The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
VOLUME 142, NO. 8
THE ELECTION EDITION
The stories of the students who powered campaigns before Election Day (Scene, pg 4)
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
‘It just shows school pride’: How the Bears got their teammates to vote (Sports, pg 6)
Should professors hold class on election day? (Forum, pg 7)
Republicans maintain hold on Missouri Campus as WU students vote using new process community organizes for higher turnout MATTHEW FRIEDMAN ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MORAD SULIMAN | STUDENT LIFE
Washington University students fill out their ballots on Election Day at the Athletic Complex. Approximately 2,500 students registered to vote between Aug. 1 and Oct. 14, and 1,309 people voted in-person at the AC Tuesday. This was the first year that St. Louis County voters could vote at any polling place in the county.
TED MOSKAL AND EM MCPHIE SENIOR NEWS EDITORS A streamlined voting process enabled a smooth Election Day for on-campus Washington University undergraduate voters, as Republicans swept Missouri's elections and won a swing House district just west of the University. Changes such as an increased number of voting machines and virtual queuing using QR codes kept lines down compared to the three-to-four hour wait times students experienced during the 2018 midterms. President Donald Trump won Missouri by more
than 15 percentage points, while Republican incumbents Governor Mike Parson, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and others each defeated Democratic challengers by double-digits, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In Missouri's First Congressional District, which encompasses the University and many of the neighborhoods nearby, Democrat Cori Bush, a nurse and activist who defeated 10-term incumbent Representative Lacy Clay in the August Democratic primary, won over Republican Anthony Rogers with nearly 80% of the vote. With her victory, Bush
became the first Black woman to ever join Missouri's congressional delegation. In St. Louis County, however, incumbent Representative Ann Wagner, a Republican, triumphed over challenger Jill Schupp by a 7-point margin, handing a loss to Democrats, who had hoped to flip the swing Second Congressional District. Missouri voters also passed a constitutional amendment that will undo a 2018 anti-corruption measure and rejected an amendment that would have instituted term limits for state executives who do not currently have them. Sophomore Brooke Simpson said that she voted at the Athletic Complex (AC) at 1:45
p.m. and did not have to wait in line. WashU Votes Outreach Chair Otto Brown was present at the AC for most of the morning. Brown said that lines were fairly long early in the morning, but died down around 10 a.m. “Overall, my experience was very streamlined and convenient,” Simpson said. “It was really helpful that my professors cancelled class so that I could make time to go vote.” College Democrats president senior Arik Wolk said he was glad to hear positive feedback about the voting process after many students experienced long lines at the AC in 2018.
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 2
When Lindsay Gassman was a second year student at Washington University in the fall of 2018, she noticed that few of her peers were thinking ahead about voting in the upcoming midterm elections. The midterms generated some energy and enthusiasm on campus, she recalled, but the elections were not at the forefront of the student body consciousness. This year, attitudes surrounding the election have shifted. Even though there are fewer students on campus, the change is still noticeable. Now the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement’s Voter Engagement Fellow, Gassman has been getting emails since the summer from freshmen who are eager to register to vote. “This year, people seem to be much more proactive about voting,” Gassman said. “It seems like there are a lot more students taking proactive steps, getting informed and getting involved.” That planning and engagement bodes well for voter turnout on campus. Just 52.5% of eligible students voted in 2016 and 41.8% in 2018, but this year, WashU Votes, Gephardt’s voter engagement partner, has set a goal of having 62.5% of eligible students vote. As students went to the polls Tuesday, there was optimism that student voter turnout would increase from past years to meet that goal. “I think we can definitely hit that,” sophomore Otto Brown, the outreach chair for WashU Votes, said. “There’s a lot of energy around voter engagement, turnout and registration.”
SEE VOTING, PAGE 3
Washington University donors met in person for event advertised as virtual MATTHEW FREIDMAN ASSOCIATE EDITOR Washington University administrators approved and hosted an in-person event with catered alcohol and at least a dozen people inside Brauer Hall last Wednesday afternoon, just days after the University increased its alert level to orange and as strict guidelines for other events remain in place. The event, a ceremony for the installation of a professor, came as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the St. Louis area reached a second peak. A University representative at the ceremony described the event as “mission-critical,” but the University did not provide an explanation of why it was deemed necessary to hold the event in person. In an email to Student Life on Friday afternoon, Interim Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Julie Flory described the ceremony as “a small, approved event,” writing that
“while there are currently restrictions in place regarding on-campus gatherings, there are a limited number of small events that may be approved.” According to the University’s Danforth Campus events and meetings protocol website, “Indoor events/meetings will be limited to a capacity of 10 or less, and require approval.” There is no mention of indoor events with more than 10 people or of an approval process for events of that size. “Indoor events/ meetings are generally discouraged,” the rules continue. Although University policy is that “Food and beverage are not permitted under any circumstance, catered or individual,” there were large bottles of alcohol present at last Wednesday’s event. Flory did not respond specifically to inquiries about the presence of the alcohol. The event was a ceremony for the installation of Philip V. Bayly as the Lee Hunter Distinguished Professor and Chair
of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Material Sciences. On the University’s Happenings website, it was listed as a virtual event, with instructions for guests to register by Oct. 20 and a note that they would receive a link to a YouTube event after registering. The event registration page was on the University Advancement website, which is typically used for alumni and donor relations. Stephen and Camila Brauer, the namesakes of Brauer Hall, were also the donors responsible for Bayly’s endowed professorship. Senior Director of Special Events Gina Tramelli said that Brauer family members were in attendance Wednesday, including multiple children. Flory wrote that the event only included “a limited number of guests,” but did not provide a specific number, since it was a private event. Tramelli confirmed there were more than a dozen people in attendance.
Tramelli said last Wednesday that the event was initially planned to be outdoors, but that it was moved inside because of bad weather. Last Wednesday’s weather was in the 40s, with rain in the morning that tapered off by afternoon. In a second email Friday, Flory did not respond to a question regarding the mission-critical nature of the event and the rationale for it to be held in person. “We’re hoping to be able to revise our guidelines—including the number of guests and catering—to allow more small events as we head into the spring semester,” she wrote. Flory also noted that some guests were from the same family or household, allowing them to stand close together indoors. A Washington University Police Department officer outside the event space said that the University had reserved the space outside Brauer and that the Student Life reporter present had to leave
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because he was standing on private property. Some students expressed concern upon hearing of the event. “[I am] a little ticked off, just because they’ve been so strict with our rules and guidelines on the South 40,” freshman Ankit Chhajed said Friday. “I feel that if [the University] is allowed to do that for certain exceptions, then we should be allowed an exception.” Flory drew an analogy between last Wednesday’s event and some smaller, in-person events that the University is planning for students over Thanksgiving break. It is unclear whether the University has held other similar events on campus since the start of the pandemic. According to Monday’s update of the University’s Danforth Campus COVID-19 dashboard, there were 20 active coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 120 cases since Aug. 1. Additional reporting by Em McPhie