December 7, 2023 Student Life Newspaper, Washington University in St. Louis

The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 VOLUME 145, NO. 13

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023

NO BS

END OF AN ERA

Professional Bull Riders come to St. Louis.

(Scene, pg 4)

Men’s soccer coach Joe Clarke retires.

(Sports, pg 5)

Within grasp, out of reach

After dramatic Final Four victory, women’s soccer falls in National Championship game RILEY HERRON CLARA RICHARDS

MANAGING NEWS EDITOR STAFF WRITER

Professor, author, and historian Heather Cox Richardson delivered remarks and answered audience questions about the future of democracy in Graham Chapel, during an event held by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics on Dec. 4.

Richardson has written multiple books about the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, including the bestselling book “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America,’’ this past September. She is widely known for the podcast “Now & Then” that she hosts and her daily Substack newsletter about American politics.

Graham Chapel boasted nearly 800 people Monday night, including professors, postdoctoral students, and undergraduates. However, the vast majority of attendees were St. Louis community members and readers of Richardson’s newsletter.

Richardson does not see herself as a journalist — despite how her work is interpreted by some people — but rather a historian maintaining

Professor receives backlash: accusations of antisemitism JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR

Christianity to talk about inclusion rather than to build up his own political influence. This leads to larger questions about the nature of religion in politics.

“Is there any role for religion in American politics?” Richardson said. “My answer is that your politics should be informed by your faith because you are bringing to human society your beliefs about the way the universe works, and that’s crucially important.”

After making a social media post in support of a protest opposing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Bret Gustafson, Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, has received significant community backlash centering around accusations of antisemitism.

Gustafson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Nov. 25 in response to a post by political commentator Peter Beinart, which included video of a protest outside the Los Angeles home of the president of AIPAC, Michael Tuchin. AIPAC is a lobbying group that is self-defined as an organization representing pro-Israel Americans with a mission to “strengthen bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

The incident, currently being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department as a possible hate crime, involved protestors splattering fake blood on cars and igniting smoke devices.

In response to a post that included an NBC article with video of the protest, Gustafson wrote: “I agree with pretty much everything you write but not sure you are right here. Nobody was harmed. It’s an escrache tactic. (Look it up) Pretty cool I’d say. Let those who enable mass murder not live in peace.”

An escrache tactic refers to a type of political demonstration wherein individuals protest public figures, often at their homes.

Gustafson has since made his X account private.

Shortly after Gustafson made the post, an account called @ StopAntisemites reposted it with the caption: “Bret Gustafson, Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, says setting off gas canisters outside the homes of Jews is ‘pretty cool.’ LAPD are investigating it as a possible hate crime. Are Jewish students safe in his classroom @WUSTL @ WashUChancellor?”

In an interview, Gustafson said that the phrase “pretty cool” in his post was in reference to protesting AIPAC specifically, rather than Judaism as a whole.

“AIPAC’s main purpose is to generate or maintain uncritical support for Israel in the US Congress and it does so by funneling money [...] to try to unseat politicians who are opposed to US policy in Israel,” Gustafson said. “That was the context in which I thought, they’re protesting the head of AIPAC’s house, that’s cool.”

Gustafson said that the protest of the AIPAC president was for his involvement in the organization, not because of his Jewish identity.

“People who conflate AIPAC with Judaism or all Jews, are themselves making an antisemitic assertion, which assumes that all Jews share the same political position,” Gustafson said. “That’s certainly not what I think.”

SEE RICHARDSON, PAGE 2

SEE GUSTAFSON, PAGE 2

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE Sophomore Ella Koleno and graduate student Ally Hackett hug after women’s soccer lost 1-0 to Cal Lutheran in the National Championship. of our women.”

Final Four Victory

The Bears earned their spot in the national championship with a nerve wracking Final Four victory over Messiah University. After junior midfielder Gaelen Clayton, WashU’s first-team all-UAA honoree and second leading scorer, went down with a shoulder injury just 12 minutes in, the Bears opened the scoring. A shot that junior midfielder Meryl McKenna, who subbed in for Clayton, struck from the edge of the box was redirected by a Messiah defender into the goal to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

With just two minutes left in the first half, Messiah leveled the scoring on a long-range strike which beat Conner as it sailed into the top left corner of the net. The scoreline held at 1-1 for the remainder of the opening 90 minutes, and neither team could break the tie in two 10 minute periods of extra time. As

a result, just like their last three matchups - including the Bears’s season-ending loss to Messiah in last year’s Elite Eight - the two teams found themselves in a penalty shootout.

“The history of these two teams, these two programs — we could have just gone to PKs and been done with it. Saved ourselves some time,” Messiah head coach Scott Frey quipped after the game.

In the shootout, the Bears flipped the script of last year’s defeat.

Conner, who was bested by all five shooters last year, made two clutch saves. With a 3-2 lead and just one shot remaining for both teams, up stepped second-team all-American center back Ally Hackett, who transferred to WashU as a graduate student after playing at Division I UNC-Greensboro.

With the pressure on, Hackett launched a strike into the top-right corner, eluding the outstretched

arms of the diving Messiah goalie and finding the back of the net to send the Bears back to the National Championship game.

Championship match

In Saturday’s final match, the Bears took on the Cal Lutheran Regals with Division III soccer’s most storied prize on the line.

After Veljacic, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player, opened the scoring for the Regals, the Bears attempted to scrap their way back.

At halftime, the Bears altered their tactics, pushing more players into attacking roles to potentially generate a necessary spark. With the Regals taking a more conservative approach to defend their lead, the Bears took advantage of the space that opened up in the midfield, and were able to generate some offensive momentum.

SEE SOCCER, PAGE 6

Professor Heather Cox Richardson speaks about the state of democracy from a historical perspective AVI HOLZMAN QUINN MOORE

SPB hosts comedy show.

(News, pg 2)

ALIANA MEDIRATTA

SPORTS EDITOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Soccer is a game of inches. At any moment, a bounce off the post, deflection off of an outstretched player’s body, or slightest touch on the ball can decide the outcome of a game, a season, or in the case of the Washington University women’s soccer team, a championship. In the biggest game of the Bears’ season, the NCAA Division III National Championship against California Lutheran University, the bounces didn’t fall their way.

In the 17th minute of the game, Cal Lutheran forward Isabella Veljacic curled a strike towards the goal from outside of the box. As the ball arced towards the net, it redirected off the crossbar, before deflecting off senior Sidney Conner, WashU’s all-American goalkeeper.

With a leaping Conner suspended in mid-air, there was nothing she could do as the ball crossed the goal line and found the back of the net.

The goal proved decisive. Despite a resilient second-half effort that included control over the majority of possession, three shots, and five corner kicks, the Bears never put the ball in the back of the net. With their one goal, Cal Lutheran rode to their first-ever national title, becoming the first unranked team to achieve the feat.

The Bears, who were ranked second in the last United Soccer Coaches poll of the season, ended the season with an impressive 17-2-4 record alongside a national runner-up finish for just the third time in program history.

“It was a fantastic championship match, game of inches,” WashU head coach Jim Conlon said after the match. “Whether that’s first touches, passes, ricochets off the crossbar, I could not be more proud

POKEMON SEX JOKES IN GRAHAM CHAPEL

a record of the political happenings in America.

She clarified that journalists “tell you what happened,” whereas historians study “how societies change.” Richardson tends to avoid writing articles that make predictive arguments — instead, she is interested in current events that are having an impact on the world and moving society “forward or backward.”

This means that she does not always focus on writing about whatever the headline news is on other media outlets. For example, Richardson wrote about Joe Biden and United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain praising each other instead of writing about the Republican primary debate.

“When I write, and the reason that I write every night, is because it is a record of this crucially important time in United States history,” Richardson said. “I’m a historian, and I became aware, after a while, that this record will be incredibly important for a graduate student in 150 years.”

Richardson hopes to leave “breadcrumbs” for future students so that when they do look back at this time, there will be a written record of

ALAN ZHOU | STUDENT LIFE Professor Heather Cox Richardson spoke about the state of American politics, using historical context, before a crowd in Graham Chapel on Dec. 4. the events that took place.

Richardson discussed the role of religion in today’s political climate — a role that, to her, is defined by power.

“The politics in the United States, which is all I can speak to, is about power,” Richardson said.

She views religion as one of the many divisive vehicles politicians use to craft narratives and garner more power.

At the same time, Richardson said that religion can also be a tool for bringing people together. For instance, She cited Fain’s use of

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THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

Pokemon sex jokes in Graham Chapel:

SPB hosts Melissa Villaseñor and Ariel Elias in fall comedy show LAUREN SMITH HADIA KHATI STAFF WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Comedians Mellisa Villanseñor and Ariel Elias came to the Graham Chapel stage for the Student Programming Board’s (SPB) fall comedy show at Washington University, Nov. 28.

Opener Elias’ jokes spanned many topics, including growing up Jewish in Kentucky, Joe Biden’s presidency, and carrying bedazzled pepper spray.

Villaseñor, an acclaimed impressionist, imitated celebrities, discussed the challenges of dating men who love Pokemon, and approved an undergraduate’s petition to use the restroom during the show.

Villaseñor, a former Saturday Night Live performer, joined the show in 2016 for six seasons as the first-ever Latina cast member.

Elias has performed on the set of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and was featured on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Elias talked about when she went viral in 2020 for chugging a beer can that a heckler threw at her during a comedy show. She said the beer can was thrown because the audience member could tell she had voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

“It genuinely sucks to have taken a beer can for Joe Biden,” Elias said. “I want to take a beer can for someone cool like Beyonce. Joe Biden

is the Jason Derulo of politics — you never hear anyone say, ‘Oh, that guy’s my favorite.’”

Elias also spoke about growing up in the only Jewish family she knew in Kentucky and being told she was going to Hell by her friends in middle school, and joked about the differences between Jewish holidays and Christian holidays.

“Christians celebrate. We commemorate,” Elias said.

“Passover and Easter happen at the same time, and at Easter, all my Christian friends were like, ‘Our lord has risen,’ and I was like, ‘Our bread hasn’t.’

Easter, by the way, should be a dark, scary holiday. Like, he died. It’s upsetting. And then he came back to life? That’s more upsetting. But Christians were just like, ‘Pastels.’”

Elias discussed using public transportation in New York City, where she lives now, and how on one Halloween, she saw a man dressed as Super Mario running to catch the train, barely missing it.

“I was like, ‘Aww, you should’ve held down B. You would’ve gotten there faster,’” Elias said.

Elias also recounted her mother buying her pepper spray before she went to college in New Orleans and voiced confusion at the rhinestone exterior of the spray.

“Why do they keep bedazzling our weapons?” She said, “It’s just weird, because the only people who are going to see that pepper spray are me and my attacker. I’m not dressing for him.”

After her act, Elias introduced Villaseñor, who

began her portion of the show talking about achieving her dream of being on SNL and shared some of her memories doing impressions of celebrities on the show.

She has imitated the voices of Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Steve Buscemi, Kim Kardashian, Gwen Stefani, Yoda, and many others.

Leading into her Yoda impression, Villaseñor talked about being a people pleaser and her inability to communicate with waiters.

She said she is overly smiley and laughs too much when she interacts with waiters, especially when she asks them to bring her the check, or when she needs her water refilled.

She then compared the way she speaks to waiters to the way Yoda inverts his words.

“Water? Water? Do you have it? Check! Check! We are ready for the check,” Villaseñor said in Yoda’s voice, before breaking character to say, “Nah, forget it, I don’t want to poop. You have to push to do that [impression].”

Despite the loud laughter that came from the crowd during both portions of the show, the majority of Graham Chapel was empty, which sophomore Blair Migdal found surprising, having seen Villaseñor on SNL. “I thought it would be more crowded and harder to get seating,” Migdal said.

Villaseñor addressed students leaving the performance, twice. The first time she noticed people leaving, she said it was okay and acknowledged that they

RICHARDSON from page 1 One of Richardson’s specific research interests is the Reconstruction era and the history of the Republican Party.

“I’ve written a book on the Republican Party, and I would venture that there is nobody in this country who knows that party better than I do, and I say that with a broken heart,” Richardson said. “The party is dead.”

She views the current Republican Party as one that is not made up of conservatives but “radical extremists.”

Richardson thinks that while the modern-day version of the Republican Party may still be active, it should no longer be viewed as a legitimate political party.

According to her, the party has changed the issues it focuses on as well as what it believes in. “[Republicans changed their desire from] laissez-faire economics with market forces and small government to one that’s calling for a very large government that affects every aspect of our lives, including getting away from market forces,” Richardson said.

Despite the recent changes in the beliefs of the Republican Party, Richardson still thinks that the idea upon which it is founded will remain relevant in the American political landscape.

“That [old Republican] idea of how society should work is so deeply ingrained in the American DNA that even if it’s not a Republican Party that embraces that again, somebody is going to bring [those ideas] back to the American polity in some form,” she said.

Towards the end of the event, Richardson drew a line of comparison between the state of democracy now and its state in the years leading up to the Civil War, emphasizing the notion that no one person changed the country.

“Lincoln was a brilliant man, but he didn’t do it by himself,” Richardson said.

“He did it by [having] people who looked at each other in 1854 and 1855 and 1856 and 1857 and said, ‘You know, I don’t agree with you about a lot of stuff, don’t even necessarily like you very much, and after all this is over we’re going to fight about things all over again, but in this moment, we know we need to protect our legacy — we need to protect American democracy.’ And they did it.”

She noted that in less than a decade, America went from a country headed towards oligarchy to recommitting to its founding ideal that everyone should have an equal say in the government.

“So when I look out in this moment, a crisis moment at least as powerful as that one, I think they did it when only white property men could vote,” Richardson said. “And if they could do it then, we could do it today.”

St. Louis community member Jen Saleh said that reading Richardson’s work is worthwhile because of her ability to weave history together with the present. “[I] appreciate everything she puts into it. She takes the work out of it for us,” Saleh said. “I feel like, with her, you can trust everything she says because she backs it up with history.”

Senior Ben Wertheim, a history major, expanded on

ALAN ZHOU | STUDENT LIFE Comedian Mellisa Villanseñor cracks jokes in Graham Chapel, Nov 28. probably had a test to study for.

The second time, she was in the middle of a joke about visiting the upscale supermarket Erewhon in Los Angeles when a student stood up and made his way to the door. Villaseñor called him out for moving and asked if he was trying to get a better view.

The student then asked her if he could use the restroom, which resulted in laughter from the audience. Villaseñor chuckled and approved his request, telling him to have fun.

During the rest of her performance, Villaseñor talked about how her Hinge profile attracts men she called “cute nerds” and how an attractive man she matched with messaged her first to ask if she liked Pokemon.

“Guess he wants to trade Pokemon — ‘C’mon let’s

trade Pokemon.’ I don’t want to trade Pokemon; I want to trade bodily fluids,” she said.

She talked about trying to lure her Hinge match into her house and decided she would try to use her impression of Ash Ketchum, the 10-year-old protagonist of the Pokemon franchise, to attract the man.

“C’mere! There’s a really special Pokemon in my bedroom! C’mere, c’mere!

It’s…Squirtle!” she said, doing an impression of the character.

She then made a joke about the Pokemonobsessed man fictitiously getting sexually transmitted diseases after his bedroom encounter with Villaseñor, and she incorporated a popular catchphrase from the franchise.

“I got chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV. Huh, guess I gotta catch ‘em all,” she said, in the voice of the man.

She ended her show by singing a song titled “Solo Trip” in what she called a “winter-indie-girl” voice, telling the story of a girl getting murdered in the woods. Firstyear Faheem Rahman, who is a member of SPB, said the song was the part that stood out to her most from all the jokes that night.

Villaseñor talked about wanting to experiment more with comedic songs and mentioned that she is currently taking guitar lessons.

In several parts of her show, Villaseñor voiced uncertainty about her future and talked about trying to find something new after achieving her life goal of being on SNL. “That was the only goal, and I did it. And now people are like, ‘What else?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know,’” she said.

“To reach a life goal and still have years left — that’s funny.”

GUSTAFSON from page 1 this idea and how it can lead to stronger opinions and better commentary.

“The more you can say ‘This is what the issue is rooted in, and in the 19th century, X, Y, and Z happened, and here’s how it relates,’ the more complete a picture you’ll get, and therefore, you’ll get a more informed opinion,” Wertheim said.

Another senior, Audrey Church, noted that there are “barriers to entry” to engaging in discussion about a complex political topic — barriers that can only be overcome through education.

One thing that stuck out to her from Richardson’s discussion was how she made everything “palatable to those who don’t have PhDs, but then also relatable, and yet still very intellectual and intuitive.”

First-year Zach Nowacek is planning on studying history and saw the talk as a source of optimism for the future.

“The reason to have that optimism is that it can be anyone who really tries to incite and promote positive change,” Nowacek said.

Richardson recognizes that there is currently immense turmoil, both in the United States and across the globe. She also sees this moment as one where people can take action.

“I am incredibly excited to see what the next generation will do. So for all the people who are concerned about this moment, with very good reason, it is also a time of extraordinary creativity and potentially joy, and that’s the part I find exciting,” she said.

Gustafson also said that the Stop Antisemites post had multiple distortions in it, including the fact that it used the phrase “gas canisters,” while the protest actually used smoke devices.

“You will find no endorsement of ‘gassing Jews’ in my [post], but that’s what they said I said. They intentionally used the word gas to try to evoke gas chambers,” he said. “The other thing that was distorted was they said that LAPD was investigating it as a hate crime. That’s not true, it says they are investigating it as a possible hate crime.”

Gustafson said that if the investigation determines that there was antisemitic content that he did not see which classifies it as a hate crime, he will retract his statement and denounce the protest.

“Had this taken place in front of a synagogue, that would be a hate crime and I would denounce it,” he said. “It did not.”

After the post was published, Gustafson received criticism on X as well as Instagram, Facebook, and Rate My Professor.

“As a double WashU alum, I find this unacceptable.

I am working to contact the school immediately about this,” one post read.

Jonathan Kipnis, a professor of pathology and immunology at the Washington University School of Medicine, wrote on X to say: “Our chancellor @ WashUChancellor has

been dealing exemplarily with antisemitism and Islamophobia on our campus. I am sure he will do the right thing in this case as well.”

Another post on X provided all of Chancellor Andrew Martin’s contact information and urged people to contact him about Gustafson.

Similarly, on Instagram, some Washington University students have been circulating a link to a prefilled email for Chancellor Martin along with four other members of the University’s administration, created through the advocacy organization End Jew Hatred.

The email explains the situation, describing the protest outside Tuchin’s house as a “firebombing” and points to the fact that it is being investigated as a hate crime. It goes on to say that Gustafson’s actions have troubling implications for Washington University’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“Condoning violence, especially in the form of a firebombing, goes beyond the boundaries of acceptable discourse. Such actions not only undermine the fundamental principles of a democratic society but also jeopardize the safety and well-being of students, individuals and communities,” the email reads.

It ends by asking that the administration take swift action, including firing Gustafson, in order to promote a safe environment on campus.

Stop Antisemites added another post with an Instagram story purported to be from a student of Gustafson that includes a photograph from a Canvas quiz about Palestine and a map with writing about Palestine. The student writes that both of them were used by Gustafson in his curriculum and both feature the phrase “Jewish settlers.”

The Instagram story from the student says that people like Gustafson are the “reason why antisemitism is on the rise.”

“Rhetoric such as this blends criticism of the Israeli government and pure antisemitism,” the post reads.

Since Gustafson’s post began receiving online attention, members of his department have sat in on all of his classes in order to ensure student safety.

“They’re accusing me of being somehow unsafe to students when I’m the one that’s receiving the [death] threats,” Gustafson said.

“That’s another tactic, the weaponization of safety, that by talking about students tactically saying they feel unsafe, they’re able to silence folks they don’t agree with.”

Read the rest online:

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

AVI HOLZMAN | MANAGING NEWS EDITOR | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM

STUDENT LIFE 3

University hosts dialogue spaces about Israel and Palestine ALIANA MEDIRATTA JOEL SWIRNOFF JUNIOR NEWS EDITORS

Washington University’s Dialogue Across Difference (DxD) department hosted 12 facilitated dialogue spaces throughout November to help students process the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine.

The DxD program, which works to connect students through conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, hosted these spaces for the first time this semester. 17 students attended across the 12 sessions offered. Though turnout was low, students expressed their appreciation for the spaces.

Jacob Chacko, who has served as the director of DxD since its inception a year and a half ago, said that the idea for dialogue spaces came as an extension of the eight-week course “Dialogue Across Difference” that intends to facilitate communication between students, which the department has offered for the past two semesters.

“Ever since Oct. 7 and

the crisis unfolding in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine, our [course] facilitators during our check-ins have been sharing with us [that] what’s happening around the world is absolutely coming up [in discussion] in our courses,” Chacko said.

He said that the goal for the dialogue spaces was to offer students not in the DxD course a forum to process their thoughts about the conf lict while learning from their peers.

Chacko also acknowledged that not everyone would be ready to have these conversations.

“For some people, the hurt and the pain and grief and loss are very raw and very real,” Chacko said.

“They may not be in a space or a place to want to dialogue and that’s valid, and some folks are, and so we’ve provided different types of dialogue spaces.”

Although some of the groups were small, attendees were appreciative of the opportunity to discuss the conf lict in a structured setting.

Graduate student Zach

Crabtree was grateful that the space offered a chance to hear a variety of perspectives.

“You worry about being in an echo chamber,” he said. “Having spaces like this is really a benefit to us on campus; to be able to go and work through these things in a healthy manner.”

Crabtree lamented that only a few students showed up to their session. For a large part of his session, there was only one other student in the session, firstyear Ari Lerner.

“I’m sad that the turnout wasn’t as high,” said Crabtree. “I was honestly surprised, given the amount of emotion surrounding this issue, that I didn’t see more people there.”

Both Crabtree and Lerner noted that they felt the event could have been publicized more widely.

“I think the most upsetting thing to me was the fact that there were only four people,” said Lerner. “I think that would be helpful if it were more publicized, because going to a session like this can be

really informative.”

Lerner understood recent political rallies surrounding the IsraeliPalestinian conf lict as more attractive to students, but he wished more would take the time to attend dialogue spaces.

“Rallies get numbers, provocative measures get numbers,” he said.

“I don’t find that these cross dialogues get as many numbers because it’s a longer, more tedious process that is more frustrating.”

There were four types of dialogue spaces: intragroup spaces, one of which was for students who identified as pro-Israel and another for students who identified as pro-Palestine, inter-group spaces for students with differing beliefs, and a space for students who did not have direct connections to the conf lict through their identity but still wanted to talk about it. Chacko said DxD trusted students to select the best group themselves.

Training and Curriculum Specialist for DxD Mari Torres, who was a facilitator

for some of the dialogue spaces, said that there were procedures in place to address student concerns about safety.

“Students didn’t know who they were signing up with,” Torres said. “We just gave them a time and a location, which wasn’t widely shared with people.”

In addition, she said that there were guidelines about talking about the conversation outside of the space, including not allowing participants to use their phones in the session.

“One of our community agreements was that what is said here stays here, what is learned here leaves here,” Torres said. “If someone shares something that’s personal, we are agreeing as a group to keep that in the space and no one’s going to talk about it on social media afterwards.”

Chacko said that even though some groups had multiple people from a similar background, attendees held a range of opinions.

“There were some spaces where even though it was meant for intergroup,

it was dominated by one particular community, but still of varying perspectives,” he said. “Just because folks hold similar social identities, they don’t always come with the same perspectives.”

The spaces were facilitated by staff, primarily from the Student Affairs department, who received training from the DxD program. Facilitators led students through structured activities, like placing themselves on a spectrum between “agree” to “disagree” after reading out certain statements.

“We tried to create a space that allows students to air out their feelings, but to also do it in a way that’s constructive, and to really let the students navigate the conversation themselves,” Torres said.

Read the rest online:

University looking to add active learning classrooms LEWIS RAND STAFF WRITER

Washington University is looking to expand its number of active learning classrooms to meet growing demand for class spaces that facilitate collaboration.

Active learning classrooms often include movable seating for group work, whiteboards for brainstorming, and digital screens for students to project their work. WashU currently has nine of these classrooms on the Danforth campus, and faculty and administrators are looking to add more of these rooms in the years to come.

The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) maintains the technology and physical infrastructure in active learning classrooms, and professors must apply to use these spaces.

“Preference is given for the active learning classrooms to those faculty who have specifically requested it because of the way they’ve designed their courses,” Michael Wysession, the Executive Director of the CTL, said.

Tabea Linhard, Director of Global Studies, currently teaches a course in one of the University’s larger active learning classrooms, January 110, which can seat 60 students.

Linhard requested to hold her Global Futures course, one of the larger classes in Global Studies, in an active learning space to maximize student engagement. She designed the course to include

pedagogical techniques that could be implemented in an active learning classroom.

“I think especially for larger classes, just like this one, it is a lot easier to get everybody engaged [in an active learning classroom],” Linhard said. “I think group work is a lot easier.”

One way that Linhard uses the classroom to facilitate engagement is by moving throughout the room to interact with different students and groups.

“It’s a lot easier to move around the room for the instructor to begin with,” Linhard said. “You don’t have to stay behind the podium, you can wander around the room; you can kind of get closer to different people and it’s much easier to move from group to group.”

First-year Noor Huda, who is taking a course in an active learning classroom, has seen benefits from learning in these spaces.

“It forces you to pay attention,” Huda said.

“The emphasis is always on engaging with the reading, engaging with people in conversation, and there’s something to be said about the open spaces and seating that kind of helps your brain breathe a little bit.”

Other universities have built more active learning facilities than WashU, although Wysession said the CLT is advocating for more of these spaces to be added to campus in the coming years.

Purdue University opened the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, in 2017, which contains 27

active learning classrooms with various layouts and arrangements.

Amy Haston, a senior educational technology consultant at Purdue, said that Purdue had invested in active learning even before opening the Wilmeth Center. In 2011, Purdue launched the IMPACT Program which educates faculty on how to teach using active learning techniques.

WashU’s CTL includes similar resources on active learning pedagogy on its website.

Similarly, the Health Sciences Education Center at the University of Minnesota, opened in 2020, contains 14 active learning classrooms with the combined capacity to hold 882 students.

While active learning classrooms vary in their layouts to meet the needs of different classes, they all facilitate teaching methods that break from traditional row-and-column seating with an instructor at the front of the room.

“The design for active learning [classrooms], is doing a lot of activities that, our people in our psychology department would say, strengthen neural pathways that are associated with comprehension,” Wysession said.

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SCENE

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

ANNABEL SHEN | MANAGING SCENE EDITOR | SCENE@STUDLIFE.COM

Why I keep going to see the Professional Bull Riders at Enterprise Center ETHAN PENN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last weekend, Professional Bull Riders, commonly known as PBR, came to St. Louis’s Enterprise Center, as it has annually.

I stumbled into PBR the fall of my freshman year. Looking for things to do one weekend, I went to the Enterprise Center’s website looking for Blues games or concerts. I found PBR. Not knowing what it was, I thought I would give it a try, since that night’s Tyler the Creator concert was sold out. Asking a few of my friends, not thinking anyone would want to come, I eventually convinced eight of my friends to go. I loved it so much I went again the next day for the second round.

This is my third year going to the event and I plan on going

again next year. Immediately one notices the crowd. It feels like a convention for the TV show Yellowstone: bellbottom jeans, cowboy boots and hats, eye-catching vests, and more. PBR is definitely a family event, hosting everyone from baby cowboys and cowgirls to grandpa and grandma cowpeople.

The show’s beginning was reminiscent of the pageantry of wrestling: words lit in fire, fireworks, and the world’s top bull riders being showcased and introduced in the center of it. At the beginning, I was a bit worried. People were laying out rope and dousing it in propane — I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

The stadium went dark and then a full pyrotechnic show, fireworks, bangs, letters in fire and more. While not too long, it set up the entire event, introducing the riders,

their successes and giving background as to who to cheer the loudest for. It was classic American fun.

There is surprisingly little pageantry during the bull riding portion of the event, rather focusing on the sport itself. The scoring works as such: for the rider to get a score, they must ride the bull for eight seconds. Only the riding done in those eight seconds gets scored. The rider is scored out of 50 for a myriad of factors, including technique and control. Regardless of the rider’s outcome, the bull is also scored out of 50. If a rider scores, his overall score is a combination of the rider and bull score. An excellent score is a 90, a good score is a 85. The duality of scoring allows the audience to root for the rider or the bull, as there is a riding championship and a bull championship, both

Musical Geometry: The Unpredictable Melodies of Non-Euclidean Harmony WILL ROSENBLUM STAFF WRITER In fall 2021, senior (then-sophomore) Spencer Kates had booked a show to play at the co-op, a local St. Louis venue. But there was an issue: he didn’t have a band. A few weeks earlier, he had played with senior Henry Windish and junior Evan Quigley at a Washington University musicians resource group jam session, and asked them to join. They were in, with the addition of Gabe Hamburg on Bass.

So the four performed together, marking the first show of what’s known today as Non-Euclidean Geometry. Later on, the band had written a song that needed a saxophone, and in a stroke of luck, Evan Quigley had booked a plane ticket returning to WashU right next to senior saxophonist Maeve McFadden.

Recalling the events, Kates said the conversation went about like “Oh, you go to WashU? You play saxophone? Will you join our band?” McFadden completed the band as it exists now, with band manager Kates on guitar

and vocals, Windish on guitar, Quigley on drums, Hamburg on bass, and McFadden on saxophone and vocals.

The name, Non Euclidean Geometry, actually comes from Kates’ friend in high school, who he remembers picking it because “Euclidean geometry is everything.

NonEuclidean geometry is cool and fourdimensional.”

Now, Kates says “it’s funny to have some kind of hardto-pronounce name, but it lends itself to some really cool designs, cool posters — our logo design is really cool. I feel like any other name would have a different vibe to it.”

The group released their first album “Into the Midnight” this past February, which was named best local debut album by the Riverfront Times. Kates was initially shocked: “I don’t know what forces in the universe dictated this…it’s insane because we are a college band, and we recorded it down the hallway[in the Harvey Media Center]” But, with Quigley going abroad in the fall and the rest of the band

graduating either this semester or next, their last planned show is for Saturday, Dec. 9 in Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room. The group has played at Blueberry Hill twice before, and it carries importance to the members. Kates said “the Duck Room has been such an inf luential place that I’ve seen some of my favorite artists of all time…Getting to peddle our wares at the same place as Chuck Berry, the Beths, and Indigo De Souza, it’s just so crazy.”

Nevertheless, each member has their own interpretation of what this show will mean.

Kates said “the door is closing, but it’s still unlocked.”

Quigley said “it’s not closing, I’m just leaving the room for a little while.”

Hamburg said “I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’re looking forward to never seeing us again?” Quigley jokingly replied.

No matter how you see it, the future of NonEuclidean Geometry will undeniably be different, but to the five, it’s just “until next time.”

for significant prize money.

I went on the first day, and while the top score was an 88.75, not quite cracking 90, there were still plenty of good rides. The winner of the event, Cassio Dias, won almost 45 thousand dollars, scoring a 90.5 in the playoff round on Sunday. All-time great, João Ricardo Vieira, failed to score in the tournament. Top bull scorers were Man Hater, with a 46.5; Flyin Wired with a 45; and Night Hawk with a 44.5.

PBR feels like a sporting event. For those who love sports, it is a must. For those who do not, it is still readily understandable and one can have fun cheering with the crowd and witnessing the pyrotechnics.

While bull riding is fun, it could also be triggering for some, with many denouncing the sport as animal abuse. Further, bull

ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS riding has sponsorships from organizations like the US Border Patrol.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at PBR. It's a fun, interesting

sport to watch once a yearand introduce to my friends. With tickets coming in at $20 or cheaper on resale, it is an event I will definitely return to next year.

All I want for Christmas is a worthwhile holiday album OLIVIA LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Whether it be for profit or just their true adoration of the festive season, almost every pop star has felt the need to contribute to the mountainous sea of holiday music. An artist’s reach and popularity does not seem to matter — the likelihood of any musician releasing a holiday tune (or 20) is astronomically high. So, given the oversaturation of this genre, should these pop stars have released a holiday album/EP, or should they have stayed in their own lane?

Mariah Carey — Merry Christmas

There isn’t really much to say about this album except to reiterate that, as the reigning holiday queen, Mariah Carey did the world a great service by releasing “Merry Christmas.” Of course this was the right choice. Carey’s voice is the true star of this 1994 album. It is effortless, powerful, and vibrant, with strong gospel and soul influences — everything that one could want (and more) to bring them out of the winter blues. Carey is consistently backed by a choir, which allows for a fuller, richer sound that only adds to the robust gospel feel. Though this entire album deserves a listen, the standouts are “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” both of which feature bright and upbeat productions that stay grounded through Carey’s vocal performance.

Sabrina Carpenter — fruitcake

This one’s a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the second song on this EP “buy me presents” is an absolute hit. It features witty lyrics and amusing ad libs with a saxophone solo that is the icing on the (fruit)cake.

Though the EP’s fifth song “is it new years yet?”sounds remarkably similar to Carpenter’s single “Feather,” it features authentic and relatable lyrics that are a much-needed reprieve from the endless amount of holiday love songs. “Santa, Santa, boy, you’re the worst / It’s the 25th, I wish it was the 1st / Couples all around me, damn, it hurts / Wanna push ‘em in the fireplace and watch ‘em burn,” she croons.

But the EP’s other songs fail to add anything new or exciting to the already overflowing repertoire of holiday anthems. “A Nonsense Christmas” is an unnecessary cheesy holiday remix of Carpenter’s hit single “Nonsense.” “santa doesn’t know you like i do” and “cindy lou who” are somewhat boring and repetitive in terms of production and lyricism. “white xmas” is yet another cover of “White Christmas” that is not nearly as interesting as other versions.

It would have been preferable for Sabrina Carpenter to release “buy me presents” and “is it new years yet?” as singles, much like Taylor Swift’s “Christmas Tree Farm.”

Kelly Clarkson — Wrapped in Red

Though Kelly Clarkson played it relatively safe with her holiday album “Wrapped in Red,” she has rightfully entered the holiday sphere.

Clarkson’s voice is powerful, beautiful, and heartfelt — truly shining throughout all 14 songs. The production and live instruments within the album add to the holiday cheer, and though the album may not be as iconic as Mariah Carey’s, it is still a classic. The real stars of this album are “Wrapped in Red,” “Underneath the Tree,” “Run Run Rudolph,” and “My Favorite Things,” all of which allow Clarkson’s impressive voice to shine.

There are, however, a few duds. “Winter Dreams (Brandon’s Song)” is produced to sound almost childish — like a song that could be featured on Disney Channel. Her cover of “White Christmas,” much like Sabrina Carpenter’s, is too simplistic and can be

boring to listen to. And “4 Carats” features sickeningly basic and cheesy lyrics, like “Well, Santa, I’ve been thinking / And I just need one thing / You to bring me / Something shiny.”

Ultimately, however, the hits on this album make up for its missteps.

Sia — Everyday Is Christmas

Unfortunately, this album should have stayed in the drafts. Between its erratic production, Sia’s nasal vocal choices, and questionable lyrics, it is honestly hard to get through. In “Puppies in the Window,” Sia sings “Puppies are forever, not just for Christmas,” and “Oh, oh, my sweet, oh, my sweet / Little puppy from the window / I will never let you go / ’Cause now you’re my family.” Why there needed to be a song about the tragedy of buying puppies for Christmas and later abandoning them is a mystery that will never be solved.

In “Ho Ho Ho,” the singer will not stop saying “Ho ho ho.” It appears in every single line. “Ho ho ho, bring a bottle of rum / Ho ho ho, cream and whiskey bourbon / Ho ho ho, bring a bottle of booze / We got nothing to lose, ho ho ho,” she wails. The song “Underneath the Christmas Lights” opens with Sia’s attempt at an operatic vocal sound, backed by a slow piano, and is followed by the so-called chorus, which is simply the phrase “Underneath the Christmas lights” repeated nine times.

Even the song “Snowman,” which possesses a catchy melody and (relatively) noncringe-inducing lyrics cannot save this album. Altogether, “Everyday Is Christmas” is a mess of an album that fails to spread holiday cheer.

ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS

SPORTS

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

STUDENT LIFE 5

HUSSEIN AMURI | MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM

Joe Clarke retires after 27 years as men’s soccer head coach HUSSEIN AMURI MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR The scoreline was 1-0 going into halftime against the University of Chicago Maroons in their final regular season of the 2021 season. For the first time in over two decades, the Washington University men’s soccer program was on the cusp of capturing its first outright University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference title. However, despite WashU holding a one-goal advantage, the Maroons had asserted their dominance throughout the match, confidently steering the flow of the game.

“We were up one goal, but we were getting destroyed,” said Matt Martin, WashU class of ‘22 and former AllAmerican goalkeeper for the Bears. “At halftime, [head coach Joe Clarke pulled us] pulled us together and said “This is just how the game is gonna be. It doesn’t matter if they have the ball. We’re gonna do what we have to do to keep the ball out of our net, and we’re gonna win the game.”

And win they did.

Twenty-seven years after coaching his first game, Joe Clarke announced his retirement as head coach of the Washington University men’s soccer team.

The St. Louis native, who played seven years of professional soccer against the likes of Pelé in the North American Soccer

League (NASL), came to WashU after leading the Saint Louis University men’s soccer program for 14 years. He leaves WashU as the winningest coach in the program’s history, with 275 wins. Over his 27 years, Clarke led the Bears to four UAA titles, 11 NCAA playoff appearances, and won the UAA Coach of the Year honor twice.

“I was a little surprised [when I learned about his retirement] because I knew that he still had several years where he could contribute really well to the program,” assistant coach and former player Sergio Rivas said.

“I know the conversations I had with him this year.

He did really great work.

The team and all the guys loved him. So I was a little bit surprised. But I think I’m really happy for him and what he did for the program.”

Junior midfielder Eugene Heger was also surprised by the news, but he was thankful to Clarke. “He has been so helpful to all of us throughout our experience here and then just bringing us here. I think we’re just very thankful and excited to see what is next up in his career.”

Clarke, who is 70, said his retirement comes amid a lot of important things that he has been giving up in his life, but the “top of the clock” reason behind his decision is his family and grandchildren. “One

of my grandkids is 10, and they are just going to keep getting older. My wife and I are healthy and the idea… of where schedules aren’t in the way and if we want to go to California to spend time with the grandkids we can [is important to me],” he said.

Fresh off of the completion of the fall season, Clarke broke the news to his players during a team meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 28 but “was surprised” that he kept his cool in front of his team because he was “fearful that I was going to be really emotional” as he had been getting a lot of text messages and emails that he found to be heartwarming and affirming. But after some reflections on why he became a coach, he could look at the bigger picture of the program without him at the helm.

“I was coaching my team, and I was like, ‘Okay, here’s a change that’s coming our way. How are we going to handle it? What are the next steps, guys? What are the strengths that you have as a group that are just going to continue to go forward that have nothing to do with me?’” he said.

Despite the overall futuristic outlook that he provided to his players at his farewell address, Clarke has become so ingrained in the WashU soccer program that it was difficult for some of the people he has had the honor of coaching to

imagine that he would ever retire.

Clarke’s announcement gave plenty of people — from administrators to players — the opportunity to reflect on his legacy at the school and his 27 years as head coach. One of the most common themes brought up was Clarke’s ability to connect with his athletes as more than just players and impact their lives on and off the pitch.

“Joe’s commitment and dedication to developing young people through the game of soccer has positively impacted numerous lives,” WashU Director of Athletics Anthony Azama wrote in a statement to Student Life.

“His legacy is an example of the coach’s role in developing champions for life. We are fortunate to have had his leadership.”

During his stint as the Bears’ head coach, Clarke coached 123 All-UAA honorees and secured 54 United Soccer Coaches All-Region selections.

Furthermore, he coached four players who earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic AllAmerican recognition and guided seven players to AllAmerican honors. Martin and Rivas are the more recent players to win the All-American honors under Clarke’s tutelage, having been part of the Bears’ historic 2021 season.

“Throughout that entire season, he was very good at managing the entire team,” Martin said. “He pulled off a ton of masterclasses in almost every game directly on the head for the tactical approach we should have played.” “[The 2021] season was such a fun season because the whole team was together, and we wanted to play for Joe,” said Rivas.

“They made training so fun and made everyone buy in to do what they did to help the team win.”

Everyone who speaks about Clarke describes him first and foremost as a very supportive and kind man. But they also spoke of him as someone with a deep obsession with soccer tactics. In each match, Clarke was a man with a plan, prioritizing knowledge and adaptation in how he approached the game.

“He was just incredible at adapting to whatever the game needed,” junior midfielder Landon Green said. “I remember my freshman year, we played against Case Western Reserve University, and he had scouted them beforehand and realized that they were always trying to play out of the back. Joe put us in a formation where we could high press them and go off that aggressively in the game.”

He was often not shy to play his strikers as defenders if he needed to, or even more

commonly, his defenders as strikers. Rivas, who had a breakout senior season in 2021 when he led the Bears to their first title since 2012 and first outright UAA championship since 1999, began his WashU career as a defender but experienced great success when he was played higher up the pitch.

To Clarke, however, there is nothing particularly special about his coaching philosophy. According to him, soccer tactics revolve around pragmatism and forcing players to be more cautious about protecting the ball from the opponent.

In today’s game, it is common to see center backs becoming protectors of the ball, strategically learning how to make safe passes without the opposing side intercepting the ball. But to him, this is the wrong outlook.

Clarke believes that players got into playing soccer because they “enjoyed the freedom to go where they wanted and to be able to go forward because they trusted [that their teammates] would cover for them.” So, Clarke set a goal: “I want to play based on that. I want it to be fun.”

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Crossword by Alex Nickel

ACROSS 1 With 9 Across, a WashU student may be studying for this right now 6 "West Side Story" role played by Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose 7 Ran without moving?

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HUSSEIN AMURI | MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

“Defend, rebound, run”: Bears move to 7-1 after pulling away late versus Millikin JACOB RITHOLTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ELLE SU | STUDENT LIFE

Drake Kindsvater takes a contested shot in the paint during a recent game adds to WashU’s lead.

It was a defensive clinic for the No. 16 WashU Bears on Saturday, as they crossed the Mississippi to visit the nearby Millikin University. Led by stellar play from third-year guard Hayden Doyle, the Bears claimed their 7th victory of the season.

The Bears held the Big Blue to just 47 points, their strongest defensive performance of the season thus far. “We had two really good practices with a big emphasis on defense this week after our Webster game,” said Doyle. “We wanted to get back to our concepts and play WashU defense and I thought we did a great job today.”

After a slow start in which the Bears scored just one point in the contest’s first six and a half minutes,

No. 8 men’s and No. 17 women’s swimming set program record at Denison Invitational LEWIS RAND STAFF WRITER With 50 yards left in the A-final of the 200 yard freestyle, junior Pace Edwards looked to the lane beside him and saw Emory’s Pire Harrison closing in. Edwards put his head down, kicked harder, and was able to outtouch Harrison, winning the event with a time of 1:38.86, the second fastest time in Division III so far this season.

“It was electric,” Edwards said. “That was the first big win of my career.”

Later that night, the second of the three-day meet, Edwards stood on the blocks as sophomore Ethan Feng came into the wall, finishing the first leg of the 800 yard freestyle relay — an event the Bears placed second in at the 2023 NCAA Championship.

The relay team – made up of Feng, Edwards, junior Danny Sibley, and senior Mark Lipkin – touched the wall first, beating Division II University of Indianapolis by nearly four seconds, clinching the Bears’ other first place finish at the meet.

Coming off of his first individual win earlier in the meet, this relay win was even more meaningful for Edwards.

“I personally love relays,” Edwards said. “Individual events are fun…but getting to [win] with three other guys with me, and having the whole team watch, and hearing them cheer us on, and hearing the parents in the stands cheer us on, it was so much, getting to celebrate with all the other guys on the relay.”

Washington University No. 8 men’s and No. 17 women’s swim team competed in the Denison Invitational on Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, placing 4th and 5th respectively. They faced off against competition including Emory University, who is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III for both men’s and women’s, as well as Denison University, whose men’s team is ranked No. 6 and whose women’s team is ranked No. 4, and Division I Eastern Michigan University.

Throughout the weekend, the Bears acquired 17 NCAA B–cuts, a necessary and important step on the road to the NCAA Championship on Mar. 20-23. An A–standard means that the swimmers are automatically invited to the meet; achieving the B–standard puts swimmers on an invite list to be eligible for a spot at the national championships.

Alongside Edwards and the

BRI NITSBERG | STUDENT LIFE

WashU competes against SLU in an early season meet.

Men’s 800 freestyle relay, the since it’s so long,” Sandor said. men’s 200 freestyle relay, 400 “But I felt good to finally be medley and 200 medley relay, able to execute the race well seniors Alex McCormick because I’ve struggled with that and Austin Bick, junior Ryan race before.”

Hillery, sophomore Matthew First-years also played a key Walker which broke the role helping the Bears relays school record in the men’s reach success, with Elizabeth 400 freestyle relay all received Chen, Hannah Lee, Peyton B–cuts.

Watson, and Izzie Gattone McCormick posted one leading the 200 medley relay of the most impressive to a fourth place finish and performances of the weekend NCAA B–cut. placing second in the 200IM, “I am so excited to see 100 yard backstroke, and 200 what everyone does [at] our yard backstroke, securing B– conference and our other taper cuts in each event. meets,” Sandor said. “I think On the women’s team, it’s fun for the rest of the team junior Isabella Barrientos, to have a successful freshman and freshman Lili Sandor class just knowing that the both received B–cuts in the team can continue improving 200 medley and 800 freestyle throughout the years.” relays.

Shively echoed this Relays were a strength for sentiment, adding, “We have the Bears in this competitive some excellent leaders on this field with WashU able to nab team who have encouraged top five spots in both the men’s and supported their efforts, and and women’s 200 medley that has made a huge impact relays and 800 freestyle relays, on the team.” as well as the men’s 400 medley Unlike the Bears’ previous and 200 freestyle relay. meets, including short dual In the final event of the meets against St. Louis meet, the men’s 400 freestyle University on Oct. 20 and The relay, of Sibley, Bick, junior University of Chicago on Oct. Justin Rockaway, and Lipkin, 28, this meet was spread across broke the schools record with morning prelims and evening a time of 2:49.45, finishing finals sessions over three second behind Division II days, similar to the format Indianapolis. of the UAA and NCAA “Any time you break Championships, bringing a a school record it’s very new set of tests for the Bears. exciting,” Head Coach Bradley “Our UAA and NCAA Shively wrote in a Statement to Championships have similar Student Life. “The race was formats so it’s good to get very competitive and I felt the a feel for the rigors of a big four of them just went for it. championship meet,” Shively There was a lot of energy as it wrote. was the last event of the meet The Bears next return to and I’m really proud of them the pool on Jan. 12 against for throwing down a big swim the University of Missouri–St. like that!”

Louis. Before that, the Bears The women’s team will travel to Florida for their freshman class continued winter training trip. Edwards their dominant performance, and the team will also use the making 22 appearances in time to build endurance, which individual finals throughout is lost during taper, and work the weekend. on perfecting technique.

Sandor claimed two B– The team is looking past the Cuts in the 400 IM and 200 next slate of dual meets and to Breastroke, where she placed the UAA Championship from 10th and 6th respectively.

Feb. 14-17.

“The 400 IM is mentally “The UAA Championships tough, [you have to think is a major priority for our about] how are you going to program and we know we guess how to spread out your need to be at our best,” Shively energy throughout the race wrote.

things remained close for a majority of the game, with no team building a lead greater than seven points.

That is, until the Bears took a commanding double-digit edge with a little less than six minutes remaining.

Their second-half run, in which the Bears outscored Millikin by 19, was fueled by back-to-back threes by Doyle and Sophomore Will Grudzinski.

The three-ball was working for WashU all game, as they shot over 52% from behind the arc overall. But it was the stalwart defense by the Bears that led them to their win.

With 10 minutes to go in a one-possession game, WashU turned their defensive intensity up a notch. From that point, Millikin’s day became miserable, missing 10/14 shots, including 6 in a row.

“I thought our guys really got better the last

couple days in practice,” said Bears head coach Pat Juckem. “Our last two games in particular, [we] felt there had been some slippage…We got back to basics, nothing super extravagant. We took a step and just executed our defensive philosophy.”

Turnovers were key for the Bears, as they forced 16 from Millikin and scored 12 points from them.

Overall, Millikin was held to a measly 32.7% from the field, including a ghastly 10.5% from three and going 0-9 in the second half. All game, the Bears refused to concede good looks.

The Bears scored 16 points off the fast-break Saturday, a style of play that continues to be a point of emphasis early in the season.

“It’s something we certainly prioritize, you know? Our kind of moniker is ‘Defend,

rebound, run,” Juckem said. The commitment to defense and the fastbreak have worked well together.

The Bears have done well in all three phases so far, outrebounding and leading in fastbreak points in each of their last three contests.

“The best time to score in transition is after a miss.”

Doyle led the way with a game-high 21 points to go along with 6 boards and 2 assists, in addition to a block and a steal. “We just have to continue to emphasize the importance of our fundamentals like defense and rebounding and stick together through the good and bad games,” Doyle remarked.

After a difficult stretch consisting of eight games in 22 days, the Bears will get a much-needed period of rest before they look to continue a strong start to the season Dec 16th at home versus Fontbonne.

SOCCER from page 1 While the Bears appeared to be on the front foot after the mid-game break, the Cal Lutheran back line held firm.

With 30 minutes remaining, the Bears had their best chance of the match when junior midfielder Sara Giannotti received a pass from senior midfielder Tyler Wilson on the left wing in open space, a rarity against the tightly packed Cal Lutheran defense. From the edge of the box, she struck the ball with her left foot, but her shot ricocheted off the crossbar, and the score remained at 1-0.

13 minutes later, the Bears had another promising opportunity. After freshman midfielder Sophie Viscovich used fancy footwork to beat a defender on the left wing, she squared the ball to sophomore forward Grace Ehlert. Ehlert, who was crashing to the front post, redirected the ball towards the goal frame, but her shot missed just wide of the net.

Though the Bears kept pushing, they struggled to advance the ball into the box, with the exception of a multitude of crosses off of set pieces earned in the attacking half. “[WashU] is well-coached, they got a great program to always be at the top of Division III, but I didn’t think they ever really got a lot of great chances,” Cal Lutheran head coach Frank Marino said after the match.

Ultimately, the Regals defense, which allowed just 0.52 goals per game all season long, held on for a 1-0 victory.

“We obviously tried to get the ball up the field in more of a direct fashion late in the match trying to find the equalizer, but we just couldn’t find it today,” Conlon said.

Though they failed to bring a second women’s soccer national championship back to WashU, the Bears had a

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE

Jess Greven dribbles across the pitch against Cal-Lutheran. season to remember in 2023. they’ve shown me and other Led by Conner and Hackett, underclassmen what WashU the Bears had one of the women’s soccer is about.” most formidable defenses According to Conlon, all in the nation. They started seven seniors have a year of the season with 15 straight eligibility remaining, leaving shutouts, the best mark in the door open for potential college soccer, and gave up a returns. The coach added that mere nine goals all season, the Hackett and fellow graduate fourth-lowest tally in Division student Sam McKibben are III. In addition, the Bears expected to return as graduate earned their 16th University students to use their final year Athletic Association (UAA) of eligibility. Though they title in one of the nation’s will inevitably have holes to most competitive conferences fill, the Bears boast a strong - seven out of eight UAA core of underclassmen, teams made the NCAA including their three leading tournament and won a first goal scorers - Ehlert, round matchup.

Clayton, who missed the Though the Bears’ season championship match with concluded with just their an injury, and sophomore second loss of the year, forward Ella Koleno.

WashU’s tournament The returning players will performance was one for have history to look to as the ages, and three players – they hang up the cleats on Conner, Hackett, and Ehlert the 2023 season. After 2015, – were named to the All- the last year the Bears lost in Tournament team. the National Championship This season, the Bears (after also beating Messiah were led by an impressive in the Final Four), the class of seven seniors and squad rebounded to win three graduate students, five the program’s only national of whom – Conner, Hackett, title in the subsequent midfielder Anna Viscovich, championship game. winger Kate Flynn, and “It takes a lot of blood, defender Sarah Neltner – sweat, and tears to get where were consistent starters all we are. And I think that season long. goes into our every day and “They mean everything to that came out today. We’ve us. They’ve shown us how worked till the end, and I’m this team runs, how we do proud of us no matter what.” everything,” Ehlert noted Hackett said after the game. after the match. “We’re “And today was just the really gonna miss them, beginning of next year.” but are beyond grateful that they’ve paved the way and

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE

Sid Conner makes a save in the second half of the NCAA playoff game.

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

FORUM

STUDENT LIFE 7

REILLY BRADY | MANAGING FORUM EDITOR | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM

The world according to Gen Alpha: On aging out and growing up AMELIA RADEN JUNIOR FORUM EDITOR I turned 20 over Thanksgiving break, and I spent my last day as a teenage girl in Orlando, Florida, in my childhood bedroom. Testaments to my high-school years peel off the walls: a Beatles poster, Lana del Rey lyrics, theater ads for “Kill Bill” and “The Godfather.” There’s a tiny portrait of Napoleon that I bought at a charity shop, a Stevie Nicks painting from the wall of my favorite cafe, and a guitar that I spent all my birthday and Christmas money on but never learned to play.

My sister Leila’s room looks different from mine.

My bedroom has gaps, reminders of all the things that I brought with me to school or gave away when I left. Hers is overflowing with hand-me-down clothing, the near-inevitable result of being the youngest sibling; packs of gum (I counted 11); and, newly, pink and black tubes of makeup that sprawl over the floor in front of her mirror.

It’s so interesting to watch my sister entering her teen years as I leave my own. I’m getting to see that at the ages I felt so grown, I was still so little. I really thought I ran the world at 14, and maybe I did, but only because my world was so small.

We (or at least I) absolutely terrorized millennials in their heyday.

Their obsessions with Buzzfeed, mustache finger tattoos, and hipster baristaness were just too easy to mock for a chronically online 13-year-old.

I got to spend some quality time with my Gen Alpha sister over the break, and I was incredibly pleased that, for whatever reason, she doesn’t seem to share the disdain for older generations that I certainly had at her age. Although, when I told her that Gen Alpha — the generation succeeding Gen Z — is known as “mini-millennials,” Leila responded, “That’s awful.”

This new generation is growing up with limitless technology at their fingertips, a post-COVID world, and more open-minded outlooks than their predecessors.

Leila taught me new TikTok trends (though I’m still not really sure what “uncanny valley” means), new texting etiquette (apparently emojis are out), and new slang. According to Leila, “Nobody says slay or queen. I said those when I was 10 trying to be you.” (I would like to clarify that I never said “queen.”

Unironically, at least.)

COVID-19 hit at key points in Gen Alpha’s developmental years. While my brother and I may have

A reflection on faith and the holidays UMA SIMHAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER I have noticed since grade school that the period between Thanksgiving and winter break always buzzes with excitement and anticipation for the winter holidays — although realistically it is more of a dull murmur in college with the presence of finals. Regardless, students are excited to return home to their families. Ice rinks and pine tree farms litter their ad campaigns, and social media brims with the whole winter aesthetic package (briefly romanticizing the snow before people remember all its cons).

I too am affected by the season, imbued with an ambiguous holiday spirit and a desire to buy all things shiny and festive. But my seasonal joy is mostly a result of seeing my friends’ excitement about their holiday traditions; I didn’t grow up with any religious influence, and thus, I have no winter holidays to celebrate myself. There aren’t many others I’ve met who share my experience, and expressing my lack of celebratory holiday plans often elicits shocked and pitying reactions.

They ask, “So you don’t get any presents?” They say, “But I have friends that aren’t that religious and they still put up a tree,” or “That’s so sad, I’m sorry.”

The last one is always awkward. What are you supposed to say when someone apologizes for something you see as normal? Honestly, it is hard to recognize something as a loss if it was never present.

I love the way I was raised, and I am lucky enough that, if allowed to go back, I would not change a single thing. It is strange to simultaneously

hold within myself this deep appreciation for the way I was raised and a sadness for my lack of cultural upbringing.

These types of comments always remind me that I am missing something. I watched my friends' joy in sharing stories about religious summer camps or different holidays through a window of involuntary ignorance.

Growing up without religion means that I cannot relate to a large aspect of identity that others possess, something I wish I were able to do.

This piece is meant more as a reflection than persuasion, but I do believe exposing children to some aspect of religion provides them with a framework for faith in the future. Regardless of whether they choose to take on this framework, they still possess the ability to return to faith if they need it.

Religious exposure in childhood is not an allpositive force; I am well aware of the all-too-common presence of religion-based trauma and its destructive powers. In broad terms, religion is a complicated beast and can be the source of much hatred, which, as an outsider, I recognize that I cannot fully understand.

But, as someone who grew up secular, I sometimes wish that I was able to be secular by choice — it is a completely different experience trying to learn about different religions in adulthood rather than growing up with them.

I am not sure if I would raise my children with religion, or if I would even be able to, based on my limited knowledge. All I know is that I have witnessed the beauty of the community it creates, and hope to one day be a part of it in some way, whether that be through practice or by surrounding myself with religious people.

missed out on chemistry and calculus, Gen Alpha kids missed fourth-grade reading and learning what fractions are. In addition, AI tools like ChatGPT have made it easier than ever to cheat in school. This combination is a huge worry for the education system, but Leila says she hasn’t even looked at the AI website.

Similarly, when I watch influencers on TikTok, I automatically assume that most people are seeing what I see. This makes a lot of us worried about younger kids that are already on social media. What good would come from a 10-year-old watching Alix Earle getting ready to go clubbing in Miami? But Leila told me that most of the influencers she and her friends are watching are high schoolers who do hair tutorials or give advice about entering high school. She says, “I don’t see a 30-year-old on social media and think I want to be on their level, because I know how much older they are. But it's definitely made us want to grow up faster, and some of my friends have taken that to an extreme.”

She went on to describe friends’ early experiments with going out more, talking like adults, and wearing full faces of makeup to class, all as a result of things they saw on social media. She even mentioned one friend’s

struggle with an eating disorder that started from watching popular TikToks of girls describing “What I eat in a day.”

Just because we perceive Gen Alpha to be growing up too fast at the hands of technology, that doesn’t mean it is a permanent future for our society. Everyone’s own childhood reflects how they later raise their own children, and it often works as a pendulum. Even though Leila was on social media by the age of nine, she says she won’t let her kids have any technology until middle school at the earliest. “I think I had it way too early because I’m haunted by the terrible things I posted. I completely embarrassed myself, and everyone has screenshots.

I also think some people took it the wrong way and changed themselves to be more like the people they were seeing on their phones,” she said, referencing one of her classmates who got in trouble with the administration for wearing her cosplay outfit instead of her uniform to school.

When we worry about younger generations, we worry for the future and about recent changes that we’ve had to endure ourselves, like the impact of technology and social media.

However, Gen Alpha has never known a world without these things, and they,

ILLUSTRATION BY JAIME HEBEL unlike us, are not tempted to use them because of their novelty. When I asked Leila about the accusations of technology addiction and its complications, she said, “Older people talk a lot about how we’re always on our phones, but they’re the ones who have changed so much of themselves for technology.” Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have all stretched and distorted their lives in order to make room for new innovations.

We’ve changed the way we go to school, do our jobs, and spend time with our friends and families as a result of modern technology.

Learning is a two-way process, and we should learn from the generations above us and teach the ones

below, but we should also do the reciprocal. In just one conversation, I learned so much from my sister about the world she’s growing up in, which is so similar to yet different from the one I had at her age. She still wishes she had a driver’s license and begs for a later curfew like I did. She also spends her weeknights scanning her friends’ papers for evidence of AI and watching highschool girls on TikTok talk about their struggles with technology addiction. These discontinuities are scary because they seem like such deviations from “normal,” but every generation has them, and we should look at them as opportunities for positive change.

OPINION SUBMISSION

The fight against ignorance: A closer look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict JACK RESIN CLASS OF 2026 I was quite disturbed to read the opinion submission written by anthropology professor Bret Gustafson on Nov. 16. Titled "Stop the killing in Gaza, and end aid to Israel," the article accuses Israel of "genocidal intent" and "settler colonialism."

Professor Gustafson claims that the stated objectives of Israel — freeing hostages, toppling Hamas, and ensuring that Gaza will cease to threaten Israeli civilians — are merely a front for ethnic cleansing, and therefore, we all must oppose Israel’s actions and any aid it receives.

Unfortunately, his op-ed lacks the depth needed to assess a conflict with a history that long predates Oct. 7. Gustafson simplifies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a colonizer vs. colonized framework, providing a convenient but wildly reductive perspective. As a professor of anthropology, one would expect a commitment to truth-seeking and critical thought. With a clear pattern of inflammatory statements that undermine efforts to promote peace and coexistence and without any reasonable attempt to understand these events and the parties involved, his op-ed completely misses the mark on the essential conditions for lasting peace and coexistence between the conflicting parties and advanced a zero-sum view of peace that dehumanizes the millions of Jews that live in Israel.

Regarding Israel’s claim to the land, there is no such

thing as colonizing one’s own ancestral homeland.

Jews have lived in the region for thousands of years, were exiled (twice), and were able to reestablish a Jewish homeland through the UN Partition Plan of 1947 (which was rejected by Arab Palestinian leadership). To be considered colonialist, a people would first need a country of their own before wresting control of another.

Since our exile from Israel, after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, Jews have been a stateless people who were, more often than not, persecuted in the countries where we have sought refuge.

The first of the Jewish communities outside of Israel arrived in Babylon (present day Iraq) 2,500 years ago and faced various forms of discrimination under foreign rule, but were, nevertheless, loyal citizens who contributed to their respective countries. That is, until 1947, when the Political Committee of the Arab League drafted a law, which an article by the World Jewish Congress describes as dictating that “…all Jews — with the exception of citizens of non-Arab countries — were to be considered members of the Jewish ‘minority state of Palestine’; that their bank accounts would be frozen and used to finance resistance to ‘Zionist ambitions in Palestine; Jews believed to be active Zionists would be interned as political prisoners and their assets confiscated.’”

Following the enactment of this law, 850,000 Jews were expelled from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Morocco, and several

other Arab nations in the 1940s and 1950s.

My grandmother was born in Iraq in 1944 when nearly 1 million Jews lived in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. At four years old, she, along with hundreds of thousands of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews, left her home and possessions behind to take refuge in Israel alongside those arriving from Europe, who survived and escaped the horrors of the Holocaust.

Does Professor Gustafson think my grandmother was a colonizer?

Nowadays, fewer than 10,000 Jews remain in ten of the then most populated Arab states in the region, combined. That’s ethnic cleansing. Israel is home to 1.7 million Muslim citizens who vote and participate in democracy. The population of Arabs — both Palestinian and Israeli — is growing rapidly. The Palestinian population in Israel has grown from 1.3 million in 1948 to 5.3 million today.

Misuse of charged words like “genocide” undermines honest discussion about the real suffering and mistreatment that Palestinians face.

I do not aim to delegitimize Palestinians’ deep connection to the land.

The hope remains peaceful coexistence.

However, Gustafson seemingly aims to undermine this goal, recklessly invoking “from the river to the sea,” a phrase taken directly from the Hamas charter, blatantly calling for the extermination of the Jewish people. By adopting such a stance, Gustafson not only challenges the possibility of

peaceful coexistence, but also overlooks the complexities and realities of the conflict.

This oversight becomes particularly evident as he fails to acknowledge perhaps the greatest barrier to this envisioned future.

Hamas, a terrorist organization and the ruling regime in Gaza, has explicitly stated that the destruction of the Jewish state is its primary objective.

Furthermore, Hamas has demonstrated that the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people are secondary to that goal.

Hamas rose to power in 2006, and consolidated control of Gaza by carrying out massacres of the Fatah faction, its main political rival. Throughout its brutal reign, Hamas has displayed a willingness to expend its resources for terrorism rather than for its own people, more than 80% of whom are living in poverty. While the people of Gaza suffer, Hamas’ corrupt leaders live in luxury in Doha, Beirut, and elsewhere. Three of the terrorist group’s top leaders have amassed a combined $11 billion in net worth. Rather than using the billions that Palestinians receive in international aid to build infrastructure or fight poverty, Hamas has instead chosen to build a war machine, which it uses not just against Israel but also on internal dissidents.

Read the rest online:

8 STUDENT LIFE

THURSDAY, DEC 7, 2023

REILLY BRADY | MANAGING FORUM EDITOR | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM

A land acknowledgment isn’t enough for WashU’s dwindling Indigenous population NATALIA JAMULA MAYA MATHISSON STAFF WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Washington University’s campus was built on stolen land. St. Louis resides on the traditional land of the Osage tribe, the Illinois Confederacy, the Miami, the Otoe-Missouria, the Quapaw, and many other tribes. However, an online land acknowledgement stating these facts isn’t enough, as WashU is both failing to create a welcoming community for Indigenous students and to support its current ones.

As of 2023, only 0.1% of WashU students are Indigenous, and that number has decreased compared to previous years. The Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School attempts to provide scholarships for Indigenous students, but the number of students in the Buder program has significantly decreased in recent years, as it doesn’t do enough to incentivize Indigenous students to come to WashU. “We used to probably have ten new students a year. However, since COVID, that has dropped to the best we’ve had is four new students, and last year, I was the only new student in the program,” said Brown School student Ashlyn Newcomb. “A lot of us died or had family

members die due to our lack of healthcare. So a lot of them don’t want to leave unless you give them a good reason to leave.”

Additionally, there are no Indian Health Services (IHS) clinics nearby, and students are required to pay $2,500 upfront for insurance through the university. “I was told I wouldn’t have to pay for [the university insurance] here, but when I got here I was very mistaken,” Newcomb said.

These costs that are unassociated with tuition and thus not covered by scholarships make universities like WashU inaccessible to Native students. Furthermore, if students like Newcomb end up paying for costs that they were assured would be taken care of, it’s natural that they may feel deceived rather than supported by WashU’s administration — hence the need for WashU to offer greater financial assistance, scholarships, and health services to improve the number of Native students.

The Buder Foundation is the only program strictly providing money for Indigenous students.

“I will say the Buder Program already pays for our scholarships. It pays for our way to go here, and they also pay for a living stipend, but it’s not enough — it’s $1,000. However, I don’t feel like they should

be the ones putting up all the money for this,” Newcomb said.

In turn, this apathy has created alienating feelings in Native American students. “Everyone has money here. You’re very much reminded of what you don’t have when you come to a university like this,” Newcomb said.

Another student at the Brown School feels as though Indigenous people at WashU are treated “like they don’t exist” and that there’s a strong sense of “invisible racism.” The lack of Native representation at WashU leads to Native voices not being heard or recognized outside their community.

“I do think that it needs to be acknowledged that we’re not invisible. I think that there needs to be more focus on histories of Natives,” alumni of the Buder program and current PhD student at WashU, Kelly McCall, said.

This feeling of invisibility is furthered by a widespread lack of knowledge on Indigenous history. One Brown School student claimed that “most people don’t know American history,” and McCall, along with many other Indigenous students at WashU, also believes that “there needs to be more of a focus on Indigenous studies here.”

WashU lacks sufficient Native American

representation in its faculty.

“Definitely hire more Indigenous professors that have experience in academia,” McCall said. “Not just clinicians and masters but actual, experienced, educators, PhDs, that have knowledge in American Indian Alaska Native studies.”

McCall discussed her experiences accessing advising in her studies of American Indian/ Alaska Native populations compared to other disciplines.

“For me, as a PhD student, I don’t have that type of mentorship.

I definitely have great mentorship in my other areas of interest but when it comes to American Indian Alaskan Native, there’s not a lot, so I have to go outside WashU,” McCall said.

WashU needs to increase its focus in Indigenous studies. As there is a limited number of present professors in this field, it is imperative that attention be given to this dying discipline before it completely vanishes.

Even within the Indigenous community, however, it is difficult to find support with such few numbers.

“What used to be twenty students in our program is now five, so it’s very very small. When there’s more people I feel like it’s easier for us to hang out with one other person, but when

they’re only four or five of us, usually someone has something going on,” Newcomb said.

Not only is it difficult for Indigenous students to support one another in such small numbers, but it becomes difficult for them to honor their culture on campus. WashU hosts an annual Powwow, and while this may seem to be a genuine celebration of Indigenous culture, some Indigenous students feel that it is merely performative.

“Indigenous students here are supposed to be more like a show,” one student in the Buder program noted. Last year, fewer than ten students in the American Indian Student Association (AISA) were expected to raise $3,000 on their own in order to pay for the event.

In past years, that money has typically been donated; however, the AISA doesn’t think it should be their sole responsibility to fundraise.

WashU funds many clubs and activities for students, and their unwillingness to fund the annual Powwow shows that celebrating Indigenous culture simply isn’t a priority for them. Not only is there very little funding for the AISA, but there’s very little awareness of the club and its events.

“Getting out announcements about AISA events throughout

the university rather than just the Brown School would be helpful,” McCall said.

In order to make change, WashU’s Native American divisions must work together to address the lack of representation head-on.

“We do have a Native American law program, but we’re not a part of them.

I wish there was more collaboration with them, but … it’s very divided based on what you study,” Newcomb said.

This separation leads to a lack of structured community, as the AISA isn’t enough to create an integrated community amongst Native students across WashU. Without higher numbers of Native students, it’s unlikely that the Native community at WashU will grow much tighter, but unless WashU changes how they support their current Indigenous students, the numbers of Native students at WashU will continue to decrease.

“My hope is that the number of Native students grows. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing: to encourage more Indigenous students to continue their education, not just going to undergrad but even pass that and try to make sure that we have the resources and the funding and the knowledge to make that happen,” McCall said.

EDITORIAL COMIC

ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS

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