The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2023
STL POLE DANCERS
A&S FACULTY AWARDS
Multiple ArtSci professors win faculty awards.
(News, pg 3)
Pole dancers find community in St. Louis.
(Scene, pg 5)
CROWN Women’s Track wins UAA championship. (Sports, pg 7)
After a two month long investigation, an Overview Committee compiled by the University concluded that “allegations of substandard care causing adverse outcomes for patients at the Center are unsubstantiated,” as written in a public summary of conclusions.
Washington University completed an internal review of the Washington University Transgender Center (the Center)
on April 21.
The University’s review was conducted after Jamie Reed, a former case manager at the Center, claimed malpractice in an article published by The Free Press in early February.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation of the Center in early February shortly after the article’s release.
A brief published by The Source said that the University is continuing to cooperate with the state’s evaluation.
Julie Flory, the vice
chancellor for marketing and communications, declined to comment on either the Attorney General’s investigation or how members were chosen for the Overview Committee, stating that the University did not have any further information to share.
According to the summary of conclusions, over the last 58 months, 1,165 patients have sought care at the Center. Those patients have accumulated a total of 6,000 visits, ranging from telephone consultations to in-person care. The Center
has performed six top surgeries, though the report states that “Washington University physicians no longer perform gender-affirming surgeries on patients under the age of 18.”
Through interviews with employees and combing patient records, the University found no evidence of patients having adverse reactions to medications prescribed by the Center physicians. The Committee also reported that “mental health care and counseling is a priority at the Center,” and mental health
assessments were provided for all patients under 18.
Additionally, the Committee found that all patients under 18 had documented and verbal parental consent for care they received at the Center. In a section marked “Recommendations” at the end of the report, the Committee suggested that the Center revise their policy to require written records of consent before physicians prescribed genderaffirming medication to minors.
This spring, a Washington University student-athlete strolled into the training room for a 12:30 appointment for an appointment for shoulder maintenance. They walked out of the Athletic Center at 4 p.m., having spent almost four hours in the training room.
transitioned to pain after his first indoor season running for the Bears, his injury kept him out of full training until October, when he found through gait analysis that addressed his overstriding.
A fire at 6307 Delmar Blvd, which contains Three Kings Public House, Iron Age Tattoo Shop, and apartment buildings, burned for multiple hours before being extinguished. The blaze started at roughly 3:30 a.m. on April 26.
Aaron Handleman, a fourth-year graduate student studying computer science at Washington University, lived in an apartment above Iron Age Tattoo Shop. Handleman was up late taking a bath when he smelled smoke.
“I had the window cracked open and I thought someone was barbecuing or something,” he said. “But then I went out on the fire escape and saw just [a] crazy amount of smoke coming out of the vent of the Three Kings Kitchen.”
Handleman grabbed his phone to dial 911, and then grabbed his cat, Mawp, before alerting his neighbor, and running outside, barefoot.
“Better to be alive and not wearing shoes than dead with my shoes on,” Handleman said regarding his hasty exit. He did leave his passport and wallet inside, and is unsure whether or not he’ll get them back.
Junior Sylvie Raymond lives in the building next to Three Kings, above Sunshine Daydream. She also awoke to yelling and alarms a little after 3:30 a.m. When she saw police officers and smoke out of her window, she ran around knocking on her neighbors’ doors, raising the alarm for other residents. Raymond was able to grab her backpack, a sweatshirt, and a stuffed animal before helping another resident leash her dogs.
Aside from minor injuries sustained by a University City firefighter, no other injuries or fatalities have been reported.
According to local news outlets the fire continued as late as 10:30 a.m. as the department was still running crane hoses to the building.
Raymond said she was allowed back in her apartment around 8:30 a.m.
In an email to students who live off-campus, Alexandria Taylor, manager of off-campus housing, warned students that Delmar was shut down due to the fire. In an email to Student Life, Taylor said that the University is still assessing the impact on the community and that they have “systems in place to coordinate emergency housing.”
Taylor said employees that were impacted should work with Human Resources Work Life Solutions, and displaced students should reach out to WashU Cares who can help coordinate support.
Handleman reported that after his early-morning escape, he was staying with his girlfriend and prioritizing getting cat food, a pair of shoes, and some sleep.
“My cat’s okay. My neighbors are okay. Ultimately, it sucks but I'm glad that at least everyone's all right,” he said.
The player, who requested to stay anonymous to maintain relationships with the coaching and athletic department staff but will be referred to as Avery, was completely understanding about not being prioritized. “I was like, ‘I don’t have to be anywhere until four.’ And they’re apologizing, and I’m like, ‘Oh, don’t worry.’ And then it’s 3:30, and they’re getting about 5,000 questions from other people.”
The problem with staffing and student care in the training room has been a longstanding issue. With over 500 student-athletes and just four athletic trainers — the staff was operating with only three over the fall — the training room is “grossly understaffed,” said a former Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) executive member, which is the group that acts as a liaison between the Athletic Department administrators and student-athletes.
“You have all these athletes who are dealing with orthopedic injuries, seeking rehab at off-campus places because they can’t get the individualized attention that they need in the training room because we don’t have enough eyes,” they said.
It’s an issue that has major consequences for teams and individual athletes, like distance runner Griffin Walsh. After experiencing discomfort that
“I feel like I got the care that I needed in the sense that I was given exercises when everything was going well,” Walsh said. “But I could definitely feel the effects of there being three full-time trainers and 500 plus student-athletes. With a sport where injuries, especially this year, were pretty common, to not have the full attention that you need can be a little frustrating.”
In a training room that Walsh described as “hard to get on the radar,” athletes have improvised. Members from the soccer team have taped each others’ ankles before games. If a player is injured during practice, it’s up to their teammates to take their shoes off and run the stairs down to the training room to get help. Sometimes, they get down to the bottom floor of the AC to get the message that a trainer is busy with another athlete or isn’t there at all. And during away travel, there often isn’t sufficient staff to travel with the team.
“We’ve had to travel without a trainer, which is always tough,” said SAAC Health and Wellness chair and women’s soccer player Ellie Brauner. “People have very specific needs for their injuries that aren’t being met. And it’s difficult to transition that to another team’s training room — like, there’s only so much they can do and what they understand about us individually.”
Across the board, athletes acknowledged the time and effort of the athletic trainers, pointing out
SEE TRAINERS PAGE 7
Climate change is as much of a mental health crisis as it is a technical challenge and political problem. The idea that our lifestyles are poisoning our universe's only oasis of life is profoundly disturbing. Even more distressing is how humanity's response is like the proverbial frog in boiling water – simply acclimating to an increasingly dangerous environment until its complacency becomes a death sentence.
Gen Z, more so than any other generation, grew up understanding this reality. This understanding
turns into paradoxical emotions: guilt and pride, fear and hope, cynicism and trust.
WashU students are not immune to this stress, and feelings of helplessness and anxiety about climate change can be found throughout the university, including amongst those who don’t necessarily consider themselves environmentalists.
"It's kind of hard to feel hopeful," said first-year Dominique Bradshaw.
"[There's] virtually nothing you can do just on an individual basis," senior Nat Hall concurred. "[Climate change] just feels like such a big problem. All the headlines are
like 'sorry, it's already irreversible.'
It's also not super reassuring that so many WashU students, who are theoretically being taught to be the leaders of the future, are also kind of pessimistic about it."
So, what do people do with those feelings? Some students shared their coping mechanisms.
Sophomore Caroline Fong said, "I compartmentalize. Sometimes you can't focus on it all the time and I think that's okay."
Others take a different approach.
"Dark humor at times. The other day I was joking with my friends like 'oh, Florida's going to be underwater in 20 years,' said senior Will Hutson.
Yet, not everyone has succumbed to feelings of helplessness. Some students cope by turning their climate anxiety into action by working on positive community projects.
Senior Hannah Hirsch advised, "Look in front of you and do what you can. I love helping run SWAP, a free student-run thrift store. I love helping save people time and money, and saving waste from landfills. I can see my work directly impacting my community and making people happy. It's impossible to visualize the global effects of climate change, but you can get involved in your community."
Several students noted how
difficult it is to conceptualize climate change. As sophomore Eli Perlin said, "Climate change isn't this tangible thing you can always look at. It's this slow process that will cause future bad consequences if we don't change our actions."
Several other students commented on this "back of the mind anxiety," as sophomore Olivia Garman coined it. "It's not something I think about on a daily basis, but it comes to the forefront whenever you read about forest fires or floods. It’s something that we’ve grown up with. We don’t know a world without climate change – it’s
SEE CLIMATE, PAGE 2
CLIMATE from page 1
just part of your worldview.”
Climate change as a part of one’s worldview encapsulated the understanding that climate change is not a lone event. It won't happen at a particular time and place. Rather, climate change is a context. It's a "back of the mind"
understanding that every year will likely be hotter than the previous, a faint feeling of a future dramatically different from today.
"I'm from Georgia and I love snow," said sophomore Jamie Kornheiser. "We don't get a lot of it, but I feel like it's been even less as I've gotten
older…It’s a tiny example, but it makes me think about how the world is heating up so much that people won’t experience different seasons."
Within the greater context of overarching issues of climate change, small actions like recycling or
using paper straws feels futile or even silly.
Maybe it is silly. "But I'll still compost my cup, shit," laughed senior Trey Rudolph–a light moment amidst a sobering conversation. But a pearl of truth lies within every joke, and Trey's comment
suggested a way of managing some of the anxiety surrounding one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.
Composting a cup may seem insignificant, but it represents a conscious choice to make a difference, no matter how small. It's a
reminder that there are ways to turn anxiety into action.
As Trey said, "Even if it feels like it's not doing much [I'll still compost], because if everyone thought that, then no one would do anything about climate change. We have to model the life we want everyone to live."
ALIANA MEDIRATTA JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR
As part of a lineup of events for National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) week, Washington University club Embody hosted a dietician and an eating disorder therapist to discuss eating habits in college, continuing with their mission to spread knowledge about eating disorders and promote body inclusivity, Apr. 20.
Throughout the event, panelists explained that college students are uniquely susceptible to disordered eating because of diet culture, social media, and lack of food accessibility. To combat these issues, they urged students not to compare themselves to other people and to reframe their mental narrative surrounding eating habits.
Embody regularly hosts meetings where students can discuss eating disorders, promote body inclusivity, and challenge fatphobia.
The group hosted therapist Lily Pernoud, a licensed professional counselor with over ten years experience in working with individuals who have eating disorders and a board member for the St. Louis International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and Heidi Williams, a registered dietician and certified personal trainer who helps people with their food and exercise habits without promoting diet culture.
The panelists discussed food accessibility on campus, which aligns with Embody’s goals to create a safer environment for students who struggle with disordered eating.
“How do food availability and pricing in college impact those with eating disorders or contribute to the development of an eating disorder?” Anaïs Beauvais, co-President of Embody, asked.
Pernoud talked about the impact that financial strain can have on students’ eating habits.
“Socioeconomic status plays a major role in food in terms of your access to a range of foods or quality of foods,” Pernoud said. “That's what's really devastating: can I afford to buy food that's healthy for my body?”
Williams brought up how food access can connect to harmful diet culture rhetoric.
“There’s all these messages
about food, feeling like you have to eat clean,” Williams said. “If people feel they don't have access to that food, if they feel like they can’t get an organic kale salad and the only option is chicken fingers and fries, they might not eat anything.”
Williams stated that it is important to look past the unhealthy messaging that many students receive before coming to college which tells them not to gain weight.
“You were a teenager when you graduated high school,” Williams said. “You're not going to look the same that you did in high school as you go through college, you are growing into an adult body. People say don't gain the Freshman 15 in college, but you are gaining weight because you're supposed to be.”
Williams went on to say that the average onset age for eating disorders to begin is 18 to 21, which aligns with the age of the majority of college students.
In order to counteract the messaging that students are receiving, Williams recommended not going on a diet and not comparing yourself to social media influencers, or their food and
exercise habits.
“If every single one of us did the exact same workout, we would all still look different,” Williams said. “So that's the problem when we get into those comparisons stages, where we look at someone who has a certain body type and they’re saying you can eat this and look like me.”
A student asked the panelists how to effectively continue their eating disorder recovery as someone with food allergies that require them to check the label of foods, which contain calorie counts and other potential triggering information.
In addition to discussing potential alternatives, such as preparing food at home before coming to campus, Pernoud also talked about reframing the narrative about seeing that information.
“Instead of letting the eating disorder voice come in and manipulate you to say, here's what I shouldn’t have,” Pernoud said, “Let your restored and authentic voice say, what is going to give me the nutrition I need? What's going to allow my body to do the things that I need to do in my life, like go to school and have friends, exercise, and play my instrument?”
She said that it is important to try to reframe harmful thoughts about food.
“There are certain things that we just can't change about food, it is what it is,” Pernoud said. “So how can you change your perception, your experience of food, and how you're relating emotionally and cognitively?”
After being asked about the pandemic, Williams spoke about how the global crisis caused an uptick in eating disorders as many felt the strain of constant anxiety.
“A lot of the time a catalyst to an eating disorder is that sense of feeling out of control,” Williams said. “That's what was happening during the pandemic, nobody knew what was going on, it was like, what’s happening, how do I deal with this? Oftentimes, eating disorders become an unhealthy coping skill, whether it is restricting [food intake] or chronic over-exercising.”
The panel also talked about how eating disorders can interact with other interpersonal dynamics in sex and relationships, which Pernoud has experience in as a couples therapist.
“There's a lot of overlap between sexual issues and
eating disorders,” Pernoud said, “both are considered somatic issues, just meaning bodily or physical issues. When you're nutritionally depleted, a lot happens to your body to try to compensate for that and when you have sexual issues compounding the eating disorder, then you'll see that in your sexual life too.”
Pernoud also explained that experiencing sexual violence can be the catalyst to an eating disorder, or make an already existing issue worse.
“A lot of people, when they suffer from sexual traumas or assaults,” Pernoud said, “will do things to try to minimize their secondary sex characteristics or want to lose weight to become smaller and look invisible so they don't attract attention.”
The panelists spoke about how the dynamic of a relationship can be changed when someone in the relationship has an eating disorder.
“A lot of the time, the person who does not have an eating disorder will come in and try to be the dictator of their relationship,” Williams said. “That can cause resentment in the relationship because it feels like there's a power dynamic where one
person is controlling the other and the person with the disorder feels like this is their entire identity.”
As the panel concluded, Beauvais spoke briefly about more events the group has planned for their awareness week, including a NEDA walk. In an interview with Student Life, she explained that the group, previously known as Reflections, has shifted their mindset around eating disorders.
“We've kind of shifted to more of a body neutrality and body inclusivity framework as opposed to a body positivity framework after recognizing some of the shortcomings of that kind of model,” Beauvais said.
Embody hopes to have a more direct impact on the culture surrounding food at WashU by engaging in more advocacy.
“We've been particularly interested in advocating for change around the meal plan and diet culture on campus,” Beauvais said, “as well as more resources, like more information about eating disorders during freshman orientation. We would love to have students join us, having a diversity of perspectives is really important to us.”
Staff Awards were nominated and voted on by students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Numerous recipients — including Dr. Megan Daschbach, a professor of General Chemistry and a recipient of an award for natural sciences — expressed in their acceptance speeches their appreciation for the awards being based on student voting.
STARS program, expressed his enthusiasm for Annie Kelly, an Assistant Director in the Taylor Family Center for Student Success.
“She made me feel like I have a family here,” Lee said. “If anyone deserves an award for knowing people’s names and stories, it’s her.”
a catered meal. Many former students congratulated their professors, with several taking pictures, sharing memories from classes, and sharing plans for the summer and beyond.
from the event, in the order of when the awards were presented, is as follows:
Mathematics — Professor Karl Schaefer and Professor Abigail Jager
April 19, over 100 members of the Arts & Sciences community gathered in Umrath Lounge for the Arts & Sciences Council’s annual Faculty and Staff Award Ceremony.
The event acknowledges professors in mathematics, social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and the College Writing program. Employees of the University, including an administrator and a dining-staff member, were also recognized. Winners of Faculty and
“Anytime anyone recognizes your teaching, it’s extraordinary,” Daschbach said. “But when it comes from the students, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Many students and community members in attendance reciprocated their professors’ gratitude, cheering loudly when their awards were announced. Richard Lee, a student in the Deneb
Lee was joined in his whooping cheers for Kelly by Dr. Sabrina Brown, the director of the Deneb STARS program.
“We are so glad that [Kelly] is able to have this experience,” Brown said. “You hear that you are doing good work, but sometimes it’s a thankless job, so we’re glad that the college has something like this for faculty.”
After the event, community members and award winners chatted over
Marisa Nafso, a firstyear student studying biology, said she came to the event to support Professors Daschbach and Richard Loomis; the latter taught a separate section of General Chemistry and also won an award in natural sciences.
“It was amazing to see the mutual appreciation between students and professors,” Nafso said after the event. “In such a large school, it can be hard for students to show their appreciation, and this was a great way for students to do that.”
The full list of winners
Social Sciences — Professor Emily Cohen-Shikora and Professor David Strait
Humanities — Professor Trevor Sangrey, Professor Ignacio Sanchez Prado, and Professor Jami Ake
Natural Sciences — Professor Megan Daschbach, Professor Richard Loomis, and Professor Jen Smith College Writing — Professor Kasey Grady and Professor Colin Bassett
Employees — Assistant Director of Student Success Annie Kelly, Senior Assistant Dean Matthew DeVoll, and Paws & Go Cashier Dorothy Chandler
Léna Blou, choreographer, dancer, and educator, paid a visit to Washington University to give a class on the Guadeloupean Gwo-ka dance and a lecture titled “Performing the Political,” leaving encouraging remarks for students who love dancing to continue their artistic pursuit, April 19.
Blou, recipient of the French Legion of Honor, holds a Ph.D. in the anthropology of dance. She collaborated with many of the greatest dancers worldwide and undertook a didactic analysis of Gwo-ka dances and the emergence of the concept “Bigidi” and the technique “Techni’ka.” Her visit was sponsored by the University’s French Connexions and the Performing Arts Department.
During the class in the morning, around thirty dancers of different levels were shown the background of the Gwo-ka dance and its techniques.
“We reserved some time for discussing the culture, the history, and a bit of the context about what Gwo-ka is,” Blou said. “I immersed them in the technique of Gwo-ka, or what I call the ‘Techni’ ka,’ and at the same time, I let them experience the philosophy of Bigidi, which is one of resistance and of the ability to adapt.”
“Techni’ka is very complex because it demands skills in conversation with timing, music, space and the body,” according to Blou said. “One must also learn to improvise because it’s a dance of improvisation.”
Music is also an indispensable part of the Gwo-ka dance traditions.
“In Gwo-ka, there are
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musicians, and there are dancers, and there is a relationship between the two,” Blou said. As tambours used as accompaniment for the dance were not available, Blou asked the students to create music “with their bodies and their mouths.”
Reflecting upon the class, Blou expressed her contentment with its success and how much interest the dancers have shown in the Gwo-ka dance.
“The frustration for me was that I did not leave enough time to let them explore and invent a dance by themselves from this technique,” Blou said. “Deep down, they are passionate about dance — the avidity and the thirst for learning of the students in the classroom were felt and seen.”
“These dancers were mentally prepared to take on the difficulty, to sweat, and to learn new things,” Blou said.
“The practice questions and challenges the dancers, and sometimes destabilizes them, yet I think [the destabilization] is necessary for learning.”
The concept of “destabilization,” relevant to “Bigidi,” is central to Blou’s research on the Caribbean dance traditions, presented in the English-French bilingual lecture she gave in the afternoon.
Professor Lionel Cuillé of French Connexions introduced her to the audience, made up of students who are interested in dance and the French language. Blou started the lecture with a video detailing the philosophy and the style of the Gwo-ka dance stemming from the particular historical situation of Guadeloupe.
“I dodge. I anticipate. I adapt myself to the mutations of an archipelago in the making, where nothing has
yet to have a definite place,” her voice in the video narrated. “For us Guadeloupeans, [Bigidi] is encoded in the dance.”
Following the video, Blou discussed the inspirational foundation of her coinage of the “Bigidi” concept.
According to Blou, “Bigidi” is defined as a reference to “disequilibrium, swerving, feinting, the unpredictability of gesture, physical instability, and an inconsistent and unexpected body state.”
She reminisced about how her mother has always advised her to be cautious in the streets, using the expression “Bigidi, mais pas tombé,” a rhyming phrase in Guadeloupean Creole French roughly translating to “Bigidi, but not yet fallen.”
“Many times my dancers have almost fallen while dancing, but they have never touched the floor,” Blou said.
“The body of a Guadeloupean dancer is strongly predisposed to imbalance.”
As a consequence of the slave trade, the constant threats of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes, and the racialized socioeconomic relations, Caribbean dance traditions in general feature references to “chaos, rupture, and adaptation.”
“The strategy of Bigidi was invented by my ancestors from Africa — it is a form of life force against slavery in the Americas, which has been a total chaos for African and Amerindian people,” Blou said. “Bigidi is the stability born out of chaos.”
“Each person of the Caribbeans knows a Bigidi,” Blou added. “We Caribbean people have the experiences and the resolution inside ourselves to affront the difficulties of life, with our ‘dance of life.’”
“My ancestors used the dance as knowledge — it is the vision of my people towards the world,” Blou said. Years of research have brought her the firm conviction that the Gwo-ka dance can “influence the aesthetic of other dances, globally.”
“Our life is a dance,” Blou concluded. “It traverses time, so that the movement upholds the wrinkle of history, so that the body’s memories do not fade away.”
After the lecture, Bihotza James-Lejarcegui, a senior majoring in Global Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, minoring in French, and head choreographer of the University’s salsa dance team, WU Sauce, said that Blou’s visit was “inspiring” for her and that Blou’s discourse connects to her past research on traditional dances in Cameroon and Senegal.
“When I was learning about West African traditional dances and how they have prevailed through colonization, [I realized that] the root of it is storytelling,” James-Lejarcegui commented, emphasizing the “emotional and ancestral ties” she was able to see in Blou’s pedagogical approach.
“It’s a way of expressing oneself, of identifying with each other and with one’s culture — and that’s something often lost in the dance forms that we see in Western societies today,” James-Lejarcegui added.
Upon her return to Chicago, Blou left a few words of encouragement for the University’s dancers, telling them to embrace dance no matter how much their academic and professional life requires of them.
“In our current educational system, an
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individual can lose one’s consciousness, the totality of one’s being, because of the pressure, and sometimes there are consequences, ones that fragilizes, leading to suicides, depressions, abandonments,” Blou commented. “Dancing, as a result, not only allows us to find pleasure, to reconnect with our body, but it also allows us to discover that we are resourceful, capable, and when we produce, create something with our body; it means that we are capable enough to bring forth a variety of beautiful things to the fullest extent.
Social trends categorize people by assigning us roles to play that never resemble our true identities, according to Blou. “Dance, in turn, allows us to understand and recognize who we truly are, profoundly — it is a miraculous weapon that affronts the difficulties of life,” Blou said.
“I advise my students that, even if it’s only for five seconds, even if it’s dancing alone in their room, they should really put on that music and dance,” Blou said.
In addition, she also emphasized the necessity to study the arts in general.
“To study the arts is to understand humanity — art is the only medium that brings humans closer to each other,” Blou said. “It is a way to protect and support ourselves, no matter whether it is to put the music on, to read a poem, or to look at the painting of nature.”
“There is a spiritual side to arts, perhaps — it is to bring back the very simple things, which are the strength of life. Each one of our serene evenings, waking up in the morning, taking a stroll, and even breathing — we forgot how it is already a grace,” Blou concluded.
Sarah Huff
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Sales Manager huffs@studlife.comWhen Washington University opened the new East End of campus, it was hailed for its commitment to accessibility. The new buildings all had large, street level entrances, automatic doors not only for exterior doors but inside as well, and large centrally located elevators. However, for many disabled students, there remains much room for improvement on the rest of campus.
Jayne Crouthamel, a sophomore with visual and physical disabilities, explained that while she is able to work with professors to get the accommodations she needs for classes, other aspects of college — such as navigating WashU’s vast campus — remain very challenging. Although shuttles are offered for disabled students who need them, the current system is often inadequate and unreliable.
“I had a class in Steinberg [last spring], they dropped me off at the inaccessible entrance and I had to carry my bag up a bunch of stairs,” Crouthamel said. “When I told them there was an accessible entrance they said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ and kept taking me to the same entrance.”
Furthermore, many buildings lack elevators or require disabled students to take circuitous routes to their classrooms. Some, such as the Women’s Building, have
no accessible entrances at all.
“There’s always those few [buildings] where the elevator is tucked [in the] back, the accessible entrance is not super visible, or there are some where I’ve noticed a couple buildings where they’re accessible [only] when you get past a couple of steps,” Crouthamel explained. “I have a big roller backpack, I can do four steps, but I know there are some people who can’t even do four steps, so that makes that building completely inaccessible to them.”
A major problem for disabled students attempting to navigate campus is that the vast majority of buildings on campus predate the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act — known as the ADA — which mandates that new buildings meet certain standards to accommodate disabled people. Old buildings like the Women’s Building or Cupples I are allowed to remain partially or wholly inaccessible to disabled students because they predate the ADA. This loophole allows WashU’s campus to be considered fully ADA compliant, despite obvious problems with accessibility.
“It always seems like [WashU says] ‘Oh it’s ADA compliant,’” Crouthamel said, “okay cool, we did the bare minimum.” Crouthamel is a member of the disability-advocacy group Ability, which has been conducting their own evaluations of campus buildings. “We have this thing called CHECs,” Crouthamel
explained, “we go around and look at the different buildings, we have a whole list, and we determine how accessible or inaccessible buildings are based off of that.”
The reports consider features like proper signage, the condition of pathways and whether accessibility features are not only present but actually usable for disabled students. For example the report for Seigle Hall found that the elevator is too small for a student in a wheelchair to turn around, which would make operating the elevator a challenge.
Another common problem is that ramps throughout campus tend to be designed in such a way that are ADA compliant, but not actually accessible for most disabled students. Crouthamel highlighted the ramp between Shepley Drive and BD as particularly problematic: “That ramp, I’ve gotten used to it, but when I was a freshman it definitely took a couple of months, I definitely tripped a few times.”
A similar issue arises for disabled students attempting to travel from the East End back to main campus.
For students like senior Angela Gormley, who has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS, the incline on the paths that flank Brookings Hall are too steep, which requires her to take an incredibly long and complicated detour. When standing up for long periods of time, she often will get light headed and sometimes can even pass out, which is why
she often uses a wheelchair. “I have to go in through the bottom of Rudolph, take the elevator up, go out the back and into Crow, go through Crow, go into Lopata, go up a ramp that I’m not sure is legal, then take an elevator up one floor, take a ramp down into Cupples II, then go through Cupples II and take an elevator a floor, then go out of Cupples II,” Gormley said.
This route adds twenty minutes to her route, just to get up the hill. With a wheelchair, even the pathways themselves can be an obstacle. Areas like Brookings quad are paved with uneven stone paths, which makes it a nightmare for her.
“Brookings is all cobblestone, so it’s always a fun time,” Gormley said. “One time there was an outdoor class that was meeting at the time that I always had to go to class, so they’d be trying to have a conversation and my wheelchair would just be making the sound of luggage going on a bumpy path.”
Gormley is able to drive to and from campus, but that presents its own difficulties.
“Probably the biggest hurdle for me is parking,” she said, “WashU might have the right number of accessible parking spots, but the issue is that even if you have your state issued disabled parking placard, you still have to pay to park in accessible parking.”
For someone who drives to campus often, those parking costs add up quickly. “It’s fifty dollars a week just to
go to class with your mobility aid,” Gormley said. She also finds the shuttle service to be severely lacking: “It’s really hard to be told that your only option is this one shuttle that is shared between all the students on campus when they need it, and if you call it after someone else, you’re going to be late to class.”
Students have raised their concerns about campus accessibility with Disability Resources, but have found Disability Resources to be poorly equipped to deal with these types of problems. Students believe that this is in part due to a lack of staffing: During the pandemic, Disability Resources staff dwindled to just two full time employees. Dr. Chris Stone, the director of Disability Resources agreed that while the Disability Resources staff has grown to six employees and will be growing further soon, student concerns about staffing aren’t unfounded:
“Is there potential that we would take more staff and we would utilize them effectively? Sure,” Stone said, “I’m not going to say that we don’t need the staff. But I don’t think it’s a critical thing.”
However, Stone explained that part of the issue is that Disability Resources isn’t actually responsible for fixing issues with parking or campus buildings.
“The main purpose [of Disability Resources] is that we ensure the University is [legally] protected,” Stone said, “that’s not a negative thing, that’s not to say we
aren’t student centered, but our role is to ensure the University is doing what it is required to do.”
The issues raised by students are matters that should be handled by Parking or Facilities. However, these departments do not regularly interact with students the way Disability Resources does, making communication difficult. Furthermore, WashU has no legal obligation to fix these issues, since they don’t involve ADA compliance, and Stone explained that it is unlikely to see inaccessible spaces be addressed until the building in question is being torn down or renovated.
While Disability Resources is consulted on these projects, they do not have a say in what is prioritized. “We give feedback,” Stone said, “we have a chance to respond to [facilities projects], but we are not the driving force.”
But to students, this approach seems backwards, arguing that improving accessibility will help everyone. “It’s called the ‘Curb-Cut Effect,’” Gormley said, referencing the small ramps on sidewalks that lower the curb to street level at crosswalks. Despite being originally designed for disabled people, a far broader array of people have benefitted: “People who have strollers, people who are biking, people who are carrying something heavy,” Gormley said, “now, everyone ends up appreciating it.
Caroline Cary, a first-year at Washington University in St. Louis’ School of Medicine, decided to go to medical school because of her passion for obstetrics and gynecology. She was especially interested in the social justice and advocacy facet of reproductive healthcare. Yet four days after she committed to the medical school, Cary caught wind of a new decision coming from Washington, D.C.
That day, May 2, 2022, the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked which, once official, effectively overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which recognized the constitutional right to abortion. The decision also allowed individual states to regulate or outlaw abortions, and shortly after the decision was released, Missouri’s trigger ban went into place, prohibiting all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.
ision impacted Cary before she even entered the School of Medicine.
“I was devastated,” she said. “Some of the medical schools I was considering are in states where abortion is still legal.” When considering her choice of medical school, Cary claimed that the Dobbs decision may have had an influence. Had she known she would be “attending
medical school in a state that would strip away its citizens’ reproductive rights,” Cary explained, “my decision to come to WashU would have been much more difficult.”
Cary certainly isn’t the only one the Dobbs decision impacted. It has left people with significant barriers to reproductive healthcare and has increased maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in states with abortion bans. As a university located in Missouri, WashU students also face these barriers. Students can access abortions at one of the clinics across the river in Illinois, but this transportation costs money and time.
Missouri’s healthcare restrictions have not stopped at an abortion ban. A bill in the Missouri Legislature (SB 160) is trying to defund Planned Parenthood and further restrict access to reproductive healthcare for people on Medicaid, including STD testing and contraception. Recently, the Attorney General approved a bill that significantly restricts gender-affirming care. The sexual and reproductive healthcare impacts in a postDobbs world are quickly expanding.
One of the impacts that hasn’t necessarily been making headlines in the same way as the total abortion bans is the way this shift in legislation will affect medical school students. When Cary found out that her medical school was in a state without
abortion access, she had to both consider her own access to reproductive care and how these healthcare restrictions may affect her education. Thus, her experience raises the question: are medical students in Missouri and other states with similar bans facing a hindrance in their education and futures as physicians?
Both Cary and medical student Paula Valiño are interested in becoming OB/GYN (Obstetrics & Gynecology) residents. They are also co-leaders of the Washington University in St. Louis chapter of Medical Students for Choice (MSFC), an international nonprofit organization which works to ensure that all medical students receive comprehensive reproductive medical care education, including information on abortion. Its 220 chapters around the world organize to ensure their schools are providing reproductive healthcare education.
BY TUESDAY HADDENAs part of her pursuit to become an OB/GYN, Cary had planned on shadowing in an abortion clinic during medical school, an opportunity she explained as “highly limited” after the Supreme Court decision.
Nine states in the South have implemented full abortion bans and Georgia has a six-week ban, leaving thousands flooding to Illinois for abortions.
“From my understanding,” Cary said, “the clinics nearby in Illinois are now very overwhelmed and have lower capacity to host medical students.”
Medical students studying in states with reproductive care restrictions are facing similar barriers to their healthcare education. Past their pre-clinical education, medical students now have to consider what will happen as they move on to the graduate phase of medical school where they work as certified physicians as OB/GYN residents. For example, a
study published this week by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that post-Dobbs decision, there was a 10.5% decrease in U.S. medical student senior applicants to OB/GYN residency in states with full abortion bans.
These difficult decisions aren’t limited to students studying reproductive health care.
“We not only have to consider whether we’ll be able to provide the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare to patients, but students applying to residency in all specialties will also have to weigh whether they – and their partners – will be able to access comprehensive family planning services during the three to seven years of residency,” she said.
Sitting idly is not an option, and both Cary and Valiño have poured their efforts into reproductive justice organizations. Valiño emphasized how one of the central tenets of WashU’s Medical Students for Choice is spreading and ensuring that all people have access to comprehensive reproductive health education. As part of this effort, the group leads family planning procedure workshops and training.
“We take what we are learning in school and see where we can add to it through our events,” Valiño said. For example, Valiño explained the events they are planning now include “IUD insertion and no-scalpel vasectomy, as
well as talks about culturallyinformed care in the context of STIs and sexual violence.”
Cary also shared that the chapter is collaborating with medical school faculty to support a comprehensive family planning education curriculum.
WashU’s MSFC chapter is also working in collaboration with other community and non-medical groups, hosting events that are co-sponsored by partner organizations, such as WashU’s LGBTQmed and the American Medical Women’s Association. Valiño emphasized how these partnerships display how reproductive justice issues go “beyond abortion,” creating opportunities so “many of us can agree to work together.”
Post-Dobbs decision, WashU Medical Students for Choice’s work has grown more focused on advocacy.
“There is a greater community focus on lobbying and canvassing, which MSFC hopes to stay involved with,” Valiño said. “I feel like MSFC’s advocacy has greatly expanded in my few months with the group, and I am excited to see where it goes.”
Read the rest online:
St. Louis is home to a vibrant community of pole dancers, and every dancer has their own story. While the pole dance community proudly owns and celebrates sex work as a facet of their story, it also expands well beyond this scope. Whether it be belonging, challenge, exercise, or serendipity, each individual was initially drawn to pole dance for a different reason. But, what stays constant for many is the way that this community builds radical acceptance, healing, and a sense of home no matter who shows up to class. Here, we explore the stories of 3 pole dancers at Washington University:
“It’s a lot of mental work to get your body to do things it has never done and to trust your body to do the things you know it can do but your mind is holding you back from. They’re very strong people and very dedicated people. They deserve the utmost respect.” -
Tiana
“I have a much deeper respect for it [now] and the people who do pole because I feel like it makes you very physically strong. There are things people can do in class that I can’t do. And it transcends race or age; like there’s someone in my class who just turned 70 who can do a handstand, and I still struggle as a 30 year-old and I’m just like, dang! It’s such a safe community I didn’t know existed.” -
Fay Hwang“I found it extremely intimidating to even look at myself in the mirror and practice sexy moves, ashamed even, especially with more confident classmates present. For weeks I felt like a fish out of water and completely exposed. Today, I truly feel that both physically and mentally, I’m the strongest I’ve ever been because of pole.” - Fay Hwang
“It’s everything that I’ve wanted. I have my good job that pays me everything I need to live, and everything I need for recreation. I have a community that’s absolutely phenomenal. I have nothing bad to say about anything I have shared a stage with. Nothing bad to say, great performers, great people. Now, I’m able to express myself without rules.”
- Shmuel Tentzer
Ebenezer Scrooge. Terry
Crews’ character from “Everybody Hates Chris.” Mr. Krabs. On their face, these characters are Cheapskate Embodied, whether that’s rooted in frugality, their miser nature, or pure greed. However, to me, they also embody a kind of male cost-consciousness mythos that has stood out to me both in media and in my own life: the Male Shopper.
At its extremes, the Male Shopper looks like a greedy animated crab with a pirate’s laugh; in everyday life, it’s closer to Steve Carrell’s character in “Crazy Stupid
Love,” the archetypal Dad
Who Bought Three Pairs
Of Good Jeans In 1990 And Never Looked Back. It’s an inclination toward saving, a reluctance toward spending, and when spending, it’s the vigor with which quality and longevity are considered. It’s “buy cheap, buy twice”; it’s “we have food at home.”
There’s nothing masculine about being penny-wise, but the first paragraph of this article would have taken me
twice as long to write if I had challenged myself to think of woman scrooges. (You try it: name three. I’ll wait.) In the cultural imagination, frugality is tied up in a simple apathy for aesthetics, a placement of function over fashion. There’s a sense that to buy something that will last, you have to sacrifice style; that if you’re not consuming on the regular, you must not have a sense of style to maintain.
It’s no surprise that spending intentionally is gendered, when people who present as feminine are expected to be aesthetically pleasing as a rule, at any cost. I have spent a lifetime of rage on blatantly and unintentionally sheer white shirts, strapless pieces with no support to keep them up, and of course, the plight of the pocketless pants. Why should the mainstream market for women’s clothing prioritize comfort, longevity, versatility, basic functionality? You’ll buy it anyway. It’s pretty.
Men’s clothing brands, on the other hand, while not necessarily always being better quality, at the very least market toward and value the appearance of comfort,
durability, and functional efficiency. A 2012 Lee commercial reminds viewers that “Guys don’t spend more on jeans than women do. Guys don’t settle for less than a comfortable fit. When guys wear Lee,” the voiceover assures, “they don’t have to settle at all. Lee gets guys. That’s why guys get Lee.” You may have seen the machismo in Duluth Trading Company’s advertisements for workwear and underwear on the basis of comfort alone, gruff voiceover and all. And while it’s not men’s clothing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the masculine swing of hyper-economic grooming products, like a recent Old Spice commercial for 2-in-1 “Gentlemen’s Blend” shampoo and conditioner, tagline: “Men Have Hair Too.”
It’s not that women’s clothes aren’t ever expected to be comfortable, but there’s a sense that a brand can get away with discomfort for women’s fare. The Female Shopper isn’t expected to check the stitching, to feel for the quality of a material, to try it on in the dressing room not only for fit but for
function. And if she does, it seems fast fashion giants and mainstream ready-to-wear clothing companies have done the math and determined that a failed function assessment will not preclude an eventual sale, if the aesthetic is right. In fact, it’ll guarantee more and more future sales, as itchy sweaters are tossed to the side and flimsy dresses float to the back of the wardrobe.
I’m not a minimalist, not by any stretch. You don’t have to sacrifice style to spend less and more intentionally, because style is not predicated on quantity. The fashion-function dilemma is manufactured — it’s lucrative to believe that the key to developing your style is to buy more rather than buy better.
Shopping like a man isn’t about turning your wardrobe into a cost-benefit analysis. It’s about reminding yourself (as I often must, as a habitual filler and abandoner of online shopping carts) that clothes aren’t just things to look good in, but things to feel good in, hopefully for a long time. Our corporate overlords have deemed this to be a masculine trait, and I’m leaning in, hard.
ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN
I won’t say things aren’t changing. Brands like Culprit are now leaning into selling “LadyBoxers,” splashing ads across YouTube: “Let’s face it: guys boxers are the best, but they’re not made for women,” the wine-drunk spokesperson dishes. “Ladies, isn’t it time we got our own boxers?” Shopping in the men’s section, or whatever section will get you good quality and deep pockets, is more common than ever. The rise of dadcore gives me particular hope, even as fast fashion churns out thin, cheap mockups. But if the contents of my
First place
WashU’s Giving Day raises enough money to fund advertising campaign for 2024’s Giving Day Caleb Martonfi | Current WashU student
Second place
People with Platinum meal plan after buying all their friends Ibby’s Oscar Waldman | Current WashU student
Third place
Rejected WUSTL fundraising campaign logo #7 Laura Meckler | WashU alum
“GIVING DAY” | COMIC BY ELLE SU
abandoned shopping cart are any indication, we have a long way to go. So when it comes to fake pockets and see-through white shirts — when it comes to advertising that’s all aesthetic and no substance, when it comes to brands who don’t care to invest in clothing that’s comfortable to wear — I’m pinching my pennies. I won’t sacrifice my style and I won’t buy what won’t last. In the absence of woman scrooges, I’m picking up the mantle. (That’s one name you can add to the list: I’m still waiting on two more.)
ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS
The semester’s wrapping up, and at this point, you probably have a good idea if you’re spending the summer in St. Louis. While you may be expecting swelteringly hot and mind-numbingly boring days in your future, fear not! You’ll find plenty of fun activities to keep yourself busy. Here are some of our favorites:
Located downtown, PrideFest STL is a two-day event on June 24 and 25 beginning at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., until 6 p.m. It is one of the Midwest’s biggest pride events with over 300,000 attendees each year. This year’s celebration will include festivities such as a DJ and a dance area, a vendor fair with local artists, food courts, and the parade itself. The annual Grand Pride Parade, a march in support of the LGBTQ+ community, will be on Sunday and span down Market Street, overlooking the Arch. Especially during a time in which LGBTQ+ rights are being fervently attacked by the Missouri Legislature, with currently 48 anti-LGBTQ bills, it is more important than ever to stand in support of and solidarity with the LGBTQ+
community in St. Louis, the entire state of Missouri, and every place where these rights are being threatened. Despite these dark times, the festival will be celebratory and fun, embracing community, diversity, and pride!
— Sylvie Richards, Senior Forum EditorThe MUNY
The MUNY is the oldest and biggest outdoor musical theater in the country, and for every show, they give away 1,400 seats for free! The free seats are given out on a firstcome, first-served basis, so get there early. This summer, shows include “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” “Chess,” “West Side Story,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Rent,” and “Sister Act.”
— Amelia Raden, Junior Forum EditorMissouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden is an incredible place to go for a stroll, spend time with friends, and enjoy the outdoors. This summer, along with normal garden hours, visitors can see the Chihuly in the Garden art and nature installation. People 21 and
Staff editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the junior and senior staff.
Editor-in-Chief: Via Poolos
over can also participate in events like Grapes in the Garden, where they can enjoy wine and live music with a view of beautiful flowers.
— Jordan Spector, Junior Forum Editor
St. Louis Cardinals Games
Full confession –– I saw my very first Cardinals game after over three years at WashU. But now I’m hooked. The season stretches through the summer and is a great way to sit in the sun, chat with friends, (or go solo!) and enjoy baseball’s attempts to entertain you. Caramel popcorn? Delicious! Dance Cam? Hilarious. Fireworks when the Cardinals score? A little startling, but festive. With the new pitch clock, the games last only about 2.5 hours, ending right when you’re about to get bored. Oh, and the baseball is okay, too.
— Via Poolos, Editor-inChief
Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery
Quickly acquiring a line on hot afternoons, Clementine’s Naughty or Nice Creamery is well worth the wait. Located on De Mun Avenue, the small-batch, hand-crafted ice cream shop’s
Managing Forum Editor: Reilly Brady
Managing Chief of Copy: Ved Patel
Senior Forum Editors: Sylvie Richards and Jasmine Stone
Junior Forum Editors: Jordan Spector and Amelia Raden Senior Photo Editor: Elle Su
flavors are rich, luxurious, and suited to various customer preferences. Flavor offerings change regularly, but guests 21 and over often enjoy alcohol-infused, “Naughty” options in beloved staples like Maple Bourbon and Boozy Banana Rum, in addition to “Nice,” alcohol-free classics like Honey Lavender and Salted Crack Caramel. Clementine’s also offers various vegan and non-dairy flavors, and alcohol-infused options are available with dietary restrictions (Pink Champagne sorbet is a must!) So whether you’re in the mood for sorbet or ice cream, a treat naughty or nice, Clementine’s is sure to have something for everyone!
— Jasmine Stone, Senior Forum Editor
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
While as a self-proclaimed ice cream connoisseur I recommend both Clementine’s and Jeni’s, one factor stands out in my mind as particularly enticing during the summer months — indoor seating. The Jeni’s on N. Euclid Avenue in Central West End provides the option to eat your ice cream in an airconditioned place, especially appealing in the swampy
misery that is St. Louis summertime heat where both you and your ice cream might melt in just a few seconds of being outside. But even without that factor, the ice cream itself is refreshing and delicious, with my favorite year-round flavor being Brambleberry Crisp. Jeni’s also rotates seasonal flavors — including summertime specials such as Lemon & Blueberries Parfait and Golden Nectar. To top it all off, Jeni’s includes a triangular slice of a waffle cone with each ice cream order, the perfect treat for those like me averse to spending extra dollars on the full waffle cone.
— Reilly Brady, Managing Forum Editor
Concerts It always surprises me when an artist that I have listened to before comes to St. Louis, (mostly because I cannot believe that anyone would come to St. Louis), but there are a variety of fun concerts and performers coming to St. Louis in the coming months.
Among the more notable performers are Beyoncé and Alicia Keys, who can be found in The Dome and The Enterprise Center, respectively. There are also performers like Hippo
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Campus coming to The Pageant, which is located on The Loop. One benefit of living in St. Louis is that because it is not a popular vacation spot, tickets will not break the bank for those trying to save money over the summer.
— Elle Su, Senior Photo Editor Forest Park
Everyone knows about the park (duh!), and it exists all year (double duh!), but it really shines during the summer. Once the weather becomes consistently nice, there’s nothing like a run or bike ride to get yourself some vitamin D. If there’s a nice breeze, go take your picnic blanket or hammock and find a cozy spot to nap. You can wrangle some of your friends and toss a frisbee or fly a kite, too. The zoo is a great time sink, and both the history and art museums provide an airconditioned respite from the heat — did I mention that all three are free? Here’s an even more niche activity: weather cooperating, the St. Louis Chess Club has 4 outdoor tables near the ice rink and hosts classes on Saturdays, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
— Ved Patel, Managing Chief of Copy
submission. Any submission chosen for publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Student Life, nor does publication mean Student Life supports said submission.
In one the most competitive and hectic afternoons of her collegiate track career, senior Aoife Dunne had approximately 50 minutes to prepare for the 800-meter race. Less than an hour before, she had finished up second place in the 1500-meter behind junior Annika Urban of Emory University.
“[It was] not a substantial amount of time,” Dunne said. “So it really was just about getting out there and competing to the best of my abilities.”
And compete she did. In a finals conference championship race that saw some of the closest finishes of the afternoon, the senior from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania put it all on the track for the Bears to win the race with a time of 2:12.94. In claiming the UAA Conference crown, Dunne brought her team closer to victory by scoring 10 points, alongside the eight points that she collected in the 1500M against Urban — whom she beat in this race after she finished second place.
Over the weekend, the No. 3 Washington University women’s track and field team won the 2023 University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Championship on Sunday afternoon with 253.50 points. The University of Chicago finished second place with 228.50 points and Emory University finished with 135.50. The title was the Bears’ sixth-consecutive title. With all-around performances, not even rain, hail, or snow could keep them away from victory.
The Bears’ historic sixth UAA title in six years was led by the likes of sophomore sprinter Lauren Gay who took home the 200M title, winning it with a time of 25.30. Gay also played a pivotal role in the WashU 4x100M team of senior Mycah Clay, sophomore Lauren Gay, first-year Jasmine Wright, and sophomore Nicole Stewart that took home the relay crown. She anchored the team to a winning time of 46.99 which ranks fifth nationally.
“We have an extremely
talented group of girls this year, so making the conference lineup is difficult in itself,” Clay wrote to Student Life, reflecting on the Bears 4x100M win. “I had no expectations of time because the weather was the most tumultuous it’s been all year, but I knew that if we could get our handoffs, we would be more than fine. As the first leg, I get the privilege to watch the race unfold, so it was really exciting to be able to see my teammates race down the track.”
Other notable performers include senior Emily Konkus, who finished third with a time of 4:33.34 in the 1500M behind Dunne and came second in the 5000M with a time of 17:01.49. The AllAmerican sophomore Emma Kelley took care of business, as she saw herself take home the 400M with a time of 56.11, ahead of teammate senior Sophie Fox who finished the race with a time of 57.73.
“I was proud of our athletes,” head coach Jeff Stiles said. “We had a lot of outstanding performances. [The University of] Chicago was obviously a great test and we’re fortunate we perform exceptionally. Some people were disappointed, but overall I was really really good when you add it all up.”
As conference championships races always are, the meet was tactical for Stiles from the beginning. Kelley is known nationally as an 800M specialist, but Stiles felt the need of putting her in the 400M as opposed to her usual race of 800M as a means of splitting up points.
“Her main event is the 800M, [but] she’s exceptional in both,” Stiles said. “But it was always how do we split the most points. We knew she could win the 400M, [so] we’re kind of stealing points from ourselves…if we put everyone in the 800M. If we don’t move them over, we don’t score points. So it was a strategic move, based on how we score the most points.”
For Kelley, the decision to put her in the 400M didn’t change her outlook on the meet as she understood the
individuals like athletic trainer Jackee Hill, who Avery said went “above her pay grade and job description every day to take care of us.”
“We definitely try to show our appreciation to them, in a nice way,” Brauner said. “As in, thanks for your hard work, because I know they understand.”
Athletes were cognizant of the long hours and demands of the trainers’ day-to-day schedules. “Our trainers get worked to hell, and they get treated like sh*t,” Avery said. “That’s why it feels like no one wants to sit down with you: it’s because they don’t have time. And they deserve more, to be quite honest with you. There’s nothing [the athletes themselves] can really do except for being kind, courteous, and have good communication.”
It’s frequently been up to captains and seniors to advocate for their teams, speaking with their team’s administrative liaison about getting athletes the care that they need in the training room.
“There’s been a variety of conversations going on
assignment at hand.
“I approached running the 400 at the conference meet just as I would any other meet,” Kelley said. “My goal was to get out fast and make up the stagger as quickly as I could, then maintain that speed throughout the second half of the race and to the finish. Although the 800M is my main event, it makes a lot of sense for me to be running the 400M at a conference in order to maximize team points across all events, so I am happy to do it for the team.”
As a result of that decision, the Bears ended up having Dunne run the 800M alongside junior Ally Sarrussi — which she won — while Kelley raced in the 400M, alongside Fox.
“It feels really good to be crowned UAA conference champion,” Dunne said. “I honestly wasn’t super sure going into the race if I would have won, but I knew that the competition between us and Chicago would be really tight and so getting the win would definitely have been a very important move and it was a really stacked field.”
In winning the UAA championship, the Bears cemented themselves as one of the best teams in NCAA DIII women’s outdoor track. Coming off an indoor season in which they finished second place at nationals, the Bears rank third in the country. While all indications would point to a possible national title charge on the way, Dunne notes that winning the UAA is great, but the team is not looking to get ahead of itself.
“From a team perspective, claiming the UAA title really does mean a lot to us as it says a lot about our current fitness,” the senior said. “[But] while I think it’s really amazing that we have won conference, I think it can be very easy to get ahead of ourselves. I think obviously, a national title is something that we’re always working for. We usually don’t talk about it too much until the start of that cut. Obviously, anything can happen, but I do think that this really kind of sets us as a force to be reckoned with.”
RILEY HERRON SPORTS EDITOR
“LTP: Love The Process.”
It’s a phrase that Washington University men’s tennis Coach Roger Follmer has been telling his team all year. From the 6 a.m. practices in January to the deciding match against University of Chicago in the semifinals of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference Tennis Tournament, junior Jared Phillips has embraced that process. With the team contest tied 4-4, the only remaining match between Phillips and UChicago’s Emil Grantcharov was level going into the tiebreaking third set. Although it was Phillips’ first time playing in a deciding match at the college level, he said he wasn’t thinking about himself at the moment.
“I wanted to win not for myself, really, but for the team overall,” Phillips said. “Having all my teammates on the next court over watching me and screaming for me after every point didn’t really make me nervous. It honestly just made me really excited to be out there, just trying to do everything for them to win.”
Whether it was thanks to the team’s camaraderie or an impressive performance by Phillips — who went undefeated in third singles spot on the weekend — the junior won the final set 6-3, earning the Bears a ticket to the UAA conference final. Although the Bears—who are ranked third nationally and second in the UAA— fell to Case Western Reserve University, who holds the top spot in both the nation and conference, in the finals, the impressive performances throughout the weekend proved that the WashU squad is capable of competing with anyone they face.
After losing their last two matches of the regular season—including an away contest to UChicago— the
Bears needed to rebound going into the tournament. Although their first-round matchup against New York University, the seventh seed in the conference, appeared to be easy on paper, WashU knew they had to work to earn their spot in the second round. The Bears were able to pull out victories in two out of the three matches, giving them momentum going into the singles round. From there, the Bears dominated. The victory in the first round gave the WashU team the confidence they needed to compete at a high level against stronger opposition.
“Especially in the first round of UAA as being the two seed, there can definitely be some nerves in those early matches,” Phillips said. “We really just took it to them pretty quickly in the singles and that gave us the confidence to continue performing the rest of the weekend.”
WashU would need that confidence in their semi-finals matchup against UChicago. The matchup against the Maroons was nothing new; the Bears lost to them in their last regular season game just a week ago.
The rematch started on a similar note to their last contest. After losing two out of three doubles matches, the Bears lost at sixth singles to give UChicago a 3-1 lead.
Victories by Kuo and senior
Abhi Ramireddy tied the score at three, but the teams split the next two matches. When Jared Phillips took care of business in the final match, however, the Bears clinched not only revenge over their rivals, but also a spot in the UAA championship. For the second time in a row, the Bears faced a familiar foe.
This time, Case Western, who had beaten WashU in the finals of the ITA Indoor Nationals, had their number once again. Just like in February, the Spartans knocked off the Bears 5-1 to clinch the title.
Although the Bears left Florida without a trophy, they have their eyes set on a different one - the NCAA DIII National Championship, and know they might have to go through Case Western to attain it.
“We felt like we have the players and we put in the work to really be able to compete with any team out there, no matter what they’re ranked,” added Phillips. “Even though we didn’t go against Case and win the last match for the UAA Championship, the real quality of our play gave us the confidence going into the NCAA Tournament now that we can compete with those teams. We are one of those teams that can win the National Championship. And you know, we’re 0-2 against Case this year, but we’d really love to make that a 1-2 in the National Championship.”
across all teams,” said SAAC president and softball captain Alex Rubin. “More help is better — it’s always good.
It’s definitely something that everyone’s on the same page on, wanting more.”
SAAC members have advocated for the installation of TeamBuildr, a software that sets a workout in advance so that athletes can see their rehab routines in advance of coming into the training room. The athletic department has not approved that request, and SAAC members said they cited the difficulty of tailoring programs to individual athletes and high cost.
Changing national regulations have posed a challenge for athletic departments across the country while looking for new sports medicine staff. A bachelor’s degree is no longer sufficient for certification, with staff needing a Master of Athletic Training (MAT) to become a certified athletic trainer. That has decreased the number of certified athletic trainers, creating a widespread labor shortage as a result of the new professional requirements.
The WashU Athletic Department has had three or four trainers on their sports medicine staff over the past year. Emory University, another UAA conference member, has seven individuals listed under their training room staff, including a Coordinator of Mental Health Services in Athletics and Recreation. New York University, University of Chicago, and University of Rochester have had five athletic trainers on staff.
“It’s crazy, especially because compared to a DI institution that has an assigned athletic trainer to every team,” the former SAAC member said. “We have 500 plus student-athletes that are trying to seek attention right now. With three athletic trainers, the ratio was really skewed.”
“If WashU wants to continue such a prestigious athletics program along with their academics, it’s going to have to be addressed,” Avery said.
As of the time of publication, the Athletic Department had not responded to request for comment.
Over a rainy, haily, and snowy weekend, the Washington University in St. Louis men’s track and field team put in a string of impressive performances to finish second place at the UAA Outdoor Championships with 165.5 points. Carnegie Mellon won with 171.5 points.
The Bears’ impressive performances were led by the likes of senior Aboyomi Awoyomi, who won the triple jump crown by hitting a mark of 14.31 meters.
A 4x400M medley team of senior Marcus-Jay Wilkes,
junior Alex Djetto, senior Jackson Cox, and graduate student Arthur Santoro took home the relay crown, finishing the race with a time of 3:17.29.
“The win is a bit bittersweet, seeing as we weren’t able to take first overall on the men’s side and because this is my last UAA conference,” Awoyomi wrote to Student Life. “However, I’m proud of the work that I and everyone that competed as part of WashU today and that’s all I can ask for.”
Coming off a UAA Indoor track & field title earlier this year, the men’s team was plagued by injuries throughout this outdoor
season that saw them lose some of their best competitors this weekend. Most notably, All-American hurdler and senior Gio Alfred has been out with a concussion since sustaining the injury two weeks ago.
“Gio Alfred — hurdler — got a concussion two weeks ago. He has not gotten out of protocol, [and] Drew Sidamon-Eristoff couldn’t run the 800M,” head coach Jef Stiles said. “But those are things when we came we knew that. Other teams I’m sure have injuries, they have illnesses, or whatever it might be. Carnegie beat us READ MORE AT STUDLIFE.COM
RACHEL GWON CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Washington University softball team had two doubleheaders against Brandeis on Friday and Saturday this past weekend.
In the first double-header, WashU and Brandeis split the wins.
Brandeis came out with an early lead in game one, scoring a run in the first inning and adding two more in the third and fifth innings. The Bears fought back in the top of the sixth, with sophomore Erin Reardon and senior Tami Wong hitting a single and a double, respectively. Ashley Kennedy then drove in Reardon for the Bears’ only run of the game. Despite some strong performances at the plate, including Katie Gould going
3-for-4 and Reardon going 2-for-3, WashU fell short with a final score of 3-1.
The Bears had an impres sive offensive showing in game 2, scoring five runs in the second inning, including a bases-clearing triple by sophomore Maggie Baumstark. They added two more runs in the fourth and sixth innings, securing a 9-0 victory. Jordan Rossi pitched a fan tastic game, allowing only two hits and no runs or walks, while striking out six batters.
In the second doubleheader of the weekend, the Bears came up short in both games against Brandeis.
In game 3 of the week end, WashU fought hard but couldn’t
overcome an early 4-1 lead by Brandeis. The Bears in the fourth inning, with Baumstark and Kennedy both getting hits to load the bases. Reardon’s bunt scored Baumstark to bring the score to 4-2. In the of the sixth, Natalia Pilpil hit lead-off homer to make it a 4-3 game, but the Judges’ defense held strong and prevented any further scoring from the Bears.
Despite a strong effort from the Bears, the Judges were able to hold on for the win.
Jamie BurgasserREAD MORE AT STUDLIFE.COM
The Washington University baseball team was looking for revenge as last week series Emory. Last season, the team was swept by the UAA cham pions, but this year the Bears have been like a completely different team. As the squad headed off to Atlanta to face the first place Eagles, spirits were high — on the field, everything was clicking. A strong performance would not only take the division lead
but more importantly, put the Bears in good position for an at-large playoff bid. Postseason baseball was reach.
the Bears the eighth inning of the series’ opening game on Friday up 4-1, the series seemed to be within their grasp. But a resurgent Emory team piled on four runs in the final two innings to knot the game at 5. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, runners on second and third, and junior Clayton Miller on the mound the Bears
were nearly able to escape the jam. A diving play by third baseman Harry Maurater took away what would have been a game winning single, but the long throw moved first baseman Jack Miller just enough off the bag for the runner to reach base. As the winning run scored, Emory stormed the field.
The Bears were never able to regain their composure. By the end of the weekend, the team looked like a shell of the squad that had won 10 of their last 11 games entering the series. After a 14-9 loss in the second game, the Bears were mercy-ruled on Saturday
Entering the University Athletic Association (UAA) tournament, the Washington University women’s tennis team was hopeful that it could improve on their fifth-place finish from last year. However, the Bears knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially given the fact that seven of eight teams in the conference were ranked in the top 31 in the country entering the tournament. Despite being ranked No. 17 in the nation,
Emory, the conference’s second seed, but fell 5-3 to No. 18 New York University (NYU) to finish fourth in the conference.
In the first round, the Bears knew it would be tough playing a higher-ranked opponent, but were no strangers to being the underdog.
“We have played a very demanding strength of schedule this year, with six of our matches against teams ranked in the top ten in the country,” coach Paige Madara said. “We knew what to expect against
Heidbreder and Nina Moravek—- both won, giving the Bears a 2-1 edge after the first three matches. After the sides split the first four singles matches, the team score was 4-3. Senior Sophia Huynh, playing at sixth singles, pulled off a dominant 6-0 win in the third set of her match to clinch the victory for the Bears.
The experience and quality of their two seniors, Huynh and Anke Patel, who didn’t play in the conference tournament this year, were crucial for the side throughout the season,
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