Old Gold&Black “Covers the campus like the magnolias”
WA K E F O R E S T ’ S S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 1 6
VOL 110 , NO. 14
Student Government announces 2024 election results New officers will begin their term on May 1 MADDIE STOPYRA Editor-In-Chief
In an uncontested race, junior Hannah Elluru was elected student body president on April 10. She and those elected in the three other executive positions — speaker of the house, treasurer and secretary — will begin their term on May 1. “I am both honored and excited to serve as Wake Forest's next Student Body President,” Elluru said. “It is a big role to take on, but I am looking forward to stepping into this position and continuing to advocate for my peers and the place we all call home.” Like Elluru, junior Wyatt Strassmann was elected speaker of the house in an uncontested race. He shared that he is eager to begin his term and work with the other executive officers over the summer. “I'm truly honored to be elected and excited to start my term as Speaker,” Strassmann said. “My main goal at the moment is to hit the ground running on initiatives that matter to the student body. As an exec team, we're going to start this work right now and continue into the summer so we can get off to a great start next year.” He continued: “I know that we will work hard to fulfill the p l a n s
we laid out during the campaign, and collaborate with one another to further improve life on campus. I look forward to working with Hannah, Bayla, Shelby and our other student leaders in SG.” Unlike student body president and speaker of the house, the races for treasurer and secretary positions were contested. junior Shelby Balmer was elected treasurer against junior Micah Bozkurtian. While she commends the work of her predecessor Tim Erday, Balmer is excited to make the position of treasurer her own. “I am excited to get to work next year,” Balmer said. “I am so proud of the work Tim and the rest of SBAC has been doing this year and I cannot wait to be back on campus and work on making sure SBAC is for everyone! SBAC applications are open now and anyone with an interest is encouraged to apply.” In a race against sophomore Blake Sterling, junior Bayla Sheshadri was elected student government secretary. With promoting Student Government visibility as a priority, Sheshadri is eager to begin her term. “I am incredibly grateful to represent the student body through the office of Secretary,” Sheshadri said. “This upcoming year, I am Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black
looking forward to bettering Student Government visibility and access to students, collaborating with campus organizations, increasing accessibility efforts and bettering information dissemination. As we have begun preparation for the upcoming school year, I am confident that next year will be a time of positive growth and development for the University and its students. I look forward to getting to work with such an amazing executive team!” In addition to executive positions, senators were chosen during the election. Like the new executive officers, senators will begin their term on May 1 — the last day of classes. Here are the results, according to the Student Government Instagram. Class of 2025 Senators: Lillie Davenport Maureen Murray Stella Ross Class of 2026 Sentors: Salvatore Cascio Nandini Dube Theresa Murphy Samantha Servin Amaya Williams Class of 2027 Senators: Hailey Auster Ayden Boucher Maddox Braue Jazlynn Carela Mary Brooks Hall Cate Hardin Emily Kilgallen Kevin Lee Thomas Long Gray Lowder Evan Lichtenstein Carter McDonald Camille Rogers Hanna Shakarov Jaxson Williams Contact Maddie Stopyra at stopmf21@wfu.edu
NEWS Faith Forum discusses Christian perspectives Page Four
FEATURES London through the eyes of Tolkien Page Six
What's Inside
ENVIRONMENT Fungi Fest is held during Earth month Page Nine
OPINION We shouldn't glamourize "Work Forest" Page Eleven
APRIL 18, 2024
PBS Foreign Correspondent Nick Schifrin discusses global conflicts and reporting with empathy SHAILA PRASAD Deputy Editor
PBS Foreign Correspondent Nick Schifrin was a senior at Columbia University when the first of the twin tower fell on Sept. 1, 2001. He was managing editor of The Daily Spectator and a history major — though he likes to joke that his professors would say he majored in the newspaper. The morning of 9/11, Schifrin went from trading an advertising space in the paper for free pizza to hearing and telling stories he would never forget. Members of The Daily Spectator’s staff were told not to report on the ground of the attacks due to safety concerns. Instead, the student reporters wrote short vignettes about the experiences of those near the University — including Columbia students and people on the street. According to Schifrin, the most impactful ones included a bartender whose girlfriend was missing and the video game room where students were playing on their computers and consoles while the aftermath of the atrocities raged outside. “[I now have] this belief that even [for] the biggest story in the world, the most impactful or most memorable stories can be the smallest,” Schifrin said, who, as a senior in college, didn’t know the breadth of international conflicts he would cover in his career, in which this motto would continue to hold true. The Face to Face Speaker Forum hosted its Annual Appreciation Event on April 10, where Schifrin spoke about his perspective on past and current global events — including the IsraelHamas war and Russia-Ukraine war — as well as the importance of empathy throughout his journalism career. The event was closed to the public, with only Wake Forest donors, the Board of Trustees and certain members of the administration invited.
See Face to Face, Page 3
SPORTS No. 12 Baseball bests Boston College Page Fourteen
ARTS & CULTURE Wakeville arts festival celebrates year two Page Seventeen