It is one thing to invite clubs to participate. It is a very different thing to force clubs to participate and hold their budget hostage if they don’t comply with your demands.”

Amiri raised concerns about the policy adding a new commitment to students’ already limited time. She predicted that people would be forced to sacrifice activities like

going to show up [for] tutoring on Thursdays looking for help with homework just to find that the tutors are now required to sit in a senate meeting just to keep their clubs from dying?” Amiri said. “Small clubs that barely have enough execs to keep the club going are going to fold from this.”

Payment issues were also raised in Amiri’s speech. She criticized the bylaw for requiring club representatives to attend meetings without compensation while senators are paid.

“While we’re on the topic of money, I’ll remind you that all of you are getting paid as senators. These reps

Amiri makes her statement

Photo by Julia Maron

would not be paid. You’re forcing us to come to your meetings, doing your jobs. But you still pay yourselves, but you don’t pay us,”

Amiri said.

Amiri was not the only one to share concerns about the club representatives’ compensation for attending meetings. On the same

work,” said Amiri.

Amiri said that in case the Senate pushes the law forward, she and others will persistently attend meetings and bring forth every issue concerning Knox College. She then concluded her speech by accusing students in power of overusing it.

day as the assembly, two posts circulated on YikYak, a social media application that allows users to anonymously create and view posts, about a potential push toward the Senate to have the required club members to get paid as well.

Amiri was also discontented with the lack of communication with clubs for the new bylaw. According to them, clubs were not consulted on whether the policy would be beneficial.

“You didn’t ask clubs if this would be helpful. You didn’t first try seeing if club execs had other ideas. You didn’t even think this through if this would actually

“If you really want us to show up, we will show up.” Amiri said. “And you want us to be there and tell you about the issues with Knox College? We will. Every little thing. […] If you ignore every warning I’m giving you now, then I guess I’ll be here next term. And next year, and the year after. And I’m not going to hold anything back,”

Following Amiri’s statement, Assistant Dean for Campus Life Jacob McLean took responsibility for the idea behind the proposed bylaw change.

“I gotta take some of the heat off the Senate because the bylaw change was my idea,” said McLean.

Later, he added, “So if there is hate and things to send, send it my way. What I recognize about this group is that there’s no malicious intent.”

However, McLean highlighted that the implementation and timeline were discussed by the General Assembly. McLean also mentioned that there were thoughts about reconsidering the timeline during a recent meeting.

McLean defended the idea behind the bylaw, suggesting that it’s a common practice in other Student Senate bodies. He emphasized the issue of low student engagement on campus and said the new policy is an attempt to minimize this problem.

“I think that this is an attempt to get people in a room to have a conversation because the people sitting around tables in this room are not enough. You are right that some of the meetings are boring, but it’s because we’re not hearing student voices,” McLean said.

Senior Ford Walters questioned why, if the objective is to increase club participation in discussions, not organize meetings dedicated to specifically club matters instead of requiring club representatives to attend General Assemblies.

“Every time we meet there’s something that could affect a club,” McLean said in response.

To support his argument, McLean referenced how once a term President Andrew McGadney attends the Student Senate General Assembly, making himself available to the students’ voice. However, rarely there are students in the room.

McGadney was present last general assembly on Feb. 8, when elements regarding the participation of club representatives in General Assemblies were raised. Aside from Senators, there were few to no students present. The bylaw has since been paused.

Knox library upgrades redefine campus learning spaces

Knox College plans to turn the Teresa Amott Science Commons into a makerspace hub, offering assistance with all sorts of science and textile design equipment.

During fall term 2023, the relocation of books from the science commons to Seymour Library left the student body wondering what’s happening with all the empty space at the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center (SMC).

Rows of empty shelves currently occupy most of the space, with an added glass wall sectioning off the front area of the room. Several new

individual study spaces have also been added.

“I think the space over there (SMC) will be exciting for students and exciting for faculty, and that more than makes up for losing the science library,” said Director of the Seymour Library, Anne Thomason.

Knox College received a grant in 2018 for science equipment. So far, the grant has funded the observatory and the focal microscope in the biology lab. The remainder is to be used on equipment for the makerspace hub.

According to makerspace science technician Alex Fluegel the hub is scheduled to be set up in the science commons by fall term 2024.

“The idea is to have a student-centered space, something that will help the students with whatever immersive projects and research projects the students want to work on,” said Thomason.

The aim for the makerspace hub, according to Fluegel, is to have a “visible and accessible space for students to get the support they need to make whatever project or idea a reality.”

Pareesae Imtiaz | she/her Staff Writer

The emptied bookshelves of SMC Library prepped for the new workspace

Photo by Addison Steinbach

The hub will have a 3D printing space, an electronics work area with soldering equipment, testing equipment, and tools to repair and design electronics and circuit boards, as well as a Bantam Mini Mill that will allow students to create custom circuit boards. It will also have a textile design space with equipment like sewing machines, vinyl cutting and button making.

“There are a lot of pockets of resources, they are just not accessible, not advertised, people don’t know where to find them, and there’s not someone necessarily there to help when it’s convenient for students,” Fluegel said.

“Students have been pushing for a space like this for a while, I’m excited to hear it’s finally happening,”

Moreover, there will be a designated room for virtual reality (VR) where students can access VR headsets and explore the virtual world. There will also be collaboration work spaces, computer workstations and quiet study spaces, as well as lockers for students to store materials and projects.

The makerspace hub will extend to the basement of the building for bulkier and noisier machinery like the computer numerical control (CNC) router for computer aided design (CAD) and geographic information system (GIS) stations.

“It really is meant to be an interdisciplinary space, so even if you’re not a science major you can come over, if your club wants to make something, there’s going to be people over there trained to help you figure out how to do it even if you’re not a physics major,” Thomason said. “To me, that’s what a Knox education is all about.”

The process to get this project done is already under way with the final budget approvals and organizational meetings happening this term, as well as finalizing what equipment Knox College wants to invest in.

With the opening of the makerspace hub, many new student worker positions and training opportunities will also be available.

Some Students, like the members STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Club

are already looking forward to the opening of the makerspace hub, as it will bring their activities to the foreground of the science department, allowing them to be more accessible and visible, as well as helping the club grow.

“Students have been pushing for a space like this for a while, I’m excited to hear it’s finally happening,” said senior and former president STEAM Club Izn-e-Allah

The faculty wants to hear the student body’s input on what they would like to see happening in the science commons. You can email Alex Fluegel with your thoughts and ideas at jfluegel@knox.edu.

SMC Library emptied

Photo by Addision Steinbach

Jenna Schweikert | she/they EIC-In-Training

Areesha Saif | she/her Staff Writer

TKE in winter term: Reinstatement and community reactions

On Jan. 8, the Knox College faculty voted 45-9 to approve the Student Experience Committee (SEC)’s motion to reinstate the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) Chapter, which was suspended on May 31, 2023.

At the time of suspension, Vice President for Student Development Dr. MarQuita Barker clarified via email that, “there was no single cause of the suspension.”

Junior Angelica DeBenedictis felt disappointed at the reinstatement.

“I felt just a little bit safer and a little more at ease being on campus while TKE was suspended,” DeBenedictis said.

The suspension followed the March 8 student protest against sexual assault on the Knox campus in the aftermath of TKE’s party ‘Delusions’, although the party was not the sole cause for the suspension.

The suspension was initiated by the National Chapter and not the college. The faculty vote to reinstate the fraternity was only a formality and not an adjudication of the TKE party and the protest that followed.

“Since the events, the remaining members of the chapter have been working with the National TKE Organization and Knox College so we further understand what we did wrong, the responsibility we have as an organization, and how to best support and uplift survivors.” TKE chapter president and junior

Dakota Robinson said. “We have been educating ourselves on both Risk Management through TKE Nationals as well as Dare to Care events such as the Bringing in the Bystander.”

With the end of their suspension, TKE could participate in formal recruitment during this past winter term. Members were also allowed to move back into their house and may return to hosting events.

While skeptical about the return of the fraternity on campus, students like senior Teagan Springer feel that TKE must demonstrate their good character to regain the trust of the campus community.

“People are capable of growth and change and I am looking forward

to hopefully seeing that from the community. It was a really hard time in the Knox community and I don’t think people are fully healed yet,” Springer said.

TKE has yet to fully re-engage with the Knox community since their suspension and subsequent reinstatement, but Robinson is looking forward to the future of Knox’s TKE chapter.

“The chapter never intended to take an anti-survivor position with what we posted but we understand that our actions were harmful. Regrettably, what’s done is done, and all we can hope to do is take responsibility and change for the better,” Robinson said.

The Tau Kappa Epsilon House

Photo by Addison Stienbach

Behind the prolonged faculty hiring timeline at Knox

Pareesae Imtiaz | she/her Staff Writer

The college’s hiring process is prolonged and complex. Knox tries to maintain a 12 to 1 student-faculty ratio. The college calculates faculty teaching equivalencies (FTE) and divides it by the number of students in a department to determine the number of filled and unfilled positions on campus.

“The academic job cycle is very particular, and it takes a year to hire someone on a tenure track and actually, if you want to start the hiring process in September of 2023, you need to have asked the college in May of 2023 to have that position authorized.” Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs Danielle Fatkin said.

Unexpected faculty position vacancies disrupt this cycle. In the span of two years four faculty members passed away, causing an abrupt pressure on staffing.

The hiring calendar is an obstacle prolonging the faculty recruitment process. Each department has different hiring seasons. Typically, they advertise the open positions in

the summer, applicants are shortlisted in fall, and hiring begins in the winter. The hired candidates start working the next fall term.

Self-study and assessment help determine the needs of each department and where it stands. Results are then compared to national trends to define where the department is excelling or lacking.

“That’s what the institution wants to do, to hire the right person for the right job, so that person is going to stay here and serve generations of Knox students,” Fatkin said.

There are ten faculty searches in progress this year. Currently, the economics department is looking to hire three new professors, the computer science department is in search of one new professor, and the psychology, business, art, and journalism departments are also low on faculty.

Consequences of not filling these positions promptly are the lack of consistency in education; existing faculty has to substitute as advisors, courses required for majors

not being offered need to be substituted by courses that are offered, and students are left with narrow pathways.

Knox College works on a trimester system and enrolled students often must incorporate faculty availability in planning out their academic advancement. Certain courses are offered during specific terms making academic planning complicated and unreliable.

There is a faculty committee, faculty affairs subcommittee and the executive committee that oversee hiring. The hiring committee consists of three people from the department that is hiring, and one person from outside the department to act as an “informed external pair of eyes,” and mediate the process.

“It is very important to the institution that in the hiring process we are trying to make sure that the professors that we ultimately hire and give tenure to reflect the diversity of the student body as well,” said Fatkin.

Visiting Professor Brandy Wilcox

Photo courtesy of Knox College

Miscommunication circulates after student protest for Israel-Palestine ceasefire

Jenna Schweikert | she/they EIC-in-Training

The day after an event intended to advocate for a ceasefire in Palestine, chalk messages were purposefully washed away by Knox College grounds staff with no explanation or warning from administration –leaving organizers and attendees of the event frustrated and confused as to what prompted the power washing.

Last November, dozens of students gathered in Seymour Lounge to attend this event, followed by drawing peaceful messages and symbols in chalk on and around Plomin Terrace.

The protest went smoothly from the perspectives of the organizers,

seniors Teagan Springer and Marin Hart, but their satisfaction quickly turned to confusion and frustration when the chalk messages were power washed away the next morning.

One attendee, senior Amira Siddique, received a picture from a friend of the chalk being washed away.

“The immediate thought is that you’re silencing your students’ voices. I was hoping that maybe something was defaced or some other reason, but my immediate thought was just to clear it up and find out what happened,” Siddique said.

Siddique promptly sent an email to administration asking for an explanation. An hour later, she met with Vice President of Student Development Dr. MarQuita Barker.

“The messages written in chalk on the sidewalk were washed away because they were defaced,” said Dr. Barker. “A couple of students asked why the entire drawing was washed away and not just the part that was defaced. I imagine it would be hard to wash off some chalking without impacting the rest of it.”

Why erase everything when it was one problematic message, so far from the rest of the messages, Siddique wondered.

Students drawing Pro-Palestine messages with chalk on the sidewalk outside Seymour Union

Photo courtesy of Teagan Springer & Marin Hart

“I asked Dr. Barker to send out an email to the student distribution list explaining why they washed away the chalk, because everyone thought administration was silencing students’ voices when they say they were actually just trying to protect us,” Siddique said.

Later that afternoon, the same day the chalk was washed away, students returned to re-chalk their art and messages. These were not removed. The school does not currently have any policy against chalking.

The event was in response to the current increase in conflict between Israel and Hamas began after an attack Hamas committed on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel responded by firing rockets at Palestine, focusing most of their firepower on the Gaza strip.

Following these events, Springer and Hart expected some response from the student body, but after little to no activity on campus, they decided to collaborate on an event.

“We need education, to know where to put our resources, but we also need political action. I talked to some people who were pro-activity but did not have the capacity to do anything,” said Hart. “We had email templates to send to representatives to demand a ceasefire. Then we made calls using 5Calls. [...] We then encouraged people to send those links to their friends and family.”

Ahead of the event, Springer and Hart put up posters around campus, advertised on Instagram, and prepared an informational slideshow to present.

“We had several conversations about doing an event responsibly, how we could mitigate any harm,” Hart said. “We’re never going to know everything, but we can’t let fear of making a mistake keep us from action.”

Driven by their desire to call for a ceasefire, Hart and Springer moved forward with planning the event, which dozens of students ultimately attended. At least 33 were in the room calling, emailing and faxing their representatives, and more joined to write chalk messages during the second half of the event.

“People were talking and laughing, just being together. That was something I felt like had been missing on campus. People are confused, grieving, upset about this war. To hear people’s chatter and laughter was really nice,” said Hart.

Prior to the chalk writing, Springer and Hart discussed with attendees that this was not a place for “hateful messaging”, and to keep chalk art peaceful and resourceful.

Soon after, most Knox students left for winter break without any widespread explanation or understanding as to what exactly had happened with the chalk being erased.

The topic was soon brought up again, however, at the student forum held on Jan. 10, when Springer and Hart brought a statement asking administrators to clear up the thought process and events that led to the power washing.

Specifically, they requested that the college condemn expressions of islamophobia and anti-setmitism on campus, continue to engage the subject of the conflict in the form of educational talks and panels, hold open spaces for dialogue, and provide support to students directly affected.

Following the forum, Siddique felt that the issue had been explained more clearly.

“I do think there was some miscommunication, or lacking communication entirely, but in the forum they were very responsive to our requests and we did not feel that they were trying to silence us,” Springer said.

writing and drawing messages in chalk outside Seymour Union

courtesy of Teagan Springer & Marin Hart

Students

Photo

New Fraternity and Sorority Life coordinator and assistant director of Campus Life look forward to changes on campus

Julia Maron | she/her Staff Writer

After the resignation of Amanda Dermer last spring, Jacob McLean transitioned to Dermer’s role as the interim Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator. Following that, Emily Olague assumed McLean’s previous position as Assistant Director of Campus Life.

Olague went to a small college for her undergraduate degree, and she says that Knox reminded her of her own experiences. Olague believes that her new job is a great fit to engage students and make a difference in the college they picked.

“Knox, in particular, reminded me of my undergraduate experience, just with that small school vibe,” Olague said. “I just really enjoy the people that I got to know during my interview process and it seems like it is a really good fit for me to really help students feel involved and make an impact at this college that they chose to attend.” Olague says the reason she pursues working in higher education is to

give students the same positive experiences she had with college staff in her past.

“What I like about higher ed is that students are going through a lot of transitions, and a lot of that time is about figuring out who you are and what you want to do with the rest of your life. I feel like the greatest impact would be the staff and faculty being able to help them navigate challenges,” Olague said. Similarly, McLean was inspired to work in higher education by his undergraduate experience. McLean was a member of Zeta Beta Tau in his college years, and he is excited to put his past experiences into action to make changes in fraternity and sorority life (FSL) at Knox.

“My undergraduate experience was how I became more interested in working in higher ed in the first place. There were a lot of opportunities that I got to take advantage of in my fraternity. I am excited to see what’s possible with us working together and changing some things up,” McLean said.

Olague was also a member of FSL, and, like McLean, she looks forward to using that experience to give students advice.

“Being in my college’s version of a sorority really showed me what leadership was like and what sisterhood and bonds look like and just being able to give advice using my experience is something I am looking forward to,” Olague said.

Olague expressed her goals which include understanding theme and cultural housing objectives and creating a livelier atmosphere on campus. She recognizes the impact of Covid-19 on the student experience and aims to bring back engagement.

“I think post-Covid has affected what the student experience is like, and just being like: ‘how do I immerse myself in college beyond just the academics?’ [...] I want to bring that engagement back,” Olague said.

McLean said that his goal as Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator is to rebuild and rebrand the FSL community, moving beyond the social scene stereotype associated with fraternities. He emphasized his wish to change the language to which FSL is referred to, in order to change the overall image of the chapters.

“I joked with some fraternity and sorority life leaders in the fall that I am on the mission of rebuilding and rebranding the FSL community,” McLean said. “The extent of knowledge on campus for most of our fraternity life chapters is the social scene of one of the houses throwing a party, but FSL is more than just the social element. It’s a good deal of professional development, the way these chapters get back to the local community, philanthropies that they raise money for, all those sorts of things. I’m looking for things to do to emphasize that point.”

Emily Olague in front of the Campus Life Office

Photo courtesy of Knox College

Why are there so many crows in Galesburg?

Megan Shafar | she/her Staff Writer

Galesburg winters include the rhythmic sounds of hundreds of crows circling the trees at sunset.

On the Knox campus, the trees between GDH and Old Main are especially crowded with crows returning to their roosts for the night. Some years, they also swarm the trees near SMC and Post.

Ornithology professor Jim Mountjoy has observed the crows since he came to Knox in 2001 and thinks they have been in Galesburg long before that, too. Their exact roost sites vary from year to year, but he said the Knox campus, Hope Cemetery, Standish Park, and the courthouse area are frequented by the crows.

He said crows roost in the same general area they were raised in, which is why they keep returning every year.

During the day, the crows fly to the surrounding cornfields.

“Corn is very important in the diet, and the fact that we have so much corn growing around here, and so much gets left in the fields after harvest, that’s the reason why we can support a huge population of crows in the area,” Mountjoy said. They may scatter in smaller groups during the day, but they return to the city together at night.

“What you will see is that once you get into the later afternoon, they start moving back towards the roost,” Mountjoy said. “But they stop and often gather together in groups before coming all the way into the city. So you’ll see flocks just sitting in cornfields or in some of the trees, and then those pretty large groups will move in as it gets closer to sunset.”

The reason they prefer to roost downtown? Mountjoy said crows prefer cities because they are slightly warmer at night than less populated areas, and there are typically fewer predators, such as the great horned owl.

With large numbers of crows flying overhead nightly in winter, director of grounds Brad Bergren said it is difficult to deal with the mess of droppings they leave behind.

“The crows are definitely a nuisance,” Bergren said.

When the temperatures are high enough, grounds workers use power washers to clean the sidewalks, but for a few weeks in January, it was too cold and snowy to do so. When it is too cold to use water, grounds workers use brooms.

Large murder of crows roosting in treetops Photo courtesy of Geography Realm

This winter, though, they have power washed the sidewalks more than usual, though Bergren noted that is because of the warmer temperatures in December and February, and not necessarily that the crows are leaving a bigger mess this year.

“We don’t do anything to harm them by any means; we just clean up after them,” Bergren said. As much as the crew cleans, however, the mess just returns with the crows, which takes time away from workers’ other tasks.

“Our experience is, they’re pretty much going to do whatever they want,” Bergren said. “I wish I could figure out a way to keep them away.”

Others have tried different methods of getting rid of the crows.

Elena Prado-Ragan, ‘18, researched if crow effigies—models of crows she hung in trees—could deter crows from certain areas. Mountjoy said that the crows could tell

that the models hung right-side-up were not real, but they did seem to be scared off if the effigies were hung upside down, as if dead.

Mountjoy said that some buildings downtown have played crow distress calls over the years.

“Crows are very intelligent birds, and they certainly will get accustomed, habituated to things like repeated playback of the same sound over and over again,” Mountjoy said. “Things like gunshots and such can be effective, but it also is pretty disturbing to the people, a lot of this noise and limited effectiveness.”

Mountjoy said the city has also tried flashing lights in the past. A TKS article from Feb. 2010 describes a man called the “crow whisperer” being hired to get rid of them, which was somewhat effective, but he would not reveal his secrets.

Mayor of Galesburg and Professor of Environmental Science Peter Schwartzman said he does not know

of any current actions being taken by the city to remove the crows.

Mountjoy said their numbers will likely start decreasing as more crows return north to Canada around mid to late February, but some will probably stay until March.

He said that there is still much to learn about crows and what their different sounds mean.

“Even though it’s a really common bird, we actually don’t know that much about crows and their behavior because they’re difficult to study because they’re too smart,” Mountjoy said.

For example, crows can recognize human faces, he said. Crows will get upset when they see humans that they dislike or that have messed with the crows before.

They have also been found to use tools, one of the few animals to do so.

Crows are social, Mountjoy said, because it helps them avoid being picked off individually by predators. They also form family groups, where young and old crows often help a pair raise their young.

“Crows have been considered pests, and they’re often shot and hunted. Their impact on humans, for what that’s worth, is more complicated,” Mountjoy said. “They can have some damage to crops, but they can also have some benefits. They eat a lot of grasshoppers and get the grubs of beetles from the ground in summer, so they can have some positive effects on agriculture as well.”

Schwartzman said an important question we as humans should ask ourselves is if we are going to try to live against the crows or in harmony with them.

Large murder of crows flying overhead in Galesburg

Photo by Megan Shafar

Yasmine Davila Assistant Director for Intercultural Life

As a recent alumni, Assistant Director of Intercultural Life Yasmine Davila has been able to pull from her already deep understanding of Intercultural Life at Knox to aid her in her new role. Davila graduated early from Knox in Dec. 2019 and became Assistant Director of Intercultural Life at the beginning of Fall term 2023.

Davila grew up on the Southwest side of Chicago in a neighborhood of people who came from very different cultural backgrounds than her family. This shaped her experience as a third generation Puerto Rican American.

“A lot of my lived experience and background comes from that dynamic,” Davila said. “Southwest side Chicago for a little Puerto Rican child was different because a lot of the Puerto Rican Chicago community is on the North side of

Chicago, and I grew up in a very predominantly white, but specifically Eastern European immigrant community, … I came from being in predominantly white spaces. It shaped my experience especially from having lighter skinned parents and being more of a brown-skinned Puerto Rican bodied woman in those spaces.”

During high school, she moved with her parents to the Southwest suburbs of Chicago. Davila was passionate about staying at her all girls Catholic high school, Holy Trinity High School, and commuted up to two hours from her new home to and from the school. This passion allowed Davila to complete a full IB diploma.

Davila considers the Midwest her home, so when she was looking at schools, she was interested in small private liberal arts colleges in the Midwest that would take her full IB diploma, or at least a majority

of them. After visiting Knox, who would take her credits, she knew her decision.

“Knox and Beloit at that time were some of the few colleges that were taking IB credits, and were going to take my diploma. I also knew when I stepped on Knox College campus. Just the diversity and representation, seeing the cultural centers. I was like, ‘that’s it, I’m coming here,’” Davila said. “Especially for someone who came from spaces that were predominantly white already, I was tired of feeling isolated racially and ethnically in spaces. So those were two things; my high school credits I was gonna take, but also representation. A space where I was gonna feel more at home.”

During Davila’s first year at Knox, she decided to start off slow; she was attracted to the cultural organizations, houses and centers, but didn’t fully commit – until she did.

Ellen Miller Garrett | they/them Managing Editor

Published Apr. 25 2024

Yasmine Davila at the HOPE Center

Photo by Addison Steinbach

Then, Davila, “blossomed,” into a variety of leadership positions.

“Once you get into leadership here, you end up just getting into so many other roles. I started off feeling really at home in the cultural centers, specifically Casa Latina, in some of the cultural organizations, and then from there got really involved really quickly,” Davila said.

Due to her involvement in cultural spaces on campus, she became close to Director of Intercultural Life Tianna Cervantez. She became very involved in Intercultural Life during a time where student peer educators were just starting to exist on campus, and was one of the first Intercultural Life peer educators.

Despite her deep involvement and passion, Davila still had her IB credits in hand and had planned to graduate early. She graduated from Knox two terms early in Dec. 2019 with an Anthropology & Sociology degree.

“I started off slow and thought I was just going to be a little nerd in the library and then I blossomed and got really involved and really engaged, all under the guise of graduating early. I graduated two terms early, right before Covid too,” Davila said.

With an upcoming pandemic looming in the background, Davila returned to campus for I-Fair in 2020, and was excited to come back for senior week and commencement in June. However, due to the pandemic, the 2020 commencement ceremony was rescheduled for June 2021.

Before graduating, Davila had thought she wanted to get a PHD and do intellectual research. However, her McNair research, along with advice from Cervantez, caused her to change course.

“My ANSO senior research, my McNair research, taught me really well that research is not for me,” Davila said. “Tianna was my McNair faculty advisor for my research. I also did a lot of work with her on the student leadership end. She was like, ‘How about social work?’, and I got a masters in social work. When I got that masters, I didn’t think I’d go back to higher ed, let alone back to Knox.”

Davila began her masters program in summer of 2020 at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Due to the pandemic, her program was fully remote.

“In retrospect now, it gave me everything that I needed it to give me. I came in already very educationally and academically challenged from being a full IB student in high school and then Knox, and I was looking for a program that was gonna teach me how to be a little less of a theorist and an intellectual and more of a practitioner,” Davila said.

After graduating with her masters in social work, a two year degree, she took a gap year and completed one of her life goals: to work in a bookstore.

“I was working in an office in the middle of my masters, and I was like, I don’t wanna do this anymore. So I decided to complete one of my life goals, bucket list goals. So, throughout my masters and in that gap year, I was a bookseller — a senior bookseller, a greeting card specialist, I did all the things,” Davila said.

During her gap year she was dealing with some personal health issues, during which she had the financial and familial support to live with her parents as she looked for jobs and worked to make connections. This support was

important as she stabilized in her healing journey.

In this time she looked for work in nonprofit and college spaces because of her experiences as a student worker. She also had maintained her alumni connections after she left Knox, which is how she learned about the expansion of the Office of Intercultural Life.

Assistant Director for Intercultural Life is a new role at Knox, and Davila is the first to hold the position. After getting the job and moving from bookselling to assistant directing, she was excited about the challenge coming from a gap year.

“There was a certain vibrancy to campus which I think came from a sense of community. Where you can step on campus at any time and there was a hum; like people had speakers on,”

“Many of us were just like graduating from these degrees, still trying to find ourselves, still trying to strengthen not only our passion, but our skillset, and so I think I was most excited about the opportunities that I can get to just learn,” Davila said. “To really lean in and learn and be challenged by having a gap year, but still having so much life, and passion, and motivation to apply all the things I learned as a student in all the ways, but also just the ways that maintaining my passion for service, my passion for social justice was gonna play out in the role.”

Davila’s new role is designated to

work on cultural center programming and to advise cultural organizations on campus.

“My goal, which is also how I center my practice as a social work practitioner, is to be very student centered and focused,” Davila said. “So fall term, I was like, ‘before anything, let me get to know the students. A lot of that was being very intentional at kind of slowing it down. It can be really easy to be like, ‘we have the support now for all the projects and tasks that we need to do’.”

Davila reflects this sentiment in her role as an advisor, as well as her role as a Knox staff member.

“My specific direct advising support and style is to be very centered around students’ needs students’ wants, their development and growth and that takes just being around. Whether that means I’m here in the office, being engaged and going into spaces, asking to be entered into spaces too. That intimate relationship building and rapport for me is a very foundational part before we can get to other things,” Davila said.

In returning to her alma mater, Davila has had to come to terms with the transition between student and employee. One of her overarching personal goals is, “to be braver in this space,”.

“There are pieces of closure, like coming to terms with the student that I was as a leader and was here, and then coming into a professional role, I wanted to challenge myself to be braver in ways that I wasn’t in the space to do as a student. So whether that means when I’m engaging with other coworkers, but also just being brave to be honest with students and to hold space for more courage,” Davila said.

One of the ways she has transitioned from student to staff is by

teaching a social justice dialogue class. This class is taught to go alongside Day of Dialogue. As part of the original Day of Dialogue team, Davila has a unique perspective on both the class and event.

“It’s so full circle. I was a student that took the class, that was at a time when social justice dialogue, the curriculum was more vibrant, and there was just a lot more classes being taught. Then Covid really impacted the program, but Day of Dialogue as a co-curricular out of Office of Intercultural Life still stayed,” Davila said. “I got to be a part of Day of Dialogue for the first time as a professional and I also got to see Day of Dialogue where it’s at, when I remember being there for the first, and being a part of the original team for the first and the second.”

Having both Davila and the new campus Assistant Director for Intercultural Life and LGBTQ+ Advisor Jordan Hurst, a 2017 Knox alum, there to help with the program excited the faculty and staff involved with Day of Dialogue. As a group they have worked to revitalize social justice dialogue on campus. Davila’s main goals are to build momentum and to bridge gaps.

“I feel like there’s been a lot of memory loss around the objective, the goal, what’s the purpose of a Day of Dialogue, of dialogue just as a tool. So I’m hoping both what we’ve done with this year’s Day of Dialogue to try to address some of those questions, uncertainties while also hosting the class is a great way to get people more familiar with something, for some of our students, that hasn’t been very active in the curriculum because it’s not been offered as much,” Davila said.

College campuses are constantly

changing with students coming and going. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a dent in campus social life, which then affected campus culture. Davila graduated just four months before the pandemic became widespread. Due to factors like the pandemic and generational shifts, Davila can tell that the Knox culture has changed from when she was a student.

“It’s the energy. It’s a bit of the energy and the sense of community. There was a certain vibrancy to campus which I think came from a sense of community. Where you can step on campus at any time and there was a hum; like people had speakers on, and they were walking to class or people were just kind of shouting like, ‘I’m gonna see you at that meeting later!’, in a way that I didn’t feel when I came back,” Davila said.

Although that culture has changed, she has also found during this year that Knox still brings a certain type of people.

“But at the same time I say a lot, and at the same time the more I’ve gotten to know students, Knox is still attracting the same kind of students who value and/or are attracted to justice, diversity, curiosity, and trying to have a very full, all around experience,” Davila said.

Davila wants to encourage students to build a sense of community and to get to know a wider variety of people. Even with a smaller campus now, Davila still notes a lack of students simply knowing one another.

“That makes me think a lot about familiarity, I feel like it used to be you knew a friend of a friend of a friend and just because you knew a friend of a friend you would still be like, ‘hey, whats up?’... I think they were also just less strangers to one another,” Davila said.

2024 Students per Major, Minor

Eleanor Lindenmayer | she/her Editor-in-Chief

Published Feb. 7 2024

The following data was given to TKS by the registrar Jerry Miner. It details the number of declared majors and minors for each department. Some departments have sub categories that have been combined together. There are four different versions of the educational studies major, but they were combined into one group for our graph. Similarly, most STEM majors offer a Bachelors of Science and a Bachelors of Arts. Those were also combined. For example, the number of students our graph shows to be studying computer science is a combination of those seeking a BA and those seeking a BS.

COMICS

“I hate this time of year.” by Red Engel

“Spring Term.” by Red Engel

“On the trip to ICPA” by Red Engel

DISCOURSE

Staff Writer

With nearly 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, brutally killed by the Israeli army, and thousands more believed to be trapped under the rubble, the genocide has undeniably taken a toll on humanity. In an age where we claim to have evolved and conceitedly float notions of empathy to the world around us, the reality of the 21st century is in fact quite the opposite.

We are faced with a heavily documented genocide which has left humanity as a whole in a very vulnerable state. There are two sides to this helplessness. One side consists of those who see it, oppose it, and actively raise their voice against it. The other side seems to be willfully ignorant, only forwarding narratives they want to believe are true, wholly resorting to their confirmation biases.

Statistics show that civilian support and sympathy for Israel has significantly fallen in most countries over the past month. Protests, riots, and hunger strikes world wide prove that most of humanity is deeply disturbed by the incidents of the genocide.

Hope amidst despair

The student-led efforts for Palestine at Knox College

But no matter what the claims to freedom of speech and democracy the western world may make, the harsh truth remains to be just this — in spite of the magnitude of opposition to the genocide, or the quantity of petitions signed against it, it is a mere number to the power-hungry leaders of today, the ones who hold the reins to this barbarianism. The double standards surrounding compliance to international law stands in plain sight.

The global populace may have a voice, but absolutely no power to act on it. A feeling of helplessness prevails in the global community, as an overflow of digital footage

of the transgressions against Palestine circulate the web. Not only is this constant live coverage disturbing and unreal, but also instigates guilt and helplessness among those who see the truth, those who possess the innate human ability to tell right from wrong.

Forums discussing the situation and debates over it dominate every social media platform, and the compassionate among us have come together to do what little they can to help the terrorized and displaced victims in Palestine.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is one of the organizations working

Pareesae Imtiaz | she/her

tirelessly towards this cause. The UNICEF club at Knox College has also been very active in its efforts to do the same. The executive council of the club has arranged multiple fundraisers throughout the academic year, collecting almost $1500 in donations for the cause.

“UNICEF is sending their employees to help aid the people of Gaza, helping with resources like water, food, trying to give them shelter,” Co-President of UNICEF Knox College, senior Diya Goyal, said.

The club directly donates all funds raised to the Gaza cause through the UNICEF website. All of the club’s events and fundraisers for the academic term 2023 to 2024

have been dedicated solely to the Gaza cause.

In winter term UNICEF at Knox held a formal speakeasy ball, as well as selling cards and macarons for Valentine’s Day to raise funds. For spring term, the club plans on selling cake pops for the cause.

“We are not allowed to just get the money from campus life and just donate all of that, we have to fundraise, which is why we have to host events for people to come and pay,” Goyal said.

The student body at Knox is very active in speaking for Palestine and holding weekly discussion sessions on the issue. Meetings are held

every Thursday in the Abolition Lab of Seymour Library, where students gather to strategize ways to help the cause.

There is an Instagram page dedicated to the cause as well (@knoxstudents4palestine), where progress updates on their work is posted. You can also access the boycott pledge on this page, which is a step to remove products affiliated with Israel from campus stores. The pledge lists companies and organizations supporting Israel, including Sabra and Starbucks.

The Instagram page also links a student compiled resource document to answer questions or concerns regarding the Palestine cause, and the action Knox students are taking against it.

Operation Olive Branch is another part of this movement. The idea of this operation is to not only make donations to Palestine as a whole, but to donate specifically to a family that resonates with you. Also, to take it one step further by becoming a part of the social media movement for the cause.

All these resources and petitions are a way for every individual on Knox grounds to take a step in the ethically correct direction and be on the right side of history. Drastic change may not be achievable over night, but one donation at a time can make strides for the cause.

A modicum of humanity on the part of the alleged leaders of the world could have the power to cease this bloodbath once and for all, but until that awakens within them, our voices will echo at their zenith.

From the river to the sea, we will not rest till Palestine is free.

Photo courtesy of Peoria for Palestine Knox Students at a Protest in Peoria calling to free Palestine.

Booths, flags, food: I-Fair’s delightful retro renaissance

Julia Maron | she/her Staff Writer

The hallway to Kresge looked great, full of colorful posters and shiny fabric. Saturday, Feb. 3, the 43rd edition of the International Fair happened in CFA. The theme this year was the Retro Renaissance. The booth fair started at noon and went up to 14:00 ( an international article calls for international time). Like in previous years, students got what they called a “passport” (the name caused some confusion once I asked two students if they had brought their passports. Poor people. I probably sounded like a cop).

“Passports” in hand, people could go around on a tour through the tables and get a stamp from each of them. In the end, if they had all the stamps, they were rewarded with the I-Fair 2024 T-shirt and a ticket to participate in a draw. Exciting, isn’t it?

Booth participants included aaina, Asian Student Association, Dare to Care Peer Educators, Diversity Student Senate, German Club, Harambee, Japanese Club, MEchA, Office of Advancement, UNICEF, and the Vietnamese Club. The

booths included fun activities, raffles, cultural presentations, a photo stand, and more.

My only personal complaint was the stamps. In previous years, booths usually checked passports using a pen or something. This year, there were stickers.

I was Dare to Care’s official passport stamper (I gave myself that title), and I would honestly love the sticker idea if not for the trembling and sweating I went through while praying to all holy deities to bless me with the power of quickly removing the thing from its plastic cover.

Also, the aesthetic stickers ran out quite quickly, so while some people had a marvelous Renaissance muse, others had a fireman truck. I honestly think both options were fire, though. Pun intended.

The flag parade happened at 14:30 at Kresge Hall. Students from multiple nationalities entered the room, one by one waving their flags while “Wavin’ Flag” (very fitting) by K’NAAN played in the background.

The students were in the best outfits one can imagine. They made me feel underdressed even though I spent quite some minutes in front of the mirror before coming.

President Andrew McGadney was also there, waving the Knox flag. In his purple suit, he looked like the face of Knox pride.

The atmosphere burst with excitement, with everyone cheering as each student holding a flag climbed on stage and said something in their native language. I didn’t know

what they were saying, but I also cheered. A lot.

By the time of the cultural showcase, at 15:00, Kresge was crowded. Sikander Mateen and Rosa Escobar both did a great job at being the hosts. Mateen can’t catch a break from me interviewing him because of the Senate, so I, merciful as I am, decided to leave him alone this time.

My recording (my friends insisted that I did) was pretty mediocre because of how much I was clapping. You can also catch me screaming and embarrassingly singing along if you watch those videos, so please don’t.

The presentations were perfect. I wish I could praise them one by one in detail, but this article can only be so long.

The first performance was a South Asian fusion, featuring retro popular South Asian music. Multiple of my friends were dancing, so I was basically held at gunpoint to record. I know how hard they worked to choreograph and rehearse that dance, and it was worth it.

The song’s cheerful energy was contagious, and the dance movements were clean and fun. I was bouncing on my seat in a pathetic attempt to recreate the steps (which caused the video I recorded to look like I was in an Earthquake).

The second to present was junior Ulpanay Djoldasova, performing a Traditional KaraKalpak Dance. Her traditional dress looked amazing, and I was hypnotized

by the balance of her braid as she rotated and raised her arms. Definitely a performance worth watching.

I watched senior Sahana Giri’s traditional South Asian dance last year, and this year’s once again grabbed my attention until the very end. She has so much energy and strength in her movements that I admire she does not run out of breath. I loved Sahana’s performance and will miss it in I-Fair once she graduates.

The Japanese club’s performance was mesmerizing. In the last moments of the dance, they had everyone reveal letters on their backs, which, when combined, formed the words Japanese Club. My jaw detached from my face and joined the Titanic 12,500 feet below sea level. I never got it back. (I am currently jawless as I write this article.)

The Japanese Glow Stick Dance by first-years Sota Hiraguri and Shuho Okuyama was also flawless. They

performed in the dark, and the dim light of red and blue glow sticks illuminated their movements. The faster they went, the more it looked like they were holding a wheel of light. If any remains of my poor jaw were still left in my face, they were gone by the time this performance ended.

First-year Vansh Chugh built a love story using excerpts from different Retro Bollywood songs. It was romantic, funny, sad, and cheerful. I didn’t know if I laughed or cried. That boy has a whole creative writing department in his head. When his show ended, the entire audience stood up to applaud. I didn’t think twice before I joined them.

The performance by the KPOP Dance Group: Kick it by NCT 127 + Drama by Aespa was breathtaking. That group’s stage presence was insane. The whole thing was so good I forgot I was watching it live instead of in a video clip.

Junior Amelia Wirth and Senior Marina Hoang presented Giấc mơ trưa (Midday Dream). Hoang was

the vocalist while Amelia played the violin. Together, they sounded like what I imagined as the background music for the staircase to heaven. Truly beautiful, and certainly remarkable.

Sophomore Selene Chew sang a Chinese retro throwback. Her voice made me feel so peaceful that I momentarily forgot I had seven assignments due that week. Hope to hear from her again next I-Fair – I need that annual session of therapy.

The cultural showcase ended with a dance by the I-Club Exec Members + MCs. They tried to pop a party popper but the party popper was not in the mood for popping. More like a party pooper, if you ask me. Eventually they managed to make it work, though.

The Hunger Games — ahem, sorry — the Traditional Food Dinner began at around 18:00. The line, as usual in previous years, wrapped around Seymour’s main corridor and slithered all the way to The Lincoln Room. After an eternity of scrolling through cat videos and scowling at those who dared cut the line, I finally got to the caf.

I immediately realized the food was worth the wait. On the menu, there were Aloo Tikki Chaat, Sev Puri, Mango Lassi (by aaina), Asian Style Ice Cream (by Asian Student Association), Causa, Champurrado (by MEChA), Chè buffet, (by Vietnamese Club), Yakisoba (by Japanese Club), Korean Style LA Galbi, from South Korea, Perkedel Jagung (Surubaya) and Soda Gembira from Indonesia, and Speena Ghwakha, or “White Rose”, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The dishes were great. I enjoyed the Aloo Tikki Chaat a lot. It had this delicious fried crunchy texture, and it was just the right amount of

Japanese Club’s IFair performance

Photo by Julia Maron

spicy. I will confess I am not the number one fan of tuna, but it tasted amazing when paired with avocado inside the Causa.

My personal favorites were the desserts since I have a cavitydanger-level sweet tooth. I would make a fan club dedicated to The Asian Style Ice Cream. The boba pops in your mouth! Chè buffet was also very tasty. It is like jelly, but better.

Overall, I had a lot of fun at the

booths, cheered on the flag parade, was fascinated by the performances, and was spoiled by the food at the Traditional Food Dinner.

I would like to take a moment to thank the International Club execs, Co-presidents Senior Archi Nokrek and Senior Naeun Kim, Membership Chair Sophomore Sania Shetty, Treasurer Sophomore Nicole Ruby, Secretary Junior Aisha Spear, Co-PRs Sophomore Selena Chew and Sopho-

more Urvi Bohra, and First Year Rep Nairran Zargar for working hard to plan the wonderful event that I-Fair 2024 was.

Let’s recognize they do this on their own accord, with only the pleasure of seeing it all work out as their exchange. For that reason, if someone important is reading this article, please make sure these kids are getting the money they deserve for the next International Fair. I already look forward to it!

Day of Dialogue: Knox’s Flunk Day for the soul

The Day of Dialogue is my second favorite Knox annual event, only after our Flunk Day, because they both connect people together. Flunk Day connects us by having fun; the Day of Dialogue connects us by having discussions about our differences.

Usually scheduled after winter midterms, Day of Dialogue is a day where Knox students, faculty, and staff can engage in meaningful conversations. This year’s Day of Dialogue was on Feb. 7. In the

discussions, people can talk about anything and share their thoughts in a safe haven that respects their differences.

My first Day of Dialogue was in early 2021 while I was a first-year, during Covid-19. I was surprised by the open-minded professors in my discussion group that when disagreed with by students, sometimes changed their ideas. Although everything was online and separated by a screen, I fell in love with this day.

This year, the Day of Dialogue opened with a speech at 10 am. After that, students had the choice to either attend keynotes or discussion.

I loved the idea of opening up about our differences in an age of polarization, and I attended the discussion in the Lincoln room.

The discussion groups were

Yuchen Wang | he/him Radio Editor

between five to seven people and we sat at round tables. Each table has at least two professors and staff, with expertise ranging from physics to student services. There were also two facilitators at each table, a mix of students and staff.

Day of Dialogue also offered another unique opportunity for me: to meet people that I would not get to know otherwise. I am a shy person, and I do not usually befriend people unless it is for specific reasons. But, on this day, I have the perfect excuse to sit next to people I did not know and get to know them and their thoughts.

So I found a table I knew the least people at, and began the discussion. After a round of introductions, I found that for just seven people, we displayed a wide range of experiences and interests. I am

a creative writing major with the interests of becoming a journalist. Next to me was a freshman business major that wants to be a lawyer. Our student facilitator was an Anthropology major.

But at the same time, I can draw so many similarities as well. I am an immigrant that came to the State when I was twelve. The girl next to me was an immigrant from Indonesia when she was in high school, and our facilitator was a California native, which is where I resided before I came to Knox.

My favorite part of the discussion was when we talked about liberation, and whether we are still liberated while others are being oppressed. We were all encouraged to bring our experiences to the table, and for that moment, there were no secrets between us. Every-

one was so respectful and no interruption ever occurred. No questions were too stupid and no experiences are not worth sharing. Everyone will empathize with each other’s struggles.

For example, when one person in my group expressed concerns of an imposter-like syndrome coming from a privileged background, I immediately jumped in, sharing a similar situation that I experienced when I was a sophomore, and how writing to my professor about it helped ease my concern, and offered a healthy way of looking at a privileged background is to “pay it forward” by helping someone else. Others in my group quickly jumped in, sharing their views and words of encouragement and wisdom.

Three hours passed very quickly, and I was sad to see my second favorite event come to an end. I think the reason that I liked this discussion so much was because we were thinking about something beyond ourselves, and the reason that we can sympathize with each other is because no differences can trump our greatest similarities: we are all Knox College.

I walked away from the Day of Dialogue differently. I was recharged, and ready to tackle the next part of the term. If Flunk Day is a day of entertainment, then Day of Dialogue is a day for the betterment of our soul.

So, if you are shy and want to meet new people, or discuss issues that meant a lot to you, I encourage you to attend this incredible event at Knox College. From the first time that I attended this event, I was always enlightened and glad that I am part of this wonderful community!

Day of Dialogue at Kresge Hall

Photo by Yuchen Wang

Pretty sure a three-day weekend would solve all my problems

Eleanor Lindenmayer | she/her Editor-in-Chief

It’s Monday night after a long exhausting weekend. This morning, more than usual I wished I didn’t have to go to class. And the thing is, students all over the country other than us, didn’t go to class today. It is President’s Day after all, a national holiday where we supposedly celebrate the Presidents, I think.

But we don’t have today off, just like we don’t have MLK Day off, or Veterans Day. And honestly, I don’t begrudge Knox that too much. Our terms are a short ten weeks, meaning classes only meet maybe 30 times. That sounds like a lot, but it adds up to less than 40 hours of class time. Our professors need every hour of that to convey all their material.

Snow days are up to a professor’s discretion – discretion that I’m not always sure takes student safety into account and generally leads to having class regardless of the weather. This too I can understand because of that packed schedule, professors can’t afford to let us off.

And I suppose, we do get a day off a term. Fall Institute Day in fall, Day of Dialogue in winter, and of course, Flunk Day in spring. But those days still have expectations.

Skipping Fall Institute or Day of Dialogue still leaves me with a vague sense of wrongdoing, like there’s somewhere I’m supposed to be that I’m not. And Flunk Day of course, while fun, is not relaxing in the slightest.

This leaves Knox students without something that I think makes a big difference to keeping your head on straight for ten weeks of school at a time: random days off.

I know, I know, we have weekends, and sometimes class gets canceled, and sometimes students just skip. But there is something so special, so freeing, about having a day when you’re normally in class, completely free from school, completely free from responsibility.

Especially when that day is on a Monday or a Friday. And that

brings me to my true point. I miss three-day weekends. I miss that extra day of fun, or sleep, or even chores. That extra day makes me feel like I don’t have to pack all three of those things into 48 hours.

Three-day weekends make me feel like I can breathe, like I have the flexibility to choose what I want to do for a bit, and maybe I want to choose to do nothing. Or maybe I want to choose to go out of town, to go home.

Three-day weekends are a breath of fresh air in a packed academic term, a reminder to stop and slow down, remember that you’re a person too, not just something that goes from class to class, activity to activity.

Basically, I’m pretty sure a threeday weekend would cure all my depression and anxiety.

But I digress. I’m just a writer with no scientific evidence suggesting that maybe one three-day weekend a term would go a long way to improve mental health on campus.

Cartoon by Red Engel

Not so Knox proud until there is a consistent commitment

Areesha Saif | she/her Staff Writer

I am tired of writing about the same thing but at this point, I don’t even know what to do. I am not so #KnoxProud that the only Halal option at the caf on Founder’s Day was French fries.

I am guessing we are all tired of hearing the same spiel about caf food not being edible or not being up to the mark, but has anything changed? I must say yes. On some days, the Caf surprises me with the quality of food they have and the diverse range of options available. One time the bread pudding was so soft, warm and sweet, I had the perfect nap that took me to another universe.

International students like sophomore Meher Khan also told me that the food tasted just like the one she would have at home. Such days make me feel like I am finally able to make sense of calling this place I have lived in for three years, home.

But does that mean students, especially students with medical, religious and moral dietary restrictions, consistently get good food? Absolutely not.

to inclusive food

On some days like Feb. 21, the Caf will have five pork options and one Halal wings option that have no sauce as compared to two non-Halal options, which are sauced and spiced. It is amazing when your first meal of the day is dry wings, while others can enjoy five different pork options. Pork is never Halal or Kosher so it always excludes any conforming Muslim or Jewish student on campus. Yes, this is about inclusiveness.

I must put in a disclaimer that when I criticize the Caf, I intend no offense towards the workers. Every single Caf worker I have ever interacted with has been extremely helpful and sweet. I cooked during I Fair and all of the Caf workers helped us out, respected our food, and made us feel welcome. Cooking for such a large number of people

Feb. 23 2024

made me realize that the workers have a very hard job, which made me appreciate everything they do.

However, the problem is not the workers but the corporation, and the college not doing enough. I am certain if you can have five pork options, you can have more than one Halal option. How hard is it to include Muslim students? So many Muslim students I know, including myself, are not even able to keep up with the Halal diet here because sometimes there are no options or the options are barely edible. Only sometimes do we get food like everyone else.

You can’t choose when you want to be inclusive and when you don’t, and you can’t choose to give us good food on some days and none on others.

Pork served at Hard Knox Cafe

Photo by Red Engel

Dignity and decency

Jenna Schweikert | she/they EIC-in-Training

In 2021, as a first-year at Knox, I was more excited to participate in Terpsichore Dance Collective (Terp) than anything else I planned to do. I’ve been dancing since I was four years old, dance has always been in my life. Always been my stress reliever.

Terp particularly has always been, and will always be, a safe space for me here.

That safe space was destroyed the moment I heard of the harass-

ment of dancers in this past fall term show. If you didn’t attend, or didn’t hear about it, the gist is that a group of unnamed male students attending the show shouted multiple sexual comments at the dancers.

I am a self-proclaimed feminist. I (attempted) to restart the club Students Against Sexism in Society. Anyone could tell you I am for women.

Gather from this my feelings on the harassment of Terp dancers.

An aside: a week or so ago, I sat in my living room and had a long conversation with a friend of mine about sex, self worth, societal pressures, and the damage of gossip.

I left feeling seen, and knowing that we had discovered something we had in common: the experience of knowing rumors are circulating about you and your sex life.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of this experience, let me lay it

Jenna Schweikert performing at the Terp showcase two years ago

Photo by Red Engel

out for you. Knowing people are discussing your hookups behind your back flays you open. That private moment, of vulnerability and openness and connection with another human being, is suddenly public knowledge and that knowledge can literally never be revoked.

It is humiliating. The experience stays, lingers in the back of your mind, like something you’ve forgotten to remember, like a word stuck on the tip of your tongue.

The question I come back to each and every time I, or my friends, or anyone I know experiences harassment or judgment because of sex: why do you care? Who taught you that people’s sex lives are things to be played with at the dinner table, passed around and discussed like a poem in English class?

What gives you the right to shout gross sexual comments at a group of dancers? Nothing, is the answer. Nothing gave you the right. It is so utterly wrong, in fact.

The experience of sexual harassment is so common among the women I know that each and every one of us has a story. For every one of us, there has been a man who catcalled or groped or messaged or sent a picture, always unsolicited. Every single woman I know.

“The question I come back to each and every time I, or my friends, or anyone I know experiences harassment or judgment because of sex: why do you care? Who taught you that people’s sex lives are things to be played with at the dinner table, passed around and discussed like a poem in English class?”

And every time it happens, I wonder when it will stop. I wonder about third wave feminism and #MeToo and Title IX. I wonder if any of it has made a difference.

Sometimes I think nothing has changed, it’s just covered up better now.

I speak of women specifically in this article, but we know it happens to men too. That friend and the living room conversation I mentioned earlier? He is a man.

At the end of the day, we all deserve dignity, respect, and common decency.

Shouting sexual comments towards Terp dancers does not qualify as respectful or decent.

KNOX SNAPSHOTS

1 A student painting outside of CA, in the Art Bowl

2 Jude Reed at Prarie Palooza

3 Knox Baseball players celebrating a win together

4 Knox Baseball player #37, Tyler Bialek, pitching for a home game

5 Knox Baseball player #19, Etienne Thomas

Photos by Addison Steinbach

6 Mei Zuch performing at Prarie Palooza

7 Knox Baseball player #32, Ethan Rompala-Matthews

8 Students placing their guesses for when Flunk Day is

Photos by Addison Steinbach

SPORTS

Knox swimmers hope to rebuild program after withdrawing from 2023-2024 season

Megan Shafar | she/her Staff Writer

The Knox swim team withdrew from competitions for the 2023-24 season and is no longer holding team practices. Practices were still being held during fall term, but only a few people consistently attended. There were not enough people to make a full team. Normally, the swim season lasts from Oct. to Feb., but the team did not compete at all this season, nor will they.

To be eligible as a team, 16 people — eight competing on the women’s team and eight on the men’s — need to participate in at least eight competitions.

Finding enough people to meet eligibility requirements has been a challenge in recent years. The Knox swim team has not met minimum participation thresholds for four of the last six years. Since 2017, only the 2022-23 and 2019-20 seasons met the full sponsorship requirements for both the men’s and women’s teams.

“We have roster numbers on record, but they do not accurately reflect how many students showed up for practices and competitions,”

Athletic Director Corey Goff said in an email.

Members of the team expressed disappointment at the loss of their season.

“I miss swim,” said Junior Caroline Tieman. “It was nice to have that consistent exercise and hang out with the team, and meets were always really fun.”

The team also no longer has a coach. Title IX Coordinator Kim Schrader stepped up to coach the team following the unexpected death of beloved economics professor and coach Jonathan Powers — known as J-Pow — in the summer of 2022. However, she is no longer coaching starting this term.

On top of that, the Knox pool is currently closed for maintenance. Goff said Knox is still waiting to receive results from an assessment done on the pool the last week of December. Until then, he said he does not know what the maintenance will involve or an estimate of when the pool can reopen.

The team found out the pool was closed after returning from winter break. Goff met with the team at the start of the term to discuss the decisions about the season. With the uncertainty throughout fall, some students said they did not know what would happen to their season and did not feel like the athletic department was communicating with them enough.

“I am frustrated with how little information we’ve had,” junior Ezren “Ren” Herzog said. “I get that it’s a tough thing, especially with all these rapid changes in the program, but I am frustrated with how, even if they don’t have a lot, or they don’t know, the fact that they just didn’t tell us is really frustrating.”

While team members expressed excitement about the updates to

the pool, they also said they are frustrated by the timing.

“If the pool was working, we could at least practice on our own and still connect with that, but because it’s not working, we have to go out of our way,” Herzog said.

In the meantime, the athletic department is providing the team with memberships to Galesburg’s Hawthorne Pool. Goff emailed the team information about open swim times, as well as a schedule for the Galesburg buses, which are free with a Knox ID, so they could access the pool.

Hawthorne Pool is on the north side of town, near Walmart. Many students do not have cars, and the bus system is not always consistent. Herzog said the commute would be hard for the team, especially when people already have a lot going on.

The athletic department also offered students the opportunity to swim individually at competitions. Transportation would be arranged for anyone who wanted it, but the team consensus is that they are not interested in competing on their own.

“We would compete for our school and as a group, and keeping it a very communal experience is what made us keep going,” Junior Rachel Schonfeld said. “And no matter how much we like swimming, doing it completely by yourself, there’s no one else there to share the pressure or make jokes.”

That environment, focusing on support, community, and fun, means a lot to the team.

“I joined last year, and I hadn’t swam on a competitive team before, but it was really nice joining this team because I feel like it’s a very open, welcoming team. They don’t care what your skill level is, or where you’re at. Like, we’ve taught people new strokes,” Tieman said. “It’s really, you can come in wherever you’re at, and everyone will help you get better.”

Those who experienced J-Pow’s coaching style credit much of the positive team culture to him.

“I feel like, even still, being a part of the Knox swim team is so much at its core about who J-Pow was,” Schonfeld said. “He was just a character. He impacted all of our lives in unimaginable ways.”

J-Pow encouraged many people who would not have otherwise thought to join swim at Knox. To him, it did not matter what someone’s times were or whether or not they had a competitive swim background.

“A lot of people I don’t think would have continued swimming or would have pushed past potential trauma that they had with sports to swim and ultimately just felt better about themselves because of that culture that he created,” Herzog said. “And it’s really, really horrible to see it kind of fizzle out, and we really don’t want to see it completely die.”

Part of the understanding between J-Pow and the team was that they were students and humans first, before their athletic performances. This, the team said, created a culture where people supported each other and spent time together outside of practice.

“We were kind of a group of, I almost want to say misfits, but

you know, at Knox, there’s really no such thing as a misfit because we’re all different people, and that’s kind of what’s celebrated,” Herzog said. “It’s something that I’m kind of scared of forgetting as I get older in the school because it was really, really special.”

The uniqueness of the program under J-Pow’s leadership also came from relationships he built in the classroom, as he coached while being a full-time professor.

“There’s probably not another school in the country that has a full faculty member who functioned in that type of capacity in their athletic world. That’s a model that many colleges had 25 years ago, but since recruiting, coaching has really become a year-round, full time job.” Goff said.

“I wish that more had been shared, and I really hope that people fight with us to get swimming back because it’s a really, really special sport, and we want to continue J-Pow’s legacy as much as we can,”

varsity-level college programs. To build the Knox swim team moving forward, he said the college needs to pick which avenue they want to go.

“Clubs can still compete against other schools; clubs are more student centered, in that they allow much, much greater flexibility. Clubs are much more attractive to a certain type of student who wants a very particular experience in swimming,” Goff said. “So that’s attractive to a certain group of students. It’s not attractive to someone who really wants to be a varsity competitive swimmer and potentially go on and win a conference championship or a national championship.”

Goff said the athletic department is not actively searching for a new swim coach. They will not begin the search until they decide whether to grow as a club team or varsity team. “One’s not better than the other. They’re just very different,” Goff said. “And as you can imagine, a student who would be happy in a club environment would be unhappy in a varsity intercollegiate environment, and vice versa. So that’s part of the decision-making process that we will have to go through as we decide what we want to do with swimming in the future.”

Without a coach, a full roster, or a working facility, there will be challenges in rebuilding the program.

“At this point, we don’t have a plan together yet; we realize that we have to develop one at some point soon,” Goff said.

Goff said the way the Knox swim team has operated in the past resembles a club team rather than the stricter attendance policies and competitive attitudes of most

Meanwhile, the team remains hopeful they can practice and compete next year in as similar of an environment as they can. With a small roster, some students said they feel left behind by the athletic department and want to be more involved in the decisions in the future.

“I wish that more had been shared, and I really hope that people fight with us to get swimming back because it’s a really, really special sport, and we want to continue J-Pow’s legacy as much as we can,” Herzog said.

Alumni return to the ‘family’ of the Knox ultimate frisbee team

Megan Shafar | she/her Staff Writer

“Lots of fun, lots of spirit,” said senior Maren Borchers, describing the first day of the 29th annual Natalie Veneziano Winter Whiteout Ultimate Frisbee Tournament as she stood on the sidelines in between playing and cheering on her teammates.

Throughout the tournament last Saturday and Sunday, the Knox fieldhouse was filled with music and laughter. Cheers echoed from both sides of the field.

Seven teams competed, including the current Knox team and a team of Knox alumni. Six games were played consecutively each day. Ultimately pun intended Busse, one of the visiting teams, won the tournament.

The Knox players kept each other in high spirits on and off the field.

“I’m proud of our team,” said junior Madeline Hart. “I think that we’ve played really well and that we’ve kept pretty upbeat through wins and losses and not allowed either to get to our head too much.”

Fifth year Kevin Cox has been part of the team since his first year at Knox and noticed that the team culture has shifted in recent years, which he says has also improved their playing.

“Before Covid, the team was kind of divided occasionally amongst each other because of friendships that just weren’t working out,” Cox said. “But now, there’s an emphasis on friendship and then there’s also an emphasis on playing good, and that works. That works good.”

Published Feb. 26 2024

Several players and alumni called the frisbee team a family, including Hart, who said she joined within her first two weeks at Knox.

“Now I’ve been on the team for two and a half years,” Hart said. “My best friends are on the team, my roommate is on the team, like all of my social interactions for the most part are through frisbee in some way.”

For first-year Sam Boyas, the friendships found through frisbee have been forming fast.

“They’re very welcoming, very kind,” Boyas said about the team. “It’s like I fit in right away. So, I feel like I’ve been on this team for years, and it’s only winter term.”

Boyas said she “fell in love with frisbee in high school” and decided to come to Knox because of the frisbee team. She is enjoying playing on a co-ed team and at a more competitive level.

Many Knox alumni also expressed love for the game and each other by returning, sometimes again and again, to this tournament.

“My eyes have watered like five times already, just seeing everybody,” said Odette Herrand ‘22. “Very nostalgic.”

Herrand said they enjoy getting to see how the current Knox team is improving, especially since they played on the team with some of the current upperclassmen.

“I think there’s so much value in being able to come back to a school and have this opportunity to meet

with the undergrads and support them and teach them,” Herrand said.

This is the first year that the team of current students does not have players who were there when Keara Crook, ‘19, was on the team. She said she wondered if she would feel disconnected coming back this year, but “it was like nothing changed.”

Crook currently plays semi-pro frisbee and serves on the Detroit Ultimate Frisbee League Board.

“People think ultimate frisbee ends after college,” Crook said. But she, and other alumni who return to play in the tournament, demon-

The Knox Ultimate Frisbee team talking game

Photo by Megan Shafar

strate that the sport can be a lifelong passion.

Frisbee is still part of Herrand’s life, too, as they are getting back into playing league, club, and pickup games after an injury.

A few of the alumni at the tournament have been coming back for decades. Many current students look forward to returning someday, as well.

Borchers said she plans to come back to play in the tournament as an alum, even though it would be far to travel, because she has grown so close to the team.

The tournament was renamed several years ago to honor Natalie

Veneziano, ‘98, who battled cancer and passed away in 2004.

“Natalie was an embodiment of what ultimate is,” Tom Bazan, ‘05, said in a speech before the tournament. “‘It’s all good’ was her mantra; this is, we can play hard, we can try to win, we can play competitively, but we’re also here to have fun and remember that we’re all doing this together.”

That attitude, players say, is important to the game itself.

“Frisbee is a really cool sport because it’s self-reffed, so you have to call your own fouls; you have to be very knowledgeable about the

rules,” Hart said. “You have to be able to talk through conflict in a respectful manner to both sides of the field. Even if you want to win, you have to make sure that you state the truth.”

After games, Hart explained, the players on both teams form a spirit circle, where they give each other specific compliments and celebrate each other.

“I really hope it keeps going,” Herrand said. “I want to be one of these alumni that show up, and have been showing up, and they have their families come in. Every year, I see you here; I’m like, yes, I want to be that.”

Cancer

More than just romantic relationships are on your mind all the time. They’ve taken so much space in your brain it’s hard to think. Take this summer to strengthen the relationship with yourself. Spend time in the sun.

Taurus

We’re so back - it’s all paying off right now. That money, that bling, that shiny golden ring, everything is turning up you. The term is trying to wring it out of you, but just have faith.

Leo

This summer is going to be full of challenge. Your natural desire to be in charge will be at odds with the world around you. Everything right is wrong, everything wrong is right. Be careful and by gods please don’t drive at midnight.

Aquarius

Always on that grindset, or whatever the kids say. Take the summer as an opportunity for a TreatYourself-Day. You have all that money for a reason.

Sagitarius

Go to that show. Go see that movie. Take that job and pick that place you’ve had your eye on. Residual anxiety is lingering around and you need to push through it. What feels like that right, clear path, is the one to go for.

Gemini

Your summer job will suck absolute ass, btw. Sorry. You’re going to have too much control over everything when you shouldn’t and restrain yourself at the time you should be

Virgo

Finals are right around the corner and this is not the time to goof off. Make sure you’re keeping yourself sane, yes, but don’t over-do it. The summer is within reach. Get there.

Libra

Its hard to make choices, right? Things are finally coming to a head, and the world feels very scary. When this year ends, know that it will happen, and resisting this change will cause you more pain.

Pisces

Holy shit you need to take a step back. I know that’s in half of ‘em, but you need to. The summer is for relaxation. Don’t go into it expecting you can burn that midnight oil the whole time. A lamp will run dry without maitenence.

Scorpio

Be careful this summer your steadfast nature might get you into trouble you won’t be able to handle. You will be called to uphold tradition or challenge the status quo. Know when change is your friend, and when it is your enemy.

Aries

Like a knight, you want to make sure each of your moves are poised and delivered with the intent to succeed. This summer might be the best one you’ve ever had—as long as you aren’t being stupid.

All this big boy college stuff is absolutely choking out your vibe. Not quite sure how to help you with that, maybe touch grass. Take comfort in knowing its not all in your head?

Capricorn

PUSH UR T3MPRR FEMTANYL

CINDERELLA REMI WOLF

EYE IN THE SKY

THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT HAPPY TOGETHER THE TURTLES

SHINE CLEO SOL

OVERFLOWING THEE SACRED SOULS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

THE WELL THE CRANE WIVES

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY WIND-UP-BIRDS

THISTLE POOR RICH BOY CO2 PRATEEK KUHAD

GOD IS A FREAK PEACH PRC

CATE’S BROTHER MAISIE PETERS

CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND HARP mozart

30/90 TICK TICK BOOM SOUNDTRACK

ONLY CHILDREN JASON ISBELL

LOVE ME JMSN

PROM SZA HOUSE SONG SEAROWS

Ana Dammi Falastini Mohammed Assaf

Valentine’s Day Se’Kret

Leap Day Remember Sports

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“I’ve got some dreams to make true//I’ve got the future all planned//It’s time to get serious.” - “Serious” Legally Blonde the Musical

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‘25 [any/all] Staff Photographer

“What you want you wanna study stuck inside your dorm // What you want you wanna party with us all night long.” - “What You Want” Legally Blonde the Musical

Megan Shafar

‘26 [she/her] Staff Writer

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Areesha Saif

‘24 [she/her] Staff Writer

“You got into Harvard?!”

“What, like it’s hard?”

- Elle Woods, Legally Blonde the Musical

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The Knox Student Spring 2024