FINAL FOUR: Men’s basketball falls to NYU in first Final Four appearance in 14 years (Sports, pg 6)
GIH: The power and shortcomings of Gender-Inclusive Housing at WashU (Scene, pg 9)
Op-Ed: Faculty point to arrested Columbia University student - ask WashU to defend students against ICE. (Forum, pg 4)
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it was investigating 45 universities across the United States, including WashU, for allegedly “engaging in race-exclusionary practices” in their education programs and activities March 14.
The investigation comes amid allegations that WashU has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by partnering with The PhD Project, an non-profit organization aimed at encouraging minority professionals to attain business doctorates. Since its founding in 1993, the organization has assisted over 1,100 minority students with attaining business doctorates.
Julie Flory — Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications — wrote in an email comment to Student Life that The PhD Project is “an external program that [WashU has] supported with a small amount of funding for the past several years.”
The University has not released a public statement commenting on the investigation or the complete extent of WashU and Olin Business school’s involvement with The PhD Project. Flory also expressed WashU’s continued commitment to welcoming and supporting students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds.
“We’re currently reviewing our participation [in The PhD Project] to determine how best to move forward,” she wrote. “Beyond our involvement in any particular program, we remain firmly dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment for all.”
In a press release issued last week, the OCR claimed that it had received reports alleging that The PhD Project “limits eligibility based on the race of its participants.” This announcement comes less than a month after the Department of Education published an online form, where people could submit reports of “illegal discriminatory practices” in schools or colleges.
The Department has also sent letters to the universities, informing them that they were under investigation, and giving them a deadline of March 31 to disclose information about their relationship with the nonprofit.
As of the date of publication, the Olin Business School’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) webpage lists WashU as a “participating university in the PhD Project.” It is unclear for how long the university has been partnering with the nonprofit, or how many students are involved with it.
Jacqueline Slack Carter, the program manager of Olin’s EDI team, failed to respond to Student Life emails requesting further comment on the matter. Gisele Marcus, Professor of Practice in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), also did not respond.
According to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, the OCR’s probe into The PhD Project and its partner institutions will help end race-based discrimination in universities’ educational programs.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to
ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination,” she wrote in a press release. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
The OCR’s investigation into WashU is one step in a series of actions taken by the Trump Administration against DEI initiatives on college campuses. One month before the investigation was announced, the OCR released a memo, stating that too many universities in the U.S. have implemented “discriminatory” race-based preferences into their programs.
“[American educational institutions] embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia,” the OCR wrote.
“Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.”
they want to look up.”
Multiple WashU research projects have been affected by policies from the Trump administration restricting funding and access to critical information. To better understand these impacts, Student Life editors Aliza Lubitz and Zach Trabitz spoke with individuals involved in two university programs: the St. Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement (SLIDE) team and the Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education (ENDURE) program.
SLIDE Project
SLIDE has spent the past six years compiling records to help people learn about the history of enslaved individuals and enslavers in the St. Louis area. However, due to recent federal orders restricting online archival information, the SLIDE team has been facing issues with their work.
SLIDE is a digital archival project which allows users to search
an online database of records that pertain to both enslaved people and enslavers in St. Louis. SLIDE is intended to be used for academic research, classroom lessons and ancestry tracking. The project is also examining WashU’s tenuous relationship with slavery, and is a project supported by the WashU & Slavery project.
The team — composed of professors, researchers, and students — has compiled various documents, including Freedom Licenses, emancipation records from the St. Louis Circuit Court, and official court sales of enslaved individuals from the U.S. Census pertaining to St. Louis residents.
Senior Joel Brown, a Data Science major who works on the project, stressed both the variety of information that the project pulls from and the importance of the archive.
“The goal of SLIDE is to gather different records from across archives to paint a better picture of what life was like in St. Louis in terms of slavery, in around the 1800s and 1700s,” Brown said. “We use this data to help people connect with their pasts … individuals who have ancestors who
Kelly Schmidt, interim director of the WashU & Slavery Project, said the project often works with census records. While this is common for archival projects, it has led to issues because of the unpredictable nature of the federal databases that hold these census records.
One example, Schmidt said, is the National Park Service, which has been impacted by the current administration.
“Specifically on the Gateway Arch site, we were using charts of emancipations, freedom licenses, court-recorded sales of enslaved people, and court orders to rent out enslaved people that took place in Missouri [through the National Park Service sites],” Schmidt said. “A few weeks ago, I went to use one of those and found it wasn’t there anymore, and thought it might just be a coincidence. And then we looked a little further, and found several other data sets they had on slavery are now gone.”
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The memo subsequently threatened to withhold federal funds if universities failed to immediately review their DEI-related programs and partnerships.
“Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,” the memo reads.
Some of the other universities under investigation have already moved to cut ties with The PhD Project. Last Monday, the University of Kentucky said that it had “severed ties” with the program. Arizona State University said its business school is not financially supporting The PhD Project this year and told faculty that it would not support travel to the nonprofit’s annual conference.
Public comment from other universities’ leadership has been minimal and restrained, with many saying that they will cooperate with federal investigators, but declining to comment any further.
Universities may also be reluctant to push back against OCR’s agenda as the Trump Administration has shown
willingness to withhold federal funding over issues such as anti-semitism allegations, diversity programs and transgender athletes.
The administration recently withheld $400 million in federal funds from Columbia University on account of its handling of pro-Palestine protests, and threatened billions more if the university failed to comply with its demands. Columbia later agreed to implement a host of policy changes last Friday, including overhauling its rules for protests and conducting an immediate review of its Middle Eastern Studies department.
Veena Dubal, the general counsel for the Association of American Professors, noted the widespread fear the crackdowns elicit in university communities.
“There is a concern that if one university steps up and fights this then that university will have all of their funding cut. They are being hindered not just by fear but a real collective action problem. None of these universities wants to be the next example.”
President and CEO of The PhD Project, Alfonzo Alexander, said in a statement to NPR that he continues to remain optimistic, despite the threats facing the nonprofit and its university partners.
“When we look back a year or two years from now, we’ll be better and stronger as an organization than we were before this current environment,” he said.
In February, the organization also revised its mission statement, removing the phrase “historically underrepresented” and expanding its applicant pool.
“This year we opened up our application to anyone who is interested in helping to expand and broaden the pool of talent, both at the university level through faculty, as well as in corporate America,” Alexander said. “We may have to do it a little bit differently than what we’ve done in the past. But we will make sure that we continue on a path to where we’re impacting people in a positive way.”
COBY RINKE STAFF WRITER
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has incited concern among WashU students and faculty, and caused at least one department in the Medical School to send out a document detailing what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is present on campus.
The document, which the neurology department distributed to its members on Feb. 5, advises each “school, department or building” to designate one administrator to deal directly with ICE or any other law enforcement. It also instructs readers to ask for a warrant signed by a judge before admitting ICE into any private spaces in a building.
Julie Flory, the Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications, explained that the administration provided the document to department leadership, who then sent it
out at their discretion.
“We continue to monitor developments on the federal level on a number of fronts, including immigration. We’ll evaluate any orders or policies as they are enacted and respond as needed to ensure that we’re following the law and supporting members of our community,” Flory wrote in an email to Student Life.
In the past two months, the Trump administration has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, allowed ICE to make arrests in “sensitive” areas such as schools or hospitals, where it was previously illegal for them to do so, and attempted to deport pro-Palestine student activists at Columbia.
Sociology Professor Ariela Schachter, who studies immigration, said there have already been consequences for WashU.
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Schmidt noted that some of the data is now back online, and it is unclear what changes are deliberate and what are coincidences.
Senior Dhyuti Venkataraman, who also works on the project and is majoring in the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities and Philosophy, said SLIDE differs from some other databases in how it prioritizes the identities of enslaved people.
“For a lot of these records, the enslaved people are like ticks in a box on a census record,” Venkataraman said.
“The goal of [SLIDE] is to turn them into like the main focus in things like the census records.” Schmidt also said accessibility to the data SLIDE has been using has been fluctuating, with certain websites being taken down and getting put back up repeatedly.
Sophomore Irene Herrmann, who works on SLIDE and majors in History, said the fluctuation has been frustrating to work around.
“The unpredictability is really difficult with this administration because you don’t know if something’s going to disappear off the internet,” Herrmann said. “I spent an hour downloading thousands and thousands of pages from the Library of Congress. It’s … an inconvenience to have to spend time downloading data before you can read it and make something of it.”
Venkataraman said that, especially given how SLIDE highlights the voices of the enslaved individuals, she is concerned that data is being taken down.
“It’s a little worrying that a lot of the data sets we use to prioritize these people’s identities and to draw out information about them are going to be taken out,” Venkataraman said. Schmidt clarified that while availability of data that SLIDE uses has been in flux, the funding itself for SLIDE appears to be stable.
“I’ll say, thankfully, the WashU & Slavery project is funded through the University,” Schmidt said. “I
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“The general anti-immigrant rhetoric makes people feel uncomfortable and not sure of their long-term ability to stay in the United States and to build their careers,” Schachter said. “[That is] one impact when it comes to recruiting the best and brightest people to be a part of our research community.”
One student, who wished to remain anonymous out of concern for her family and will be referred to as Student A, said the recent crackdown resurfaced fears that her two undocumented parents could be deported.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind, the idea that they can be taken from me. So now [that] it’s just more obvious … I’m stressed constantly for them,” Student A said. “I don’t want them to drive out to St. Louis, I don’t want them to come visit me, because I don’t want them to get traffic stopped.”
Student A spoke about how the fear of being deported was hard on her family.
“This lady posted on Facebook that ICE had shown up to [my dad’s work]. Thankfully, I don’t think it
was ICE, I think it was police presence, but that terrified everyone,” Student A said. “My dad specifically didn’t go to work for the next few days. He’s our only breadwinner, which is scary. If he gets taken away, there’s no way my family can support themselves.”
Margot Moinester, a professor in the sociology department who studies immigration enforcement, said an arrest by ICE can affect the surrounding community as well.
“Research shows that expanded enforcement leads to worse health outcomes and higher eviction rates,” Moinester said.
Schachter added that there could be consequences for St. Louis in particular.
“St. Louis has been investing in trying to encourage and promote immigrants to come [here],” Schachter said.
“Without immigration, we would be experiencing depopulation.”
Moinester said the creation of the document sent out by the neurology department was a step in the right direction.
“Knowing your rights and
think funding for this project is secure for now, but there’s always that concern that in a state of financial distress, the University might shift its priorities.”
Herrmann said that working on SLIDE has been a gratifying experience, especially because of its tangible impacts.
“I feel like a lot of times when you’re working on history research, it can feel removed, because you’re looking at things from hundreds of years ago, you don’t feel the direct impact as much,” Herrmann said. “But when we come to a meeting and then Kelly [Schmidt] says, ‘oh, these three churches reached out and their members really want to use the database,’ it feels like [our work is] actually having an impact.”
Schmidt said that the federal impacts on the project are particularly disheartening since so many people use it to trace their own lineages.
“In addition to institutions using [our] site for reparative work, there’s a lot of people who are tracing their ancestry and learning more about their ancestors through it, who normally wouldn’t have time to go
knowing how to proceed if a situation were to arise is really valuable,” Moinester said. “The key is actually getting the document in the hands of everyone who might need to see it.”
Schachter said she hoped that the WashU administration would also make a public statement on the topic.
“We’ve seen the University come out with these really strong statements about its values when it comes to research and academic freedom,” Schachter said. “But the University has failed so far to come out with strong statements about their protection for and belief in immigrant students.”
Student A echoed Schachter’s sentiment.
“I’m scared that if my dad gets taken away, I wouldn’t be able to continue to go here,”
Student A said. “I just think that, even [if WashU sent out] a statement supporting its students … it wouldn’t do any harm.”
Chancellor Andrew Martin explained in a recent op-ed in the Chronicle of Higher Education that he has directed WashU to adopt a position of institutional neutrality on political and social issues.
“Universities contribute to
visit the archives in person,” Schmidt said.
Venkataraman said working on SLIDE has reinforced how necessary access to information is, and how often it is taken for granted.
“I think that one of the benefits of working for a project [like SLIDE] is you realize how important those small things [like archival access] can be to larger communities,” Venkataraman said. “We’re in a very lucky position at WashU to have access to these archives, whereas a lot of people in the communities that want or need them the most don’t have that. ”
ENDURE Program
WashU ENDURE, a program preparing undergraduates from diverse backgrounds for neuroscience PhDs, is facing an uncertain future due to the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily freeze National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The freeze, which delayed the processing of new grant applications, has had ripple effects on federally funded research programs across the country, including those designed to support students from diverse backgrounds.
The NIH is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research and allocates about $40 billion of its $48 billion annual budget to extramural research. In 2024, WashU School of Medicine received the second highest annual research funding from the NIH among all schools nationwide.
In late February, the administration partially lifted restrictions on peer-review committee meetings, allowing some progress on the stalled grant evaluations, but the effects of the freeze have already been far-reaching. Roughly 16,000 research proposals in total have been caught in limbo as they compete for $1.5 billion in NIH funding.
ENDURE offers participants summer research training with the option to continue their research during the school year and/or return for an additional summer. Participants also attend neuroscience seminars and receive ongoing mentorship through the program.
WashU is one of 10 universities with ENDURE programs, all of which are primarily funded by the NIH Blueprint ENDURE initiative.
According to Dr. Erik Herzog, director of WashU’s ENDURE program, the program has produced 87 alumni in the nine years since it launched, 98% of whom have gone on to enter the biomedical workforce.
In an email to Student Life, Dr. Herzog wrote that he was significantly concerned about the program’s future funding due to inconsistent messaging regarding its financial support.
“The NIH removed, restored, removed, and restored the opportunity to renew our grant,” Dr. Herzog wrote. “Without clear messaging from DC, the 10 existing two-year [ENDURE] programs struggle to determine whether they can support returning students or admit a next cohort.”
the betterment of society not by pursuing ideological agendas but through the research and innovation of their faculty and students, by producing knowledgeable leaders, and by serving as a model for civil discourse grounded in critical reasoning,” Martin wrote.
Student A added that they hoped the WashU student body educates themselves about issues surrounding immigration, and attends programming put on by affinity groups like the Association of Latin American Students.
“If it isn’t affecting you, that’s a blessing,” Student A said. “But I feel the way we become better neighbors, better people, [and a] better society is to inform ourselves, to learn and to interact and talk to people who are being affected.”
Last September, after April protests that resulted in over 100 arrests, the WashU board of trustees established an ad hoc committee to review the administration’s response to the protests. The committee’s findings and recommendations for how the administration should proceed were published in a final report early this morning.
The committee determined that overall, the University’s response to the protests was appropriate given the policies in place at the time. The ad hoc group was composed of eight WashU board members, and led by Trustee and Associate Judge of the United States Court of Military Commission
Review William B. Pollard III.
The group consulted the Faculty Senate Council (FSC) and interviewed 24 members of the WashU community including 15 students, one faculty member, and several administrators, for feedback.
The singular faculty member who testified to the committee about their participation in the April 27 protest is quoted on Page 13 of the report saying that they did not expect tents to be brought to the demonstration.
Professor of art history and archeology, Angela Miller, who was suspended for participating in the protest, but who was not arrested at it, said that many of the faculty who were disciplined by the university following the protest refused to testify to the ad hoc committee because
the investigation was not faculty-led.
One recommendation from the committee was that the University’s demonstration policies should be more centrally located and more easily accessible.
As a featured speaker at the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) summit in New York City earlier this month, Chancellor Andrew Martin explained how a 2019 encampment led WashU to develop a formalized anti-encampment policy.
“We made the decision that if an encampment was going to come onto our campus, we wouldn’t allow it to do so,” Martin said. “I think we [had] some opportunities to have perhaps publicized it a little bit better, but we had this policy, and we made it very clear to folks.”
In addition to publicity issues, the committee identified problems with communication between governing bodies on campus and a lack of clarity about chain of command.
For example, the committee noted that at the April 13 protest, Chancellor Martin was out of town and unreachable by cell phone. It was unclear who had authority aside from Martin to authorize the arrests of students; however, a variety of administrators ended up giving the go-ahead to make the arrests.
At the protest on April 27, there was confusion between WUPD and the Demonstrations and Disruptions Team (D&D), a group tasked with handling disruptions prior to WUPD involvement. While WUPD deemed that the protests were non-violent, D&D had felt intimidated by the crowd, and arrests were later made as a result of this and the protestors’ violations of the anti-encampment policy.
As a solution to this issue, the ad hoc committee suggested that the University create an Emergency Response Team (ERT) that will be “responsible for advising the Chancellor and managing the
administration’s response to an unreasonably disruptive or violent protest on campus.”
In regard to the over 100 arrests carried out by various police departments on April 27, the committee noted on Page 25 that it was not within their jurisdiction to “adjudicate any disputed facts regarding the manner in which WUPD and supporting police departments executed some of the arrests made on April 27.”
After speaking with various students, faculty, and staff who did not witness or participate in the protests, the committee found that many supported the administration’s response on April 27.
Student Life (SL) sat down with the incoming editors-inchief (EIC) for the coming academic year to learn more about them and their goals for the paper. Riley Herron (RH), Managing Sports Editor, and Sydney Tran (ST), Head of Design, will begin their tenure April 2.
SL: Why are you drawn to journalism?
RH: I really like the opportunity for storytelling. It wasn’t something that I really discovered before college, but the opportunity to get to know someone you have no connection to and learn about their background and what they’re doing, and then be able to highlight [something] that they’re doing to a broader audience is a really special thing.
ST: I think telling people’s stories is really important, but also sharing information in general increases empathy for other people. One thing that’s always been important to me is accessibility of information, so changing the way you tell a story, or how you can portray it, can be really important in reaching wider audiences who may not have the same level of education as you or the same background. Also, I just really love yapping with people and hearing their stories. And journalism is essentially that.
in a great place. Syd and I have some fun ideas to continue revamping the website, and also work with social media and make sure that our content is meeting people where they are, whether that’s on Instagram or on the newsletter or in print, and enhancing everything to make it more engaging for people. I also think that Syd is a very creative person. She does a really good job [of] kind of thinking outside the box on things. She brings a very different skill set and level of experiences than I do. I’m really excited to work on our goals for the paper together.
SL: What are you most excited about in your role as EIC and for the paper at large next year?
Many believed an unprecedented number of
RH: I’m very excited to kind of keep expanding what we do digitally. Avi and Nina and the whole team this year did a really great job and we’re very fortunate that they leave us
On Saturday, March 8, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil at his New York home, informing him and his wife that his student visa had been revoked. When he informed ICE agents that he is actually a permanent resident with a green card, ICE agents responded that that, too, had been revoked. Videos of the arrest shows plainclothes police officers refusing to identify themselves as they load him into a car and take him away. Khalil has since been transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, more than a thousand miles from his family and his lawyers. He has been charged with no crime, has no prior arrest record. As one White House official specifically said, “The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law.” Rather, Khalil has been targeted because he played a central and public role in pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide protests at Columbia University and because, unlike others, he did not cover his face, making him an easy target.
Khalil is the first immigrant to be targeted by President Donald Trump’s efforts to criminalize pro-Palestinian protests and to suppress campus activism against Israel, under the guise of combatting
antisemitism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been explicit that the aim is to punish and suppress those who challenge Trump’s foreign policy.
President Trump has promised that Khalil’s detention is “the first arrest of many to come.”
To be clear: Immigration authorities have, without bringing any charges and with the barest of legal justifications, detained a legal permanent resident because of his political activities and threatened him with deportation. The president promises that this is just the beginning: Recently, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was invoked for the first time since World War II to deport — without due process — those whom the current administration considers enemies. Similarly to what happened to Khalil, on March 20, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, was arrested, sent to a detention facility in Louisiana, and informed that his visa will be revoked due to the Department of Homeland Security’s purported concerns about the opinions of his Palestinian-American wife.
We should all be concerned.
Regardless of whether you share Khalil’s views or Dr. Suri’s wife’s views about what is happening in Palestine, their arrests pave the way for a crackdown on free speech
of all Americans, one that is particularly harmful to immigrants. The basis on which the government acted is an affront to free-speech rights: Khalil was attacked because of his opinions, and Dr. Suri was attacked because of his wife’s opinions. If these immigrants who are in the United States legally can be arrested and deported because their views oppose those in power, many more could find themselves in the State’s cross-
universities to arrest student protesters, fire faculty, and violate shared governance. Too often, university administrators have played along, bending over backward to appease those determined to undermine their university. We must reject such anticipatory obedience.
In a recent letter coauthored with the President of Vanderbilt University and published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Chancellor
“We call upon WashU leadership to protect our students, staff, and faculty by committing to noncooperation with ICE beyond the legal requirements of judicial warrants.”
hairs. This is a threat to all immigrants, to all students, and to all universities.
The arrest and deportation of students and scholars who protest the government’s policies is part of a broader attack on universities. The Trump administration’s gutting of federal science funding, efforts to dismantle of the Department of Education, and attacks on diversity occur alongside efforts by politicians, donors, trustees, and lobby groups to pressure
Andrew Martin wrote: “Universities must return to their foundational purpose and recommit to the core principles that sustain them.”
The University’s Statement of Principle Regarding Freedom of Expression states that one of those core principles is freedom of speech: “the university should consider First Amendment principles as the baseline of its conduct pertaining to speech.” Having open dialogue without fear of
retribution is a central tenet of our university and our community. Now is the time for our leaders to live up to these ideals.
30% of WashU’s student body is international students, and this invaluable part of our community is at increased risk because the Trump administration has empowered ICE to conduct raids in schools, hospitals, and places of worship — sanctuaries that have historically been protected.
St. Louis City and County do not have a 287(g) agreement with ICE — that is, a program for allowing state and local agencies to assist immigration enforcement agents. We call upon WashU leadership to protect our students, staff, and faculty by committing to noncooperation with ICE beyond the legal requirements of judicial warrants.
WashU has made decisions, in the past, that find us on the right side of history. For example, in the 1940s, our university took in Japanese-American students after former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1942 Executive Order 9066, which called for the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Some of St. Louis’ most respected community members, WashU’s most respected alumni, and their families are among those to whom WashU gave sanctuary. We challenge Chancellor
Andrew Martin to meet this extraordinary moment and uphold our values as an institution once more.
Marlon Bailey | Professor, Department of African and African American Studies, Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Arts & Sciences
Seema Dahlheimer | Teaching Professor, Director of the Engineering Communication Center, McKelvey School of Engineering
Angela Miller | Professor, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Arts & Sciences
Aaron Neiman | Department of Anthropology (Former); Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brown School (Current)
Scott Ross | Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Arts & Sciences
Stephanie Shady | Lecturer of Political Science, Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences
Jean-Francois Trani | Associate Professor, Brown School
You have the power to change WashU. Past responses to the Perceptions of Undergraduate Life and Student Experiences (PULSE) survey have enhanced student life, teaching, advising, and services. Just 15 minutes could make all the difference.
As a thank you for participating:
• 250 respondents will receive $15 in Bear Bucks
• 50 respondents will receive $75 Campus Store vouchers
• 4 respondents will receive $500 Southwest Airlines vouchers
• 1 respondent will receive a Playstation 5
Undergrads, scan the QR code to access the survey or check your email for the link.
AMELIA RADEN STAFF WRITER
Under WashU’s current policy, medical amnesty is not necessarily extended to student groups or individuals that have repeatedly been seen by emergency services. Though the stated purpose of the policy is student safety and well-being, this university policy actually elevates risk for students in many scenarios, making campus a more dangerous space.
According to WashU’s Medical Amnesty & Active Bystander Protocol, “if an individual or student group/chapter has repeatedly been seen by emergency services, it is possible that medical amnesty may not be extended in that situation. In order to provide the best support to an individual or student group/chapter, additional resources, sanctions and/or referrals may be given.”
As members of the WashU community, we mostly talk about medical amnesty in regards to student groups and events that they host. I need not explain why it might be dangerous for a club or Greek life organization to know that they risk being disbanded by calling for help if they have used medical amnesty in the past.
Potentially even more dangerous is this policy as it applies to individuals.
44% of undergraduate students in the United States report partaking in highrisk drinking. High-risk drinking is one symptom of alcohol use disorder. Furthermore,
14% of full-time college students between the ages of 18 and 22 suffer from alcohol use disorder.
A student engaging in high-risk drinking or suffering from alcohol use disorder is more likely to require emergency medical services as a result of alcohol overconsumption. Unfortunately, they and their close friends may hesitate to call Emergency Services if they know that the student is no longer protected under medical amnesty and could therefore face suspension or even expulsion. Regardless of their decision, this moment of hesitation could ultimately lead to serious injury or death due to a lack of medical intervention.
Disciplinary action, the right of the university protected by WashU’s current policy, will not provide any help or perceived higher stakes to students suffering from alcohol use disorder, a chronic condition without regard for punitive consequences.
This is something that modern medicine understands. Medical attitudes toward substance abuse disorder have shifted significantly in recent years, moving away from punitive approaches and toward a model that views it as a chronic health condition requiring medical intervention. According to Yale Medicine, alcohol use disorder is a “chronic brain disease characterized by continued alcohol use despite harmful consequences,” and not a moral failing or character flaw. Punitive approaches often fail to
address the root causes of substance misuse, instead reinforcing stigma and discouraging individuals from seeking help. Given WashU’s reputation as a leading institution in medical education and research, it should align its policies with this modern understanding of substance abuse disorder.
By extending unconditional medical amnesty to individuals and groups, WashU would signal its commitment to addressing substance misuse as a public health issue, fostering a culture of empathy and safety, rather than fear of disciplinary action.
The American Medical Association advocates for reducing punitive responses to substance use, emphasizing that such responses create barriers to care. Highly respected research institutions like WashU are uniquely positioned to lead by example in implementing supportive measures that encourage students to seek emergency assistance without hesitation. By revising its medical amnesty policy, WashU would not only protect student safety, but also reinforce its role as a premier medical institution in applying progressive, health-focused approaches to campus policies.
Among college students, there are an estimated 468 deaths annually from unintentional, alcoholrelated injuries. WashU’s peer universities mitigate these issues by extending medical amnesty to all undergraduates and organizations. Dartmouth College’s Good Samaritan Policy has no exceptions
for student groups who have repeatedly requested medical help. Their policy simply states, “Students and/or organizations that seek assistance from DOSS and/or emergency services and the individual(s) assisted will not be subject to College disciplinary action with respect to violation of the Alcohol Policy and/or the use of other drugs.” They do add, “Failure to complete [the] recommended follow-up will normally result in disciplinary action. Likewise, organizations involved in an incident must agree to take [the] recommended steps to address concerns.”
This may, at first glance, seem similar to WashU’s policy. However, it is very possible that a student group/chapter agrees to take recommended steps and takes action to follow them, and yet a medical emergency still occurs. In this situation, the student group/chapter would be protected at Dartmouth College, but not at WashU. Even Stanford University, which has a similar policy to WashU regarding student groups, does not risk waiving medical amnesty for individuals with repeated incidents.
I propose a combination of Dartmouth’s and Stanford’s policies: that Washington University in St. Louis extend medical amnesty to all individuals and student groups/ chapters, including those that have been repeatedly seen by emergency services, by removing the aforementioned clause from its policy. WashU would also do well to take advantage of their existing
1st Place
“Sippin on Promethazine! With Lean I fell in love! I can’t put down the cup! Can’t put down the cup.”
Frankie Lynch, The Caption Contest Enthusiast
2nd Place
“So if you care to find me, look to Western sky!”
Sean Henry, Current WashU Student
3rd Place
“How it feels when the ketchup dispenser is out of ketchup.”
Jordan Spector, Current WashU Student
mandatory wellness measures imploring individuals and groups to attend a follow-up and do their best to enact reasonable changes to bolster student safety. This alteration of the medical amnesty and active bystander protocol is a matter of student safety that will not only make students feel safer on campus, but will also foster a caring relationship between students and administration, contributing to a culture of empathy on WashU’s campus.
To be clear, I understand the intentions of the original language — in theory, if a fraternity was repeatedly hosting objectively dangerous, on-campus events that frequently resulted in medical emergencies, the school would like to reserve the right to put an end to those events. Similar arguments have been made to combat medical amnesty policies as a whole, contending that they will result in increased emergency transport as a result of drugs and alcohol since students have what is essentially a “get out of jail free card.” This was ultimately disproved, and the institution of medical amnesty policies actually decreased the use of emergency transport, likely as a result of the educational efforts encompassed by the protocol.
According to a study published in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice regarding bystander behavior among college students, “50% of respondents reported that getting their friend in
trouble with the police for calling 911 on their behalf was a serious concern, potentially preventing them from intervening.” If these students had reassurance that neither they, nor the student they are considering calling assistance for, were in disciplinary danger, their decision not to intervene in a dangerous situation could be altered. By implementing my suggested changes, the school would still be allowed to take action against student groups who are not doing their best to follow reasonable and agreed-upon safety precautions. I would like to make clear that medical amnesty, at WashU and elsewhere, only protects individuals and student groups from disciplinary action — not from mandatory wellness measures, like health education and follow-up meetings. I enthusiastically encourage WashU to take advantage of existing wellness measures, especially for those individuals exhibiting signs of alcohol use disorder. WashU has a moral and medical responsibility to expand the existing medical amnesty policy to include student groups/ chapters and individuals that have used medical amnesty in the past. We could have a policy that focuses on treatment, education, and follow-up rather than punishment — a policy that is not just more compassionate but more effective.
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STULMAN
The No. 17 WashU’s men’s basketball team fell short of the national championship game, losing 72-60 to No. 1 New York University in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III tournament on March 20 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The 2024-25 season marks the fifth consecutive year the Bears have made the championship tournament, and first time the program has made the Final Four since their 2008-09 championship winning season.
After making a threepoint shot from a turnover for the first play of the game, it was clear the Violets were hungry for a win. However, the Bears, too, showed determination from the outset by responding with a 6-0 run, putting them up 6-3.
WashU used their physicality to their advantage in order to handle NYU’s picks well.
However, this lead did not last for long: NYU soon went on a 15-0 run to put the Violets up 26-15. Meanwhile, the Bears’ usual big shooters, like senior Hayden Doyle and first-year Connor May, were not performing as well. Doyle’s first successful basket was not made until there were less than two minutes left in the first half, and May made his first shot five minutes into the second. Both of these three-pointers, however, were pivotal moments in the game as they re-energized WashU players and fans.
Shortly before entering
halftime, NYU’s starting guard Zay Freeney, who had six points and averaged 12 points per game this season, was ejected due to a flagrant two foul on WashU senior Drake Kindsvater. This would be a turning point for both the Violets and the Bears playing as they faced the second half.
“When Zay went out it became an emotional game for us,” NYU head coach Dave Klatsky said.
The Bears ended the first half down by only six points at 33-39 to the nation’s number one team, shooting a field goal percentage of 43% to the Violet’s 50% and 25% to the Violet’s 45% behind the arc. Despite being known for their rebounding game, WashU trailed NYU in rebounds by four. WashU also allowed NYU to make seven second-chance points compared to their three. These two statistics in particular foreshadowed the game’s outcome.
Going into the second half, the Violets once again scored first with a three-pointer. Five minutes later, however, the Bears were able to cut the Violets’ lead to six, their smallest lead of the half.
Losing just 43-49 due to May’s first basket of the game revved up the energy on both the court and bench, inspiring the first-year to go on to score 10 points for the team.
With less than 10 minutes left of the game, NYU’s guard Hampton Sanders, who shot sixfor-six behind the arc, advanced his team to their biggest lead of the game: a 14 point margin.
Characteristically, May made a long-range-shot that roused an eruption
of energy in the stadium and brought WashU fans to their feet. But NYU responded and stepped up, exemplifying their deserved ranking, as WashU’s shots began to fall short once again.
The Violets went on to defeat the Bears 72-60, securing their spot in the national championship against Trinity College.
The final box score demonstrated how both of the WashU’s seniors led their team by example: Doyle led the squad in points with 17 and Kindsvater led in rebounds with 10.
As a team, the Bears concluded their season ouscoring opponents by an average margin of 12 points, 12.4 points off of turnovers, and making 9.5 three-pointers per game compared to opponents’ 7.
As Doyle and Kindsvater’s WashU athletic careers have now come to an end, they will continue to build on the legacy of support previous alums have left for them — most notably the Class of ‘08-’09 who poured confidence and encouragement into the Bears during this season’s tournament.
“For next season, I know I’ll be watching every single game wherever I am,” Kindsvater said. “These are my best friends, I don’t understand how I’m not going to keep in touch.”
When asked what Doyle and Kindsvater would say to their younger selves, who had dreamed of making it to the Final Four, the answer was clear:
“I’m proud of you.”
Despite being in the same graduating class as Doyle and Kindsvater, fellow senior Kyle Beedon will see the court again next year.
Beedon, a standout senior who was injured for the entire season, will return to the court for a fifth-year after adopting a supportive role for the Bears from the sidelines. Alongside Beedon are current juniors guard Yogi Oliff, guard Will Grudzinski, and center Calvin Kapral, who have paved their way into becoming integral parts of the team.
In addition, guards Ryan Cohen, Emmett Lawton, and Lucas Vogel, and forwards Jake Davis and George Gale, have continued to improve as sophomores since their first appearance last year.
First-year Connor May played an impressive total of over 750 minutes and averaged 11.9 points per game, proving to be a crucial player the Bears will rely on in future seasons.
Despite the end of WashU’s season after a standout performance throughout this tournament, head coach Pat Juckem belabored over the impact the Class of 2025 had on the team throughout the season and how it is reflected in the men’s basketball program’s history and will influence its future.
“They’ve poured and invested so much into their teammates,” Juckem said. “They’ve learned that because others supported them when they were young, and it continues the cycle. Their legacy and their impact is going to be felt every day going forward.”
Out of the 18 players on the WashU men’s basketball roster, just three are seniors.The trio of seniors, part of the team’s first recruits after the COVID-19 pandemic, endured two back-to-back losses on their home court in the second round of the NCAA tournament followed by a Sweet 16 exit their junior year. As seniors, the Class of 2025 led the No. 17 Bears to their best tournament run in over a decade.
As the team charted their path to the program’s first Final Four appearance in 14 years, the men’s basketball senior class played some of their best basketball at the right time, delaying the end of their WashU athletic careers until the final possible weekend. In the Bears’ first three tournament games of the 2024-25 season, senior guard Hayden Doyle spearheaded the offense, logging team highs with 24, 15, and 16 points, helping the team win all three games. In WashU’s Elite Eight victory over No. 5 University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, when Doyle was held to just nine points, senior forward Drake Kindsvater was the squad’s focal point, racking up a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds.
While the third senior — guard Kyle Beedon, who tore his ACL following a breakout 2023-24 season and is planning to return for a graduate year in 2026 — has been leading from the sidelines, the Bears’ senior class piloted the squad’s best tournament run since back-to-back national championship wins in 2008 and 2009.
has been a crumember of the WashU since his first seaSt. Louis. The 6’1” from Brookfield, Wisconsin, made an instant becoming a feamember of the WashU backcourt as a first-year Doyle started all but game his first year, and University Athletic Association (UAA) Rookie Year honors as the best newcomer.
his first year, Doyle worked to build conbetween active players and the team’s a practice that was by the late Justin a former WashU who passed away from 2022.
“When I was a freshman, Hardy told me to start in contact with the Doyle said. “Every I’d reach out to different alums through One of the guys I got close with was Sean who was kind of the the point guard of the [2008-09] team.”
Wallis, the Bears’ all-time leader and a former first-team All-American, invited Doyle to his for a golf tournament Doyle’s sophomore where Doyle met members of the 2008-09 national championship
Wallis, Doyle as a team leader. According to his teammates,
29
vs Brandeis (2/07/25) —
Doyle’s energetic pregame speeches and constant communication during practice and games, including occasional trash talk, have made him a central figure on the team.
“[Hayden] is just a great communicator,” Kindsvater said.
“He’s never afraid to let others know what’s on his mind, whether it’s with the team, in a leadership role, or if it’s just making conversation with random people.”
On the court, Doyle has been a constant presence in the Bears’ starting five, averaging more than 10 points, three assists, and 30 minutes per game for all four years. As a junior, Doyle emerged as the Bears’ leading scorer with 15.4 points per game, and has taken his game to the next level in his fourth and final season. As the team’s most consistent scoring option, Doyle is averaging 17.4 points per game, including four games with more than 25 points.
Doyle’s efforts have been rewarded with national recognition. As a junior, he was named a second team AllAmerican, and as a senior, has been named one of ten finalists for the 2025 Jostens Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in Division III basketball.
Doyle vs Fontbonne (12/7/22) — careerbest playmaking as the team’s floor general.
While Kindsvater entered college best known for his work on the defensive side of the game, he quickly became an electrifying presence on the other side of the court as well. With his ability to compete both in the paint and as an outside shooter, the 6’6” forward is difficult for opposing defenses to slow down. His highlight-reelworthy dunks have also proven him to be a dangerous threat in transition.
“Everything Drake does on the basketball court is entirely unique,” Beedon said. “Every Drake layup is like a snowflake.”
What Doyle and Beedon could not talk about enough, however, were Kindsvater’s “hot hands.”
Kindsvater’s quick hands make him a threat to steal the ball from rival players, which allowed him to tie for the UAA lead in steals with 65 as a sophomore.
His sophomore year also saw a growth on offense, as Kindsvater improved from an average of 4 points per game as a first year to a team-high 14 points per game in 26 starts.
“I trust him a lot on the court,” Doyle said. “You just expect him to make plays. His pureness and joy with basketball is refreshing.”
Kindsvater vs Wisconsin–La Crosse (3/15/25) — career high in a dominant scoring display.
Entering his junior year, Kindsvater was expected to shine, and he did just that, leading the team with 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game through 14 games before a broken nose derailed his standout season.
Back on the court as a senior, Kindsvater has helped the Bears log key wins with scoring outbursts, including a 22-point performance against Colby College in the Lopata Classic and his career-high 31 points against UW–La Crosse. Kindsvater’s play in the Elite Eight is a major reason why the Bears find themselves just two wins away from a national championship.
“I just love to see [him] go out and hoop,” Beedon said. “It’s the most awesome thing, like [in the UW La-Crosse game] where he just go[t] out there and ma[de] every play. It’s unbelievable.”
After totaling just 21 points his first two years, Beedon broke out as a junior. Last season, the 6’1” guard from North Hollywood, California, emerged as a threat from 3-point range, shooting 73/182 (40.1%) from beyond the arc and averaging 10.8 points per game. Beedon recounted practicing pump fakes in his dorm mirror and playing 3v3s and 5v5s with dads and children at his local YMCA over the summer to improve his game.
After working his way into the starting lineup for 13 of WashU’s final 14 games as a junior, Beedon figured to play a central role his senior year. However, during an offseason tournament, Beedon tore his ACL, kick-starting a prolonged recovery process that has sidelined him for the entire 2024-25 season.
Despite not being able to play, Beedon has not shied away from the sport and is still an active participant on the team, helping to compile scouting reports as an unofficial assistant coach. Doyle commended Beedon for scheduling his rehab before or after practices and continuing to outshoot the team in practice shooting drills without jumping or running on his injured leg. Kindsvater, who has built a close relationship with Beedon as his roommate over the last four years, also praised Beedon’s relentlessly positive attitude.
Kindsvater vs Wisconsin–La Crosse (3/15/25) — controlled the boards all game long.
Beedon vs Carnegie Mellon (2/2/24) — breakout offensive performance with efficient scoring.
“When he did find out that it was a torn ACL, he had [just] a couple days where it was really bad. He’s great at compartmentalizing that, setting that aside, and focusing on being in the moment … and it takes a really strong-willed person to do that,” Kindsvater said. “A lot of people will just get down on themselves … but I never really saw that.” Beedon is planning to return for a fifth year at WashU for the 2025-26 season, which will give him the opportunity to lead the team as an experienced veteran and reap the benefits of the past year spent alongside the team. As he perseveres through his lengthy recovery, Beedon shared that the opportunity to play his beloved sport again has been a key motivator.
“The first month was really hard. We were in the off season and I probably slept with a basketball the first three weeks,” Beedon said.
“But then it was sort of like ‘Alright, I’m gonna come back next year, I’m gonna get a masters,’ and just thinking towards that next year, I want to do everything I can this year to still be impactful.”
Beedon vs Brandeis (1/21/24) — set the tone with hustle and physicality inside.
There is nothing that signifies the coming of spring in St. Louis quite like Bears baseball on a sunny weekend at Kelly Field. WashU played Maryville College for the first time in program history on March 22-23, winning two out of three games in this nonconference matchup.
Sophomore Townsend Stevenson made history by throwing the second singular no-hitter in program history in the Bears’ dominant 16-0 victory in the first game.
The Bears partnered with two nonprofit organizations and promoted them during the series, the first being The Hidden Opponent, an organization that advocates for the mental health of athletes, and the second being Buddy Up For Life, an organization that provides support for individuals with Down Syndrome.
With the two wins, the Bears improve to a 13-5 record before beginning University Athletic Association (UAA) play against Case Western Reserve University on Friday, March 28.
WashU: 16, Maryville: 0
The first game of this series was all Bears. In the first inning, junior Shane Pellegrino got the scoring started with a single up the middle, scoring senior Brandon Buday. First-year Cooper Greene added on with an RBI single to left field on a hanging breaking ball.
The Bears continued to add on, scoring at least one run in each inning before opening the floodgates in the fifth inning. WashU had nine hits in this inning alone, scoring ten runs and extending their lead from 6-0 to 16-0. This was the end of the scoring for
the Bears, but the game was completely out of reach at this point. Notable offensive performers included Greene, who recorded four singles, and first-year Kevin Stephens, who had three hits, including two doubles.
Maryville’s offense was completely shut down by Stevenson. The 6’4’’ right hander threw a no-hitter, pitching all seven innings without allowing a hit. This was the second no-hitter by a singular pitcher in the Bears’ history, with Stevenson also recording the first win of his collegiate career in the process. He struck out twelve batters, with the only baserunners coming from two walks.
An intimidating presence on the mound, Stevenson dominated Maryville primarily with the use of his fastball, a pitch that clocked out close to 90 mph throughout the game. He kept the hitters off balance with his slider and curveball, building on a strong start to the season with a career performance.
Game Two
WashU: 1, Maryville: 7
In the second game on Saturday, Maryville bounced back, taking the lead in the first inning on a single from Frank Derner. WashU matched them in the bottom of the first, scoring one run on singles from firstyear Ryan Soong, graduate student Noah Reichman, and graduate student Colter Couillard-Rodak.
The game would remain scoreless until the sixth inning, with first-year pitcher Levi Gingerich allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings. After Gingerich left the game, Maryville notched two more runs in the sixth, extending their lead in the seventh and eighth innings as well.
WashU mounted several
attempts to score after the first inning, recording six hits and stranding three runners on base. Ultimately, they were unable to push any more runs across and finished Saturday with an even split despite outscoring Maryville 17-7 on the day.
Game Three
WashU: 4, Maryville: 1
Following the loss, WashU came out strong on Sunday, taking the decisive third game of the series. WashU again fell behind in the first inning, with a fielding error and a single from Fred Derner causing the run. However, they
responded in a big way in the bottom of the first, with Reichman blasting a two-run homer to right center field.
The 6’3’’ slugger who played his undergraduate years at Colby College had himself a weekend, contributing four hits including two doubles and this home run.
From there, the game remained 2-1 until the fifth inning, when the Bears extended their lead on a smash double to right field from Buday, scoring senior Braden Mazone. The Bears were unable to add on further, leaving sophomore Carson Cleage stranded on third base.
The Bears threatened again in the sixth inning, loading up the bases with one out. In this crucial spot, graduate student Will Yarbro was called on to pinch-hit. He was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run to make the game’s final score 4-1.
Like the first game, the Bears were bolstered by a strong pitching performance.
Senior Hank Weiss pitched the first seven innings, allowing just two hits and an unearned run while striking out nine. Another hard throwing righty, his fastball sat in the upper 80s and touched 91 mph. After throwing 99 pitches, he was relieved by
junior Isaac Zhang, a lefthanded pitcher who earned his first save of the season by retiring the final six batters with just 22 pitches. This series victory provides the Bears with strong momentum as they enter into conference play next weekend. They will be hosting the Spartans from Case Western Reserve University for four games at Kelly Field, a strong team that WashU has an all time 34-25 record against. Aside from one game against Webster University, the rest of the Bears’ games will be against crucial conference opponents.
The WashU men’s and women’s swim and dive teams competed at the NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina from March 19–22. The men’s team finished in eighth place, headlined by fifth-year Kyle Wolford’s individual national championship in the 200-yard backstroke, and the women’s team finished in 20th. Each day started with preliminary races in the morning, with the top eight qualifying times advancing to the championship final and the next eight to a consolation final. These swimmers would round out the top sixteen finishers in an event and be awarded All-American honors. 17 Bears were honored as AllAmerican swimmers at the meet, which featured over 60 schools and 579 participants. Both teams had spent a month together prior to the competition, according to a statement from head coach Brad Shively, and were prepared “to be aggressive in their races,” noting that “morning swims were the focus so that we had evening opportunities.”
Senior Isabella Barrientos also spoke about the mentality the team was able to feed on throughout the event.
“We had, I believe, 24 people or 23 people,” she said. “And so we had a larger group than most teams, and we were able to be loud on deck, and I think that was it.
We were able to feed off each other. I’m pretty sure not one person was sitting down if someone was in the water racing.”
On the first day of competition, the men’s team was headlined by an 11th place finish by sophomore Marco Minai in the 200yard individual medley (IM) with a time of 1:48.31. The 400 medley relay team of Wolford, senior Danny Sibley, first-year Ben Scott, and fifth-year Austin Bick finished in 3:14.56, securing 12th place.
In the women’s competition, the 400 medley relay team of first-year Iris Qi and sophomores Elizabeth Chen, Hannah Lee, and Peyton Watson also became All-Americans with a 16th place finish.
The competition’s second day saw Minai secure the team’s highest finish up to that point, finishing in fourth in the 400-yard IM in 3:51.84.
In the same event, Scott secured another AllAmerican finish by coming in 14th place. The men’s team also had two more AllAmerican performances that day, with Sibley coming in 13th place in the 200-yard freestyle, and Bick finishing 16th in the 100-yard fly.
In the women’s diving events, sophomore Shanze Karimi had an AllAmerican one-meter diving performance with a 13th place finish.
The third day saw plenty of success for the men’s team, with four top ten finishes. Wolford, in the 100-yard backstroke, came in third place for a bronze
medal finish in 47.22 seconds. Minai continued to build upon his impressive performances, securing another fourth place finish in the 200-yard fly.
“That all of his finals swims were improvements over his preliminary swims tells you that he was mentally prepared to race,” Shively wrote about Minai.
The relay team of Bick, Sibley, Wolford, and senior Justin Rockaway came in eighth in the 200-yard medley relay for a new school record of 1:27.94, and the team of Sibley, junior Matthew Walker, senior Pace Edwards, and junior Ethan Feng got a 10th-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The women had two AllAmerican performances that day, both from relays. Lee, Chen, sophomore Izzie Gattone, and junior Andrea Leng came in 15th place in the 200 medley relay in 1:44.10. Additionally, in the 800 free relay, junior Ali Roche, senior Isabella Barrientos, sophomore Rachel Bello, and junior Rin Iimi finished in ninth place.
“The 800 really was a special one just to do it together,” Barrientos said. “I’ve been with those same
girls for the past two years now, and we’ve dropped so much time since we first came in. And to do that with them is special…I know in my head, at least on that last 75, which hurts the most, I was thinking of my teammate waiting for me at the end of the block.”
The meet’s final day saw the Bears’ highlight performance of the competition. Wolford won the 200-yard backstroke, an event he came in seeking to win in his last year as a Bears athlete, becoming the 12th national champion in the swim program’s history. He finished with a time of 1:44.15.
“My confidence was sky high, and I’ve been working at being more confident going into these meets,” Wolford said. “And the one thing I would always visualize before this meeting was winning the 200-back. I took a moment before the finals. I was standing behind the blocks, we’re right about to hop in the water for the start. And I was like, I don’t feel nerves right now. It’s all just excitement.”
in 16th in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Scott also came in 16th place in the 200-yard backstroke, his third AllAmerican race time.
Barrientos finished in 14th place in the 200-yard backstroke, securing her second All-American honors in her final collegiate swim.
“Isabella has been so important for us over the last four years,” Shively wrote. “Her contributions as a leader and an athlete have been so valuable to our successes. She has produced many of her best swims at our biggest meets, including the NCAA Championships. Her split on our 800 freestyle relay was simply awesome last week.”
Wolford, with his victory, became the 27th WashU student-athlete to win an individual national championship ever, keeping the 200-yard backstroke trophy at WashU for another year following senior Alex McCormick’s 2024 victory, a race where Wolford finished third and a personal favorite memory of his.
“The first [memory] that came to mind is actually
200-back,” he said. “Because finishing that and seeing we really went one three in that event. And then obviously following that up, I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t get really excited about the title this year.”
Reflecting on their collegiate swim careers, Barrientos and Wolford both highlighted the moments spent with others, whether it be family or teammates.
“When I started my freshman year, it was really tough, and I didn’t get the results I wanted,” Barrientos said. “So being able to grow over the next three years and getting that All-American status was really special. And, you know, definitely smiling at my parents and my teammates, getting those hugs for them at the end are memories I’ll never forget.”
“It’s all the random little moments,” Wolford said. “Like freshman year, we all walked to Village together to get dinner, or eating in our rooms because we couldn’t eat at the dining halls… Those random days where you have an hour to to pop in and hang out with a bunch of your teammates are some of the best times I can think of looking back on on all of it.”
to GNH and suggested it be expanded to include the South 40.
Gender-Inclusive Housing (GIH) has had multiple names and many different forms. Students of any gender looking to live on campus property can opt into a process where they are matched based on gender, not sex assigned at birth. Through this process, students are asked to identify their gender identities and the gender identities they would be comfortable living with to provide Residential Life (ResLife) with ample information to match them with roommates.
People use GIH for many different reasons. For some, it is integral for safety and comfort, and for others, it is a way to live with friends of a different gender.
How GIH was created:
GIH was initially created in the early 2000s at the request of a first-year transgender student with help from Rob Wild, the current Vice Dean of Student Affairs. At the beginning, GIH was called Gender Neutral Housing (GNH) and for roughly 10 years was only off, and on the North Side of campus. In 2014, a group of students, with the coordination of a former Vice Chancellor and the former Dean of Students, Sharon Stahl and Justin Caroll, respectively, met to offer suggestions
Post-GIH’s addition to the South 40, the numbers of students opting in rose over time to 300, 400, and even 800 people, explained Rhonda Kiely — WashU ResLife Assistant Director of Room Assignments — and ResLife Executive Director Will Andrews. However, not all of the students who opted in truly wanted to live in GIH.
“In the past we’ve had a very large number of students who … recognized themselves as being gender inclusive, but when it got to the bottom line, they weren’t as comfortable living necessarily with students of different gender identities,” Kiely said.
Andrews added that while “a lot of people are open to [GIH], that doesn’t mean they necessarily want that as their option with placement.”
To ResLife, it appeared that students were opting into GIH because they were comfortable living with people with gender identities different from theirs. Yet, in practice, a majority of these people had already chosen a roommate or truly did have apprehension about living with a genderqueer person. Additionally, queer students were hesitant about living with roommates who were uninformed about queer identities.
“Students were saying, ‘Wait a minute, as an LGBTQ person, I don’t want to be the
educator of my suitemates,’” explained Kiely.
Over the past few years, however, ResLife has worked with the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) to make the list of gender identities on the housing application more explicit and comprehensive.
As Kiely and Andrews from ResLife described, this specificity has led to a greater understanding of what “opting in” means, which has inevitably led to a significant decrease in the numbers of students choosing to opt into GIH.
Two hundred and fifty students opted into GenderInclusive Housing for the 2024-25 school year — which ResLife described as a manageable number since these pairings are often done by hand.
“We spend a lot of time making … every effort to give all of our students a great experience, but we really put the time in with our genderinclusive students. They’re one of the first groups we look at so we know what we’re dealing with and how to best serve those students,” Kiely said.
What it looks like currently:
Despite the efforts made by ResLife, queer students who opted into GIH report varied experiences. While many students who opted in for the 2024-25 school year largely declare GIH to be comfortable
and positive, students who lived in GIH two or three years prior describe a drastically different experience, one that was overwhelmingly detrimental.
“I’m one of the only trans people [in] my grade that I know that didn’t have a deeply horrible experience with roommates and that’s because I didn’t have roommates,” said junior Penelope Thaman, President of Pride Alliance, who lived in GIH her first year.
Senior and former president of Pride Alliance Eden Gallup affirmed this, observing a pattern her peers experienced.
“I know three separate people, trans people, who selected their gender on the housing form and were roomed in suites with people of their assigned gender at birth,”
Gallup said.
Kiely claims every year has been better than the last, and currently, the rate of room change requests for GIH is “significantly lower” than for standard housing assignments.
Andrews recalled hearing Kiely on the phone many times with parents, personally reassuring them that their children will be given a rooming placement in which they feel safe.
Many students have expressed this sentiment, noting the positives of GIH, describing it as being a safe, supportive, and necessary environment.
“I really enjoyed it. I was scared of being put with people who would be bigoted towards me [but] I didn’t feel unsafe because of my identity
at any point,” said sophomore Mia Johnson, who lived in GIH last year.
Johnson, who is not currently in GIH, continued, “I have felt less connected to the queer community [this year] than I did last year. So I think Gender-Inclusive Housing did help.”
Gender Inclusive-Housing for first-years is dispersed randomly across the South 40, and so, while within suites all students will have opted into GIH, it’s possible that their suite is the only GIH one on the floor. Despite this, some students, such as Johnson, report feeling more connected to the queer community through GIH.
Presented by Washington University’s Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), the 26th annual Carnaval is a must-see for all students. As WashU’s Latin American showcase, the show features 10 distinct acts, including musical performances, choreographed dances, and dramatic skits, all showcasing the diversity of various Latin American art forms. The show is a testament to the talent of over 130 performers.
“Carnaval” refers to the eponymous, traditionally Catholic holiday that precedes a 40-day period of fasting known as Lent. Over time, the holiday grew beyond its Catholic roots, taking on unique meanings for different nations. Today, the festival is celebrated in more than 50 countries worldwide, including Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela, to name a few. In Caribbean countries, Carnaval has roots in the historical defiance of enslaved peoples as well. Carribeans honor their rebellion by engaging in lively communion in addition to donning broken chains and black oil — symbols of the enslaved people’s resistance.
WashU’s annual Carnaval is an homage to this holiday, bringing WashU’s various communities together in a joyous celebration of art.
“Nothing really brings
together the community on campus as much as [Carnaval],” co-director and senior Pedro Morales said, when asked about his personal connection to the showcase.
“All different Latinos, all different parts of campus, all different schools come together for this one performance … it’s something that happens once a year that’s really special.”
One notable act is the fashion and dance showcase presented by WashU’s Caribbean American Student Association (CASA). Their segment features 10 talented
dancers adorned in stunning Caribbean festival attire: large feather headdresses, elaborately beaded waistbands, and shimmering sequin skirts. Each performer shows off their outfit in a runway-like spectacle, where the spotlight is given to individual Caribbean nations: Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico are among those featured. This performance is a colorful representation of Caribbean fashion and heritage, allowing the talent of singular performers to shine.
Another highlight is the folklórico dance showcase,
featuring over 20 performers dressed in vibrantly-colored, flowy dresses and intricately woven tunics. Folklórico, a lively dance rooted in Mexican culture, is a staple of national celebrations such as Mexican Independence Day. Carnaval’s performance of the dance captivates the audience with graceful flourishes and the joyous “Flor de Piña,” a dance from Oaxaca known for its usage of the pineapple to symbolize Mexican culture.
Among the two musical performances is a concert from ALAS’ nine-piece mariachi band, accompanied by a
pair of dancers. Defined by its passionate vocals and a bright timbre, mariachi traces its roots as far back as the 1850s from rural folk traditions in western Mexico. Today, mariachi is an essential part of Mexican culture, and is performed at celebrations, festivals, and even formal events such as weddings or funerals. ALAS’ mariachi ensemble delivers a passionate, well-rehearsed set featuring guitarists, violinists, and a trumpeter, all bringing the energetic, heartfelt sounds of mariachi to life. Their performers pay homage to the rich traditions of mariachi
while infusing it with their own unique style.
Other highlights of the show include the Brazilianfunk-inspired dance showcase, complete with elaborate hip movements and dynamic footwork; the flag walk, where groups dance across the stage, proudly displaying the flags of their national heritage; the concert from ALAS’ Chicane band, a rock-like four-piece group complete with three exceptional vocalists; the senior dance, which begins with a performance from eight dancers and quickly transforms into a bustling celebration as dozens more join in; the bomba dance, featuring 12 dancers in colorful skirts, their graceful movements synchronized to the pulse of lively drums; and finally, the salsa dance showcase, a flawlessly choreographed performance, highlighting dance in a refined and captivating form.
While each of Carnaval’s 10 acts offers its own unique spectacle, the show ultimately encapsulates the intersections between each art form. The theme for this year’s Carnaval is eternidad, which translates to “eternity.” This theme speaks to the show’s display of deeply beautiful Latin American cultures, where the intersections between their diverse niches can reach our hearts and reveal the timeless connections between its many artistic expressions and the emotions they evoke.
SARA
GELRUD JUNIOR SCENE EDITOR
Every March, filmmakers, actors, critics, industry professionals, and most importantly, film lovers, flock to Austin, Texas, for 10 days to attend SXSW Film & TV Festival. This year’s festival (along with SXSW’s separate technology convention and music festival) took over the city during spring break (March 7-15), busying every street with a new adventure. On the film side, that meant spending every night watching whichever movie was having its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre (past premieres have included “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Baby Driver,” and “A Quiet Place,” to name a few) where the audience’s reactions are so lively they even make bad films worth watching. Excited anticipation radiated from the long lines of cinephiles waiting outside the festival’s theatres, some who were in line for their third movie of the day. While the festival has specific sections for certain types of films (for example, a “24 Beats Per Second” category which highlights upbeat depictions of music and culture), I have crafted my own categories to recap a
few of the films featured at this year’s festival.
My teenage obsessions on the big screen
“Slanted”: Prom queen — the ultimate status that the typical American high school girl could be given. It’s also all Joan Huang (Shirley Chen) has ever wanted. But one obstacle lies in her way: she’s one of the few (if not the only) Chinese seniors at her town’s all-American high school situated in the heart of Texas. To achieve her dreams, Joan undergoes a medical procedure to become white. While some audiences might be quick to dismiss “Slanted” as another overly woke, substance-less satire, director Amy Wang explores the layers of white privilege and the immigrant experience through the eyes of a teenage girl struggling with one of the deepest and truest depictions of teenage body dysmorphia and otherness in film.
“Sweetness”: 16-yearold Rylee (Kate Hallett) fortuitously encounters Payton Adler (Herman Tømmeraas), her longtime rockstar crush who also happens to be a drug addict (classic). Rylee strongly believes that she can fix him, but despite her good intentions, she wreaks havoc on Payton’s life and her own, turning this elevated Harry Styles fanfic into a heartracing thriller riddled with teenage angst, heavy eyeshadow, and a closet full of Urban Outfitters.
“American Sweatshop”: Daisy (Lili Reinhart) works as a social media moderator, spending her days sifting through the internet’s most grotesque and vile pieces of content. After coming across a harrowing post, she sets off on an obsessive vigilante mission. While the film presents audiences with a side of social media that’s rarely seen (and that perhaps we’d really rather ignore), the plot drags after the shock factor of her job has worn off. However, most audience members are probably going to think twice the next time they open Instagram or TikTok after watching this film.
Films where the main character runs into a glass door (more than once!)
“Friendship”: A middleaged white dad just wants to be friends with his new neighbor! Craig (Tim Robinson) will do anything it takes to be Austin’s (Paul Rudd) friend, even if it means venturing down sewer pipes to prove his allegiance to his friendcrush. Overall, Craig is just a lonely guy who pretends everything’s okay when really, it’s not. He’s perfectly relatable and he also runs into a glass door… multiple times.
“One More Shot”: It’s New Year’s Eve and Minnie (Emily Browning) just wants to reignite a past situationship. We all know that never leads to anything good, especially when her quest to get back with him involves a bottle of time-travelling Mexican tequila. In what was probably the most fun-filled and feel-good movie at the festival this year, Minnie repeatedly runs into a glass
door (accidentally and on purpose).
Next cate(gore)y: body horror
“Death of a Unicorn”: While en route to his billionaire boss’s mansion for a weekend getaway, Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his daughter (Jenna Ortega) accidentally hit a unicorn. They’ll soon find out that the creature is not only magical, but highly profitable. From then on, several heads are crushed, guts are ripped out by the mouth of a unicorn, and bodies are torn apart by unicorn horns.
A star-studded cast (which also includes Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant, and Téa Leoni) and a blessing of unicorn puppets carry an otherwise average plot in this unicorn slasher. “Death of a Unicorn” hits theaters tomorrow, March 28, 2025.
“The Surrender”: A grieving wife (Kate Burton) ropes her daughter (Colby Minifie) into a ritual to bring back her husband from the dead. Minifie (known for
her portrayal of Ashley in “The Boys”) delivers a raw, striking performance in this supernatural horror that combines grief and suffering with body horror. Self-mutilation like you’ve never seen before! “The Surrender” will be available for streaming on Shudder on May 23, 2025.
“Ash”: “Ash” is the latest artistic endeavor by artist and director Flying Lotus, and it’s nothing more than pure adrenaline and body horror. A space captain wakes up to find that her whole crew has been (not so) mysteriously murdered in this film that feels like a drawn-out video game cutscene. The plot, however, is suffocated by an acute focus on low-budget but terrifying special effects that are accentuated by a colorful lighting design and original score by FlyLo himself.
“Ash” totally sidesteps an engaging plot to focus on the novelty of melting faces, bloody murders, and riveting jumpscares: all good things for the gore-lovers out there. “Ash” is in theaters now.
SEE SXSW, PAGE 12
First-year Ko Sakano, who is currently living in GIH, explained that seeing GIH on the housing portal made WashU appear to be a supportive, open, and queer-friendly environment.
“It’s comforting to [live with] other people who are experimenting with their gender,” Sakano said.
“You could talk about certain things, or I could walk around in my binder without being worried that they’re gonna be like ‘Hey, what is that?’”
While the first-year cohort of GIH appears to mostly be students who opted in looking for safety or community, students such as sophomore Justin Krelitz checked the GIH box to provide that safe space for others.
Krelitz, who does not identify as queer, has lived in GIH for the past two years. He explained that his choice to opt into GIH in his first year was based on his brother’s experience with his first-year roommate at a different university. His brother, who identifies as gay, was discriminated against by his roommate for various aspects of his identity.
If I could … provide a safe space for someone where they didn’t have to worry or be afraid, that would be very meaningful to me,” Krelitz said.
“There’s nothing that could possibly go poorly opting into GIH.”
Non-queer students who choose to opt into GIH, like Krelitz, quell fears that their queer roommates may have had otherwise. One of Sakano’s suitemates, for example, had very few interactions with the LGBTQ community prior to living in GIH. In the past, this may have been a cause for concern for Sakano. However, knowing that this roommate intentionally chose GIH eased Sakano’s worries.
Dion Hines, a current sophomore who opted-in his first year, spoke to this point, explaining that during his first year he ended up making friends with cisgender people who opted into GIH.
“I think it should be normalized for cis people to be a part of GenderInclusive Housing,” he said.
Thinking toward the future:
ResLife has continued to refine the process every year, working with the CDI and Spectrum office to update language and ensure students who
are opting into GIH truly want to be there, according to Kiely. Despite this, some queer students have expressed interest in queerspecific housing options, like a queer residential college floor.
The idea of a genderinclusive floor or building for first-years is not an unprecedented concept.
Other schools such as Dartmouth and San Diego State University have housing for queer people that students can opt into when entering the school.
“I think a queer firstyear floor would be the single biggest thing [ResLife] could do … I think it would fix the GIH issue, I think it would allow first-years to actually build community,” Thaman said.
Still, the creation of gender-inclusive affinity housing is not without its challenges. Thaman emphasized the complexities of creating community spaces for all, when the community itself may be fractured along other lines, such as politics.
“Fundamentally, there is no space that’s just inclusive for all queer communities on campus. There’s too many different people and too many different strong opinions,” Thaman said.
Dr. Tamsin Kimoto, Assistant Professor of Women Gender and Sexuality Studies, focuses partially on queer and trans people of color studies and echoed Thaman’s sentiments about these challenges within queer spaces.
“I think that there is a sense in which a lot of students do identify with queerness as an umbrella [term] or queerness in terms of its ambiguity,” Kimoto said. “But I think part of what’s also happened is that we become ambiguous in our politics, such that you can be queer and perfectly in alignment with a heteronormative state.”
ResLife has never made an explicitly queer housing community for first-year students, but they have experimented with other floor community spaces, specifically a substancefree floor, in the past.
Kiely expressed that there were largely negative outcomes — she explained that students felt ostracized by their peers and requested to move out at high rates.
“The other issue is, as people move out, you have to fill those spaces with non-substance-free people so then you get
this contamination factor. Then it gets to be awkward for both sides of the students,” says Kiely.
Kimoto also expressed apprehension about the role of the University in facilitating explicitly queer spaces.
“I hesitate to say it’s the responsibility of the University, because I think that puts the actual community … in a kind of passive position with respect to the University. I … would rather see queer spaces organized by the people who are actually occupying them.” They added, “A WashU branded queer space is not exciting to me.”
Currently, WashU offers Kaleidoscope as one of the five Living Learning Communities (LLC) on campus. Living Learning Communities are opt-in housing environments that connect sophomore, junior, and senior students through a specific topic or an aspect of their identity.
Junior Aspen Schisler created Kaleidoscope, an LLC specifically for students who identify as queer, three years ago with ResLife after finding queer housing on campus to be lacking.
“Literally everyone I had talked to was like, ‘Oh yeah, we need queer housing on this campus,’” Schisler said.
However, Schisler remains critical of the general housing system because of its lack of specifically University-created queer housing of any type.
“Kaleidoscope is a Band-Aid until WashU is forced to become better by someone who is not me,” Schisler said.
LLCs are not available to first-years, but Thaman, Schisler, and Johnson all expressed that having an easy way into the WashU queer community — a community they describe as sometimes feeling scattered — can be critical. They believe that University housing can be part of the solution.
Still, ResLife maintained that there was mixed feedback from students about whether or not a queer floor was desired, with some fearing it could become a target. They stated that LLCs are the way for students to form identity-based housing placements, not ResLife.
“If students wanted to do it [make a queer housing space], then it’s up to the upperclassmen,” Andrews said.
DION HINES SENIOR FORUM EDITOR
My first time hearing Kelela’s voice was during one of my routine bike rides the summer before eighth grade. Solange’s “A Seat at the Table” had been my obsession for the months prior, and — besides Lil Wayne’s feature on “Mad” and Q-Tip’s fluttery arrangement of “Borderline” — Kelela’s backing vocals on “Scales” had taken up an unhealthy amount of space in my mind. Surprisingly, though, I didn’t have my next known interaction with Kelela’s music until Feb. 9, 2024, when the alternative-R&B singer released “RAVE:N, The Remixes,” a 20-track techno-inspired reinterpretation of her second studio album, “Raven.”
Already having been a fan of tech-queenies like FKA Twigs and Shygirl, and more soulful artists like Ravyn Lanae and SZA, “RAVE:N” left me slack-jawed, and something less than conscious. The work was a compelling blend of rap and electronica-infused tracks, and jazz and soul-influenced vocals, a sound that the singer has seemingly perfected during her 12-or-so years of being in the music industry.
Her most recent album, “In the Blue Light,” released on Feb. 11 of this year, left me in a similar trance, though this time more in admiration than sedation. Performed and recorded at the famous Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City — which has featured greats such as Cannonball Adderley, Donald Byrd, and Geri Allen — “In the Blue Light” is an assortment of 12 reimagined tracks from her current discography. The album does a
beautiful job of not only establishing Kelela’s versatility as an artist, but also her undeniable prowess as both a vocalist and lyricist.
The atmosphere of the album is established immediately; upon pressing play, I was introduced to the clanking of cutlery and shifting of seats of the Blue Note’s intimate setting. Kelela’s first arrangement, “Enemy,” was both the perfect complement to this environment and a dreamy transition into the jazzy landscape that the singer cultivates throughout her performance. The song explores the disappointment from a mediocre partner and the forgiveness that follows through dancing harps and chimes layered over droning vocals to create a lullaby of, “Shhh…just cry… then sleep.” The accompanying snaps and chatter from the audience unintentionally enhance the layers of the track. Then, Kelela’s voice forces itself into the scene, almost as an interjection: “You’re all up on me now that you’re my enemy / There’s nothing here to save, it’s all here in front of
me,” she cries. The singer follows this song with “Raven,” a synthy ballad about the clarity that comes after a draining relationship.
This track, like the one that precedes it, appears to be Kelela’s attempt at selfsoothing, which is necessary considering the emotional disaster that the singer describes in “Take Me Apart,” as she croons, “Don’t say you’re in love, baby / Don’t say you’re in love until you learn to take me apart.” It is in this song, along with others on the album such as “All the Way Down” and, my personal favorite, “Better,” that I was reminded of the gut-wrenching, painfully poetic lyricism that drew me into Kelela’s music in the first place.
Read the rest online!
Dear Scene,
Written by Reagan Remmers
During Bear Beginnings, I tried to get to know my roommate and suitemates better. While we all hung out together for the first week, every interaction felt forced and as if they didn’t want me there. As the months passed my roommate spent less time in our room and more time in our suitemates room. I have tried to make an effort to connect with my roommate but she always says she’s busy and has not once made an effort to connect with me. The other night, I heard my roommate and suitemates saying some really mean stuff about me and hysterically laughing. I want to confront them but I’m not sure how or what to do. Help!
Dear Tired,
Making friends during freshman year is already difficult, and it definitely doesn’t help when you start off on the wrong foot with the people you live with. Just know that you’re not alone. Almost everyone has a story about a roommate or suitemate that they didn’t like or that didn’t like them. As it turns out, many people don’t stay friends with their first-year roommate or suitemates after the spring semester ends — even if they did get along — so fret not!
I know this is easier said than done, but try to not take anything they say too personally. If you haven’t done anything in particular to upset your roommate or suitemates, then their bad attitudes are truly just a reflection of their character and not yours. If these people don’t want to be your friend and are intentionally being disrespectful about it, then they aren’t worth your time or effort. There are a couple of ways to navigate this situation, and you have to figure out which is most productive for your circumstance. One way to mitigate their snarkiness towards you is to simply tell them that they’re being the worst in a straightforward
from page 10
Where was the editor?
Out of the office: “The Age of Disclosure”
manner (but be more diplomatic than just telling them that they’re the worst). For example, responding to a passive-aggressive comment with “There’s no need to be rude” or “I didn’t appreciate that comment” is a great way to make it clear that you’re all too aware of their dislike for you and that you’ve had enough of their disrespect.
If you’re looking to confront them specifically about the time you overheard them talking about you, try to sit them all down so you can have a real conversation. I know this seems cliché and maybe even a little bit overthe-top, but it would create an environment in which you can be very direct with all of them at once. Be casual when bringing it up — maybe send a text that says something along the lines of “Hey, are you guys busy tonight? I want to talk about something really quick.” You may even want to discuss it in a casual manner, but make sure that they’re listening and that you’re not letting them walk all over you during the conversation. At the same time, it’s important to be receptive and willing to make adjustments on your end. There is a possibility that they have a legitimate issue, and you have to be willing to listen. If this is
In this two-hour documentary, 34 senior U.S. government officials (some retired, some still in office) discuss government concealment of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs, commonly known as UFOs), with the goal of revealing America’s UAP disinformation campaign. By exploring the highly stigmatized topic of aliens, director Dan Farah crafts a compelling
the case, apologize and make the necessary changes, but still make sure that you are able to articulate your feelings to them. Just because you may have an annoying living habit does not justify the treatment you’ve been receiving.
If they aren’t receptive to any of your polite comments and you want to return their attitude, I suggest speaking to them like they’re small children every time they say something rude. “No thank you, friend! Can we please be respectful?” and “Remember that all friends have feelings! Let’s use kind words, please,” are some of my personal favorites. Use caution here, because depending on the type of people they are, this may worsen your situation, and it requires sinking to their level. As hurtful as their rejection is, don’t let it consume your social life. Instead, focus your energy on the people who build you up and make you feel welcomed.
While it’s definitely a bummer to get stuck with people you don’t get along with, try to remember that you won’t have to deal with this for too much longer. Next year, you’ll get to live with people that you like (and that like you), and this entire issue will be a thing of the past. There’s only a little over a month left in
argument for the national security threat posed by UAPs, amongst many other concerns. However, a documentary that could’ve been an engaging, one-hour segment felt more like an unedited, redundant, never-ending propaganda stint.
Occasionally on vacation: “The Rivals of Amziah King” Actor Angelina LookingGlass leads a
- Tired of Being Talked About
the academic year, and then you’ll be free from your current suitemates forever. Good luck dealing with them, and hopefully the rest of your semester improves from here.
Your real friends, Scene
wonderfully joyous ensemble in this tribute to both Texan pride and beekeepers. This crime semi-thriller follows Kateri (LookingGlass), the ex-foster daughter of Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey). King is a well-loved beekeeper whose bee colonies are stolen. What would’ve come together beautifully in an episodic format is a plot that otherwise feels
awkwardly paced, with acts that felt disconnected. If the film’s pacing didn’t feel like a syncopated beat, this would’ve been one of my favorite films at SXSW.
Locked in: “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie”
This ambitious, mockumentary-style comedy, filmed over the course of almost two decades, follows Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol as they try
— through extreme measures — to get a gig at the Rivoli, a Toronto nightclub. The editing impressively weaves together some of the most chaotic footage to grace this year’s SXSW screens. The editors stitched footage from 2006 through 2025 along with over 200 days of compiled footage to weave a master tapestry that became “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.”
