February 23, 2023 Student Life newspaper, Washington University in St. Louis

CAPTION

RESPONSES TO COVERAGE OF TRANSGENDER CENTER

Two Letters to the Editor and a response from the Editor-in-Chief regarding last week’s news piece on the Center (Forum, pg 4)

CINDERELLA RUN ROTC basketball wins national tournament (Sports, pg 7)

WU denies AG’s request to halt care at pediatric Transgender Center

Former patient refutes allegations of malpractice

Fence on Forest Park Parkway sparks student backlash

ALIANA MEDIRATTA JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR

In late January, a chain-link fence was installed on Forest Park Parkway due to concerns from both the University and local government officials, causing students to voice their opposition to the decision.

The 550-foot fence was commissioned by the St. Louis County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DOTPW) through an independent contractor that was paid $19,000 for both the materials and the labor.

Students used to regularly jaywalk across Forest Park Parkway from the off-campus side of the street to walk onto campus, specifically from Trinity Ave to the area near Village East. Since the fence has been put up, students must either use the established crossing that enters onto Throop Drive on campus or the crossing at the intersection of Forest Park Parkway and Big Bend Boulevard.

David Wrone, Public Information Manager for the DOTPW, stated that his department was initially informed of the dangerous section of the street by JoAnna Schooler, WashU’s Assistant Vice Chancellor of Community and Local Government Relations.

youth can access the care they need to ensure their mental and physical well-being.”

Washington University Chancellor Andrew Martin and Richard J. Liekweg, President and CEO of BJC Healthcare, wrote a joint statement to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey that they will not enforce a moratorium on care at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital (WUTC), Feb. 14.

Bailey called on Martin and Trish Lollo, the President of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, to “impose an immediate moratorium on the Center prescribing puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to new patients” on Feb. 10. His note to Martin and Lollo followed allegations published by Jamie Reed, a former case manager at the Center who alleged physicians have engaged in malpractice.

Reed’s allegations sparked nationwide controversy. Erin Reed, a queer legislative researcher and transgender rights activist, debunked many of Jaime Reed’s claims in an extensive response, published on Substack.

“We know that patients who are experiencing gender dysphoria and related issues are often at significant risk,” Martin and Liekweg wrote. “The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the only place in the entire state of Missouri where transgender

Martin and Liekweg wrote in their joint statement that they have “begun the process of reviewing practices and protocols at WUTC to ensure that we are upholding the highest standards of care in service to our patients and their families.”

The statement continued, expressing the importance of providing “lifesaving, evidence-based care that aligns with the standards set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

“We cannot institute a moratorium that would deny critical, standards-based care to current and new patients,” Martin and Liekweg wrote, referencing the risk of mental and physical health issues faced by transgender youth.

WashU freshman Chris Harvey, a former patient of the pediatric Center, is concerned about its future given the nascent investigations.

Harvey said that he was certain that the clinic was following protocol when providing care.

“I just worry that somehow they’ll be shut down,” Harvey said. “And I just worry that all the trans children and young adults who go there won’t be able to receive treatment.”

Harvey received genderaffirming care at the Center after realizing he was transgender when he was 11.

He was scrolling through his older sister’s Tumblr account and came across the page of

someone who identified as transgender. “I didn’t know what that meant yet, but then the more I Googled it and looked into what it meant, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s me,’” he said.

Harvey came out to his parents when he was 14, and soon after, physicians evaluated him for gender dysphoria at St. Louis Children’s Specialty Centers — which includes the pediatric Transgender Center. He said this evaluation was the first step of many to being prescribed gender-affirming hormones.

“There are [so] many hoops to jump through,” Harvey said. “You have to see a therapist for at least six months before starting testosterone — consistently, like once a week or more.”

Harvey described all the physicians at the Center as patient and empathetic. “Before I had my first appointment, they called ahead and [asked], ‘What are your preferred name and pronouns?’” Harvey said.

Harvey said his experience of physicians’ thorough pretreatment evaluations refutes Reed’s allegations of the Center’s physicians treating patients with hormone therapies after minimal evaluation.

In addition to having appointments at the Center, Harvey’s pediatrician had to write a letter confirming that his gender dysphoria has been present throughout his life. A little over a year after his initial appointment, Harvey underwent another

gender dysphoria evaluation and additional mental health screenings at the Center.

Eventually, both of his parents signed a consent form, and his doctor granted him a prescription for testosterone.

Harvey said that the prescription came as a relief.

“It was just like, ‘Wow, my life is starting now.’ Before, it felt like my life was on hold waiting for something to happen, waiting to be able to proceed with life like everybody else.”

Harvey’s dad sent him Jamie Reed’s article after it was published.

“It made me angry,” Harvey said. “I was able to point out, ‘Oh, that’s clearly a lie’ because I’ve been a patient at the clinic and I know how it works.”

“She claimed that the patients who had started either testosterone [or] estrogen treatment had only seen a therapist once or twice before getting treatment,” he said.

“That’s not possible at all because a therapist has to see a patient for six months consistently, before they can even start writing the letter [of recommendation].”

Student Life reached out to Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications, on Feb. 20 to see if there was any update on the investigation. “We don’t have anything new at this time beyond the letter to the [Attorney General Bailey],” Flory wrote.

After becoming aware of the issue, the DOTPW sent personnel to monitor the street and noticed a significant amount of jaywalking that they concluded posed an immediate safety issue.

“There were large numbers of people crossing the street, many of them looking neither left nor right as they crossed,” Wrone said. “The level of inattentiveness was alarming to us, quite frankly. That led us first to put more signs up to direct people to the signal crossing at Throop and when that failed, we opted for the fence.”

Senior Harrison Seto, who lives off-campus, said that he used to jaywalk every morning on his way to class. Because of the location of his house and the buildings that his classes are in, jaywalking significantly reduced his commute to the West End of campus.

Seto said that the fence has been a huge inconvenience because it adds time to his morning walk.

“Frankly, the fence discourages me from attending class and my grades have suffered as a result,” Seto said.

After noticing the fence while it was being put up, junior Jason Zhang decided to take action, which included starting a petition to replace the fence with a crosswalk, which has now amassed 351 signatures.

Zhang was already aware of the safety issue on Forest Park Parkway through his involvement with a student group called Access STL, which advocates for walkable communities, better public transportation, and accessible urban planning.

SEE FENCE, PAGE 2

ALAN ZHOU | STUDENT LIFE

The WU Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the only place in Missouri where transgender youth can access gender-affirming care.

VIA POOLOS AND AVI HOLZMAN MANAGING SCENE EDITOR SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Access STL had plans in the works to propose to the University that a crosswalk be built at the part of the street that has significant amounts of jaywalking.

Zhang explained that if the signs telling people to cross at the nearby signal were ineffective, it implies that the issue is actually the street design, leading his group to suggest a crosswalk.

Wrone explained that his department considered other options but there were two main reasons that the fence was the preferred option: existing traffic signals and financial strain.

“First is the fact that there is an existing pedestrian signal roughly 200 feet away from the crosswalk that was proposed by [Access STL],” Wrone said. “If you put something like that so close to an existing signal, it disrupts the traffic flow and our ability to synchronize traffic properly.”

Wrone cited the fact that Forest Park Parkway is a heavily traveled road, carrying roughly 25,000 vehicles on an average weekday.

“There’s a science to programming signals and in this instance it was just too close to the existing signal.”

He also explained that installing such a signal would cost roughly a quarter of a million dollars, which would be funding that the

Department simply does not have.

St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, who serves District 5, noted that the County has a deficit of $40 million and that the DOTPW budget is spread especially thin.

Clancy explained that the DOTPW has a list of projects that are regularly reviewed and then scored based on degree of priority. She went on to say that the Forest Park Parkway issue was not a high priority because there was a possible solution besides a crosswalk, as opposed to other infrastructure projects in the County that do not have alternative options.

“That area is not a high ranking area in terms of priority, and then on top of that, most of the areas that are high ranking areas are also areas that have been historically disinvested in within our county, so it becomes an equity issue,” Clancy said.

Clancy explained that the budget presentation every year is devastating because it demonstrates needs all over the County.

“We’ve got needs all over the county, that are true safety needs, where we can’t just throw up a fence because people are jaywalking,” Clancy said. “I don’t mean to undercut the WashU students’ passion around this issue and their desire to see

a crosswalk there, but I have to look at this in terms of a bigger picture too.”

Clancy said that one of the reasons the area was not high priority was the wealth surrounding the area.

“I have a County with a $40 million budget deficit and I got a university that has a lot of endowments and is surrounded by wealth,” Clancy said. “It’s hard to make the case that WashU shouldn’t maybe come to the table and figure out how to help us pay for this, maybe there’s a situation where we can partner with WashU.”

Zhang agreed that the finances could come from the University to potentially solve the problem.

“I really want to investigate the possibility of potentially having WashU financially support building a crosswalk there,” Zhang said.

Wrone explained that his department considered less-expensive options but determined that they were not viable.

Zhang pointed out that the quarter-of-a-million-dollar figure is for a crosswalk with traffic signaling, whereas a crosswalk that’s simply painted onto the ground with signage would be less expensive.

“I obviously am sympathetic with the fact that they should be prioritizing spending on

more critical infrastructure in areas that need it but that’s also why I’m angry because they spent all of that money replacing signage and building the fence when they could have just done nothing,” Zhang said.

“We don’t support the proposed signal-less crosswalk for multiple reasons,” Wrone wrote in an email. “First, such a crosswalk wouldn’t be do-able, given Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Curb ramps, sidewalk reconstruction and median improvements would be needed to comply with the ADA. No scenario exists that would allow us to add a crosswalk at the recommended location using only paint and signs.”

Wrone went on to say that, without traffic lights, a crosswalk in that location would still present similar safety issues as seen before the implementation of the fence.

“Without such a signal, pedestrians would be in as much danger as they were before we installed the fence – particularly those pedestrians who cross a very busy arterial roadway without looking for oncoming traffic,” Wrone wrote.

Zhang disagreed with this point, saying that he believes there are ways to make the street safer with a

crosswalk.

“Narrowing lanes and making drivers more aware of the crosswalk are proven ways that reduce pedestrian collisions/deaths and are what we have been trying to call for,” Zhang wrote in an email. “I like that they recognize that pedestrians are in danger but they approach this by saying that the solution is to prevent them from crossing.”

Zhang expressed his belief that Wrone’s explanation demonstrates that the County is overly focused on car-centered infrastructure.

“I think the biggest thing this reveals is that the DOT still believes it must prioritize cars over pedestrians and blames pedestrian accidents/ car violence on the person being hit rather than the car that’s crushing the person,” Zhang wrote.

He continued on to say that he thinks the County should remain focused on the issue.

“However, I would like the county to at the very least try to get this project done as far as they can since it will at least benefit a large portion of the student population while we figure out how to get the University to pay for the rest,” Zhang wrote.

Zhang is not the only community member to take action against the fence. On Feb. 8, a St. Louis County

employee noticed that a hole had been deliberately cut into the fence and the damage was then repaired the following day.

“We are naturally concerned about the potential for similar acts of vandalism,” Wrone wrote. Additionally, the opposition to the fence is not simply limited to WashU students. On Zhang’s petition, Mary Barber commented that as a member of the community for 30 years, she is opposed to the fence.

“We are all adults and know how to cross the street. We are a fluid community with WU students and feel the access is mutually beneficial and safe,” Barber wrote. “If safety is the primary goal, a cross walk positioned at Trinity would be preferred if feasible. The chainlink atrocity has to go...surely some convo and creativity can evaluate and solve the perceived issues that prompted it.”

Despite student opposition, there are no current plans to remove the fence, a permanent piece of infrastructure. As a result, Zhang said that his hopes of a crosswalk have dwindled as the fence has stayed up.

“Originally I was optimistic, but based on the responses I’ve been hearing, it sounds like there’s not an interest in doing anything

Speakers discuss inequitable impacts of climate change at Summit

LILY TAYLOR ZACH TRABITZ JUNIOR NEWS EDITORS

Washington University is hosting the annual Midwest Climate Summit (MCS) with keynote speeches from various environmental and public health experts who spoke about environmental issues and inequities in the Midwest, Feb. 21-23.

The MCS is a gathering for climate experts, professionals, students, and other environmental activists and leaders to connect with each other and collaborate on research goals.

Organizations including the American Conservation Coalition and student groups from Midwestern universities, such as Indiana University Bloomington, University of Michigan, and Purdue University, are

attending the event.

The first keynote speaker on Feb. 21 was Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington, an environmental engineer and author from Chicago. She called attention to the effects of climate change on public health, particularly on communities of color in the Midwest. She began her speech with a story of personal tragedy.

“Climate change for me really can be symbolic,” Washington said. “It is symbolized by my mother’s death in 1988 from a heart attack from a heat wave. In that summer, we had wildfires and we had drought. But there were human costs to that. One of those costs was my mother.”

She said that tragedies like her mother’s are not an anomaly, especially in communities of color that face extreme weather events.

Washington presented

epidemiological data that connects poor economic, social, and demographic conditions to increased injury, disease, and mortality rates.

She said that she believes communities of color in highly segregated cities are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme weather events.

“We have trapped individuals into environments which are less resilient and will be less resilient to climate change,” Washington said.

She believes the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations will go beyond environmental effects and harm people’s physical health.

“Public health is certainly connected to the environment,” Washington said. “We know that a changing planet also impacts the health and well-being of

populations, and particularly in the largest disparities of those made vulnerable by poverty, by racism.”

The second keynote speaker, Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Janet McCabe, said she believes that the public perception of the Midwest as a place safe from climate disasters needs to change.

“I think we need to rethink this image of the Midwest as a safe and comfy place to be, away from hurricanes and wildfires and such,” McCabe said. “But not so much, not so much anymore.”

She said that even though the Midwest does not face the same types of extreme weather that other regions face, like hurricanes or wildfires, the Midwest is threatened by climate change.

“We’re not seeing the

horrific scenes of sea level rise and beach erosion,” McCabe said. “We don’t have the raging wildfires that our neighbors in California do. [However,] the reality is that there is no small town, big city, suburban area, you name it in the Midwest that is not affected by the climate crisis.”

McCabe echoed Washington’s point that these climate events will have disastrous public health consequences, particularly in communities of color.

“[Climate change] is a public health situation first and foremost,” McCabe said.

“It does not treat people fairly depending on where they live, where they are, and the vulnerabilities that they may have as a result of decades and centuries of systematic racism and classism that has led to inequitable situations around the country.”

Washington and

McCabe agreed that the climate movement needs more comprehensive research and focus on equity to prevent further environmental and health damage to underprivileged communities.

“So we have to have improved health services for everyone, but I’m arguing we’re going to have to have improved health services for those who are at least protected,” said McCabe. “Everyone, every life, should matter. You shouldn’t be privileged and therefore more resilient. Everyone should have a resilient community.”

The Climate Summit continues on Feb. 22-23 with speaker events and workshops on topics such as urban farming, green transportation, and environmental racism.

SCENE

Can’t look away: The phenomena of true crime makes its way to WashU

CHLOE CARLISH STAFF WRITER

A burning desire to know — for many, this is what drives their interest in true crime. True crime is a genre built upon the retelling of actual crime cases; these are the stories of lives lost and the reactions of those forced to bear witness. The genre has become omnipresent within our contemporary culture — we now have journalistic exploits, podcasts, novels, and television shows dedicated to these crimes, as a genre.

Washington University’s expert on true crime is Dr. Elisabeth Windle, a professor of both English & American Literature as well as Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This semester, she is teaching the Sophomore

Seminar “Stranger Than

Fiction: True Crime from In Cold Blood to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” employing a feminist lens to contend with true crime as a literary genre in itself.

In designing her course, Windle aimed to approach the study of true crime

through a critical eye and literary lens. “Through talking about this really specific, kind of niche group of texts, you can actually ask a lot of really big questions about gender and race, policing, about the justice system,” she said.

Windle elaborated, highlighting “The Missing White Woman Syndrome” that often plagues true crime — the overrepresentation of white women, often middle to upper class, within media coverage. This phenomenon is inextricably tied to the lack of media representation of those who aren’t white, otherwise economically secure, or have a different gender identity.

Windle highlights this overrepresentation of white women within true crime at the beginning of her course, urging her students to consider, “What dead bodies are we privileging? In the telling of those stories, who’s getting to speak, and who’s not speaking?”

Windle observes that many of her students quickly come to a consensus on the lack of diverse representation

within true crime. “I think college students here do have some degree of awareness that they’re in a unique position — vis-à-vis the institutions of policing in this city and vis-à-vis the criminal justice system in this state,” she said.

A former student of the course, junior Maddy Kish, spoke to her firsthand experience attempting to tackle the subject in class.

“I think it’s really important to make sure that you are consuming true crime ethically — even though whether this is possible is an entirely different question.”

Sophomore Rachel Johns, a student currently taking Windle’s seminar, expanded on this sentiment. “Unfortunately for us, true crime cases are not always so black and white,” she said. “I’ve learned how skewed eyewitness accounts, police interrogations, and jury deliberations can be. I feel like it’s very important to view true crime as a WashU student with interpretive lenses rather than absolute lenses.”

Windle added that the

Senior Otto Brown steps down as SU Election Commissioner, plans to continue STL civic work after graduation

NATASHA CHUKA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A Gephardt Institute

Bob & Gerry Virgil Civic Scholar, a St. Louis County election worker, and a Missouri Notary Public, Senior Otto Brown has demonstrated his irrefutable passion for civic engagement throughout his four years at Washington University. Brown is majoring in both Economics and Political Science, and has been involved in election work and voter education since

he first stepped foot on campus.

“I really value the democratic process and democracy and having an informed citizenry,” Brown said of his passion for politics. “I think that’s a central part of the American story that we’ve lost.”

Before beginning his voter work on campus, Brown noted that the Common Reading Program (CRP) played a pivotal role in his engagement. The CRP was a former part of Washington University’s Bear Beginnings for incoming first-year students, during which students are assigned a book to read over the summer.

Brown said that his book conversation was facilitated by the previous Associate Director of Civic Engagement at the Gephardt Institute, Theresa Kouo, who was one of the first people he met at the University. It was through her and through this experience

that he initially became involved with civic engagement.

During Brown’s first semester in the fall of 2019, the Democratic Debates were in full swing. “I was really interested in the electoral process,” Brown said. “I got involved by watching the Democratic Debate watch parties at the Gephardt Institute.”

The opportunity ultimately introduced him to WashU Votes, a student organization that emphasizes voter education and engagement. Originally a graduate-student-led club, Brown was one of three undergraduate students elected to leadership positions as the club transitioned to being undergraduateled. Brown has served as co-chair of WashU Votes for two years.

In his four years at the University, Brown has fostered his interest in election work through various on and off-campus

SEE BROWN, PAGE 5

“readerly communities’’ that consume true crime are often the suburban white woman who is relatively distanced from the threat of violence itself. What may understanding the target demographic of true crime literature have to tell us about its study writ large? Windle comments, “It’s fascinating to think about what readers are getting out of true crime when they consume it.”

When considering true crime in a more removed and academic manner, the way Windle’s class does, different questions are interrogated: Whose story am I consuming? Who is involved in the re-telling of

ILLUSTRATION BY CHARLOTTE CHEN

this story, and how are they benefitting? What may they not be saying?

Windle admitted to being a fan of true crime, as are many students who enroll in the course. Her class offers an opportunity to interrogate the widespread fascination with the genre, and question how it functions both as

entertainment, and as a reflection of greater systemic issues.

But Windle said at the core, the fascination with true crime stories is simple. “We can’t look away from the crime, and also our interest in it,” she said.

ELLE SU | STUDENT LIFE

Senior Otto Brown plans to continue his work at the Gephardt Institute after graduating.

FORUM

Letter from the Editor on “MO Attorney General investigating Transgender Center at WUSM”

JULIA ROBBINS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Student Life will continue to cover issues that affect University and St. Louis community members’ daily lives, while recognizing the importance of reevaluating how we cover sensitive topics. After my story was published, I heard concerns directly from several community members that the piece needed additional context about the importance of gender-affirming care and the often politicized climate of anti-transgender legislation in the country. I worked with our managing team to update the article online to address that feedback. I apologize for the harm caused by my original article to any transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming members of our community. Another concern raised about the article was the absence of voices from members of the transgender community. Before publishing my original article, I reached out to affinity groups — the Transcending Gender group and the Pride Alliance — to avoid

singling out any individuals with marginalized identities, and no representatives from either group responded to me for comment. If there are ways that members of the transgender community would feel more comfortable sharing their perspectives, please reach out to me or other editors.

I, along with the staff of Student Life, understand that this issue is particularly sensitive and we want to treat it responsibly. This past week, the managing team, myself included, met several times to discuss tangible ways to improve our coverage of sensitive topics going forward. As a result of these conversations, the managing team implemented a process for additional reads of articles that writers or editors view as grappling with particularly sensitive themes — any individual on Student Life who interacts with the article pre-publication can flag it as such. Prior to this week, there was no process in place for editing sensitive pieces differently than other pieces. Each article typically gets edited by a section, managing, and copy editor. My

Letter to the Editor: Student Life again fails to condemn transphobia

original piece was only read by a copy editor in addition to myself, which was a common practice, though not an intended one, for articles written by managing editors.

Our new process will ensure that all sensitive pieces are read over by a majority of the managing team before publication and that any given article is read by at least a senior, managing, and copy editor before publication.

We are also planning to meet with the Center on Diversity and Inclusion to hear their perspectives on covering sensitive issues. And we are planning to discuss journalistic practices on identity-based issues with the Student Life board in the coming weeks. Additionally, the managing team is taking steps to pass down institutional knowledge so future generations of Student Life staff can learn from past challenges and mistakes. If any groups or individuals would like to speak with me or the managing team about more ways to improve our coverage of sensitive issues, please contact editor@ studlife.com to set up a time to talk.

ISABELLA NEUBAUER AND EM MCPHIE FORMER STUDLIFE MANAGING EDITORS

Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of transphobia and violence. Resources for anyone impacted by these topics are listed at the bottom of this page.

It’s easy to be taken in by fake news. It appeals to our emotions and plays on our implicit and confirmation biases. It is the job of a newspaper — a reputable one, at least — to help its readers see past the lies and find the truth. This week, Student Life failed to serve this purpose.

On Feb. 9, Jamie Reed, a so-called whistleblower from the Washington University Transgender Center at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, published an article alleging practices that she claimed were “permanently harming” transgender youth in the Center’s care. Trans researcher and writer Erin Reed subsequently published an article thoroughly debunking the claims as a “manufactured controversy… entirely planned.” This debunking, however, has been entirely ignored by the right-wing politicians who are weaponizing Jamie Reed’s unproven claims to advance their ongoing legislative attack against trans youth.

On Feb. 12, Student Life’s Editor-in-Chief published an article covering the controversy. Before it was edited on Feb. 16 in response to backlash, the article focused largely on Jamie Reed’s allegations and the University’s reaction, including the administration’s communication with Republican Senator Josh Hawley — who has a history of making transphobic remarks and pushing for transphobic legislation. Hawley quickly leveraged the whistleblower allegations to introduce a bill defining gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” and is currently joining Missouri’s Republican Attorney General in an investigation of the Center that feels like a thinly-veiled excuse to shut down trans healthcare for youth.

itself perpetuates — and by repeating those decontextualized claims, Student Life did the same.

The administration’s failure to promptly and publicly defend the Transgender Center was a slap in the face to the University’s many trans students, and Student Life’s careless promotion of transphobic rhetoric was particularly cruel to its current and former trans and gender nonconforming staffers. It is the responsibility of the paper to tell its readers the truth — the truth in this case is that these calculated efforts to incite transphobic hysteria are fueling an increasingly hostile legislature and a staggering amount of antitrans violence.

This is not the first time that Student Life has platformed dangerously transphobic rhetoric. In its Dec. 12 coverage of conservative speaker Amala Ekpunobi, the paper directly repeated Ekpunobi’s appalling comments about swimmer Lia Thomas, in which Ekpunobi repeatedly misgendered her and labeled her “predatory” — a statistically-disproven trope often used to fuel the exclusion of and violence toward trans women. Despite the article’s length — nearly 1,700 words, making it the paper’s second-longest news article in the last two months — Student Life again failed to provide the factual context for and real-world harms of this hate speech.

Student Life’s decision to revise its original article is a step in the right direction, as is the Feb. 14 letter in which University administrators rejected calls for a moratorium on gender-affirming care and noted the “lifesaving, evidence-based” nature of such treatment. But these steps do not absolve either party of the damage and pain that has already been caused.

Moskal — contributed to this letter and share outrage over Student Life’s conduct toward the trans community. Do better.

Below are resources to support members of the trans community.

The Trans Lifeline works to connect trans people with emotional and financial support, along with other community resources. Trans counselors can be reached 24/7 at 1-877-565-8860.

The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for the LGBTQIA+ community, can be reached 24/7 by calling 1-866-4887386 or texting START to 678-678.

The St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline offers resources and support from local, LGBTQIA-affirming peer counselors, and can be reached Friday – Monday from 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. CT at 314-380-7774.

The Metro Trans Umbrella Group facilitates St. Louis-based support groups for trans-masculine, trans-feminine, non-binary and genderqueer individuals, as well as LGBTQIA+ people of color. Contact information for each group can be found online, Pinwheels is a support group with meetings in St. Louis for trans and gender nonconforming children, teens, and their families.

Also featuring: Prof. Fannie Bialek

Student Life’s initial choice to focus on Jamie Reed’s allegations — rather than her blatant disregard for the research disproving the theory of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, the research showing that hormone replacement therapy does not in fact lead to permanent infertility, and the research illustrating the clearly life-saving impacts of gender-affirming care — is incredibly irresponsible journalism. It presents the casual reader with an unbalanced caricature of the facts, implicitly endorsing Jamie Reed’s claims by omitting the data that refutes them. Couched in the language of protecting children, Jamie Reed’s article leads readers without adequate context to believe that trans healthcare is the thing harming youth, rather than the rampant transphobia that the article

Student Life’s pattern of contributing harm to marginalized communities extends back far further than last year, but it does not have to continue. It’s time for the paper to recommit to its own stated principles of holding power to account, critically seeking out diverse perspectives, and carefully considering the impact of the information it promotes. Instead of amplifying anti-trans propaganda that already has a broad audience, Student Life’s reporting should uplift actual trans voices and separate fearmongering from facts. In the face of an unprecedented wave of bills promoting government-sanctioned transphobia — that, as Erin Reed writes, “have and will kill trans youth”— it is more important than ever for Student Life to foster a climate of acceptance through thoughtful, truthful coverage.

Several former Student Life staffers — including former social media editor Sabrina Spence, former multimedia editor HN Hoffman, former design chief Christine Watridge, and former managing editor Ted

Growing American Youth is a social support organization for LGBTQ+ youth who live near St. Louis and are 21 and under, and can be contacted via Instagram or Facebook.

OTHER RESOURCES

The National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network provides a variety of identity-affirming resources, including a directory of queer and trans therapists of color.

Trans researcher and writer Erin Reed has created an online map of every informed consent hormone clinic in the United States.

The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project aims to increase access to free letters for genderaffirming medical care by providing a directory of trans, nonbinary, and allied mental health and medical clinicians.

The DIY HRT Directory is an online resource that provides information about how to safely obtain and perform hormone replacement therapy.

involvement. Brown described seeing hoards of people come in and out to vote, a large majority of whom were students, as he volunteered as an election worker at WashU for the midterms. Brown said he was inspired by the turnout.

“A lot of people were voting for the first time, and that was really special,” he said. Brown also revealed that while the voting experience is often characterized as unpleasant, the volunteers were all determined to shape the process in such a way that they could show voters how fun the process could be. “It can be a way for you to engage, find community, and rally around this idea of voting,” he said.

Brown has also served the larger community as an election worker at the center of Clayton. “I was over there for two elections for the April primary of last year, and in the August primary.” He worked these elections partly due to the current shortage of election judges, a consequence of the pandemic.

“It was a great opportunity to humanize people,” Brown said. “A political label defines a person’s politics but it doesn’t necessarily define who they are.”

Brown also tackled another factor contributing to a lack of voter engagement postpandemic by becoming a Missouri Public Notary.

“I became a notary in 2020 because Missouri legislature changed the laws in response to COVID and allowed mail in ballots for anyone…but

every mail in ballot had to be notarized,” he said.

Although Washington University has notaries on campus, with most people working remotely at the time, Brown sought to fill the gap. “If you’re given this opportunity to vote by mail, the barrier to you utilizing that shouldn’t be the fact that WashU doesn’t have a notary.” .

Missouri stands out to Brown as an impactful location for civic work.

Brown mentioned the new voter ID law that Missouri passed that prevents students from voting with out-of-state IDs or student IDs.

“The [civic] work here in Missouri and at WashU in particular is really important”, Brown said, especially in comparison to other top universities which are not typically situated in states as restrictive as Missouri.

“We also have a pretty early voter registration deadline so students actually need to pay attention way before the election,” Brown added.

“WashU has the potential to be a leader in that space; in part because we are a leader already, but we can do more and be the gold standard for universities across the country to look to us as a university that’s situated in a state that’s not necessarily easiest to vote in,” Brown said.

On campus, Brown has also served as the Student Union Election Commissioner, a position he held from this past fall until Tuesday, Feb 7, when he decided to step down in anticipation of his graduation in the

PUZZLE Mania

spring.

During his tenure, Brown tackled questions such as “how do we continue running secure elections?” and how to establish “legitimacy” in the Student Union by ensuring that “there is a secure…and accurate pipeline between the student body and what people in Student Union are doing.”

Brown believes civic engagement is pivotal to creating change in a community. “Because of the online world that we live in, we’ve lost a little bit of the ability to have conversations and to think critically,” he said, emphasizing how important it is to consider how we might progress in the future. “What are the systems that you can use to create change in a way that’s productive? And how do you hear what other people have to say… while disagreeing with ideas and not people?”

Following his graduation, Brown will be returning to campus and the Gephardt Institute to serve as the Civic Engagement Manager. Thinking about the kind of impact he hopes to drive in the future, Brown emphasized the importance of his work in higher education. “We, as an institution, have an obligation [to be informed],” he said.

Brown expressed his hopes for the University community as a whole shooting for the moon. “I would love for WashU to be the most civically engaged campus in the country,” he said

Letter to the Editor: Student Life’s “neutrality” is harming students

Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of transphobia and violence. Resources for anyone impacted by this topic are listed at the bottom of this article.

The original version of Student Life’s recent article by Editor-in-Chief Julia Robbins, “MO Attorney General investigating Transgender Center at WUSM,” did nothing but restate and lift up the violent anti-trans rhetoric of the recent “whistleblower” report on the Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital Transgender Center. This article reported on an opinion piece by Jamie Reed, a self-proclaimed queer leftist who is married to a “transman.” These qualifiers attempt to excuse Jamie Reed from her transphobia, but they cannot change the facts. Contrary to her efforts to prove that she is not transphobic, Jamie Reed’s article regurgitates transphobic talking points and goes so far as to act as an authority on the care of transgender teenagers despite a lack of medical training, as pointed out in a rebuttal by trans activist Erin Reed.

Robbins devoted the majority of the word count of her original article (this article was updated on Feb. 16) to quotes and

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other content dedicated to the dangerous transphobic talking points of Jamie Reed and Senator Josh Hawley and the investigation in general. Restating these points without refutation or commentary will only harm trans students at this university and trans people across the country. The meager remainder of the article was ineffectually given to the statements of PROMO, an LGBT activist organization of almost 40 years, and Erin Reed’s aforementioned point-by-point rebuttal of the “whistleblower” report.

This article doesn’t set a dangerous precedent for StudLife reporting; it continues it. Just a few short months ago on Dec.

7, StudLife published an article about the “anti-SU, pro-trans speech” that was written on and around the underpass. In the course of this article, StudLife platformed the opinion that the graffiti protest should have been carried out within university guidelines and, by reporting on the rescheduling of Amala Ekpunobi’s talk — the event which sparked the need for the protest in the first place — StudLife promoted it to students who wouldn’t have been aware of it otherwise. Several people who collaborated on this piece have also reported feeling uncomfortable during experiences with StudLife while being contacted for quotes or interviews.

Transphobia has been an issue in StudLife’s publishing for some time, and it’s time to address it. This most recent article and StudLife’s past transgressions have had an enormous impact on the trans community at WashU. The mental health and safety of trans students are at risk, something only made worse by StudLife’s transphobic journalism. Choosing to essentially republish anti-trans violence with no commentary from the trans students on this campus or about the effects it will have on them is choosing a side. Trans students are hurting, and StudLife could have published an article standing in solidarity with us but decided to reinforce our oppression. In an effort to help remedy these issues, we propose that when the new staff of Student Life takes over later this semester, they schedule a meeting with the queer and trans community of WashU to ensure that our voices are heard.

In addition to these on-campus effects, bills are being proposed that could limit access to lifesaving trans healthcare and potentially infringe on trans people’s right to exist. One bill of this nature has already been proposed in this state (Missouri House Bill 494), and similar bills have

Letter to the Editor: Sex positivity includes more than provocative photos

NIKKI GREEN FACULTY & STAGED INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHER

It may be unexpected that someone closer to 40 than to 30 agrees with the Student Life editor that “the sex issue” is an important tradition, but I applaud the sex positivity throughout last week’s paper. And while I admit it is the only installment of “Student Love” I’ve read, I’m afraid I felt it missed several valuable opportunities.

Firstly, it would probably be helpful for many readers to define “kink,” since it is not in fact the heteronormative comment (depending of course on the gender of the commenter) published in that section of “juicy tales from

the bedroom,” but is generally accepted to mean unconventional sexual desires or fantasies, which may or may not ever be acted upon for a variety of reasons unique to each individual.

While reading the central piece of the issue, the survey results titled “Listen Up Sugar Babies,” I found myself wishing over and over again that additional information had been provided with the results. For example, the stats regarding masturbation and pornography consumption were the perfect pivot for discussing the way people raised female are socialized to not center their own sexual pleasure and/or agency, and are therefore more likely to

under-represent their instances of self-pleasure (which incidentally probably skewed those results).

Additionally, a large percentage of people consider pornography to be taboo, causing feelings of shame or disgust in response to discussions about this type of sex work. At the same time, in this Google-anything age, porn serves as the first experience of sex for many young people, often setting up unrealistic expectations and/or feelings of unease about engaging in sexual activity. Surely a discussion of the performative aspect of ethically-produced pornography would fit perfectly beside those related survey results. Or, based solely on the title of

the section, a report on the different kinds of sex work and their (hiding) place in society would be a welcome addition. In the “sex by grade” and “sex by school” sections, I was disappointed to see no mention that people raised male tend to over-inflate their sexual experience, while people raised female tend to do the opposite, meaning that these results likely had some built-in inaccuracy. I was pleased, however, to see that some of the reasons behind these societally-imposed tendencies were discussed in the beautifully written opinion piece, “The P Also Stands For Power.” I wonder if somewhere along the sexy

STAFF EDITORIAL

candyland-inspired graphic there could have been a list of resources for more sex education. So many teens and young adults are afraid to admit they don’t know as much as their partner(s), or they don’t “get” the dirty joke, so they end up learning from their friends, from the media, from porn, all of which can lead to bad experiences, perpetuated stereotypes, and a general lack of positive feelings about sex and sexuality!

While some areas of society may be improving in our conversations about sexual orientation, gender expression beyond the binary, sexual agency, and more, we often still make assumptions about the sexual experience of people past a certain age bracket

(i.e. college students). If it is true that we can’t have an open and honest discourse about the myriad levels of sexual experience, might I recommend some resources for the privacy of one’s earbuds or e-reader: the podcast, “Come As You Are with Dr. Emily Nagoski,” or Dr. Nagoski’s book of the same name. I also hear excellent things about the book, “The Sex Ed You Never Had” by Chantelle Otten.

In closing, I have to applaud the respondent whose “go-to move” was to just ask because consent is sexy. Their comment was the only mention of consent I noticed in the whole issue, and they are absolutely correct. Consent is very sexy.

WashU

Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of transphobia. Resources for anyone impacted by this topic are listed at the bottom of this page.

On Feb. 9, Missouri

Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital after an opinion piece written by former case worker Jamie Reed criticizing the center appeared in “The Free Press,” a right-wing publication which has published other transphobic and sensationalized content.

So far, the response by Washington University administration to the investigation has failed to consistently affirm the right to healthcare for patients at the center. Statements released by the University have been inconsistent and have legitimized the attacks on its own healthcare services. The University must rectify this by voicing more consistent support for the Center as well as for its transgender students during this time of crisis.

In her article, Jamie Reed calls for a “moratorium” on gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth, meaning that transgender minors would be denied access to life-saving puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and other medical services.

While positioning herself as a “whistleblower,” most of the criticisms Reed has of the Transgender Center are not concerned with policy or conduct of staff at the institution.

Rather, the article criticizes the Center for doing precisely what it is supposed to do: providing transgender minors with

administration

must express consistent support for its transgender healthcare programs

medical care. Reed also consistently misgenders the Center’s patients in the piece.

The investigation prompted by Reed’s article coincides with a national rise in anti-transgender legislation. Since the beginning of 2023, over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced nationwide, nearly as many as were introduced in the entirety of the previous year. Bills restricting or banning access to healthcare for transgender minors have already been passed in six states, with South Dakota joining their ranks just this past week.

The threat posed by this investigation is enormous. If Missouri restricts access to transgender healthcare for minors in the state — as is the clearly stated goal of both Reed and the Republican politicians behind the ongoing investigation — then the effects on transgender youth across the state will be devastating. New patients would be denied access to care, and transgender minors who are already out and receiving care would be forced to medically detransition.

Washington University is situated at the center of this crisis. The Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the only clinic in the entire state offering transition services to transgender children and teenagers. Because of this, it is critical that University administration expresses consistent, firm support for the medical services it provides, recognizing that the current investigation into its own clinic is a dangerous, politicized attack on transgender youth.

Our administration has failed to do this. In its original statement responding

to Reed’s highly transphobic opinion article, rather than condemning Reed’s transphobic positions and language, University administration expressed that it was “alarmed” by her statements and pledged to investigate the situation internally.

Given that Reed’s primary claim is that transgender healthcare should be suspended for pediatric patients, it should be of great concern that the initial university response was at best neutral and at worst sympathetic to her claims.

Senator Josh Hawley, one of the Republican politicians spearheading the investigation, has stated that Chancellor Andrew Martin said he was personally “appalled” after reading Reed’s article. He also shared that Martin has agreed to comply fully with the investigation.

A second statement released jointly by Chancellor Martin and BJC President Richard J. Liekweg this week addresses some of these ambiguities, and it too fails to acknowledge the threat posed by this politicized investigation. In the statement, Liekweg and Martin clearly reject the possibility of placing a moratorium on the clinic’s services, as well as advocate for the “lifesaving, evidence-based care” offered by the Center. However, the statement gladly submits to Missouri Republicans’ inquiries, promising to “continue to cooperate” with Bailey’s office and establish “additional oversight” of the Center while offering no resistance or criticism of the investigation. This response has legitimized what is ultimately a fraudulent, transphobic, and

politically motivated investigation into the University’s own clinic.

The University must be prepared to call out Reed’s transphobia for what it is: it is a mistake for the University to respond in such a passive way to these claims. While the second statement is certainly an improvement on the first because of its voiced support for the Center’s services, this was not a high bar to surpass. The Editorial Board calls on the University to express public and unwavering support for this vital care going forward.

Further, it is of utmost importance that the University communicates not only its support for the Center but also for its transgender student population during this time. Many Washington University students have either previously been patients at the pediatric clinic or are currently patients at the affiliated clinic for adult care.

We call upon the University to release a formal statement to students, faculty, staff, and affiliated medical offices that contextualizes the investigation, clearly condemning the ongoing assault on transgender rights by Missouri politicians and expressing unequivocal support for its health services.

As this situation escalates, transgender students, patients, and the community at large do not feel supported by the Washington University administration. It is critical that the University takes a firm, actionable stance in support of its affected patients and students.

Below are resources to

OUR VOICE: EDITORIAL BOARD YOUR VOICE:

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.

support members of the trans community.

IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

The Trans Lifeline works to connect trans people with emotional and financial support, along with other community resources. Trans counselors can be reached 24/7 at 1-877-565-8860.

The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for the LGBTQIA+ community, can be reached 24/7 by calling 1-866-488-7386 or texting START to 678-678.

LOCAL SUPPORT

The St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline offers resources and support from local, LGBTQIAaffirming peer counselors, and can be reached Friday – Monday from 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. CT at 314-380-7774.

The Metro Trans Umbrella Group facilitates St. Louis-based support groups for trans-masculine, trans-feminine, non-binary and genderqueer individuals, as well as LGBTQIA+ people of color. Contact information for each group can be

found online, Pinwheels is a support group with meetings in St. Louis for trans and gender nonconforming children, teens, and their families.

Growing American Youth is a social support organization for LGBTQ+ youth who live near St. Louis and are 21 and under, and can be contacted via Instagram or Facebook.

OTHER RESOURCES

The National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network provides a variety of identity-affirming resources, including a directory of queer and trans therapists of color.

Trans researcher and writer Erin Reed has created an online map of every informed consent hormone clinic in the United States.

The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project aims to increase access to free letters for genderaffirming medical care by providing a directory of trans, nonbinary, and allied mental health and medical clinicians.

and must include the writer’s name and email for verification. We reserve the right to print

any submission as a letter or opinion submission. Any submission chosen for publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Student Life, nor does publication mean Student Life supports said submission.

WashU ROTC Basketball Stuns En Route to National Championship

“Where are you from, and why are you wearing football jerseys?”

The Washington University Reserve Officers Training Corps’ (ROTC) basketball team may not have looked the part. It was their first appearance at Notre Dame’s Flyin’ Irish Basketball Invitational, the largest ROTC sporting event in the nation with nearly four decades of history. The team went up against ROTC programs with more than 30 times their number of cadets, but they did not back down from the fight. Mounting a Cinderella run to the championship, they defeated the Fighting Irish on their home court.

The tournament, which takes place yearly in South Bend, Indiana, on the Notre Dame campus, consisted of 30 other schools from around the nation. Each team played three games of pool play, and then the top sixteen teams were entered into a single-elimination bracket.

Heading in, the team itself knew little about the tournament, its structure, and the stakes of the competition. Said sophomore Andrew Rudolph, “We didn’t really know what to expect, in regards to the teams and the competition, but also the setting of South Bend.”

The team was led by Sophomore Caden Perry, who served as squad captain. Perry held tryouts, registered the team and figured out the logistics of the

tournament, a hectic process for the first-time team. The team lacked the funding and registered too late to wear official jerseys, so they were forced to don WashU Recreational Football pinnies. “Many of the teams we played had actual basketball jerseys with their school name on them, and many schools also had last names on the back of the jerseys,” said Perry. “You could tell they’d been training for the tournament for quite some time, and they take it very seriously year to year.”

In the first round, WashU ROTC beat Marquette

University ROTC, who traveled from Milwaukee, WI, by a score of 38-33. In their second group stage game, the WashU squad defeated the Air Force ROTC cadets from the University of Kentucky, a school known for its Division I basketball program that has churned out the likes of Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Julius Randle and countless other NBA AllStars. They finished off the group stage with a mercyrule rout of University of Colorado-Boulder.

The team’s first official practice had been on Jan.

22, just 15 days before the tournament began. Most players on the team had high school basketball experience, but none had played basketball at the Division 3 level. Their secret to success? High-quality pickup basketball on the glossy courts of Sumers Recreation Center.

“We play at the Rec Center a lot and we play together a lot… that’s how our team chemistry was established,” Perry said.

Heading into the elimination games, the squad scouted their next opponent, Texas A&M, a team

representing the nation’s largest ROTC corps. Despite being outnumbered and outsized, WashU eked out a four point victory, a game which Rudolph described as “very physical.” The team then pulled off a 10-point comeback versus Indiana University, and a tight win versus Virginia Tech secured their spot in the finals.

In the finals, WashU got off to an early lead against Notre Dame Army ROTC, before playing conservatively in the second half. The team took advantage of the lack of a shot clock and played keep-away for

long periods of time, securing a 27-19 victory. Perry was tasked with locking up Notre Dame’s top player, while senior point guard Gavin Morse won the unofficial team MVP award.

Despite losing two key players for next year’s squad, Perry says that the WashU group plans on making a reappearance at next year’s tournament, perhaps with a women’s team as well. “This establishes us as the best ROTC basketball team in the country,” he said, “People would be surprised if we didn’t come back.”

Baseball opens season with sweep against Ozarks

Shane Pellegrino swung at the first pitch of his collegiate career and sent a fastball flying into center field. Two innings later, the righty sent another first pitch of the atbat to left field to bring in the Bears’ first run of the season. The freshman took two swings and hit two line drives.

“I was dead-red fastball, I got my timing, and I was able to see the pitch and hit a line drive up the middle,” Pellegrino said. “I was so ready to go. I was just so excited to be out there, to just pull the trigger. I’ll always remember that — first pitch too.”

It was the first game in seven months for Pellegrino, who had surgery in June for a torn labrum and rotator cuff. After just three weeks of being able to fully participate in practice, he filled in for injured Harry Mauterer as the starting shortstop in the team’s first series. Donning the red and white number 17 — the same number as former third baseman Andrew Huang, one of the 2022 team’s top sluggers — he landed six hits in 14 at-bats over the weekend. On the bus ride home, he celebrated with a karaoke rendition of ‘Call Me Maybe’. He didn’t need the words. “I think my performance was one of the best ones,” he said. “I’m not going to say it was the best, but I think it was up there.”

In preseason interviews, head coach Pat Bloom

stressed the competitiveness of the starting lineup, emphasizing that everyone on the roster would compete for starting spots. Pellegrino’s competitive at-bats showed how the team leverages experienced returners and hungry newcomers. In their first series of the season, WashU baseball swept the University of the Ozarks, outscoring the Eagles 27-11 over the course of three games. A productive offensive effort combined with strong relief outings helped the Bears to their three wins in Arkansas.

In the team’s season opener on Saturday, Ozark scored the first run against the Bears in the second inning with graduate student Matt Lopes on the mound. Lopes, who has primarily been a reliever for the Bears, “pitched with edge,” senior outfielder Broghan O’Connor said. He threw six innings and five strikeouts. WashU waited until the fourth inning for retribution when Pellegrino’s single brought in the tying run after a competitive top of the order. A wild pitch sent O’Connor scrambling home to give the Bears a one-run lead. From there, WashU only gained momentum. They added nine runs for a 10-1 win in their opener.

In the second Saturday game, the Eagles stayed competitive until the top of the ninth, when junior outfielder Kaden Bernhard singled to bring in the winning run.

The damage in the ninth was exacerbated by the top of the order, and the Bears were able to profit off of pitching

slipups to bring in four runs for a 8-4 final score.

The final game of the series was similarly even; a two-run homer off of senior sidearm Kyle Coates in the ninth pushed the game into extra innings. But a clutch single from transfer Justin Zachary scored two runs. Freshman Isaac Zhang threw the last three outs to secure the sweep.

Last season, the team struggled in close games. But in the first weekend of the 2023 season, they pulled out two wins after being tied in the ninth. “We got through when things went rough,” O’Connor said. “We were confident in the tough situations, and I think that helped us win the close games this weekend.”

Fielding errors in tight matchups also hurt the Bears in their 12-24 2022 season. The team recorded seven errors in two games on Saturday before a clean final game on Sunday. O’Connor

said that while they didn’t play a perfect game, Bloom was happy with how the team responded when things didn’t go right.

“The position guys gotta really help [the pitching staff] defensively,” O’Connor said. “The times we did get in trouble this weekend came when either we walked hitters, or we had unforced errors and they put us in tough spots. I think our pitching is in a good spot, and as long as you play good defense behind them, I think we’ll be fine.”

The strength of the catchers also helped the defensive focus. In the first inning of the first game, captain Hunter Goldberg sent a pitch flying across the diamond for the final out. He showcased a cannon of the arm in the first win of the season, throwing out two runners at second.

“He’s one of the best defensive catchers I’ve ever played with,” O’Connor said. “His ability to frame the ball is very, very good.”

But he isn’t the only option behind the plate; sophomore Braden Mazone also caught innings in the second game. Mazone, who Bloom identified as “the MVP of our fall, offensively”, DHed the first game in the three-hole and went 3 for 5 with WashU’s first bomb of the season. The two catchers bring different strengths, and their combined skills will give Bloom versatility and options for the next thirty-six games.

CLARA RICHARDS MANAGING EDITOR Quick

takes

The Bears travel to Hendrix College next weekend, a team that is currently 5-2 and defeated the Ozarks 22-5 in their opening weekend. They open at home on March 4 against IllinoisWesleyan University.

“We have a good test next weekend,” O’Connor said. “But I think the way we’re going about things, I think where our hitters are at mentally is a really good spot. The team culture is in a good spot. And so I’m excited for the year ahead.”

Last year, baseball didn’t win three games until March 16. Three opening wins this year has created momentum for this team, O’Connor said. The weekend series against Hendrix will be a good litmus test for this group, specifically for how the pitching can respond to pressure from competive at-bats. In removing the usual Florida trip from the schedule, the Bears now have a slightly lower strength-of-schedule than in prior years.

“What we ultimately hope for is some of these other nonconference matchups — that those teams are going to perform as well or better than they have in the past, and that will assist in strength of schedule,” Bloom said.

Rule changes have trickled down from the MLB to DIII baseball. Beginning in 2023, pitchers are now allowed one step-off per batter, and the pitch clock is more readily enforced. Those changes were visible in the weekend series in Arkansaw. O’Connor was granted an automatic walk from a twenty-second pitch violation. Six balks were called over the course of the weekend, creating additional traffic on the basepaths.

“The umpires were a bit picky on some things and not very picky and other things,” O’Connor said. “I think part of it soon is just kind of getting used to the playing games again —I’m sure that will get cleaned up.”

IAN HEFT STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF CADEN PERRY

The winning squad lines up on the court at Notre Dame, complete with their WashU Rec uniforms, to celebrate their victory.

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE

Infielder Zac Malis scoops a ball at third base in a team’s early season game in 2022.

passed either the House or Senate in other states. And that is just the legal aspect.

Trans people, especially trans people of color, have been and are actively being killed all around the world. Just a few days ago, 16-yearold trans girl Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death in England. Articles like the “whistleblower” report and Robbins’s coverage of it only make this violence, as well as trans suicides, happen more often.

You can claim that these articles are presented in an attempt at neutrality, but these articles are not neutral. Robbins’s most recent article is not based in fact but rather on the

Scan the QR code to enter your submission by 9:00am on Monday.

unsubstantiated claims of a single person. Such misrepresentation can have dire consequences for marginalized communities, in this case, trans people and particularly people who have historically been barred from receiving trans healthcare, including minors and people of color.

This submission was written by Aspen Schisler in collaboration with a group of several other trans students who wish to remain anonymous for their safety.

Below are resources to support members of the trans community.

The Trans Lifeline works to connect trans people with emotional and financial support, along with other community resources. Trans counselors can be reached 24/7 at 1-877-565-8860.

The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for the LGBTQIA+ community, can be reached 24/7 by calling 1-866-4887386 or texting START to 678-678.

The St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline offers resources and support from local, LGBTQIA-affirming peer counselors, and can be reached Friday – Monday from 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. CT at 314-380-7774.

The Metro Trans Umbrella Group facilitates St. Louis-based support groups for trans-masculine, trans-feminine, non-binary and genderqueer individuals, as well as LGBTQIA+ people of color. Contact information for each group can be found online,

Pinwheels is a support group with meetings in St.

Louis for trans and gender nonconforming children, teens, and their families.

Growing American Youth is a social support organization for LGBTQ+ youth who live near St. Louis and are 21 and under, and can be contacted via Instagram or Facebook.

OTHER RESOURCES

The National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network provides a variety of identity-affirming resources, including a directory of queer and trans therapists of color.

Trans researcher and writer Erin Reed has created an online map of every informed consent hormone clinic in the United States.

The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project aims to increase access to free letters for genderaffirming medical care by providing a directory of trans, nonbinary, and allied mental health and medical clinicians.

The DIY HRT Directory is an online resource that provides information about how to safely obtain and perform hormone replacement therapy.

ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIE LEONG

ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS