Bear’s Den launches
All You Care to Eat Pilot Program
wanted from each. I wanted green beans from here and some fruit from there, and I wanted to top my sandwich with mushrooms from the salad bar,” Sinclair said.
students control their portions in the AYCTE program, there will be less food waste.
The Bear’s Den (BD) is piloting an All You Care to Eat (AYCTE) program that allows participants to enter the cafeteria twice for a onetime cost of $13.95 meal points, each time with access to as many menu items as they want. This option is available from Oct. 21 to Nov. 15, Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Washington University’s Dining Services has never offered an AYCTE program before, typically offering meal plans with a certain number of points that allow students to pay for entrees and sides a la carte instead. Dining Services hopes the AYCTE Pilot Program will reduce food waste and encourage in-person dining and community engagement.
To try the AYCTE Pilot Program, participants must wait in line once to swipe a WashU ID or credit card at the cashier. They will then receive a receipt that allows them two trips into BD with unlimited access to any menu items.
“Students expressed a desire for a model that offers the freedom to try different meals and eat to their satisfaction without buying individual items,” Dining Services wrote in an email.
Sophomore Amira Sinclair said she was excited that the AYCTE Pilot Program made her meal more customizable.
“I liked that I was able to try out multiple stations at a baseline price and kind of pick and choose what I
Sophomore Caroline Roth said that it may be more economical for some students because it allows them access to more food at a less expensive price than purchasing multiple rounds of entrees and sides to feel satisfied by their meal.
“I think it might take a little time to get used to, but I think it’s overall a better value for what we’re paying for, and it could be more affordable for people with lower meal plans for sure,” Roth said.
Sophomore Tali Jarmond has a contrasting opinion about the
“The variety of choices lets students try smaller portions without wasting a full meal. Dining services will monitor food preferences and adjust preparation to minimize leftovers,” Dining Services wrote.
Some participants of the program said that they received more food, despite AYCTE’s stated goal of reducing food waste. Participants in the program are permitted to use plates to dine in and reusable containers, but not single-use ones.
“Additionally, we’ve provided a sustainable option for students who prefer to take their meal to go, allowing them to use a reusable
“I definitely feel full, which is nice, maybe for the first time in a long time.”
pricing, saying that it could be improved by offering various tiers of AYCTE at differing prices.
“I have heard that some students would have appreciated if there were multiple different options with the amount of times you can go through the line, or have cheaper options in terms of sides or single plates and stuff,” Jarmond said.
Jarmond explained that he may be paying more for certain meals now than he was before.
“There [are] some days where I used to spend eight or nine meal points for my dinner. I can no longer do that with this program,” he said.
Dining Services said that because
towards your professor whose first language isn’t English was rooted in something deeper than the perceived inconvenience it causes you.
As the fall semester wraps up, you are swarmed with the stress of finals and the anticipation of winter break when you see the email appear in your inbox: “Reminder: Course Evaluations Are Open.”
Begrudgingly, you decide to address them sooner rather than later, going through the motions of rating professors on inconsistent scales and answering the same multiple-choice questions 50 times over. Only if you have a really strong opinion do you leave a comment on the form. After finishing your last evaluation, you shut your computer, never to think of them again.
However, in your haste to complete these evaluations, many serious issues may have passed you by. Some of your professors aren’t tenured which means that their evaluations may have serious implications for their jobs. Or, maybe some of your own implicit biases influenced your responses. Perhaps, your negative commentary
This experience is common among WashU students, and it sheds light on the far-reaching, deep-rooted issues with the course evaluation system.
Implicit bias
Course evaluations have been marred with implicit and explicit biases since their conception. The Rutgers University School of Law released an article with evidence that students’ implicit biases heavily impact their evaluations of their professors. The studies indicate that much of the variance in student evaluations is based on aspects of the students themselves, not the course or the instructor.
Another former president of AWF and Senior Lecturer of Technical Writing, Seema Dahlheimer, said women, people of color, and those who have an accent or aren’t native English speakers receive lower ratings on course evaluations.
container for a single entry and fill it with their desired meal selections,” Dining Services wrote.
Sophomore Shalini Vlcan felt more satisfied with the amount of food allotted to each participant through the AYCTE Pilot Program than the typical portions of singleserving meals at BD. This sentiment was shared among various participants in the program.
“I definitely feel full, which is nice, maybe for the first time in a long time,” Vlcan said.
Throughout the duration of the AYCTE Pilot Program, BD will not be receiving Grubhub orders, with the exception of Simple Servings
Misogyny, in particular, has proven to be pervasive in course evaluations nationally, as shown in a study released by the Journal of the European Economic Association. Its findings determine that gender bias affects women significantly when they teach in male-dominated departments.
Navigating the path forward
According to Vice Provost for Educational Initiatives, Jennifer Smith, many have been deliberating amending the course evaluations process for some time, but no significant action has been taken to make changes. The problems surrounding course evaluations are systemic and would require collaboration across schools to make any kind of progress.
The AWF report provides recommendations about course evaluations relating to tenure and how to potentially address the low response rate; it also advises the Danforth Campus to adopt a standard set of questions using a seven-point scale.
WashU reviews open campus policies
Washington University’s Board of Trustees recently established an ad hoc committee in response to last semester’s protests to examine the University’s open campus policies and promote campus safety.
WashU’s open campus allows St. Louis community members to access its physical spaces and resources and provides students with more opportunities in the greater surrounding community. Changes to WashU’s open campus policy could potentially limit St. Louisan’s access to campus.
Junior Ashton Lee, Vice President of Student Engagement for Student Union, emphasized the historical importance of WashU’s connection to St. Louis.
Express, which caters food prepared without the top nine food allergens.
Roth said she would prefer the AYCTE Pilot Program not be fully implemented, noting the inconvenience of disbarring Grubhub orders.
“I like the convenience of ordering online, and I think a lot of people might not like this new system as much because you can’t really do that,” Roth said.
Jarmond said that the AYCTE Pilot Program decreased the amount of time it took to get food at BD.
“It was definitely faster, being that most of the food was already prepared for me, and I could just go and select what I wanted,” he said.
First-year Olivia Stokely said that she felt the lines for BD were longer than usual, but overall, the AYCTE Pilot Program enhanced her dining experience.
“I feel like there’s obviously a few kinks to sort out like the lines, but other than that, I feel like it’s an improvement,” Stokely said.
Dining Services touched on the importance of participant feedback in determining the future of the AYCTE Pilot Program.
“Ultimately, the survey results will heavily influence whether or not an AYCTE program is fully implemented moving forward,” Dining Services wrote.
To participate in the AYCTE Pilot Program, students, faculty, staff, and visitors can go to BD and give their input on the program through the Dining Services’ Satisfaction Survey
“We were originally in downtown St. Louis as a night school and vocational school for the community,” Lee said.
Senior Ava Kennard expressed that she would be interested in learning more about what the ad hoc committee is doing and what potential changes could mean for WashU’s role in the community.
“I just wouldn’t want it to send the wrong message that we’re trying to be less connected with the St. Louis community,” Kennard said.
The ad hoc committee has provided few public details on which policies they are reviewing but denied a request to comment.
Emirates Trustee William B. Pollard III, chair of the ad hoc committee reviewing open campus policies, emphasized the importance of prioritizing safety on WashU’s campus in an interview with The Source.
“Given the current climate of increased protest activity on campuses nationwide, the board wants to ensure that our policies are effective in maintaining a safe campus environment while upholding the core principles of freedom of expression and academic freedom,” Pollard told
The report also identifies that students don’t feel inclined to fill out their course evaluations when they don’t understand what they are used for. Zhu related to this issue.
“Usually my professors are like, ‘Please submit the course evaluation if you can.’ I usually do it just because I think it helps them somehow,” Zhu said.
MARCO ZHANG | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
A student serves themselves cookies as part of the new All You Care to Eat pilot program at the Bear’s Den.
WashU launches master’s program in Reproductive Health Sciences
LILY TAYLOR INVESTIGATIVE NEWS EDITOR
WashU will offer a new master’s program in Reproductive Sciences starting next year to fill what its leaders see as a gap in reproductive health education. The program aims to teach the biology of reproduction, fetal development, and menopausal aging to students interested in clinical health, reproductive health research, and reproductive policy.
The program, which is accepting applications until Dec. 30 for its 2025 cohort, is one of only a few master’s programs in reproductive health nationwide.
Erin Reinl, Ph.D, an instructor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at WashU’s School of Medicine, will serve as program director. Reinl said the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology launched the program after a tangible need for more highly-trained researchers.
“It’s been hard to find people to fill our research positions that have a background in reproductive sciences,” Reinl said. “It’s not a common research area. There are a lot of people interested in reproductive biology, but there just aren’t avenues to pursue that interest.”
Reinl noted the lack of attention from educational institutions and the scientific community on this field of research has been a longstanding problem.
She said that is, in part, due to the fact that people view reproductive health as a women-centered field and don’t understand its broader relevance. She added that the public understanding of reproductive health is limited mostly to the conception and birth of a child, but that its scope is much more complex.
“The ovary, for example, does more than just produce eggs to make a baby,” Reinl said. “It produces a lot of hormones that are so important for our overall health.”
The master’s program is designed to fit a broad range of careers, including people who plan to attend medical
school, those interested in research or working in pharmaceuticals, and the growing sector of femtech —- which is technology that addresses women’s health needs.
Sarah England, Ph.D, Director of the Center for Reproductive Health Sciences at WashU, said that the program has been in the works for six years, though faculty in the School of Medicine have been eager to launch it for nearly 13 years.
She said that WashU already had strong reproductive health education within its medical school, but there was a need for more intentional education focused on research in the field.
“We are so strong in reproductive sciences,” England said. “Our department was ranked seventh in NIH [National Institutes of Health] funding in 2023, but we don’t actually have didactic courses in this topic, so we just thought [creating the master’s program] was really important.”
As part of the program, students will develop a broad base of knowledge in reproduction and women’s health. They will also participate in rotations through research laboratories that work on various reproductive fields, such as sperm biology, and perform their own research that culminates in a thesis on their chosen field of study.
“I’m envisioning that [the master’s students] could study really any aspect of what we offer here on campus, in our department,” England said. “If they are interested in the early part
of pregnancy, if they’re interested in non-pregnant people and want to study endometriosis, if they want to study menopause. There are so many ways that they could study the reproductive systems.”
Students in the program will also take a communications course that aims to bridge reproductive biology with practical and professional needs.
“It’s so important in any career, science or not, to be able to take your knowledge and explain it to other people,” Reinl said. “These students will be able to communicate with their colleagues, with other students, with people who have no biology background at all. That skill is important in a job environment, but it’s also so important that more people are able to speak openly and comprehensively about reproductive biology.”
The program will also create new courses on reproductive health topics that undergraduate students can enroll in. Reinl said she hopes to see increased collaboration across schools, between undergraduates, master’s students, and Ph.D students studying reproductive health.
Reinl said the program aims not only to better inform its students about reproductive health topics, but also to address broader misconceptions and gaps in understanding in this field.
“Having more people understand reproductive biology is beneficial for society because reproductive health is human health,” Reinl said. “This will be good for St. Louis and everywhere.”
Chancellor Martin and free speech
TANVI GORRE NEWS EDITOR
Chancellor Andrew Martin has made free speech a significant aspect of his administration since becoming chancellor-elect of WashU in 2018. After last year’s protests and dialogue, some WashU community members supported Martin’s response while others have called for Martin to step down for perceivably suppressing free speech.
Student Life looked at Martin’s record on free speech over the past six years to examine how he has enforced policies about speech on campus.
Past Free Speech Statements
Martin was appointed chancellor-elect in 2018.
During Martin’s first year, he did not issue any online
statements, which shifted in the wake of a contested presidential election, a storm on the Capitol, and the death of George Floyd.
During the 2020 election cycle, Martin emphasized the importance of hearing from diverse perspectives on campus to further our understanding of the world.
“Diverse perspectives help us learn, grow, and uncover knowledge and truth in a way that homogeneity simply cannot,” Martin wrote in October of 2020.
However, expressing those perspectives has limits, according to Martin. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Martin condemned the attack, stating violence cannot be justified through freedom of speech.
“In politics, there
will be disagreement. But violence is never the answer,” Martin wrote.
The following year, a student removed American flags on Mudd Field commemorating the lives lost during 9/11. Martin wrote a statement saying that the student who removed the flags caused harm to WashU community members.
“Students have the right to express their viewpoints, but they also have the obligation to respect others’ expressions,” Martin wrote.
One of the vandals who defaced a Black history mural the South 40 underpass with white supremacist messaging in December of 2021 was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation on Tuesday morning.
Mitchell Wagner— a 24-year-old white man from Florissant, Missouri— was arrested in January of 2022 and subsequently charged with felony firstdegree property damage after surveillance footage showed him and three others vandalizing the mural. Wagner was the only individual who was to be identified and charged.
The symbols painted onto the mural were associated with the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group that, according to the AntiDefamation League, was involved in a spike of racist propaganda distributed throughout the country in 2020.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wagner pled guilty to second-degree misdemeanor property damage and paid $8,000 in restitution, in addition to his probation. He was arrested in Idaho after participating in a Patriot Front gathering involving riot gear and smoke grenades.
The mural — titled “The Story That Never Ends”
— included portraits of prominent Black public figures like George Poage, who became the first Black American to win an Olympic medal in St. Louis in 1904, and Dr. Robert L. Williams, a WashU professor who coined the term “ebonics.”
De’Joneiro Jones, the St. Louis-based artist who was commissioned to paint the mural, believes that Wagner’s sentencing should have happened much earlier.
“People have forgotten about what happened,” Jones said. “Now we gotta revisit and relive something that was going on during COVID.”
Brock Seals, another artist who helped painted the mural, similarly described the sentencing as frustrating.
“It’s just another instance where the judicial system has failed us,” Seals said.
“Someone goes on the campus and defaces private property and expresses outright hate, and you get a slap on the wrist for that.”
Jones described the goal of the project as education and empowerment— ideals that were quickly drowned out by repeated defacement. When the mural was being painted in 2020, Jones recalled an incident where racist and homophobic slurs were spraypainted onto the underpass, a year before the vandalism that Wagner was involved in.
“We were faced with hateful opposition the minute we got on campus,” Jones
said. “I didn’t want that to overshadow us being there so I didn’t talk about it.” In the aftermath of the vandalism, Jones, Roland Burrow, Danny McGinnest, Brock Seals, Damon Addison and Nicholas Coulter put together a photo book to commemorate the process of painting the mural.
“We never had a ceremony to talk about the mural or, [there was] no closure,” Jones said. “It was painted a couple of weeks before everybody went on break, and then when it was time for people to see it, the vandalism happened.” When the vandalism initially took place, University administrators responded with a condemnation, calling it “horrifying and distressing.”
Jones said that he wishes the University had made greater efforts to preserve the mission of the mural after the incident.
“This is the pinnacle of a lot of our art careers, to have it erased and then ultimately painted over is reducing it to a blur,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that the university doesn’t want to be on the good side of history in terms of sending a message that this is not accepted here.” Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications, declined to comment on Wagner’s sentencing on behalf of the University.
ANNIE TIAN | CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR
CURRAN NEENAN | STUDENT LIFE
In 2021, a mural on the underpass was vandalized with white supremacist symbols. Mitchell Wagner received two years of unsupervised probation on Tuesday for his role in the crime.
Dear Naked and Afraid,
Oh, you hit the nail on the head. Though monsters and masked-up killers may lurk in every corner, the spookiest part of All Hallows’ Eve is deciding what to wear. Halloweekend is our one chance to dazzle our friends with our clever pop culture repertoire while looking our best. Truthfully, Halloweekend is the most important college holiday since it combines every vice young adults could possibly want to indulge in while giving us the rare opportunity to get in costume.
Well, dear reader, I can sympathize with your dilemma. Spooky season is my favorite one, but procrastination always gets the better of me, and I am left panicked and costumeless at the very last minute. I can think of a few good costumes of years past: the Heathers with our color-coded croquet sets or Magic Mike with our visible
branded underwear. Yet, my first-year Halloweekend pics will always haunt me: the uncreative trio of “kiss, marry, or kill,” and a lastminute cowboy getup. Also, costumes can be expensive or time-consuming to source, adding to the average college student’s endless list of worries and woes.
The path toward a solution to your problem is not as scary as it seems (though your fears are not unfounded). For the average student, Halloweekend requires you to have at least three costumes in mind, but they are not equally important. Now, the first costume you will plan should be worn to your most exciting Halloween activity. You can choose something culturally relevant and particular to current popular media — “brat”related costumes are bound to be a success this year, with everything from a green apple to a Troye Sivan and Charli xcx duo costume falling under this category.
Memes, though fleeting in relevancy, can be the best costumes of the night (i.e., JD Vance and a couch for a couples’ costume or JoJo Siwa’s “Karma” music video outfit). As always, you can go with a classic, like a movie character or a horror favorite (ghosts, ghouls, zombies, etc).
Your main costume should be your primary Halloween endeavor, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive or laborintensive. You can always kill two birds with one stone and choose your costume based on what you can build from your closet. Find a good base and buy the extra. You can pick your all-green athleisure and dress up as Raygun or find a nightgown at the thrift store and go as Ethel Cain. Sometimes the best costumes are hidden in your closet or the back of Avalon Exchange.
The truth is that most costumes are just regular outfits with one thing that makes them unique. It could be a mask, a cape, a
StEPping into Prolific Kickz
Walking from the underpass toward the South 40, perhaps you’ve noticed a glowing neon sign spelling out the words “Prolific Kickz.” Nestled between the familiar Uncle Joe’s Peer Counseling and Resource Center and fan-favorite Beary Sweet Shoppe, rows of Nikes, Jordans, Dunks, and Yeezys line the shelves of the newest Student Enterprise Program (StEP) business on campus, blurring by as students hurry to their dorms or Bear’s Den for a meal.
However, if you take a moment to pause and enter the storefront, you will be greeted by junior Kevin Chen, the founder and CEO
of Prolific Kickz — a name with a particularly unique origin.
“I asked ChatGPT to help me come up with some keywords, and ‘prolific’ was one of them,” Chen said. “I liked that term, and then I [put] ‘Kickz’ on the end of it, and here we are now with ‘Prolific Kickz.’”
It’s an atypical start to the story of an atypical campus business. But Chen is no stranger to the world of shoe sales. He started his online business, KC Resells, in high school. The business now has over 10,000 followers on Instagram and made over one million dollars in sales in 2023.
“My sophomore year of high school, I had a friend introduce me to sneakers,”
Chen said. “He resold sneakers at the time, and I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I could do this too.’ And then over the past few years, even in applying into college, I just kept scaling that business.”
However, Prolific Kickz marks a departure from Chen’s past work in business to business sales, where he orders directly from the shoe manufacturer to supply stores in bulk. His goal with the storefront is to eliminate the middleman and sell directly to the consumer — WashU students.
“One of my primary goals with opening this store in the first place was really just seeing cool shoes on a lot more students here around campus,” Chen said. “I thought it would
Dear Scene,
With Halloween (a.k.a. the most important holiday in a college student’s life) just around the corner, I’m feeling concerned about my costume. Distressed about my disfraz. In the wise words of Tina Fey, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.” Do I pull a Karen Smith and dress sexy, or go scary like Cady? Funny? Pop culturereferencing? Layered, or exposed to the elements? This is not to mention the cost of all of this. Because students tend to go out multiple nights over the course of the week, I feel like I need to come up with more than one costume, which adds to my creative and financial stress. What’s a girl to do?
cloak, or a lot of red paint that looks like pig’s blood (looking forward to this year’s Carries). It might take a couple of hours of doom-scrolling TikTok and looking for inspiration in the strangest corners of the internet, but you will find your missing piece. However, I do encourage creativity and effort with your Halloween costumes. If you want to, you can glue coins and cigarettes on a shirt to make it look like the Chicago rat-hole, go ahead (someone please do this). Your secondary costumes can be less mentally draining. Putting on a pink cowboy hat and calling it a day (or a Chappell Roan costume) is perfectly acceptable. Use the bunny ears you bought and wear your sexiest dress without overthinking it. One life-changing and brilliant costume is more than enough for this Halloweekend. If you are really scraping at the bottom of the barrel of ideas, just buy a bright, matching
be really cool to be able to provide another opportunity for students in the WashU community to be able to buy these sneakers.”
His main argument for why students should visit his storefront, rather than shopping online or through a larger retailer, is simple: The price is right.
“I’m able to sell to a store who then marks up the shoe again to sell to the end consumer. If the end consumer is buying from me in the first place, they’re going to end up saving money. A lot of sneaker stores tend to upcharge their price a bunch, but I try and be very reasonable relative to that market price to ensure that customers aren’t overpaying.”
tracksuit and call yourself
Sue Sylvester (if the suit is orange, you can be Vector from Despicable Me), or get a group and call yourselves the Royal Tenenbaums. Finally, don’t pressure yourself into creating the world’s best group (couple, trio, etc.) costume. Pick a movie or T.V. show, and you can each be one character from it. Getting people to agree on one thing is hard, and coordinating outfits is even more complicated. Of course, if your friends are all willing to spend $50 each to get Prime delivery on an Inflatable Lederhosen Costume, be my guest. Otherwise, just relax and pick a theme everyone can adjust to with their preferences and limitations. Themes can range from simple things like “Seinfeld” characters to cameos in the “Bad Blood” music video to slutty founding fathers (or slutty WashU donors, though I’m not sure how to pull off a sexy Donald Schnuck costume).
According to Chen, connections are key to a successful business. He described meeting the owner of a shoe store in St. Louis through Instagram. What began as a transactional agreement led to the owner becoming one of his biggest role models and mentors.
“Whenever there was anything I kind of was uncertain on as I was kind of scaling my business up, because he had more experience than me, I would be able to ask him, and he would just be able to point me in the right direction, give me the advice that I needed, and that was really helpful.”
Halloween is undeniably iconic, and college students want to make it spectacular every year, but taking a step back and enjoying the holiday without pressure is important. You don’t have to make the best costume or go to the most fabulous party; just relax and make the most of this spooky season. Dress up, be trendy, creative, or scary, and make this Halloween one you will remember fondly. Have a very spooky October.
Your ghostly friends, Scene Need saving? Scan here!
Chen describes the success of his business as having met expectations, despite a seeming lack of foot traffic.
“Going into this, I knew foot traffic wasn’t going to be a huge number, because we’re all college students — not everyone’s looking for sneakers to buy all the time. But I think it’s still been pretty good and near[ly] meeting my expectations, on track for breaking even from all the startup costs and bringing in more people.” To all of the students who hesitate, even for a split second, before walking past his business, Chen has one message to deliver:
“Please come in. I’m a friendly guy. I’m here to help. And if you want to just come look at shoes, you’re not pressured to buy anything. You’re always welcome to come in and take a look.”
ERICA SHI | CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR
SCENE
Delish on Delmar: Reviving Delmar Boulevard
Local pop-up restaurants and artisan booths lined the streets of the Delmar Maker District as live music played and people of all ages celebrated the revival of Delmar Boulevard for this year’s Delish on Delmar. The festival, held on Friday, Oct. 18, welcomed various food vendors, local boutiques, and musicians from around St. Louis in an effort to showcase the sounds, smells, and tastes that St. Louis has to offer.
Organizers hoped to drive up economic development, promote sustainability, and boost the local arts and food scene.
“It’s really about celebrating the restaurants and getting people to see what is happening along Delmar,” Tonnie Smith, President of Delmar Main Street, said. “There’s so much opportunity for St. Louis to rewrite the story of Delmar, and that’s what we’re working to do.”
The event brought together St. Louis foodies across all ages for a chance to indulge in food from 10 different restaurants (Deli Divine, Soul Burgers, Alpha Brewing Company, Beyond Sweet Kitchen + Bar, Crooked Boot, Too Much Sauce, Steve’s Hot Dogs, Olio, Esca, Florentin, Nixta, and Scoops of Joy), nine of which will be opening up on Delmar Boulevard by the start of 2025.
Cher Williams from Too Much Sauce, a local wing spot showcased at the festival, emphasized the importance of revitalizing Delmar Boulevard.
“The area has been kind of dead the last four years. I’ve been in business since 2020, and it’s been very, very slow around these parts. So I was very excited to be a part of the festival, and it’s a great turnout. So happy to be here,” she said.
In addition to serving up a variety of tasty bites at the restaurant, Too Much Sauce can be enjoyed in a dorm room-friendly style as well. When asked about the best food to keep stashed in miniature freezers, Williams exclaimed, “Wings, wings, and meatless wings, of course!”
Among other popular food booths were Deli Divine’s hot pastrami and smoked salmon melts, pressed to golden brown perfection, and Nixta’s chicken tacos, topped with cabbage slaw and creamy white sauce. Steve’s Hot Dogs had hungry foodies waiting in long lines for the chance to try their special: the St. Louis Style Dog topped with grilled peppers and onions, banana peppers, bacon, provolone, and house-made pepper mustard. Those looking to secure themselves a sweet treat to end the night indulged in fan-favorite butter cake and strawberry shortcake-infused ice cream from Scoops Of Joy.
Along with various food vendors, festival attendees could browse items from a wide selection of local artisan boutiques in the St. Louis area.
“I love doing events like this in areas like this, because I think it brings a lot of people out who might not normally…walk down Delmar or have anything to do in the area,”Steffy
Gonzalez, owner of Pretty Okay Candles, said. “Lots of small businesses like me come to events like this. So I think it’s like a win-win for everybody.”
Events like Delish on Delmar hope to leave lasting effects on the surrounding community.
“Commercial corridors, when they thrive, help the neighborhoods that are connected to them, and it makes the whole city more livable and more viable,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the impressive turnout at this year’s Delish on Delmar was an indication of it’s success and has vendors already anticipating next year’s festival.
“The amount of people [and] the diversity of the crowds [will make people want to] come again and so we can be bigger, and even better next year,” Smith said.
Smith described an upcoming, long-term project for those hoping to continue to engage with Delmar Boulevard: “Delmar Main Street is doing a public arts initiative because we’re a strong art town,” Smith said, explaining tha t“people [will] naturally come to see all the different murals and the sculptures and things that we have planned for the next few years.”
Whether you are an avid foodie, looking to support local artisans and musicians, or just want to venture out of the WashU bubble, Delmar Boulevard is the perfect place to spend a laid-back Saturday afternoon, especially if you are looking for more events like Delish on Delmar.
Beyond “Bridgerton”: Adjoa Andoh speaks at WashU
“When you see me play Lady Danbury, that’s 40 years of professional acting life. That’s 61 years of life life. That’s three kids, aging parents, a dog, a grandson, Leeds United Football Club, being a punk rocker … Lady Danbury is just the tip of that iceberg,” Adjoa Andoh said on Oct. 11 during an event organized by the Congress of the South 40 (CS40).
Though the British actress is currently best known for her role as Lady Danbury, a selfassured and quick-witted widow, in the exceedingly popular Netflix series “Bridgerton,” her career has been one of immense accomplishment. From directing and starring in “Richard II” at the Globe Theatre, playing Francine Jones in “Doctor Who,” appearing in the film “Invictus,” and recording radio shows and audiobook narration, Andoh has done it all.
Sophomore Kemberly Nertulus, CS40’s director of Social Events and Recreation and moderator of the event, expressed her excitement for getting the privilege to speak with Andoh. When asked why Andoh was chosen for the event, Nertulus said, “There hasn’t been a person of color that CS40 brought [to speak]
within six years … as a person of color myself, I felt like my job was to get someone who represented the underrepresented students here on campus … I wanted to bring someone that people were very enthusiastic about.”
And enthusiastic they were. As Andoh walked across the stage in Graham Chapel, she was met with uproarious applause. It was a welcome fit for a queen (or, well, a lady).
As the moderated talk began, Andoh discussed her upbringing, the start of her acting career, and the pressure she felt from her African father.
“Obviously, I’m supposed to be a lawyer, a doctor, or, if I really like, I can be an accountant,” Andoh said.
Though she was supposed to go to the University of Cambridge to study law, she instead “had a nervous breakdown.” After retaking her exams, she decided that she was “done with school,” and she moved in with her boyfriend while working at a bank. Eventually, after being “bored beyond belief,” she spent two years pursuing a law degree before leaving and joining a drama group.
After getting her first theater job, she described feeling as though she had come home.
“I spent my childhood dressing up, pretending to
be other people. I used to write little plays,” Andoh said.
However, becoming an actor never seemed like a feasible option.
“I grew up with cows and sheep. So I can milk cows by hand if needed. But it was not a world where anybody thought you could be an actor … You may as well have said you can swim to the moon
… When I got to London and I suddenly found I could do this acting thing, I was beyond thrilled. It was amazing. It was like you’d opened the back of the wardrobe and there was Narnia and it was all for me,” she said.
Years later, Andoh directed an all-womenof-color production of “Richard II” at the Globe Theatre in London. She discussed how the play centers around what it means to be a part of England and about “who has the right to be a part of this island nation.”
However, she wanted to put her own unique spin on the Shakespearean play. She decided to cast and hire only individuals who were from places that Britain went to to gather “raw materials, be they human, animal, or mineral, which fueled the industrial revolution … and made Britain great.”
However, Andoh said she had to make sure to stick with the original text and
that she put on a show that was entertaining yet meaningful. “If you don’t get those basics right,” she said, “then just go park your big ideas somewhere else.”
Later during the event, Andoh discussed the cultural division and strife that surrounds today’s society. She centered this section around an interaction she recently had with a fellow patron in a New York City bar.
“Politically, we were properly as far away as we could be, but actually, at the human level, we were as close as we were sat next
to each other, in terms of caring for our families, helping out our neighbors, all those simple human things,” Andoh said.
When their conversation made its way to politics, Andoh described them both trying to “talk about how we feel, as opposed to what the noise is around us.” Andoh advised the audience to be “a bit less shouty.”
Ending the event with a Q&A portion, Adjoa Andoh described a memorable moment she had while filming a garden party scene for the fourth season of “Bridgerton” the
week prior where it was pouring rain.
“If you watch it in the future,” she chuckled, “the rain was horizontal. So we’re all in the full gear, I’ve been in hair and makeup for three hours before we even start[ed] shooting … and we’re all going, ‘I think it’s clearing up over there!’ … No, we don’t know [that], we just wanted it to, because we’ve been stuck in the rain for hours … so check out the garden party scenes, and look for the fake sunshine!”
Alongside restaurants, vendors like Wendy Huang sold goods including jewelry and ceramics.
Adjoa Andoh shares her journey from “Doctor Who” to “Bridgerton” at Congress of the South 40 speaker event.
RACHEL BENITEZ-BORREGO | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
ISABELLA DIAZ-MIRA | JUNIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Pop, hip-hop, and R&B band Just In Time performs for the Delmar Delish crowd.
RACHEL BENITEZ-BORREGO | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
FORUM
Sabrina Carpenter is that good.
Recently, StudLife published an opinion piece titled “Sabrina Carpenter is just not that good.” It was a short n’ sweet takedown of the 25-year-old popstar, decrying her lyrics for vapidity, her “mean girl” traits, and her status as a “sort of feminist icon.”
Now, to preface, I would like to clarify that disliking a music artist is okay. Music is subjective, and that is part of the beauty of it. However, I believe that the grounds that this article is based on are unfounded.
The author also declares that though “there are many clever puns and innuendos… that is all there is.”
This point is not hard to disprove. In “Lie to Girls,” the 11th song on Carpenter’s newest record, “Short n’ Sweet,” the singer croons, “We love to read the cold, hard facts and swear they’re incorrect / We love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest.”
It’s hard to deny that lyrics such as these are clever and hit close to home for many people. Moreover, they are not “clever puns” nor “innuendos.” It might have benefitted the author’s article to look more deeply at other songs of Carpenter’s, not simply her most popular.
Then, the author flips to discussing a bit of drama that occurred between Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo in early 2021 which centered around a love triangle between the two and Rodrigo’s then-costar, Joshua Bassett. When Olivia Rodrigo released her hit, “driver’s license,” which seemed to attack Carpenter in a line about Basset probably being
To start, the author of the aforementioned opinion piece claims that Carpenter is not a good lyricist. Sure, Sabrina Carpenter’s lyrics are not for everyone. They’re flippant and rather “horny on main,” as the author said, performing a kind of tongue-in-cheek reclamation of hypersexualization. Yes, many of her lyrics are entirely unserious. But that is the point. Her crooning of lyrics such as “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya” is not meant to be held to the same standard as the works of William Shakespeare. It’s okay to think these lyrics are somewhat stupid or uninspiring. But the beauty of them lies in their casual and playful manner.
PUZZLE Mania
PUZZLE
“with that blonde girl,” Carpenter responded with a song of her own, “Skin.” Carpenter’s song was a flop. Lyrically and sonically, it could not compare to the sensation that was “driver’s license.” While discussing this incident, the author claims that Carpenter should not have responded to “driver’s license” and instead should have “respect[ed] the insecurities of a 17-year-old girl.”
Let’s not forget that though, yes, Olivia Rodrigo was a mere 17 years old, she instigated this situation by releasing “driver’s license” in the first place. Rodrigo also did not have to allude to Carpenter in her song. And yet she did. Further, Carpenter was relentlessly attacked because of Rodrigo’s song. According to Carpenter’s song “because I liked a boy,” after the release of “driver’s license,” she received death threats and was called a “homewrecker” and a “slut.” Rodrigo was not an innocent bystander in this situation. Sure, “Skin” is one of Carpenter’s weakest songs. But this situation was much more complicated than the author portrayed in their article. And, most importantly, this drama occurred three years ago. I’m
almost certain that both these individuals have grown and improved from the people that they were when these two songs were released.
The author of the article “Sabrina Carpenter is just not that good” then declares that she doesn’t “think she should be seen as a revolutionary for being sexual.” To look at this point directly, we can ask ourselves, “has Carpenter ever claimed or presented herself as ‘revolutionary’ for being sexual?” And to that question, there seems to be very little evidence for the affirmative.
Yes, she is clearly drawn to discussing sex within her lyrics. But nowhere has she stated that this is something never-beforedone in music. Instead, Carpenter seems to be more interested in learning about and embracing her own sexuality through her lyricism. In a Cosmopolitan interview, when asked about the infamous (and often very sexual) outros she would perform during her song “Nonsense,” Carpenter admitted, “I think people think I’m just obnoxiously horny, when in reality, writing [those lyrics] comes from the ability to not be fearful of your sexuality as opposed to just
BY:
not being able to put it down.”
Carpenter is not pushing “other women [down] because of her sexual encounters,” as the author of the aforementioned article states. Rather, she is simply embracing the confidence that she has found in her sexuality. She is not ashamed of the fact that she is somebody who enjoys talking about sex. She is not ashamed of being ridiculed for discussing taboo topics. Is this not a thing to be celebrated rather than rebuked?
If anything, Sabrina Carpenter has been seen by some as conforming to misogynistic standards rather than being the “face of modern feminism.” She has been criticized by many a TikTok and Reddit user for being too “hyperfeminine” and for her revealing tour outfits seeming to be built for the “male gaze.” Some also claim that she plays the “damsel in distress” in order to seem attractive to men. Rather than being seen as feminist, some view her as someone putting on a sexy show to draw in male fans.
Moreover, when asked a question in the previously mentioned Cosmopolitan interview about her “sex tips,” Carpenter remarked that she recommends doing “whatever feels most comfortable to you. You can be curious and ask questions, but a lot of it is just going to be you learning yourself. So do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and safe.” Here, she is not degrading other women because she has had sex and they may not have — as the author of “Sabrina Carpenter is just not that good” seems to insinuate. Instead, she is doing quite the opposite in presenting herself as a proponent of engaging in whatever acts an individual feels safe and comfortable doing. Clearly, I am a Sabrina Carpenter fan. I anxiously awaited the release of “Short n’ Sweet” over the summer, and fought the Ticketmaster battle for her exceedingly popular tour tickets. But, like any artist and public figure, I do not find her immune from critique. For example, I find that her songs occasionally venture into a knockoff Ariana Grande sound and feel like an unneeded revival of a 2010s pop sound. However, I believe that the basis on which “Sabrina Carpenter is just not that good” is built is unwarranted.
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WashU, let’s make speaker events a priority
As an institution, WashU is most meaningful because of the resources it provides to its students — whether it be the caliber of its faculty, the accessibility of its research, or the opportunities it creates for students to meet and engage with new people and experiences. Equally important, and often minimized, is the value that on-campus speakers bring to students and community members alike.
While Graham Chapel’s stage frequently serves as a platform for influential speakers, these events are currently not an integral part of campus culture. We urge WashU to prioritize these events by making them more accessible to the student body, and we urge students to give these events a chance.
WashU’s Assembly Series lectures, which began in 1953, are free speaker events open to the WashU and greater St. Louis communities. At its inception, no classes were scheduled at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays so that the entire campus community could “assemble.” According to Barbara Rea, longtime director of the Assembly Series, the series was established to serve as a “bridge” to the St. Louis community and to to enrich the WashU curriculum.
Rea wrote that the tradition could not be sustained because of class scheduling, the accessibility of speakers’ thoughts on the iinternet, and a request from Student Union leadership due to eroding attendance.
Now, guest lectures occur on different days and hours from one week to the next. This scheduling often takes place during evening exams and classes or at the end of a
long day when many students are looking to get home. More importantly, it defeats part of the original purpose of the Assembly Series, which is to form a sense of on-campus community where ideas can be peacefully exchanged.
Speaker events provide audience members the opportunity to interact with knowledgeable figures outside of class conversations and beyond their majors. This semester alone, students have heard from former congressman Adam Kinzinger, former senior advisor to the president Valerie Jarrett, and renowned journalist Michael Isikoff. These talks serve to enrich the student learning experience, build relationships, and facilitate dialogue.
Many classes, particularly in the humanities, offer extra credit for or designate assignments about speaker events. Rather than this being up to the individual professor, each department should encourage the implementation of these class credit opportunities.
That being said, class credit is not enough of an incentive. Students who attend speaker events for class credit end up going to events that are related to the classes they take, oftentimes within their major. However, one of the biggest values of guest speakers is that they expose students to new perspectives, ideas, and subjects. WashU must create time in students’ schedules to make these speaker events a priority for everyone, regardless of their primary field of study.
The WashU Assembly Series lectures were created with the intention of enhancing students’ knowledge of the world beyond campus and creating a community culture that encourages dialogue. Without its consistency, we
have lost this aspect of WashU and, as a result, we have lost a key part of the intellectual enrichment of our university. If WashU wants students to expand their perspectives, conduct interdisciplinary study, and engage in productive dialogue, they can start making speaker events a priority. The responsibility for this issue, however, also lies with us students. We should explore the various free opportunities offered to us and take
the time to listen to the interesting people who come to WashU. While choosing which event to attend, we can move beyond our academic interests, push our boundaries, and expose ourselves to new ideas.
Staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of our editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the senior staff.
Nina Giraldo, Editor in Chief
Sylvie Richards, Managing Forum Editor
Amelia Raden, Senior Forum Editor
Jordan Spector, Senior Forum Editor
Bri Nitsberg, Managing Photo Editor
Elias Kokinos, Senior Sports Editor
Lewis Rand, Junior Sports Editor Tim Mellman, Managing
This semester, I’m enrolled in a class called Horror Across Media. I took it because I have loved scary stuff since I was a kid, but I never suspected it would completely change how I view art. This may sound dramatic, but I write it with complete sincerity.
Let me explain: I watched my trusted Youtuber of choice, Jacksepticeye, play a video game called The Quarry. I found it entertaining and scary, but I wouldn’t have talked about it in the same way I would talk about a book I loved. I don’t go out of my way to recommend it to friends, let alone my peers, like I do with my favorite books. Why?
I didn’t realize it was because I thought of video games, and plenty of other media, as a lesser-than art form until this Horror Across Media class addressed it in an academic setting. In the class, we discussed video games, comics, TV, and films and the media-specific qualities of their form. During the week we discussed video games, I realized the weight “The Quarry” holds. The storyline included a character discovering their sexuality and allowed the player to experience it with them. One decision you make for the character is whether he will pursue a female or male love interest. This moment cuts through whatever identity the player has in real life and invites them to put themselves in this character's shoes. I ignored this moment when I originally watched, but it now stands out as monumental to me. It was this instance of player interactivity that made me realize books can’t do it all, and that other forms of media can be respected
from an academic and criticalthinking perspective. But how did this prejudice even form?
I have found comfort in novels ever since I was an awkward, friendless middle schooler. Escaping to the fantasy worlds of Cassandra Clare and Sarah J. Maas made my shithole of a school a little more tolerable. It even led me to find equally awkward middle school girls to befriend in a book club.
I think we all have experiences like this — maybe for you it was a video game you and your friends would play together after practice, or a TV show all your friends would watch and talk about the next day at lunch.
We all found solace in some type of media growing up. It has likely stuck with us even now because it not only gives us comfort but also teaches us about life and creates a stronger community in our isolated, small worlds. As we’ve grown up, we’ve started to carry this protective, almost elitist feeling about the media we love; we disregard other artistic mediums because of the personal attachment we feel to a specific form.
Experiencing video games tackling realistic themes like sexuality in The Quarry blew my mind because I viewed it as a novel's job, not something a lesser-than-art form could do.
I pictured all games as mindless entertainment played by annoying misogynist men — not a storytelling form that could comment on human experiences.
We group other art forms like comic books, graffiti, digital art, etc as lesser-than as well, but when we perpetuate this stereotype on media we cut ourselves off from the power of their art. In doing so, we simultaneously cut ourselves off from different perspectives.
I was talking about this with a friend, and she asked me, “Why can’t I just read a variety of books and be well-rounded that way?” Because we aren’t well-rounded if we are keeping ourselves contained to one form of art. We miss the opportunity to make connections across different media.
In my Intro to Psychology class, I learned that when we critically think about something, we remember and simultaneously understand it better. One way to become a critical thinker is to make connections.
I experienced an example of this the other day at the Kemper Art Museum. A video piece by Peter Campus titled “Three Transitions” reminded me of a scene in a film I recently watched: “I Saw the TV Glow,” a horror movie about identity. I then started thinking about the Peter Campus work in the lens of identity which I never would have done before making the connection to the movie’s theme. When we make connections across media and think of how they compare, we develop a more meaningful connection with the art forms.
If we can embrace this more in our everyday lives, we will become more cultured and ultimately better humans. If we expose ourselves to media outside our comfort zone, we get to connect to people we may have never been able to before.
So what path will you choose in the video game of college? I encourage you to take the weird classes about comics, novels, film, or whatever. Visit the museum, buy the book, watch the movie, play the video game. Experience the art you have dismissed in your life thus far.
SPORTS
How WashU women’s soccer built one of Division III’s best defenses
RILEY HERRON & LEWIS RAND MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR & JUNIOR SPORTS EDITOR
In an ever-changing world of college sports, the strength of the WashU women’s soccer team’s defense has remained constant. Over the past decade, the Bears have allowed only 94 goals — less than 10 per season.
As a popular saying goes, “defense wins championships,” and the team’s defensive solidity has laid the foundation for one of Division III’s best women’s soccer programs. Since 2014, the Bears have won eight University Athletic Association (UAA) titles, finished as national runners-up in 2015 and 2023, and won the 2016 National Championship.
In 2024, as the No. 1 Bears chase the program’s secondever national title, the team’s defense is once again the bedrock of their success. This year, through 15 games, WashU has reeled off 11 shutouts and only conceded four goals en route to a 14-0-1 start to the season.
Recently, head coach Jim Conlon’s backline has relied on a back three, with the center back trio of graduate student Ally Hackett, senior Emma Riley McGahan, and sophomore Regan Cannon typically lining up in front of graduate student goalkeeper Sidney Conner this season.
Conner holds the all-time (38) and single-season (16) records for clean sheets at WashU. Growing up, however, she was mainly a forward, and it was not until she got to St. Louis in the fall of 2020 that she began to consistently play in the net.
“I honestly never really have settled into a position until I came here, which is funny. I played forward and midfield all throughout high school, and I played goalkeeper when they needed me,” she said.
Though the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID, Conner became the Bears’ starting goalkeeper in 2021, and after being named the UAA’s Sophomore Rookie of the Year, kept the position for her junior and senior seasons, earning All-UAA recognition and being named a First-Team
All-American in 2023.
Four years and over 6,000 minutes played later, Conner found herself in Salem, Virginia at the 2023 D-III National Championship. It was assumed that the game would be the last of her collegiate career, but when considering her next steps, Conner decided to return to WashU to pursue an MBA and have one last season on the pitch.
“I was thinking a lot about my career aspirations after school, and so getting to travel and learn about business in this program is a great opportunity for me — also playing with this team that I love and have loved for so long,” Conner said. “Getting to do that for another year has been the best opportunity.”
Head coach Jim Conlon said Conner’s decision was “the greatest surprise in my life.”
On the team, Conner plays a key role both on and off the field. With a trio of young goalkeepers — sophomore Charlotte Shapiro and first-years Suzie Green and Heidi Schultz — behind her, Conner’s leadership is setting the program up for future seasons.
“Sid Conner is a great goalkeeper, [but] she’s an even better teammate,” Conlon said. “I think her leadership has magnified to offer perspective to some of the newer players coming into their own, as well as this keeper core that she’s going to leave a legacy behind by instilling the right things in them.”
Conner has also formed a formidable partnership with Hackett, a fellow graduate student. In 2022, at 19 years old, Hackett graduated from the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) in just two years.
“Greensboro was awesome.
It gave me the opportunity to play at the highest level against some of the best players out there, and that’s something I always wanted to do from being a little girl,” she said.
As Hackett considered what her future might hold after graduating, WashU popped up on her radar, and she reached out to Conlon.
“Once I graduated, I knew I wanted to continue academically, challenge myself in the classroom, and set myself up for a great career,” she said.
“And it’s awesome that I get to do that and continue to play and compete for titles with a great team and a great coach. It was mostly focused on my future career path, and it’s not so bad getting to play at the same time.”
In her two seasons at Division I UNCG, Hackett appeared in all 39 of the team’s matches, logging 20 starts. In 2023, her first season in Division III, Hackett started 19 games in the heart of WashU’s back three and earned SecondTeam All-American honors.
While Hackett has been a consistent performer at the back, she’s also had crucial moments at the other end of the pitch. When the Bears’ 2023 quarterfinal and semifinal matchups went to penalty shootouts, Hackett stepped up as the Bears’ fifth and final penalty-kick taker and clinched two crucial wins.
“That’s something we practice all season long,” Hackett said about penalty kicks. “I couldn’t even count how many times people stay after practice and practice [penalty kicks] over and over and over again, and then using the confidence that your teammates have in you is one of the best motivators.”
Hackett is often accompanied by McGahan, her defensive partner and
Since transferring from UNC Greensboro, Ally Hackett has become a mainstay in the Bears backline.
roommate.
“She’s definitely one of my best, best friends,” McGahan said about Hackett. “Having that relationship off the field is what helps us have a good relationship on the field. We can get on each other without taking it to heart [and] hold each other accountable.”
After playing mainly as a reserve in her first two seasons, the Atlanta native stepped into the spotlight in 2023, playing in all 22 games and getting named to the All-UAA First Team.
“I think, as a player, I’ve developed a lot,” McGahan said. “As a freshman, I wouldn’t say I got a whole lot of playing time. I kind of grew into my role a little bit my sophomore year and junior year, and was just ready whenever my number was called. That just happened to be towards the end of my sophomore year and majority of my junior year, and I really just learned from all the upperclassmen who were on the team before me.”
McGahan added that as she’s become more experienced, her belief in herself on the pitch has grown.
“Even though I’m not
someone who started all four years, I know that I’ve got people behind me, and now I’m able to play with a little bit more confidence now that I’m a little bit older.”
On the other side of Hackett, Conlon has had more flexibility. After Sarah Neltner, who made 20 starts in 2023, graduated, Conlon was left with a void to fill.
In the 2024 season, Conlon has what he describes as a “healthy competition” for the final defender slot, with sophomore Regan Cannon emerging as the team’s main option. In 2023, Cannon played through an ankle injury to make six starts in 21 appearances. This year, Cannon has returned to full strength and has become a regular on the team sheet, starting 12 games.
“Unbeknownst to us, Regan was actually dealing with a pretty significant ankle injury, and so that slowed down her growth a little bit. [She] did some serious rehab over the spring and summer, and now she’s gotten into a place of starting, [and] she is one of the fittest players on the team,” Conlon said.
In addition, senior Olivia Foster has provided experience
off the bench, logging 495 minutes in 15 games so far this season. Though Foster, McGahan, Conner, and Hackett are all playing in their final season for the Bears, Conlon isn’t worried about rebuilding the defense in the future, with Cannon and other younger players ready to continue the legacy.
“We’ve got two women in house right now, [first-year] Addi Soroka and [sophomore] Alex Karolak, who are going to be tremendous. You know, they’re game-ready right now,” he said. “They just happen to have some seniors and fifthyear seniors ahead of them, but we don’t feel like we’re gonna have to blink [next season].”
For the Bears, keeping up with the rigor of WashU academics as they chase a national championship on the pitch is difficult. But, according to Conner, the team has a saying: “Pressure is a privilege.”
In 2024, as the Bears’ backline continues to impress, they will look to continue leaning into the “pressure” in their pursuit of the program’s second national title.
Football to join North Coast Athletic Conference for 2026 season
MATT EISNER
The WashU football team will become an associate member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) for the 2026 season. The news was first reported by Bob Quillman of IWUHoops. com on Saturday, Oct. 12, and confirmed by the NCAC on October 18.
“The schools of the NCAC are pleased to partner with Washington University in St. Louis, an outstanding institution that shares our values around intercollegiate athletics and the student-athlete experience,” NCAC and Wittenberg University president, Michael Frandsen wrote in the statement. “We look forward to meeting the Bears on the gridiron in 2026.”
The NCAC, based in Cleveland, consists of member colleges in central Ohio and Indiana.
WashU will compete against John Carroll University, Oberlin College, the College of Wooster, Kenyon College, Denison University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Wittenberg University, DePauw University and Wabash College.
WashU’s addition to the NCAC makes it one of the premier conferences in Division III football. Currently, the NCAC hosts just one top-25 team in D-III – No. 12 DePauw. However, John Carroll, who received votes in the latest D3Football. com Top 25 poll, will join the NCAC as a full-time member in the 2025 season. WashU also received votes in the D3Football.com poll this week.
The conference is top-heavy like WashU’s current conference, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), where the best teams typically dominate the conference year-in, yearout. DePauw, John Carroll, Wabash, and Denison will be among the top conference games each year for WashU. Oberlin and Wooster are ranked among the worst teams in D-III, and are winless this season.
While the quality of competition is high in the NCAC, joining the confer ence will significantly increase Bears football’s travel time to away games. The clos est NCAC opponent to WashU is DePauw, located 3 hours and 30 minutes away
in Greencastle, Indiana. John Carroll, located in the Cleveland suburb of University Heights, Ohio, is an 8.5 hour drive from WashU. In the CCIW, the closest opponent to WashU is Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, which is a two hour drive from campus, while the furthest opponent is Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a 5.5 hour drive away.
According to WashU Athletic Director Anthony Azama, the change in conference is not a change in the mission of the program.
“What an exciting time for our football program, coaches, staff, and alumni as we begin the next chapter in the NCAC. While the opponents and loca-
– graduate student-athletes, compete for championships and prepare them for postgrad opportunities while simultaneously prioritizing the student-athlete experience,” he wrote.
How did WashU football get here?
WashU football has played in the CCIW since 2018, when the University Athletic Association (UAA) stopped sponsoring football, but will lose associate membership following the 2025 season, as Student Life confirmed on Sept. 6
The CCIW was an ideal landing spot for WashU football for many reasons.
among the best in D-III. While WashU often loses to opponents like No. 1 North Central College and No. 25 Wheaton College, playing conference games against those teams gives student-athletes the premier D-III experience. In addition, if WashU were to win the CCIW one year, they would automatically qualify for the NCAA football tournament, a 40-team tournament that functions similar to March Madness. The NCAC also has an automatic qualifier because of its size, making it more likely that WashU could appear in the NCAA tournament in the future. In a written statement on Sept. 6, CCIW executive director Maureen Harty alluded to
potentially add a 10th full-time member.
“It is in the best interest of our core members to be in a position to act quickly if the opportunity presents itself to add a core member that sponsors football,” she wrote to Student Life on Sept. 6. WashU has two more seasons in the CCIW. For their remaining time in the CCIW, the conference’s decision to oust the Bears is not getting in their way — in fact, it is fueling the WashU squad.
“We definitely have something to prove to this conference,” sophomore lineman Henry Murr said after WashU defeated Rhodes on Sept. 10. Lewis Rand contributed reporting to this article.
SCOTT ZARIDER | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Inside Ryan Loutos’ journey from WashU to the MLB
For most WashU students, there are just eight miles and a short metro ride that separate campus from Busch Stadium. For 2021 graduate Ryan Loutos, the journey was a little more complicated.
Instead of staying in St. Louis or accepting a job offer as a software engineer in Chicago after graduating, Loutos signed a contract to join the minor league system of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Three years later, on June 1, Loutos took the mound in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game for the first time, becoming the first WashU alum to play in the MLB since 1974.
Like most young pitchers, Loutos always dreamed of jogging out of a Major League bullpen to face the pros he used to watch on TV. He just was never sure it was within the realm of possibility.
“I went into everything with no expectations, and I think that having that mindset of no expectations, but just seeing how good I could be, has allowed me to reach heights greater than otherwise,” he said. “I just wanted to see how far I could take it.”
Before signing his contract with the Cardinals, Loutos
On a cool Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, the WashU men’s soccer team earned a crucial 2-0 win over New York University (NYU), its first victory in University Athletic Association (UAA) play this season. After a challenging start to conference competition, the Bears put together one of their most complete performances yet, showcasing both attacking sharpness and defensive discipline. The result boosts their overall record to 7-4-1 and 1-2 in UAA play, giving the team valuable momentum heading into a key stretch of matches.
WashU looked eager to control the game from the start, pressing high and creating early chances. It didn’t take long to capitalize, as junior forward Zach Susee continued his stellar form by netting
led the Washington University baseball team to the semifinals of the 2021 D-III College World Series. Loutos was a standout pitcher in his four years at WashU, leading the Bears’ starting pitching staff in earned run average (ERA). Beyond the mound, Loutos graduated with a Computer Science degree from the McKelvey School of Engineering.
When he signed his contract with the Cardinals, Loutos initially pitched with the Palm Beach Cardinals at the lowest level of Minor League Baseball. He struggled on the mound during his first year in Palm Beach, but quickly became valuable to the Cardinals’ front office for his computer science experience.
After developing a pitching analytics software for WashU baseball with one of his teammates, Loutos partnered with the Cardinals’ front office to create a similar software for the Cardinals’ organization.
The resulting program, Chirp, revolutionized the way that the Cardinals develop their pitching prospects and prepare for games. The software made him popular in the front office, but it put him at the receiving end of many jokes in the locker room.
“Guys would come up to me and be like, ‘So you’re the guy who’s making me look
his seventh goal of the season in the 16th minute. His composed finish gave WashU a 1-0 lead and set the tone for the rest of the match. Though the Bears dominated possession, they found it challenging to extend the lead, outshooting NYU 22-5 but being denied multiple times by NYU’s goalkeeper, Jackson McCloskey, who made 10 saves to keep his team in the game.
WashU’s persistence finally paid off in the 81st minute when sophomore defender Carter Sasser pounced on a loose ball from a set piece after two blocked shots to score his first goal of the season.
“We really work on set pieces, and we have a lot of big guys that attack the ball, so I know when the ball [is] coming, even if I’m not getting the first one, just to be reactive and get the second,” Sasser said.
His goal gave the Bears the breathing room to close the
bad on Chirp?’” he said. “That was usually the conversation starter when I would meet new guys.”
As Chirp became more successful, so did Loutos. Loutos started the 2022 season with High-A Peoria and dominated the minor leagues all the way to AAA Memphis.
One call away from the big leagues, Loutos hit another snag. He spent the second half of 2022 and all of 2023 in Memphis, pitching to an ERA above six runs. But in 2024, the right-hander finally found success at the AAA level — he became one of the Redbirds’ most trusted relievers.
On Sunday, May 19, after a game in Memphis, Loutos’ manager Ben Johnson approached him with some good news: Loutos was bound for the big leagues.
“The whole locker room was all kind of there, and everyone kind of erupted, and was congratulating me and stuff. It’s just like a rush of emotion, not really knowing how to behave and what to do. [I was] just kind of like, ‘Holy crap,’” he recalled.
Loutos made the trip back to the city he got to know so well during his college days. From there, however, he was forced to play the waiting game. Night after night went by, with Loutos never leaving the bullpen.
match comfortably.
Defensively, the Bears stayed solid throughout the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Cal L’Hommedieu made one save to secure a shutout, but the backline deserves much credit for limiting NYU to just one shot on target. Even as NYU pushed forward late in the game, WashU’s defense remained composed and in control.
For head coach Andrew Bordelon, the win was another step forward in the process the team has been focused on all season.
“I think getting the result... it’s always a good feeling, but I do think it’s part of the process of what we are putting in daily,” Bordelon said. “I think we all know that we are very capable of getting results, but the performances have continued to improve, and that’s where we think the results will come.”
“I had a lot of mental ups and downs … of trying to prepare myself as best as I could. I didn’t know when it was gonna come,” he said. “Some of the things that I had to hold on to more than anything was just how cool it was. This is an unbelievably special and unique thing that I get a chance to do, that only 23,000 people in history have ever gotten a chance to do.”
Finally, on June 1, in the second game of a series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol called Loutos’ number.
“I remember just like running out there, stepping on the mound in Philly, and seeing these Phillies hitters come up, who I was watching in the playoffs, get to the NLCS and the World Series in the last couple of years. It was just everything,” he said. “‘Wow, this is nuts.’ That’s all I kept thinking.”
Despite the nerves, Loutos pitched a scoreless eighth inning in his debut. As he walked back to the dugout, the gravity of the moment sunk in.
“Afterwards, it was like this rush of emotion that came through me that was unlike any other experience of just immense gratitude,” he said.
“I’m not much of a cryer, but I was struggling to hold back tears in the dugout because I just couldn’t believe that I just
With little time to rest, the Bears are already preparing for their next UAA challenge against Carnegie Mellon University.
“Obviously, Carnegie — every team’s different, so we’ll take a little bit of a look at them. But mostly, we’re gonna look at ourselves from this performance,” Bordelon said. “And even though we think it’s a really, really good performance all the way through, there [are] still things that we need to improve on to be the best versions of ourselves. So we’re gonna mostly focus on ourselves again and keep building on this season.”
Sasser echoed his coach’s emphasis on consistency, knowing that it will be key to their success moving forward.
experience as the ace of the WashU pitching staff.
On campus, he and his teammates would eat lunch and hang out at Stanley’s Sushi in Lopata Hall. The community he found at WashU remains strong — so much so that many of his WashU teammates made the trip to St. Louis to be at his first MLB game.
“The best part about WashU, for me, was that it was one of the first times where I felt like the people I was around were my people,” he said. “I got to WashU as a freshman, and I had 30 teammates and 30 best friends the day I got there.”
Loutos’ story is the epitome of a St. Louis story — except for the fact that the righthander grew up a Cubs fan. Over the offseason, Loutos is working as a consultant for Premier Pitching and developing an app that will function as their version of Chirp. The season ahead is an important year for the right-hander.
“My next goal would be to stick in the big leagues from Opening Day to the end of the year. But I try not to think too far in advance, stay where my feet are, and be as good as I can be right now.”
“We know what we did wrong today; we know there [are] a couple [of] things that you can work on. So it’s improving those and moving on,” Sasser said. “I think the consistency is a big thing. And we went out today and had a consistent performance the whole 90 minutes, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
RESTAU
With a perfect 6-0 home record, the Bears are eager to keep their streak alive when they host Carnegie Mellon on Friday, Oct. 25 for Senior Night. As the final whistle sounded and the team celebrated on the field, it was clear that this victory meant more than just three points — it was a step toward becoming the team they believed they could be.
“It’s about believing in ourselves,” Bordelon said.
ELIAS KOKINOS
Graduate student Owen Culver shields the ball from an NYU defender.
ELLA GIERE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ANNIE TIAN | CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR