The Emory Wheel Since 1919
Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 106, Issue 14
Printed every other Wednesday
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Q&A: Sears Oxford London program takes students across the pond B F B experience a new culture, a new way the next two years.” addresses DEI, Contributing Writer of taking care of patients and then Palomino said he was excited for also immerse myself in the historical the first cohort of Oxford Launch stuopen expression Across the Atlantic Ocean, Oxford landmarks and museums available in dents, or “guinea pigs,” to experience a College piloted its Oxford Launch: London,” Parekh said. more globalized academic perspective, London program this fall semester. Throughout the semester, stuin London, which he said in first interview 43 first-year students spent their first dents took two courses, including a especially is a meaningful destination for him. y
By Ellie Fivas and Spencer Friedland Editor-in-Chiefs When Emory University's Interim University President Leah Ward Sears (80L) received a call from Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Goddard III in April, she immediately knew why the chairman was calling: Goddard was going to ask Sears to serve as Emory’s next interim president. Sears convinced herself to consider the offer and ultimately decided to take up the mantle as the University’s first Black female president. In May, a university-wide statement announced that then-President Gregory Fenves would step down as president and assume the long-dormant position of chancellor. In his stead, the Board of Trustees appointed Sears, then a veteran trustee, as interim president. To take the role, Sears left her job as a partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, an Atlantabased law firm. Sears joined the University administration amid a tumultuous time across higher education and at Emory. Since assuming the role, Sears has led the University through several highly impactful decisions for the Emory community: ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, controversy surrounding the revised
See INTERIM, Page 3
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semester at Emory University studying in London. Associate Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Pablo Palomino and Associate Professor of English Sarah Higinbotham led the program. Emily Zhao (27Ox) called the program a “cool experience” that helped her pursue her academic goals in a new location and culture. She said the unique opportunity of spending her first semester abroad motivated her to choose Emory. Zhao recounted experiences from the program, including cruising down the River Thames, watching fireworks on Guy Fawkes Day and exploring the Greenwich community. “I’ve never really traveled before,” Zhao said. “I thought it would be a really cool experience to study abroad in such a historical, diverse, giant city across the world.” Aarav Parekh (27Ox) said he joined the program to gain a global perspective on his academic interests. For him, this meant learning about London’s medical and healthcare industry. “When I came to London, I was looking for that experience, trying to
Discovery Seminar Course,
Palomino designed his courses for the London program to involve the location itself. “London, a very important location, both in terms of the historical content in the city that speaks to my work, and also in terms of the archival material that is available here, and in terms of pedagogy, in terms of the stories I can discover and share with with my students about the globalization of music and the globalization of food, which are the two topics I am teachOlivia Piri/Staff Illustrator ing in this semester here,” with either Palomino or Higinbotham Palomino said. in addition to three other classes Palomino emphasized that he hopes taught by International Education of students take away from his classes a Students credentialed faculty. unique learning experience that can The cohort took part in an orien- only be found in a place like London. tation on the Oxford campus before “I hope they gain the sense of inteldeparting for London and completing lectual ambition that no one is conanother orientation abroad. Parekh fined from the first day into their called the orientation “brilliant” in perceived or expected limits or paths connecting London students with stu- that they had in mind when registering dents on the Oxford campus. to college,” Palomino said. “I really, really like that Oxford This semester, Palomino taught a College did that for us,” Parekh said. seminar focusing on food and the his“It gave us a baseline of the kids that we’re going to be hanging out with for
See STUDENTS, Page 2
Sears provides reason for Ahad's 2-year provost term By Spencer Friedland Editor-in-Chief When Interim University President Leah Ward Sears (80L) announced that former Oxford College Dean Badia Ahad would become Emory University’s next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, the announcement stated that Ahad’s term would last only two years. Compared to its peer institutions, Emory has a higher turnover rate among higher-level administrators, with the University having more provosts than any of its peers since 2000. Sears said that she hopes to “stabilize” the University’s leadership. Before Ahad’s appointment, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Lanny Liebeskind had been serving as interim provost since the start of 2025. Sears said in an interview with The Emory Wheel the University’s search for a provost had “failed” for reasons she could not disclose. According to Sears, she did not want to wait longer to find a permanent provost. Instead, she chose to appoint Ahad without an official search, which was part of the reasoning behind her two-year term. “We needed someone to come in immediately and fix things and get
See CANDLER, Page 2
Oxford requests permit to build dorm, opening delayed By Eileen Zhu Contributing Writer Oxford College hopes to build a new dorm on its campus to replace the Jolley Residential Center (JRC), which Emory constructed in 1955. At a City of Oxford, Ga., public hearing on Nov. 17, Emory University Landscape Architect James Johnson shared an updated timeline for the project and added that the college has requested a formal permit to complete construction. The new dorm’s development follows student complaints of mold in 2024. When the University first announced the new dorm in 2024, Vice President for Campus Services and Chief Planning Officer Robin Morey said the construction would be completed by 2026. During the meeting, Johnson discussed the project’s timeline, which differed from Morey’s original statement. “We are likely a year away from construction and two years to occupancy,” Johnson said. “The JRC would not come down until 2029 at the earliest.” At Monday’s public hearing, Johnson presented Oxford’s development plan to Oxford Mayor David Eady and other council members. The plan includes building a four-
Courtesy of Emory University
Oxford College's construction plan for a new dorm includes the demolition of Jolley Residental Center after completion. story dorm in the current Haygood Hall parking lot. Once the new dorm construction is complete, the plan calls for the demolition of the JRC. As it stands, the JRC is 87,000 square feet, while the new building is to be 99,800 square feet, according to Johnson. The plan also includes converting the JRC area into a green rec-
reational space, creating additional parking spaces between Moore Street and Stone Street and demolishing Dooley’s Tavern with a plan to rebuild it in the basement of the new residential hall.Kelly Zhang (27Ox) shared that she was excited to see new construction plans for replacing the JRC. “A lot of my friends they live in
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JRC and they’re always complaining. … Sometimes the AC doesn’t work, and there’s not enough washers or dryers, compared to the other newer buildings,” Zhang said. “Adding a new residential hall will make the school a bit more modern.” During the hearing, Emory’s construction team requested two zoning rule variances that the City of Oxford required for the current construction plan. One of which calls on the city to make an exception to a rule limiting buildings to three stories. “We need the height variance because the northern wing of the building sits within the institutional campus transitional area,” Johnson said. The second variance requested the city to grant another exception to the stream buffer along the construction perimeter. A stream buffer is an area of undeveloped land next to a stream that mitigates environmental damage from runoff. Johnson proposed reducing the 25-foot buffer zone to 18 feet. The college’s current aim for a stream buffer is to act as a filter for nearby Turkey Creek. Many council members expressed concern about the request to reduce the stream buffer, as additional parking spaces would increase runoff, worsening pollution and erosion in
A&L
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the area. Council members were also worried that approving these exceptions for Oxford College would put them under pressure to approve similar variances in the future. However, Senior Project Manager at Eberly and Associates Antonio Sample, a contractor working on the project for the University, explained that he did a hydrology study that indicated the construction will have a net positive environmental impact. “Our study shows that we’ll be able to meet or exceed your stormwater ordinance,” Sample said. “We are going above that by providing fire retention areas and forms of green infrastructure to collect surface runoff.” The city council will take a formal vote on Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m. Patel mentioned the importance of maintaining the balance between student and community priorities. Paawan Patel (26Ox) shared how fascinating it was to learn about the debates surrounding the construction of the new buildings. “I hope they are ultimately able to build this new building, but with minimal impact on the outside community,” Patel said.
— Contact Eileen Zhu at eileen.zhu@emory.edu
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