February 13, 2025 Student Life NEWS edition, WashU in St. Louis

‘It’s actual people and their jobs’: How the NIH funding cuts will affect WashU

In 2024, the NIH awarded WashU $173 million for indirect costs.

On Friday afternoon, the National Institute of Health (NIH) announced a $4 billion research funding cut spearheaded by the Trump administration. A federal judge temporarily paused the cut nationally on Tuesday following lawsuits filed the day before.

While the future of NIH funding is now uncertain, the cut to indirect cost reimbursement would have cost WashU about $106 million of research funding in 2024, according to Student Life’s analysis of the NIH funding database.

These “indirect” or “overhead” costs are defined as funds for facilities and administration. This includes infrastructure required for research that is not included in the direct grant, such as keeping the lights on, paying for employee benefits, etc. When announcing their decision, the NIH said accommodating these costs prevents taxpayer money from going towards direct funds for research.

Many in the scientific community have called the cut “devastating.” WashU, which is second in NIH funding, has similarly denounced the cut in an email statement made by Chancellor Andrew Martin this Saturday, which promised immediate action.

“These cuts also will be implemented by other federal agencies and stand to have a significant impact on institutions like WashU,” Martin wrote. “We’re mobilized on multiple fronts … to ensure that [government officials] understand the consequences of these cuts and are encouraged to act to address this threat to research and its many benefits to society.”

Researchers respond to cut Research institutions typically negotiate their own indirect cost rate with the government every few years, depending on the type of

What are indirect costs?

Indirect costs are funds to pay for the infrastructure needed before research can occur such as utilities, office supplies, administrative salaries, etc.

funding. WashU, for instance, has negotiated a rate of 55.5%, meaning for every $100,000 granted for organized research from the NIH, the University would receive an additional $55,000 in indirect costs for research infrastructure.

However, these high negotiated rates, the likes of which NIH listed as a reason for the cut, can be misleading as universities often seem to receive less than their negotiated rate. WashU, for instance, has an actual average indirect cost rate of 38.5%, instead of the publicized 55.5%.

With the new guidelines, the NIH is setting the overhead rate at a flat 15%, meaning every institution in the nation would only receive an additional $15,000 per $100,000 for indirect costs. This change applies to all current and future grants, with the NIH stating they have the right to apply the policy to past grants but choose not to do so.

WashU has more than 1,000 NIH-funded projects underway at the medical school alone. The University received $731 million worth of grants from the NIH in the 2024 fiscal year alone, with around $173 million designated for indirect costs, according to Student Life calculations. If this policy had

been in effect last year, the NIH’s change would have cut these funds to approximately $67 million.

A WashU professor who wished to be anonymous said members of their lab are “incredibly scared and terrified” by the prospect of an NIH budget cut. Another professor, who also wished to be anonymous, emphasized the distress the cuts have brought to their lab.

“Worry, frustration, and a feeling of powerlessness are the main emotions at all levels,” the second professor wrote in an email to Student Life. “With a cut of this magnitude, we would absolutely be expected to see major downgrades to research infrastructure like research facilities, equipment, and services across the institution that allow our lab to do what we do.”

A WashU professor, who wished to be anonymous and will be referred to as Professor Z, said this decision uproots the biomedical research pipeline.

“This is all a ludicrous proposition that fails to understand the whole ecosystem of how this all works,” Professor Z said.

“Indirects are the lifeblood of grants,” a WashU professor, who wished to be anonymous and will be referred to as Professor Y said.

“Indirects are just so much more than just even the money. When you’re seeing those numbers, there are people behind them. It’s not just a light bulb. It’s actual people and their jobs.”

Y’s research focuses on how to apply research innovations in beneficial ways for communities that need them. They have specialized in grant writing for about 20 years, and said that judging from her experience, people should be worried.

“The university is saying, ‘Don’t panic, we’re figuring this out,’” they said. “But the time to panic is now.”

To remediate the situation at an institutional level, WashU must either find new funding sources for this amount, reallocate current funds, or scale back research.

Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology, Sebla Kutluay, said that while the University may be able to cut some indirect costs, the unaccounted costs will largely fall on the shoulders of scientists. To Kutluay, this cost could mean the end of research institutions altogether.

SEE NIH, PAGE 2

Mid-year transfer program continues to admit Jewish students facing anti-semitism at previous institutions

WashU piloted their mid-year transfer admissions program for the College of Arts & Sciences in 2024, admitting twelve first-years and two sophomores last year. This admissions cycle, six transfer students were admitted.

WashU’s Admissions Department has not responded to several requests for comment or interview as of the publication of the article.

One such transfer student said that she has had a positive experience at WashU so far. The student, who enrolled as a junior this January, a transfer student interviewed by Student Life requested anonymity because she felt unsafe discussing these topics at her previous institution. The student is from the Bay Area, California and spent her first two collegiate years at a small liberal arts institution on the West Coast.

The student said that she had no intent to transfer until she returned home for summer break after her sophomore year. She took a gap semester before enrolling at WashU this spring.

“It was one of those things where I pretended everything was fine, and then I got home and I basically felt like my life was falling apart after the year I had due to personal circumstances,” she said.

The student experienced antisemitism at her old institution, both in incidents directed at her and

secondarily through a vandalism stoning incident on campus. She said that some students threw rocks through another Jewish student’s window and tore her mezuzah off of her wall.

“I’m leaving behind my college because of their stance on how protests were conducted,” she said.

“They were basically like, ‘We’re not going to get involved. Figure it out for yourselves.’ And it put me and other students in harm’s way.”

The student used the AntiDefamation League’s report cards evaluating anti-semitism on college campuses to compile a list of schools she was interested in transferring to. Her list was shortened by the limited number of schools that accept midyear transfers.

“My policy was that I wasn’t going to a school where anything violent had happened or a school that had a lawsuit against them,” she said. Outside of the issues she had with her old school related to anti-semitism, the student described the social scene as that of “a dysfunctional high school.” The school was very small but there was lots of animosity within the community. She said that WashU’s campus community has been a “culture shock” to her in contrast.

“My first day of class [at WashU], I was reading the syllabus and remember my professors said ‘you’re going to disagree with people, and you’re expected to be polite and kind about it,’” the student said. “That was funny to me, because I’m coming

from a place where cancel-culture is an appropriate thing to do—and in person, not like over the internet.”

The student said that strong academics were another draw for her coming to WashU. She has been very satisfied with her experience so far.

“The campus is beautiful, it’s safe for me, and it’s big enough that I can be who I am,” she said. “It’s been surprising to me that all the WUSA’s and everyone are so genuinely friendly— it’s not like [they are] forcing it because they are paid to be friendly, the friendliness is natural.”

The student felt that the admissions process went smoothly, and was grateful that her orientation group was smaller than it might have been if she had joined in on the first year Bear Beginnings programming.

“For someone who is bad at transitions and is easily overwhelmed, I really liked transferring in the spring because it made the orientation easier on me,” she said.

Lauren Eckstein is a current junior who transferred to WashU last springin the Spring of 2024. She also attended a liberal arts institution on the West Coast, Pomona College, and transferred to WashU last year because of anti-semitism there.

Eckstein said that, one year after getting to WashU, she has felt supported by the community here since transferring in the middle of last year, and that professors have been accommodating to her academic needs.

“The Arts & Sciences admin was very good with keeping up with us, just to check in on how we’re doing

Low-income student returns to WashU after eviction

JOEL SWIRNOFF NEWS EDITOR

At home in Florida in November of 2024, junior Kayleigh Hernandez was brought to tears discussing her future. Months earlier, she had been evicted from her WashU housing and was unable to continue taking her classes.

As a low-income student, Hernandez normally has her tuition covered. However, after experiencing medical issues, like seizures, she did not submit financial forms on time, leading her to be charged for the fall 2023 semester. Unable to pay the $50,000 fee, she was evicted and returned home.

“I didn’t realize that this debt had accumulated. When I realized it was real, I was crushed,” Hernandez told Student Life in November. Hernandez spent the next several months languishing about her future. She said that the uncertainty about her return to school gave her considerable anxiety.

“I didn’t think not being in college would be so stressful,” Hernandez said.

Then, on a seemingly random day in early January, Hernandez was told that she would be able to return to school in an email from Chris Kroeger, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Services in the McKelvey School of Engineering.

“They basically said ‘Your debt has been cleared, you can come back to school. Do you want to come back in a week [for the spring semester] or next fall?’” Hernandez said. Hernandez picked the earlier option — she is now back at WashU, almost four months after having to leave.

Kroeger declined a Student Life request for comment. Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications, did not respond to a request for comment.

Hernandez said that the news was revitalizing, even though it was not explained where the money to cover her tuition came from.

and all of that,” she said. “At this point, people don’t even know that I’m a transfer—I feel like I just, like, kind of blended in really seamlessly and easily.”

Eckstein said that one campus event that had a big impact on her transfer experience last year was the spring club fair.

“The fact that we have a club fair in the spring semester is really good for [mid-year transfer students],” she said. “It was really helpful for me, and I feel like most schools don’t have club fairs both semesters—it’s only a fall thing, but here it’s pretty normalized to have your club go to both,.” she said.

The only long term issue Eckstein identified with the mid-year transfer process is the extremely short window she had to figure out her housing options for the following year.

“I just decided to be administratively assigned, which worked out, but I didn’t know my roommates,” she said. “I’d never met them before, but we’ve gotten pretty close.”

Aside from the abrupt housing situation, Eckstein has found a much more supportive environment at WashU that’s helped her to stay true to her Jewish identity.

“I’ve become very involved in the Jewish community here—another transfer and I are now co-presidents of Chabad, and I’m also on the Hillel board, and so I feel like I’m always doing things within the Jewish community, and a lot of my friends are Jewish,” she said. “I just feel very connected.”

“It was more of a relief, if anything,” she said. “I don’t know how it got done, but I will definitely take advantage of this opportunity.”

She added that she feels lucky to be able to return.

“It’s a privilege to be back at University,” Hernandez said. “Some people don’t even get this opportunity, and some people in my situation would have just dropped out completely.”

Hernandez pointed to financial security as a main reason she feels so privileged to return.

“As a disadvantaged student, it’s hard to figure out what a good job would be after only high school,” Hernandez said. “Without college, you might be destined to never get out of poverty or something like it.”

After Hernandez had to leave WashU back in 2024, her story was picked up by The Association of Latin American Students (ALAS). Members like Junior Natalia León Díaz helped campaign for Hernandez by publicizing a GoFundMe that she started to cover the cost of tuition.

“We are incredibly grateful for everyone who supported Kayleigh and we celebrate her return to WashU,” wrote León Díaz in a comment to Student Life. “Additionally, while we are grateful for the administrative support, we recognize that her return was in great part facilitated by incredible amount of pressure applied by ALAS’s advocacy team and Kayleigh herself.”

SEE KAYLEIGH, PAGE 2

Shop ‘til you drop: WashU pilots new shopper shuttle

WashU students arrived back on campus for the 2025 Spring Semester to be greeted by the Shopper Shuttle, a new shuttle that takes students to stops including Saint Louis Galleria, The Promenade at Brentwood, and the Walmart at Maplewood Commons.

The shuttle runs on Saturdays from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Services Jason McClellan mentioned that the new Shopper Shuttle pilot builds off of a previous transportation system the school had a few years ago.

“Before the current transportation program and WashU’s partnership with Metro, WashU operated three shuttle routes — the Redline, Greenline, and Goldline,” McClellan wrote in an email comment to Student Life.

“The Redline incorporated stops at the Galleria and Promenade shopping areas.

Ultimately, Metro took over those routes and later reconfigured its routes.”

After the old system was replaced by the Metro, students had no Universitysponsored method of getting to any major shopping center aside from the Delmar Loop. Students without their own transportation who wished

to go to Target to buy groceries or dorm room accessories had to either take the Metro or Uber to get there.

Even though WashU provides free Metro U-Passes to all full-time students, McClellan and WashU’s Parking & Transportation Department developed the shuttle route to address the lack of direct transportation.

“We developed the pilot in collaboration with Student Affairs as a direct response to student feedback,” McClellan wrote. “We believe this shuttle offers students the opportunity to access a variety of goods at competitive price points. This also encourages students to explore beyond our campus.”

Students get on the shuttle at stops around the Danforth campus marked with signage. The locations where students can board the shuttle include Dardick House, the Clocktower, the Village House, and Millbrook Garage.

First-year Julianna Cool said she was excited to try out the Shopper Shuttle since she had previous difficulties getting to the Target in Brentwood.

“Getting an Uber is expensive, and it’s money I don’t want to spend. With public transportation, it’s usually not on time and it’ll take the whole day,” Cool said.

“Especially when we took [the Metro] to the Brentwood Target, we had to trek behind the Chick-fil-A and walk down a hill that’s like all mud.”

First-year Christiana Wills commented on how she felt the shuttle service could improve and combat overcrowding.

“If there is anything I could change about the shuttle, I would have more than one bus running on a weekend. I feel as though the shopping shuttle gets very full very fast, and many students are left to stand in the aisles,” Wills said. “If there were more shuttles running that could accommodate more students, it would be a valuable effort to put money and resources towards.”

Another student, first-year Carlos Hernandez, expressed that he wished the shuttle had longer hours.

“I wish [the Shopper Shuttle] went on for longer. Ending at 6 p.m., I don’t know. I wish it was maybe [running until] 7:30,” Hernandez said.

McClellan emphasized how Student Affairs and University Services are getting student feedback on the shuttle by both word of mouth and other methods, such as an anonymous survey.

“This [data] will determine

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the future of the Shopper Shuttle route and any changes in days/hours of operation,” he wrote. “We have received compliments from extremely satisfied students/riders, who are happy to have this new shuttle option. They also complimented the shuttle drivers on their friendliness and engagement.”

WashU hired Lawrence Chavis — who has owned and operated his own limousine

KAYLEIGH from page 1

León Díaz also criticized the administration for Hernandez’s eviction in the first place.

“However, we acknowledge the distress and permanent impact that her eviction for an entire semester nevertheless caused,” León-Díaz wrote. “ALAS will continue to demand increased support and guidance for First-Generation and Low-Income students on our campus.”

Hernandez said that she has been working hard to succeed in her classes, taking advantage of resources like matched academic mentoring and taking a slightly lower course load.

“What’s next for me is just really focusing on my education and my mental health, getting back while taking care

NIH from page 1

“Universities will not want to have scientists,” Kutluay said. “There will be no incentive for the universities to expand the science program [so] I think that will be the first thing they cut.”

A 2024 report from WashU’s School of Medicine stated that for every $1 million dollars in federal funding, 11 local jobs were created in St. Louis. In 2024, WashU received $731 million worth of funding, equivalent to the creation of 8,041 jobs according to the job conversion above. If the NIH cuts had been implemented last year, WashU would have received $100 million less in research funding, meaning 1,100 of those jobs would not exist.

Professor Z emphasized the value of NIH funding to the local economy.

“Every NIH dollar creates $2.70 in local income,” Professor Z said. “It pays

chauffeur service for over a decade — to drive the revived Shopper Shuttle. Students such as Wills expressed how much they love Chavis, who goes by Mr. Lawrence to students, for his prioritization of student safety and friendly attitude.

“I feel as though Mr. Lawrence has done a fantastic job with the amount of work that he has been given to accommodate the students,”

of necessities,” Hernandez said. “I want to really take this semester to focus on my education.”

Hernandez said that her physical and mental health have both improved somewhat since returning.

“I feel like my seizures have been better, which is surprising in this higher stress environment,” she said. “I also feel like my mental health has been a little better.”

To help with medical bills and other necessities, Hernandez said that she is still accepting donations on her GoFundMe page, which was originally created to help her pay her tuition.

“[The GoFundMe] is to take care of necessities like medicine and my phone bill,” Hernandez said. “Especially since I am more busy and it’s

itself back beyond the cures that could potentially come out of it.”

This may only be part of the jobs St. Louis could lose from the cut: local St. Louis research institutions are also facing financial pressure that can result in job loss.

Fimbrion Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing alternatives to conventional tuberculosis antibiotics, had three grants that were affected by the NIH grant freeze earlier this month. Thomas Hannan, Chief Scientific Officer and Acting CEO of Fimbrion, and part-time research faculty at WashU, said there is still no timeline for their grants to be approved.

“The result is that it is likely that we may have to lay off half of our staff in the short-term until we have more clarity on future funding,” Hannan said.

Turing Medical, a St.

Wills said. Chavis emphasized how much he liked his new job and the opportunity to work with students.

“I don’t just like my job, I love my job, and … my thing is safety first and customer service … I’m a people person,” Chavis said. “I like to bring smiles to people’s faces and WashU’s got some of the greatest students that you can really adapt with.”

probably not a good idea for me to get a job right now.”

After her return, she was featured in St. Louis Magazine, where she spoke about her goal for WashU to support students like her better — one she is still thinking about today. Hernandez said that she hopes her story can be a watershed for other students experiencing issues with University bureaucracy and financing their education.

“Everything happened for a reason,” Hernandez said. “I’m not exactly sure what the reason is as of yet, but maybe it’s to advocate for other students who might be going through something similar, whether it is with financial aid reasons or just not receiving support from the University.”

Louis neuroimaging startup, wrote a statement to Student Life stating the cut would “significantly” affect their operations in St. Louis if it went through.

“For startups like ours, where every dollar is critical, even a small reduction in funding can lead to project delays or scaling back on ambitious initiatives,” Turing wrote. “It’s important to highlight that while NIH funding is often associated with large universities and well-established research institutions, it also plays a critical role in supporting small startups that are driving innovation.”

Read the rest online!

Mr. Lawrence makes a stop at the Walmart at Maplewood Commons, one of three shopping locations serviced by the shuttle.

BEN GONDUZR | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

SCENE

Chess kings and queens:

In collaboration with the St. Louis Chess Club, the WashU Chess Club hosted the WashU Rapid and Blitz tournaments on Feb. 8.

Open to the entire St. Louis community, the two tournaments were official United States Chess Federation (USCF)-rated tournaments. Over 100 players of all ages competed for part of the $1000 prize pool.

“This is our third year since we opened the tournament up to the St. Louis community. We’ve gotten more than 100 participants every single year,” Woman Candidate Master and WashU Chess Club co-president and senior Shreya Mangalam said.

Starting in the fall of 2022, the WashU Chess Club began hosting fast-time control Rapid and Blitz tournaments for WashU students. In spring 2023, the St. Louis Chess Club began to collaborate with WashU Chess Club, canceling their own Blitz tournament to work with WashU.

“I’m really happy with how we’ve transitioned from just a WashU tournament to a more large-scale event while also making it run smoothly over the years,” Mangalam said. “We try to appeal to a diverse range of players to come and play, and we’re really happy that this is a tournament that people who are more intermediate or casual can still play and have a fun time.”

The Rapid tournament started in the morning with both an Open section, where anyone can compete, and an Under 1500 (U1500) section. Through five rounds, nearly 100 players, including Grandmaster (GM) Emin Ohanyan, played head-tohead 15 minute games.

“This is our largest Blitz event with nearly 10 titled players playing, so we’re really happy with the turnout,” Mangalam said, referencing the turnout of many different experience levels.

Senior Ilan Schwartz competed in the U1500 section and tied for third place, scoring four out of five points.

“This tournament is really fun. I find that when I’m playing chess, my brain operates at a higher capacity in other aspects of life. If I’m thinking and reading about chess,

my school work and work is better. It’s cool to see the St. Louis community coming to WashU and getting to share the game of chess,” Schwartz said.

After the five rapid rounds, visiting player Jonathan Kwong won the U1500 section with a five out of five score. In the Open section, five visiting players, Ohanyan, International Master Steve Wang, Fide Master Doug Eckert, Candidate Master Alex Beck, and Forrest Yang tied for first place with a score

of four out of five. “I could’ve done better in half my games. In fact, I may have gotten lucky that one of my opponents gave up pursuing a win, but anything goes in 15 minute games. Reading the rating number doesn’t necessarily provide a clear evaluation of what is to be expected. We saw some upsets which resulted in all the prizes merging and someone with a lower rating tying the four other players,” Wang said. The Blitz tournament

followed the Rapid tournament in which five rounds of games were played. Each game started with a three minute time limit per turn, with two second increments throughout. Over 60 players competed for over $300 in prizes. The U1500 section was won by Gavin Martin, who took first place by winning all five games.

Benjamin Bok, a Grandmaster with a Blitz rating over 2600, and the commentator of GM Hikaru Nakamura’s games, clashed with Ohanyan in the fourth round, ending in a sharp draw. In the fifth round, Bok and Ohanyan defeated the third and fourth place players respectively to tie for first place overall.

“It was fun to play overthe-board chess. I play a lot of online chess myself. I saw the tournament listed on the website of the St. Louis Chess Club, so I decided to play. During COVID, a lot of things were happening online like streaming and online tournaments. But now I feel like it’s going back,” Bok said.

FANN

NIKOL KROL STAFF WRITER

As the days get longer and Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, love is floating through the WashU air. The arrival of Cupid also brings around another guest: Datamatch.

A matchmaking survey managed by Harvard undergraduate students, Datamatch uses an algorithm to match respondents together based on a variety of self surveyed preferences and characteristics.

The survey consists of 16 questions designed for WashU students, specifically. Participants can decide if they want to be matched for “love,” “friendship,” or both. They can also fill out a bio to introduce themselves, and answer several other questions, such as their zodiac sign, love language, and even a space to include social media handles.

Even with this slew of questions you may be left thinking, can an algorithm really help you find your soulmate?

Despite widespread doubt, in rare instances, some individuals have actually found partners through the survey process.

Among those few individuals was WashU alum, Angela Gormley, who matched with her partner on Datamatch during her first year of college, back in 2020.

“It was basically all my new friends at the CSC [Catholic Student Center]

who convinced me to do it,” said Gormley. “They just said, ‘You have to do it because it’s a funny survey, and it doesn’t matter. You don’t really talk to the people, you just sort of see who you match with.’”

Gormley filled out the survey, not thinking much of it. She selected the “friendship” option and matched with six people. One name stood out to her.

“It was Rylan, and in the back of my head, I was like, ‘I’ve seen his name before. It’s in my phone contacts, but I don’t know who this is,’” she said.

Gormley had been going through her contacts for months, deleting old numbers. However, she decided to keep his number because it sounded “cool” which worked out in her favor.

“I saw that he was one of the people I matched with, and he was also kind of cute, so I thought, ‘What the heck? I’m gonna text him and just figure out where we must have met each other or why I have his phone number, because I have absolutely no idea,’” said Gormley.

Gormley reached out to Rylan Gottron on Feb. 14th, the day matches came out. They decided to meet up the next night for a romantic dinner at the Bear’s Den.

The morning of their date, Gormley was getting orange juice at Paws and Go when she ran into Gottron.

“I sort of lingered, like ‘You look like the person

I’m supposed to meet later, but I’ve never met you,’” she said. “We saw each other but we didn’t say anything, and then later we confirmed.”

Their awkward initial encounter didn’t deter their date whatsoever.

“We ended up just talking for three and a half hours,” said Gormley. They found out they were both from the DC area, and actually had a few mutual contacts, despite Gormley being from Virginia and Gottron being from Maryland.

Since Gormley had selected “friendship” on her Datamatch profile, Gottron initially wasn’t quite sure where their relationship stood.

“Two months of us dating, [Gottron] was still like, ‘What if we’re not actually dating because she didn’t say she was interested in a partner on Datamatch.’ I was like, ‘No, I didn’t say that.’ I didn’t even think anything was gonna come out of it, I was just taking the survey,” she said.

Shortly after they met, the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down and forced everyone to stay home. However, it worked out for the couple. They FaceTimed every day for about two months before their families told them to go see each other, since they lived so close.

“We went hiking and then we just started hanging out all the time over the summer and got to know each other’s

A DATAMATCH SUCCESS STORY

parents,” said Gormley.

This upcoming Feb. 15 will be five years since Gormley and Gottron’s first date.

“It’s going well,” said Gormley. “We’re currently living together . . . which is a good time. And yep, we’re really, really enjoying it.”

Gormley recommends filling out the Datamatch

survey for anyone considering it.

“Even just for the fun of answering the questions and seeing what they come up with every year, it’s already worth it,” said Gormley. “And you never know what will come out of it, whether that ends up actually being a relationship or a friendship or just, you know, a bad

story about someone accidentally matching with their ex, which has happened several times.” This Datamatch love story is only getting more successful as time goes on.

“I think we’re getting engaged over the summer,” said Gormley. “That’s [what the] timeline seems like it’s working out to be.”

Book Review: ‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah

Despite fancying myself a historical fiction aficionado, “The Women” was my first taste of author Kristin Hannah. My freshly-bought copy of Hannah’s 2015 novel “The Nightingale” suggests that it will not be my last.

“The Women” is a historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. It follows military nurse Frances “Frankie” McGrath as she leaves her illustrious family on Coronado Island, California, and enters the muddy trenches — and even muddier aftermath — of the war. Frankie enlists as a military nurse for two reasons: to join her brother already on the ground and to finally earn her parents’ approval. Suffice to say, that romanticized patriotism does not nearly prepare her for the mortar attacks and napalm wounds that would become her new normal. Frankie begins her first tour in standard-issue pumps that are quickly replaced by combat boots and returns a different woman to a country she can no longer recognize. She is forced to reconcile the war

she once believed in with the contentious events that she experienced firsthand. Moreover, she must learn to hide her own scars to rejoin a society that insists “there were no women in Vietnam.”

If I could give the first half of “The Women” a rating, it would be nothing short of phenomenal. Hannah has a way with prose that makes devastation tangible and hope beautifully aching. Watching Frankie grow from a naive socialite to a relied-upon trauma nurse is empowering enough that I (briefly) reconsidered premed. Hannah’s delicately crafted moments of female friendship and intimate glimpses into the bonds wrought by grief conjure a striking image of wartime camaraderie. I will admit, I initially screamed cliché when I read the novel’s pseudo-mantra “women can be heroes too,” but Hannah goes on to capture it in the most viscerally honest way.

The second half of the novel is equally well-written and rife with relevant, heartwrenching details. However, the plot does lose me in a few places. Namely, the romance. I can’t believe I am saying this (especially as a committed romance defender), but I think the

romantic relationships are slightly overplayed. There are just so many complex dynamics of character development and friendship that could be prioritized instead. That said, I do feel Hannah does a tremendous job using romance as a vessel to address other crises of the time. Her consideration of substance abuse and female subjugation are pressing conversations. The time she spends delving into Frankie’s psychological challenges and her comingof-age in a tumultuous social climate are also well-developed.

Overall, I would definitely recommend “The Women” to any historical fiction lover. That is with one disclaimer: this is NOT a beach read. The subject is complex, the topics are heavy, and silver linings are few and far between. Nonetheless, the novel’s main purpose, to remind us that women should and must be honored for the sacrifices they make, is a sentiment that must be amplified. “The Women” reminds us that far too many voices go forgotten, and unearthing those stories is vital to realizing the power of our past, present, and future.

Angela and Rylan met through Datamatch in 2020 and are still together today.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGELA GORMLEY | WASHU ALUM

LEXI NEGRI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

One Tiny Desk for WashU, one giant leap for WUTV

WRITER

It was another Friday afternoon, and in the Eads Creative Lab, a sense of excitement filled the air. Microphones were set up, cameras were running, and the scene was set. Everything needed to go according to plan. What was going on?

Washington University TV (WUTV) was setting up for the latest edition of their Tiny Desk series — a video program that aims to show off the musical talent of the WashU community.

While this commotion may now be a common part of the job, WUTV wasn’t always so active. Originally, WUTV emerged in 2011 after breaking off from WUnderground. During the following years, WUTV gained prominence on campus, even claiming a designated room in the Harvey Media Center designed exclusively for the club. But the onset of the COVID19 pandemic in 2019 led WUTV to close up shop while the school took a temporary break.

While this should have been just a temporary setback, yet another disaster struck for WUTV. “The president of the club graduated and took with him a hard drive that had 10 years of footage on it and stole from the Harvey Media

Center, the club did not elect a new leadership, and the club was just instantly, at that point, defunct,” current copresident and senior Ethan Jobalia explained.

So how did WUTV recover? Despite being essentially inoperative, meetings continued. In 2022, Jobalia joined WUTV after seeing a poster for the club in the Harvey Media Center.

“I knew, at this point, nothing about cameras. Nothing. But this was a fun club, whatever it looked like. So I decided I was going to restart the club, with help from my friend Ali Devji. He was the guy who kind of gave me my first inspiration to build this,” Jobalia said.

While the club had not produced any video content since pre-COVID times, with the right team, it would be possible to revive WUTV’s film and video production facilities. “The idea was just, get a bunch of people who know what they’re doing in here. I’ll take a back seat, I’ll let them kind of do their thing, I’ll have fun. I was kind of setting it up so that I could be a member, not really president. Two years later, here I am,” Jobalia said.

WUTV has since come back into full swing, and the WUTV Tiny Desk concerts highlight this revival with bi-weekly music productions inspired by the namesake, the NPR Tiny Desk concerts. Past recordings on the

WUTV Youtube channel show that the program takes on a wide variety of musical talent, from jazz piano to folk-singing and pop-country performances.

But these Tiny Desk concerts aren’t the only new WUTV productions, as other projects are also in development, including an interview series and a serialized sitcom. Jobalia attributes the revival of WUTV to a number of factors, from dedicated

leadership to gaining access to the Harvey Media Center and audiovisual equipment — but what stood out the most was the club’s ethos.

“I think a lot of clubs on campus are built for people who are experts in their field … But I've always been the kind of person where I want to try a little bit of everything,” Jobalia said. “And I feel like this club has become a home for that. Everyone here, everyone you see here,

is learning on the job … everyone's willing to learn.”

And with the willingness to learn comes the obligation to teach. Co-President and sophomore Nicole Backal emphasized the importance of making WUTV that space.

“Our promise is that we want to give people a space to learn how to create all different types of visual media — like learning how to use the equipment, learning how

to film, learning how to edit,” she said. By fostering an open environment for creativity and always looking to improve upon itself, WUTV has developed an unmatched potential for success. So, as the club continues to move forward with new and old projects, be sure to show them your support by dropping by the WUTV channel and staying on the lookout for further developments.

‘Severance’ Season Two effectively revives the mystery box formula

Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers.

From its very first minutes, the second season of “Severance” plunges viewers into confusion. The season opens with the protagonist Mark S. (Adam Scott) waking up in the elevator of Lumon’s “Severed Floor,” a sequence captured by nauseating camera movements. In what feels like a single take, watchers feel his disorientation vicariously as he weaves through the hallways.

PUZZLE PUZZLE

“Severance,” the Apple TV+ original show, follows employees at Lumon Industries who voluntarily undergo a patented procedure to split their work and personal memories into two distinct streams of consciousness, “innies” and “outies.” This is all told largely through the eyes of Mark Scout, a middle-aged widower with a proclivity for crying in his car. The show has garnered a dedicated and theory-hungry fan base since its release in 2022.

In the prior season’s cliff-hanging ending, the innies use the “Overtime Contingency Protocol” to activate themselves in the outside world, and it is revealed that Mark’s wife (Dichen Lachman) is alive. Despite these looming, pressing questions from the prior season that are exacerbated by an excruciatingly prolonged production break, the show chooses to give its audience only half of the picture, literally.

The first episode, titled “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” focuses exclusively on innie Mark’s perspective. We receive a dubious, secondhand, Lumon-authorized account of the fallout from the events of the season 1 finale told by his supervisor, Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman). From now on, the “severed” workplace is one of reform and learning.

The passage of time within the show is murky. We’re informed about a five-month time jump between seasons from Mr. Milchick, the very same untrustworthy source. Each time Mark steps in and out of the elevator, an unknown

amount of time might have elapsed.

This episode is a perfect return to form. The air of confusion it evokes and the deprivation of information pairs with the themes of the show. Better yet, “Severance” gratifyingly drops us back into the world it has put tremendous effort into creating. The aesthetics are on point, with welcome surprises like a segment of claymation and the introduction of a new mainstay character: Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), a child who serves as their superior.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” the second episode, seeks to provide the second half of the puzzle, with a couple caveats. This time around, the episode hones in on the realm of the outies. We witness outie Mark downplay the possibility of his wife’s survival (Sure, Mark. “She’s alive!” could mean anything). We also see that it has been days, not months, since the end of season one. This isn’t the first time Lumon has lied.

We also get to what has been anxiously anticipated: the reactions of Mark’s innie

co-workers to the Overtime Contingency. Namely, Helly (Britt Lower), who in the finale was revealed in the overworld to be the heir to Lumon, Helena Eagan. This episode builds her up to be a central antagonist as she cleans up the innies’ mess with cold-blooded efficiency.

Glimpses into the life of Dylan (Zach Cherry) are also shown as he struggles to find a job after being laid off by Lumon. We see him motivated by his family, which becomes increasingly significant to his innie in episode one.

Irving (John Turturro), whose outie persona remains an elusive mystery, is also dismissed by Lumon in this episode. But by the end of the episode, as a result of Mark’s hijinks in the first episode, both Dylan and Irving are triumphantly welcomed back with a fruit basket and a smile.

With the gang back together and new plans to be hatched with the knowledge gained from their excursion into the real world, this ostensibly establishes a status quo for the time being.

Nevertheless, the strange questions posed last season and these two episodes alone linger like an insatiable itch.

The fact that these episodes are released on a weekly schedule means that the show can scratch this itch piece by piece. Every episode provides answers, but many new mysteries arise in the same vein.

What is up with the company’s shady, cult-like obsession with Kier Eagan (Marc Geller)? Why does Irving fall asleep at work?

Is everyone actually in a simulation?

These are the questions that fuel episode discussion forums on Reddit and “breakdown” videos on YouTube, where fans scour every pixel and rewind every frame to cook up the latest theories.

In many ways, “Severance” is a resurrection of the mystery box formula notoriously associated with J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof through the show “Lost.” At its lowest point, this involves posing a bevy of questions during the story’s infancy, and then preying upon audience

intrigue while not having the answers themselves.

“Severance,” however, with its intricate set design and meticulous attention to detail in its worldbuilding, seems fit to avoid the pitfalls of the mystery box trope. Chiefly, by actually having the answers to its questions.

The way “Severance” goes about executing its ideas is masterful and daring. The camera work is confusing and calculated. It plays with iconography through sound design. Not to mention the Emmyworthy writing and performances. To make people want to come back for more is a difficult task in itself and the show succeeds to its fullest extent — seeing the credits roll is tantalizing.

With a dynamic, dimensional cast of characters and a somehow even more engrossing plot line throughout the show, “Severance” does everything at a high level. Even if it ends up not having the answers to all the questions it poses, it is well worth the ride. Me? I’m in it for the long haul.

Former WUTV member Rose Harkrider photographing WUTV Vice President Sofia Malik in Harvey Media Center’s Studio 357.

NICOLE BACKAL | STAFF WRITER

PHOTO

WashU in Color: Finding vibrance among the gray

Snow Day

Even if Wednesday’s

We may have six more weeks of winter, but you don’t have to wait until spring to get some color in your life.

The Student Life photo team offers a glimpse of our campus’s potential to brighten up your day.

LEFT (TOP TO BOTTOM): BEN GONDZUR, SCOTT ZARIDER, ASHER LUBIN

RIGHT (TOP TO BOTTOM): SAM POWERS, LUC NEACY, SCOTT ZARIDER

RACHEL BENITEZ-BORREGO (LEFT), SAM POWERS (TOP), LUC NEACY (BOTTOM MIDDLE), ANNA CALVO (BOTTOM RIGHT)

snow didn’t stick, our photographers still managed to capture the ephemeral beauty of this winter semi-wonderland.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Activism starts with awareness: Read local news and fight local fights

If you’re reading Student Life, the odds are high that you have push notifications on for the New York Times (NYT) or another similar publication. Your commitment to being informed is admirable, but in the wake of the current administration’s actions, you’re likely exhausted. It feels impossible to keep up with the news on a federal and international level.

The daily revocation of civil rights, the collapse of federal programs, and constant beration of minorities coming from the Oval Office each day is enough to wear out anyone, even if you aren’t an avid NYT daily email reader. While it’s normal to feel that news-induced burnout, we cannot afford to tune out local news. The fight against an administration committed to rapidly unraveling the rights and systems foundational to our democracy starts at home.

This past November, Missourians voted to overturn the state’s abortion ban and to raise the minimum wage to $13.75/hr this year and then $15/hr in the next. These results were due to the efforts of grassroots organizations, local initiatives, and intense work from organizations like the Missouri Abortion Fund and many others.

Several local election results were victories. Those victories, like we’re seeing on a national level, are not set in stone. Already there has been pushback to both shifts in legislation. The Missouri Independent reported last month on legislation that sought to exempt over 95% of private employers from implementing the increase in minimum wage. On Feb. 5, 2025, Missouri House Representative, Melanie Stinnett proposed a restrictive abortion bill to Missouri lawmakers on the House Children and Families Committee. Not only is the bill intensely restrictive regarding abortion access, it

also bans transgender youth from accessing genderaffirming health care, like hormone treatments.

Civil rights, access to healthcare, and fair compensation are under threat in Missouri. If getting involved at the national level seems daunting or futile, don’t just tune out. There is a battle to be fought locally. Here is what you should be doing to stay informed and active:

Post-Dispatch.

Right now, WashU students can access PostDispatch articles for free via Factiva and Nexis Uni, two databases the university subscribes to. However, these platforms exist to primarily aid researchers with finding archival information, rather than serve as a source of breaking news. Neither is

The WashU administration has an obligation to provide its students with proper resources to stay informed. Students can log in with their WUSTL login to the NYT, St. Louis Business journal, Chronicle for Higher Education, and Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The WashU administration should be making local

faculty, and, as of last March, 19 thousand staff employed by WashU. The WashU administration should subsidize subscriptions to local news for everyone. Being In “St. Louis” and “For St. Louis” means understanding what is happening in St. Louis at the current moment.

Further, subsidizing the

PUZZLE PUZZLE

To stay engaged requires being aware. While national publications can provide the best information on the national stories, they do not have reporters covering the stories that most directly affect the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri. Right now there are around seven reporters covering the white house in varying capacities for the NYT. If you search for “St. Louis” on their site and scroll through the bylines, none of the reporters writing were based in St. Louis. This is not just a problem unique to the NYT; do the same exercise on the Wall Street Journal, and it will yield the same result. These reporters are doing positive work but are not connecting with the city on a deeper level. Their coverage only represents the city when it makes national headlines, and does not include in-depth daily coverage of St. Louis. It’s no secret that regional and local newspapers are struggling to stay afloat in a news industry that favors national publications and hyper-local outlets, leaving out regional papers. Regional papers are the ones with the means to serve a larger community (such as a midwestern city like St. Louis). These papers are likely unknown by most students despite how many of them are easily accessible. The St. Louis Argus and the Webster-Kirkwood Times, for example, are accessible through a quick Google search. Other outlets have to hide their content behind a paywall to stay afloat, like the St. Louis

We call on the WashU administration to fill that information gap with improved access to all local media for the WashU community.

updated regularly enough to be the ‘go-to’ place to read about what is currently happening, especially without a specific article in mind. The university should make Post-Dispatch subscriptions available to students through a model similar to the larger publications to which it subscribes.

news outlets just as accessible to the student body, regardless of paywalls.

Last year, UCLA made NYT subscriptions free to 32,000 students for just 31,000 dollars. WashU has about half the number of students. There are currently a little more than 15 thousand students, 4,500

Reading the news is the first step in fighting back against the harmful actions the Trump Administration is taking right now. It’s integral to stay informed, but that is only the first step. There are numerous St. Louis organizations that are supporting communities and programs that are under threat. Consider getting involved with groups like The Missouri Abortion Fund, the International Institute of St. Louis, Arch City Defenders, STL Mutual Aid, and the ACLU of Missouri. Staying educated and informed is an act of resistance. Read local, then act locally.

Staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of our editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the senior staff.

Alice Gottesman | Managing Scene Editor Avi Holzman | Editor-inChief

Jordan Spector | Managing Forum Editor

Kate Theerman Rodriguez | Junior Forum Editor

Nina Giraldo | Editor-inChief Sam Powers | Managing Photo Editor

River Alsalihi | Junior Forum Editor

AnaElda Ramos | Illustration Editor

Sophie Schwartz | Junior Scene Editor

William Fieni-Thies | Junior Forum Editor Sara Gelrud | Junior Scene Editor

Eliza Stulman | Junior Sports Editor

Elizabeth Grieve | Senior Scene Editor Olivia Lee | Junior Scene Editor

cost of Post-Dispatch subscriptions would not only help students stay informed on local issues but would support local businesses that are dedicated to serving the entire St. Louis community. Student Life is free, but its coverage largely focuses on the campus community, less on the surrounding metro area. We don’t have the resources to cover all city and state news. Therefore, we call on the WashU administration to fill that information gap with improved access to all local media for the WashU community.

ANNA DORSEY | STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

What if the tea stays in the pot?

On New Year’s Eve, I made a resolution to stop gossipping. I shared this resolution with several of my close friends, noticing how guilty I felt after talking behind people’s backs, even when the interactions seemed harmless. I decided I had to take accountability to personally work my way out of participating in interactions that would needlessly hurt others.

Regardless of age, gender, or race, gossip is unavoidably sewn into the fabric of our social lives. Gossip is often how we bond with people, whether it’s simply something you heard down the grapevine that you know your friend will find tantalizing or raging over a newfound common enemy that you just “don’t like the vibe of.”

Telling someone about how so-and-so started a fight with you and insulted your character, however, is a different matter altogether. Everyone needs a space to emotionally process intense, harmful, or complicated interpersonal interactions.

So how can we tell when a conversation is Capital-G Gossip and when it isn’t?

The first question I always ask myself is if anyone in the conversation knows the person/people we’re talking about. It can be so easy to presume various qualities or carry over random tidbits you’ve heard about strangers, especially in a campus environment. Even

as a sophomore, I feel like I “know” most of the people in my year, even though there’s no way I could actually be acquainted with 2,000 people.

Limiting your discussions to people you’ve interacted with more than a handful of times, then, can ensure that you aren’t proliferating false or misguided stories about someone. Have you ever gotten the completely wrong impression of someone before you met them because of something you’d heard, and when you did meet them, they turned out to be a sweetheart?

Gossip can close us off from meeting new people and branching out from our existing circles of friends; by talking this way about others, you keep the in-group in and the outgroup out.

If you really need to air something out about a person you don’t quite know, you can always share the experience without naming Person B. That way you get the catharsis without painting a negative image of a real person.

When in conflict with someone in a circle of friends, I always find it best to seek advice from outside the friend group. That way you’re not entangling the whole group in what could sprout into drama, and importantly, you can grant anonymity to Person B much more easily.

Considering the nuanced feminist history of gossip, I recognize why many people may feel unwilling to part with a method

of navigating communities and learning to live their lives. I, too, feel that it’s important to think and talk about other people’s actions. I like to reflect on how I want to behave and if I want to live like or unlike other people, and that reflection is more often conversational than solitary.

Intention is key. Discussing a situation without accusing people of being morally corrupt, or calling them names, or refusing to interact with them ever again (possibly influencing your conversation partner to do the same) does not create a space of self-reflection.

Considering why someone may have acted the way they did, recognizing their humanity, and considering how you would have acted instead can help you decide the kind of person you want to be. I arrived at this resolution to stop gossipping, in part, by reflecting on other people’s behaviors in that exact way.

One final caveat to my gossip aversion is what is sometimes called the “Whisper Network.”

Sharing information that can protect others from abusers is an important part of survival for many groups of marginalized people. I always believe in the importance of keeping each other safe.

Saying goodbye to gossip isn’t quick or easy. I have to decide what is unnecessary drama or rumors and what is essential, insightful information to share with my friends. As I go on

trying to stick to my resolution, I hope I inspire other people to think about their

relationship to gossip and consider the kind of person they want to be (and what conversations they want to have). RIVER

CAPTION CONTEST

Scan the QR code to enter your submission by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

WEEKLY BAR, RESTAURANT AND FUN GUIDE

1st Place: Only way this situation could be worse is if my girl was with me. - Frankie Lynch, Caption Contest Enthusiast

2nd Place: If only there was a tree border around this road to offer shade! - Mudd Field, Current WashU Student

3rd Place: Hungry car, foaming at the hood. - Tyler Iguana, Current WashU Student

MARK HANNAH | CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR

ERICA SHI | STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

‘I like you (as a friend)! Now say it back (as a friend)!’: Why we should all have friend crushes

I love friendship. Who doesn’t? A curated, loving, irreplaceable group of people who know you in completely unique ways and the same is true vice versa? Chills! I don’t want to invoke “My Little Pony” too much, but they were absolutely onto something with their whole “Friendship is Magic” campaign. Anyways…

All friendship starts with the initial strike of the match: the introduction by a mutual friend, the neighboring seat in class, the serendipitous forehead bump in Whispers (still looking for this one). But, more often than not, my most rewarding, heartfelt friendships have started with a frush (a chic “friend crush”).

I know frushes get a bad rep. People are intimidated by the idea of yearning after someone from afar (creepy) or not playing the cool girl (whatever). This is true even when we know the overwhelmingly positive value of friendship, including its benefits on our health, self-worth, and feelings of belonging. So, hello people! Let’s get crushing!

But, why are we so scared to make the platonic first move? Why are we reluctant to even think about privately liking someone before we really know them? It could be because more than 60% of GenZ faces anxiety, including social anxiety.

Or that we limit ourselves to meeting people in school, work, or neighborhoods. And if it doesn’t land at our feet, we don’t chase it. Notably, 22% of Americans say they have not made a new friend in five years (or more!). We all deserve (and need) community, there’s no shame in going after it. So, I want to reintroduce you to the friend crush, a longtime friend of mine that you’ve probably met in passing, and I’m sure you’ll get along. It could take a few lunches to find your stride, but I know it’s there between the two of you. Even amongst those who don’t admit it, I’m convinced we all have friend crushes — the person across from you in class who makes a comment that really resonates with you, the person donning the World’s Coolest Outfit™, your endearing neighbor who gets millions of packages delivered. They exist!

My first WashU friend crush started before I crossed Forsyth Blvd onto campus or even the Missouri state border. As a transfer student, I was obsessive about picking the right school (again, whoops). A friend of a friend went to WashU, had my planned major, and offered to call. What a treat! I called her, sewing a dress in my old college’s craft space while our mutual friend introduced us. Immediately, she was SO nice. Even during her own exam week, she grounded me as I ran around with scissors

(big no-no) and fabric scraps and random worries about credits. Sitting on the call, she outlined what our major was like, shared her favorite matcha spot on campus, and here’s the kicker: she was just so charismatic and funny. So, I outwardly told her I wanted to be friends. Sound the friend crush alarms!

Three months later, when I actually was within the Forsyth Blvd and Missouri state borders, I finally met Júlia in person. She ran up to me with a big hug and a birthday party invitation on the first day of transfer orientation. A month later, over gooey, delicious shakshuka, I restated my friend crush, and we have been inseparable since.

Now, Júlia is a capital F Friend, a close, unique, cherished person, whose friendship I will carry through life. Without expressing my frush to Júlia, who knows if she would be my Friend now?

Of course, it’s easy to read this story, and point to our mutual friend as the vital social lubricant, and that’s true. Her mutual endorsement gave us an immediate sense of trust and comfort. Importantly, not all friend crushes start that way, nor should they. Only relying on mutual friends fails to expose us to important people in other corners of campus and the world. With this mentality, I started watering a frush on a girl in my Creative Nonfiction course last semester. She

was witty, quick, unabashedly herself, and had INSANE amounts of niche knowledge. Friend crush? Check. I started waiting to walk with her after class, and we got to know each other more. We had a shared hatred of the gym, connected over mutual difficulties decoding our professor with a resting neutral face, and we both wanted to go bowling. Who could blame us? So, a few walks in, I revealed my friend crush.

In the past month, we’ve gabbed on the treadmills, I’ve introduced her to a booth of my friends at a rowdy restaurant, and in a heroic act, she introduced me to a friend of her own: this very newspaper. Because of her, I felt comfortable and confident doing something I knew I had an interest in. That’s what friends are for — to challenge you to explore the crazy chaos of life and just be there — and maybe that’s what frushes are for too.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE HANSON

Júlia Villa (left) and Katie Hanson (right) on the first day of their senior year.

No. 19 men’s basketball drops two on the road

ELIAS KOKINOS SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The No. 19 WashU men’s basketball team faced a challenging weekend in conference play, losing to Brandeis University and then-ranked No. 3 New York University in back-to-back road losses on Feb. 7 and 9. Despite strong individual performances, the Bears struggled to keep pace with two of the conference’s top teams, dropping to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play as the regular season enters its final stretch.

The weekend began with a tough 86-79 loss to Brandeis on Friday night in Waltham, Massachusetts. Senior Hayden Doyle delivered a career-best performance, scoring 29 points and pulling down six rebounds, but WashU’s defensive struggles allowed Brandeis to control the tempo. The Bears showed resilience, battling back from multiple deficits and briefly taking the lead midway through the second half. However, Brandeis closed the game with a dominant stretch, capitalizing on key WashU turnovers and cold shooting in the final minutes.

After a tightly contested first half, WashU’s offense ignited coming out of the break, with Doyle, junior Will Grudzinski, and first-year Connor May leading a scoring surge that tied the game.

The Bears even took the lead deep into the second half, fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Grudzinski and sophomore Emmett Lawton. But as the game wore on, Brandeis responded with an extended scoring run,

tightening up defensively and limiting WashU’s opportunities. Despite a late push, the Judges iced the game at the free-throw line, leaving the Bears with their first loss of the weekend.

Things didn’t get any easier on Sunday when WashU faced off against No. 3 NYU in New York City. The highpowered Violets proved too much for the Bears, who fell 77-58 in a game where NYU’s defensive pressure and efficient shooting created problems. Doyle once again led the Bears, finishing with 20 points and four rebounds, while May added 14 points, but WashU never fully recovered from an early NYU scoring surge that built a double-digit, 35-25, lead in the first half.

NYU controlled the game from the perimeter, hitting timely 3-pointers and forcing the Bears into difficult shots. WashU’s offense, which had been dynamic throughout the season, struggled against NYU’s length and physicality. The Bears fought to cut into the deficit, stringing together small runs in the second half, but the Violets remained in control, never allowing WashU to get closer than 13 points in the final minutes.

Despite the setbacks, WashU remains in the thick of the UAA race and will look to bounce back in a critical weekend ahead. The Bears travel to Case Western Reserve University on Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. EST, followed by another road matchup against Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. EST. With just a handful of games left in the regular season, WashU will need to regroup quickly to solidify its position in the conference standings and make a push

Women’s basketball drops tough losses to Brandeis and No. 1 NYU

HAILEY BERGER

ASHLEY BUCKINGHAM

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

STAFF WRITER

During a weekend on the road, the WashU women’s basketball team fell to Brandeis University 68-57 and No. 1 New York University 77-58 on Feb. 7 and 9. The Bears are now 4-5 in conference play and 13-7 overall.

Coming off a dominant 24-point victory over Brandeis just one week prior, the Bears traveled to Waltham, Massachusetts on Friday night to take on Brandeis at their home court. After both teams battled turnovers in the early minutes, the Judges hit a 3-pointer in the final 24 seconds of the first quarter to take a 15-12 lead over WashU. Heading into halftime, the game remained close with the Bears down 30-28.

With a total of 16 lead changes throughout the game, the teams continued to battle in the second half, leaving WashU down 59-47 with a little over two minutes remaining in the final quarter. However, graduate student guard Jessica Brooks, who had contributed an impressive 13 points, fouled out of the game with over a minute remaining in the fourth. Without Brooks on the court, the Judges dominated, scoring the final seven points of the game.

Sophomore center Lexy Harris said that she believes that the Bears’ energy was the biggest challenge for Brandeis during the game.

“Our energy is contagious and when we are all willing to play with it, then a lot of other things fall into place,

such as our effort and attitude,” she said.

WashU was outrebounded by Brandeis 40-32, which has continued to remain an area of emphasis for the team all season.

Harris led the Bears with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks, marking her seventh double-double of the season. Sophomore guards Alyssa Hughes and Sidney Rogers each put up 11 and seven points, respectively.

Harris highlighted Brooks for her consistent effort throughout the game.

team remains committed to improving their errors.

According to Brooks, the team can improve on supporting ball handlers during the press and preventing themselves from getting stuck in crucial plays.

“Turnovers are something we go back and forth with. A lot of turnovers are controllable things like making sure we have good passes and footwork,” Brooks said. “NYU is a really talented team, and their pressure definitely made us commit turnovers we don’t usually do.”

“We need to support each other, cheer each other on.”

“She is a leader that we all look up to and I admire her for that,” she said. “Although we did not win, she still ran hard, was physical, and [was] disciplined with her defense, which is needed for success.”

On Sunday, the women’s basketball team looked for redemption as they faced NYU, hoping to become the team to ruin the Violets’ perfect record. Unfortunately, the Bears couldn’t surpass the highly-skilled team.

NYU got off to a hot start, taking a 10-3 lead in the first quarter. While the Violets may have lacked shot consistency at the 3-point line, having a 0-5 drought in 3-pointers, they utilized the Bears’ turnovers, a weakness, to their advantage. With six turnovers alone in the first quarter for the Bears, the Violets had taken a significant lead of 22-12 after the first quarter.

Brooks said that the

By halftime, the Bears continued to fight, picking up a total of five steals, decreasing the Violets’ first-quarter field goal percentages from 58.82% to 25% by the end of the second.

The team made strategic adjustments to its defensive communication and scoring opportunities during halftime.

“Coach Stone came into the locker room at half time and was saying we had NYU right where we wanted them. She told us we needed to limit our turnovers and continue matching up with shooters,” Brooks said.

The team continued to rack up points throughout the game, helped by Brooks, who played 40 minutes and earned herself 16 points and nine rebounds. Harris hit several clutch threes to keep the Bears within range of securing

a possible comeback.

Sophomore Sidney Rogers returned to the lineup after suffering an ankle injury on Jan. 17 and added 12 points to the score sheet.

While, ultimately, the game was another tough loss for the Bears, with a final score of 58-77, it should be noted that they outrebounded the Violets by 15 points, demonstrating how WashU’s players contributed to both the offensive and defensive sides of the game.

Head coach Lisa Stone remains optimistic about her team’s ability to secure wins later on in the season. Players stay motivated and seek growth when they face their upcoming competitors.

“Heading into the next game [Case Western], the team is excited to work on their offensive execution and defensive strategies,” she said. “They aim to build on their strengths while implementing the adjustments discussed, ensuring they come together as a cohesive unit.”

Looking ahead, WashU will hit the road again to take on Case Western Reserve University on Friday, Feb. 14, and Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, Feb. 16. These next few practices will be crucial in ensuring the team is prepared, according to Harris.

“Our team needs to continue to push hard in practice because how you practice is how you play,” Harris said. “We need to support each other, cheer each other on, and just continue to do what we need to do to come out hard against Case Western next weekend.”

CHRISTIAN KIM

JUNIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The WashU track and field teams traveled to Bloomington, Illinois to take part in the Keck Invitational hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University on Feb. 8. Coming off a strong performance at the third Friday Night Spikes on Jan. 31, the No. 3 women’s and No. 23 men’s team accumulated 10 and six

top-three finishes on Saturday, respectively, while competing against 20 other teams from the region.

In the men’s competition, junior James Corbett achieved the team’s tied-highest finish in a track event in the 800 meter run, coming in second place and hitting a season best. His time of 1:56.22 was good for the 100th best time in Division III track and field this year.

The other second place finish came from the 4x400meter relay team, consisting of senior Elvin Binagi, junior Brandon Brazil, sophomore William Frohling, and firstyear Benjamin Kruger, with a time of 3:24.71.

The longest event of the day, the 3,000-meter run, featured three Bears in third, fourth, and fifth place, all achieving personal records. Junior Oliver Witt, sophomore Will

Liu, and first-year Sean Green finished within five seconds of each other. In the mile, senior Fernando Ribeiro Duraes finished in 4:21.20 for fifth place and a season-best time.

WashU swept the podium spots in the pole vault, with junior George Bourdier placing first, junior Tommaso Maiocco second, and sophomore Peter Lichtenberger in third. Bourdier hit a personal best of 4.90 meters — the 11th best mark in Division III this season.

In the women’s events, the two distance events featured three top-five finishes for the Bears. First-year Mackenzie Raue finished fourth in the mile with a time of 5:06.33, a personal record, and the 61st best D-III time this season.

Six other Bears achieved personal records or season bests in the event. In the 3,000meter race, first and second place were held by junior Jillian Heth and senior Abby Patterson, respectively. Heth hit a season best of 9:58.44, and Patterson hit a personal record of 10:06.83.

The sprint and mid-distance events were also a strong point for the women’s team. Senior Lauren Gay finished in third in the 60-meter hurdles, and junior Jasmine Wright also came in third place in the 60-meter dash.

Sophomore Caroline Echols placed third in the 400 meters, and two Bears finished fifth and sixth in the

800 meters, good for the 45th and 46th best times in the event this season. Sophomore Cate Christopher finished in 2:17.30, and senior Virginia Pridgen crossed the finish line three hundredths of a second later in 2:17.33.

The Bears also grabbed first and second place in the 4x400meter relay. The first-place team, consisting of junior Kylie Spytek, senior Nicole Stewart, sophomore Julia Coric, and senior Izzy Gorton, ran a time of 3:54.95, and the second-place team, consisting of first-year Alison Conner, Echols, sophomore Gayle Henderson, and Christopher, finished in 3:56.72. Senior Yasmin Ruff continued her dominant form in

the pole-vault, scaling 4.01 meters to take first place. Senior Mackenzie Stock came in fifth, climbing 3.41 meters, a season best and the 58th best mark in D-III meets this season. Rounding out the field events, sophomore Olivia Theisen came in second in the high jump. Junior Jenae Bothe grabbed a first-place finish in the shot put, the team’s fourth victory of the day. Looking ahead, the Bears will travel to Whitewater, Wisconsin to compete at the Midwest Elite Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 15, their second-to-last meet before the University Athletic Association Championships on Mar. 1 and 2.

Junior Cate Stevens hands the

WINTER SPORTS BY THE NUMBERS

average rebounds per game (compared to 31.5 by opponents).

12.7 points, average number of points per game more than opponents.

Highest ranking this season:

39.4 No. 2

44.2

average number of rebounds per game through 20 games.

12 15.6 2 15.6, sophomore Lexy Harris’ average points per game through 20 games.

15 the number of times achieved by swimmers in the Division III top-25. five-game win streaks this season.

No. 14 Men’s Swim & Dive

NCAA B-Cuts achieved.

3 the number of B-Cuts held by sophomore swimmer Marco Minai. NCAA B-Cuts

ELIAS KOKINOS SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

Anyone who knows me well knows that my Saturday mornings are reserved for one thing: Borussia Dortmund (BVB) (and, of course, tweeting about Dortmund shortly afterward). Like clockwork, I get up early every Saturday morning, brew coffee, and watch with about 20% excitement and 80% dread as a soccer club from northwest Germany dictates my mood for the next few days. It’s a ritual at this point — a comforting constant in my life, even if the recent results aren’t always so comforting. Lately, as Dortmund’s performances have stalled, another thought has crept into my mind during their matches: these players are ridiculously young. Jamie Gittens, at just 19, is out here embarrassing defenders and being linked to some of the biggest clubs in the world. It’s not just Gittens, though. Jude Bellingham bossed Dortmund’s midfield at 18 before becoming Real Madrid’s golden boy for over €100 million. Youssoufa Moukoko debuted at 16 — sixteen! — and promptly started breaking goal-scoring records like it was no big deal. Gio Reyna, barely 22, is one of the most creative players in Germany and already feels like the team’s elder statesman, as he debuted over five years ago. And lastly, there’s Erling Haaland, who, as a teenager, was one of the most prolific strikers in the world while at BVB. He transferred to Man City for around €60 million

and has become one of the greatest strikers ever.

At first, I thought this was just a “Dortmund thing.”

After all, the club has a reputation for nurturing young talent and turning teenagers into global stars.

But then I started noticing it everywhere. Take Lamine Yamal, for example. He was 16 when he started lighting it up for Barcelona last season. Sixteen! He wasn’t just holding his own — he was cooking grown men on the pitch, men twice his age with kids older than him.

Last summer in Stuttgart, I saw him play live against Germany in the Euros (Euro Cup), and I was mind-blown. Yamal is now 17 years old and is widely considered one of the best players in the world.

So maybe it’s just soccer, right? In Europe, players start young. They’re recruited into academies as kids and spend a decade honing their craft before breaking into the first team. But no, this isn’t just a soccer phenomenon.

Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon at 20, defeating Novak Djokovic in a match that felt like a generational shift. Connor Bedard recently entered the NHL as the greatest prospect since Wayne Gretzky, and at 19, he’s already delivering. Victor Wembanyama — the literal definition of a generational talent — makes NBA defenders look underfed at just 21. And then there’s Jeremiah Smith, a first-year wide receiver for the recently crowned college football champions, The Ohio State University. The 17-year-old didn’t just survive under the

brightest lights; he thrived in the biggest moment, becoming one of the most impactful players in the nation.

It doesn’t stop there. Kimi Antonelli, an 18-year-old prodigy who dominated in F2, is already hailed as the future of Formula 1 and Mercedes’ team. Even the Olympics have joined the parade of wonderkids. The youngest Olympian competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, female skateboarder Zheng Haohao, was born on the penultimate day of the 2012 London Olympics. She was an Olympian at 12 years old.

At first, this whole “the athletes are younger than me” thing was unsettling. I grew up idolizing older players who seemed untouchable — larger-than-life figures who inspired me to dream big. Now, I realize these kids are closer to needing advice on their DAT 121 homework than worrying about retirement plans.

As much as I joke about it, watching these young athletes dominate is genuinely remarkable. Sure, it reminds me that my athletic prime peaked during middle school dodgeball, but their

energy, creativity, and fearlessness make sports better.

The awe we feel watching younger athletes is different from what we feel when we watch older veterans — it’s tinged with respect for their discipline, recognition of their sacrifices, and maybe even a sense of envy for their precocious success. Their youth doesn’t diminish their achievements; it adds another layer to our appreciation. What were we doing at their age? I certainly wasn’t redefining what’s possible or making the

extraordinary look routine week after week. Ultimately, cheering for athletes younger than us becomes less about identification and more about witnessing their potential to become world-class talent. We root for their growth and celebrate milestones, like younger siblings or protégés.

It’s a shift from wanting to emulate them to wanting to support them.

So here’s to the wonderkids. Whether on the pitch, the court, or the track, they’re carrying the torch for

the next generation of fans. I’ll keep watching, cheering, and occasionally yelling at the screen in disbelief — because as much as they remind me of the passage of time, they also remind me why I fell in love with sports in the first place.

So next Saturday, I’ll be back at it — coffee in hand, Dortmund on my TV, X (formerly known as Twitter) on my computer, and wonderkids redefining what’s possible. And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA