In August 2022, AP News released a story detailing how a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knew about child sexual abuse and didn’t report it to authorities. The child abuse continued for seven years. That story spawned reactions of “dismay, disgust and anger.” It also prompted discussion of the role of clergy and if they should be mandatory reporters of child abuse.

This legislative session, three bills have been introduced on the topic of clergy mandatory reporting. While all these bills have good intentions, only one — H.B. 115 — does enough to combat child abuse.

Child Sex Abuse and the LDS Church

In Utah, mandatory reporting laws make everyone responsible for reporting child abuse, with just a few exceptions. Those exceptions exists for clergy who learn about child abuse or neglect from a perpetrator while acting in a ministerial role. The goal of this exception in Utah, and similar exceptions in other states, is to protect priest-penitent privilege, but the result is child abusers flying under the radar of law enforcement and victims suffering.

Michael Rezendes’ AP story demonstrates exactly how this happens. In one case Rezendes examined, a bishop who counseled an abuser followed church guidelines, which pushed him to avoid calling law enforcement and instead use the church’s “help line.” The call to this help line left the bishop feeling like he wasn’t allowed to report the abuse to the police, even though he legally could. The bishop continued offering counseling to the abuser, but the abuse continued.

Rezendes explains this so-called help line is “answered by social workers or professional counselors who determine whether the information they receive is serious enough to be referred to an attorney … who represents the church.” The help line doesn’t exist to serve abused children or provide them help, but to protect the LDS church. It operates in secrecy and the records of calls get erased every day.

Clergy exemptions from mandatory reporting open the door to churches hiding child abuse anywhere, but Utah is particularly susceptible. Sixty percent of Utah’s population is LDS. This means that more children in our state are vulnerable to mandatory reporting exceptions allowing church policies to funnel abuse claims to sketchy helplines rather than law enforcement. Something clearly needs to change, and three Utah legislators — Rep. Brian King, Sen. Stephanie Pitcher and Rep. Angela Romero — have offered up possible solutions.

Three Bills, Only One Good Solution

King’s H.B. 212 would make the smallest change to our current mandatory reporting laws. It clarifies that clergy can legally report abuse to law enforcement if they learn about that abuse in an exchange that would be covered by priest-penitent privilege. He explained that his bill “just makes explicit something that the law already allows, but doesn’t specifically and expressly say it allows.” King also expressed that he didn’t have a problem with bills that would make clergy mandatory reporters, but if they don’t pass, “we ought to make clear to clergy that they can if they choose to go to law enforcement to report abuse of a child.”

Pitcher’s S.B. 72 would more substantially change the law. It would make clergy mandatory reporters, but only if they believe the child abuse is “ongoing or is likely to occur again.” This raises concern because clergy members do not receive the training that social workers, counselors or other professionals who work with abused children have. They don’t have the same tools to identify ongoing abuse, which could leave children vulnerable.

Romero’s H.B. 115 would most drastically change child abuse reporting standards. If passed, it would make all clergy mandatory reporters no matter who they learn of the abuse from or if it is ongoing. Each of these bills would improve mandatory reporting standards, but H.B. 115 takes the necessary steps to confront child abuse where it remains hidden and buried.

One in nine girls and one in 53 boys experience sexual abuse or assault as children. Childhood sexual abuse affects victims in nearly every area of their lives from physical and mental health to interpersonal relationships. It even causes brain damage, affecting the way victims experience stress and memory recall and causing emotional and attentional abnormalities.

Beyond this, speaking as a victim of adult sexual assault, we need to recognize that how we write our laws can affirm or deny victims. Exceptions to mandatory reporting laws tell victims that their abuse isn’t serious enough to require reporting.

A victim interviewed by AP said, “They just let it keep happening. They just said, ‘Hey, let’s excommunicate her father.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Let’s have them do therapy.’ It didn’t stop. ‘Hey, let’s forgive and forget and all this will go away.’ It didn’t go away.” Allowing church leaders to hide abuse from law enforcement allows that abuse to continue. It also makes victims feel ignored and unimportant.

The point of mandatory reporting laws is to put the responsibility for ending child abuse on everyone. Clergy should not be excluded from that responsibility, especially when they belong to a church that has a history of hiding child abuse. Our legislators clearly see a problem here and each of these bills offers an improvement on our current law. Still, Romero’s H.B. 115 is the only bill that tells child abuse survivors their abuse should never be tolerated or ignored, and it takes the necessary steps to fight child abuse in our state.

k.cushman@dailyutahchronicle.com

@cushman_kcellen

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

Graduate programs are known to be the next step to enhancing your education which is why they should be focused on upholding the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. 

A lot has changed over the past few years regarding admission numbers, especially the amount of students of color earning graduate degrees. 

In 1995, 75 percent of white students made up the population of graduate students in the U.S. while the rest were a mixed population of Black, Asian, Hispanic and Native American students. 

In 2015, data shifted to where only 56 percent of white students made up the population of graduate students while the rest were students of color and international students. Still, the shifts in the individual populations of people of color differ and have a long way to go.

For example, Black students increased from 6.9 percent to 13.5 percent, Asian students actually decreased from 7.3 percent to 6.3 percent, Hispanic students increased from 4.9 percent to 9.2 percent and Native American students decreased from 0.6 percent to 0.4 percent.

Of course, these numbers continue to change over time, decreasing and increasing as new students enroll each year. The common theme is how more students of color are applying and enrolling in higher education over the past 20 years. 

On the other hand, numbers can only say so much about graduate school and the experience students of color go through. Navigating through a white-dominated field of academics can open up a plethora of microaggressions, imposter syndrome, tokenization and marginalization. 

In general, graduate students are three times more likely to experience mental health issues than the average American. For students of color, this could be worsened through systematic and social barriers that isolate them from the graduate school experience. 

Historically, students of color, more specifically black students, were excluded from receiving the same education as their white counterparts. Even today, hate crimes continue to occur on college campuses that are racially motivated against people of color. 

Because of this, graduate schools should garner an inclusive environment with resources and funds dedicated to support students of color as they continue on with their education. 

Since students of color are less likely to take advantage of mental health resources on campus, universities should aim to close that gap by reaching out to students and ensuring that counselors represent the students they are trying to help. 

On the academic side, the implementation of graduate programs meant to highlight the contributions of people of color and marginalized communities are essential in becoming inclusive. 

UH has its own African American Studies graduate certificate as well as a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies. Although these are just graduate certificates, they offer an advanced academic venture into the history of marginalized communities that can be pushed into full-fledged graduate programs if the University aims for it.  

Graduate programs are a space for students to grow and increase their scope of the world. It is only logical that those spaces include a diverse group of students and their pressing thoughts to create it. 

Cindy Rivas Alfaro is a journalism sophomore student who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“Diversity, inclusion is important in graduate school programs” was originally posted on The Cougar

Colorado State women’s basketball traveled back to California to play their third consecutive road game in the state Feb. 16. Unlike their previous two games, CSU was handed a 53-49 loss by San Diego State University after scoring just 13 points in the first half.

Previously tied in Mountain West Conference standings with a 10-4 conference record, San Diego State now moves ahead of CSU in the standings by a single game with the win. The third school that was tied with No. 2 spot at 10-4, the University of Wyoming, also lost Feb. 16 to give SDSU sole possession of second place in the conference.

CSU struggled exceptionally on offense throughout the first half. The Rams scored just 8 points in the first quarter, with guard McKenna Hofschild making three 2-point field goals and forward Cali Clark making a layup.

The second quarter was even worse offensively for the Rams. Scoring just 5 points on two baskets — a 3-pointer from guard Hannah Ronsiek and a layup from Hofschild — CSU scored just 13 points in the first two quarters combined, giving SDSU a 23-13 lead at half.

If you wanted a defensive game. Well, you got it.
There were a combined 14 points scored in the second quarter. We were scoreless for the first five minutes and for the last four minutes. SDSU also hasn't scored a bucket from the floor for over five minutes.#Stalwart x #CSURams

— Colorado State Women's Basketball (@CSUWBasketball) February 17, 2023

After adjusting at halftime, CSU looked like a different team offensively in the second half. The Rams scored 17 points in the third quarter — more than their first half total — but were still outscored in the quarter by SDSU, 20-17.

The Rams outscored SDSU 19-10 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late for the team. CSU was unable to recover from their poor offensive first half despite a strong second half, and SDSU won the game 53-49.

Hofschild led CSU in scoring with 19 points, the only Ram to reach double digits. She also led the team with a game-high five assists, while Clark led the team in rebounds with seven. As a team, CSU made just 19 of 54 attempted field goals, including five of 27 attempted 3-pointers.

CSU will look to clean things up offensively before returning home to Moby Arena to host the U.S. Air Force Academy at 1 p.m. Feb. 18.

Reach Kaden Porter at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @kqporter5.

Dunning-Kruger lending itself to success may seem surprising at first, but with the growth of social media and the inherently selfish structure of capitalism (or human nature?), maybe it just makes sense.

Jamal Shead scored 13 points and dished out eight assists in No. 2 UH’s win over SMU on Thursday night. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Two of the past three years, Moody Coliseum was not friendly to Houston. The Cougars flipped the script on Thursday night as No. 2 UH cruised past the Mustangs 80-65 in its final regular-season meeting with its in-state rival as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Jamal Shead made everything he did look easy. When the junior guard saw some space, he drove by his defender for an easy bucket. When the defense collapsed on him, Shead found the open teammate on his way to 13 points and eight assists

With just over six minutes left in the first half, Shead went on a personal 7-0 run to put UH up 10. This started a stretch of eight-straight made field goals for the Cougars, who went into the half up 43-29.

Back in his hometown of Dallas, Marcus Sasser caught fire in the second half, hitting three 3-pointers to pile onto a UH lead that grew as large as 23 points. Sasser ended the night with 20 points, 17 coming in the second half.

Jarace Walker, a projected NBA lottery pick, opened up the second half with a bang, throwing down a one-handed slam on a lob from Shead. Walker finished with 14 points.

SMU closed the gap with a late 15-3 run but could not trim but UH hit its free throws down the stretch to prevent the Mustangs from getting any closer.

Tramon Mark and J’Wan Roberts both flirted with double-doubles. Mark scored 11 points and pulled down nine boards and Roberts added eight points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, UH (24-2, 12-1 AAC) keeps its two-game cushion atop the AAC standings with five games remaining in the regular season.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“No. 2 UH shows off in dominant win over SMU” was originally posted on The Cougar

When you’re scrolling through posts, items of clothing, musical artists, or behaviors are being forced to fit into niches. The pressure on social media users to conform to a singular niche runs high. 

Responsible for representing the student body’s opinions and bridging the gap between students and administration, the role of Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president is no small job. 

Last election, the Daily Trojan broke tradition by choosing not to endorse a USG presidential and vice presidential ticket. The Spring 2022 Editorial Board — a diverse, sequestered panel of Daily Trojan staffers and editors not affiliated with the paper’s impartial news coverage — wrote that, after interviewing each candidate, they found none able to offer concrete plans toward improvement. 

This year, the Spring 2023 Daily Trojan Editorial Board was satisfied to find a ticket that would represent not only the core values of the student body, but also the desire to improve how USG functions internally. For these reasons, the Editorial Board has decided to endorse presidential candidate Aidan Feighery and vice presidential candidate Ashley Ka.

Candidates’ Perspectives & Platforms

In separate interviews with the Daily Trojan Editorial Board, the five executive tickets shared their perspectives on the responsibilities of their roles and explained their platforms in greater detail. The candidates — Miko Mariscal and Andrew Taw, Devin Ayala and Navya Singh, Aidan Feighery and Ashley Ka, Yoav Gillath and Monica Rodriguez and Divya Jakatdar and Michelle Lu — all seemed to acknowledge USG’s institutional flaws and inconsistent relationship with the student body. However, some responses were more lackluster than others.

The Mariscal-Taw ticket was the first to be interviewed. Before being asked, the ticket addressed the Editorial Board’s concerns regarding the USG budget. Taw questioned the challenges that come with accessing resources, emphasizing the ticket’s desire to “eliminat[e] all of that yellow tape surrounding how to access [funds].” With Mariscal and Taw both expressing a strong passion for community outreach and holding a variety of roles within campus organizations, the ticket was a strong contender for our endorsement. 

Mariscal, a South Los Angeles native, described the impact USC had on her community; teaching assistants, she noted, would visit her schools and provide her the opportunity to tour universities across California. Mariscal and Taw explicitly showed their care for the Trojan community as well as the surrounding South L.A. area, but the Editorial Board was left unsatisfied with the scope of their proposals. Beyond “support, support, support,” what did the ticket possess that pre-existing RSOs aren’t already providing? Shouldn’t the role of USG president and vice president be about more than just support?

The Ayala-Singh ticket spoke on initiatives that stemmed from their motto of “Equity, Transparency, Advocacy” — or ETA. But despite being able to consolidate their platform into an acronym, their platform can only be described as unfocused and incomplete. Many of the main goals for their campaign were restoring old initiatives such as a 24-hour Starbucks, or suggesting projects that already exist on campus — such as an LAX shuttle — rather than creating new ones.

Out of the five tickets, Feighery and Ka possessed the most realistic, rational and believable platform. Many of their proposed policies, were they elected, seem feasible and would have measurable outcomes. Their communication in explaining their thought process was also clear and concise: “We also think that USG should really be a body that reaches out actively to different RSOs to actively get student feedback,” Ka said. “Rather than being a system where RSOs have to go to USG to apply for funding, we want to implement a more effective RSO outreach program.” 

The duo’s chemistry and sincerity throughout the interview stood out among the five tickets, catching the Editorial Board’s attention and giving the Board a bit more optimism that policies would truly be carried out.

Gillath and Rodriguez felt that they were most equipped to bring back the single-rider Fryft system, and also wanted to expand Fryft into new areas like Koreatown and DTLA. While it was a nice gesture, and one that many would enjoy, it doesn’t seem feasible. In contrast, the Jakatdar-Lu ticket claimed that they are the only presidential ballot to have worked on reverting back to the single-ride model for Fryft. 

The two tickets, while seemingly having so much to say regarding their policies, often failed to directly answer the Board’s questions. They lacked the ability to explain — and critique — structures and processes within USG, and instead seemed more interested in providing promises of expensive projects like fingerprint ID cards and medical vending machines (ideas of the Jakatdar-Lu ticket) or performative initiatives such as giving sunscreen out to those at Skid Row (an idea of the Gillath-Rodriguez ticket). 

Student Outreach & Community 

A primary focus of Feighery and Ka’s campaign was the prevention of sexual assault in the USC community. In the wake of several fraternities choosing to disaffiliate from the University this year, Feighery and Ka want to implement more extensive affirmative consent training modules as a part of freshman orientation and better amplify Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention trainings as a resource for all organizations that throw large social gatherings. 

The pair admitted their limited power in reversing the University’s move to a shared Lyft model, which had been a single-ride system over the pandemic until the beginning of this semester. To improve the current program, which has seen many users experience delays in rides, the duo aims to propose a $150 credit to be distributed to users for single rides to complement the unlimited shared rides that the University offers. 

In an effort to reach out to the student body, Feighery and Ka propose to reform USG culture so that there is more open communication between USG and the student body. The ticket also wants USG to actively reach out to different RSOs to collaborate in getting feedback from students since they are more likely to voice concerns to their respective RSOs. The ticket believes that by working in good faith, they can promote a more inclusive USC community.

Sustainability

As an editorial board, we believe that USG’s decision to dismantle the Green Engagement Fund was a grave error. Our endorsement for Feighery and Ka reflects much on Feighery’s dissenting position and accompanying statement condemning the broken system that disallowed senators to garner enough information to be able to take action on such an impactful change. Mariscal and Taw, the only ticket without a senatorial background, also expressed their ability to speak on the intersectionality of the matter. The Ayala-Singh and Gillath-Rodriguez tickets left room for growth in their responses, while the Jakatdar-Lu ticket did not address sustainability in any fashion — off-putting, since our interviews included a question directly about the subject.

Working within a broken system

We believe that USG lacks transparency in maintaining the Legislative Branch Project Tracker listed on their website. For example, if a project is incomplete, students deserve a meaningful explanation as to why. More details should be provided in order to create a process in which students — involved in USG or not — can engage with projects. 

Regarding budgeting, we ask for more transparency during the process of RSOs completing funding requests. We believe Feighery and Ka will do their best to ensure funding becomes more transparent and dispersed equitably. 

USG should maintain more awareness of the vast breadth of USC’s student body; not every student can allocate extra time to engage with USG. In addition to weekly office hours, USG should create internal structures which encourage — and perhaps require — representatives to check in with different communities. But this only works if representatives actually show up for students. The responsibility lies upon USG leaders to reach out, not the students themselves. No group on campus should be left in the dark.

With Ka bringing an outside perspective, this Editorial Board hopes that the attitude in USG will shift, as new input will be available from a candidate not shaped by previous semesters as an official.

Call to action

Among all five candidates campaigning for the election, it was made evident that there is a unanimous desire to reform the way USG serves the student body, and every ticket discussed a major restructuring in the way the organization approaches making change. Candidates spoke of hostile working environments within the organization that has corrupted its focus on serving the student body at large. The Daily Trojan hopes the coming administration will remember their role within the University and not let interpersonal relationships derail efforts in creating meaningful change. 

A lack of efficiency and effectiveness has remained an issue within the organization, and we hope students consider a candidate with clear, outlined goals that are attainable and realistic. We understand that USG has limited power over University action, but their hefty stipend suggests they should be getting more work done. We believe that the Feighery and Ka ticket outlines an appropriate amount of attainable goals for their prospective term. 

While our endorsement was decided upon after extensive research and interviews with each of the candidates, we urge the student body to conduct their own research and critically analyze each candidate’s platforms. This endorsement was decided upon prior to the USG election debate at 7 p.m. Thursday (tonight, at the date of publication), to which we urge students to closely pay attention in their decision-making process. 

The Daily Trojan pledges to hold whoever is elected accountable for campus-wide problems and any shortcomings upon which they seek to improve — and those they create themselves. We are only aware of each candidate’s executive aspirations; it will be up to those elected to prove themselves through actions, decisions and behaviors that are worthy of the appointment.

The Spring 2023 Daily Trojan Editorial Board — composed of three managing editors, three senior editors and three staff writers, all of whom represent various identities, disciplines and years at USC — conducted interviews with each of the five executive tickets. Members of the Editorial Board did not participate in any news-related coverage of the USG election cycle, nor are directly involved in the Spring 2023 news section’s impartial coverage. The Editorial Board framed each interview around the same questionnaire composed of questions on timely topics at USC, with follow-up questions allowed afterward.

The post The Daily Trojan endorses Feighery & Ka appeared first on Daily Trojan.

WIth four games left in the regular season, UH sits in a tie for third in the AAC with a 7-4 record in league play. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

A four-game win streak for the UH women’s basketball team came to an end in gut-wrenching fashion on Wednesday night, as the Cougars fell to Memphis 45-44 at Fertitta Center.

The first quarter was a low-scoring affair, something that became a constant throughout the matchup. The Cougars held the lead for most of the period, catching momentum in the final few minutes to lead 13-7 at the end of quarter one.

Graduate student forward Tatyana Hill led the Cougars in the first quarter, scoring six points on 3-for-5 shooting including two consecutive layups to finish the quarter.

The Cougars turned dominant in the second quarter, propelled largely by the play of senior guard Tiara Young, who scored seven points in the quarter. 

UH entered halftime comfortably, leading Memphis 26-14.

Young and Hill each led UH in scoring in the first half, scoring seven and six points, respectively. 

Both squads struggled from the field, with the Cougars shooting under 32 percent and Memphis shooting roughly 28 percent.

While UH extended its lead to as large as 14 points early in the third period, Memphis began cutting into the deficit on an 8-2 run. The Cougars’ lead was trimmed to 32-26  entering the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was redshirt senior guard Britney Onyeje who carried the UH offense, scoring eight points.

Onyeje’s performance wasn’t enough to slow down the momentum Memphis had built in the previous quarter. 

After a 3-pointer from Onyeje that extended the UH lead back to double-digits, Memphis put together a run that managed to tie things up with just under three minutes to play.

UH managed to hold onto the lead going into the final minute, until – with under 30 seconds to play – Memphis hit a clutch 3-pointer to give it a 45-44 lead. 

UH was unable to get another chance, losing 45-44. 

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“UH women’s basketball’s win streak snapped by Memphis” was originally posted on The Cougar

The month of February marks the U.S. annual Black History Month, which is a time to reflect and learn about those who have fought and been activists for members of the Black community as well as understand the history of the community within the United States.

On Feb. 13 Colorado State University had keynote speaker Bobby Seale, a co-founder of the Black Panther Party, visit campus as one of the many events held by the Black/African American Cultural Center to celebrate the month.

Seale grew up in Oakland, California, which is about a 30-minute drive from the city of San Francisco. He began his talk by explaining what the time looked like for people of color, what he grew up with and how the idea of civil and Black rights was not even a thought for him.

“I was raised by a carpenter,” Seale said. “There was no such thing as Black history in the 1950s and 1960s. I thought it was a communist movement.”

The idea of being able to stand up for Black rights at the time seemed foreign to Seale, and he was unsure if it was even legal.

“After I saw Martin Luther King speak, I was told that fighting and activating for these rights would not only help us be equal, but it would help us become economically established at the time. After that, I was in,” -Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party

During the 1950s and early 1960s, prior to the official founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966, Seale worked hard with other people of color to understand how to practice activism legally. This was to ensure they would be safe and reduce the chances of arrest. Seale explained they did this by studying the law and recalled times they had to use the knowledge in defense.

In the early beginnings of the party, the few members they had at the time observed police and studied the laws around doing so for over a month.

Even at 86 years old, Seale can recall the information of the time he founded the Black Panther Party as if it was yesterday. He often told jokes and had the audience laughing at each one.

During the founding of the Black Panther Party, Seale said what sold him was the connection of civil rights to economic status.

“After I saw Martin Luther King speak, I was told that fighting and activating for these rights would not only help us be equal, but it would help us become economically established at the time,” Seale said. “After that, I was in.”

The villainization of the Black Panther Party was a key point in Seale’s speech, as the idea of Black individuals standing up to the police at the time painted the group in a dangerous light.

“We were portrayed in the media as hooligans and thugs,” Seale said. “I wanted to capture the imagination of what could be and unify my brothers and sisters.”

Seale wanted the audience to understand that the party was not violent, but rather, the media and government portrayed them that way. The idea of unifying the Black community was a scary thought for those in power at the time, and to make the Black Panther Party feared was an easy way to target them.

Seale wrapped up his speech by reflecting on the early beginnings of the Black Panther Party and encouraging those who want change to seek change.

His first-hand accounts of the history were eye-opening and allowed the audience to understand the struggles people of color were facing. Seale made the point that although his work was influential, it is far from over.

Reach Katherine Borsting at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @katbor2025. 

“What is the value of one human life? How much of our humanity are we willing to sacrifice for glory and the spoils of war? Civilization must begin with justice, but to those being sacrificed, is slaughter ever just?” 

These are the opening lines of the announcement of “Artemis, I,” the latest play produced by ODURep with support from the Hellenistic Studies Endowment. Written and directed by Deborah Wallace, “Artemis, I” retells the classical Greek story of Iphigenia.

In the original mythology, Iphigenia is the daughter of King Agamemnon, who offends Artemis when he kills her sacred stag. In retaliation, Artemis halts the winds so that he cannot sail to join the Trojan War. A seer tells Agamemnon that he must sacrifice Iphigenia to appease Artemis, and he caves to pressure from commanders and performs the sacrifice. “Artemis, I” will follow a similar trajectory, updated for a modern audience with its contemporary boldness in design and tone.

“It’s very big in terms of spectacle, it’s quite impactful,” said Deborah Wallace, the director, writer, and sound designer of “Artemis, I.” “There is the Greek tragedy, but it’s also been modernized in trying to draw the parallels between the ancient world and these stories that have been with us for millennia and the world that we live in today.”

Wallace started writing “Artemis, I” during the pandemic. 

“As we saw this ever amounting death count of people, the question that was at the forefront of my mind was ‘What is that value? How do we value a human life, whether it be personally or as a culture?’” Wallace continued. 

This is the source of the central idea of “Artemis, I”, which the play will explore through the lens of ancient royalty and modern language.

The principal cast includes Anna Sosa as Artemis, Reisce Owen as the Pythia, Brian Jinright as Agamemnon, Leila Bryant as Clytemnestra, and Angelina Paquin as Iphigenia. Taking the place of a traditional Greek chorus is a pantheon of female war gods. The choreography is largely created by students and orchestrated by Samantha Hendrix. 

The way the play is updated for modern audiences is  reflected in the costume design, which is described as Grecian, modern, and luxurious. Costume designer Meredith Magoun shared her ideas for the costume design of Agamemnon, describing him as a “general who’s not actually going to be fighting, but [who] still wants to look powerful.” 

“The way we do soldiers in this day and age is camouflage, but that’s not right for this play,” said Magoun. “How do you convey a military-esque design without doing [Battle Dress Uniforms] and camo?”

The designers settled on a color scheme of white, gold, and silver; white for the mortal characters and gold and silver for the gods to highlight their divinity. The Greek chorus of war goddesses have been designed to resemble statues that Artemis has brought to life to help her enact her revenge.

Although “Artemis, I” has been modernized, inspiration has come from the past as well. Magoun revealed that both she and Wallace used “Dido’s Lament,” a song from the 1688 opera Dido and Aeneas, as inspiration for Artemis and the central sorrow that she experiences. The play’s core themes of sorrow, grief, and the value of life remain universal.

“I hope any audience when they go see any theater experiences awe and catharsis,” Magoun said. “I hope that they see the joy and the love of humanity and that it makes them hungry to experience more.”

“Artemis, I” will run on Feb. 23-25 and March 1-4 at 7 p.m., and March 5 at 2 p.m. There will be free parking in the Constant Center Garage, 1060 West 45th St. Tickets can be purchased here and start at $5 for ODU students.