October 6, 2022 Student Life Newspaper, Washington University in St. Louis

“Here and Next” 10-year strategic vision:

and community

Washington University devel oped a decade-long strategic plan called “Here and Next” to advance research efforts and extend com munity success to a global level. Monday’s launch of the plan is the culmination of 18 months of strat egizing between students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners about the future of the University.

The strategic vision, spear headed by Provost Beverly

Wendland, centers itself around five guiding principles: academic distinction, community impact, global perspective, equity, and stewardship.

The plan aims to invest in research excellence, faculty sup port, and the well-being of the St. Louis community through a series of initiatives that include the School of Public Health, the Institute for Digital Transformation, and the Center for the Environment.

Efforts focus on exploring aca demic partnerships, supporting interdisciplinary projects, leading

as a model for community out reach, and training upcoming leaders to find equitable and acces sible solutions to public health issues in St. Louis.

“We plan to establish the univer sity and our home, St. Louis, as a global hub for transformative solu tions,” Chancellor Andrew Martin said to “The Source”. “Each mem ber of the WashU community will have a part in cementing this suc cess, and I’m excited to get started.”

In October, community mem bers will have the opportunity to learn more about the “Here and

Next” project goals through a series of in-person and webinar events that work to explain and promote strategic plan objectives. Special events throughout the year, including those with renowned guest speakers, can be found on the “Here and Next” website.

“We invite all faculty, students, and staff to find their place in this plan,” Wendland said to “The Source”. “We want you to take this journey with us during the next decade at WashU, because the actions we take now will shape our university for generations to come.”

Ervin alumnae discuss move ment-building, people-pleasing, self-care

LILY TAYLOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Two Ervin Scholars and St. Louis natives Brittany Packnett Cuningham ‘06 and Morgan DeBaun ‘12 spoke about their experiences at Washington Uni versity and beyond regarding movement-building, peoplepleasing, and self-care at a talk called “Bridging Gaps: Home town Ervin Scholars Changing the World” on Sept. 30.

Members of the community gathered in Edison Theatre for the program, and Rafia Zafar, Professor of African and African American Studies at the Univer sity, moderated the event.

Packnett Cunningham is a political analyst for MSNBC, a co-founder of Campaign Zero, and a founder of Love & Power Works, among other roles in the education and policy fields. DeBaun is an entrepreneur who founded Blavity, Afro Tech, and Worksmart.

While attending the Uni versity, Packnett Cunningham co-founded the Student-Worker Alliance (SWA). At the pro gram, she shared tips for other student groups that hope to gain traction and be sustainably pow erful. Her chief advice was to create balanced and equitable movements.

“We build teams, not sav iors,” Packnett Cunningham said.

DeBaun added that powerful

Football undefeated through first four games

CLARA RICHARDS AND ELIAS KOKINOS

Sophomore running-back Ken neth Hamilton didn’t always score three touchdowns and nearly three times more net rushing yards than his opponent’s entire offense combined.

He entered Washington Uni versity as a wide receiver, playing in seven games for 20 total rushing yards and no touchdowns during 2021. After his freshman season, his main gripe was that he was hun gry for more time on the field. “Last year kind of sucked, not being able to play as much as I would like to,” he said in the spring.

But after the team graduated five running backs, the coach ing staff approached Hamilton and asked him about making the switch. It took the then-freshman no longer than one day to make the decision. “[I] was like, ‘I’ll do any thing that helps the team.’ I really don’t care where I am, as long as I’m playing football,” he said.

And in the team’s fourth game, where they came away with a 56-21 win against North Park University, he led the offense with 165 rush ing yards and three touchdowns, simply outpacing the rest of the field. He was only one of the many competitive pieces of the Bears’ receiving core.

“The skillset on the offense is ridiculous — best in the CCIW, probably the best in Division III,” Hamilton said. “We just [create]

problems [for our opponents] every where: [there are] four receivers in the field [and] two or three run ning backs in the backfield that can do whatever they want. It’s not an easy game plan for a defensive coordinator.”

Hamilton found the first hole of the game in the North Park defense, cementing a 4-play, 40-yard drive to put the Bears to an early 7-0 lead

with a touchdown. Despite strik ing first, the ensuing kickoff led to a 99-yard return for a touchdown by Vikings returner Juan Nieves, which tied the score at 7-7 after the converted extra point.

After this brief slip-up, includ ing a fumble on the very next drive, WashU scored touchdowns on its next four drives to push the lead to 35-7 with around six minutes left

in the first half. North Park’s next score came right after WashU’s fifth touchdown-drive as a 10-play, 75-yard drive was the last of the half, which ended 35-14 for WashU.

Despite leading by 21 points going into the half, the team still had the mindset of having some thing to prove. “If we’re really the team that we want to be, let’s show it,” junior nose tackle Johnathan

Smith said about the team’s mind set. They continued to put on a dominant defensive performance in the second half, only allowing three additional rushing yards and shutting down any offensive sparks from North Park.

The second half was defined by an illegal contact penalty on

MEN’S

NINA GIRALDO JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR

PHOTO BY MADI HERMEYER | STUDENT LIFE

Backdrop for guests speaking at the Here and Next opening event.

PHOTO BY CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE

Sophomore wide reciever Collin Goldberg struts a touchdown across the end zone in the team’s first game against Hendrix.

movements must adapt to modern technology to influence people.

“Having our own dis tribution networks is the ultimate power,” DeBaun said.

She also explained the history of Black media, discussed thriving radio shows hosted by Black leaders, and addressed how her company Blav ity aims to extend Black power in media to the internet.

Dr. Zafar asked Pack nett Cunningham and DeBaun how they man age the expectations of others. They agreed that trying to please others is self-destructive.

“I’m the person who has to wake up and live my life,” DeBaun said.

DeBaun hopes students

will stop trying in vain to meet everyone’s expec tations and realize that people who take care of themselves are more suc cessful in the long run.

Packnett Cunningham added that self-preserva tion is the key to well-being and success.

“Real self-care looks like designing a life you don’t want to escape from,” she said.

Rather than planning a vacation to escape a monotonous and stressful life, Packnett Cunning ham suggests we adjust our ways of life to not depend on one week out of a year for our happiness.

DeBaun circled the discussion of self-care back to her time as an Ervin Scholar, during which she was told by the

program leaders that “We don’t need you to be per fect — we need you to be well.” DeBaun and Pack nett Cunningham said that they hope that any person fighting in a move ment will understand that wellness is always more powerful than perfection.

Packnett Cunning ham added that people, particularly members of marginalized groups, are told not to trust their instincts. As important as it is to learn from others, the speakers agree that we should listen to our gut.

“It's very tempting at a rigorous institution to have your whole life planned out,” she said. “It won't work out. You just have to know that your instincts are your best friend.”

U. City residents push for payment in lieu of taxes on University property

JAMILA DAWKINS MANAGING FORUM EDITOR

University City (U. City) residents and council mem bers called on Washington University to implement a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program during the “WashU, U. City, and PILOTs: An Overview” information session, Sept. 24. Presented by Commu nity for an Accountable WashU (CAW), the ses sion was held over Zoom as well as broadcasted live to a handful of former University students and residents of the St. Louis region.

The information ses sion dedicated a significant focus to the St. Louis home owners and business owners that experience increased taxes and decreased fund ing for essential services as a result of the University’s tax exemption.

While WashU is among the largest residential land owners in both University City and the surrounding St. Louis area, as a nonprofit institution, many of the University’s off-campus residential properties are tax-exempt.

According to a 2015 report authorized by the U. City Council, the Universi ty’s tax-exempt residential property in U. City would generate $1.87 to $2.16

million by 2018 if taxed. They also estimated that the public services provided to the University’s exempt properties cost U. City around $3 million.

“The taxpayers of Uni versity City are bearing a disproportionate share of the burden,” the report stated. “Washington University can do more.”

Joanna Schooler, Assis tant Vice Chancellor for Community and Local Gov ernment Relations, wrote to Student Life emphasizing the value WashU places on relationships with commu nity partners.

Schooler referenced a number of initiatives where the University worked with neighborhood communities including: lighting on public walkways, the construction of a pedestrian bridge over Forest Park Parkway, invest ments in historic properties like the Lewis Center Col laborative to enhance the community’s cultural envi ronment, and math and science curriculum support for local schools.

She also wrote that the University has “collaborated with our community part ners on joint public safety initiatives, forgivable home loans for university employ ees to purchase property in nearby neighborhoods, and on the use of univer sity-owned property for public services, such as a fire

station.”

Luke Ehrenstrom ‘21, an organizer with CAW, sug gested that these benefits only go so far. “The fur ther you are from WashU, the less those benefits…are going to matter. So if you're in the third ward, which is [the] ward that struggles the most...you are completely cut off from the benefits that WashU gives for the most part, but you end up having to pay more for the services that you receive.”

Council member Aleta Klein, who has lived in Uni versity City for over thirteen years, spoke to the impact of this financial burden on U. City parents and students.

“Even a small amount of extra money every month may be the difference between their parents hav ing to work extra hours, or their parents not being able to enroll them in an enrich ing program,” Klein said during the info session.

“Our school district has a high enough poverty rate to qualify for 100% free breakfast and lunch in all of our schools,” she added in a written statement to Student Life. “A high per centage of Washington University students come from the wealthiest house holds in the world.”

A 2020 report commis sioned by U. City found that

New StEP Business sells water subscriptions

WILL CORBIN AND JAMES ELLINGHAUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR

A new student business called WATERDROPd, which sells subscriptions of Boxed Water and water dis pensers opened this fall on the South 40. The company has drawn controversy for advertising its services as environmentally-friendly and using marketing tactics that state that drinking tap water from bathroom sinks at Washington University is less sanitary than WATER DROPd’s offerings.

The business is part of the Student Entrepreneurial Program (StEP) of Washing ton University’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepre neurship. WATERDROPd states on its website that the company provides “sustain able and convenient” options for drinking water.

Similar in concept to the previous StEP business Wydown Water, which oper ated from 2003 into part of the COVID-19 pandemic, WATERDROPd offers fivegallon water dispensers and cases of boxed water to stu dents on and off campus. They have also positioned dispensers for a limited num ber of events on campus. The business is led by sopho mores Jack Allshouse, Grant McCargo, and Chris Yang.

Jessica Weldon, Associ ate Director for Fellowships & Funding and former Assis tant Director of Programs at the Skandalaris Center said that WATERDROPd is still in “start-up mode.”

However, the business

has already established itself on campus through mar keting emails and online advertisements, some of which unfavorably compare the University’s facilities to its services. On the com pany’s website, a blurb promoting the water dis pensers reads, “why drink out of the unsanitary bath room sink or waste your time trekking down the stairs to the single and always occu pied spicket [sic]?”

A few students believed that “unsanitary” was meant to critique the quality of St. Louis tap water.

“Their marketing is mis leading because they make it sound like WashU doesn’t already provide quality fil tered water in every dorm,” junior Juliana Bush said.

The founders clari fied that the statement was meant to address how bath room and kitchen sinks are not always clean sources for drinking water, not that St. Louis tap water is unsan itary. They also said that access to water is limited in certain areas on campus.

“We’re not going to sit here and say that tap water is bad,” Yang said. “Tap water is completely fine. Your sink, however, is not going to be in the best shape most days.”

St. Louis magazine pub lished an article in 2020 titled “St. Louis water is so good, it helped our city become a pre mier dining destination.” In 2009, “The Source” released an article titled “Washing ton University in St. Louis ends sales of bottled water,” explaining that “high-qual ity tap water — St. Louis tap water was rated as best in the country by the U.S. Mayors Conference in 2007

— is readily available on WUSTL campuses. Nearly all campus buildings feature multiple drinking fountains, and cold-water containers can be found in central cam pus locations.”

WATERDROPd cur rently has “around fifty” individual customers, McCargo said.

The company com menced its marketing efforts during Bear Beginnings with emails to first-year stu dents. Much of its messaging has focused on WATER DROPd’s sustainability efforts.

“Sustainability is a huge reason we started WATER DROPd,” McCargo said.

According to Weldon, the water dispensers are sustain able and limit the amount of plastic discarded on campus.

“Environmentally, I think it’s a great opportunity to reduce our plastic waste because the big plastic jugs [used for the dispensers] get refilled and reused,” she said.

The company also adver tises that boxed water helps to reduce the amount of plas tic on campus, providing students who prefer to drink single-use bottled water a more eco-friendly option.

“There are people that are stubborn and stuck in their ways and they grew up using single-use water items, like Dasani and Fiji,” Allshouse said. “We figured if they’re going to keep using those items regardless, we might as well offer boxed water, which is better than plastic.”

The University’s Office of Sustainability supports WATERDROPd’s mis sion. According to Assistant

PHOTO BY MADI HERMEYER | STUDENT LIFE Panelists speak at the Ervin Q&A.

PHOTO BY GINGER SCHULTE | STUDENT LIFE Inside glimpse of the WaterdropD office under Gregg House.

SCENE

Attention film nerds and popcorn lovers: WU Cinema is here for you DANNY GRAZIANO STAFF WRITER

Tucked away by Brook ings near the East End, Brown Hall can feel out of the way. It’s unassuming over there, seemingly in its own little corner. You’d be for given for not imagining that the building houses a fullfledged movie theater. If you haven’t taken a film class, there is a solid chance that

you would never have had a reason to go inside.

This year, things are a lit tle different. Brown Hall’s theater still houses screen ings for classes and even some lectures for film majors. However, every other Thurs day, a group called WU Cinema puts on the great est show on campus that you may never have heard of. WU Cinema is a collaboration between the film department and a handful of students who carefully pick a film that they believe the community will enjoy. This allows them to take the lead and create a moviegoing experience that is truly by and for Washing ton University.

coming up on October 14th. But the full range of the expe rience WU Cinema provides isn’t just limited to the titles: what they look to guaran tee is a unique moviegoing experience.

“We really wanted to encourage a cinema experi ence on campus and cultivate that,” said Jack Mayer, a senior who volunteers for WU Cinema. It’s clear that this is, by design, an expe rience that goes far beyond the films shown or even just the ability to watch these films with a crowd on the big screen.

BY CAMDEN MAGGARD

WU Cinema kicked off the start of the school year with a showing of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated classic “Spirited Away”. The group has continued to program interesting titles, following up their debut with “The Big Lebowski”, a showing of “Seven” this past Thurs day, and “The Godfather”

Take the “Lebowski” screening: it was prefaced by a vintage instructional video entitled “Parties are Fun” as well as the Don Hertz feldt animated short entitled “Rejected”. “This is all a big experiment for all of us,” said Mayer, in reference to the prefilm shorts.

By branching out into so many different avenues for programming, WU Cin ema tries to be something

No More Student IDs at the Polls: New MO voting law will go into effect this election

that you can’t replicate any where. Would it have been easy to take the pioneering concept of being a WashU campus movie theater? Sure, but why stop there? Look at “Seven”, screened on a 35mm film print, truly distinguish ing it in several ways. For one, the visual quality of the film is heightened, some thing that serves as a point of pride for WU Cinema; the ability to project 35mm film, once the standard, is disap pearing. “You can tell it’s on film,” said junior Ava Mor gan, another WU Cinema volunteer. “It’s what people, when they think of cinema and film, this is what they’re thinking of.”

Even for viewers not well-versed in film, Morgan said that the distinction is noticeable.

“I think people do pick up on it, whether or not they

understand what they’re looking at,” she said. The other element introduced at the “Seven” screening is that the film was screened with Spanish subtitles, a flourish of randomness that, while not exactly advertent, drives home the point that these are experiences truly designed to be unique.

From WU Cinema’s prowess in projection to their original promotions — free popcorn for those who wore bathrobes to “Lebowski” and a “what’s in the box” guessing game for “Seven” — there’s a passion for cinema that ani mates the whole endeavor.

Mayer cited the major goals of WU Cinema as “coming together in an appreciation of cinema and the cinematic experience in a theater” and “watching films that are important culturally.”

“Most universities have a

campus cinema,” says Brett Smith, the Film and Media Studies department’s Audio visual Production Technician (projectionist) who helped get WU Cinema off the ground.

“We have this facility, we just thought that it makes no sense that we can’t provide that for students.”

As a first-year student coming to WashU with an interest in film, my experi ence with WU Cinema has been nothing short of a mir acle. It truly is designed for anyone to enjoy, from those with the most basic interest in movies to hardcore cine philes. In every facet of the design, the magic of going to the movies is front and cen ter. “It’s a labor of love,” said Morgan. “We all just feel it’s really important to make it happen and make it some thing worthwhile.”

Missouri’s new voting identification law went into full effect on Sept. 4, sparking controversy about the constitutionality of its requirements. Missouri ans who wish to vote in the upcoming election cycle this November must pro vide a government-issued photo ID, which includes a Missouri driver’s license; a Missouri state ID; or a US passport. Previous forms of identification — like a student card, out-of-state license, or utility bill — no longer serve as valid forms of ID at the polls.

This new law has already been challenged by several lawsuits, many of which claim that it is a stark example of voter sup pression. Louis Jones, Voter Engagement Coordinator

VOLUME

at Washington University’s Gephardt Institute, was quick to note the new law’s impact on those eligible to vote..

“The ACLU has filed two lawsuits challenging the legislation, and one of the major concerns is the impact this legislation may have on populations who disproportionately lack one of the acceptable forms of photo identification and who face significant bar riers in obtaining one,” he said. Jones noted that “peo ple with disabilities, senior citizens, and racial minori ties” will likely be impacted the most.

Additionally, WashU students who previously relied on their Student IDs at the polls are no longer able to vote. The new law disadvantages those who cannot travel home to col lect their passports or those

who do not have the finan cial means to apply for a passport.

Jacob Hammer, a senior at WashU majoring in political science, spent his last summer as a fellow for Show Me Integrity, a non-partisan government accountability organization that seeks to protect voting rights in Missouri. Ham mer’s work was part of the larger initiative to advance voting reform and reinvig orate the local St. Louis community.

Hammer was quick to highlight the new law’s inherent flaws. “[This] law is the textbook definition of voter suppression,” he said. He fears that it will discourage students who must bear the costs of ship ping a passport to Missouri and students who are filing

Cherie Harder Jonathan Rauch

Peter Wehner

ZARA SHARIFF CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTO BY SCARLETT PATTON | STUDENT LIFE

Students must show a Missouri state ID, driver’s license, or US passport at the polls this year. Previously-accepted WashU IDs are no longer allowed.

Code or Bust: HackWashU is back

Just in time for cyber security awareness month, HackWashU is reviving the Washington University hackathon tradition on the weekend of October 14-16 in Lopata Hall. Hack WashU will be the first of many competitions hosted in the 2023 season of Major League Hacking, a series of hackathons held across the country.

HackWashU will pro vide opportunities to create solutions to problems in 4 different areas: privacy and security, sustainability, inter active media, and business technology.

“We’re trying to make our tracks as broad as possible to allow all the students max imum creative potential,” senior and founder Sam Kim said.

Students will pick a cat egory and form teams. Over the course of the weekend, they will produce a software or hardware solution to a problem. Projects will be pre sented to representatives of sponsor companies includ ing MasterCard, Microsoft, St. Louis Cardinals, and Anheuser Busch employees and executives. Top projects will receive prizes and swag with a total of over $40,000 in value.

Junior and director of finance Emily Sheehan said, “Obviously when you think of Anheuser Busch, you think [of] beer, and really what the heck does that have to do with anything technology-related? But they have invested a

lot of money in business technology.”

The event will be hosted both remotely and on-campus for WashU students. When not working on their projects, students will have chances to hear from and interact with industry professionals from the sponsor companies.

“Mostly, it's just a bunch of people putting their nose to the grindstone and pumping a project out,” junior and direc tor of technology Bradley Hsu said. “Basically, it's an excuse for you to code for hours.”

While hackathons seem to be tailored towards engineer ing students, the HackWashU team wants all sorts of stu dents to participate. As of Oct

ILLUSTRATED BY RUSSELL PENG

3, more than 600 people have registered, including roughly 300 WashU students.

“We want this event to be as inclusive as possible. We want people from Sam Fox and Olin,” Kim said. “We want the teams that partici pate to be as interdisciplinary as possible because that’s how the real tech world works.”

The executive board of HackWashU believes that hackathons like this one provide unique learning opportunities that classroom education in computer sci ence can’t teach.

“In classes, we focus on specific languages or themes and ideas, but you might not have time to dedicate

to learning something out side of class. So this is a fun, low-pressure and low-stakes environment to learn web development or machine learning or build an app,” Sheehan said.

While HackWashU is the first hackathon the Uni versity will hold after five years, the team is ambitious about the goals and future of HackWashU.

Kim said, “Missouri as a state doesn’t have that many tech schools. That means there are no good Hackathons nearby. I want HackWashU to be a premier hackathon like the HackMIT of the Midwest!”

In St. Louis for Fall Break? We got you covered!

Want to go camping over fall break but don’t have a car? Take advantage of the crisp weather and clear skies by hammocking or laying out on Mudd Field at night. With enough blankets, raw s’more materials, and ghost stories, you can harness the best parts of camping while not hav ing to drive hours to a site. I’d highly recommend either the hammock poles by the DUC or the center of Mudd itself for the best stargazing positions — the poles by the ginkgo trees, unfortunately, are brightly lit from a nearby lamppost, which is less-thanideal for your night vision. You might even be able to catch the Draconid meteor showers, which are supposed to peak on Oct 8 (the first night of break!).

– Via Poolos

It’s never too early to start getting ready for Hallow een — the spookies are just around the corner — and in Godfrey, Illinois, the prepa rations have already begun. Just 45 minutes north of cam pus is the Fall Corn Festival and the Great Godfrey Corn Maze. The haunted maze is open on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8, from dusk until 10 p.m. All participants must have flashlights because surviving the five-acre maze seems unlikely without one. So if you want an adrena line rush (one not caused by midterm stress), pack your

undoubtedly have you shiver ing from fright until you are back home.

– Avi Holzman

Go to a sports game! The Cardinals host a playoff series starting on Oct. 7 that runs at least through the 8th and pos sibly into the 9th (depending on how they do). Playoff base ball tickets cost an arm and a leg, of course, but watching the game at Ballpark Village outside of Busch Stadium is both fun and free. The Blues also have their final pre season game at home on Oct. 8, against the likely leagueworst Chicago Blackhawks, so if preseason hockey is your thing, those tickets may be easier on your wallet.

– Danny Graziano

To find art, music, gar dens, and, best of all, food trucks, go to the Historic Shaw Art Fair. It’s open Sat urday, Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. or Sunday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. right next to the Botanical Gardens! If you’re looking for some fun (potentially scary?) music, you can listen to Murder City Players on Saturday afternoon or Missouri Hell benders on Sunday morning. You can also find fun prints if you want to make your dorm walls a little funkier! I’d rec ommend going to look for cool rings — art fairs always have unique ones.

– Lily Taylor

Are you an early bird that has yet to take a trip to the Arch? This fall break is

to get a passport from vot ing. “It’s a dangerous thing because midterms are very important. Right now, the parties in power from every state want to disen franchise voters from the other party from voting. In a state like Missouri, you have a Republican trifecta — where they want to dis suade more liberal [voters],” Hammer said.

A comprehensive inves tigation conducted by The Washington Post on voter impersonation fraud uncov ered only 31 instances of it between 2000 and 2014 out of more than one bil lion ballots cast. While Jay Ashcroft, Missouri Secre tary of State, declared, “We want to make sure that we know you are who you say you are and that you’re the person that’s supposed to be voting,” instances of voter impersonation fraud are rare.

Hammer urged students to remain hopeful and not lose faith in the democratic process. “It’s okay to feel upset and to feel tired and [to feel] that things are going the wrong way, but with that said, we need to keep ourselves buckled down and still committed to ensuring that every sin gle voice is heard,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s how our democracy stays intact.”

Students still have time to obtain an acceptable photo ID if they are regis tered to vote in Missouri, and the Gephardt Institute can help point them in the right direction. Jones also noted that students have the option to cast a provisional ballot if they go to the polls on Election Day without proper photo identification.

“In order for the provi sional ballot to be counted, the student either has to

return with an acceptable photo ID or the election authority has to verify the student’s identity by com paring their ballot signature to the signature on file with the election authority,” he said. “Student voters who have a permanent address outside of Missouri may also opt to register and vote in their home state, whether absentee or in-per son. Every state has its own election laws, so it’s impor tant to verify eligibility rules and registration dead lines in your home state and to request an absentee ballot from your home state prior to its absentee ballot request deadline.”

If students are unable to vote in Missouri or their home state, Jones said that participating in the elec toral process can also mean turning to other forms of civic engagement.

“WashU students have a ton of ways to get involved,” said Jones. “Be on the look out for Food For Thought, a pop-up dialogue space every Wednesday afternoon for students to snack and ponder big civic questions.”

Gephardt is also launching “Civic Cafe” on Oct. 18 to foster civic discussion and skill-building over weekly Tuesday dinners.

Students can also choose to get involved in WashU Votes, the student branch of the Gephardt Institute that spearheads advocacy and campaign initiatives to encourage all students to vote. The team has Missouri Voter Registration Solici tors on-hand to help with any issues. For any ques tions, WashU Votes can be reached @washuvotes on Instagram, and theirweekly meetings are open to all stu dents on Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. at Stix House.

tax-exempt University property placed a “fiscal burden” on U. City both through lost revenue and lost opportunity for projects funded by private investors.

“It’s a lot of money that we’re subsidizing,” coun cil member Jeff Hales said.

spent in the community by students, faculty, and staff. The University has also pro vided an annual grant to the U. City police department.

ILLUSTRATED BY SOPHIE LEONG

the perfect opportunity. With an expected forecast of crisp, sunny mornings all week end long, there is no better time to explore downtown St. Louis with the company of (almost) fall foliage. If you don’t have a car or aren’t an avid biker, don’t worry — the metro from University City will get you there in two stops. Since it wouldn’t be right to make this trip on an empty stomach, make a stop at Pharaoh's Donuts on the way for a freshly-made donut and morning beverage of your choice.

– Anika Chatterjee

Many students only dis cover Art Hill after the first big snow, when everyone treks over with whatever

makeshift sled they’ve cre ated to fly down the hill to the Grand Basin in Forest Park. But there’s no need to wait until campus has frozen over to go explore the St. Louis Art Museum. Admission is free, so there’s no guilt about “making your money worth it.” You can pop in for 20 min utes and take a spin around the Modern Art Wing, or you can make a day of it, wan dering through the sculpture garden and crossing into smaller, more hidden exhib its like the Ancient Egyptian room. Just a short jaunt from campus, walking to SLAM is the perfect way to get outside, get off campus, and explore one of the many St. Louis museums.

– Alice Gottesman

WATERDROPd’s mis sion. According to Assistant Director Cassie Hage, WATERDROPd is a positive step forward for sustainabil ity, and should be judged on its own merits and how it increases access to water on campus.

“It’s all relative,” Hage said. “Is the 5-gallon dis penser or boxed water more sustainable than tap water?

The answer should be no… [However], water access in the residential areas is not what it should be.”

Hage also spoke to the

University’s long-standing support of boxed water.

“WashU was the first North American univer sity to ban the sale of bottled water in 2009,” she said. “We don’t sell plastic water bot tles, but we do have boxed water.”

Other members of the University community, like Sammi Fremont, treasurer for the Student Sustainabil ity Board, are not impressed with WATERDROPd.

“It just seems silly to me,” Fremont said. “There is so much access to fresh water on

“My hope is that they rec ognize this imbalance. For a school that proclaims to be incredibly progressive and forward-thinking and interested in social justice… I wish their deeds would match their words.”

Julie Flory, Vice Chan cellor for Marketing and Communications, offered a statement last week on WashU’s economic impact to Student Life, point ing toward the $2.9 billion contributed to the local economy and the 47,000 jobs supported in the region by the University in fiscal year 2021.

Throughout the years, representatives from the University have also pointed toward contributions to local communities such as student volunteer hours, research funding attracted to St. Louis, and money

CAW’s current initial push is for a PILOT pro gram, citing New Haven’s storied relationship with Yale (which paid $23 mil lion to the city last year as part of their PILOT pro gram), as indicative of the path the organization hopes to push the Univer sity toward.

However, CAW has goals for the relationship between the University and U. City beyond simply “writing a check.”

“My hope is that as you bring more and more peo ple in, you start to hear and formulate some other ideas about how WashU acts, whether it's on issues of labor, or even just parking,” Ehrenstrom said.

“Washington University finds answers to some of the world’s toughest questions in our time,” Klein wrote in a comment to Student Life. “I’m sure they can find a way to pay their fair share in their own community.”

campus. It feels very reflec tive of the fact that WashU is a very wealthy school, because no one who isn’t upper class is purchasing [water dispens ers or boxed water].”

Beyond the sustainabil ity of their products and services, WATERDROPd aims to help the environ ment by joining 1% For the Planet, a charitable organiza tion consisting of companies who pledge a percent of their annual revenue to environ mental causes.

“We’re going to be a part of 1% For the Planet, so we’ll

be giving 1% of our profits to river restoration and water access efforts in and around St. Louis,” Allshouse said.

As WATERDROPd moves forward, the found ers want to remind students and other potential custom ers that their goal is to make sustainability convenient.

“We see every subscriber we have as one person that’s not using plastic, not going to Target to get a case of plas tic water bottles,” Yang said.

“At the end of the day, we just want to make [being sustain able] easier.”

Editor’s note: This article includes discussion of sexual violence education.

Like clockwork, the arrival of a new class of freshmen signals the influx of commentaries on the freshman experience, each with their own pithy oneword conclusions. Anxiety. Excitement. Opportunity. Impostor syndrome. There is a great deal of truth in all of these. But, as a freshman myself, I’d like to supply my own pithy one-word conclusion: the freshman experience is one defined by expectation.

There are, of course, the more obvious expectations. Your parents expect that you’ll get enough sleep, your friends back home expect that you’ll be partying a lot, and your uncle expects that you’ll have to deal with the rainy weather (he still thinks you’re studying in Seattle).

But, geographicallychallenged relatives notwithstanding, setting the expectations of 1,800 otherwise utterly naïve incoming undergraduates is ultimately a job for the administration. Over the course of Bear Beginnings, freshmen go through various programs to acclimate them to campus life, whether it’s through WUSA groups or lecture sessions. Perhaps the most subtle way the administration communicates what expectations the freshmen should have is through distributing brochures. “Subtle” is, admittedly, a misnomer. Over the course of a week, I gathered enough brochures to fill up the entire paper bag I had received for the explicit purpose of

FORUM

Reading

storing brochures, and even then I had a few brochures left unaccounted for.

I’m not alone in this, either. On the final days of Bear Beginnings, the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) Center hosted its own program: a student-run play called “The Date,” designed to teach the fundamentals of consent, relationship violence, and mental health issues. The show is RSVP’s flagship program, and with good reason. Directed, performed, and written by students, “The Date” is the kind of play that can send the football player sitting next to me into a fit of laughter, invest a thoroughly cynical group of 18 year olds with the dramatic tension of an unrequited romance, get half the room snapping their fingers to a pointedly accurate line, and then silence all of them with a moment of earnest introspection. Halfway through the play, one of the characters, in a moment of crisis, recruits their friend to gather information on mental health services provided at the University. The friend walks off the stage and comes back on with a bag.

A bag full of brochures.

For the next few minutes, both actors recite, word for word, the descriptions of different services as written on their brochures. The deadpan delivery of this blatant infomercial earns a surge of laughter from the audience.

If the crowd’s reaction was any indication, this is one of those jokes that’s only funny because it’s true: there has always been a tension between creating services that put students’ needs first and then marketing them in

such a bland and detached way. If we are to criticize student services for not connecting with students, however, we should admit that the criticism cuts both ways. I certainly could not rightfully say that I had taken the time to get wellacquainted with the RSVP Center.

I decided to change that.

The RSVP Center is, speaking from personal experience, difficult to access, located on the fourth floor of Seigle Hall. So, as the elevator rushed upwards on a late Friday afternoon, I stood alone, looking at my distorted reflection in the metallic walls. As I entered the room, I was immediately greeted with wooden panels containing well-lit, crisp photographs of smiling actors, like something out of a pharmaceutical advertisement. And, right on the front desk, sat a pile of brochures.

The Center’s exceedingly professional sheen, however, belies a more complex story.

Like “The Date,” RSVP owes its origins to student activism. Its specialists coordinate with dedicated undergraduate volunteers to facilitate “The Date,” promote sexual health, work with community leaders, and disseminate educational materials as part of a large outreach campaign conducted by the Center. The Center also provides therapy and counseling services, and is an invaluable resource for survivors and interested students alike.

It is a testament to the passion and commitment of the RSVP specialists that they took the time out of their day to field an interview about their work in the downtime between two meetings (that is, their actual

work). And yet, in spite of everything, as I sat through the interview, I could not shake the feeling that everything I was hearing sounded like it had come verbatim from a brochure.

Frankly, this phenomenon is not limited to RSVP — if anything, it defines how we talk about sexual violence on this campus. Why is it that the University’s new policies regarding the expungement of sexual misconduct from student records have been defined with vague and unclear bureaucratic language which needlessly equates the severity of sexual misconduct with drug possession?

Why is it that, in the wake of the infamous Red Zone, a representative of the Title IX Office offered an analysis as banal as students’ “boundaries [being] tested”?

The truth is that a detachedly professional tone is expected of our institutions, and it is an expectation that constrains the ways organizations can act and the ways that students can interact with them. We are simply incapable of imagining the possibility of having open and clear conversations. That’s the most frustrating part of the problem — we could so easily strengthen the relationship between the administration and the students it ostensibly serves. We just choose not to. And yet, everywhere, the school has continued to reinforce this damaging expectation.

Stilted language and jargon-filled paragraphs are a standard feature of all administration resources, not just the brochures. From the embarrassingly marketing-laden websites to the contrived allusions to a commitment to

diversity, the expectation that we students should treat the administration as an external, distant entity is very quickly and clearly communicated to us freshmen. Is it any wonder that we treat brochures as punchlines?

If anything, the manufactured separation of the student body from the administration is what cloaks the administration from the full repercussions of its worst decisions. Every confusing policy decision is rendered an act of God, with each Student Life writer a hapless oracle combing through layers of dense and unreadable text to craft their own interpretations, which are then confined to the pages of this newspaper. Is that really what constitutes open and clear dialogue?

The truth, of course, is that a plainer statement would be easily rejected outright. And so, the school has willingly embarked on a policy of obscurantism, hiding power not by making it invisible but by making it inscrutable.

Just as I have no doubt that the scriptwriters of “The Date” do not disdain student services, I do not intend to specifically criticize either the RSVP Center or Title IX Office. They simply exemplify the inherent contradictions of simultaneously expecting stifling professionalism and earnest communication to coexist. Yes, their work is commendable. But it is commendable work done in spite of a campus culture that fully expects to ignore the exact kind of language those organizations employ. Is it not a sign of despair that organizations with the full force of the administration’s support must treat the act

of talking to students as “outreach,” as if it were an uphill battle? If anything, this uphill battle is one that we willingly inflict on the RSVP Center, solely because of our broken expectations of what a studentadministration relationship should look like.

Every freshman I’ve talked to has told me that “The Date” was a unique and special experience. It’s not exactly hard data, although the RSVP Center rightly deserves praise for its work. But I have greater ambitions. We must work towards a time when “The Date” is no longer anything special or groundbreaking, when policies no longer require extensive interpretive news columns, when our administrators feel they can speak honestly and frankly with us, and when joking about pamphlets isn’t funny anymore.

What does that mean? It means we should no longer tolerate administrative silence when key issues are raised. It means good policy must also be clear policy. It means we should call out sugarcoating and equivocation wherever we see it. It means supporting crucial organizations, such as the RSVP Center, not just through student engagement but through an active restructuring of their relationships with the student body.

So, when the class of 2027 arrives at Bear Beginnings with their own naïve expectations, when the pithy one-word conclusions start rolling in, and the various campus organizations redesign their brochures, I only have one request: Save your paper.

jargon is failing

SPORTS

Men’s soccer bests Emory 2-1

great game. Experienced guys were trying to pick everyone up, telling each other how intense it was going to be.”

In the 75th minute of the game, on the cusp of leveling the scoreline to 1-1 through a perfect header that even fifthyear goalkeeper Matt Martin could only spectate, Emory University hit the woodwork. The ball ricocheted off of the goal post, and a huge sigh of relief seemed to come off the faces of WashU players as it bounced back into play instead of in the back of the net. But then came the counter.

With a desperate Eagles team congregated in the Bears’ penalty box, WashU quickly regained possession as freshman Nathan Szpak found junior Carl Vestberg in the midfield. Vestberg quickly passed the ball to freshman teammate Ryan An, who traded it back after dribbling it into Emory’s ter ritory. But with a convocation of eagles breathing down his back, Vestberg found himself one-on-one with Emory’s goalkeeper to slot the ball between his legs and make it 2-0 for WashU.

“Really fun to get the score,” said Vestberg after the game. “The team played really well.

I got a really good pass from Ryan, which set me up for a perfect opportunity to [score].”

The Washington University men’s soccer team edged out Emory University in their UAA play opener, with a scoreline of 2-1 to improve their record to 4-3 for the sea son. While travel trips have been a point of difficulty for the team, the Bears ended their three games losing streak for away matchups to collect a needed win against a tough opponent.

“I thought we played great,” said junior defender Reece Nicholson. “Our mentality was there, and we had a lot more energy. I thought every one stepped up and played a

The win was one that the Bears had to work for. They struggled for much of the first half, only managing to regis ter one shot. The Eagles were rolling, registering nine shots in the first half and putting up 20 total.

But a catalytic defense that defined much of the Bears’ UAA triumph last year stood its ground and protected the goaline. Led by Martin, who made four saves in that first half, the team did its job in keeping the scoreline to 0-0 heading into halftime — some thing that proved to be of great significance when the secondhalf whistle blew.

In the second half, the Bears were a different animal as they came out aggressively and pressured Emory’s defense.

WashU registered 11 shots in the second half, five of them on goal — with Martin only making one save.

“We changed how we were set up on the field,” said head coach Joe Clarke. “We moved some guys around [...] to get in better position[s]. Relative to where Emory was set up, they were at a disadvantage with the way that we started out, and we were much more competitive after we did that.”

In the 52nd minute, the Bears’ aggressive start and Clarke’s strategic change in player positioning paid off, as the team managed to get on the scoresheet.

Arriving in the Emory box with the ball at his feet, senior Gavin Morse fired a shot that landed off the post. The ball bounced off to the feet of sophome Eugene Heger, who was denied twice before it reached fifth-year Armando Sanchez-Conde. SanchezConde finally slotted the ball into the net to bring the score line to 1-0.

The winning goal for the Bears came in the 75th min ute, when a counter led by Szpak and An was finished off by Vestberg — and the Bears improved their lead to 2-0. An 86th-minute goal from the Eagles brought the game to 2-1.

“I think our team is defi nitely coming together,” said Heger. “[But] you just gotta take it one game at a time. Take [...] each game by itself.

I mean, we can look long-term right now while we’re waiting, but I’m just gonna take it one game at a time and focus on getting the most out of each and every minute that we play. If we do that, then the results will come together and we’ll have a good season.”

Teammate and defender Nicholson agreed with Heger’s assessment.

“Eugene is right. It is one game at a time. We’re defend ing our title from last year. I know beating Emory at home is amazing — they usually do really well defending their home turf — but we’re look ing on to the next game now.”

Coming off a UAA cham pionship winning season, a lot of WashU players are heading into this year’s UAA play with the mindset of defending their title. And with the win over Emory, the team has momen tum going forward. But Clarke is cynical of this view, stating that what happened last year means nothing.

“What happened last year has nothing to do with this year,” said Clarke. “I know that’s coach-speak, but it’s the reality. It doesn’t matter that we won the title — it only helps with [the] guys’ con fidence and [their] belief in themselves that they’re capable of doing it because they did it once. And I think that’s very important. But we’re still com ing together, still figuring out what players are [...] going to be.”

Bears claim second to Wartburg

JAMIE NICHOLSON STAFF WRITER

Some fall sports like football, soccer, and volleyball, can only face one opponent per game. Cross country meets, on the other hand, can have upwards of ten teams competing. This weekend, Washington University focused on racing nationally-ranked competitor Wartburg in a more intimate, nearly one-on-one setting.

Wartburg College hosted the annual Dan Huston Invite on the fastest course WashU will race on all year. As the season gets underway, runners took advantage of Iowa’s gently rolling hills to test “what pace is gonna be our threshold for the rest of the season,” senior captain Emily Konkus said.

“It’s all about learning how to race, because it’s hard to race where you feel like you really like left it all out there without dying,” said junior captain Jeff Candell. “We’re focusing on racing it well and learning what it feels like — or what it should feel like at different parts of the race.”

Men’s 8000m

The Wartburg men are the reigning regional champi ons and currently ranked #3 nationally. The WashU men trail a bit in the rankings as the 2021 regional runner-ups and currently #11 nationally. A handful of club running teams also populated the race, but the competition “felt more just like us vs. Wartburg, but because they’re a very competitive team, it made it a competitive race,” said Candell on the meet atmosphere.

In the absence of usual lead runner Cullen Capuano, who sat out the race to focus on other competitive match ups later on in the season, junior Drew Sidamon-Eristoff stepped up to lead as the Bears’ top finisher. Sidamon-Eristoff

placed 2nd overall in 24:34. He was the team’s top finisher at nationals last year and seemed to hit his stride towards the end of last season.

“It’s good to see that he’s already getting to [the top] and hopefully will be able to push even more later in the season,” said Candell about his team mate’s performance. Candell is another regular contributor to the team score, and he was WashU’s 2nd finisher in 24:44 and 5th place overall.

Wartburg, strutting on their home course, placed six runners in front of WashU’s fifth, which earned them the 29-point win over WashU’s 41 points. In future meets, espe cially when Capuano races again, the margin will likely become thinner. Notably, freshman Oliver Witt was 10th overall and WashU’s 3rd fin isher in 25:03 in only his 2nd 8000m race.

Womens’ 6000m

The women have a simi larly competitive history with Wartburg, placing a frustrat ing second place to Wartburg at regionals. The Wartburg women are ranked second in national polls, while WashU sits at sixth. These two teams took the spotlight: “It effec tively became a dual meet between us and Wartburg,” joked Konkus.

Wartburg’s top five run ners were a huge asset to its

win. They all finished before WashU’s 4th runner, pro pelling the home team to a 21-point win. WashU held on for second with 34 points. Notably, the Bears had 11 run ners finish within the top 20 overall, while Wartburg only had six runners with the same accolades. This superior depth could prove to be a valuable asset in higher stakes meets.

“What makes a difference at the scoring level and definitely at the national level are your fourth- and fifth-place scor ers,” Konkus said. Wartburg’s dominant top five bested the WashU team over the week end, but if a top WashU runner does falter, plenty of women are there to make up for it.

Konkus led the team, finish ing third place overall in 21:41, followed by fellow senior captain Lindsay Ott in 21:56, and freshman Katie Rector in 22:03. These three times are the fastest in program history on Wartburg’s course.

“The women’s team is improving exponentially,” Konkus said. “Division 3 as a whole I think is improving substantially in terms of times that are gonna qualify [for the postseason]. I think WashU is definitely on par with that improvement, if not above it.”

In two weeks, WashU will reunite with Wartburg, plus other competitive teams like UChicago, at Augustana’s Interregional Invite.

Sydney Kuo is setting high goals: the top of Division III golf

Intercollegiate and the Fall Preview?

Sydney Kuo is a soph omore player on the Washington University golf team. Off to a stellar start, Sydney is on her A game and plans to further her streak of top finishes through the season. She’s also a student at the Olin Business School and intends to major in Organization and Strategic Management. Between practices and study sessions, Sydney took the time to sit down with Student Life to have a conversation about her recent accomplishments, her recent goals, and how golf fits into her life.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Student Life: In your words, how is your season going so far?

Sydney Kuo: My season is going pretty good. Definitely after having freshman year to adjust from high school and being out of school, I think I’ve gotten a pretty good grasp on how to manage my time — balancing social life and academics — while also playing a varsity sport. I’m really able to capitalize on this as I’ve honed in on my skills and practice in general, which I think is reflective of my success in these past few tournaments.

SL: Can you talk to me about your recent accom plishments — namely, the Montgomery Women’s

SK: Yes. I think that, com ing into this year, I definitely had a lot of aspirations for how I wanted to compete — specifically for how I wanted to shape up against other players. Last year, I came into golf with no expectations, just to play and see what hap pened. After finishing pretty well last year, it pushed me to set higher goals for myself. I believe I finished eighth indi vidually [in Division 3] last year, and I’m just someone

to play good golf. It’s just so infuriating; like, you can go from zero to a hundred in one second because, when it comes to golf, that’s just the way the game works.

So, when I go into a tourna ment, I tell myself that golf is imperfect and that I am not going to be able to have a per fect round every single time. But what you can do is just prepare yourself the best by practicing more. What I like to do, personally, is just try to go into it with a clear head and trust myself. I trust

SL: What would you say is a winning attitude?

SK: A winning attitude, for me, is being happy. I would say half being happy and half being proud of yourself, but also being appreciative and grateful. A winning attitude is also being happy for your team. For example, the last tournament I went to, I felt that a winning attitude was being a good team player. Even though I won first place, I wasn’t even as happy for myself as I was for the team. Knowing

— I think, overall, just being grateful and appreciative for everything — is pretty much a winning attitude.

SL: Can you speak to what your main goals are for this season?

SK: I would like to be the number one player in Division III golf, which is a pretty high goal. As for the team, I would love for our team to be in the Top 3 in DIII. We finished ninth as a team last year, but we’ve had such good finishes in the last three tournaments. I would say [one other goal] that I have is to perfect my time man agement.

I think that the amount of time and effort we have to spend — not only at practice, but at balancing academics and a social life — is so under stated, especially for student

How do you face

very somber moment for me. I think [that] what’s really important [for coming back] from failure is to try not to get so down on yourself and [to not dwell] on it too long. So, even if you are upset with yourself, don’t let those bad thoughts continue. You can’t go back in time and change anything, but what you can do now is to make sure that you don’t do that again, or [that you] do even better the next time you go out there. That’s kind of how I went into the round after that. The day that I shot that 79 was the third day. Afterwards, I was kind of in my hotel room telling myself, “Wow, I can’t believe that just happened. Okay, what am I going to do tomorrow to make sure that it doesn’t happen again?” [The round after], I didn’t do amazing, but I shot a much better score. I think it’s just about trying to stay positive because if you just get into that headspace, it destroys you. By doing that, you’re essentially reinforcing nega tive energy, and that’s not conducive to performing well.

much mental power and mental toughness to be able

The NCAA tourna ment was a particularly rough tournament for me in terms of golf. If you look at my scores, there was one day where I shot a 79, and it was a

SL: And a question that we ask all of our athlete-ofthe-week participants: Would you rather have fish for hands or adopt a child every time you hear Bohemian Rhapsody?

SK: Adopt a child. How would I wash my hair with fish hands? How would I play golf?

JAMIE NICHOLSON | STUDENT LIFE WashU races at their first meet of the season, a loop around a course at Forest Park.

Women’s soccer drops UAA opener

conference foes, they struggled to slow Emory’s momentum.

The start to the Washington University women’s soccer season was characterized by tight, low-scoring affairs. The team’s only loss going into this match was a 2-1 robbery against California Lutheran University that was decided by an 89th minute goal. Its trip to Atlanta to face confer ence rivals Emory, however, marked a change for the team, as the final score included a season-high in goals against and the margin of goals. Unfortunately for the Bears, however, all three goals scored in the UAA conference opener were scored by players sport ing Emory’s white and yellow jerseys. The 3-0 defeat was the second loss of the team’s season, dropping its record to 4-2-5.

The two teams came into the match in completely dif ferent form: while WashU had been held to low-scoring draws in three of their last four contests and only one win, Emory headed into the UAA season red-hot. The hosts had won four games in a row by an aggregate margin of 18-3, and had scored five goals in three of those matches. Although the Bears had won their last six encounters with their

The Bears started the game on a promising note, attack ing straight from the opening kickoff, but Emory quickly asserted its control. While nei ther team was able to garner a shot in the first 15 minutes, Emory’s midfield began to exert its influence over the possession battle, which even tually translated into chances for the Eagles. WashU junior goalkeeper Sidney Conner, however, was up to the task, keeping Emory out through numerous crucial stops includ ing an acrobatic diving-save to tip a long-range effort over the crossbar in the 37th minute.

As the end of the first half approached, the Bears defense looked like it could keep the game scoreless heading into the break. However, with just two minutes left on the clock, Emory broke the deadlock. After a cross glanced off of Conner’s outstretched arms, Emory junior Grace Reyer pounced on the rebound to tap in the game’s opening goal. Reyer’s goal proved to be the only one of the half, as Emory went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Though the Bears were unable to create a shot throughout the opening 45 minutes, head coach Jim

Conlon said after the game he wasn’t worried, citing the team’s patient tactical approach. “I don’t think our offense is predicated on shoot ing the ball from anywhere, we’re trying to get it into spe cific places” he said, noting that he drew positive from the team’s ability to “put the ball in a lot of dangerous positions” in ways that don’t necessarily stand out on the stat sheet.

Shortly after the intermis sion, the Eagles doubled their margin. On a move starting in its own half, Emory quickly sliced through the Bears mid field and defense, before the right back dribbled forward on an overlapping run and played the ball into the box. The cross found its way between two red-shirted defenders to Emory senior forward Kylie Hall, who redirected it past Conner, who could do noth ing but watch.

WashU looked livelier in the period after the goal, as the team was able to gain a greater footing in the posses sion battle and register their first shots of the match. Senior Maggie Brett steered a cross from Meryl McKenna wide of the goal as she made a crash ing run towards the near post in the 51st minute. 10 minutes later, Brett beat a defender on the wing and crossed it in, but Tyler Wilson’s strike from the edge of the box following a defensive clearance missed the target.

Emory delivered its final blow in the 66th minute, as senior Aubrey Blanchard headed home Emory’s sixth corner of the game to extend their lead. The three goals scored by Emory were the most the Bears have allowed all season, and Conlon praised his opponent’s ability to take advantage of their chances,

stating that “Emory capital ized on the opportunities we gave them and created some of their own via their own tactical adjustments.”

The Bears fought hard dur ing a back-and-forth final 25 minutes, but were unable to beat Emory’s staunch defense, resulting in a fourth scoreless outing of the season for the Bears. Although the Bears were unable to attain the result they wanted, Conlon was opti mistic following his team’s performance. “I thought we did a lot of things really well,” he said, adding that he’s “proud of where the team is and the growth and resiliency that they continue to push through with.”

Though WashU, who won the UAA conference last year, started its title defense on a rough note, the team is look ing to put this game in the back pocket and move on. This game “was only the begin ning,” said freshman Marilee Karinshak, noting that the loss “is a little setback that doesn’t define the season.” Going forward, the Atlanta native added, the team will look to “lock in and ramp up the intensity” as it keeps its eyes set on retaining the UAA crown. The team is already shifting its focus to next Sunday, when a visit from Rochester will kick off a five-game home stretch and an opportunity for the Bears to right the ship in their pursuit of another champion ship appearance.

“We’re just happy to be home,” said Conlon, who says that fans can look forward to watching “a team that’s got a lot of pride in wearing the WashU colors and hon oring the badge we wear on our chest.” The Bears’ next match is Sunday, October 9 on Francis Field.

receiver Collin Goldberg. As the ball was punted to the WashU field post, a North Park defenseman put Goldberg in the dirt. After the pen alty, WashU was awarded two unsportsmanlike-play penalties in a chippy game that got aggressive in the fourth quarter.

“When somebody hits one of your best players defensively, it just changes your whole mindset. It’s like, I’m not trying to win this game; I’m trying to embarrass you. Because you don’t do that,” Hamilton said.

“We’re a very close team emotionally, and we fought this game — we got into [it] a little bit. I mean, these are the guys that you go to war with every week. And we are a close enough unit [that] we are will ing to defend each other,” Smith added.

An interception in the third quarter from QB Matt Rush brought the Vikings to within 21 points, but the fourth quarter began with another Bears touchdown.

WashU added one more to bring the team to a 56-21 victory, which they held until the final whistle. Rush went 18-24 to aver age the fourth-best passing efficiency in Division III.

“It’s always good to get a win, but it wasn’t very pretty,” senior captain Cole Okmin said. “We let our emotions get the best of us — that’s something we have to do better, at least for me. We won by a lot. But we’re gonna have to play a lot better going forward.”

WashU has outscored

their opponents 207-51 in these four games and looks to continue the offensive barrage against Illinois Wesleyan University at a 1 p.m. showdown on Francis Olympic Field. It’s a rivalry that spans six matchups. Last year, WashU won 38-22, but it will likely be their most challenging game to date.

“It doesn’t matter what level or what competition — if we’re doing what we do, if we’re doing our jobs, if we’re doing each individual job to the best of our [abilities], we go toe-to-toe with anybody,” Smith said. “Yeah, man. I don’t think anybody’s afraid of it.”

The team got another win, but they also learned an important lesson about playing in a high-tension matchup.

“The better teams get in our schedule, [we also need to work on] keeping our exposure. Once we got hot and angry, we actu ally played even worse,” Okmin said. “So yeah, it was a good lesson to learn; now, we’ll carry it forward.”

Head coach Aaron Keen’s coaching philoso phy has been clear to his players: one day at a time.

“We have a theme of just not looking too far ahead,” Hamilton said. “North Central, they’re not having a year like they had last year. They had some dogs last year, and they don’t this year. I don’t think they’re as good as they were last year, and I think that [that] matchup is gonna be one [that] everyone’s gonna want to watch.”

Kaci Karl dribbes up the field against Trinity (Texas). CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE