September 2, 2021 Student Life newspaper at Washington University in St. Louis

The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

VOLUME 143, NO. 1

WWW.STUDLIFE.COM

CAMPUS FLORA

SPORTS RETURN

Meet the person who coordinates WU’s flowers, trees and landscaping.

(Scene, pg 5)

Players and coaches fill you in on what to expect from the first fall sports since 2019.

BACK TO SCHOOL SONGS (Sports, pg 6) (Cadenza, pg 7)

CAMPUS COMES BACK TO LIFE

PHOTOS BY HOLDEN HINDES | STUDENT LIFE

Local cover band Lenny Klimger’s Galaxy followed the convocation ceremony with a concert (top left).

Students share cups of popcorn at the post-convocation party in the park (top right).

Convocation ceremonies took place on Brookings Quadrangle (bottom left).

After a long day of WUSA meetings, freshmen let off steam with dancing and beach balls (bottom right).

GRACE KENNARD SENIOR NEWS EDITOR 1,994 Washington University freshmen gathered on Brookings Quad for the time-honored tradition of Convocation, Aug. 28, marking the end of orientation and the official start of the academic year.

Students marched in with their residential colleges, led

by WUSAs and RAs, cheering and chanting before listening to Chancellor Andrew Martin address the crowd. Following the ceremony, both students and

faculty gathered for a party on the East End of campus.

“Each person here was invited to be part of this most outstanding class because we believe that your place is here, with us, with each other,” Martin said in his address. “We chose not simply the strongest applicants; we chose an intentionally diverse community of scholars to live, learn and work together.”

Speakers also included Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Anna Gonzalez, Provost Beverly Wendland and senior Shubham ​​ Tayal. Academic deans and

faculty fellows processed and were present on-stage as well.

Though convocation was completely virtual last year, this year’s event was still not completely back to normal. Parents and families of the freshmen class have historically attended the address on campus, but this year, they were encouraged to watch virtually. As of 2 p.m. on Aug. 30, the livestream was viewed 2,418 times.

Freshman Emma Gerber went to convocation with her residential building floor and said that it was “really great” being together

in-person with her class.

“I just kept thinking about how lucky we were to all be together,” Gerber said. “Especially the energy with our residential college when we were doing all the cheers and were all together and seeing all the people with the different colors of shirts. It was just really cool, the energy was something that you could never replicate virtually.”

Gerber and her fellow classmates arrived on campus earlier this week to move into their residential rooms and begin orientation after an unprecedented

college admissions process upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. For many freshmen, their senior years of high school and application processes were virtual, and the University received a record number of applications, culminating in a class Provost Wendland described as “the largest and most diverse class in our history” in her convocation address.

Joining the freshman and transfer students in their first year at the University is Gonzalez, who

SEE CONVOCATION, PAGE 2

New cafes, closures and other dining changes on campus TED MOSKAL MANAGING EDITOR

Students returned to campus this week to find revamped dining experiences including the new Bytes Cafe on the East End, as well as new stations and food options elsewhere.

The changes also include the permanent closure of the Einstein’s Bagel’s Bros. location in Simon Hall and the reopening of the Law School Cafe.

Bytes Cafe opened in McKelvey Hall this August.

Associate Director for Dining Services Andrew Watling is optimistic that the availability of Starbucks products will eventually make Bytes a

frequent stop for engineering students. “[Bytes Cafe] is a ‘we proudly brew Starbucks’ location,’” Watling said. “I’m expecting that to be pretty popular just because it’s Starbucks and you can get it on your meal plan.”

The existing Starbucks location, in Bauer Hall, will remain. Sophomore Kate Bircher said that despite Bytes being far from her dorm, she is excited for the new option.

“It’s really great to have Starbucks in another location,” Bircher said while waiting in line at Bytes. “It’s a little bit harder especially since [I] live on the South 40, but if you’re on campus, you can stop by.”

One new dining option that was popular last year is Stanley’s Sushi and Tea at Lopata Hall, which offers sushi, bubble tea and poke bowls. “[Stanley’s] was hugely popular last year, and we expect it to be hugely popular this year,” Associate Director for Dining Services Andrew Watling said.

“I think it’s good sushi, and we tried really hard to keep the price point at a really reasonable level, so you can get a sushi roll for $6.25.”

Dining Services further adjusted the coffee scene on campus by introducing Peet’s Coffee at Cafe Bergson in the BRIAN CUI | STUDENT LIFE

SEE MORE ON PAGE 3 Students wait in line to order food at various stations at the DUC.

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GRACE KENNARD & ORLI SHEFFEY | SENIOR NEWS EDITORS | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM

theFLIPSIDE

CONVOCATION from page 1

was appointed in March to succeed Dr. Lori White in the role of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

“Students–like you, I SUN 5 FRI 3 SAT 4 THU 2 too am in my first year at PARTLY CLOUDY CLOUDY THUNDERSTORMS SUNNY Wash. U,” Gonzalez said.

85/60 80/66 77/63 82/59 “I too am still trying to TUES 7 MON 6 WED 8 learn the names of buildPARTLY CLOUDY SUNNY SUNNY 85/60 84/63 81/59 ings… Like most of you, I am making new friends, discovering that there are amazing cultural gems in the great city of St. Louis THURSDAY 2 and learning people’s names and stories.”

Panel Discussion: Hostile Terrain 94 The final speaker of Tisch Park in front of the Museum, 12 p.m. the evening was senior Join Tabea Linhard, professor of Spanish and comparative literature and Global Stud- Shubham Tayal, who told ies affiliate; Mattie Gottbrath, coordinator for international programming in Global the story of “the chance Studies; and Ila Sheren, associate professor of art history & archaeology, all in Arts to reclaim my name” upon & Sciences, as they discuss Hostile Terrain 94, a global pop-up exhibition that gives coming to Washington University. Tayal detailed representation to the thousands of migrants who died crossing the US–Mexico border since the mid-1990s and raises awareness of this humanitarian crisis. They will discuss how he allowed the mispronunciation of his name the impact of border policies and border crossing on local and global communities throughout high school but and will share their experiences organizing this participatory exhibition in St. Louis. took the opportunity at colThe program will begin with a performance of “MY BABY” by artist Mee Jey that lege to “reclaim something honors the unidentified people who lost their life in the desert of Arizona. that defines who I am and titles my story.”

FRIDAY 3 “We strive to understand

EVENT CALENDAR

Skandalaris Center Open House Lower Level of Malinckrodt, 10 a.m The Skandalaris Center staff is excited to return to campus and open the center to students, faculty, staff and alumni. Mask up and stop by the Skandalaris Center in the lower level of Mallinckrodt for some free drinks and snacks on Friday, Sept. 3rd! The Skandalaris Center team is here to support startups at all stages. It has opportunities and resources to support entrepreneurs from idea to launch and beyond.

SATURDAY 4 Transnational Framings: The German Literary Field in the Age of Nationalism Virtual Event, 12 a.m.

This conference seeks to bring into view the push and pull of the national and international in Germany and Austria in the so-called Age of Nationalism, 1848-1919 through a collection of case studies toward a new approach to the literary history of the period. Viewing even overtly national(ist) literature and cultural projects as belonging to an international system, our presenters examine the interrelations of the agents, forces, enterprises, and processes that constituted the Austro-German literary-cultural field during this period. These agents include not only authors but also translators, publishers, editors, reviewers, and readers. Forces include the changing book market, industrialization, printing conventions, and new media. Enterprises include new magazines, anthologies, and the writing of national literary histories.

SUNDAY 5 Beyond the Ballot – St. Louis and Suffrage Missouri History Museum, 10 a.m.

Women, often portrayed as secondary characters in the city’s formation, were actually key to the establishment, survival, and growth of St. Louis. Beyond the Ballot: St. Louis and Suffrage will showcase women who made an impact in St. Louis before gaining the vote in 1920. Through an engaging mix of artifacts, images, media, and interactives, Beyond the Ballot will explore women’s unique roles in St. Louis history.

One major element of the exhibit will trace the long history of the fight for woman’s suffrage in St. Louis and the events leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

who you are and what your journey is because being successful is defined and achieved differently by each person,” Tayal said.

Gerber said she loved Tayal’s speech about being himself and being accepted at the University.

“My favorite speaker by far was the student speaker,” Gerber said. “He was really good, and I feel like I’ve had the most conversations about his speech with people. My friend actually went up to find him afterwards and shook his hand because he was so moved by the speech.”

Freshman Augie Nieberle said that he was focusing on something different during convocation, as he and many of his peers were probably thinking about being back together again.

“It was a bit surreal to be the right word,” Nieberle said. “My sister went

to Wash. U. [and] I was [in] eighth grade, [and] I remember being in the basketball stadium upper deck looking out over the crowd… and it was weird thinking about me being the one … It felt [like] this amazing thing, turning back the clock in my head and thinking about how far I’ve come.”

To close the convocation ceremony, Martin told students of the commemorative coin under their seats that “represents Wash. U.’s investment in you.”

“In several years, when you are ready to graduate from Wash. U., I invite you to give this coin to someone else as a token of appreciation for their support and contribution to your success – perhaps a family member or an inspiring faculty or staff member who makes a mark on your Wash. U. career,” Martin said.

Remembering Max Bernstein, class of 2019 MATTHEW FRIEDMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Max Bernstein, an undergraduate alum of the class of 2019 who graduated from the Computer Science master’s program in May, died July 10 at the age of 24.

Max was a Creve Coeur, Mo., local who was involved in the University’s water polo team, pre-medical professional fraternity and multiple research endeavors. Professors, family members and teammates remember him as a selfless leader who went out of his way to make the world better for others.

Max had a good sense of what he wanted to do professionally even before starting at the University in 2015. Both of his parents are physicians, and he wanted to go into medicine to help people. In high school he had applied to a St. Louis program that accepted students automatically into a medical school, his brother Alex said, but he did not get in. Some people told him to apply again the next year, but he instead chose to come to WashU. “He resonated with the WashU community,” said computer science professor Ron Cytron, who taught Max and advised his computer science master’s project. Max was not interested in competition outside of water polo and always wanted to see his classmates do well, Cytron said, noting that Max’s empathy was particularly evident in his work as a teaching assistant for beginner computer science classes.

The classes relied heavily on group work, and Max drew on his past experiences to help students succeed. “He was really good at identifying where people are and he would say ‘Oh, I remember, that was a particularly hard topic for me, too,’ and he would go on to help people understand the stuff,” Cytron said.

His peers saw that dedication to serving others, too. During his freshman year on the water polo team in the fall of 2018, current senior Avery Fredman often consulted Max to ask for advice about going into medicine. Even though Max was three years older and already had many friends on the team, Fredman said Max often took the

COURTESY OF ALEX BERNSTEIN

Max Bernstein smiles in a recent photo.

time to guide or console him. “I don’t think he would say it himself, but he definitely embodied those characteristics that a lot of pre-meds do strive and should strive to be,” he said.

After Fredman struggled in his first water polo game on the Wash.

U. team, he said he was afraid that Max would reprimand him. “I was honestly a little intimidated when I first met him, knowing all the stories about this guy—he’s super good at polo, knows what he’s doing,” he said.

Instead, Max’s reaction was purely positive: “The first thing he said was, ‘Fantastic game, that was awesome to see you play.

Here’s some suggestions I have for the future.’”

Fredman said Max did not utter a single mean word, even if it would have been warranted.

By that point, Max had long established himself as a dominant water polo player; when it came to the sport, his reputation preceded him. He and Alex had done lots of swimming when they were younger, so when he found out that there was a water polo team at his middle school, Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School (MICDS), he was hooked.

Future WashU teammate Amar Karahodzic was often tasked with guarding Max when their St. Louis high school teams competed. He usually found himself struggling to escape Max’s underwater grasp.

“There’s a move in water polo called a turn, where you basically spin a guy like a top to get position on him.

It’s really bad if that happens to you, and the amount of times Max did that to me, I don’t even want to think about it,” Karahodzic said. “He was just disgustingly good at water polo.”

But what impressed Karahodzic even more was the way Max handled himself with his younger teammates. The MICDS team had many inexperienced players by the time Max was a senior in high school there and there were high expectations—the school had a history of having a good program. Yet in the conversations Karahodzic overheard from feet away in the pool, Max was always encouraging and soothing others while still pushing them to win.

“Playing against him, I could tell that he was somebody who would build his teammates up a lot,” Karahodzic said.

That continued at WashU. The team did not have a coach during Max’s senior year, so he stepped into the role, finding ways to make strength conditioning bearable, filing paperwork and organizing tournament travel. Still, even as Max kept the team’s logistics in check, swam for at least seven hours every week and balanced classes with research jobs, he knew how to have fun. Once Max had finished leading a grueling practice, Fredman said, he could “easily flip the switch.”

He loved to take the team to Mexican restaurants like Mi Ranchito or Mission Taco, or to explore restaurants in new cities when the team traveled, and he and

SEE MORE ON PAGE 3

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

NEWS

GRACE KENNARD & ORLI SHEFFEY | SENIOR NEWS EDITORS | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM

STUDENT LIFE 3

BYTES OPENS AND EINSTEIN’S CLOSES, AMONG OTHER CHANGES from page 1 Danforth University Center and opening Chameleon Coffee, a company specializing in cold brew, at the Village, its first-ever Midwestern location.

The Law School Cafe will also finally reopen after being closed for all of last year.

However, the reopening process is not yet entirely complete.

Grounds for Change Cafe, which closed last year, will remain closed for the fall, though Dining Services hopes to reopen the cafe in the spring.

“Just based on how many people are going to be in Hillman Hall at the Brown School, it’s just not going to be a lot

still,” Watling said. “So we’re keeping that closed for now, but we are looking at updating that and giving it a fresh look when it opens.”

Though new dining options on campus have emerged from the pandemic, not all survived.

Einstein’s Bros. Bagels, a popular location for business school students, officially closed in March, with administrators citing other potential uses of the space.

Students expressed disappointment regarding the closure.

“I have some nostalgic attachments to [Einstein’s] because freshman year it was my breakfast most mornings and they have decent

peanut butter,” junior Daniel Goldberg said in May. “It’s a staple of campus food and it adds good diversity. It’s going to be missed.”

In addition to closures, the pandemic also forced Dining Services to adopt new practices in order to curb the spread of COVID-19, including mobile Grubhub ordering. Grubhub is still an option at nearly every station on campus, but Watling said he was hesitant to further encourage mobile ordering.

“We’re trying to be careful about putting [mobile ordering] into too many places, because we just don’t want to lose the personal [element] that you can get

when you’re going in person,” Watling said.

“At the same time, I think Grubhub has been a really important tool last year, and I think it’s going to keep being a really useful tool for students.”

Another pandemic practice that will continue in a limited capacity this semester is requiring students to show their COVID-19 screening app in order to order food.

“Last year you had to show [the screening app] before you went anywhere dining related,” Watling said. “This year we scaled it back a little bit and we’re just focusing on some of the main locations, and even then

it’s really just the peak times they’re really busy.”

Symptom screening will generally be required at the Bear’s Den, the DUC, the Village, Parkside Cafe and Whispers Cafe around the peak hours for each location––lunchtime at the DUC, Parkside and Whispers, and dinnertime at the Bear’s Den and the Village.

South 40 residents can also look forward to a number of improvements, including a renovated Paws & Go market with doubled shelf space, three new “Sally the salad robot” vending machines and a “top eight allergen friendly” station at the Bear’s Den, which

provides meals free of the eight most common allergens.

Although Watling is optimistic about dining for the fall semester, he emphasized the importance of students continuing to comply with COVID-19 guidelines in order to ensure that the rest of the semester goes smoothly.

“We got through I think some of the worst parts of [the pandemic], but it’s still a real challenge asking somebody to show up to work and work in a grill for eight hours a day with a mask on. That’s not easy to do… but so far this year [students have] been great as well, and that makes it a lot easier.”

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WATER POLO STAR & FRIEND from page 2 Alex had long enjoyed skiing together. As Max progressed in computer science, the brothers talked more often about technology together, and when Max visited Alex in California in the late winter they baked the same toffee chocolate chip cookies multiple times. Max was looking forward to the start of the St. Louis Major League Soccer team and excited to show him around new St. Louis restaurants, Alex said.

Even professors picked up on Max’s ability to balance work and life.

“He struck me as a very kind of renaissance kind of guy: a fierce competitor in water polo and an incredible scientist and intellect to boot,” Cytron said. After seeing Max’s success as a TA and in other classes, Cytron advised Max’s project for the computer science master’s project, which used data from education management service Canvas to predict student success and help support struggling students. The project was supposed to take just one year and be completed in the spring of 2020, but the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic swiftly changed things.

Max was undeterred. “He was interested in doing a really fine job with it, so he was happy to keep working on it,” Cytron said.

At one point during the master’s project research, there was a moment when Max discovered a flaw in the Canvas data—he had mistakenly included a set of incomplete records in the data analysis. But he

kept going. “He wasn’t the least bit set back by this,” Cytron said. “To his credit as a scientist, he faced it right away and said ‘Look, we have to redo all of this.’ And he did.”

Even those who did not get to know Max too well shared sentiments. Engineering professor Michael Brent, for whom Max worked as a teaching assistant in Algorithms for Computational Biology, praised Max’s contributions to the course. “He was an excellent and very conscientious TA who was a pleasure to interact with,” Brent wrote in an email to Student Life.

Max’s work and impact extended beyond the Danforth Campus.

Manish Boolchandani was a doctoral student at the Dantas Lab when Max joined him there in 2017. At first, Max did not have much experience in the coding tactics necessary for the computational biology work that interested him, but he was “a quick learner,” Boolchandani said. Max always came to lab meetings thoroughly prepared and often spent hours learning on his own to hone the skills he used at the lab. Even though Boolchandani was Max’s mentor, he said it often felt as if the two were simply colleagues, working side by side to solve tough problems.

The Bernstein family has established a scholarship, the Max Bernstein Memorial Endowed Scholarship, to support future students whose interests, like Max’s, bridge engineering and

medicine. Cytron said he appreciated the family’s choice to designate the scholarship specifically for that purpose. “I was really touched that they thought to set up the scholarship to help other people just like Max accomplish those kinds of goals,” he said.

Max’s legacy will continue on in other ways as well. Karahodzic, who still coaches club water polo in St. Louis, said that even though Max had not played high school-level water polo for six years, high schoolers still tell stories about his dominance.

What sticks with Karahodzic the most, however, is not Max’s water polo prowess nor the time they shared outside the pool. It is the memory of Max’s smile and laughter, which reminded him of a gleefully mischievous toddler. “It was the most contagious thing I’ve ever seen,” Karahodzic said.

That smile will be just one of the many things future computer science students will hear about Max, as Cytron said he looks forward to carrying on his legacy with future advisees. “I just can’t wait to tell them all about Max,” he said.

People can make gifts to the Max Bernstein Memorial Endowed Scholarship by going to gifts.wustl.edu and entering “Max Bernstein Memorial Scholarship” in the text box for gift donations or sending a check in the mail to Washington University, McKelvey Engineering, c/o Becky Pitzer, 7425 Forsyth Blvd, Suite 2555, St. Louis, MO 63105.

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4 STUDENT LIFE

FORUM

REILLY BRADY & JAMILA DAWKINS | SENIOR FORUM EDITORS | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

STAFF EDITORIAL

COVID-19 is still here: We need free, no-questions-asked testing

A

fter a year and a half of isolation, loss and hardship, returning to Washington University this week has been an overwhelmingly emotional and joyful experience for our staff and the campus community at large. We are thrilled to see some of our favorite aspects of what used to be “normal” campus life return — in-person classes, social gatherings, student organization events and even small traditions like Tuesday Tea. While this return to some semblance of normalcy is exciting, we still need resources to navigate that normal. Currently, there’s a specific area in which we insist that the University is not providing sufficient resources — testing.

The COVID-19 Response website states that vaccinated students can only receive free testing from the University if they are symptomatic or have been exposed to COVID-19.

Should other asymptomatic students simply want a single test, they are required to pay $50 and travel to a School of Medicine building at 1234 S. Kingshighway Boulevard, just southeast of Forest Park.

The Student Life Editorial Board strongly recommends that the University offer all students free access to asymptomatic testing immediately.

Mandating vaccination has allowed our community to exercise many of the freedoms that define the college experience. However, as Chancellor Andrew Martin himself wrote in his welcome email, “the notion of ‘normal’ may be something we never return to.” The pandemic is far from over, and in order to truly acknowledge that, the University needs to give students what they need to feel comfortable in a largely unrestricted environment, and that includes testing.

We are not asking for more restrictions — we’re asking for resources. Now that the vast majority of students are vaccinated in accordance with the University’s mandate, we believe that the ability to gather with friends, sit in a classroom and dine with others is vital for our mental health. However, knowing whether or not we’re carrying and possibly transmitting a potentially deadly disease to vulnerable populations in the greater

St. Louis community is just as important for easing anxieties.

We already know that students greatly appreciate increased access to testing.

The University instituted no-questions-asked walk-in testing in response to “the rising number of cases on campus, the growing number of students choosing to use outside testing and students failing to report symptoms to contact tracers” back in March. Students overwhelmingly expressed to Student Life that the resource improved their mental health.

“Any time a student feels at risk, they should have the opportunity to know whether or not they are positive or negative,” thensophomore Ruben Wagner said to Student Life in March. “I thought that that’s something we should have been doing since the beginning of the school year, so I’m glad they were finally able to get that instituted for the students.”

While vaccination has certainly lowered the risk of illness, the concern students have felt throughout the past year and a half have not completely gone away, especially

HN HOFFMAN | STUDENT LIFE

considering the potential for breakthrough cases, which legitimize vaccinated students’ desire for testing. By bringing students back to an in-person environment but not providing adequate testing resources, the University has effectively forced students to either pay $50 and travel fees to get tested off campus (which is unaffordable for many), falsely claim to have symptoms or known exposure or stay unaware of their COVID-19 status, which has

already created anxiety and discomfort for our Editorial Board members and peers.

Of course, students might instead choose to get tested outside of the University to avoid the $50 fee. However, as COVID-19 continues to devastate the region, incentivizing students to seek free testing elsewhere takes away much-needed resources from the St. Louis community. If the University truly intends to be ‘in St. Louis and for St. Louis,’ it must ensure that

we are doing everything we can to support the local community as it battles this virus rather than burdening it.

Some students may have no desire for asymptomatic testing and should be able to choose what is best for them while also having the optional resource available.

Testing is essential for the success, mental health and well-being of students as they continue to navigate this semester with a sense of cautious optimism.

AAVE and learning to speak like yourself JAMILA DAWKINS SENIOR FORUM EDITOR

O

nce, I asked a friend what race she would think I was if she heard my voice only. “I don’t know,” she said to me. “You don’t really sound like anything.”

I grew up shuffling between a catalog of different voices. At home, my

parents would mask their Jamaican accent with a more proper American one so my brother and I wouldn’t end up sounding different from our peers. (Although, naturally, their Patois would slip out every now and then –– that’s the reason why sometimes, I’m not sure whether or not to pronounce the “th” in “thyme.”) This was the voice I spoke most

HN HOFFMANN | STUDENT LIFE

of the time, although with my cousins and close family, we’d sometimes break into Patois to joke with one another.

I had another voice, though, that only came out when I was in majoritywhite spaces. Often the only Black person in any given group, I realized that some people liked it when I sounded a certain way.

Sassier, more audacious and indignant. I was Black –– Jamaican-American. That distinction mattered to me, but not to my white peers, who wanted me to sound like the Black people on TV. So I obliged, digging into AAVE (African American Vernacular English), into terms and caricatures that I thought might make me fit in. If I had something funny to say, I knew they’d laugh just a little harder if I wrapped my voice in a little

bit of Madea cosplay.

Because I was Black, I thought it was fine. I had as much a claim to these words as anyone else. But that wasn’t my voice. It wasn’t the way I spoke at home, with my closest friends or in my safest spaces. Not only was I not speaking like myself, I wasn’t speaking for myself, either. And I was reinforcing stereotypes (ones that were harmful to my own self) while doing so.

This experience, though not quite the same, is what comes to mind when I meet white people who punctuate every thought with “on god” and had a “periodt!” phase last year. I wish I could ask them: How did you speak before social media convinced you that you needed to sound like a walking Urban Dictionary? When you punctuate a joke with a little bit of AAVE, what

–– or who –– is the punchline, really?

In my case, I hoped speaking AAVE might help me fit into spaces that I never felt included me. It was both a tool to fit in and a source of guilt and confusion. But, in my experience, the nonBlack people who use it do so because it’s trendy or fun. Because the culture and humor and spirit of AAVE are enviable when taken out of the context of a culture that generally considers it to be a substandard language and its speakers ignorant for using it. It’s ironic that the only people who seem to be able to use AAVE without experiencing guilt, derision or other social consequences are non-Black people.

When that friend told me that I didn’t sound like anything, I suspect that what she really meant to say was that I sounded white

–– presumably, the default way to speak. But when I really sit down and try to imagine a person who doesn’t sound like anything, I don’t think of someone who “sounds white” –– I think of people who have a gap in their vocabulary where the newest trending AAVE phrase resides for two to three weeks at a time.

The way we speak isn’t something God-ordained, bestowed upon us at birth and impervious to change.

In my experience, it’s more like a series of very small, almost-unconscious decisions, like the way you form a habit. If you’ve ever tried to remove a problematic term from your vocabulary or struggled to stop starting every phrase with the word “um” or “like,” then you know that you can choose to speak however you want to.

Why not speak like yourself ?

Letter from the Forum editors: How to engage with the section REILLY BRADY AND JAMILA DAWKINS SENIOR FORUM EDITORS Dear Forum readers, To our long-time readers, welcome back; to our new readers, welcome! It’s nice to meet you! With the return to campus this fall has come some new changes to the Forum section that we would like to share with you: Previously, submissions

from current or past students, professors, administrators or other members of the Washington University community were referred to as “op-eds.” Over time, we realized—as other publications have—that this outdated term doesn’t make clear what these articles really are: opinion articles submitted to us by non-staff community members. To correct this, moving forward, these articles will be called “opinion submissions.” We hope

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

that this change will bring more clarity and encourage more submissions. To submit an opinion submission, email your written piece to forum@studlife. com. If you feel strongly about something happening on campus or have an experience to share, opinion submissions are a great way to communicate your thoughts and opinions with the WashU community.

Our goal is to include as many perspectives as

possible in Forum, from our campus community, students, alumni, faculty, staff and St. Louis residents alike. This semester, we are especially interested in professor/faculty columnists, so if you know a professor (or are yourself a professor) who would be interested in writing on a regular basis for the section, please reach out to us at forum@studlife.com.

Linked here is a feedback form which we will

Senior Forum Editors: Jamila Dawkins, Reilly Brady

Senior Scene Editors: Via Poolos, Julia Robbins Senior Sports Editor: Grady Nance Senior Cadenza Editor: Gracie Hime Senior Copy Editor: Grady Nance Multimedia Editors: HN Hoffmann, Jaden Satenstein

Editor-in-Chief: Matthew Friedman Managing Editors: Jayla Butler, Isabella Neubauer

Senior Social Media Editor: Sabrina Spence

link at the end of each Forum article we publish. This form will serve as an opportunity for readers to respond to the articles we run and provide suggestions for future improvement in the section as a whole. Feel free to be candid: we’re open to change and ready to learn.

Looking ahead toward the new semester, we are eager to publish opinion articles that provide a glimpse into the vibrant

and varied perspectives of the WashU community.

We thank you in advance for helping us make that a reality through your continued readership and engagement.

Best, Reilly Brady Senior Forum Editor Jamila Dawkins Senior Forum Editor

YOUR VOICE: SUBMISSIONS We welcome letters to the editor and opinion submissions from our readers. Submissions may be sent to forum@studlife.com and must include the writer’s name, class, and email or phone number for verification. We reserve the right to print any submission as a

letter or opinion submission. Any submission chosen for publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Student Life, nor does publication mean Student Life supports said submission.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

SCENE

STUDENT LIFE 5

OLIVIA POOLOS & JULIA ROBBINS | SENIOR SCENE EDITORS | SCENE@STUDLIFE.COM

Rooted in St. Louis: Behind the scenes with Cody Azotea THOMAS HUMPHREY STAFF WRITER

Washington University has a thriving botanical community.

Whether the plants are used as medicinal cures, vehicles for social change, as lab rats or for campus beautification, the University’s green thumb is prominent.

In interviews with the garden and landscape contingent of this community, one man comes up more than any other:

Cody Azotea. He is mentioned not only for his central role in developing the campus ecosystem, but also for his encyclopedic horticultural knowledge.

As the WashU account manager of Focal Pointe contractors, Azotea manages the nuts and bolts of campus landscaping, though he tries to stay behind the scenes. The job itself is rewarding enough for someone as passionate about plants as he is.

COURTESY OF CODY AZOTEA

A bloom from one of the rarest magnolias in North America, the ashei magnolia, which grows on WashU’s campus.

Azotea’s plant education began in his childhood. “I had grandparents on both sides [who were] into plants — my mother’s parents had a homestead … that was always around me in my youth,” he said. “I was always interested in it, but never thought of it as a career path.” He later applied to a landscape architect program on a whim.

Since starting his role at the University in the fall of 2017, Azotea said that many things have changed. New things are always being planted, and Azotea’s team is working to expand the diversity of plant material on campus.

While the campus’ status as an arboretum and its goal of a 35% canopy by 2025 drives tree plantings, lower shrub and perennial plantings have also proliferated since 2017.

“That’s the biggest thing that’s changed in the last three years. When I started there was a lot of bare mulch … Things have filled in,” Azotea said.

The changing seasons dictate Focal Pointe’s work. “Our roles are all based around University needs — in springtime that’s commencement,” said Azotea. Commencement

means making campus ready for pictures. “[It involves] a lot of maintenance items: keeping the weeds at bay, keeping a crisp edge, making sure the mowing looks well, mulching.”

Maintenance aside, commencement prep also requires artistry, and like a painter, Azotea must work with color.

“Red has to be in the color palette … and colors that complement red: whites, yellows, purples, silvers,” he said.

The temporary summer planting gives them a lot more flexibility. “[That’s] the great thing about annuals — in the summer environment you can plant things from around the world,” Azotea said.

While annuals might be easy, permanent plantings encounter more issues, especially in a city.

“The most challenging thing is the urban environment,” Azotea said.

“You never know what’s below ground.”

Azotea pointed out an area of such urban difficulties in front of Rebstock Hall. “If you see where the hedges come lower down, and the one tree is smaller, right underneath the tree was a steam-line leak.”

But every challenge is also an opportunity for improvement. Dead grass

COURTESY OF CODY AZOTEA

One of the many gardens on campus planted by Cody Azotea’s team, Focal Pointe.

is just an excuse to plant a new garden — in one instance, it just so happened that a replanting aligned with University priorities.

“Another goal of the Office of Sustainability is to reduce chemical use, which involves reducing turf,” Azotea said. Much more sustainable planted material now sits in the place of the steamed turf.

Other campus priorities factor into landscaping as well. “Security is a huge thing on campus — keeping sight lines open,” Azotea said. Focal Pointe keeps in communication with WUPD to ensure that the plantings do not hamper campus security.

When asked about his favorite plant on campus, Azotea could not pick one single answer.

Among his favorites are the dogwood, red oak and ginkgoes, all of which can be found on the WashU trees website.

He also mentioned some of the rarer trees on campus, such as the dawn

redwood. A so-called “living fossil,” it was only known as a fossil until a living specimen was discovered in a remote forest in China. Now it grows at WashU. The campus is also home to the magnolia ashei, which is one of the rarest magnolias in North America, found primarily in a few isolated locations in Florida, according to Azotea.

Finding such interesting trees for campus is not easy. Often, specimens will be shipped from out of state, then sent off to a local “contract grower.”

Several years later, once they are sufficiently grown, they are transferred to the University for planting.

Azotea is adamant that the rare species are important, noting that while tracking them down can be difficult, “trying to find unique specimens to bring to campus that you can put in front of the students and the faculty, that people can learn from — that’s a lot of fun.”

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6 STUDENT LIFE

SPORTS

GRADY NANCE & CLARA RICHARDS | SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Fall sports finally return this week: Here’s what coaches and players are saying about it GRADY NANCE SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

this long-awaited fall season.

After a nearly two-year long hiatus, fall sports are finally returning to Washington University.

From football to soccer to cross country, athletes have never been more excited to step back onto the field and compete with some modicum of normalcy. Given the stunning attendance this past Friday during a mere scrimmage for men’s soccer, fans are equally eager to see their teams back in action.

With that being said, much has changed since the last time these teams

How excited are the teams to return to competition?

finishes her golf swing at a Forest Park practice in March.

Our athletes are hungry…

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDLIFE Sophomore Caraline Oakley

competed.

New coaches like Aaron Keen have taken the helm, senior athletes have assumed leadership roles having not competed since sophomore year and, most importantly, unknowns loom large over all teams after such an extended break from competition. Student Life wanted to hear from the athletes and coaches themselves about their thoughts going into

Everyone’s very very excited to be back in the gym finally. You can just tell from the energy in the gym; I don’t know if it’s just coming from me, but we’re super, super excited to be back and playing…

I am beyond excited.

— Senior middle hitter Abby Li, volleyball

the emotional wear of COVID is very real, and so I think it’ll be, for all the teams and for all the students, whatever

you’re involved with on campus, I believe everything will be a little sweeter.

— Cross country head coach Jeff Stiles We’re just excited to play again. We have an extremely young team, we have a sophomore class now that hasn’t been able to play a true college season, we have a freshman class that hasn’t played a college season and we have a junior class that didn’t even get to complete a full year on campus. So we’re in this really unique position where our senior class has experienced playing, but we just have a really young class that’s kind of chomping at the bit to be able to play, so I think the general consensus is excitement.

— Senior defender Gabbie Cesarone, women’s soccer

How has the year without competition due to COVID-19 affected the team this year?

I feel like all the juniors are definitely in kind of an awkward spot because not many people play their freshman year and then obviously last year nothing happened. It’s definitely been weird to think that I’m the most senior quarterback on the roster — it’s kind of crazy to believe — but I’m definitely super excited and I’m ready to go.

— Junior quarterback Matt Rush, football I think it is a little bit more challenging just because we essentially have like two freshmen classes in terms of the now-sophomores don’t

really know a lot of the team cultures and traditions. So [we’re] trying to restart a lot of the things that we couldn’t do last year in terms of preseason activities. Just like the team culture, bringing that back together has been, it’s been fun.

— Senior runner Emma Walter, cross country After a year or two of not playing, and now we have a new head coach too, we’re kind of building from the ground up a new culture and team.

— Fifth-year defensive back JT Streepy, football

How has the senior class stepped up after a strange transition from underclassmen to team leadership roles?

All our seniors have been amazing. Building community has been led by the seniors… the newcomers don’t really know what it means to be on the soccer team, and I think that [the seniors] are setting a really high standard and their own behaviors. I couldn’t ask for more out of them.

— Men’s soccer head coach Joe Clarke I think it’s so weird because mentally, I feel like I’m an upperclassman, but I don’t feel quite like a senior yet just because COVID took that year away from me. But it’s been really fun to step into a leadership role and be able to kind of coach and lead more on the team because we have so many underclassmen.

— Abby Li [The seniors] have been doing a great job.

I’m super appreciative.

We have two very good senior classes on both sides. So they’ve just been doing a bang up job and I really appreciate it.

— Coach Stiles

What matchups or rivalries should fans be on the lookout for during the season?

There are three [teams] that have been to the Final Four over the last number of years at one

time or another, and they’ve come in to play against us [this year], one being North Park, one being Wheaton, and one being the University of Chicago. Those will be great matchups to watch.

— Coach Clarke I am really excited for East to West Battle, which is held at [Cal Lutheran], and we’re playing [Claremont

Mudd Scripps], Cal Lutheran and St. Benedict… I’m really excited to see what we’re made of against these top 10 teams right at the beginning of the season — Abby Li [Conference championships] will be fun, especially since we didn’t have it for track in the spring…

I’m looking forward to getting back to competing with those teams.

— Emma Walter I’m probably most

excited for University of Chicago, which is our first game, probably just because I’m excited to play again… it’s a little bit of a rivalry and it’s something I’m really looking forward to.

— JT Streepy I would say watch out for us just crushing it.

— Sophomore Caraline Oakley, golf The fall season kicks off Wednesday, Sept.

1, with four teams competing, followed by a full slate of matchups on Friday and Saturday.

GRACE BRUTON | STUDLIFE

Current senior Emma Walter races in the 800-meter event at the WashU Mini Meet in spring 2019.

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CADENZA

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

JORDAN COLEY & GRACIE HIME | SENIOR CADENZA EDITORS | CADENZA@STUDLIFE.COM

STUDENT LIFE 7

Over a year later, and we are finally bringing back the noise GRACIE HIME SENIOR CADENZA EDITOR After a year of stillness and silence in the Washington University performing and visual arts community, the PAD, a cappella and other performance events are back.

Although many groups adapted and transformed their art last year, we all miss the traditional experience of sitting in a theater, running into impromptu performances and seeing the hussle of stagehands preparing for a show. Many are taking this transition slowly, but it is exciting to see some semblance of normalcy. Here are a few sounds, reminiscent of easier times, that you may start to hear once again.

A cappella may be one of the most difficult things to transfer to a virtual platform. From performances to practices and even

finding a group dynamic, it is seemingly impossible. After many groups tried their hand at making online videos work, they may finally have the chance to create music together in person. As you walk around campus, keep an open ear to Mudd Field; with open air to mix voices and string together parts, we are anxious to see if groups will be back in action and practicing in public.

Holmes Lounge holds a special place in everyone’s heart because of its inviting ambiance and relaxing atmosphere. Home of jazz on the WashU campus, Holmes hosts many events throughout a normal school year — most notably, Jazz at Holmes. Jazz groups from all over the region are invited to perform for students and accentuate the traditional lounge scene.

The soothing sounds of the

saxophone and piano just might be enough to cure your midterm blues or seasonal depression. While Holmes was transformed into a stale study cubby space last semester, I have high hopes and expectations for the Lounge this year.

Every student in the class of 2024 has had to endure the limited BD playlist while trying to keep their sanity, and my hope for this year is that new background noise will bless our ears.

While there is no shame in repeating Elton John, Billy Joel and “More Than Words” by Extreme, I think it is also fair to acknowledge that BD is much noisier than it was last year, which is uplifting.

Of all places on campus, the Edison Theater was ironically one of the quietest buildings last year. The Performing Arts Department was virtual, and the theater was vacant.

GRAPHIC BY HN HOFFMANN | STUDLIFE

There wasn’t even the hustle and bustle of students passing through — it was a ghost town. Posters of upcoming performances from 2019 and 2020 still lingered in the silent halls.

This was a haunting setting, and I look forward to at least hearing people coming in and out and occupying the atmosphere of performance arts.

We are excited to see

life come back to campus through the arts. It’s taken a lot to support the fine arts department through COVID-19, but now we can look forward to the in-person sounds of their creations.

The ‘back to school spirit’ as told by song JORDAN COLEY SENIOR CADENZA EDITOR

Rainbow Dragon Keiynan Lonsdale

Now that we’re finally back on campus for the first time in a year and a half, the back to school season feels even more nostalgic than it usually does. All this sentimentality reminds me of three things: early 2010s music (school was so much more fun when I was 10), new beginnings and a return to old loves. So, being the music lover that I am, I now present to you five songs that feel like back to school to me. Some are old, some are new, some are popular and some are not. But they’re all bops.

Along with a new year comes new opportunities to reflect on what you value most and to continue being your most authentic self even as you grow and change. “Rainbow Dragon” finds Keiynan Lonsdale embracing the truest version of himself, regardless of what others think. As he sings “ain’t got no time, no time to lie/ we got to shine ‘cause we’re losing light/ and I’m the Sun who opens minds that open right to live this life,” it’s a reminder that life is too short to spend it hiding or in fear. Instead, we should live joyfully and genuinely, because it’s what we all deserve. I’m biased because Lonsdale is one of my favorite artists, but his groovy song is a wonderful celebration of inner strength that we could all use.

Best Song Ever One Direction You cannot look me in the eye and tell me this song doesn’t slap. The iconic boy band’s song is joyously infectious, and it always gets me excited for what’s to come, even if there are no epic parties in my near future. Regardless of how bad the incoming midsemester slump may be, you can always listen to this song with the hopes that this school year will be the best one ever.

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) Katy Perry We all know how easy it is for WashU students to make time for school and extracurriculars and nothing else, which is exactly why I included this song. College may feel all-consuming, but

it’s important to let loose and have fun—as some say “go crazy, go stupid.” In addition to being one of the best songs of 2010, “Last Friday Night” is an ode to unabashedly indulging in pleasure, even if it’s not always the responsible thing to do. As I try to make time for more joy in my life outside of school, the song makes me think of this: College is temporary, fun is forever.

Chanel Frank Ocean Frank Ocean’s discography has always been very somber, relatable and incredibly popular. This pick is a bit indulgent on my part, but “Chanel” is

just a wonderful song, and its mellow quality makes it perfect for relaxed listening.

Ocean’s chorus, which is simply “I see both sides like Chanel,” is definitely an earworm, but it’s also a good way to remember the importance

of not getting caught up in one perspective or behavior pattern. “Chanel” is an excellent choice if you need some chill studying vibes or if you just want to reminisce about Frank Ocean’s songs while waiting for him to release more music.

Waste of Emotion Elio Although the prospect of starting school again is exciting, the high stress and persistent anxiety that comes with classes is objectively not.

“Waste of Emotion” honors how easy it is to start overthinking and give into your negative emotions while also acknowledging that some things aren’t worth stressing about. In a few weeks, when school ramps up, it’ll be important to remember that there’s no point getting worked up over things you can’t control, and it’s important to engage in activities that help keep you calm and healthy. As Elio says in the song’s chorus, “my God what a waste of emotion … if it’s gonna be fine.”

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