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LOUISIANA’S BEST LSU football defeats in-state opponent McNeese 63-14 in full-roster effort. Photo by Alexis Persicke
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SENT THEM WEST
LSU football secures victory over McNeese to close out non-conference slate BY MARISSA REISS Staff Writer LSU football drove to an enormous 35-0 lead on the scoreboard in the first half to open its game against McNeese in Tiger Stadium on Saturday. The Tigers, who entered ranking No. 11, cruised to a 63-14 victory over the Cowboys during its Week 5 matchup in the third time the two programs have faced off. The dominance over the Cowboys gave every area of head coach Lane Kiffin’s $40 million roster a chance to shine. Freshman wide receiver Corey Barber Jr. was one of the few new faces that came up big over the Cowboys. Barber found 2 back-toback touchdowns in the second quarter of the game — his first 2 touchdowns as a Tiger. Ending the first half, he totaled 45 yards and completed all 4 of his targets from quarterback Sam Leavitt. Barber completed the game with 83 total yards and went 7-for-7 on targets. “Corey’s done a great job,” Kiffin said. “[He] went and dropped two easy touchdowns, and so we put Corey in. Corey stepped up. I actually started him in a series after that.” Running backs Harlem Berry and Stacy Gage found themselves in the top two spots for LSU’s rushing on the night. Berry totaled 125 yards and completed 1 touchdown with a career-high of 15 carries while Gage followed behind with 110 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dilin Jones also added 79 yards and a touchdown. With crucial absences on LSU’s defense including linebacker Whit Weeks, who suffered a fractured leg versus Texas A&M in week 5, LSU had to
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LSU football redshirt junior quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) throws the ball Oct. 3 during LSU’s game against McNeese at Tiger Stadium. find a way to keep a little bit of pressure on McNeese’s offense. “Losing Whit [Weeks] was [detrimental] to us,” freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds said. “I know the things that Whit was saying and how he would go about it. I kept that in my head — Whit’s voice — because he’s a big piece of our team and we’re definitely missing him. I even stepped up to a bigger role in being more vocal.” McNeese wouldn’t find its first points on the scoreboard until the third quarter of the game. An interception in the first three minutes of the contest immediately set the course against McNeese coming into Death Valley. Junior safety Tamarcus Cooley snagged a ball that the Cowboys’ starting quarterback Jake Strong had intended for wide receiver Kameron Senegal at LSU’s 31. From the turnover, the Ti-
ALEXIS PERSICKE / The Reveille
LSU football redshirt sophomore Stacy Gage (23) scores a touchdown Oct. 3 during the 63-14 win over McNeese at Tiger Stadium.
gers’ liveliness was evident. Jones was the star behind LSU’s first drive as the Tigers took an early 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown within 5 minutes of the game’s start. What could have been another touchdown moments later became a drop in the end zone. A clear pass from Leavitt intended for Winston Watkins Jr. with 6 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first quarter couldn’t remain under his control. The incomplete pass was made up about 3 minutes later. Leavitt passed to tight end Roman Mothershed for another 1-yard touchdown, his first touchdown as a Tiger following his transfer from Troy. Leavitt’s lone interception on the night then came on a pass that was intended for Eugene Wilson III at the 2-yard line. The Cowboys’ senior cornerback Lorenzell Dubose forced the turnover. Landen Clark got time at quarterback early into the second quarter and scored his own 3-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 21-point advantage. McNeese couldn’t find an answer. Another quick 3-and-out handed LSU possession once more and posed trouble for the Cowboys. McNeese totaled 5 three-and-out drives in the first half and risked falling victim to the point gap that the Tigers’ potent offense had created once more. Concluding the game, the Cowboys tallied 7 three-andouts. The Tigers ended the first half with a whopping 35-point advantage after Leavitt passed to Barber for a 6-yard touchdown to record his first of the night. Barber found his second touchdown of the half with 57 seconds left on the clock to add on to McNeese’s misery before the break. A 12-yard pass from Leavitt went straight into the
left corner of LSU’s end zone that he managed to shuffle into. The second half got slightly better for McNeese, but not nearly enough to defeat the Tigers in their home territory. With 4 minutes, 48 seconds left in the third quarter, McNeese’s offense finally found a chance to avoid the looming shutout. McNeese’s freshman quarterback Brady Barrier was granted playing time in the second half, and connected with Jamaal Levi for a 43-yard touchdown that finally got a number other than zero next to McNeese’s name on the scoreboard. Still, the Tigers leveraged a 49-7 lead following a 1-yard run into the end zone from Geralds and 11-yard rush by Berry — until McNeese scored once more. A 64-yard Cowboys’ rush for Levi ended in a second consecutive touchdown drive for McNeese just over a minute later. Nonetheless, the LSU offense continued to do what it had done all game — drive up the point gap. “I know you’re supposed to win these games big, but that doesn’t always happen,” Kiffin said. “Maybe you do well in the first half, but you come out flat in the third quarter. I thought our guys responded really well out of the locker room.” Gage recorded a 46-yard touchdown that moved the Tigers to a 56-14 edge with around 13 minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. He rushed again for 39 yards 2 minutes later and the Tigers had 62 points on the board. Kicker Scott Starzyk completed the extra point to get LSU to 63 points on the Tigers’ final scoring drive. Starzyk completed all 9 of his extra point attempts throughout the night. The Tigers, now 4-1, hit the road for Week 6 to take on Kentucky on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.
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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS The Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure its readers the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes that may have been printed in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified, please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or email editor@lsu.edu.
ABOUT THE REVEILLE The Reveille is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. A single issue of The Reveille is free from multiple sites on campus and about 25 sites off campus. To obtain additional copies, please visit the Office of Student Media in B-39 Hodges Hall or email studentmedia@ lsu.edu. The Reveille is published biweekly during the fall, spring and summer semesters, except during holidays and final exams. The Reveille is funded through LSU students’ payments of the Student Media fee.
NEWS RAYS THE BAR
LSU awarded $20 million to build first X-ray facility of its kind in U.S.
BY ABIGAIL ANDERSON Staff Writer LSU has been awarded a Midscale Research Infrastructure award for $20 million from the National Science Foundation. The funds will go toward building an X-ray facility located on Jefferson Highway called the Laboratory for Next-Generation X-ray Science and Technology, or LaNeXT. According to an LSU press release, the X-ray will “allow researchers to watch some of nature’s fastest processes as they happen.” Regardless of concentration, students of all science backgrounds will benefit from the facility. For example, biologists and life scientists can use the machine to freeze cells or proteins at a molecular level before they have a chance to change, allowing biologists to follow the process. At the other end of the spectrum, the machine can refine, identify and test different mechanical parts before engineers use them in production. “If I were a student now, let me say it like this: I am so jealous of LSU students because I would like to work as an LSU student right now,” Gerald Schneider, chemistry professor and leader of the LaNeXT team, said. Schneider came up with the idea after realizing there were gaps in technology and science that needed to be filled. He gathered some of his colleagues, and together they crafted a team to rally for this facility. The process officially started on Oct. 1, 2025. Leading up to that, the team had to attend workshops to meet requirements. Afterward, there was a pre-application process in 2024, followed by
page 3 CRIME
Damien Shanklin named in 2025 rape
STAFF REPORT
JORJA ETHRIDGE / The Reveille
The Chemistry and Materials Building sits Oct. 4. a full proposal in 2025. In January 2026, a prerecorded presentation was sent to NSF. The presentation included a virtual tour of the facility that used work from LSU graphic design students. The X-ray facility is based on research from scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and is being built in partnership with the university. According to the press release, UT Austin pioneered the contact laser-plasma approach that the X-ray facility will be based on. Schneider explained that this technology is the first of its kind, not only in the South but across the United States. Members of other universities do not have access to X-ray facilities like this, meaning scientists, researchers and students will have to travel to Louisiana to complete their experiments.
“The research advances LSU will be able to achieve with these new capabilities puts our researchers, students and partners at the forefront of materials and particle science,” Chancellor Jim Dalton said in a statement. In the press release, Dalton added that this award places LSU alongside top 50 research institutions. In addition to UT Austin, UC Berkley is a collaborator as well, including technology from Stephen Leone, professor of physics and chemistry. Schneider said the technology will possibly help make the next generation of iPhones even better with the help of the nanometer process, a process that can only be built with information found under the X-ray facility. According to Schneider, there has been discussion of bringing the semiconductor industry back
to the U.S., as it is currently being outsourced, because there is not enough structural space available to account for the large amount of power being produced. Semiconductors are used to create transistors that form the circuits inside the iPhone that allow it to work. Having the structural space to craft these tiny pieces of machinery would bring back the semiconductor industry, helping to grow AI, as well as making computer chips in-house. LaNeXT will provide an ultrafast camera that can capture these changes while they happen. “If you want to put a rocket [into space], you need a bigger facility, and that’s the next step to essentially enable science and technology that fits every need,” Schneider said. “And we do it with LaNeXT. So this is not for free. I am certain we can get this done.”
The attorneys of LSU football player Damien Shanklin issued a statement on Thursday maintaining the student-athlete’s innocence in the 2025 rape of a female student at his on-campus dorm, according to WAFB. “Damien Shanklin maintains his innocence regarding the events that occurred on October 18, 2025 and will fully cooperate with the criminal investigation,” the attorneys, Grant L. Willis and Morgan H. Johnson, said in the statement. Shanklin, a defensive end who is currently listed on LSU football’s 2026 roster, was accused of rape last year by a then-freshman student. An investigation through LSU’s Office of Civil Rights & Title IX, opened in January 2026, found Shanklin responsible for the rape. Shanklin was originally suspended from the university for two semesters. After Shanklin appealed this decision, however, the review judge modified the sanctions to “disciplinary actions, without restrictions,” changing the punishment to four semesters of probation. Shanklin played in five games during the 2025 football season. The student, whose TikTok videos about her experience with LSU Title IX’s investigation have gained national attention, filed a criminal complaint against Shanklin in September. The investigation is ongoing, and Shanklin has not been criminally charged.
CRIME
Man arrested for allegedly raping two women on campus BY MADELYN LONG Deputy News Editor LSU Police Department arrested a man after he allegedly raped two women on campus this weekend. Ty’Juan Bovie, 26, was charged with two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of unlawful purchase of alcohol on behalf of persons under 21 for an incident on Friday. After the sexual assaults were reported on campus Saturday morning, LSUPD began investigating. According to an incident report, both victims were interviewed. The two victims told investiga-
tors that they picked up Bovie and he purchased alcohol from a local convenience store. One of the victims said the group drank for multiple hours. According to the arrest report, the first rape occured early Saturday morning. One of the victims told investigators that they did not give consent to Bovie and repeatedly tried to push him off. Bovie then allegedly raped the second victim, which the first victim partially recorded on a cell phone, according to an incident report. Detectives were able to review the cell phone footage and arrest Bovie after searching his apartment.
After the arrest, Bovie was interviewed about both alleged rapes. Detectives said that Bovie claimed the first victim “gave him physical or nonverbal cues that he interpreted as consent,” but never gave verbal consent, according to the incident report. The incident report says that Bovie could also not identify specific behavior when asked to explain what he interpreted as consent. Bovie also admitted in the interview that the second victim was incapacitated and did not give consent at the time of the second rape. Bovie was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and his bail has yet to be set.
SAVANNA ORGERON / The Reveille
An LSU Police car parks behind the Campus Public Safety building on Aug. 25, 2021 on South Stadium Drive.
Monday, October 5, 2026
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After leaving apartheid, this former professor used rugby to unite BY PAYTON PRICHARD Contributing Writer When Johannesburg, South Africa, native Rob Haswell arrived on campus in 1970, driving his old, battered Volkswagen Beetle, he wasn’t expecting to become a popular LSU geography professor. Nor was he expecting more than a dozen Ku Klux Klan members to attend his class in hopes of hearing about the ongoing apartheid segregation in South Africa. After setting the record straight — that no racial prejudices were to be spewed from his lips — Haswell began to introduce something entirely new to their narrow, American minds. Rugby. The young professor was the start of the LSU Rugby, laying the foundation of a brotherhood that continues to thrive on a modern campus under new South African leadership. Haswell was born to a Welsh mother who loved rugby and an English father who ran a greyhound racing business in South Africa, so despite his 5-foot-4 frame, he was destined to play sports. Haswell was determined to prove himself by excelling at one of the roughest, toughest sports his country had to offer. “[My father] was not impressed by that,” Haswell said. “He would say to me, ‘Robert, you’ve got brains. Why are you playing that stupid game? Those big guys will kill you.’” Those big guys didn’t kill him. They helped form a player who wasn’t afraid to embrace his underdog status and continue to challenge bigger, stronger and more experienced teams and players alike. For years, Haswell treated rugby as his main occupation, even throughout university. Toward the end of his education, he became eager to escape the rising political tensions in South Africa. Apartheid, a system of racial segregation, was at its height and Nelson Mandela was in his
third year of imprisonment. Haswell wrongly assumed that the United States would be an escape from that mindset, and after graduating with a degree in geography from Wits University, he made an 8,771-mile journey in hopes of new beginnings in Carbondale, Illinois. What’s of interest to a South African in Carbondale? Not much. Except for the 1967 Southern Illinois University NIT Championship men’s basketball team, and a graduate assistantship program in geography. “My first introduction to American sport was basketball,” Haswell said. “I got to watch it a lot, and I appreciated the different kinds of passing. In rugby, we hadn’t scratched the surface of how to pass a ball.” As 1970 rolled around, he finished his master’s degree and had nowhere to go, no job and a young family to support. Thankfully, an anthropology professor at SIU lent Haswell a helping hand. “He took out a 10-dollar bill, and he put it in my hand,” Haswell recalled. “He said, ‘Have a shave and have a haircut. I’ve arranged for you to go down to Baton Rouge for an interview.’” Haswell got in his Volkswagen Beetle, leaving behind his wife and young son, and entered the Deep South, which he would soon learn was not too dissimilar from home. “There was martial law on 200 campuses across America,” Haswell said. “I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to stop at Ole Miss and go to the point where Gov. [Barnett] had stopped Black kids from entering the university.” He did stop in Oxford, investigating the segregated South, but was met with something he wasn’t quite expecting. A bayonet in his back. “What the hell are you doing here?” Haswell heard. This encounter was a stark reminder that the culture surrounding apartheid segregation in South Africa, which he fought
so hard to escape, was mirrored in the U.S. After being shaken by the militaristic culture of the South, Haswell took his professor’s advice and got that $10 haircut when he arrived in Baton Rouge before his interview. That may or may not have impacted LSU’s hiring decision, but being from a nation defined by racial prejudices certainly did, and he was offered a position at the university. Haswell returned to Carbondale to fetch his wife and 2-year-old son, fitting everything to his name in that Beetle, eager but a little nervous to begin a new life in Baton Rouge. Classes began in September, and over a thousand students signed up for Geography 101 to hear from a new, exciting visiting professor from South Africa, as the Reveille, formally, described him. Quickly, Haswell realized two things: Most of these students had never been out of the state, and he couldn’t pronounce their French names — or their odd foods. “I would deliberately leave, say 10, 15 minutes at the end, and said they must teach me something about Louisiana, particularly Cajun. They took great delight in that,” Haswell said. Interrupting the inviting atmosphere of the class was David Duke and other members of the Ku Klux Klan — something Haswell was shocked to learn still existed in America. He was approached by a student who warned him of the Klan’s presence in his class, so the professor set the record straight. “I can’t change the fact that I’m a White South African,” Haswell said during a Friday lecture. “But please don’t stereotype me. I wouldn’t be in America now if I believed in apartheid — I would’ve stayed in South Africa.” Before he could finish, the two back rows of his class stood up and exited en masse. Among those leaving was David Duke, who scoffed and remarked, “He’s
ALEXIS PERSICKE / The Reveille
An LSU rugby alumnus player (21) passes the ball to another alumus April 18 during the alumni game at the LSU UREC Field Complex.
The Reveille Archives
probably Jewish as well.” That encounter was his first introduction to the Klan and the racial tension he would face in Louisiana. But away from the politics of the classroom, Haswell found another way to foster community. Outside of class, Haswell, graduate student Jay McKenna and technician David Terry began discussing the idea of starting a rugby club on campus. McKenna and Terry had attempted to start a team in 1968, but it was called off after the first game ended in a brawl. Haswell brought the experience and technical skill needed to lead the team, but they needed players. Haswell’s class began to ask him about this new club after reading about it in The Daily Reveille. “The Reveille was critically important,” Haswell said. “One [reporter] said, ‘The players were bloody. The field was muddy. The game was rugby.’” On Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1970, Haswell hosted tryouts after The Daily Reveille promoted the event, saying, “The name of the game is defiance. An outlaw game, it is based on head-to-head collision and bullish enthusiasm. It isn’t the size of a man or the talent he has — only the desire.” Of course, that caught a lot of college-aged men’s attention. He quickly realized that all these Americans loved football, a physical game that had similarities to rugby. “Rugby was tailor-made for Louisiana — if you love football, you’re going to like rugby,” he said. Haswell knew he could entice young men to play his sport, especially those who played football or soccer in high school but had no outlet to play competitively in college. LSU Rugby’s first season, in the fall of 1970, featured coach Haswell and his graduate assistant Les Bratton as key players. Team members played on a field they gerrymandered from behind the forestry building on Highland Road, which they aptly named “Gerry Mander Field,” giving LSU Athletic Director Carl Maddox a good laugh.
Maddox later approached Haswell, presenting a quid-pro-quo solution to a problem he’d been having. Spectators were waiting until kickoff to enter Tiger Stadium on football game days, and the department couldn’t keep up with the influx of people. The director offered Haswell and the team a chance to play curtainraiser games in Tiger Stadium, which they did twice. In the April 12, 1973, edition of The Daily Reveille, he penned an article titled, “Have Americans Forgotten the Real Football?” The article referenced rugby as a critical part of American football history and encouraged the mixing of rules in the two games, due to their similarity. This grew campus and local interest in the South African game and laid the foundation for the record-breaking 1971 and 1972 seasons. In 1972, LSU shocked the American rugby scene by winning the collegiate rugby national championship, which was held on the Parade Ground on the LSU campus. This team also traveled to Freeport, Bahamas, becoming the first American collegiate team to defeat a Bahamian rugby club. Once again, the LSU underdogs were on the map. Haswell would leave LSU in 1973 to return to South Africa, but LSU Rugby’s legacy and success didn’t end with him. LSU Rugby has survived generations of students and seen monumental change in racial prejudice within the South — all while holding on to the same sense of camaraderie that defined the original squad. Nearly five decades after a South African professor arrived in Baton Rouge and rejected the hatred waiting for him, the club he founded is led by another Johannesburg native, and the lesson is still the same. People big and small, from any place, can hit hard, compete as a team and still walk away to get a beer and have a laugh. For Haswell, rugby was a way to escape division. For Neal Geldenhuys, it helped him find a community. Perhaps a lot can be learned from that.
ENTERTAINMENT LSU students and faculty mourn death of valued director, professor of theater PUZZLES page 5
BY SARAH WALTON Staff Writer
In college, there are always a few professors who leave a mark on the lives of their students and not many have come close to George Judy. It was not until his untimely death that Judy’s impact was truly seen. On the evening of Thursday, Oct. 24, Kristin Sosnowsky, the director of the School of Theatre & Film, sent an email to students announcing the death of Judy, 74, who is survived by his wife, Kathy, and son, Ethan. A wealth of posts and comments were shared on Instagram and Facebook where Judy’s former students and fellow actors wrote about him. In the world of LSU’s School of Theatre & Film, Judy was a significant figure as a professor, a mentor and director. Christine Marie Sáenz is a second-year master’s student and one of Judy’s former students and collaborators. As one of the graduate students in charge of the program’s social media, she has seen many messages about Judy’s death. “His impact on so many people has been really heartwarming and beautiful to see that one person could have impacted so many people over however many years he’s been teaching here,” Sáenz said. For Sáenz, the community’s response helped her process someone who she sees as a “titan” of the theater and Shakespeare communities. “Clytemnestra Blue,” a musical written and directed by Judy, was his final project, which Sáenz performed in. The musical grew from just a set of actors reading and singing the script to .an almost full
VIA LSU SCHOOL OF THEATRE & FILM FACEBOOK
George Judy in LSU Theatre’s production of “King Lear” in 2011.
VIA LSU SCHOOL OF THEATRE & FILM FACEBOOK
George Judy in LSU Theatre’s production of “King Lear” in 2011. production. “The process was incredibly challenging. I was really excited and lucky to get to work with him as a director. It was supposed to be a staged reading with minimal walking, but in true George fashion, he really went as far as he could with that,” said Sáenz. It is not typical to lose a professor during the school year and this moment has been hard on students and faculty alike. Sáenz is still able to find the light in these circumstances. “We are all so lucky that we were able to experience him, and I think that this is a great opportunity to just come together as the MDA community and bring us all a little closer. And I think that’s important,” said Sáenz. While his legacy gives peers and students much to grieve, his connection to those around him is a core piece of Judy’s memory in life and death. On Thursday, students waited for Judy to arrive at class, but after 15 minutes of absence, they grew worried. Soon, several students went to the head office to see if anyone had information on his whereabouts. Because of this wellness check, Judy was found dead at his home that evening. Shannon Walsh is a professor in the School of Theatre & Film and was a long-time friend and collaborator of Judy’s. “ Of course it would have been his students,” Walsh said. “There’s no way he wouldn’t be there 10 minutes ahead of time, right? And they knew enough to immediately go to somebody else to be like, ’Something feels off.’ And thank goodness they did.” Judy’s true impact seems immeasurable in retrospect. Whether it was noticing their struggles in class or taking a chance on hiring them, Walsh
describes Judy as a pillar of the community. “I feel like part of what was special about George is the little stuff that nobody saw that he was doing, that had a massive impact on that one person,” said Walsh. In her eyes, though Judy was in his 70s, he was in what she called a Renaissance: It was as if he was getting younger in the process of creating and telling new, bolder stories. Judy seemed to impact everyone he worked with, reflective of the tight-knit community within the School of Theatre & Film. “I think he’s actually an academic who somehow ended up choosing acting and directing,” said Walsh. “He showed me that the kind of line between scholar and practitioner just doesn’t really exist in this school, and that’s part of what I think makes it special.” Those who had Judy as an audience member have shared that two things stood out about him: The first was his unmistakable laugh and the second were his emails that he would send after every show he saw with compliments. “He didn’t give words away cheaply. And so when he did say something, like, ‘I’m looking forward to this,’ you knew he wasn’t just blowing smoke,” Walsh said. How do you sum up the life of someone who made telling others people’s stories an art? The best any of us can do is to continue to tell stories about them. The School of Theatre & Film is planning to hold a memorial service later in the semester for Judy in hopes that all who wish to attend may do so. In the meantime, Walsh and the team at Mid City Civic Theatre plan to hold a celebration of Judy on Sunday, Oct. 18.
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Monday, October 5, 2026
Photos by Brooke Baker, Alexis Persicke and Chandler Trotter | Design by James Miller
LSU football junior defensive end Jordan Ross (29) tackles McNeese quarterback. LSU football sophomore running back Harlem Berry (22) scores a touchdown.
LSU football redshirt junior wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) flips.
Monday, October 5, 2026
Mike the Tiger runs with a flag.
GEAUX GAME DAY
Fans have a ball during LSU vs. McNeese game day around campus, Oct. 3.
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LSU student takes a picture with family.
Fans point to a T-shirt during a picture.
The Golden Band from Tigerland takes the field.
LSU football redshirt junior wide receiver Malik Elzy (88) and redshirt sophomore quarterback Landen Clark (11) celebrate after a touchdown.
Cheerleaders hype up the crowd during pregame.
Tailgating sign displayed.
LSU fans talk at their tailgate.
Monday, October 5, 2026
page 8 MUSIC
KLSU platforms local artists, vendors at College Radio Day BY KADENCE HALL Staff Writer KLSU hosted members of the Baton Rouge community at Beauvoir Park for a night of live music, food vendors and clothing pop-ups from 5 to 9 p.m. to support College Radio Day on Friday night. The park’s crowd was everchanging as the night flowed
through different sounds to draw the company of Baton Rouge’s many different residents. As a free-admission and come-and-go event, attendees showed up with friends, family and picnic blankets to enjoy their evening. Louisiana-based bands Sunscape., Swinging Astrid and Lisbon Girls performed songs such as “Everybody Wants to Rule
TUCKER MANNING
Festival goers attend a concert during College Radio Day at Beauvoir Park in Baton Rouge, La.
the World,” “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” and many original songs. Sunscape. opened the night’s celebration with their signature indie jazz sound. Some of the songs performed included Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and Sunscape.’s latest single “I don’t mind.” Second in the lineup, Swinging Astrid changed the night’s sound to glitter grunge as they performed many of the band’s own songs, including its newest single “Space Cadet Blues,” which dropped Friday morning. Swinging Astrid is one of two New Orleans bands that performed. The second was the Lisbon Girls which were down a member in its performance, but still gave a crowd-pleasing show. While College Radio Day is centered on music and entertainment, KLSU hosts various vendors to welcome in the community with rich food and shopping experiences. Nothing shows live music like attendees dancing circles around each other while waiting for Venmo payments at popup booths [to go through], and there were plenty of demonstrations of this on the cool-weathered night. [Vendors such as City Gelato, Rougaroux, Mecha Vintage and 2 Girls 1 Shirt vendors…. were
stationed on the exterior of the park. Guests could easily enjoy gumbo birria tacos with a flavored gelato as dessert, all without leaving the comfort of their picnic blankets. Andrew Castro, a graduate student and KLSU podcaster, attended the event for the second year in a row and was excited to be back at Beauvoir Park. College Radio Day isn’t just for KLSU, but for the greater engagement of the community. “I feel like there are so many unused spaces in the city that are beautiful that need attention and are just sort of neglected. It’s a beautiful venue. I’m so glad that we’re able to use it,” Castro said. Castro originally attended the event to work the KLSU tent and show support, but stayed when he ran into friend Sarah Banner, 20, who showed up solo to enjoy a nice evening by herself. “I like seeing all the different vendors that come here because it’s a lot of businesses that you don’t really know about. They’re kind of hidden small businesses,” Banner said. While many KLSU staff members were in attendance to support their work, 22-year-old Taylor Pippin was eager for one particular performance. “I told our promotions director she had to get Swinging As-
trid because I saw them at Siberia,” Pippin said. Siberia, a small New Orleans venue, allowed the band’s performance to be much more captivating for Pippin. As chief announcer, Pippin worked to get the band’s music put into KLSU’s system and had the music scheduled for on-air time. Swinging Astrid played in Baton Rouge for the very first time. A special moment for Pippin, the lead vocalist and guitarist Madeline Usher made a special dedication to her midperformance. Though Pippin was interested in music long before joining the station, she couldn’t have imagined a career in music until KLSU introduced her to college radio. She has since fallen in love with broadcasting. Now, she plans to pursue a career with WRKF or WBRZ to continue her passion for music and radio. “[KLSU] has made my college experience unforgettable. I think without KLSU, I wouldn’t have anything to say about LSU. It’s really made my college experience,” Pippin said. KLSU won’t celebrate College Radio Day until next fall, but supporters can plan to attend their annual fundraiser in the spring and, of course, tune in to 91.1 FM in the meantime.
CAMPUS LIFE
This LSU fan rallies crowds with chants and championship belt
BY CHARLOTTE TRENTALANGE Staff Writer At nearly every LSU sports game, there’s one familiar face in the crowd who is heard long before he’s seen. Wearing a championship belt and standing at the front of the crowd, he chants, poses for photos and brings LSU’s fan spirit to life. Deangelo Sanchez isn’t from Louisiana. In fact, he’s never lived here either, but ask any LSU fan about “Mr. Beat Everybody” and they know the name — and face of the superfan. Unlike other avid LSU fans, Sanchez’s love for the Tigers began later in life. It wasn’t until 2016, when his sister, Shemiah Sanchez came to LSU to play softball, that he embraced the school and its culture. “The people and the fans of LSU make you feel at home. Whether you’re an LSU fan for one day or 50 years, they always, always show love,” he said. The nickname that has become synonymous with Sanchez’s LSU persona started at his hometown of Newnan, Georgia, at East Coweta High School near Atlanta. During an undefeated season, he and the players began repeating the phrase “beat everybody.” “It just stuck,” he said. Living in Georgia, every
game is an away game for Sanchez, but that doesn’t deter him. He plans his trips around major games and series, making sure he is in attendance for the biggest matchups. While in years past, you could find him at every game, he said he’s being more intentional with the games he attends so he can spend more time with family. Despite the travel, he said LSU fans and athletes have made Baton Rouge feel like home. In the student section of a football game in Tiger Stadium, security guards and students tell him to go to the front because they feel that he belongs there. “LSU always makes me feel like family; I will always come back, even from Atlanta, Georgia. I’m always ready for some LSU,” he said. His high energy and loud personality were not immediately embraced at LSU, though. When he first brought loud cheers to LSU softball games, he said the atmosphere was more subdued. While football crowds are more accustomed to loud cheering, Sanchez said softball fans were not used to someone cheering or standing up throughout the game. But that didn’t stop him. “I just take credit for being bold,” Sanchez said. “It only takes one person to be bold, and
next thing you know, hey, it’s a trend.” Sanchez now sees that softball games are a place where fans can let loose. “No more sitting down clapping hands — we stand up and get crazy at softball games,” he said. His connection with the team goes beyond the game. He said he knows the players and keeps in touch with them through social media, even during the offseason or after they graduate. Softball also gave him one of his most recognizable traditions: the championship belt he carries to games. He first brought the belt to a softball game during the 201819 season, when the season’s theme was “Fight All the Way.” He said he’d never seen a fan bring a belt to a softball game, so he decided to create his own ritual. “It represents confidence and the ability to know that, hey, I can win anything in life,” Sanchez said. “The belt represents you’re a winner no matter what you’re going through.” His fandom doesn’t stop at football and softball; he also enjoys LSU basketball, baseball, volleyball and gymnastics events, with golf recently piquing his interest. Although his energetic personality may not fit the sport’s traditionally quiet at-
COURTESY OF DEANGELO SANCHEZ
Deangelo Sanchez poses with former LSU softball outfielder McKenzie Redoutey. mosphere, he said he has plans to change it. “I’m gonna change the trajectory on that,” he said. “If LSU makes a good shot, or they make a hole in one, you’ll hear me from there throughout Baton Rouge. I promise you.” Sanchez has no intention of
slowing down. He said he’ll continue to show up for LSU even if might eventually need a wheelchair to get into the stands. Whether he’s cheering from Tiger Stadium, Tiger Park or all the way back in Georgia, he has one simple mission: Beat everybody.
SPORTS Kiffin’s coaching strategy ALL-IN EFFORT changes with injury woes
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Takeaways on LSU football’s roster following McNeese
BY ALEX SHEESLEY Sports Editor Expected to win its game against McNeese, LSU football left plenty to reflect on following its 63-14 drubbing of the Cowboys. Much was revealed on the makeup of the Tigers, both on paper and in mindset. Here are three things that particularly stood out. Top running back in doubt Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones has gotten the bulk of the carries in offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.’s system this season, but Saturday may give Weis and head coach Lane Kiffin a reason to reevaluate the depth chart at that position. It wasn’t that Jones was unimpressive. In fact, of the LSU offensive first-stringers who got limited reps on Saturday, Jones’ 16-carry, 79-yard showing that included the game’s first touchdown may have been the most impressive. Though his longest rush of the night was a modest 8-yard gain, Jones clipped at 4.9 yards per carry, a strong rate against a Football Championship Subdivision side. The problem for Jones is that his backup, sophomore Harlem Berry, had the evening’s
CHANDLER TROTTER/ The Reveille
LSU football junior defensive end Jordan Ross (29) plays defense Oct. 3 during LSU’s 63-14 win against McNeese State at Tiger Stadium. standout performance. “The goal was to get up and evaluate these guys, because they’re going to need to play with the injuries we have down the stretch,” Kiffin said. Berry certainly made his case for further evaluation, going for 125 yards and a touchdown on 15 runs on Saturday. His longest carry, a 46-yard
run where he looked especially dangerous in open space, set the tone for his day early. Berry found holes consistently and beat defenders in the second level. He displayed his physicality on his 11-yard touchdown run, barreling through defenders to reach pay dirt.
see TAKEAWAYS, page 10
BY TRIPP BUHLER Staff Writer
LSU football’s 63-14 clobbering of McNeese slotted another win into the Tigers’ record, which now sits at 4-1. Head coach Lane Kiffin started his post-game press conference highlighting a bigger win. “Alright,” Kiffin said, followed by an “um,” a brief pause and an adjustment of the microphone atop the podium. “I think we didn’t have any major injuries for the first game.” Injuries have hit some of LSU’s biggest stars hard, pushing Kiffin to remove some starters in the first half Saturday out of caution. The game, which was more of a dress rehearsal for the continuation of SEC play, saw some fresh faces on the stat sheet. The linebacking room has been hit the hardest, with captain Whit Weeks being sidelined for at least the rest of October with a leg injury. His fellow starter TJ Dottery is still playing, and had 4 tackles on Saturday. Dottery’s presence is needed heading into the back half of the season. “This is not a team built for many top level injuries,” Kiffin told reporters on a teleconference Sept. 22. Davhon Keys, whom defensive coordinator Blake Baker
said was the clear-cut third linebacker coming into the season, stepped up as a starter and has performed well. He recorded 4 tackles and a quarterback hurry against McNeese. Redshirt sophomore Tylen Singleton and redshirt freshman Zach Weeks got plenty of snaps once the starters were taken out, and each led the team with 5 total tackles. Singleton had a major breakout game in the Texas Bowl last year against Houston. His 4 solo tackles, including a tackle for loss, showed he is a valuable piece to the linebacker depth, even if his best performance this year came against an Football Championship Subdivision opponent. Redshirt freshman defensive back Jhase Thomas has seen plenty of playing time this year after rarely appearing as a true freshman, and has started the last two games at rover with an injury to Dashawn Spears. He’s been a student of the game. “I had to trust the process, watch a lot more film, be in the film room a lot more, talk to the older guys,” Thomas said at a Sept. 29 press conference. “I asked those guys, how do they prepare? How do they watch film? What are you looking for?” Thomas, whose main respon-
see INJURIES, page 10
Freshmen get their chance in LSU’s blowout win over McNeese BY ADAM KIRSCHMAN Staff Writer LSU’s 63-14 blowout win over McNeese created great opportunities for younger stars who haven’t seen much playing time since SEC matchups began. Head coach Lane Kiffin used the weaker matchup to test depth pieces after voicing concerns about backups stepping up after losing star players like Whit Weeks, Trey’Dez Green, and Dashawn Spears. In their place, newcomers stepped up and did their job well enough to hold the steep lead. “It was good to see a lot of guys make plays,” Kiffin said after the win. “A lot of snaps for guys, which was the goal. The goal is to get up, but then to evaluate these guys because they’re going to need to play with the injuries that we have down the stretch.” Of these defensive freshmen to step up, the biggest contributors were Deuce Geralds, Zach Weeks and Jhase Thomas. Geralds added a fifth sack to his tally this season, marking his third in the past two weeks. His recent performances have made a solid case to become a freshman AllAmerican, as he leads all freshmen
in sacks, while also being tied at eighth overall in the country. Geralds’ partnership next to Princewill Umanmielen has created one of the scariest defensive lines in the NCAA. Umanmielen currently leads the nation in sacks with 8. Geralds’ highlight moment, to Death Valley’s surprise, came on offense. Geralds took a direct snap on the goal line and rushed in a 1-yard touchdown, pushing LSU’s lead up to a commanding 42 points. This marked the first time an LSU player had both a sack and a touchdown in the same game, etching Geralds’ name in LSU record books, despite the uniqueness of the stat. This was another example of Kiffin’s genius playcalling and ability to see strengths in his players wherever they might be needed. Kiffin recruited Geralds when he played both defensive tackle and running back in high school, where he scored 8 touchdowns while rushing for 211 yards at Collins Hill High School during his senior season. Thomas played a big role in this contest, filling in for Spears, who tore his ACL against Ole Miss. Thomas led all defensive backs in
tackles in this contest with 4 total, while also recording 1 of LSU’s 7 tackles for loss. Zach Weeks also played well filling in for his injured older brother after not seeing the field much this season. Weeks recorded 5 tackles in Saturday’s game, moving his tally up to 9 on the year. Weeks comes from the LSU linebacker pipeline of Weeks’ brothers, being the youngest brother of Whit and West Weeks. Zach currently sits fourth on the linebacker depth chart, behind TJ Dottery, Davhon Keys and Tylen Singleton. Despite being further back, Weeks’ family’s connection to the Tigers makes him a fan favorite who, if he continues fighting for playtime, could break through into the starting lineup later in his career. ESPN’s former No. 1 recruit in the country, Lamar Brown, also saw the field again for the first time since LA Tech. He wouldn’t play much but was able to record 1 tackle. On offense, the biggest freshman contributor was Corey Barber Jr. Barber broke out during Saturday’s contest, recording 7 catches for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns. Barber hadn’t recorded a catch
since a 15-yard reception against Clemson. Barber could likely see a lot more playtime in the coming weeks after starting receiver Winston Watkins Jr. dropped 2 wideopen touchdowns in the first half of Saturday’s contest. This big performance by Barber helped LSU tally 731 total yards, the second most in program history. “Corey’s done a great job, you know,” Kiffin said. “[Watkins]
dropped 2 easy touchdowns, and so we put Corey in, and Corey stepped up and did a really good job. Actually started him in a series after that.” Overall, McNeese was a great outing for these young prospects looking to make their mark on the Tigers this season. With seven straight SEC games lying ahead, LSU will likely deal with more injuries and fatigue, forcing some of these guys to continue to step up.
CHANDLER TROTTER / The Reveille
LSU football freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds (99) celebrates Oct.3 during LSU’s 63-14 win against McNeese State at Tiger Stadium.
Monday, October 5, 2026
page 10 SOCCER
LSU soccer continues uphill battle to qualify for postseason
shape LSU is in has caused some panic over whether or not it will play more than the 18 regular season games it has scheduled. With the results on Friday night, LSU still sits 13th in the conference holding a total of 5 points, but it is inching closer to
the 12th-place spot that earns a seed in the SEC tournament. Now down to their final five games of 2026, the Tigers enter a situation where most matchups are must-wins. Two of these games will be hosted on LSU’s home pitch
against Arkansas and Mississippi State. The Razorbacks will be a demanding opponent, currently sitting at No. 6 in the SEC with 8 points. With an overall record of 4-4-3 on the season, Arkansas is 0-1-1 on the road and may further be challenged by an LSU team that is hungry to prove itself worthy of a postseason run. Mississippi State visits Baton Rouge on Oct. 25, where it could very well be up against a muchimproved Tiger squad. As it currently stands, Starkville’s Bulldogs rank just behind the Razorbacks in the conference standings, holding 7 points for seventh place. Drawing in four games straight, it’s clear that Louisiana’s neighbors will put up a fight until the very end. On the road, LSU will take on Texas, Texas A&M and Missouri. The most threatening opponent for the Tigers will be the Longhorns, who currently only hold 2 losses on the season have proven to be a stronger team on the road than at home. Texas goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn will be what gives the Longhorns the edge, evidenced by her save
parts unguardable in the passing game and dominant in the trenches, is difficult to replace. However, LSU’s tight end committee came together to prove that it can carry the physical end of Green’s profile through his time away. Roman Mothershed, listed as LSU’s third-string tight end, caught his first pass in an LSU uniform and took it for a touchdown in the first quarter. Mothershed, 6-foot-5 and wearing Green’s former number, 14, looked quite similar to the man he’s in to replace. LSU’s other tight end options, Zach Grace and Malachi Thomas, brought a physicality in run blocking that helped the success of LSU’s running back corps. Kiffin’s complacency concerns validated After dominating Clemson in LSU’s season opener, Kiffin picked at the game’s final score — a touchdown drive
from Clemson’s backups against LSU’s second-string defensive unit. The score made the final tally 53-10, a margin that Kiffin was unhappy about. “The backups on defense did not perform to their standard,” Kiffin said after the win. “They let them go down and score.” On a question about LSU’s strong defense following its 35-6 win over Texas A&M, Kiffin was quick to point out a defensive breakdown on third-and-long. “We screwed up, really, on a third-and-12. They ran a screen, and we’re all yelling ‘screen,’ and they make it,” Kiffin said. “We got pushed around a little bit on that drive.” Kiffin’s reasoning behind his emphasis on backups executing in immediately insignificant situations comes with the future in mind. He believes that execution in the little moments is required to prepare for unplanned situations in big games where
lower-caliber players have to step up. This sentiment is especially true as injuries mount against the Tigers, and LSU’s play down the depth chart screamed that Kiffin’s message was received. LSU’s second unit on both sides of the ball came out toward the back end of the second quarter. The offense played with its hair on fire. Berry rattled off a 46-yard carry on one of his first touches of the evening, getting the majority of LSU carries for the rest of the night and finishing with over 100 yards. Stacy Gage also had several strong runs in garbage time. Landen Clark played a strong game at quarterback in relief of Sam Leavitt, going 7-for-16 on passing for 126 yards. He also notched 11 yards on 3 runs, one for a touchdown. Husan Longstreet also got snaps under center.
Harris, Winston Watkins Jr. and Corey Barber have taken over some of his share of targets. Harris and Watkins had career days at LSU last week, each putting up over 100 yards. Harris in particular had 2 huge touchdown plays against the Aggies. Watkins had two wide open touchdown opportunities against McNeese, but dropped the passes. Kiffin said the drops are why Barber, a freshman, was given his chance. He was LSU’s leading receiver with 7 catches for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns. LSU’s young players getting some key experience, even against a lesser team, is going to be key when they are forced into playing time in SEC games.
LSU football freshman wide receiver Corey Barber Jr. (83) gets tackled Oct. 3 during the 63-14 win over McNeese at Tiger Stadium.
BY DELANEY POTTHAST Staff Writer The first weekend of October was of the utmost importance for LSU soccer, as it had a chance to hold a postseason spot for the first time in the 2026 season. The Tigers won their conference matchup against Florida. If Georgia lost to Texas A&M, then LSU would find itself sitting at No. 12 in the SEC and therefore into the conference tournament’s seedings. Though the Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M in its Friday night matchup, the same result for LSU provided a gain of 4 points and put the purple and gold only 1 point behind Florida in the conference standings. “I think everyone’s fired up,” senior Ava Galligan said during a postgame broadcast interview against Florida. “Obviously, conference and non-conference hasn’t gone the way that we expected it to, but the only thing we can do is respond and move forward.” This season has been a roller coaster of emotions for Tiger fans. After a historic 2025 season, the
TAKEAWAYS, from page 9 The lack of carries for Berry has been an unsolved mystery throughout the opening third of LSU’s season. His strong showing on Saturday could influence Kiffin and Weis to turn the starting gig at tailback into an RB-by-committee set-up for future contests. “We all got our different styles of play. I like to say I’m an elusive, fast, juke-type back,” Berry said. “Dilin’s a physical downhill runner, things of that nature, so just being able to play off each other is good.” Tight end room still strong without Trey’Dez Green The indefinite loss of Green, perhaps LSU’s most explosive offensive playmaker, to a knee injury sustained during the Tigers’ Week 3 loss at Ole Miss was flagged immediately as a concern. The loss of Green’s 6-foot-7 frame, which is equal
INJURIES, from page 9 sibilities are pass and run coverage, had 2 tackles and a tackle for loss. He rose his stock heavily in the offseason, getting many first-team reps in fall camp. The production from the replacements of the main injury on offense, coming to star tight end Trey’Dez Green, has come in a much different way from the defensive losses. Kiffin has had to employ a moneyball-esque strategy, combining the strengths of multiple players to simulate what Green brought just by himself. Oregon transfer and redshirt junior tight end Zach Grace has started the last two games, but is almost strictly blocking. Jackson
TUCKER MANNING / The Reveille
LSU women’s soccer senior Forward Ava Galligan (20) shoots for a goal Sept. 11 during LSU’s 1-3 loss against Tennessee at LSU soccer stadium.
percentage of 0.786. Her 33 saves on the season will be a tough wall for the Tigers to get past. Texas A&M and Missouri round out the end of LSU’s regular season schedule and look to be noexcuse wins with the conference play they’ve put on so far. Both teams are winless in SEC play, and have also accumulated losing overall records. Now that the Tigers have one of their top goal scorers back in the form of Sariyah Bailey, the outlook for LSU’s path to the postseason still is one of hope for fans after finally getting over the hump of its first conference victory. A performance like the one Audur Scheving had in goal against the Gators would undoubtedly put the Tigers in position for conference tournament contention. If LSU can replicate the consistency it found in Gainesville for the remainder of the season then a trip to Pensacola may very well be in the near future. “There’s still a lot left to play for in the season,” Galligan said. “I think if we keep building off this momentum, we’ll definitely have some more games for us.” “I thought our guys, outside of a few guys late — a few things — played really well,” Kiffin said. However, LSU’s defense, the subject of much of Kiffin’s displeasure, was significantly weaker. It matched the first-half total posted by LSU’s starters, but had several major lapses. It let up a 43-yard touchdown in the third quarter from Jamaal Levi, and then gave up a 64-yard run to Levi on the next Cowboy drive for another touchdown. The reserve offensive line had struggles, too. Pressed against its own goal line at the very end of the game, it took back-to-back false start penalties that visibly upset Kiffin on the sideline. “I challenged them to come out and play really well,” Kiffin said. “Set a tempo of how you play and a standard, regardless of if you’re first, second or third team.”
ALEXIS PERSICKE / The Reveille
OPINION
page 11
Musical artists need to stop inflating concert ticket prices BULLION’S BRIEF AVA BULLION Columnist The anticipation of waiting for your favorite artist to drop tour dates is second to none — receiving the news, making plans with friends who are just as exciting, and the joy of finally buying tickets after waiting what feels like ages. Nowadays, however, it’s not as easy as just buying tickets. Concert prep involves considering if the experience is worth hundreds of dollars. Is it justifiable to spend a whole paycheck on your favorite artist? It’s difficult to casually attend concerts when so-called low prices are ranging from $100 to over $400 for tickets. When artists advertise affordable pricing for all fans, they heighten expectations for fair amounts; but when a map of the concert venue appears and the cheapest options left are exorbitant, only anger and frustration are left. Take Harry Styles’ first release of his new tour as an example. Fans were extremely ex-
cited for the release of his new album, and his return to the stage, only to be met with ticket prices that would make anyone hesitate. The median price for Harry Styles’ Together, Together tour tickets was around $1,300 a piece. That’s without hotels, flights and merchandise, which would only continue to contribute to the money pit. Having been a fan for the majority of my life and finally having the money saved on my own to attend, I wanted nothing more than to go see Styles live. Being met with a $700 general admission ticket was a slap in the face, to say the least. Being upset over never getting to see an idol perform live has become normalized in recent years. Music is a form of expression, a universal way to bring individuals together. Extreme ticket pricing is reversing the emotions meant to be experienced through concerts. Concerts used to be as simple as showing up and having a good time. It seems as though the goal in this day and age is strictly commercializing tickets. Tactics such as tiered pricing put fans at a disadvantage by
inflating ticket prices for seats considered of higher value. Tiered pricing is set based on venue size, predicted revenue and seat location. When companies have the data to predict how high they can tack prices up before it becomes noticeable, tickets lose reasonability. Artists signing contracts with big ticket companies, such as Ticketmaster and SeatGeek, add upwards of 30% in charges on top of the base cost. So on top of ticket price increases,
there is more money to account for through fees. If artists and resale websites continue raising prices or using strategies targeted at monetary benefit, the amount of attendees is prone to depreciate. Seeing concerts live is beginning to lose its pleasure. An experience that’s meant to be exciting has turned into stress and frustration. Artists can continue profiting off of concerts without sending their fans into debt. There is a
relationship between artists and their fans; they rely on one another to stay afloat. If fans stop attending concerts, artists will have no one to perform for anymore. An effort needs to be made by artists to reduce ticket price inflation, not just for their fans, but for themselves. Ava Bullion is a 19-year-old political science and criminology double major from Baton Rouge.
GRAPHIC BY CARMEN RANDOLPH
Celebrity activism must evolve beyond endless virtue-signaling WAINER’S WORLD JACK WAINER Columnist Fame gives celebrities an audience of millions, and many turn award speeches into selfrighteous lectures, as though their names and influence automatically validate their opinions. Celebrities have the right to speak about social issues and politics. Their platforms can highlight problems that may receive little attention from the
public; but, there’s a stark difference between raising awareness and actually creating meaningful change. Billie Eiliish provided a perfect example at the 2026 Grammy Awards when she turned her acceptance speech into a political lecture about immigration enforcement. Eilish declared that “no one is illegal on stolen land.” Her statement immediately sparked political debate, but an award ceremony is not the place to address your opinions on immigration or how the issue should be dealt with. Viewers tune in for escapism and enter-
tainment rather than a political lecture. It’s only an influential statement because of who is making it. It’s also difficult to take seriously because she oversimplified a complex issue and provided no explanation to make it a meaningful argument. Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi commercial is another example of how celebrity activism can fail to actually mean anything. In 2017, Jenner starred in a Pepsi ad where she left a photo shoot to attend a protest, and she gave a police officer a can of Pepsi that appeared to easily resolve
GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE SIMONEAUX
the conflict between police and protesters. The ad campaign took major backlash for downplaying intense protests and social issues by implying that a can of Pepsi could ease the tensions between police and protesters. Pepsi quickly removed the commercial and apologized for the ad. The ad came in the wake of the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement which led to widespread protest across the nation. Jenner, among other celebrities, participated in social media callouts like #BlackoutTuesday, where people were encouraged to post black squares in order to pause for a moment of awareness in the nation. Like many of her peers, however, Jenner never actually spoke out in support of the movement or donated any of her time or resources to the movement or the affected beyond that callout. There is nothing wrong with celebrities having their own opinions. The problem is that their fame can make their opinions seem more credible than they actually are. A big name and millions of followers do not make celebrities a reliable source. Olivia Rodrigo takes her activism elsewhere. Instead of hijacking a large TV audience to smother viewers with her opinions, she uses her own platforms, namely her tours and so-
cial media accounts, where her fans willingly choose to engage with her. Rodrigo also backs up her beliefs by taking action, setting up the Fund 4 Good charity to support organizations focused on reproductive health and rights. Her concrete approach made a real impact and sets a standard for how celebrity activism can be done properly. Celebrity activism can be useful when it encourages people to make a positive change or learn more about a cause. But there is a difference between using a platform to make a statement and using it to encourage action, a difference between being virtuous and virtue signaling. Attention doesn’t always create an impact. Celebrities should bring more to the conversation than just an influential name. Their fame gives them a platform, but that does not automatically make them worth listening to. There’s a wrong and right way of going about activism. Hollywood doesn’t have to drop politics. It just needs a reminder as to why people started listening to begin with. Be an actor. Be a musician. Be an entertainer. Be an athlete. If you want to be a political activist too, don’t be hollow. Don’t be shallow. Bring something meaningful to the table. Jack Wainer is a 20-year-old journalism major from Dallas.
Monday, October 5, 2026
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Women can do anything that men can do, hooking up included MONTGOMERY’S MONOLOGUE KELSI MONTGOMERY Columnist “We can do it.”These four words became the forefront of the Rosie the Riveter campaign during World War II, in which women were employed in historically male-dominated fields to assist in war efforts. While this term initially was
centered around housewives converting to industrial workers, it soon became central to the feminist movement and evolved into the idea that women are capable of doing virtually anything, especially what was previously written off as only socially acceptable for men. Sex is a topic that’s often hard to escape in certain conversations, particularly in college. And when it comes to conversations surrounding feminism and equality among gen-
GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE SIMONEAUX
ders, it’s certainly prominent. In relation to men, this topic has usually been approached with a little less tension. It’s a bit more affirming and a lot less critical. I’m sure plenty of women over multiple generations have been taught to deal with a man’s heightened sexual desires and all negative and positive consequences that follow. I’m sure our mothers and grandmothers were told that men will just be men when it comes to sex. “Boys will just be boys,” they’d say; however, women were expected to stay pure and faithful, yet available, to men and their insatiability. It’s what I like to call “sexually rigid.” And sometimes this translated into excusing men for having affairs, blaming the woman for not keeping up with their partner’s sexual desires or allowing this social attitude that gives men a free pass when it comes to — for a lack of better term — promiscuity. Of course, the argument arose that if men were able to do it, so could women. And with that in mind, it seemed society was willing to embrace evolution from certain rigid practices instead of holding women up as Puritan be-
ings. We finally realized that sexuality was not just male nature — it’s human nature. Most importantly, the world didn’t end. Men continued to have multiple partners and participate in what we now call hookup culture. And inevitably, women also joined in. It seemed that sex became this taboo topic and a strike on one’s moral standing. I’ve heard way too many conversations by proxy about the concept of “bodies,” “rosters” and why women having either is equivalent to the world splitting at the seams. Of course, the argument stands: A man having a long roster of multiple sexual partners only adds to his masculinity. It’s him embracing his nature, and he’s celebrated by his peers. When a woman decides to have multiple partners, she is suddenly slapped with all sorts of unsavory labels and considered a woman with a strike on her morality. Regardless, it has no standing on someone’s character. Let’s balance this out, folks. Sex does not belong to one gender; it belongs to humanity. And how humans partake in it — consensually, of course — is all a part
of human nature. It’s not just a woman’s nature or just a man’s nature. Ultimately, let’s put it this way: If men are able to be loose about their sexual encounters in the name of freedom without moral stain, women should have the same freedom. However, if women are therefore seen as bad people for how they partake in sexual acts, then men should have the same moral questioning. This isn’t a defense of hookup culture or even purity culture. This isn’t “no one should have sex” or “everyone should have sex without thinking of the consequences.” It’s simply an inquiry into finding balance, having both sides pull their weight despite the socially acceptable opinion. Are we all going to embrace sexual freedom without it turning us into terrible people, or are we going to keep this human experience a gendered one? Sex is for the individual, not for society. We can all do it, whatever “it” entails. And we can do it equally. Kelsi Montgomery is a 19-yearold journalism major from Baton Rouge.
We’ve settled for access instead of ownership in the digital age JOHNSON’S JOURNAL LAUREN JOHNSON Columnist “You’ll own nothing and be happy.” This is a phrase that originated from Danish politician Ida Auken, who wrote an article for the World Economic Forum in 2016 titled “Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, I have no privacy, and life has never been better.” In 2018, the WEF released a video titled “8 Predictions for the World in 2030,” which suggested people would rent or lease what they needed rather than buy items outright. While the organization framed its points as gentle observations about consumer trends rather than explicit predictions, its past words feel applicable to the society we live in today. These days, it’s impossible not to notice the subscription model nearly every platform has taken. This epidemic has spread so widely and become so normalized that it is no longer a question of “Why is ev-
erything a subscription?” but “Why can’t we own anything anymore?” Instead of companies selling products, we are now only being sold access. We’re no longer buying something tangible. We’re not even owning a “something.” We’re being owned. The original appeal of subscriptions was their accessibility and convenience for consumers who enjoy things like music apps or streaming services, namely Spotify and Netflix. However, the benefit has dwindled to nil. It’s more exhausting than ever to be forced to adapt in this subscription age. Everything requires a subscription nowadays — even the most basic and sometimes foolish things. It’s more than Spotify and Netflix, which have already become frustrating enough. It’s car brands, printers and even safety doorbells. We pay to use a company’s products as long as they let us. It’s like renting a house over buying one. We’re renting access with these subscriptions; we don’t truly own our own music, our software, our ability to watch shows and more
We used to have the permanence of owning things, but now we have become too comfortable paying for things so frequently. When everything is a subscription, nothing builds equity, and everything becomes temporary or rented. Ownership disappears, and so does control. These corporate companies are allowed to raise prices, remove content or lock features behind paywalls. We don’t have a say in what they do because we didn’t have any ownership to begin with. Because of this, many people are experiencing fatigue with subscription services. They are tired of being nickeled and dimed just to use things, time and time again, with increasing extremity. Naturally, there has been a resurgence in the appeal of physical media. Some have encouraged visiting libraries for access to free materials, have worked to repopularize the purchase of vinyl records and CDs or have suggested a return to old games for entertainment. I think turning our focus back to physical media is important, but I also think it’s a shame that we have to accept what digital me-
dia has turned into. Why ignore it rather than trying to change it? We are in an age that depends upon online access; the companies don’t deserve the right to govern the strings of our relationship to human connection, whether with art, information, film or other mediums. This lack of control we have is frightening. If we keep allow-
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ing it, or ignoring it, where does it end? We as people have a right to ownership, and this subscription epidemic is taking it away from us. We should not be happy. We should not be complacent under an economy of control. Lauren Johnson is a 20-year-old journalism major from New Orleans.
GRAPHIC BY CARMEN RANDOLPH
Quote of the Week “The worth of a man is not in what he has, but in what he is.” Lao Tzu
Chinese philosopher c. 770 — c. 481 B.C.