November 21, 2024 Student Life Newspaper, WashU St. Louis
Professor no longer teaching organic chemistry admist allegations of inappropriate touching
Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of sexual violence. Amidst allegations of inappropriate, non-consensual touching from multiple students, Associate Professor of Chemistry Jonathan Barnes is no longer teaching his section of organic chemistry for the rest of the semester, as of Nov. 14.
Student Life spoke to four students who allegedly experienced non-consensual touching from Barnes on the arms, lower back, and upper thigh. Three of the students are currently enrolled in Barnes’ organic chemistry class, and one took the same course two years ago. Barnes has taught the class three times prior to the Fall 2024 semester since his hiring in 2016. Three of the four students have been granted anonymity due to concerns for their safety. Sources referred to throughout the article exclusively by their first name have been given pseudonyms to protect their identities.
According to Barnes’ attorney, Christopher Combs, Barnes was temporarily relieved of teaching duties, following University policy, in order to “ensure all parties feel safe and supported,” but Barnes is still employed by the University and is continuing to carry out his research with students. Neither the University nor the Chemistry Department provided a reason as to why Barnes, who was given tenure last year, is not teaching the organic chemistry course anymore.
Allegations against Barnes were brought into the public sphere after a Nov. 10 Instagram post from MeToo WashU — a sexual assault survivor advocacy account — said an unnamed chemistry professor was harassing students. They omitted the name to avoid legal backlash.
When Maya, a sophomore currently enrolled in Barnes’ organic chemistry class, saw the post, she began to get anxious. Every detail sounded exactly like what had happened to her when she met with Barnes in his office two separate times on Oct. 29 and 30. Maya thought someone had leaked her story, but the next day in class, she heard people talking about the post.
“People were like, ‘Oh, did you see this post?’” she said. “Then some girl who I don’t even know said, ‘Oh, yeah, this happened to me.’ Then the girl behind her was like, ‘Yeah, that happened to me, too.’ And then the girl right next to her said it too.”
Also sitting in class that day was sophomore Sabrina Huang, who had spent the past few weeks slowly losing her motivation to do coursework.
Huang said that, after the semester began, she received emails from Barnes after every quiz and exam, either congratulating her or offering help — all of the emails said that Huang could meet with Barnes if needed. Huang initially believed that everyone in the class was receiving these emails, but later learned that multiple of her friends were not.
Huang said that Barnes touched her inappropriately during a meeting in his office on Oct. 11.
She remembers standing at a whiteboard in his office, writing out chemistry equations, when she began to feel his hands on her upper arms. She felt unable to move.
“I think he got emboldened, so his hands started traveling further down, almost on my lower back,” Huang said. “Then I felt something touch the back of my thigh.”
Huang said that Barnes also made comments about her muscles while touching her upper arms, and grabbed her hands two separate times to comment on her nails and her rings.
At the end of their meeting, Huang said that Barnes walked over to give her a hug. She left Bryan Hall that day feeling shocked and scared.
“It was so hard to sit in that lecture hall and listen to this man talk about organic chemistry while knowing he’s done all of that stuff to me, to a few other people,” Huang said. “It’s just infuriating.”
In that same office, just over two weeks later, Maya left Barnes’ office experiencing similar emotions. What started as a normal meeting about a test became uncomfortable as Barnes allegedly placed his hand on Maya’s lower back multiple times. She also remembers Barnes making a comment about the brand of jeans she was wearing.
The following day, she went to his general office hours, where other students were in attendance.
Maya said that as she was leav-
leaving class when Barnes pulled her aside and began to “profusely apologize.”
“He was very emotional,” she said. “He said he had been losing sleep over [their encounter] over the past weekend. He said he didn’t want me to take it the wrong way, and he realized how bad it looked.”
Maya felt cornered and unsure how to respond as he talked to her. She said he went on to talk about how many of his students love him, and mentioned that he has written a number of letters of recommendation for students applying to medical school. She said that he then offered to write her one if she ever needed it.
“I was like, ‘Cool, he’s trying to get me to shut up,’” she said. “That’s kind of what it felt like.”
“It’s your safety or your grade.”
ing, Barnes asked if she had finished reviewing a specific exam question — she hadn’t — and then asked if she had a spare moment to look over it. Maya said that when she walked into his office, he told her to close the door, whereas the day before, it had been open.
Once she was in the office, Maya said she was working on a problem at the whiteboard when Barnes touched her thigh.
“Eventually, he touched my lower leg, right below my butt, which was very uncomfortable,” Maya said.
“I really couldn’t do much because I was in his office, and I really felt this power dynamic. I can’t say anything, because he’s my professor. He does everything with my grade.”
Eventually, she asked Barnes what he was doing while his hand was on her leg. She said he told her that he thought she had something on her leg, pointing to the strings on her denim shorts. She said he also asked her if her shorts were the same brand as the jeans she had worn the day before.
A week after their second encounter in his office, Maya said she was
In a statement provided to Student Life by Combs, Barnes’ representing attorney, Barnes wrote that any allegations of inappropriate conduct are false. Additionally, Combs wrote that Barnes not teaching for the rest of the semester was “not a reflection of any decisions made about the matter, just how the university handles these situations.”
Combs told Student Life that Barnes cannot respond to additional questions about specific allegations made by students because there are currently no formal Title IX complaints against him.
Jessica Kennedy, Director & Title IX Coordinator, said that her office is unable to comment on any specific cases. Combs said that Kennedy told him there have been no formal Title IX complaints filed against Barnes. Kennedy has not confirmed nor denied this statement.
Both Huang and Maya say that they plan to file a Title IX complaint but have not completed the paperwork yet.
In Barnes’ statement, he wrote that, in order to be accessible to all of his students, he frequently meets with students one-on-one to discuss exam performance. He described his mentorship style as one that “combines the encouragement of an athletic coach with the care of a parent.”
“This includes gestures like high-fives, fist bumps, or a pat on the shoulder or back, as these have always been meant as encouragement
or support, especially when a student is struggling or upset,” Barnes wrote. Barnes asked for privacy and restraint from speculation until facts have been established through appropriate processes. He also wrote that he gets joy from seeing students succeed and would not want to make them upset.
“I take a personal interest in the well-being and success of my students, and I am genuinely enthusiastic about seeing them thrive,” Barnes wrote. “If any of my interactions ever made a student feel uncomfortable, I am truly mortified and deeply sorry.”
In the weeks following their meetings with Barnes, keeping up with the coursework in organic chemistry — a notoriously difficult class — became a struggle for both Huang and Maya. Huang no longer felt like she could safely go to Barnes when she had questions about coursework, which effectively shut down a potential avenue for learning.
“It’s your safety or your grade,” Huang said. “That’s not a tradeoff anyone should have to make, but it’s one that I have to make. Ultimately, I chose my safety, and my grade is going to suffer, and it’s going to show on my transcript.”
After taking the second exam, Huang broke down crying in class as a result of her ongoing stress.
“I thought if I was a man, or if he never did any of that to me, if he was just a normal person and he didn’t touch me, I would have done so much better [on the test],” she said. “I would not have aced the exam, by all means, [but] I would not have to sit there and literally just shake.”
On Wednesday of last week, three days after the MeToo WashU post, Barnes sent out a Canvas announcement an hour before class saying that it was canceled, without an explanation.
The following day, students enrolled in the course received an email from Jennifer Heemstra, Chair of the Department of Chemistry, saying that Barnes would no longer be teaching organic chemistry and that Professor Rong Chen would be taking over. The email did not provide a reason for Barnes’ departure.
Both Heemstra and Chen declined to comment, instead referring Student Life to Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communications. Flory wrote in an email that the University “would
Fall SU election results include new amendments, increase in candidate slates
TANVI GORRE NEWS EDITOR
Student Union (SU) announced the results of this semester’s SU election, Nov. 14.
In the election, 29.4% of WashU’s student body voted in 12 new senators and 12 new treasury representatives, as well as new members of the Arts & Science Council. Students also voted on five constitutional changes, all of which passed except for Amendment 5, which called for SU representatives to be compensated for their work in student government.
Juniors Mika Kipnis and Beni Bisimwa led the 19-person senate race with 796 and 791 of the votes, respectively.
Sophomores Sydney Kim and Katie Cho led Treasury’s 12-person race with 749 and 656 votes, respectively.
Elected Treasury Representatives: Katelyn Moss, Ally Lee, Rayna Kent, Ava Glaser, Sydney Kim*, Katie Cho*, Grace Marcus*, Varun Vadhera*, Emma Hait*, Seth Skiles*, Amanda Plaxe*, Jonathan Lewin*
Elected Senators: Jace Slone, Enrique Villamil, Mason Klein, Wyatt Fox, Ethan Bloom, Don Ung, Matthew Isaacs, Mika Kipnis*, Beni Bisimwa*, Chantal Ogbeifun*, Saara Engineer*, Sonal Churiwal*
An asterisk (*) next to a candidate’s name denotes that they are incumbent.
Arts & Science Council: President: Omar Abdelmoity (uncontested) Vice President of Academic Outreach: Sonali Sharma (uncontested) Vice President of Finance: no candidates ran for this position Vice President of Administration: Izyan Ali Vice President of Public Relations: Kaylee Baek (uncontested) Vice President of Programming: Jaquelin Cardenas-López (uncontested)
Amendment Results:
CHART: TANVI GORRE
SOURCE: STUDENT UNION
Read the rest online!
Professor Jonathan Barnes was temporarily relieved of his teaching duties after multiple students alleged that he touched them inappropriately in one-on-one meetings at his office in Bryan Hall.
ANNA CALVO | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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not comment on a personnel matter.”
Huang said she was shocked, but relieved, when she found out Barnes was no longer teaching. Originally, she had planned to wait and file a formal Title IX complaint after she finished the class, but she decided to move up the timeline after reading Heemstra’s email.
“Now that he’s gone and he can’t touch my grade, I’m not waiting,” Huang said.
Maya is also in the process of filing a Title IX complaint. When she was making her decision about whether to report it, she thought about the
fact that her on-campus job as a WUSA makes her a mandatory reporter.
“If one of my students told me that this happened to them, I would have reported it in a heartbeat,” she said. “So what makes a student different from me? I morally knew that it wasn’t right [for him to touch me], I just wanted to do good in the class, and I didn’t deserve to be touched in any way.”
For sophomore Natalie, it has been a struggle to process everything that has happened since the MeToo post. Natalie met with Barnes multiple times throughout the semester, and she said that the first time, he touched her on her shoulder and upper back, which made her feel awkward.
When she had positive experiences in their following meetings, Natalie felt an internal dilemma. She viewed the discrepancy from their first meeting as a personal-space issue. However, she said she knows that different people can have varying reactions to the same acts of touching.
“It was more of a stranger thing than what I would call sexual harassment,” she said. “It was more about me not feeling close to this professor.”
When she found out Barnes was no longer teaching, she felt like it was a loss for the class because of his strong teaching. At the same time, she felt like it was important not to discount the feelings of anyone affected by Barnes’ alleged behavior.
When Barnes last taught organic chemistry in 2022, one of his students was Sophie, a current senior planning on going to medical school. She remembers meeting with Barnes one-on-one on four separate occasions throughout the semester.
She remembers that, during their final meeting, he moved his chair around his desk to sit next to her. She thought it was weird since he had never done it before and there was nothing she needed to show him that required him to sit close to her.
“While I was talking, he touched my thigh two or three times,” she said.
Two years after this incident, seeing the MeToo WashU post made her rethink her experience — when it first
happened, Sophie felt caught off guard and unprepared for a professor to be touching her leg, but she didn’t think he had thought anything of it.
“I did not consider reporting it, because it felt like such a unique experience, [and] he was not thought of as a creepy professor,” Sophie said. “But then, it seems like if this is a widespread experience, he must have been aware of it. He’s not a stupid man.”
With just a few weeks left in the Fall 2024 semester, the future of Barnes’ work at WashU is unclear. In Combs’ statement, he wrote that Barnes looks forward to returning to his work as soon as possible.
While Barnes is no longer listed as an instructor for
organic chemistry, he is currently listed as leading three different research programs, all of which are on his schedule for next semester. He is also slated to teach a graduate course on physical organic chemistry in the Spring 2025 semester.
In the meantime, Huang says that she hopes, for the sake of students, that Barnes does not return to teach next semester.
“I feel relatively more at peace [now that he is not teaching my class], but I know that the fight isn’t over,” Huang said. “It’s going to be a long investigation ahead of us.”
Students with disabilities advocate for better physical accessibility on WashU’s campus
improve accessibility.
On paper, WashU adheres to the guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Still, students with disabilities say they need the University to do more to make spaces physically accessible.
Issues include the difficulty of locating accessible pathways in campus buildings and a lack of accessible routes within older, historic buildings that are exempted from ADA regulations.
Senior Jayne Crouthamel is the president of Ability WashU, a club representing students with disabilities on campus.
“Ability’s mission, as a whole, is to make WashU a more accessible place physically and a more inclusive environment for people, as well as potentially helping those with disabilities in the greater St. Louis community,” Crouthamel said.
Ability WashU completes Community Health Environmental Checklists (CHECs) for buildings on the Danforth Campus, evaluating buildings according to accessibility standards for the slope of wheelchair ramps, the size of accessible bathroom stalls, the heights of sinks in bathrooms, and more.
Crouthamel said that she and other club members have found that there are many small changes that could be implemented easily to
Ability is currently advocating for the administration to put reflective tape in stairwells on campus. It says that this kind of simple addition to the campus infrastructure could support students with visual impairments, who are often overlooked, because reflective tape would highlight the edges of steps and make them more visible in the dark, preventing potential injuries.
Buildings on the Danforth Campus have varying levels of accessibility because many of the buildings were constructed before the ADA was signed in 1990.
Sophomore Cameron Lubbe, another member of Ability’s executive team, said the Women’s Building is one of the biggest accessibility problems on campus. The building houses sorority suites and affinity spaces, including the Muslim Student Association (MSA).
However, Pride Alliance and Transcending Gender, two organizations dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ students, decided to move out of their designated space inside the Women’s Building due to accessibility concerns. Currently, both organizations choose to book rooms on campus that are located in buildings with elevators and other ADA-required accommodations.
“We say that we’re giving these groups a space, whether it’s LGBT people, or the MSA, or even sororities that do not get houses on this campus like the fraternities do,” Lubbe said. “But [it’s]
… not a space that everybody can use, and I think that that’s a really big problem.”
Understanding the role of institutions in preventing disability from occurring as well as the mental burden associated with disability is crucial to understanding the experiences of WashU community members.
According to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Professor and expert in disability studies, Cynthia Barounis, the language used to discuss disability often reflects the view that disability is an individual’s problem. She said that we should instead focus on the role institutions play in creating access barriers.
“[Disability] often gets couched in a language of tragedy or misfortune or as a medical problem to be fixed, and that, I think, persists as a kind of common-sense logic about disability, when in fact, it is a political identity,” Barounis said.
Experts in the field recognize two models of disability: the medical model and the social model. The medical model has historically been the socially acceptable definition of the word “disability,” focusing on the part of an individual’s body whose functional abilities vary from the average person.
In comparison, the social model recognizes disability as a political identity, acknowledging that disability is, in part, socially constructed by environmental barriers to accessibility.
“The classic example within the social model is that disability kind of happens at
the moment when somebody who uses a wheelchair encounters a set of stairs — that’s really where the disability happens,” Barounis said. “So in that sense, it’s a very real thing. But that’s also something that we have really constructed culturally — we take human variation and label it medically.”
She added that the widely understood definition of disability leaves many people out.
“We wouldn’t necessarily call somebody who wears glasses disabled, even though they have a vision impediment,” Barounis said. “Normalized social structures in place make that impairment not disabling — we wouldn’t call it a disability.”
Camila Dayan, a junior and executive member of Ability, said that one of the elevators in Seigle was broken earlier this semester for a period she estimates to be four to five weeks.
Although Seigle has two elevators on different sides of the building, Dayan said there were no signs directing people to the other elevator. Failing to provide signage is a violation of Missouri’s elevator code and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Representatives from WashU Facilities Planning and Management (Facilities) said that elevators require special contractors and parts, resulting in longer wait times for elevator repairs. Facilities also said that they do their best to provide signage for outages in a timely manner, and that routine maintenance requests on the Danforth Campus
can be submitted to the office via an online form on the Facilities website.
Maintenance requests in buildings on the South 40 and any building under the purview of the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) should be reported to Student Affairs via a separate form on the ResLife website.
Facilities said when it comes to addressing accessibility concerns, issues should be communicated with Disability Resources (DR) and Student Affairs.
However, this line of communication is complicated by the accessibility issues in question being maintenance issues, which fall outside of DR’s purview.
According to Dayan, Facilities was also slow to fix a flickering light in Seigle this past semester. She said she emailed both DR and Facilities to try and resolve the situation, but expected DR to resolve the issue because she considers the flickering light to be an accessibility concern.
Dayan knows people on the WashU campus who have conditions like Tourette’s and epilepsy who could be triggered by the flickering, and said she was frustrated with DR’s delegation of the light bulb issue to Facilities.
“I emailed DR, and DR replied, being like, ‘That’s not our problem,’ and I was like, ‘It is your problem because it does actually pertain to disability,’” she said. “There are some people who I will not name, who have things like epilepsy or Tourette’s, who cannot have a flickering
light, but they were like, ‘Well, this isn’t a disability issue; it’s just a mild annoyance, so it doesn’t pertain to us.’”
Chris Stone, Director of DR, clarified that while DR and Facilities are separate entities, and DR is not responsible for maintenance, the two offices are in frequent communication with one another.
Stone said that one of DR’s main roles is advocating for a universal design for learning that aligns with WashU’s philosophy of giving all students the resources they need to thrive academically. To facilitate learning for individuals with disabilities, the office tries to be as proactive as it can about potential accessibility concerns by communicating with campus administration, especially about concerns related to construction.
“As we’re talking about things, we’re involved in the conversations, whether it’s about activities happening or new programs, projects, if they’re going to be disrupting traffic or parking or anything for special events, we’re having those conversations and making sure they’re on people’s minds,” he said.
FORUM
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Professors can model thoughtful political engagement
scrutiny as the sharing of a bed.)
Dear Professor Elfenbein,
Reading your op-ed, “Students don’t need faculty to inform their political convictions,” several months ago, I found myself confused. You seem to believe professors hold a great deal of power in the classroom, to the degree that you feel we can dictate students’ deeply held beliefs in enduring ways, whether they assent to our viewpoints out of desire to impress us or out of fear of our grading pens. In this near-dystopian vision of the way power works in the classroom, students are cast as weak-willed information receptacles, so motivated by grade-based fear that they will readily submit to a set of politics that contradict their own, while professors are cast as authoritarian dictators whose judgment cannot be questioned, even respectfully.
This is not who I am; this is not who my students are. And this is not what my classroom looks like.
Your argument is marked by a strange contradiction. Do you believe students are strong and capable political thinkers in their own right who must “set boundaries” with “older adults” by kicking us out of their protests, or do you believe they are so delicate and fragile that a professor sharing political ideas with them is akin to a professor engaging in a romantic relationship with them? (Bizarrely, you deploy a University of California, Berkeley policy on student/professor romantic relationships in order to argue that we shouldn’t share our political stances with our students. For my part, I’m not sure I’m ready to live in a world where the sharing of a political stance ought to be subject to the same
In argument structure, the warrant (the foundational belief that undergirds the claim) is where the real argument lives, and it is often left unspoken. From where I’m sitting, you vastly underestimate your students’ abilities to discern the warrant in various “objective” truth claims. In other words, I promise, your students know what your politics are, perhaps all the more so because you claim to be neutral. And those students who say they appreciate your objectivity are likely those who simply agree with you.
In my Argumentation classes, one key concept I teach is that there is no such thing as objectivity. I introduce this idea by asking students to write a summary of a tendentious debate that occurred at Hamline University a few years ago around the issue of classroom trigger warnings. When students read their par tners’ summaries, they can easily guess the classmate’s position on the issue, even though I told them to make their summary as factual as possible. Details selected, details removed, tone, and turn of phrase — these are the symptoms of political belief.
I extend this idea to a discussion about our course syllabus. I could “hide” my own political views, I tell them, in some misplaced attempt at objectivity, which I don’t believe in anyway, but my politics are written all over my syllabus — from the pieces I select for us to read and discuss, the papers and projects I assign them, and the questions I devise for class discussion, to the more seemingly mundane things like grade breakdown, attendance policies, and the distribution of participation points. After all,
second-wave feminists and early Black studies scholars taught us that, in the life of the university, there are few acts more political than the creation of a syllabus
All this aside, if I merely disagreed with you about the place of politics in the classroom, I might not have felt compelled to write this response. For various reasons, I still hesitate to do so. But there’s a dee per, more insidious strain of thinking buried in your encouragement that we all adopt political objectivity, and it’s important to bring that strain of thinking out into the open. It has almost always been the case that those in positions of power — white people, wealthy people, Westerners, and men — are most apt to make claims to objectivity.
Objectivity, in other words, is one of the master’s tools. Those of us whose relationships to power are more contingent, more conditional should wield those tools at our own risk or, perhaps, not at all. Instead, we should model for our students what it looks like to destabilize the truth claims made by those in positions of power — with deep respect, but rigorously. Instead of giving our students no space to disagree politically in the classroom, we should show them how to disagree with those in power and disagree well.
I can tell that we’re both deeply worried by attacks on the institutions of higher education — worries that have become even more salient following the election last week — and want to do whatever we can to combat the misapprehensions that lead to those attacks. I also believe we both have our students’ best interests at heart. However, the only solution I see to the problems we’re facing begins by inviting my students to understand
me, their professor, as a fellow thinker in the world with my own experiences and beliefs. When a student questions something I’ve said, as they often do, I know I’m on the right track. Doing my job the best I can also means promising my students — and holding myself to the promise — that I will never issue grades based on my own political agreement or disagreement, something you seem to think is impossible, but I think is a requirement of the job.
When a right-leaning student tells me, at the end of the semester, that he’s never felt he had to stifle his voice in our classroom, despite knowing that I disagree with him on some key issues, I know I’m on the right track. Indeed, one benefit of my openness about my own beliefs is that students know they can be open about theirs too, and that any argument, whether left or right, offered in good faith can be entertained in my classroom.
Ultimately, I refuse to pretend, when I teach the components of argument, post-structuralist literary theory, or Walt Whitman, that our classroom exists in some other place — out of space, out of time, out of history, and out of politics. This frankness is one way I show my deep respect for my students, both those on my end of the political spectrum and those on the other end; for myself, as a professional and as a thinking person; for my colleagues, who I know are doing the best they can to navigate the important and sometimes complicated role we play in students’ lives; and for the institution to which I’ve chosen to dedicate my working life.
CAPTION CONTEST
First Place: Average physics textbook example Alex Bullard, Current WashU Student
Second Place:
Pooh’s experiment with edibles was going down a weird path. Jason Merkel, Casual Student Life Reader
Third Place: Boutta go ruin some kid’s apple, you in? Sean Henry, Current WashU Student
Scan the QR code to enter your submission by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. EILEEN KIM | STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
DAVID CIORBA | JUNIOR FORUM EDITOR
BETH WINDLE
SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGLISH
Addison Rae is a main pop girl — deal with it
If you’re at all in tune with pop culture, you’ll know that just over a month ago, 2024 “it-girl” Charli XCX released “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat” — a companion remix album to the earlier-released “Brat,” — featuring guest artists on each song. Among respected industry veterans (Robyn, Julian Casablancas), current superstars (Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish), and indie darlings (Caroline Polachek, Shygirl), there’s someone else on the tracklist — someone who, at first glance, doesn’t belong. Yes, right there, on the “Von dutch” remix — no, it can’t be… Addison Rae?
TikTok dancer Addison Rae?
Former member of the shortlived Hype House Addison Rae? Failed actress Addison Rae?
Yes, yes, and yes — it’s that Addison Rae. She’s here for pop domination.
Rae gained massive prominence in the 2019 TikTok boom, and — as with many online celebrities — it’s unclear exactly why she became so famous. But TikTok stardom is fickle, so in an attempt to further her marketability, Rae tried to break into the music industry, something done (to mixed reactions) by many of her contemporaries.
In March 2021, she
released her first single, “Obsessed.” Let’s get one thing out of the way — “Obsessed” is not a bad song. Yes, there are a few lyrical clunkers (“This dress so tight you can’t even speak”), but it ultimately suffers from simple mediocrity, operating like a strange unreleased Selena Gomez c-side. Rae’s vocal performance isn’t offensive, but gives the impression that she’s performing with the same level of enthusiasm she has when reading the nutritional facts of her Erewhon smoothie
The general public wasn’t so generous. “Obsessed” was torn apart, with people bashing the vocals, lyricism, video, and her performance of the song on The Tonight Show. Yes, many of these criticisms were valid, but Rae’s critics weren’t trying to improve her artistry. They just wanted to tear her down. It was the classic case of a celebrity, famous for no discernible talent, stepping into an industry that they knew nothing about. “Jam (Turn It Up),” anyone?
Although Rae didn’t speak publicly about the reaction to “Obsessed” until 2023, she clearly got the memo and took time away from music the following year. During this period, demos of an unreleased album circulated the internet to a much more positive response than her first single. This change in reaction was, on one hand,
because the album genuinely showed more promise. On the other hand, the people seeking out unreleased Addison Rae tracks were perhaps not representative of the wider population. But they caught something in her that the general public ignored: potential.
Rae released the five-song EP “AR” in August of 2023, which contained “Obsessed” and four other songs — one featuring pop auteur Charli XCX. It wasn’t a commercial success, but she earned respect for herself in chronically online and pop-obsessive circles. Thus, Rae kept the ball rolling, continuing to shed the uncoolness she had been previously known for. She was seen wearing a sweater with hyperpop icon Sophie on it, claimed she would love to work with experimental artist Arca in an interview with Vogue, and appeared in more spaces with Charli XCX and her high-profile friends.
In 2024, almost a year after Rae had released “Obsessed,” we received a new single: “Diet Pepsi.” It was apparent upon release that “Diet Pepsi” was leagues above Rae’s previous releases — with throbbing synthesizers, an earworm of a chorus, and a surprisingly earnest vocal performance (she’s getting better!), it was bound to be, at the very least, a cult favorite.
And “Diet Pepsi” didn’t fizzle quickly — it was a smash, racking up over 170
million streams on Spotify to date, even cracking the Top 10 of the UK Billboard Hot 100, sandwiched between artists like Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter. Beyond the commercial, it’s also clear that Rae is taking a different approach to her artistry. On “Diet Pepsi,” she employs her best Lana Del Rey sensibilities (down to the very title), creating a comparable feeling to the “Born To Die” singer circa 2012 — American flags, “young lust,” grainy visuals, and a bad boy to whom she “loses all her innocence.” And yet, despite the similarities, Rae isn’t bogged down by the existential weight of the world like Del Rey. Where the latter mourned mortality and claimed “I’ve got a war in my mind,” the former winks and giggles at the camera, letting her lover lick whipped cream off her toes. She’s in on the joke too: Isn’t this ridiculous?
Rae could have coasted on the success of “Diet Pepsi” for a while, but we received another helping less than two months later. On “Aquamarine,” her newest single, Rae channels influences from Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Britney Spears’ “In The Zone,” playing a flirty Parisian siren over a sparkling techno beat. “Dive into me,” she breathes. Rae is sexy, effervescent, and — most essentially — effortless. There are no real stakes.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Rae is having fun, exploring her passion with a sense of levity that didn’t previously exist. So what if it flops? She doesn’t care. To any skeptics, Rae makes her intentions clear: “I’m transforming and realigning,” she sings. “I’ll take you with me.” This time, we’re going willingly. The carefree attitude Rae displays, combined with the authenticity of someone following their true passion, is exactly what separates her from the anonymous, directionless pop flops of the past. Where “stars” like Bebe Rexha and Ava Max desperately chase trends, Rae executes her laser-focused creative vision. Where they obscure themselves under basic, boring lyricism and morph into nameless parodies of celebrities, Rae lets her personality shine through. Where Tate McRae and Gracie Abrams dilute the sounds of their influences, Rae serves up something fresh. So yes, although she doesn’t quite have the reputation or catalog to brand her as a mega-star — yet — Addison Rae’s creative vision and seemingly genuine enthusiasm for her craft are pushing her to the top of the rising-artist circuit. Perhaps ultimately, her story is simply a lesson in persistence, making change, and belief in one’s vision. As she sang to our ridicule almost four years ago: “You’re obsessed with me.” We finally are.
Where is the superiority? How the Left keeps getting misrepresented
In the time since the election, all eyes have turned to how a race that was forecasted to be so close, turned out to be such a stomping
Nearly every broadcast and pundit has a different analysis; however, a few stand out as especially misleading.
Every time I read takes like “the Left dislikes men” or “the Left went too woke and needs to come back to the center,” or even when I read articles like David Ciorba’s “The price of superiority: How the Left’s rhetoric drives voters to Trump,” I’m left with a resounding sense of disappointment and confusion. Where are all these attacks on the moderate working man?
Instead of the Left being “disconnected” from rural and working-class communities, as Ciorba puts it, it seems to me that there is a disconnect between what the Left says and does and how they are viewed and thought of. For instance, if we have to do a deep literary analysis of a Kamala Harris Instagram post to find evidence of the Left’s superiority rhetoric,
then this feels more like a projection of an already-held belief onto the Democratic party instead of convincing proof of a trend.
Indeed, Ciorba’s assertions of the Left laying down ethical “rules,” “codes,” or laws of the land, as well as forcing terms like “Latinx” onto people, seem unfounded. This does not feel like the M.O. of a Harris campaign that rolls with the Cheneys or proudly and openly talks about their gun ownership. These are the actions of an intentionally moderate Left, not an extremist or controlling one.
It’s worth examining the term “Latinx” because it’s theoretically a classic example of the Left’s elitism and enforcement of “strict ethical codes.” I recognize that I’m not the best person to be talking about this; as a white boy at a private university, slipping into elitist rhetoric, as described by Ciorba, is always a risk. However, it’s important to note that, while Democrat politicians have sparingly used the term “Latinx,” there has been no concerted effort to force it onto voters. According to Jean Guerrero’s opinion article on the subject, it is not even a Democrat creation.
And while it is understandable for many to be initially off-put by the term, “negative sentiment toward LGBTQ+ issues was the leading reason for the backlash” according to a recent Harvard/ Georgetown study, not due to any form of elitist language appropriation.
I am not trying to villainize all those who are uncomfortable with the term “Latinx;” as I said, there can be legitimate reasons. But, these propagations of a “Culture War” are misleading, as the Democrat Party has been very uninvolved. There is no general effort by the Democratic party to push these weird rules or scrutinize peoples’ every interaction and relationship, as Ciorba suggests. I came to WashU straight from an Alabama high school. I get it; it feels different. (There are fewer slurs for one thing.) But it’s not that different; nobody has strapped me down and dyed my hair blue. Yet.
Further, despite Ciorba and others stating that the Democratic party has become “distanced from the working class” or from “the people,” Biden made history by being the first sitting president ever to walk picket lines. Harris
also campaigned strongly against Trump’s tariffs which would hurt the everyday working-class American and promised to end grocery price gouging. In fact, a 2022 Pew Research Center poll shows that Republicans have moved far further right than the Democrats have moved left. This seems like a much more obvious “distancing.”
Look, I’m not saying that there are no far-left voters who push these extreme “ethical expectations” or “rules.” However, this should not define the whole political party. I’m sure most Trump supporters would not wish to be defined by their most rightwing extremist counterparts.
Ciorba’s critique of the Left’s attacks on Trump’s personal life or beliefs instead of policy also surprised me. To quote Eric Garcia’s article on 2024 campaign ads, “most of [Harris’s] ads have gone all in on the economy,” whereas “Republicans, led by Trump, have done a slew of antitransgender ads.”
Identity politics has been the bread and butter of Trump’s Republican party for years. He has incessantly fear-mongered immigrants, attacked trans people, made
strange racial comments, and called cities horrible.
JD Vance managed to insult every childless family in America. Perhaps it is not surprising how some Democrat voters have become defensive in this context.
Yes, the Harris campaign has called Trump and co. “weird” and a “threat to democracy,” but there are only so many attacks you can make on concepts of plans or a lack of policies before you have to address the moral character of the guy in charge. And, yes, the personal moral failings of a president do matter when they wield such considerable power; this is how we find ourselves in situations like Jan. 6. There have also been concerted Democrat efforts to be inclusive and encourage unity, such as after the Trump assassination attempt. Biden straight up wore a Trump hat, and Vance and Walz looked like they were about to become Larry Bird and Magic Johnson during the VP debate. In fact, Walz was about the most inoffensive VP pick the Democratic party could’ve mustered.
I agree with Ciorba that nobody should be blaming
or scapegoating marginalized communities for the outcome of the 2024 election; that’s shameful. However, let’s not start playing the victim or making excuses, either. For the vast majority of Trump supporters, their reasoning is clear: despite the economy being strong on a macro level, it feels weak and depressing to most. It would be nigh impossible for any incumbent party to dig themselves out of that hole; just look at the rest of the world.
I understand feeling disgruntled and disillusioned with the state of American politics today: there should be more and better options. I think it’s stupid that ranked choice voting was banned here in Missouri. However, this radical Leftist “ideological framework” that Ciorba speaks of is not an actual policy of the Left — it has just been wrongly projected onto them. Once again, when reading about the Democratic party’s supposed “purist and elitist” ideology this year, I am left saying: where?
QUINN MOORE NEWSLETTER EDITOR
DION HINES | JUNIOR FORUM EDITOR
SCENE
Meet BigSteppa Mori: Rising rap star and long-time WashU dining employee
she hopes people will listen to her music when they are gearing up for a challenge.
Over the past few years, BigSteppa Mori, 21, has spent many of her days preparing food in WashU dining halls — all while steadily rising to fame as a rapper.
Mori, as she is known off-stage, began working at Bear’s Den (BD) in early 2022, where she often prepared and distributed half-and-halfs or egg sandwiches alongside her father and sisters. She later moved to Collin’s Farms after it opened at the Law Café. She prepared lunchtime salads there with her two sisters.
During the pandemic, Mori took up rapping as a way to pass the time. Now, her most popular song, “Westside Story,” has about 76,000 streams on Spotify, and the music video for the song has nearly 300,000 views on YouTube. She has also accumulated about 75,000 followers on Instagram.
Mori described her music style as “raunchy,” “kind of hood,” and sometimes a mixture of the two.
She added that many of her songs focus on relationships and interactions with men but also seek to boost female confidence. She said
PUZZLE Mania
“I want to make music that you listen to when you go to the gym or when you’re about to go do something tough,” Mori said. “I want people to listen to it before that and have it lift them up.”
Mori recently reached a milestone in her music career by collaborating on an unreleased track with famed rapper NLE Choppa.
Choppa, whose songs have amassed over 6.5 billion streams worldwide, noticed her music on social media earlier this year and contacted her on Instagram. Mori said she was shocked but excited to hear from him.
“One day I said I still don’t know if this is him [texting me], and then somebody FaceTimed me,” she said. “I’m like, ‘wow, this is really him’ … I love him!”
Mori said Choppa spoke to her via FaceTime when he was on tour in Memphis, Tenn. She later traveled to Memphis to meet him. When the two were together, Choppa told her he wanted to be featured on one of her songs, so he quickly recorded a verse in the studio to add to one of them.
Mori said she’s unsure when her song with Choppa will be released, but the two plan to release a music video
PUZZLE
along with it.
Sophomore David Ciorba said he first met Mori when she worked at BD, and the two have been friends ever since.
“Despite her very provocative music, Mori is a very kind and thoughtful person,” Ciorba said. “She’s very interested in your life. She’ll ask you questions about what you’ve been doing. ‘How are you?’ And she’s always ready for a laugh.”
Wyatt Byers, a sophomore who worked at Collin’s Farm alongside Mori, said that he learned of Mori’s music career achievements through her two sisters.
“[Mori] kind of rarely talked about [her music],” Byers said. “She’s very humble about the whole thing.”
Ciorba agreed that Mori is humble and easygoing.
“I would definitely say that the persona she uses in music is not the one that I see in person,” Ciorba said.
“And I wonder if that’s a means of expressing the unapologetic version of herself or if it’s more of a persona; I don’t know. But I really love her.”
Despite the successes she has experienced in her career so far, Mori noted that they have also posed some unexpected challenges. Mori said that one of the most difficult aspects of gaining traction as an artist is the constant demand
some people have for her to release new music.
“It’s challenging because I can get overwhelmed real fast … ” Mori said. “When they put you on this high pedestal and expect you to act a certain way, oh my gosh, sometimes I just hate it.”
She added that interacting with large groups of fans and new people can be difficult for her due to her struggles with social anxiety. This anxiety is compounded by uncertainty about whether others have her best interests at heart.
“When I come across certain people and certain situations, I don’t know how to handle it,” she said.
“That’s why I try to keep my family close, because a lot of people try to take advantage.”
Mori said despite the pressure she feels as an artist, she likes knowing that she positively influences people.
“I go out in public now, and people want to take pictures,” she said. “I didn’t even know I had that kind of impact.”
Mori recently stopped working at Collins Farms to focus more time on her music career. Ciorba said he sees a positive side to her leaving her job at WashU.
“I think that perhaps this job has been holding her back from reaching her full potential,” Ciorba said.
BigSteppa Mori, a former WashU dining worker, said
“I’m excited to see where she goes, although I hope that she stays in St Louis. I mean, if she gets big, I hope that she keeps St. Louis in mind.”
Mori said that she has enjoyed working at WashU because she can connect with students like Ciorba, but she is also excited about focusing on her music.
Throughout the challenges she has faced, she has leaned on her family, which she says is her strongest and most reliable support system.
Her younger sister Amori said that Mori’s successes in rap are felt by the whole family, and she is excited to see where Mori’s music will take her.
“This is something that we’ve always talked about and wanted,” Amori said. “We’re gonna get no sleep, but I think it’ll be fun.”
David Ciorba is a Forum Editor for Student Life and was not involved in the writing, reporting, or editing of this story.
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A recap of Diwali 2024: Rang & Rhythm in photos
ELIZABETH GRIEVE
SCENE EDITOR
JUNIOR
This past weekend, Ashoka, WashU’s South Asian Student Association, put on its annual Diwali show in Edison Theater. This year’s theme was Rang & Rhythm. The performance is the result of the practice and hard work of a variety of student groups, as well as the coordination efforts of Ashoka executives.
Over 200 students and staff
members took part in the show’s nine acts, culminating in a multicultural celebration of the Festival of Lights over three nights.
The performance commemorates its titular holiday that originates in South Asia. This year, the holiday of Diwali took place in late October and early November.
According to the Hindu Student Association, whose representatives spoke before the show, the multi-day festival
was started around 2,500 years ago to celebrate the annual harvest. This Festival of Lights is celebrated around the world each year in a variety of ways. Here at WashU, the Diwali show is one of them.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the … performers,” Varun Vadhera, a sophomore and Ashoka’s Co-Cultural Chair and Diwali Show Co-Director, said. “To see everyone come together and perform in front of 1600 people was amazing!”
“We are immensely proud of how [the show] turned out!” senior Ritika Garg said, speaking for herself and her fellow team captains Diksha Padmanabhan and Anaika Bedi. “We are grateful for the chance to perform in the Diwali show each year and love being able to showcase what Bhangra is and the richness of Punjabi culture that is beautifully integrated into this art form.”
“It was definitely rewarding to see what it looked like when it all came together, and it felt great to see how much we’ve improved since our first practice in September,” Lakshmi Mulgund, a sophomore who is in charge of the group’s PR, said. “Getting to see all the other teams and seeing different styles was exciting because we know how hard all of these teams worked!”
Sophomore Shalini Vlcan performs with WashU Garba. The team dances to rhythmic music in flowy, glittery skirts. WashU’s all-girls Garba team incorporates Bollywood-inspired moves into the traditional Garba dance style, which originates from the Gujarat region of India.
ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
SAM POWERS | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Kavita Shah, a senior and a soloist from Sur Taal Laya (STL) a cappella, sings in the group’s “Exploration of Heartbreak” mashup. STL specializes in Bollywood fusion a cappella. The group mixes popular Western songs with popular South Asian songs, with soloists singing in multiple languages.
Three musicians, graduate student Myan Sudharsanan and juniors Anitra Krishnan and Shruthi Madhugiri perform classical Indian music using vocals, strings, and percussion.
Sophomore Anika Verma and junior Niki Adma dance for the WashU Bhangra (WUBB) team. Bhangra is a style of dance from the Punjab region of India, and it uses items that mimic farming equipment. One of these items is a sapp (or saap, spellings vary) which is opened and closed throughout the dance.
Sophomores Lasya Gudur and Riya Kurella lead a line of dancers during WashU Chaahat’s performance. Chaahat is a Bollywood fusion dance team, and its performance contains multiple segments, narrated by a video component that plays on the screen behind the dancers. The performance’s theme is based on the animated movie “Rio.”
SPORTS
No. 1 women’s soccer defeats DePauw and Simpson to earn eighth straight Sweet 16 spot
MANAGING
JUNIOR
Twelve minutes into their NCAA tournament second round matchup against Simpson College, the No. 1 WashU women’s soccer team found the back of the net. Just 18 seconds of play later — after junior forward Grace Ehlert danced past the Simpson defense — the Bears found themselves up 2-0. With their two early goals, the Bears lit a flame that never went out. The Bears added three more goals before halftime, and despite conceding a goal mid-way through the second half, defeated the Simpson Storm 5-1. Just a day after kicking off their playoff campaign with a 2-0 victory over DePauw University, the Bears locked up a spot in the round of 16 for the eighth season in a row.
“Anytime you jump on a team that quickly, it changes the game, it lets us play a little freer,” head coach Jim Conlon said after the game. “Our defense did a fantastic job of making sure to execute [and] minimizing their chances.”
WashU will face Colby College in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m.
After playing their opening games in front of an electric Francis Field crowd, the Bears, who are a perfect 10-0 at home, will hope to continue the momentum on their home turf. The winner of that matchup will face No. 5 Messiah University or the University of Chicago on Nov. 24 with a spot in the Final Four in Las Vegas on the line.
First Round:
WashU v. DePauw
After defeating DePauw 4-0 in September, the Bears faced more of a challenge this time around, struggling to convert their early chances. However, in the 20th minute, sophomore Sophie Viscovich slotted home senior Gaelen Clayton’s cross to put WashU ahead 1-0.
“Sophie’s a great attacking player,” Conlon said after the game. “She links a lot of pieces together. She’s found herself in good spaces to score recently, and so she’s decided to shoot instead of pass.”
The Bears next goal did not come until the 74th minute, when first-year Olivia Clemons broke past a DePauw defender to notch her 18th goal of the season. The scoreline stayed at 2-0 until the final whistle, thanks to the Bears’ defensive dominance. They held the Tigers to just three shots, compared to WashU’s
19, and graduate student goalkeeper Sidney Conner recorded her 41st career shutout, the most in program history.
Second Round: WashU v. Simpson
Less than 24 hours later, the Bears were back on the field against Simpson. WashU got off to an early lead 12 minutes into the match, when graduate student defender Ally Hackett bundled home a rebound after a diving save by Simpson’s goalkeeper. Before the Simpson defense could catch its breath, Ehlert drove right through the Storm backline to double the Bears’ lead.
In the 15th minute, senior Meryl McKenna’s strike was redirected to Viscovich, who cleaned up the rebound to give WashU a 3-0 lead. Viscovich added her second goal of the game 12 minutes later, unleashing a rocket from outside the box that beat the keeper. Viscovich is second on the team with six assists and has tallied five goals, all of which have come in the last month.
Right before the halftime break, Clemons scored a fifth goal for the Bears. In just her first collegiate season, Clemons now has 19 goals, the fourth most in a single season in WashU history.
Football finishes strong, defeats Augustana 45-24 with dominant second half
JUNIOR
Midway through the 2023 season, the WashU football team lost to Augustana College for the first time in program history. The upset loss put the Bears in fourth place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) standings and eventually propelled the Vikings to the postseason instead of the Bears.
A year later, on Saturday, Nov. 16, Augustana looked within striking distance of an upset victory for the second year in a row. So when the WashU offense exploded for 21 points in the second half to pull away from Augustana, one could almost hear the WashU sideline take a sigh of relief.
“We focused on accentuating the things that we’re really good at, and then tried to eliminate things that were causing us some problems,” head coach Aaron Keen said.
“For the most part, today, our guys did their job and did it just a little bit better.”
The Bears defeated Augustana 45-24 on Nov. 16, finishing their season with a meaningful victory. Though the Bears are missing out on a postseason bowl game for the second year in a row, they finish 2024 with an 8-2 record, becoming the ninth team in program history to win at least eight games.
“Today was a great win, especially for the seniors,” junior running back Fred Ware said. “We just wanted to put everything out there today.”
The Vikings started the game hot, scoring a touchdown on their second drive.
The Augustana defense stood strong on the first two Bears drives, giving the WashU faithful deja vu from last year’s upset. However, an interception by junior linebacker Brady Willmer set up a chip-shot
field goal from sophomore kicker Ross Muchnick to cut into the Augustana advantage.
On the next WashU possession, it took just two plays for the Bears to take the lead.
While scrambling, sophomore quarterback Levi Moore found fifth-year tight end Grant Hajicek for a short completion.
Evading two Viking defenders, Hajicek ran 69 yards to the end zone for his longest reception with WashU.
Augustana responded quickly, though, returning the kickoff 66 yards to start their drive in the red zone. Two plays later, Augustana had a 14-10 lead.
WashU got the ball at the beginning of the second quarter and scored after a five minute possession. Ware got the ball off of a direct snap, easily finding the end zone to take the lead. Augustana responded, cashing a sevenminute drive into a game-tying field goal. With seconds left in the half, Moore found senior receiver Collin Goldberg, who leaped to give the Bears a halftime advantage of 24-17. At the half, senior running back Ken Hamilton — who led the WashU offense in rushing yards this season despite missing two games — was carted off the field with an apparent injury. Ware, who led the Bears with 95 rushing yards Saturday, said Hamilton’s injury put a damper on the win.
“They’re my family,” Ware said about senior running backs, Hamilton and Kenvorris Campbell. “It means the world to go out there and play with them one more time. I love those people.”
Augustana got possession at the half, and immediately tied the game on a 66-yard touchdown run. Both offenses punted early in the quarter, but WashU broke through the stalemate with a 22-yard Ware run. With five minutes left in the third quarter, Moore ran
for a nine-yard touchdown to give the Bears the lead. WashU forced another Viking punt, and Ware scored another touchdown with just six seconds left in the quarter. Both defenses stood tall in the second half, with a fourth-quarter Ware touchdown the lone scoring play. The Bears won 45-24, finishing their season with a dominant win.
This season was a tumultuous one for WashU football.
Before their opening game against Rhodes College, it was announced that the Bears would be kicked out of their associate membership in the CCIW ahead of the 2026 season. By midseason this year, starting senior quarterback Clark Stephens was sidelined with an injury. Their loss to Wheaton on Oct. 26 all but eliminated their postseason hopes, weeks before the end of the season.
There were some bright spots, though. The Bears’ offense exploded for over 40 points four times. WashU also set a new program record for total yardage in a 50-point win over Millikin University. Next season will be the Bears’ final season in the CCIW, as WashU will join the North Coast Athletic Conference in the fall of 2026. WashU has one more opportunity to finish above third in the CCIW, something they have not done since joining the conference in 2018.
After the game, many WashU football players were awarded with all-CCIW honors. Middleton was named CCIW Defensive First-Year Student-Athlete of the year. Goldberg and senior lineman Brendan Mayo were named to the All-CCIW First Team, while Hamilton, senior linemen Tyler Brooks, Peter Lynch, and Nate Light, and sophomore linebacker Joy Chane were named to the all-CCIW Second Team. Campbell was WashU’s nominee for the CCIW Respect
Award, given to the player who “upholds the values of the team, their institution, and their community.”While the season ended unceremoniously, Keen still believes the team’s accomplishments are worth celebrating.
“Any time you can win eight games, it’s a great thing,”
Keen said. “In over 130 years of Washington University football, we’re the ninth team to win eight games. So it’s special.”
WashU football honored its 20 graduating seniors and fifthyears in a pregame ceremony. Postgame, Keen thanked the seniors for their impact on the program through tumultuous years. “This class was the first I got to help recruit and mold as they got here, and I feel great about what they’ve done,” he said. “They’ve changed the culture here, and they’ve been part of a lot of big victories because of that.”
In the second half, Simpson came out with more momenthe bench. The Bears’ well-rounded defensive unit “Our team is so deep, one of the best things about our gle girl deserves to be on that ” McGahan said. “...I don’t have any doubt in my mind. No matter who’s on the field, we’re gonna take
Senior Kenvorris Campbell takes a handoff against Millikin on Nov. 2.
Junior Kaci Karl goes for a header against a DePauw defender on Nov. 16.
SYDNEY STROMINGER | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
BRI NITSBERG | MANAGING PHOTO EDITOR
‘Not just a fad’: WashU’s pickleball club forms competitive branch
NINA LASER ELIZABETH STUMP
EDITORS
WashU Club Pickleball has recently formed a competitive branch that aims to compete in collegiate pickleball tournaments later this year. The tryouts for the competitive team attracted over 80 students, from which seven female and seven male players were selected by the sevenmember executive team.
Pickleball has been gaining popularity among WashU students in recent years, and the pickleball GroupMe chat now boasts 484 members. However, first-year Noe Schwartz — competitive branch co-vice president and co-captain — estimated the number of active members to be around 150.
Senior Ava Schumacher is a co-president of WashU Club Pickleball and primarily coordinates open play opportunities for the club. She said that while open play is great for all levels, some players expressed interest in having more competitive opportunities.
“I kept hearing from people, like during the club fair and practices, that there are a lot of people interested in having something a bit more competitive, having something that’s a bit more high-level,” Schumacher said.
While last year’s leadership did not complete the necessary forms to re-register the club for this year, the current executive leadership of the club was able to work closely with WashU Rec to revive the pickleball club and then take it to the competitive level with the newly formed team.
As part of the process of starting the competitive branch, members of the executive team consulted local pickleball pro John Callahan, owner of Callahan Pickleball Academy. As a regular at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center courts, the same courts that the pickleball club often reserves for open play, he has supported the club leaders by coaching them individually and providing tactical advice about the game, as well as helping them plan tryouts.
The executive team also looked to other leadership figures in the local pickleball community for support, including Michael Chapin, a St. Louis pickleball enthusiast and pioneer and the Assistant Director of Career Development at WashU. Chapin has been coaching pickleball professionally for over eight years and is now both a coach for the competitive team and a faculty advisor to the club.
Chapin instructed the executive team on how to identify advanced skills at tryouts,
which include the ability to control the speed and direction of the pickleball, dink shots, and drop shots.
According to Schwartz, tryouts were “hectic” due to the large amount of interest in the team. There were so many talented players that the executive team decided to take more players than they originally planned to.
“It was challenging to work out logistically because we had so much interest, and we are trying to manage our current budget with how many people want to play,” she said. “The level of skill — we have so many amazing people, and so we’re piloting [a small team] and hoping to expand in the future.”
Pickleball tournaments are structured so that a school can register multiple teams of four players to compete in women’s singles, men’s singles, co-ed doubles, women’s doubles, and men’s doubles. Because of the complicated entry restrictions, club executives elected to have two captains for the competitive branch: Jace Slone, a sophomore student on the men’s side, and Schwartz, a first-year student on the women’s side.
Schwartz has only been playing pickleball for a year but has extensive experience with other sports including flying trapeze, skateboarding, and skiing.
“That’s the nice thing about pickleball — it’s inclusive for everyone of all skill levels and all abilities,” she said. “You can just get on the court and play.”
The competitive team practices for an hour and a half on Thursdays at Padel + Pickle, an indoor racket sports facility that opened in Olivette this February. The facility is around a 15-minute drive from campus, and the competitive team’s first official practice there took place on Nov. 7.
At the first practice, the competitive players officially met one another and then were quickly grouped into teams of four for warmup and practice. Chapin rotated
between the courts offering words of encouragement and coaching advice to the players as they got their bearings playing with each other.
While there are plenty of local tournaments in St. Louis that are open for all-level enrollment, the collegiate tour is still in its early stages of development. Co-president on the competitive side of the club Justin Xu said that the executive team hopes to send the team to Georgia Super Regionals in Atlanta, Georgia in February as the team’s first official tournament.
The top four teams from the tournament will advance to collegiate nationals. Apart from the Super
Regionals tournament, the club leadership hopes to schedule scrimmages against other local college competitive teams this year, including Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri. Chapin emphasized that despite what people may believe, pickleball is not a fad sport, and he hopes to see its popularity continue to grow among WashU students in the coming years.
“Just the evolution of where we’ve come from…[to] where we are now is pretty cool. People in pickleball are very passionate,” said Chapin. “It’s not like this sport is a fad. It’s not going away.”
No. 11 volleyball falls short in the UAA finals, look forward to NCAA tournament matchup
RISHI CHINIGA
CHRISTIAN KIM
STAFF WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The No. 11 WashU volleyball team dominated the opening day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship on Friday, Nov. 15, defeating New York University and No. 16 Case Western Reserve University in single-elimination matchups. These victories propelled the Bears into Saturday’s championship game against No. 6 Emory University, where they fell 3-0.
On Monday, Nov. 18, the NCAA revealed that WashU would face the College of Saint Benedict from Minnesota in the first round of regionals, set for Thursday, Nov. 21, at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
In the first UAA tournament match, WashU outlasted a tough NYU team they had split its last four matchups with since 2021. The Bears emerged victorious in a hard-fought 3-1 win. WashU set the tone early in the first set, jumping to an 11-6 lead. NYU briefly pulled ahead, 14-13, but the Bears fought back. Senior
Zoe Foster delivered a commanding kill at 24-23 to clinch the set, 25-23. Foster powered WashU with a standout performance, leading the team in kills, aces, and blocks, and posting a
season-high 20 kills. NYU answered in the second set, edging out WashU in a back-and-forth battle that ended on the Bears’ error. Undeterred, WashU surged in the third set behind
senior Jasmine Sells, sophomore Leah Oyewole, and Foster. Junior Sam Buckley orchestrated the offense, tallying 50 assists to drive the Bears’ attack.
New competitive WashU pickleball club takes team photo at Padel + Pickle courts.
