The Emory Wheel Since 1919
Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 104, Issue 3
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Printed every other Wednesday
Emory to develop Indigenous studies program
Turkish, Syrian students organize earthquake's aftermath By Eva Roytburg and Meghan Gupte
News Editor and Contributing Writer
After a devastating Feb. 6 earthquake killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey and Syria as of Feb. 15, Elif Gencer (24C) said she and her fellow Turkish international students knew they couldn’t “just sit and cry,” skip classes and “lose” their mental health. Instead, Gencer said that she and her Turkish friends decided to fundraise, grieve and support each other throughout the earthquake’s aftermath. Students grieve for home
Courtesy of Emory University
Members of the Muscogee Nation sit on the Quad during the October 2022 teach-ins.
By Matthew Chupack and Madi Olivier Executive Editor and News Editor The Mellon Foundation awarded Emory University, which sits on land that the Muscogee Nation were forced to relinquish to the U.S. government in 1821, a $2.4 million grant. The College of the Muscogee Nation (CMN) (Okla.) will receive over $1 million from the grant to further foster a partnership between the two institutions. With the grant, Emory and CMN will cultivate “collaborative and independent programs,” promoting Native American and Indigenous studies as well as preserving the Mvskoke language, the University announced Feb. 14. Associate Professor of Anthropology Debra Vidali, who is a core faculty member for the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, said that the path to Indigenous studies at Emory has been “a journey of recognition, repair and learning how to be in good relations in the wake of the horrific and often erased histories of dispossession and genocide in this region of
the Southeast.” “This is an incredible moment for Emory,” Vidali wrote in an email to the Wheel. “To partner with, and welcome home, and move aside, so that the Muscogee Nation, Muscogee knowledge and Muscogee people may flourish here on their ancestral lands. This partnership opens up the possibility to unsettle or shift what it means to learn, listen and teach. It opens up the possibility for recognition of Muscogee sovereignty and Emory’s relation as a guest on Muscogee land.” Emory will work with CMN to develop an Indigenous studies minor, according to CMN President Monte Randall. “It's going to take a lot of research on both of our parts,” Randall said. “Just building those programs, determining what the need is across tribal nations, across the Muscogee Creek Nation, in terms of what courses and what classes are going to be best suited for the support of tribal sovereignty, in support of Indigenous language programs, arts, culture [and] leadership management.” Cahoon Family Professor of American History Malinda Maynor Lowery previously told the Wheel in
a Sept. 26, 2022 interview that she was working with CMN to create a Indigenous studies major and minor. She added in a Feb. 14 email to the Wheel that recognizing Emory’s history with the Muscogee Nation requires a united effort, not just the work of Indigenous people.
“This partnership opens up the possibility to unsettle or shift what it means to learn, listen, and teach.” — Debra Vidali, Associate Professor of Anthropology “While Indigenous studies matters to people all over the globe, it is a core tenet of the field’s approach to knowledge that we begin any academic study by engaging with those Indigenous people who belong to and carry responsibilities for the land where we reside, and that we account
See UNIVERSITY, Page 2
Several Turkish and Syrian students said they felt helpless hearing horrible news from home while being thousands of miles away. There was no cell service in the region when the earthquake hit, so Ilayda Baykan (26C) spent the day trying to contact people who could check on buildings where her friends and family reside. Though Baykan’s family remained safe, her close friends lost family members, which Baykan said “really hurts the heart.” “These people that are so close to me were suffering unimaginably and I was experiencing this firsthand with phone calls I made to them and everything,” Baykan said. “It’s just extremely tragic.” Others echoed Baykan’s sentiment, stating that the hardest part was watching the earthquake from afar. Hamit Tatari (26C), who is from Turkey, said it was “saddening” to be so far away from home during the crisis. “I’ve seen people saying their homes and the streets they used to live in smell like blood,” Tatari said. Ibrahim Jouja (22Ox, 25C) is both Turkish and Syrian, but most of his family is from Homs, Syria. He said his second cousin and her four children were missing for nearly a week. On Feb. 12, he learned they were dead. “That was really devastating because, in Syria, even though she was only my second cousin, it's very
connected and you know your family,” Jouja said. “She was roommates with my mom's best friends.” Emory University’s Office of Spiritual and Religious Life is holding a vigil on Feb. 15 at noon in Cannon Chapel for students, faculty and community members to grieve the earthquakes. Gencer along with other Turkish students will be speaking during the gathering. Policy sanctions impact aid Syria has also been sanctioned by the United States since 1979, which hinders the nation from receiving U.S. aid, Ameer Rifai (21Ox, 23C) said. As such, he worries that Syria might not get as much aid as Turkey due to foreign policy marred by tension and closed borders. “For Syria, the civil war is definitely playing a role in the speed that aid is getting to the people in the northwest,” Rifai said. However, the United States issued a 180-day exemption for sanctions on Feb. 9, meaning Syrians can temporarily receive aid for the earthquakes. Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology Kemal Budak (22G) added that donating to the right organizations, such as the Ahbap Foundation, is important. For those who may not trust the Turkish government, the fact that the money is going directly to the Ahbap Foundation has helped encourage donations, Budak explained. ”Unfortunately, the trust [in] the Turkish government is at an all time low level,” Budak said. A 2021 poll found that 53% of Turkish citizens do not have trust in the presidency. According to Budak, the Turkish government is “one of the main responsible parties for this earthquake.” Turkey and Syria are in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, Budak said, comparable to Japan. However, Japan’s earthquakes cause significantly less deaths than the earthquakes which devastated Turkey and Syria — which Budak
See STUDENTS, Page 3
SGA delays elections, announces candidates By Nica Leung Atlanta Desk The Student Government Association (SGA) Elections Board recently voted to postpone elections after an administrative delay in certifying candidate eligibility, according to SGA President Noah Marchuck (24C). Voting will be open from noon on Feb. 24 until noon on Feb. 27, three days later than originally scheduled, SGA Elections Board Chair Annie Skelton (21Ox, 23C) wrote in an email to the Wheel. Campaigning began on Feb 14. Students can expect to receive a link to vote through their school emails. “Before we do elections, we typi-
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cally do a check of the candidates just to make sure that they have no conduct violations,” Marchuck said. “After editing the Code of Elections, we decided that we're gonna do these conduct checks typically before campaigning, just so that people don't get disqualified in the middle of it and feel like their time has been wasted.” SGA election delays are not an uncommon occurrence, Skelton wrote, noting that last year’s election was postponed a month after the initial timeline was selected. The 2023 delay is a precautionary move, she added. “While campaigning could have begun without candidacy being certified, the Board thought it would be more disruptive for a candidate
to possibly be pulled out of the election mid-campaigning rather than to delay the start of campaigning by three days,” Skelton wrote. SGA Ranking Member and Presidential Candidate Khegan Meyers (24B) affirmed his trust in the Board’s decision, stating that they have worked hard to ensure that every candidate is eligible to run before a student puts their time and effort into a campaign. “I am happy they worked to change the elections code this year, including by being open to a legislator petition to remove the full-time enrollment requirement to be consistent with the Student Constitution,” Meyers wrote in an email to the Wheel. “I believe they are maintaining consis-
See ELECTIONS, Page 2
Gabriella Lewis/Managing Editor
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SGA VP
SGA President
Abigail Dubinski
MaKenzie Jones
Andrew Yang
Rizky Lubis
Jayden Davis
Khegan Meyers
CC VP
CC President
Muhammed Sami
Neha Murthy Daniel Nadel