PEERS mentees presenting their project to the judges.| Photo courtesy of PEERS project leads

The Project Engagement Encouraging Rising Students undergraduate volunteers hosted their fourth annual community health project capstone competition for high school students on May 14, during a community health workers conference at UH.

Throughout the 2021-22 academic year, around 25 high school students from several underserved Houston-area schools and organizations were mentored weekly by 16 UH PEERS volunteers. The program tasked the high school students with designing community health intervention projects to address mental health in their communities.

The program culminated in an end-of-the-year competition, during which the seven high school teams presented their tri-fold posters and vied for monetary prizes.

“Watching all the hard work our mentor and mentee teams have been doing come to fruition brings the PEERS leadership team and I a great sense of pride,” said nutrition senior and PEERS project head Tony Trabulsi.

The projects were judged by a group of volunteers that included UH alumni, researchers and public health professionals.

A group of students from Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy won first place for their project, “Readiness for Foster Teens.” An Austin High School team took home second, with the title “Houston for Minority Mental Health.” A project named “2nd Hand – Women Helpers of Tomorrow” from Mission Squash came in third.

Facilitating community engagement through a mentorship experience and project-based learning encourages both undergraduates and high school students to pursue academic and professional development, according to the PEERS leadership team. This personal growth can then be used to advocate for improved health outcomes in their communities.

The program involved UH campus tours to get the high school students interested in higher education, as well as an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math. Students learned background information about Houston and community health in the fall, which led to them developing their own project ideas and creating posters in the spring.

To organize this student-led mentorship program and competition, PEERS partnered with the Community Health Workers Initiative, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute, the Honors College and Honors in Community Health.

“The HPE DSI is thrilled to support PEERS as an innovative project-based approach to peer-mentoring,” said director of engaged data science Dr. Andrew Kapral. “The PEERS program is a model for bringing together data, public health and mentoring to impact learning.”

news@thedailycougar.com

—
“PEERS competition addresses community health issues” was originally posted on The Cougar

Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Kenneth E. Carter (87Ox, 89C) will be the interim dean of Oxford College, according to a June 9 email to Oxford students from Emory University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda. 

Carter will assume the role on Aug. 1 to replace outgoing Dean Douglas Hicks, who resigned from Emory to accept a position as the 19th president of Davidson College (N.C.). Carter will serve as interim dean until the national search for a permanent dean is concluded.

Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Kenneth E. Carter was named the interim dean of Oxford College. Photo courtesy of Emory University.

In a June 9 email to Oxford students, Carter said it is the “perfect time” to build on the “growth and momentum” Hicks brought to campus. 

“It’s an honor to follow in the steps of Dean Doug Hicks, who is departing after six years to become president of Davidson College,” Carter wrote. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff, and all of you to keep Oxford strong, vibrant, and moving forward.”

As a first generation Oxford College and Emory University alumnus, Bellamkonda wrote that Carter displays “a strong commitment to the Oxford campus and an understanding of the importance of community-building.” 

After graduating from Emory, Carter received his Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan. He also earned a Master of Science degree in psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University (N.J.) and was board certified as a clinical psychologist. 

Following time working as a senior assistant research scientist in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, Carter returned to Oxford as an assistant professor of psychology in 1994, which he wrote was like “coming home.” 

During his tenure at Emory, Carter worked his way up to become the chair of the Division of History and Social Sciences at Oxford. He teaches introductory psychology courses and advanced courses in psychopathology and clinical psychopharmacology, including a course he designed on the psychology of thrill-seeking. 

Carter has written several publications, including the textbooks “Learn Psychology” (Jones and Bartlett) and “Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies” (Cambridge University Press), as well as many peer-reviewed articles. 

His upcoming textbook, “Psychopathology: Understanding Psychological Disorders” (Cambridge University Press), will be published in November and is “based on what real students want to learn about psychological disorders,” according to Bellamkonda.  

Bellamkonda added that Carter’s main goal is “student-focused learning,” earning him the 2017-18 Oxford College Alumni Board Award for Outstanding Teaching. 

“I am excited to work with Prof. Carter in his new role as interim dean, and I look forward to seeing him bring together Oxford College students, faculty and staff in co-creating the Oxford experience and building a vibrant path forward,” Bellamkonda wrote.

Carter echoed Bellamkonda’s statement, writing that Oxford students are part of a diverse community dedicated to helping students “flourish in [their] own academic and personal journeys.”

“Oxford has always been a community based on collaboration and mutual respect,” Carter wrote. “Together, we will continue to build on our core values and provide you with the best possible foundation for both your Emory education and life beyond college.”

The post University names Carter as interim Oxford College dean appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

The Undergraduate Student Government voted 7-5 to finalize the 2022-2023 budget, reallocating green engagement and accessibility fund dollars to the Legislative Fund Tuesday night. More than 20 students, including leadership from the Environmental Student Assembly and the SC Garden Club, attended the virtual meeting to oppose the reallocation and demonstrate support for the GEF.

Chief financial officer Brian Stowe and vice president Nivea Krishnan said the reallocation would further USG’s vision of equity and accessibility by streamlining and standardizing the funding process. However, ESA, SC Garden Club and other stakeholders argued reallocating the GEF would undermine sustainability initiatives at the University. 

At last Tuesday’s senate meeting, USG approved a bylaw amendment that cut the GEF from the funding department. Approval of the budget finalized the reallocation of GEF dollars to the Legislative Fund, which is available for senators, USG legislative committees and liasons to use for various projects. 

After last week’s meeting, the ESA and the SC Garden Club rallied to spread awareness of the issue and gather support for reinstating the GEF. 

Connor Castillo, the co-director of the Environmental Student Assembly, said USG had not informed the organization about the cut and the first time he became aware of the decision was shortly before last week’s meeting. He said the GEF directors, the GEF oversight board, SC Garden Club and other student projects approved for GEF funding were also not informed of the decision. 

“It felt very disappointing, especially because most of these senators, as well as the current president and vice president, they made campaigns on promoting sustainability as well as promoting student voices, promoting students and these types of conversations in terms of what is funded and what is not funded,” Castillo said.

Castillo launched a petition Sunday night calling for support for GEF. By Tuesday’s senate meeting, the petition had 317 signatures from incoming and current students, alumni, community members, staff and faculty. At the time of publication, the petition had garnered 321 signatures.

“Our students need continuing financial support to get their sustainability ideas off the ground, and our students and faculty really want sustainability to be supported as a core value at USC. It would be a shame for USG to pull funding for this critical program,” said Jill Sohm, environmental studies program director and associate professor of environmental studies, as quoted in the petition. 

After SC Garden Club president Olivia Heffernan was informed of the decision Friday night, she reached out individually to each senator to discuss the issue.

“I was really disappointed with a lack of transparency within this administration,” said Heffernan, a rising senior majoring in environmental studies, in an interview with the Daily Trojan after the meeting. “I’m hoping that they can do better in the future and that we can take this as a lesson going forward and really work on that so they can support their RSOs and student body better going forward.”

Throughout the meeting, several students’ Zoom profiles displayed the message, “Support The GEF.”

In the open forum at the start of the meeting, the ESA co-directors, SC Garden Club president and a GEF director spoke in support of the GEF. 

Castillo discussed the University administration’s prioritization of sustainability, as well as past campus initiatives funded by the GEF, including solar umbrellas at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, native plants at Queen’s Courtyard and the sustainable garden at the Wrigley Institute. 

“The Green Engagement Fund in the past has supported our shared value of environmentalism at USC,” Castillo said. “Without this fund, students would not have an inclusive, accessible way to drive these initiatives in the future to promote sustainability.”

Castillo said reallocating the Green Engagement Fund would also set USC behind peer institutions like UCLA, where a budget is allocated for student-run sustainability projects. 

Emy Li, the funding director of the GEF in Spring 2022 and a rising junior majoring in applied and computational mathematics and economics, spoke about students’ use of and engagement with the fund. She addressed the concern that GEF funds were not being demanded or used effectively, noting that in the spring 2022 semester, while GEF’s oversight committee conducted eight consultations and approved six applications for funding, the projects did not receive the funds they requested.

“We all thought that the funds have been well on their way for the student projects, and the teams were really eager to receive funding and continue with their research and all their work,” Li said. “We learned after the school year ended that the funding was never distributed.”

Valerie Kuo, the co-director of ESA and a rising sophomore majoring in environmental studies, argued that reallocating the GEF would weaken support for sustainability projects on campus. Students who would have applied to receive GEF funding would now compete with committees for legislative funds.

Following the open forum, the senate debated the GEF further. The USG reemphasized its vision to further equity and accessibility by streamlining the funding process and standardizing it for all students who require funding for their projects. 

“Two things were on our mind going about this decision: equity and accessibility, fairness and equal access to all students to receive funding,” Stowe said. 

Vice president Nivea Krishnan clarified that students with sustainability projects can still receive funding and can do so by reaching out to senators and attending public-facing senate and committee meetings. Previous projects successfully funded through this process included the distribution of fentanyl test strips by registered student organization Team Awareness Combating Overdose and an art therapy event organized by the Survivor Support Community, Krishnan said.

“That [funding] process that has been tried and tested last year, and it’s how we were fortunate to be able to fund so many projects last year, which I’m personally grateful for because I think [funding projects was] one of the most powerful things that we did as the senate,” Krishnan said.

USG emphasized that the fund’s reallocation does not reflect on its commitment to sustainability.

President Hannah Woodworth also spoke about a project she and Krishnan are working on to create a shuttle that would provide transportation between the University and Los Angeles International Airport. The initiative was approved for $60,000 in funding last week and will be the largest USC sustainability initiative in years, she said. 

“I feel like that provides ample support for how we support sustainability, to prove that we are dedicated to this as a general issue regarding environmental justice, environmental equity and sustainability in general,” Woodworth said. “We will keep reiterating that [sustainability is] definitely at the forefront of our priorities.”

After the budget approval, USG unanimously confirmed the Latinx Student Assembly director nominations, which had been accidentally omitted from the previous meeting’s programming department nominations. The senators also unanimously approved new associate justices and the funding department leadership.

The meeting ended with a discussion in which USG members encouraged students attending the meeting to engage with USG for better understanding and support for sustainability. 

“Please give us more insight,” USG senator Victor Ye said. “Please come to us for more information, more support, as we are going to be working diligently on this over the next year. So there’s a lot for us to do and we are very excited to be a part of this journey with you guys.”

Tuesday’s meeting marked USG’s second and final intersemester meeting before reconvening in the fall.

The post USG finalizes budget reallocating Green Engagement Fund, approves judicial branch appeared first on Daily Trojan.

We’ve all heard the beleaguered complaints of the modern liberal bemoaning Target’s Pride collection as a symptom of corporate exploitation of the gay rights movement. But this year, I would like to shift our critique of the collection past the corporatization of Pride, to a discussion about respecting women’s voices and the perils of interpreting classical texts.

Last weekend, my girlfriend and I made a trip to Target, whereupon we were immediately met with a mug bearing the following Sappho quote, “Slender Aphrodite has overcome me with longing for a girl.”

As someone who studies classics and Ancient Greek–and possesses the gigantic Folio Edition of Anne Carson’s monumental translation of Sappho–you’d think I would be thrilled to see this more academic admission in the array of tacky rainbowed attire. And I truly would be, were it not for the abhorrent mistranslation of this particular quote. I’ll spare you the grammatical intricacies, suffice to say that the word παιδος, which was translated in this instance to mean “girl,” is actually a neuter noun. This means that it is devoid of gender and cannot be read as “girl.” A more honest translation would be “youth,” however, in many ancient texts, this specific word is used to refer to a young boy (as there is a gender-specific word, κόρε, which is used to refer to a maiden or girl). So many modern translators find it more appropriate to translate this word as “boy.”

But why does this matter? Is not a simple mistranslation merely a passable mistake? Why does it matter that this quote on this mug is mistranslated? Well, Target is far from the first entity to misquote and misattribute Sappho–indeed, they aren’t even the first to make this particular mistranslation. But the fact that Target, a massive corporation, has picked up on this particular piece of shoddy translation, means that it might be time to finally start the conversation about interpreting ancient authors.

While Sappho was held in generally high esteem during the classical period, gaining respect and renown from Plato through the Roman period, her work has been ravaged not only by thousands of years and linguistic challenges, but also by puritanical church officials who deemed her work to be indecent (read, a woman who expressed sexuality, which could further be interpreted as homoerotic). As such, we now possess a minute fraction of her writings–roughly 650 lines, mostly fragmentary, out of a total corpus of 10,000 original lines. Only a single complete poem remains. Her voice has been all but lost to the sands of time (though ironically, the sands of Egypt have proven to be fertile with ancient manuscript fragments, which is where our hopes must lie for the discovery of further fragments).

Our knowledge of her personal life is no less fraught with mystery and misnomers. The few hints we have about her personal life from the fragments of her poetry offer us glimpses into the life of the real woman–the name of a brother, a daughter, many young women–was she a schoolmistress or a socialite? Was this a list of protegees or lovers? 

The rest of the information we have comes sporadically, from other authors–often ones who lived far after the death of Sappho. The later comic playwrights in particular were obsessed with Sappho, writing at least six plays in her name. It is from these plays that we get the first notion of her husband, though upon further reflection, the name they give him may be exceptionally telling: Κερκύλας Ἁνδρός, which translates roughly to “dicky boy from the island of man.” So, you can see how that particular fact is suspect. In essence, the life of this woman who was so pivotal in the development of Greek lyric poetry remains as much a mystery as the words that remain lost to history.

The deliberate mistranslation of her words is simply another piled-on factor clouding our understanding of Sappho’s work and life. For much of history anonymous may have been a woman, but it seems that even when we know the name of that woman, her words are not safe from misattribution and mistranslation. The desire to have this ancient lesbian to relate to is understandable–so much of history is straight and has deliberately erased the existence of women who love other women. But the answer to erasure and loss is not to misrepresent the few words we do have from ancient women, especially words that intimately describe the complex lives of women in antiquity, and their desire for other women. 

We must give Sappho the same scholarship and critical understanding that we give to any ancient author, the same attention to detail and space for nuance. That is the only way in which we can, in some small part, rectify the injustices of written memory forgetting the words of women. Take this as another qualm to add when we tack the 95 theses on the door of Target’s Pride collection.

This OpEd essay was submitted by Trinity Fritz Lawrence, a University of Minnesota student studying classics with a particular interest in female homoeroticism in antiquity (and, less relevantly, today). 

This OpEd essay has been lightly edited for style and clarity. 

The Daily Free Press has a campus news section which solely covers news, events, and investigative stories at BU.

It’s been a heavy couple of weeks since the shooting at Uvalde Elementary School left 21 people dead, including 19 children and two teachers. Unfortunately, the reality of living in America makes the issue of gun violence unavoidable. In 2020 alone, 44,286 people lost their lives to gun violence in America. The United States’ unhealthy attitude towards guns perpetuates a culture of gun violence and the normalization of tragedy.

America’s Gun Culture

Americans have a unique relationship with guns. Some families view owning one as a rite of passage, sometimes passing them down as heirlooms. People in America adamantly defend their right to bear arms. According to Pew Research, four in 10 adults live in a household with guns. This reflects our rampant gun mania, but it also makes guns much more accessible to those who may not have had access to firearms otherwise.

This is in extreme contrast to most other countries, where guns are much more heavily regulated. After the Port Arthur Massacre in Australia, the country imposed strict gun legislation, effectively banning almost all fully automatic and semi-automatic weapons. Since the ban in 1997, gun ownership in Australia has fallen by 48%. In 2005, an estimated 6.2% of Australian households owned one or more guns. There remains an obvious disconnect between how other countries perceive guns and U.S. gun culture.

American gun culture seems like it’s here to stay, and it’s now growing stronger than ever. During the pandemic, American gun ownership rates soared. Experts believe the spike may have had something to do with the election, but the number of new gun owners was notably high. Gun sales increased by 64% from 2019 to 2020. I remember driving past my hometown’s rifle store and seeing a line down the street. And while gun ownership and sales have increased, so have gun-related crimes. From 2019 to 2020, the number of gun-related homicides and non-suicide-related shootings rose by 25%.

Unnecessary and Unprotected Gun Ownership

Pro-gunners use many of the same arguments. In a poll of gun owners, 48% reported owning a gun for the purpose of self-defense. In reality, guns are used for self-defense at a staggeringly low rate. Between 2007 and 2011, people defended themselves from crimes with a gun about 0.9% of the time. Taking into account that four in 10 households in the United States own one or more guns, guns get used for self-defense extremely rarely. More likely, the presence of a gun makes people in proximity feel unsafe, rather than protected. In schools, it seems counterproductive to introduce more guns into an environment where students already worry about gun violence.

When the Second Amendment was written, our founding fathers could not have imagined what gun technology looks like today. The guns they knew could only fire one round at a time and took a long time to reload. Now, guns like the AR-15 can fire up to 45 rounds a minute. When modified, that number can increase to upward of 400. To think that the founding fathers protected the right to bear fully automatic or semi-automatic arms is ridiculous.

The Cost of Gun Mania

Here in America, we protect more guns than civilians. There exists an estimated 120.5 firearms for every 100 citizens in the United States. The abundance of guns inevitably shapes crime in the United States. Seventy-nine percent of homicides involve some sort of firearm. The ability to easily obtain guns makes it easier for violence to occur here. But even though some solutions seem obvious, our country’s extreme gun culture prohibits the enactment of any sort of change.

Shootings Are Not Rare

Since Columbine, more than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence in schools. Many students fear that what they see on the news will happen at their school. Real people, real children, lose their lives in environments meant to provide safe places for children to learn. The majority of teens worry about gun violence occurring at their schools, yet nothing changes to make them safer. Thousands of families have lost loved ones due to a problem that we could easily correct with the proper legislation and restrictions.

I was in fifth grade when the Sandy Hook shooting happened. I grew up in a school system where we frequently had lockdown and active shooter drills. At my high school, we experienced threats of school shootings numerous times. Police officers regularly swarmed campus, investigating if threats had any validity. 

Gun violence in schools is one of the many ugly side effects of our obsessive gun culture in the U.S. I am deeply saddened and disappointed that the safety of the public is overlooked in favor of the right to easily obtain extremely deadly weapons.

e.cowley@dailyutahchronicle.com

@elle_cowley_

The post Cowley: American Gun Mania is Deadly appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

The Colorado State University Mountain Campus had an outbreak of 39 positive COVID-19 cases last week among CSU students, faculty and staff.

Risk and Public Safety Communications Manager Dell Rae Ciaravola said no one who tested positive had experienced serious illness. Due to the remote location of the Mountain Campus and the communal living and learning spaces, CSU postponed or canceled all activities until after June 10.

A person in a camp group reported a positive at-home test to the CSU Public Health Office after they returned home from their visit to the Mountain Campus. The CSU Public Health Office identified “a few additional cases” in that individual’s camp group through contact tracing that started May 27, Ciaravola said.

On May 28, positive COVID-19 cases were identified in individuals still at the Mountain Campus. This prompted the Pandemic Preparedness Team to mobilize testing to the Mountain Campus on May 31 to identify other positive cases, Ciaravola said.

“Those who tested positive were isolated at the campus until transportation back to Fort Collins could be arranged for them,” Ciaravola said. “Those who tested positive left the campus earlier the week of May 30, and the remainder of that group who had not tested positive left on Friday, June 3, and were instructed to test again at the CSU testing pod that same day.”

Fifth-year student Remi Pattyn was at the Mountain Campus for the first four-week summer session to complete the pre-capstone course for the fish, wildlife and conservation biology major. Pattyn said the first students in his group tested positive the weekend of May 27 because they were instructed to bring self tests before going to the Mountain Campus.

Pattyn said he spent three weeks of the four-week course in person on the Mountain Campus but had to finish the final week online.

Ciaravola said 39 total cases were identified by the end of the day June 3. Activities at the Mountain Campus will resume June 10 after the 10-day infectious period outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“All staff who have not tested positive will be tested several times before June 9,” Ciaravola said.

The Pandemic Preparedness Team will not require all Mountain Campus visitors to test for COVID-19 24-48 hours before they arrive, Ciaravola said, and they will need to show their group leader proof of a negative test.

“We understand that these requirements are more stringent than what is currently mandated at most event venues,” Ciaravola said. “However, given the remote nature of our campus, shared sleeping quarters, and the potential of a delayed response in providing medical care to individuals who develop severe COVID symptoms or complications due to the location of the campus, we believe these measures are in the best interest of the health of our visitors and staff.”

Reach Serena Bettis at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @serenaroseb.

To the unsuspecting observer, Kitty’s Cottage is simply a historical landmark, a remnant of Emory University’s first chapel. However, constructed in 1841, the plain, unoccupied dwelling was the home of Catherine “Kitty” Andrew Boyd, who was enslaved by Methodist Bishop James Osgood Andrew, the first chair of the Emory Board of Trustees.

Georgia laws in the 1840s prevented an individual’s release from slavery, so Andrew offered to send Boyd to Liberia, an African colony for freed slaves. However, Boyd allegedly declined his proposition, and “preferred to remain with the Andrew family,” according to the plaque formerly erected on the side of the cottage — a notion that received criticism from the Oxford community.

Following criticism of the sign’s representation of Boyd’s enslavement, the City of Oxford Council voted on April 4 to remove it, among a number of other historical signage. The Council unanimously voted on the decision, except for councilman Jeff Wearing, who chose to abstain.

“The signage at Kitty’s Cottage seemed to tell a story that was very biased towards one side,” former Oxford Men of Color President Devin Gee (22Ox, 24C) said. “It seemed to describe how much she almost enjoyed the fact that she didn’t have her own freedom.”

The sign formerly erected outside of Kitty’s Cottage in Oxford, Ga. (Eva Roytburg/News Editor)

Gee added that the sign overlooked how Boyd didn’t possess the ability to “carry out her own life,” and how most Black people at the time didn’t have agency over their lives.

According to Oxford City Councilmember James Windham, the council hopes to replace the signs with “corrections, as appropriate.”

During Emory’s slavery symposium in October 2021, Gee spoke to many other Black Oxford College students. He said they agreed that the signage didn’t seem very accurate, and it appeared to have a “slant to one side of the history.”

According to outgoing Oxford Dean Douglas Hicks, the sign conveys a message that doesn’t reflect the current understanding of history — that Boyd chose to become a slave, that she was a mulatto and that she was only “technically” a slave. 

“We all know that the law and society at that time did not allow her to be free,” Hicks said in a March 3 City of Oxford meeting. “She may well have been loved and a part of her community, but freedom is not a term I think we should use.”

Jordan Antwi (22Ox, 24C) said that he wishes he knew about the signage before he agreed to attend Oxford in the first place.

“On the tours, they don’t really talk about it,” Antwi added. “I feel like it’s better to be honest than try to hide it.”

He also mentioned how the signs were mentally draining, as being near the plaques made many Black students uncomfortable.

“We preach all this diversity, and we still have [the signage] there,” Antwi said. “It’s kind of like a slap in the face.”

Rev. Avis E. Williams (78Ox, 98C, 08T, 18T) was one of Oxford College’s earliest Black graduates and has since led multiple efforts to address local health and equity disparities in Black communities, including hosting meetings to allow community input for Emory’s Twin Memorials Project. 

Hicks said Williams has a powerful story to tell as a descendant of enslaved persons. She told the Wheel that “we have no idea what happened in Kitty’s Cottage,” as most of the story was recounted by slave owners, including Andrew.

“I’ve always wondered if indeed that was her house,” Williams said. “I think the sign presents a more romanticized version of what might have happened.”

Boyd — or Catherine, as the Black community calls her, according to Williams — died in 1851, which was before the Civil War. Although Andrew was a devout Christian, Williams stated that he still enslaved approximately 23 to 24 slaves who lived on his ground, which was not discussed on the original sign.

“History really is history, but people were held as property for years and were not valued except as property and were treated less than human beings,” Williams said. “We are responsible for telling a more complete version and treating people like they were men and women, boys and girls.”

Kitty’s Cottage, which is located near the College’s campus in Oxford, Ga., is the former house of Katherine “Kitty” Andrew Boyd, who was enslaved at 12 years old by Methodist Bishop James Osgood Andrew. Andrew was the first chair of the Emory Board of Trustees. (Josh Kravath (23Ox))

The Council also removed the “Civil War Heritage Trails” sign, which relayed the history of the Old Church, once used as a hospital space for Confederate soldiers. Other removals include the granite marker at Oxford Historical Cemetery and a three-panel marker on Whatcoat Street, which also describes Andrew as a prominent Methodist who possessed “ownership of his wife’s inherited slave girl, Kitty.”

Williams said that the other removed signs pointed to ugly events that happened during the Civil War and did not tell a wholly inclusive story.

“We already know that the Civil War happened, and we know why the Civil War happened,” Williams said. “It was because they wanted people who looked like me to continue to be held in bondage.”

To tell the complete narrative, Williams is talking to community members who are descendants of those who may have been enslaved. In collaboration with Oxford Mayor David Eady and Emory, she hopes to tell a more complete story with the names of people who were enslaved.

“It’s time to tear down some things that remind us so much about the ugly part of our past, and build a better future and educate our young people about how we are gonna do this thing together with more justice, equity and inclusion,” Williams added.

Hicks said that he talked with Eady in hopes that the city will engage in constructive, hopeful conversations that are “not about shame and blame, but looking forward together as a community.”

Gee also said that the removal of the signage is the next step towards the future, especially with new students arriving to Oxford’s campus in the fall. 

“Even though it might not be something that people in the community see issues with, I think we can bring these new ideas and better foster inclusion and integration,” Gee said. “It’s just a necessary part of living in a country as diverse as ours.”

The post City of Oxford removes Confederate signage, sheds light on community’s history of enslaved people appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

The American people are left at the mercy of an uncaring government that prioritizes National Rifle Association donations over human life. The debate for gun control has little to do with freedom and much to do with morality. Each time we plead, each time we protest, but in truth, there’s only so many times you can ask for help before you realize it’s never coming. 

The summer transfer window is in full swing for Europe’s professional soccer leagues as the elite try to remain on top while the underdogs try to build their teams up in order to compete for European cup spots in their respective leagues. 

There have already been some blockbuster transfers within the big 5 leagues and some staggering rumors for some of the top players in the world. So far, at the time of writing this article, across the top 5 leagues in Europe, there have been 94 transfers totaling almost $500 million since March 2. 

Confirmed Transfers

Premier League 

The premier league is the best and most competitive soccer league in the world and along with that, the transfers are just as exciting. So far, the transfer of the summer belongs to Manchester City and their new striker Erling Haaland. For roughly $64 million, the premier league champs signed one of the best young talents in world soccer from Borussia Dortmund and filled a massive position of need, a true number nine. 

Another transfer that has major potential is American Brendan Aaronson moving to Leeds for $30 million from Red Bull Salzburg. Aaronson is one of the best players for the USMNT and is a big boost for the relegation surviving club. 

La Liga 

So far the La Liga transfer window has been relatively quiet with more players leaving than coming in, however one transfer has made headlines as Antonio Rudiger completed his move to Real Madrid. The former Chelsea defender has proven himself to be one of the best in the world and the Champions League winners got an absolute steal by landing him on a free transfer. 

Bundesliga 

The German league has had more action than La Liga so far, mostly with players changing teams within the league but two transfers stand out not for the price tag but rather the players involved. Adam Hlozek completed his move from Sparta Prague to Bayer Leverkusen for $14 million which is a steal considering his age and high ceiling as he is consistently mentioned in future stars lists. 

The other transfer involves former Ajax midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and his move to German giants Bayern Munich. The fee has yet to be announced however the deal has already gone through and should be official within the next few days. Gravenberch is one of the best young midfielders in the world and is a youthful injection of talent to an aging Bayern team. 

In Ligue 1 and Serie A, there hasn’t been much transfer news yet however as the summer moves along, that could change very quickly as the rumors surrounding those leagues could potentially see some big names entering and exiting. 

Transfer Rumors

Top talents have been swirling around the transfer rumor mill in what could lead to some blockbuster moves by some team-changing players. Starting with the team I support, Liverpool, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah are looking increasingly likely to have new homes next year with Mane already confirming his desire to leave and Salah threatening to go to a premier league rival if his contract isn’t sorted out. Mane has been in contact with Bayern Munich however as the days go on, more teams are expressing their interest such as PSG.

Other big names confirmed to be leaving their current clubs are Paul Pogba who has been in contact with Juventus and PSG, Paulo Dybala who has been in contact with Inter Milan and Robert Lewandowski who looks to be heading to Barcelona. 

The list continues as Frenkie De Jong could potentially be heading to Manchester United, Neymar could leave PSG, Luis Suarez is looking for a future in the premier league and Jude Bellingham might make the leap to Liverpool. 

With the rumor mill turning more and more every day, those are just some of the potential transfers soccer fans could witness as the summer moves along. As each fan builds their hopes up for the players they dream of, the transfer window can be a time of elation or heartbreak but every fan can agree on one word to describe it: fun.

e.murray@dailyutahchronicle.com

@_e__g__m_

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