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As students are gearing themselves to return home for winter break, the concern shifts to ensuring that students will not be a source of virus transmission when interacting with their families and local community during the holiday season. The university has offered students pre-departure testing on Monday and Tuesday at no additional cost, and between the two days, 541 students got pre-departure testing after about 600 registered for the testing option last week. With talk of a vaccine and preparations for a safe spring semester well underway, the prospects for the spring semester seem much more prosperous than the ones faced three months ago.Photo Credit: Will Zimmerman/Old Gold & BlackClick the link in our bio to read more from Rafael Lima (’21).
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As Wake students reflected on the first-person semester amid the pandemic, they expressed a wide range of emotions. Some said COVID-19’s isolating effects had made them feel lonely. Others said they were able to forge connections despite it. Still, more expressed surprise that the student body made it through the semester without being sent home.Students also had varying opinions on the nature of online classes. Some cited a lack of motivation. Others said they felt a disconnect with their professors, had internet issues or had Zoom fatigue and eye strains from being on a computer most of the day. In a world determined by the spread of a pandemic, one fact does seem to remain the same: students want to return to normal. Soon, hopefully, that will be possible.Photo credit: Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black Click the link in our bio to read more from Cate Pitterle (‘24).
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Outdoor activity can ease anxiety during finals
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“‘While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last,” said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. This year’s election has been repeated by many as the most important in our lifetimes and in American history. For Black women specifically, this election marks the first time a Black woman holds a seat in the second highest office of the United States,” writes Staff Columnist Mariama Jallow. Jallow’s opinion piece asks: “Black women have been saving Democrats in general elections for more than the past three cycles, but what has the Democratic party done for Black women as a whole?”Click the link in our bio to read more from Mariama Jallow (’22).
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“We have no idea when the vaccine will be available, but we are discussing logistics about how to administer the vaccine to everyone, faculty and staff included,” Dr. Cecil Price said.He has also explained that the university has assembled a group that meets every two weeks, made up of administrators, that discusses the university’s vaccine release plans when one becomes available. As Thanksgiving rolls around, most students around campus seem to be proceeding carefully as they prepare to leave campus. Click the link in our bio to read more from Isabella Mason (’24).
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As North Carolina demographics continue to change, so does its electorate, which means that North Carolina will definitely be a battleground state for the foreseeable future. The Editorial Staff asks: What does this mean for the university?While national politics has always held a presence on Wake Forest’s campus, we must ensure that students’ engagement in politics continues in a post-Trump America. The energy and excitement conjured up this November must be remembered in 2022, 2024 and beyond.Click the link in our bio to read more from our Editorial Staff.
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On Saturday morning, the Associated Press, as well as NBC, CNN, and Fox News all announced that Joe Biden had been elected as the 46th president of the United States. This also meant that Sen. Kamala Harris had been elected the nation’s 49th vice president, the first woman and the second person of color ever to serve in the nation’s second-highest office. Though President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has not conceded defeat and is pursuing legal challenges in a number of states, the announcement gave a sense of finality to what had been a long week. Immediately after the race was called, students took to Hearn Plaza to Roll the Quad, a Wake tradition used to celebrate a big win. By nightfall, every tree on the plaza was covered in toilet paper. Most of the students interviewed expressed happiness for Biden’s win. Similarly, as approximately 89.1% of students indicated that they supported the Democrat in an Old Gold & Black poll.Photo credits: Melissa Cooney/Old Gold & Black.Click the link in our bio to read more from Aine Pierre (’24).
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“I spent most of the fall feeling frustrated, knowing that I had the privilege of voting, but not knowing how much of an impact I would actually make. There’s something so powerless about the election. Your vote counts, there’s no doubt about it. But I still needed to do more,” Senior staff writer Melissa Cooney writes of her decision to sign up to be a poll worker. After signing up and receiving training, she received a call on Election Day telling her that at Precinct 203 — where over 1,000 votes were cast in total — both a judge and an election assistant had not showed up. Cooney was assigned to the ballot table where she provided voters with an “Authorization to Vote” form, counted how many voters had received ballots, and was responsible for “spoiling,” or discarding, any ballots that needed to be discarded.Photo Melisa Cooney/Old Gold & Black.Click the link in our bio to read more about her unique experience on Election Day.
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More than 24 hours out from when the polls began to close on Nov. 3, we still do not know who the next president will be. When asked “how are you feeling?” on a poll from Election Night, most Wake Forest students came with mixed emotions. “Anxious. Scared. Great. Moderately Hopeful. Frightened. Pumped. Not great, not bad. Fine, but depends on results tomorrow.” The full results from the North Carolina election will not be finalized until November 13th. While we may know which candidate has reached the threshold of electoral college votes to be declared the winner before then, North Carolina may remain uncalled for as long as a week. “There is naturally a lot of interest in when a race gets ‘called’ by the Associated Press or television networks, but it is important to stress that this has no legal significance. The outcome of a race is formally determined and certified through a process where the state board of election plays the key role,” Politics and International Affairs Professor John Dinan said.Photos courtesy of Brendan Smialowski and Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images/TNSClick the link in our bio to read the full piece from Olivia Field (’21).
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The results of the first-ever Old Gold & Black election poll are in. The poll captured how students felt about four critical races just days before Election Day. The results exposed several key themes leading up to the election, including that all respondents intend to vote–– and that the vast majority of them favor Joe Biden for president. A total of 221 students, spanning all four undergraduate years as well as graduate students, participated in the poll. Overall, the poll suggests that Wake Forest students have preferred to vote during the early voting period instead of on Election Day, as all but two students indicated they voted or made plans to vote early. Because this is the very first poll conducted by the Old Gold & Black among Wake Forest students, there are no similar data sets for us to compare our results to at the moment. However, we hope that this will be the first of many election polls as part of a new tradition at the newspaper, as we strive to understand and accurately portray the electoral preferences of students on campus. Graphics courtesy of Rafael Lima/Old Gold & BlackClick the link in our bio to read the full piece by Elizabeth Maline (’21) and Rafael Lima (’21) as well as a full graphic summary of the survey.
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