Friday, November 22, 2024
Bryson Thadhani
Payton Little
Conner Fuxa
‘There’s no way to describe that feeling’ Seniors prepare for last game day in Boone Pickens Stadium
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B Y H AY D E N A L E X A N D E R
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he Cowboys’ football preparing to soak up every last second season is effectively they can as their time at OSU comes to over this year, but for a close. many seniors, Satur“I haven’t even been able to think day’s game is even more about it,” Spirit Rider Keaton Cunningvital than a championship or bowl ham said. “It hasn’t quite hit me that game; it’s their final game in Boone I’m a senior. It hasn’t hit me that this is Pickens Stadium. going to be my last game with Bullet.” Seniors on and off the field are Cunningham’s time with the OSU
NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR Spirit Rider team has shaped her time at OSU and her childhood. Her parents served as the OSU Spirit Rider team, with her dad taking over in 1998 and her mom in 2000. They took over the program in 2005. As a young girl, Cunningham did not fully understand the significance of Bullet, but as she aged, she began to
grasp it. “When I was little, I just knew that on Saturdays in the fall, we loaded this horse up and drove to Stillwater,” Cunningham said. “I knew he was a special horse, and I knew people loved him, but to me, he was my best friend.”
See SENIOR on page 3A
‘They have to put everything on the line’ Students respond to Gaines’ OSU visit HAYDEN ALEXANDER
women” and should not be allowed to compete with those who were born female. “As it originally stood, it was a very brief piece of legislation, only 37 LGBTQ+ students and allies are words, a short paragraph that ensured speaking up after Riley Gaines, a conor prevented sex-based discriminaservative speaker and activist, visited tion within any educational program,” campus Nov. 13. Gaines said. Izzy Wilkerson is a member of the Sophie, an advocate and genderqueer LGBTQ+ community and said the visit student who asked The O’Colly not did not shock them, especially on a to include their last name for safety campus like OSU. reasons, said what Gaines is asking for “I don’t think that it’s surprising that is discrimination. Riley Gaines visited this university,” “I don’t think she realizes how hard Wilkerson said. “I think that this is a it is to be a trans woman, how much university that probably has a lot of violence and discrimination they face,” students whose views align with hers.” Sophie said. “The idea of someone Gaines’ platform “Take Back Title pretending to be trans just to get those IX” aims to return the law to its origiopportunities is absurd. Misogyny afnal wording. Gaines said in her talk fects trans women too.” she believes transgender women have an unfair advantage over “biological See GAINES on page 5A
NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR
Bryson Thadhani Equity Advocates chair, Rosemary Avance, advocates for DEI efforts.
Gov. Stitt executive order restricts access to DEI-related resources LUISA CLAUSEN
resources became scarce and hidden. For example, students were able to access the course pages on Canvas, OSU’s learning management system, Close to a year ago, Gov. Kevin Stitt and have access to diversity, equity signed an executive order prohibiting and inclusion resources under “Student Resources.” Now, the link leads to state agencies, colleges and universities from using state funds to support an empty page. The Division of Access and Comdiversity, equity and inclusion initiamunity Impact, which, prior to the tives. order, was known as the Office of Rosemary Avance, the chair of the Institutional Diversity, was temporarCollege of Arts and Sciences Eqily down, and its new version does not uity Advocates, knew then that some display a list of the directory board or things would change, and she was a list of diversity, equity and inclusion right. Office names and faculty titles were a couple of the expected changes. programs and resources for students. However, Avance said the accessibility
STAFF REPORTER
See STITT on page 5A
Hayden Alexander Students at OSU are speaking out after Riley Gaines visited campus last week.