Feb 1, 2017

February 1, 2017

Behind the unity principles of Women’s March Seung Pang, OP-ED Editor

An educational facilitator and self-described activist, Victoria Miller was chanting along with marchers on the sidewalk next to her young son and her husband at the Women’s March in Raleigh this past Saturday. Growing up a Buddhist in Memphis, TN allowed Miller to embrace diversity: “I grew up with the understanding that we’re all kinda different.” Her beliefs in women’s rights and minority issues led her to join the Noisy Majority, another name for Women’s March protesters. Miller believes that spreading awareness will have an impact on the new government. “Us being able to be in solidarity for a number of issues is gonna be very important in the future.” One purpose of Women’s March was to stand in solidarity with diverse and vibrant communities.

Their mission statement is empowered with a quote from civil rights activist Audre Lorde, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” This idea of inclusiveness attracted 17,000 people in Raleigh, according to WRAL, over a million in Washington D.C., and more than five million worldwide, according to Women’s March. However, contrary to their unity principles, a group of women, especially those who oppose abortion, did not feel included in the movement. “I believe in abortion, but the fact that they’re not including pro-life women is hypocritical,” said Joanna Rackley, a self-identified Republican who studies at North Carolina State University. “They’re marching in order to protest President Trump for

discriminating women, but again, they are excluding a group of women who do not agree with them.” “This is what we conservative women live with all the time, this idea that we somehow aren’t really women and we just reflect internalized misogyny,” said Charmaine Yoest, a vocal opponent of abortion who is a senior fellow at American Values, a conservative organization, according to New York Times. “Pro-life organizations weren’t allowed to be sponsors,” said Dr. Jeffrey Martinson, a professor of political science at Meredith College. He witnessed pro-life groups marching to protest against Women’s March in Washington D.C. “The conflict of prolife and pro-choice. That’s the most problematic for this march.”

Women’s March declared their commitment to reproductive freedom to fight gender discrimination in health care. “Women’s access to health care services gets restricted in ways that men’s access to health care never does,” said Caitlin Williams, an organizer of Women’s March North Carolina, in an email interview. “Our entire platform is organized around one fundamental principle: women’s rights are human rights,” said Williams. “Some folks may tie this line to Hillary Clinton, it’s an idea that women’s rights activists and feminists had been organizing globally, long before she said it in Beijing.” “That idea isn’t a liberal one or a conservative one. It’s a human one,” she said.

us with doughnuts.” Through all of the hard classes, she says, “I learned I am stronger than I think...I also learned that good grades matter but to not stress out too much when I get a bad grade or do not understand something.” Despite struggles throughout the semester, she kept her focus and even made the Dean’s List! This semester, Haughey hopes to get more involved on campus, get to know more of her classmates, and stress less about homework.

on campus: “I immediately felt very at home and was welcomed by so many different people on movein day!” Brown adds, “If I had the chance to give myself advice before arriving at MC, it would probably be to just be myself and do what I’m passionate about...Being different is completely normal and you should just embrace it!” Brown is proud of her newfound independence at Meredith; this semester, her goals are to study harder and get rid of distractions.

Meredith Brown, a freshman interior design major from Wilson, says the most surprising thing about her first semester was how easily she transitioned into her new home

You go, freshmen! Keep on rocking your sisters’ socks off. We can’t wait to see where you end up in 2020 and beyond.

Keeping Up with the Class of 2020

Rachel Crawford, News Editor

Fall semester flew by and here we are in 2017! Times are changing, but if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that the freshman class is pretty outstanding. From blowing us all away at Cornhuskin’ and snagging third place, to working their butts off and filling up the Dean’s List, the class of 2020 has never failed to amaze us all. After their exciting but exhausting first semester, the freshmen now have thoughts on how they have grown and changed for the better since coming to Meredith. Freshman Janie Midgett, who proudly describes herself as “a beach girl from the Outer Banks” and calls the little town of Stumpy Point home,

says she learned the importance of hard work and dedication during her first semester at Meredith. “I think the most important thing I learned from my first semester is that if I put my mind to something and work hard, it will pay off,” Midgett says. “I am most proud of my grades from first semester. I really shocked myself, I always study hard, but I didn’t think I would do that well, but I was pleased with my final grades.” Alanna Haughey, a freshman from North Raleigh, says her favorite memory from her first semester was Cornhuskin’ practices, especially “the gym practices we had until midnight where our Bigs came and surprised

Student Teachers of MC Sarah Smerko, Features Editor

For seniors earning a teaching license while at Meredith, their spring semester is always spent a little differently than the previous seven: student teaching. Here are just three of the great student teaching Angels this semester! Elementary: Name: Katherine Sneid Grade: First Favorite subject to teach: “ I don't think I have a favorite subject to teach yet, as I am slowly gradually taking over the different content areas, but I enjoy different aspects of all of the content areas.” Best part of student teaching: “The best part of student teaching so far has been getting to know the students I am teaching and building that relationship with all of them.” Advice for future student teachers: “My advice for future student teachers would be to keep and save everything that you learn, do, read, and hear from the Meredith professors and when you go out into your education placements. Those ideas and experiences can be great resources for student teaching and beyond!”

High: Name: Sara Lee Grade: High School (9th and 10th grade) Subjects: Math I and Math II What part of student teaching are you most excited about? “I am most excited about actually getting experience teaching and being able to learn from my cooperating teacher.”

Middle: Name: Meredith Pope Grade: 7th grade Subjects: Math 1, Math 7+, and Math 7 Favorite Subject to Teach: “My favorite subject to teach is Math because if you can learn the beauty behind mathematics you can see how it is all around you! “ Best part of student teaching: “My favorite part of teaching is listening to all of my students’ “breaking news stories” of their Middle school days. Trust me, they are hilarious.”