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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 tuture.”
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 tive 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 pro
life 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.
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 alt 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 trom
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
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.
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
on campus: “I immediately felt very
at home and was welcomed by so
many different people on move-
in 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.
You go, freshmen! Keep on
rocking your sisters’ socks off. We
can’t wait to see where you end up in
2020 and beyond.
Student Teachers of MC
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.”
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 semesterl
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 ot
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 ali 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 edu
cation placements. Those ideas and experiences can be
great resources for student teaching and beyond!”
Middie:
Name: Meredith Pope
Grade: 7th grade
Subjects: Math 1, Math 7+, and Math 7
Favorite Subject to Teach: “My favorite sub
ject 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 ali of my students’
“breaking news stories” of their Middle school
days. Trust me, they are hilarious.”