The music for this episode is Lazy Love by KEM, brought to you by Uppbeat.

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

Listen to what attendees danced to on Spotify.

AARON WRIGHT: ON A COOL NIGHT IN STAMP STUDENT UNION… A GROUP OF 20-ODD STUDENTS… FACULTY… PARENTS AND CHILDREN GATHERED AROUND A CIRCLE TO TAKE POWWOW INSTRUCTION FROM KOTA HARLEY… A UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ALUM AND MEMBER OF THE PISCATAWAY TRIBE.

TWO BASIC STEP. YOU GO LIKE THIS. YOU GO LIKE THIS AND MOVE FORWARD. THERE’S A STEP BACKWARDS… WHICH I’M NOT GONNA GET TO BECAUSE I’M GONNA BE FALLING ALL OVER THE PLACE. BUT THAT’S JUST THAT BASIC STEP. ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROUND DANCE OR WHAT TO DO?

[POWWOW DANCE MUSIC]

AARON WRIGHT: ON NOVEMBER 18… THE OFFICE FOR MULTICULTURAL INVOLVEMENT COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AND THE UNIVERSITY’S NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENT UNION TOOK A TRIP WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO THE ANNUAL BALTIMORE AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER POWWOW. BUT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN TO A POWWOW… YOU’RE LISTENING TO THE RIGHT PODCAST.

[POWWOW DANCE MUSIC]

AARON WRIGHT: HELLO … AND WELCOME TO OFFBEAT BY THE DIAMONDBACK. I’M YOUR HOST … AARON WRIGHT. TODAY WE’LL BE EXPLORING HOW ONE EVENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TAUGHT STUDENTS HOW TO POWWOW. STICK AROUND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT POWWOW ETIQUETTE … HISTORY AND DANCE STYLES.

[POWWOW DANCE MUSIC]

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS HERITAGE MONTH. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND HOSTED MULTIPLE FESTIVITIES TO COMMEMORATE INDIGENOUS CULTURE THROUGHOUT THE MONTH … SUCH AS BASKET-AND-CRAFTS WEAVING… THE OPENING OF THE INDIGENOUS FUTURES LAB … AND A HOW TO POWWOW EVENT AT STAMP STUDENT UNION.

ACCORDING TO INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S FIRST NATIONS EDUCATION AND CULTURAL CENTER … A POWWOW IS A CELEBRATION OF NATIVE DANCE … SONG … CULTURE AND TRADITION. POWWOWS ALSO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO SHARE EXPERIENCES AND CONNECT WITH FRIENDS.

JEREMY HARLEY … A UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ALUM AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY’S NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENT UNION … WAS ONE OF THREE INSTRUCTORS WHO TAUGHT ATTENDANTS ABOUT POWWOW TRADITIONS ON NOVEMBER 8. HE RETURNED TO THIS UNIVERSITY FOR THE EVENT TO PROVIDE CAMPUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS SOMETHING HE LACKED DURING HIS TIME HERE: REPRESENTATION.

JEREMY HARLEY : “SO … THE MAIN THING IS … AS BEING PART OF THE NATIVE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY HERE ON CAMPUS FOR THE FOUR YEARS I WAS HERE … THERE ALWAYS KIND OF WAS THIS KIND OF STRUGGLE TO GET THAT RECOGNITION AND THAT IDENTITY HERE. SORT OF TOWARDS MY BACK HALF OF MY TIME HERE AFTER COVID… THAT’S WHEN IT STARTED TO SLOWLY START BUILDING UP AND… YOU KNOW… WHEN I GRADUATED I DIDN’T WANT THAT JUST TO BE THE END OF THE STORY. SO I TRY TO KEEP INVOLVED … TRY TO DO WHATEVER I CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT I CONTINUE TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE NATIVE COMMUNITY HERE… AND IT BRINGS ME BACK HERE IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER FOR NATIVE HERITAGE MONTH TO GIVE THIS CLASS… SO … YEAH REALLY EXCITING”

AARON WRIGHT: WITH THAT GOAL IN MIND … JEREMY … HIS BROTHER KOTA HARLEY AND THEIR FRIEND AYDEN ALLSTON … ALL OF WHOM ARE NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENT UNION ALUM… HELPED PUT TOGETHER THE “HOW TO POWWOW” EVENT AT THE BEHEST OF THIS UNIVERSITY’S MULTICULTURAL INVOLVEMENT AND STUDENT ADVOCACY OFFICE. KYRSHA BALDERAS … MICA’S COORDINATOR FOR NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND COMMUNITY ADVOCACY … BELIEVES POWWOWS CAN SERVE AS A BETTER WAY TO TEACH ABOUT NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS CULTURE THAN TEXTBOOKS.

KYRSHA BALDERAS: “NOT ONLY ARE PEOPLE DANCING AT A POWWOW … THERE’S USUALLY FOOD VENDORS SO YOU GET A TASTE OF WHAT NATIVE AMERICAN FOOD TASTE LIKE MOST OF THE TIME. THERE’S ALSO ART VENDORS… SO YOU HAVE PEOPLE SELLING CRAFTS … JEWELRY … THINGS LIKE THAT — THAT WAY YOU CAN APPRECIATE THE CULTURE AS WELL AS GIVE BACK TO A SMALL ORGANIZATION IF YOU WANTED TO. AND SO TYPICALLY … THAT’S WHY WE CHOOSE TO USE A POWWOW TO EXECUTE MOST OF THE BIGGER CULTURAL PIECES BECAUSE YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING AT ONE TIME. IT’S KIND OF LIKE A CATCH-ALL.”

AARON WRIGHT: THE POWWOW TEACH-IN ALSO AIMED TO EDUCATE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO PLAN TO ATTEND THE BALTIMORE AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER POWWOW ON NOVEMBER 18TH… AS WELL AS ANY OTHER POWWOWS THAT THEY WISH TO ATTEND IN THE FUTURE

DURING THE EVENT … JEREMY HARLEY LED THE 20-SOME ATTENDEES THROUGH AN INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION ON POWWOW ETIQUETTE AND CULTURE.

JEREMY HARLEY SAID SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND DURING A POWWOW INCLUDE BEING RESPECTFUL WITH PHOTOGRAPHY SINCE IT CAN BE SEEN AS DISRESPECTFUL TO TRADITION AND CULTURE IF YOU SNAP WITHOUT PERMISSION.

JEREMY HARLEY: AND ALSO BE AWARE THAT PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR THE PUBLICATION MAY HAVE ALREADY SOUGHT PERMISSION SO IT’S COURTEOUS TO ASK BEFOREHAND … JUST ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION.

AARON WRIGHT: POWWOWS FORM IN A CIRCLE TO SYMBOLIZE HOW NATURE AND LIFE ARE CYCLICAL… SO IT’S IN REVERENCE TO THAT FACT. IN ADDITION… THE CIRCLE IS CONSIDERED SACRED ONCE BLESSED WITH SAGE AND PRAYER… SO TREAT IT AS SUCH!

IT’S ALSO CRUCIAL FOR THOSE LEARNING ABOUT POWWOWS FOR THE FIRST TIME TO AVOID CALLING REGALIA THAT NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PERFORMERS WEAR A QUOTE EN QUOTE “COSTUME.”

TEACH-IN: “THE TERM REGALIA USUALLY REFLECTS THE GENUINE EXPRESSION OF CULTURE AND TRADITIONS… AS OPPOSED TO THE CONNOTATION OF MASQUERADE OR DRESS UP ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORD COSTUME. SO MAKE SURE YOU REFER TO A DANCER’S REGALIA AS REGALIA.”

AARON WRIGHT: AFTER THE PRESENTATION … KOTA HARLEY LED THE GROUP TO THE MAIN EVENT: PRACTICING POWWOW MOVEMENTS.

KOTA HARLEY STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF A RING OF ATTENDEES IN STAMP’S ATRIUM AS THEY WATCHED HIM AND TRIED TO EMULATE THE DANCES HE TAUGHT.

KOTA HARLEY: WE’RE GOING TO DEMONSTRATE A QUICK… A QUICK DANCE RIGHT TO RIGHT… LEFT TO LEFT. AND YOU’RE GOING LIKE THIS. YOU’RE MOVING FORWARD LIKE YOU’RE ROLLING AND MOVING AROUND … AND YOU MAY DO SOME SPINS … AND THERE MAY BE SOME OTHER STEPS THAT WE INCORPORATE INTO THE DANCE.

AARON WRIGHT: WHEN GOING THROUGH POWWOW MOVEMENTS … IT’S IMPORTANT TO STEP IN TIME TO THE MUSIC … KOTA HARLEY SAID. THE DRUM CONTROLS AND DICTATES THE RHYTHM OF THE MOVEMENT.

[POWWOW DANCE MUSIC]

HERE’S KOTA HARLEY:

KOTA HARLEY: ALL THE DANCES WE LEARNED TONIGHT ARE DANCES THAT YOU CAN GO OUT AND DANCE YOURSELF. THEY’RE NOT CATEGORY DANCES … THEY’RE NOT CERTAIN TYPE OF DANCES THAT ARE SPECIAL TO DANCERS ONLY. ALL OF THE DANCES WE LEARNED TONIGHT — THE TWO STEP … THE ROUND DANCE AND YOUR TRAVELS ARE ALL WELCOME TO ALL OF THE PUBLIC. SO YOU’RE ABLE TO DANCE WITH THE PEOPLE IN REGALIA AT ANY GIVEN TIME AS LONG AS YOU’VE GOT PERMISSION FROM THE EMCEE. SINCE WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA TIME … WE CAN DO A COUPLE OF ROUND ENDS OR INTERTRIBAL SONGS. SO NOTHING TOO SPECIFIC AND WE CAN DO THIS QUICK AND EASY. SO IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE… PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PARTICIPATE. IF YOU’RE DONE AND YOU’RE TIRED AND YOU’RE READY TO GO HOME… [AUDIO LOWERS TO TRANSITION]

[POWWOW DANCE MUSIC]

PAULINA MARTINEZ … A SENIOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SPECIAL EDUCATION MAJOR AND PRESIDENT OF THIS UNIVERSITY’S NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENT UNION … ENJOYED CATCHING UP WITH FRIENDS DURING THE EVENT AND LEARNED A LOT ABOUT POWWOW PROCEEDINGS.

AARON WRIGHT: MARTINEZ SAID IT’S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO USE APPROPRIATE … CULTURALLY RESPECTFUL LANGUAGE WHEN TALKING ABOUT POWWOWS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN DIFFERENT INDIGENOUS CULTURES.

PAULINA MARTINEZ: I TOOK AWAY THAT THERE’S SO MUCH MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE AND SACREDNESS BEHIND A POWWOW THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND AT LEAST … LIKE I FEEL LIKE THE GENERAL PUBLIC BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE SAY LIKE… OH … AS A… EVERYDAY TERM… THEY’LL SAY LIKE… “OH… LET’S GO DO A POWWOW” BUT THEY DON’T ACTUALLY LIKE MEAN LIKE A… LIKE AN INDIGENOUS POWWOW BUT PEOPLE HAVE USED IT IN LIKE… EVERYDAY TERMS TO JUST DESCRIBE LIKE… YOU KNOW… ANYTHING.

ONE CROWD FAVORITE DANCE WAS THE COUPLE’S DANCE. THE MOVEMENTS INVOLVED TWO PEOPLE HOLDING HANDS AS THEY DANCED IN STEP. MARTINEZ PARTICIPATED IN THE COUPLE’S DANCE WITH CO-EVENT ORGANIZER AYDEN ALLSTON … SHE SAID.

PAULINA MARTINEZ: I LIKE HOW LIKE YOUR HANDS ARE CROSSING OVER EACH OTHER. AND LIKE HOW YOU’RE BOTH FOLLOWING THE SAME LIKE STEP FORWARD WITH EITHER LIKE YOUR RIGHT OR YOUR LEFT LEG… LIKE IN THE FRONT AND YOUR LEFT OR YOUR RIGHT… LIKE FACING BACK. SO I REALLY LIKED THAT. AND AYDEN WAS ALSO EXPLAINING TO ME HOW SOME PEOPLE DURING THE COUPLE’S DANCE THEY LIKE TWIRL AND LIKE CONTINUE THEIR STEP. SO I THINK THAT’S REALLY COOL.

ALYSSA GILMORE … A SOPHOMORE AT THIS UNIVERSITY ENROLLED IN LETTERS AND SCIENCES WHO ATTENDED THE EVENT … SAID HER FAVORITE DANCE TO LEARN WAS …

ALYSSA GILMORE: PROBABLY THE COUPLE’S DANCE. I JUST THINK IT’S FUN. I LIKE HOW LIKE IT CAN BE ANYONE … LIKE BROTHER AND SISTER OR LIKE FRIEND OR AN ACTUAL COUPLE. AND ALSO JUST KIND OF … I DON’T KNOW … THE MOTION WAS COOL. I LIKE ALL THE DANCES BUT THAT WAS MY FAVORITE.

AARON WRIGHT: JUNIOR ANTHROPOLOGY MAJOR ABBY HARDY SAID EVENTS LIKE THE HOW TO POWWOW DEMONSTRATION PROVIDE A GREAT WAY FOR THIS UNIVERSITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS STUDENTS.

ABBY HARDY: I THINK IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE UNIVERSITY TO KIND OF LIKE YOU KNOW … TALK ABOUT THIS AS AN EVENT. I FEEL LIKE IN A WAY … SOMETIMES THE UNIVERSITY DOESN’T ALWAYS RECOGNIZE LIKE … NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDENTS. SO I FEEL LIKE THAT THIS IS GENUINELY A REALLY NICE WAY TO KIND OF BRING AT LEAST SOME PART OF THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER TO KIND OF GET TO KNOW LIKE OTHER PEOPLE.

AARON WRIGHT: GILMORE … WHO IS ALSO A COMMUNITY ORGANIZING STUDENT INTERN … OR COSI … FOR THE NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS SECTOR OF MICA … THOUGHT EVENTS LIKE THE POWWOW TEACH IN CAN HELP BRING NON-NATIVE STUDENTS INTO NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS CULTURE.

ALYSSA GILMORE: I THINK IT WENT VERY WELL … I THINK THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT TO HAVE … ESPECIALLY SINCE WE ARE HAVING A POWWOW IN THE SPRING. JUST BECAUSE I DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO BE SCARED TO COME BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW LIKE … HOW TO BE A PART OF IT AS A NON-NATIVE PERSON. SO JUST TEACHING KIND OF THE INS AND OUTS AND ALSO THE DANCES SO PEOPLE CAN STILL BE A PART OF IT I THINK WAS REALLY COOL.

AARON WRIGHT: THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF OFFBEAT: A PODCAST FROM THE DIAMONDBACK. I’M YOUR HOST … AARON WRIGHT. REPORTING WAS DONE BY OFFBEAT ASSISTANT EDITOR FATIMA YAZDI AND ME … WITH MUSIC TAKEN FROM THE EVENT. FOLLOW OFFBEAT ON TWITTER AT @DBKOFFBEAT AND FOLLOW THE DIAMONDBACK ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM @THEDBK. YOU CAN FIND A TRANSCRIPT OF THIS EPISODE AT DBKNEWS.COM. IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SONGS POWWOW ATTENDANTS DANCED TO … THE PLAYLIST IS LINKED BELOW. IF YOU LIKED THIS EPISODE … TELL YOUR FRIENDS. AND TAKE CARE … AS ALWAYS.

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

[MUSIC INTRO]

00:02:58 JAHNAVI KIRKIRE: People see women as less, they see women as more emotional. They see women as too apolitical or too political. Like women somehow are too extreme for people to handle, and so to make things more palatable, they are pushed to the back. 

[MUSIC]

JULIA BISCHOFF: As March wraps up, so does Women’s History Month. It is a time to reflect on how far women have come in so many fields but there is still so much left to do. 

Hello, and welcome to Offbeat by The Diamondback, a podcast about the niches and communities at the University of Maryland. In the wake of presidential candidacy announcements, Offbeat took a closer look into how women in politics are treated compared to men, especially in the media. We also chatted with some politically active women on campus to see how they feel about the topic. 

NIKKI HALEY: I have devoted my life to this fight, and I am just getting started. For a strong America, for a proud America, I am running for president of the United States of America. 

As I set out on this new journey, I will simply say this: May the best woman win. 

DON LEMON: She says people, politicians or something are not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry. A woman is considered being in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s. 

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: The status quo, ladies and gentleman and everyone else, is not going to disrupt itself. That’s our job! 

And so, I am here today, again, with my deep thanks for your coming here … I, as of today, am a candidate for the office of [the] president of the United States. 

JON KARL: You have been called — I think it was the Associated Press — that said you are the longest of long shots. Why do you think you can do this? 

HILARY CLINTON: Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. 

DONALD TRUMP: Such a nasty woman. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: Students on campus also had a lot to say about these women running for president. Ignite is a club that encourages young women to get involved in politics and hopefully run for office as well. The Offbeat team spoke to some of its members and Ignite’s President Bridget O’Toole. 

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: So it’s something that I’ve been really passionate about for a while, and I saw the club at the first look fair and I was like immediately interested, but basically I’ve been in all four years now, I’m president. 

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: My freshman year of high school, I worked on Kathleen Matthews’ campaign for Congress, and she ultimately lost. But I did that just to sort of see how I liked it and I found that I was really passionate specifically about campaigning for a woman. 

I’d say I just kind of like went on with and I interned with Emerge Maryland and that was just a really cool process because it’s training big cohorts of women in Maryland to eventually run for office. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Bridget and other members of Ignite meet to discuss politics, current events and do professional development workshops.

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: And the club’s main goal is to get women, like college-aged women involved in politics, ultimately hoping that they’ll pursue elected office or also just kind of helping them to formulate political opinions. It’s non-partisan, but also just focusing on leadership skills, professional development as well. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Bridge UMD is another political club on campus, and Jahnavi Kirkire is their president. 

JAHNAVI KIRKIRE: My name is Jahnavi Kirkire … I am the President of Bridge UMD, which is an organization dedicated to fostering civil discourse. So we talk about fun, controversial, really interesting political issues. And we provide a space for people to have that conversation regardless of whatever political affiliation they have. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Bridget and Jahnavi told Offbeat about what they think about the political landscape so far, and what they hope to see in future candidates. 

JAHNAVI KIRKIRE: I think any woman or any person who identifies as a female, can say they face oppression in some way or the other.

JAHNAVI KIRKIRE: And like the fact that we’ve gotten the closest we’ve gotten to having a female be our preliminary world leader is Kamala Harris and that took 300 years, so it it really does go to show that there is some progress but I think the biggest thing is that people often feel that a woman is not legitimate without the support of a man. 

If you look at the history of both parties, neither has the best like track record of actual genuine representation … representation has always been scarce on either side, whether that’s women like gender or race or anything of the following.

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: I’m definitely excited to hopefully see a diverse ticket that has not just women, but like women of color, because I think that something else has been a big problem, especially in in the Republican and the in the Democrat Party is that we see, like we talk about representation, but it’s always, It’s often like one dimensional. Like Oh yay, there’s women, but those are white women or oh, there’s women, but they’re only straight women. I think it’s important that it’s becoming more diverse. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Ignite board member Camila Manrique voiced similar sentiments. 

CAMILA MANRIQUE: I mean, I think it’s great that there are women who are willing to take that role and to fight because I know when Hillary Clinton was a huge thing like first woman to be nominated as a major party candidate down to, like, the top two.

And I think it’s important that people remember where we came from and to not stop and to continue fighting because we’ve come so far and we would hate to see everything go reverse. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: Like Camila said, it is important to know where we come from. I sat down with Anne Farris Rosen, a political journalist of  many years, to get her insight on how politics have changed. 

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: OK, my name is Anne Farris Rosen. I am a practicing journalist. But I am an adjunct lecturer at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. 

Yeah, I’ve worked as a print journalist, a couple of books, but I started and have continued through the local newspapers, and then I rose to the national level with the New York Times and the Washington Post and the Pew Research Center. And I covered a lot of political campaigns on both the local and the national level. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Anne Farris Rosen covered the Clintons from the time Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas to Hillary Clinton’s bid for president in 2016. Over this period of time, she was able to witness many changes not only in the composition of our nation’s politicians but in the newsrooms that cover them. 

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: When I was a young journalist, not only was I one of the few females on campaign trails, but I was one of the few females in newsrooms and-and I might say, not a lot of people of color either. So there were very large separations there and the production of media comes from who’s producing it. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Anne Farris Rosen also informed me of the changes that took place in political institutions.

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: But Pat Schroeder died yesterday and it reminded me how she was a first as well. She’s the first woman to be elected to Congress from Colorado, and this was 1972 as well. And she served there for 20-4 years and she was quite an outspoken advocate, not just for her position but for women. At one point, she was highly discriminated against in Congress by her peers and at one point she said, “I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both.”

So Barbara Lee, who’s a representative in Congress now, is running for Senate, a Black woman. And she was first elected in 1998. There were 11 Black women in Congress at that time. Today, there are 28 Black women in Congress. But there are no Black women in the Senate. 

Kamala Harris was in the Senate, but of course now she’s vice president, so that was one less there. And in the Senate’s history, there have only been two Black women in there. Its 228 year history. So, there’s a lot of uncharted territory here, but women are making strides. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: There are also multiple gender theories and other important dynamics at play here. Bobbie Foster is a Ph.D. candidate in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Her research focuses on media literacy, political communications, and digital cultures. 

BOBBIE FOSTER: Certainly there’s been a long history of anytime women enter the political field automatically trying to discredit what they’re saying and dismiss what they’re saying.  You know, with this, if even if you look at sort of criticism of the suffrage movement, very much mirrors a lot of the criticism we still see in, in women, in politics today about, you know. They’re either bitter old ladies who never started a family, right? And that’s why they want to be involved in politics or they don’t know what they’re talking about. 

Again, that’s sort of the double edged sword for women, right? It seems like the more qualified they are for a job, the less people like them. I don’t know what it is, but like if you were to just look straight at Nikki Haley’s resume or even a Hillary Clinton resume, just if you look straight at the resume of the jobs that they’ve held. If it were a male candidate, you know, people would say, “Hey, that person knows what they’re doing because they’ve been working in government for 30 plus years.” You know, if it’s a woman, then she’s either past her prime or she’s, you know, part of the problem or, you know, something along those lines, rather than being somebody to be celebrated for that much dedication and work to public service.

We’re at a strange time in politics where, you know, at the same time there are women trying to break away from any kind of gendered language and distance themselves from their gender and not make it part of who they are when they’re running. Nikki Haley, though, on the other hand, seems to be making her gender kind of a focal point of her running. 

So it’s kind of an interesting seeing time to exist in, where the t approach as far as selling a candidate is kind of varied. You know, how much do you lean into their womanhood?

Certainly, intersectionalism has become a huge part of the conversation across the board, even for men running. You know what, what sort of intersectionality do they bring to the table?  You know, what their, what is their race and ethnic background? What is their economic background? How did they grow up? Where did they grow up?  That’s a huge part of the conversation. 

And I think with women, that’s an also an interesting intersectional piece, especially when you’re looking at someone like Nikki Haley, right, whose you know, intersectionality is a really interesting comparative to, like, a Hillary Clinton. You know, because there are a lot more women who are first or second generation American citizens who are running, and so that brings a whole new intersectional conversation into the race. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: A concept that came up repeatedly in Offbeat’s interviews was a double bind. I’ll let Anne Farris Rosen explain it. 

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: That, you know, just an appeal through your sex, that a woman has to look a certain way, that men don’t have to look in politics and running as candidates. That she has this dual bind where she has to be both warm and sexy sometimes and still tough. You know, people might argue men have to do that too, but there’s just been a hyper, you know, hypersensitive generation of image in the media now, and especially the visuals. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Bridget also mentioned this when she spoke about why many women might be deterred from running for office. 

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: I think women are more likely to be judged on like their appearance on what they wear and how they present themselves and something that we talk a lot about, like in Emerge and in Ignite is like, this double bind concept where basically it’s like women don’t want to appear too feminine, but then, like they don’t want to appear too harsh and like masculine.

Especially between like the women that are newer to politics, the ones that aren’t as new, there’s kind of like an interesting contrast that you see between them. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Anne Farris Rosen places much of the blame on the media for perpetuating some of these ideas. 

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: Well, there’s definitely a gender differentiation. And unfortunately, much of that has been propagated by the media and the way the media covered it. 

The content is often generated by the, in this case, when I was coming up with predominantly white males, so it’s changed. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still so much more to do.  

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Bobbie Foster reflected similar sentiments. 

BOBBIE FOSTER: You also can’t factor out Trump and all the things he said about women. And then, of course, the Women’s March, you know, right immediately during his inauguration has really kind of made media more sensitive, I think, to things that they normally would have said, they’re being a little more careful. This time about trying not to say the same things about women. You know, a lot of focus on how they’re dressed or you know how they speak. Do they sound shrill or, you know, angry versus do they sound approachable? 

And again you kind of wish that the conversation was a little bit more about issues and not about the gender of the candidate, but that’s also kind of difficult from a news perspective. If you’re a news reporter when the candidates campaign makes their gender, you know, like with Nikki Haley, a pivotal point of who they are in their running, you know, it’s if the candidate has decided that this is a selling point for themselves. 

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Yet despite all this the women of UMD remain hopeful.

JAHNAVI KIRKIRE: I don’t think any man or any woman really holds the guts to stand up to the rest of the world. And the way the United States needs to to fix its act, to be frank. But I’m trying to think, I’m a fan of several of the newer members of Congress. There’s some people that I’m like, “You seem like a really interesting and like a fantastic person” like Maura Healey is, the new Massachusetts governor. She was actually one of my favorite candidates, and so was Aruna Miller. Aruna Miller, I know she probably won’t run for national office, but I was so excited to hear that she won lieutenant governor. It really is a matter of . . . for me, I would love to see women of color. 

BRIDGET O’TOOLE: I feel like some of the newer candidates like AOC more or less like Stacey Abrams. They’re sort of trying to forge their own path and kind of break out of that double bind mold, and more generally embrace, like their femininity and also their identity more generally so.

CAMILA MANRIQUE: I just think it’s very important that we get more female candidates to run because I’m not, like too familiar on their topics — there’s some differences in opinion, obviously, but I think it is important that women are starting to finally, having like the strength and the spirit to run because there’s so many women out there who feel unrepresented, so it’s great. 

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: I think there’s the numbers and the power and the more power women get, the more power they parlay, the more power they are able to use, whether it’s, you know, for everyone or just for, you know, opening the doors for others, as Pat Schroeder did so. To me, it’s all very hopeful.

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: As Pat Schroeder once said:

ANNE FARRIS ROSEN: She also said, “When I die, I want to be cremated and reformed as a doorstop to hold the door open for other people.”

[MUSIC]

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: Thanks for listening to Offbeat! I’m your host Julia Bischoff. This episode is brought to you with the help of our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey and our reporters Megan Barnes and Fatima Yazdi. Our music this month is by Sascha Ende. Follow Offbeat on Twitter at @DBKOffbeat and follow the Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @theDBK. You can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. And if you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

[MUSIC OUTRO]

Music:

The following music was used for this media project:

Music: Breaking News 4 by Sascha Ende

Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/5953-breaking-news-4 

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license 

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

[MUSIC/APPLAUSE FADE IN]

ANDREW GARFIELD: And the Oscar goes to …

HARRISON FORD: And the Oscar goes to …

FLORENCE PUGH: And the Oscar goes to …

PEDRO PASCAL: And the … and the Oscar goes to … 

ELIZABETH OLSEN: And the Oscar goes to …

[MUSIC]

MEGAN BARNES, HOST: That’s right, we’re in awards season, and Sunday marked the last show until the Tony’s in June. Today we’re talking about all things Oscars, from the stunning cinema to the red, or should I say champagne, carpet looks to emotional speeches to everything in between. OK, I won’t hold you any longer. Now presenting: The Oscars: Offbeat Edition. 

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

MEGAN BARNES: OK, so welcome to our Oscars roundtable. If everyone could just go around, introduce yourself, maybe then say, like, who your favorite actor/actress is. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: So my name is Sofia. I’m a freshman journalism and English major, and I gotta be honest, my favorite actor at the moment is Pedro Pascal. I am on The Last of Us train, on The Mandalorian train. All of it. 

MEGAN BARNES: We’re going to fight because that’s also one of mine. No, when it was him and Elizabeth Olsen presenting together like they knew what they were doing. There was no way they didn’t know. But I’m Megan. I’m a senior journalism/gov double major reporter for Offbeat,  you know, the us[ual]. And I would say I’m also a very big Pedro Pascal fan. And then also Florence Pugh as well. She’s like one of my favorite people ever. So yeah. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: I’m Jess. I am a freshman journalism major. And I feel like one of, OK, so like it changes based on like the movies that are on, but one of my all time, like, consistently favorite actors is Keanu Reeves. And also Saoirse Ronan is incredible and Emma Stone because ginger. I’m a ginger, by the way. 

FATIMA YAZDI: Yeah, I feel like I should have gone first. You guys listed so many of my favorite actresses. My name is Fatima Yazdi. I’m a junior journalism and government and politics double major. I’m also a reporter with Offbeat, and I’ll do like an overall, like favorite, like modern day actor or actress, I would say Jennifer Lawrence for me is, like, very consistent. I just, like, always love her work. More recent, I would also say Florence Pugh I think is just killing it these days. I really do–

MEGAN BARNES: So what? How does everyone feel? Were their predictions accurate? Were they inaccurate? Some snubs that we feel, that kind of thing. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I definitely changed my predictions like an hour before the ceremony last night because I think my issue is just I’m so indecisive, so I kept going back and forth, particularly with best actor, but last night I’m like it’s 7 o’clock. I’m like, no, I think it’s gonna be Brendan Fraser. Like, I’m gonna put it down. And I was very glad I did. Like it was nice kind of checking it off. It’s like it’s official. So I was really happy about that. But yeah, I think I did well for the predictions because there’s so many, like the, I’m not familiar with, like, sound editing, makeup. So I feel like predicting for those, it’s like I wouldn’t know what the academy would want, but you think it’s fun to kind of take a guess and then if it’s right, it’s like, “Oh wow. I’m a genius, you know?”

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Yeah, I feel like I … I got some of the predictions right, I’d say, but like I was definitely, I well, OK, I’m not surprised that Brendan Fraser got best actor. I am so happy for him. I think he deserves it like this is his, like, comeback moment. He’s wonderful. But originally, I did, like, think that Austin Butler was going to get it. But like  I’m very happy. 

MEGAN BARNES: I, when I jumped up and down when he didn’t win, I was like, I was so glad because I was ranting because I think it’s since, like, 2016, biopics have been winning best actor and, it’s like OK. Like I understand why, because if you can emulate someone so well, it’s like good and like, like impressive. But at the same time, like you have these original roles that people like, no one knows about, like people are genuinely like putting out there and like Elvis, I don’t think he’s one that I’m like jumping up and down for. Like Freddie Mercury, fine. I do think Taron Egerton was — Egerton was snubbed for Elton John. I will always be upset about that. But we digress. All of Twitter was like you had that accent on for three years, just to lose, yeah. 

FATIMA YAZDI: Yeah, I’m not. I’m not going to lie. I’ve been like, following the Austin Butler like Elvis journey and like a lot of people are commenting on him being like a method actor and like, really getting into the character. So I was expecting there to just be a lot of hype around him. But I was also very happy to see he didn’t win that respectfully, respectfully. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: He’ll have his moment. He has time, but like, Brendan Fraser  like this was so well deserved. I’m very happy for him. 

MEGAN BARNES: Did everyone have, like a favorite winner on top of I know, Brendan Fraser was a big, but I don’t know if anyone had a favorite winner? 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Ke Huy Quan!

ALL: Yes! 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I’m so proud of him.  

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Oh my God. When when, like Ariana DeBose like announced his name, and like she was like, choked up, I was like, “Oh my God. I’m gonna start crying now.”

ARIANA DEBOSE: And the Oscar goes to Ke Huy Quan. 

KE HUY QUAN: My mom is 84 years old, and she’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar.

[APPLAUSE] 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: It’s just like his whole story, like when he was like, you know, he started when he was young. But like he just kind of got, like, kicked out of the industry, not kicked out, but like you know, it was just hard for him to, like, get his footing. And now he’s like back and better than ever.  

KE HUY QUAN: My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. Thank you, thank you so much for welcoming me back. I love you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

MEGAN BARNES: When Everything Everywhere (abbrev.) won best picture, like, nothing was more perfect than Harrison Ford giving that award out because he ran into that man’s arms and it was just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. But yeah, best picture obviously went to Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. I’m happy with that.  

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Because I feel like it was kind of a relatively simple, like plot line I guess and like a relatively simple story, but they told it in such a unique and like over the top way, and it was just like, “Yes, this is what cinema should be.” It was so good.  

MEGAN BARNES: Any other favorite winners, biggest snubs, Maybe even?

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: I do think that Stephanie Hsu should have won best supporting actress. I love Jamie Lee Curtis. I think she’s an amazing actress, but like this movie would not be the same without Stephanie Hsu in that role. 

MEGAN BARNES: And it was just. Like just a whole like commentary on just how the Oscars work in the system and things like I, I was so angry. Yeah. And like Angela Bassett’s face. 

FATIMA YAZDI: I was just going to say that, on that note, all over my Twitter feed, it was like Angela Bassett. I saw, what are what’s your guys’s thoughts on her reaction? I just am curious because I saw a lot of people being like, ‘Oh my God. Like I feel for her like my sister,’ like I understand. But then some people are like no one likes the look of a sore loser. Like, that’s not classy. I think it was very fitting. 

MEGAN BARNES: And it wasn’t that bad. Like she just didn’t clap. 

FATIMA YAZDI: Yeah, I think like. I don’t know if it was like if this was confirmed, but like I’d understand, because of the nature of her role in the movie, like she was like maybe mourning the loss of like Chadwick Boseman and like a lot of people were talking about that. So I was like, I don’t think she’s a sore loser. I think this is appropriate. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I think it’s why are we trying to police people’s emotions? You lost a major award, that for this entire season, people were saying you were the front runner for, like, you’re excited. Everyone’s rooting for you. It wasn’t just her losing. I felt like so many of us kind of lost when she lost. Like we were all so excited. You know, I think that she was snubbed for What’s Love Got To Do With It.

MEGAN BARNES: Let’s talk about the war movies that keep winning. And like All Quiet — All Quiet on the Western Front was like sneaking up on everyone and winning all of these awards. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: One I know like the original won best picture, I think in 1930. So just seeing and nominated again. I’m like we’ve we’ve been down this road before like what the year we were celebrating this original cinema and this mov– this genre movie that’s winning all the awards. It’s like, “Oh, great.” The war film remake is also like the second front runner. This is kind of an eye roll moment, like the academy wants to move forward and then it still continues to prioritize– I’m sure it’s a great film, but is it anything that we haven’t seen before? 

MEGAN BARNES: Jimmy Kimmel hosted like yet again he hosts, like every single one, and he made several mentions to the slap last year. Do we think that’s tacky? Do we think that’s in poor taste? Do we think that it was necessary? 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: I feel like since he is like a comedian, you know, sure he like could mention it once and or twice at the most. I feel like and like, you know, people would get it. But like after a while it definitely it gets old. Especially cause I feel like a lot of people thought that like this year’s Oscars was like such a, like, happier environment. 

FATIMA YAZDI: I feel like people have kind of moved on from it. I feel like they, like Jada [Pinkett-Smith] and Will [Smith] like made an effort to like just kind of move on. 

MEGAN BARNES: That’s another thing I wanted to touch on. She [Ruth Carter] is the only Black woman to ever win two Oscars, which is, just crazy to me and Halle Berry is still the only Black woman to win the Best Actress award, and that was back in 2002. And so it’s just crazy to me. Like Michelle Yeoh like, broke barriers as being like the first Asian woman to win the– But but it’s like happening in 2023 when it’s been around for 95 years, so. 

FATIMA YAZDI: As crazy as it as it is like, I feel like I can’t say that I’m surprised because I feel like every year, I feel like the Oscars is honestly just known for sometimes, like not giving credit where it’s due and like a lot of minority like actors and POC actors and actresses are just like pushed out when they they very much like deserve the award, which is also why I was so happy with the results on Everything Everywhere, All at Once. Like I was very happy to see that the movie got the credit that it deserved and people were celebrating that. So as crazy as that is, I can’t say I’m like, super shocked, cause it’s the Oscars. 

MICHELLE YEOH: All the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight. This is the beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Well, these were like best picture. So I watched The Banshees of Inisherin and like that was good, but like I definitely did not see that as like best picture worthy. I think Colin Farrell did amazing. 

MEGAN BARNES: I was going to say, yeah. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: But like the story was like kind of weird, a little bit like not confusing, but like it was just kind of like, I don’t know, it was a weird storyline, kind of graphic– 

MEGAN BARNES: Are you knocking my culture? 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: I thought it was cool and like I loved the like you know, the scenery and like the cause like Ireland is just so beautiful. And I loved like seeing that on like a big screen, but like, I was like, oh, is this best picture worthy, I’m not so sure. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: With this picture nominees, I don’t want to be like, film bro, it’s like, Oh no one’s seen this film. Why is it nominated? Why is it nominated over this one? But I genuinely have no recollection of Women Talking before the nominations for Best Picture came out. 

MEGAN BARNES: Wasn’t that it? Wasn’t that all it was nominated for? 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Well it was best picture and then it won adapted screenplay, but I had not heard anything about it before it got nominated. And I was. I was. I was surprised. I also have a bit of a grievance with the makeup, with the makeup, that won. 

MEGAN BARNES: I did too. Was it … who won? 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: The Whale. 

MEGAN BARNES: That’s– I was. I was like. You’re winning makeup for a fat suit? 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I just think compared to the makeup and Everything Everywhere, All at Once, it’s just not comparable. I don’t know, does the Academy love fat suits? 

MEGAN BARNES: I also I was like cause then I was literally pulling up photos of like the looks in Everything Everywhere All at Once and was like her hair is in a circle and braids and like she has like the crazy like eye makeup and stuff like that. I was also really upset because I was like, why are you getting an Oscar for making a really realistic fat suit as opposed to just hiring someone that, like, actually looks like that. And you know for that sort of representation, but yeah, yeah. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: I thought Elvis would have gotten that one because like it showed the entire like progression of his life. So they had to make Austin Butler look different ages, not just like, you know, different styles, which was also like they did very well. But like they had to show them up as like a like a teenager, like not teenager but like, in his 20s or something and then up until like his like 60s. 

MEGAN BARNES: Younger, yeah. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: And like I think. That they did a really great job with that. It’s just showing like that progression I I feel like that could have been a winner.

MEGAN BARNES: Yeah. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Top Gun: Maverick was there, was nominated for–

MEGAN BARNES: It was there. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: OK, but like I. Yeah, I’m a huge 80s fan. So like I watched Top Gun ma– or the first Top Gun like the day before I watched Top Gun: Maverick and then I was like blown away with like how like it was really well done and like it was a really good movie. But like some of the things that it was nominated for, I was like “Interesting take.” 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Oh my gosh, I was. So glad that they put all  categories back in the broadcast this year. I mean, I like I remember last year they had, like the best fan favorite movie [Best Cheer Moment Award] and, do you do you remember it was like the Justice League, right? 

MEGAN BARNES: Justice League rights.

SOFIA APPOLONIO: They gave Zack Snyder like an award. I was just really glad. 

MEGAN BARNES: No, I liked that too. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Yeah everyone, because the movie it’s it’s a product of so many people and it’s not just the actors. It’s not just the face. It’s like makeup and lighting and sound. And I love that everyone kind of— 

MEGAN BARNES: And editing was another good one. OK. Should we move on to fashion? 

FATIMA YAZDI: I will say overall, I think we saw a lot of interesting looks. I picked up on a lot of like trends. I feel like we saw a lot of sheer-like materials, a lot of like see through and I saw like a New York Times article that pointed out how many deep cut dresses that there were, which I think is also interesting because I don’t know if this is a placebo or if this is really a thing. But people have been picking up on the fact that, in recent, just award ceremonies and just on red carpets in the past few months, necklaces have become a lot less common, and so I was like, is that a nod to that–

MEGAN BARNES: Yeah, I noticed that.

FATIMA YAZDI: –like we’re not doing necklaces anymore? Like the Décollete area is just like its own fashion. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Janelle Monáe as number one, and I agree, because that was so like, Oh my gosh. Like the contrast between the orange and the black and like and like the the shape of the skirt was like so pretty it just like it had a lot of like movement, I guess it was so cool. 

MEGAN BARNES: Janelle Monáe was in, a black strapless deep cut. Kind of looks like a velvety kind of top with like a black choker and a gem kind of in the middle and then this, not like a bright orange, it’s kind of like a Nickelodeon symbol orange, but like tasteful. And it, like, swoops and it goes down— She looks so good. 

JESSICA DANINHIRSCH: Ana de Armas, close to the top. Pretty much anything that she wears is gorgeous because she’s gorgeous, but also like the dress, very much fit her role that she was nominated for because it was very like old Hollywood. I thought it was so pretty, those are my top two. 

MEGAN BARNES: Like blonde got nothing else other than Ana de Armas. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I have to disagree about Ana De Armas. I’m sorry I thought —

MEGAN BARNES Gasp. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I thought the color of the dress washed her out, I think she’s so beautiful, but I felt like maybe a pink or a darker red would have looked better on her. Gosh, who else am I thinking of? 

MEGAN BARNES: I think Cara Delevingne looked really good too. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Very old Hollywood glamour, and I loved that. I thought that no one took a lot of risks on the carpet, and I kind of appreciated that because I’ve seen a few risks recently and it’s it hasn’t hit and I think people were safe for the Oscars, and I really like that. My favorite look of the night, I think was Tems. 

MEGAN BARNES: I was hoping we would talk about that, yeah. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: I love the movement in the silhouette of the outfit and it kind of reminded me a bit of the of like an Iris van Herpen outfit, and I loved it. I thought it looked beautiful. The carpet looked beautiful with her skin color. She was best dressed for me. 

MEGAN BARNES: I also liked for the men, Paul Mescal in the white suit with like the boot cut pants. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: Did you see Harry Shum Jr.’s outfit? 

MEGAN BARNES: He looked good. Yeah, he had, like, the white suit. And then he had kind of like a thing tied around his waist, he looked really good. 

FATIMA YAZDI: I thought Lenny Kravitz came looking like themselves and I thought it was like, a cool look for men like.  

MEGAN BARNES: Yeah, Lenny Kravitz looks cool with, yeah.  

FATIMA YAZDI: Yeah, I will say I don’t. You know, I like her. So I don’t want to say worst dressed, but I wasn’t obsessed with Salma Hayek’s dress. It was like this glittery something in between a red and an orange skin tight dress. I just think she’s so stunning, and I think it took away a little bit from her look and just not obsessed with, not obsessed with what was going on there. 

MEGAN BARNES: Yeah I don’t know if I have a worst dressed because I never hate anything. I’ll say Jamie Lee Curtis’s dress also didn’t really look that good, not to be a Jamie Lee hater. I loved her in Freaky Friday, but I just. 

SOFIA APPOLONIO: It looked cheap, like I can’t explain something about the sequins and the cut. It looked it it didn’t look tailored. It looked very much, she pulled it out of her closet, which is very Jamie Lee, pulling it out of your closet. But I mean, I feel like for the for the Oscars, for the carpet. I expected something more. 

[MUSIC]

MEGAN BARNES, HOST: Thanks for listening to Offbeat! I’m your host Megan Barnes. This episode is brought to you with the help of our editor Julia Bischoff, our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey and our reporter Fatima Yazdi. Special thank you to Sofia Appolonio and Jess Daninhirsch for sharing their pop culture brains with us this episode. Follow Offbeat on Twitter at @DBKOffbeat and follow the Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @theDBK. You can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. And if you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

[MUSIC INTRO]

MEGAN BARNES VO: We’re two weeks out from Valentine’s Day, and February is officially winding down. In our last episode we heard from students about the general dating culture here at UMD. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper. Dating can be tough, and our team spoke to sources that told us what is unique about the college dating experience, especially in the modern day. 

Hi, I’m your host Megan Barnes and welcome to Offbeat by The Diamondback, a podcast about all things weird and wonderful here at the University of Maryland. Without further ado, join us on a deep dive into all things dating in College Park. 

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

KIMBERLY CLOPP: I feel like toxic is a great word to describe a college dating scene.

JULIA BISCHOFF: Have you guys been on any dates around College Park?

JENNIFER GARCIA-HERRERA: Unfortunately.

LAUREN MONNIG: Men are crazy.

TRISTEN STALLWORTH: Everyone on campus, I feel — well not everyone — but most people are not mature enough to handle a real relationship. 

CAILIN BLESSEY: At first like no. I was newly single, like before I came to college so I was like, ‘No, I need some time off.’ But now I am kinda like ‘Oh maybe.’ 

AYOMIDE AWOYERA: I am single.

GRACE KPETEMEY: Oh okay, and how do you feel about that?

AYOMIDE AWOYERA: Ehhh, you know, I am grateful. 

MEGAN BARNES VO: But why do some students feel this way? To find out we sat down with Grace Fransler Boudreau, coordinator for outreach and assessment at the CARE to Stop Violence office. She gave us some insight into why dating now might be more perilous than during other times in life. 

GRACE FANSLER BOUDREAU: Because from 18 to 24 now, not everyone is in college. But that is a stage of young adulthood where you’re more likely to be living away from home for the first time, maybe more likely to not be under as much supervision from your parents. Also, it may be your first time really having relationships that are romantic or sexual. So I think dating is very new at ages 18 to 24, and you may not know what a healthy relationship looks like. Or alternatively, what relationship violence looks like just because you haven’t had as much life experience. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: So for students around campus, what would you say is important for them to know about dating in college? 

GRACE FANSLER BOUDREAU: Absolutely, so in general, some things that are important for folks of any age to know or any stage in their life is that relationships should be about an equal partnership. There should be strong communication, mutual admiration and respect, and you really feel like you can be yourself. You would never want there to be an aspect of it seeming transactional or conditional, and you wouldn’t want to be walking on eggshells around your partner. 

GRACE KPETEMEY: What would you say are some like red flags? 

EMMA MCGRAW: Definitely if you’re caught like lying to me in any sort of situation, even if it’s not a big thing, like lying just means that you had the intent to not want to be honest with me.  So it just means that you truthfully weren’t caring about my feelings in the first place. And I see so many, not like abusive, but you see so many red flags and in my friendships relationships, my friend’s relationships. And so lying is a big one.

TRISTEN STALLWORTH: With online dating, we kinda turned it into a competition and like, we put what we believe to be our best selves out there, but it’s really just a false self. None of it’s real, but we’re having fun. I think online dating makes it seem like we’re really a bunch of pixels. But we’re not, we’re all human beings here.

GRACIE PERRY: I think red flags are like control things, but I think sometimes they can be hard to recognize. And I think green flags are definitely like asking you how you feel and wanting to know how you perceive certain situations because we all have different experiences.

GRACE FANSLER BOUDREAU: I think the most important thing is that a healthy relationship should make you feel good. It should encourage you to bloom, it should encourage you to grow, it should bring positivity into your life and of course, it shouldn’t hurt. 

CAILIN BLESSEY: I feel like a lot of people are very focused on themselves, so it’s hard to find that. Which is okay, which is good, that’s what you’re supposed to do. The people in relationships are really happy but you have to find that specific person that wants exactly what you want.

MEGAN BARNES VO: These budding relationships come to students in a variety of different ways. From dating apps to chatting in the bar to mutual friends, there are so many different ways to meet people on campus. In fact, a survey from 2017 showed that a shocking 70 percent of students use dating apps. On top of this, the American Psychological Association states that 60 to 80 percent of college students report participating in hookup culture as of 2022. However, 7.6 percent of students regret participating in the first place. 

HAILEY JOHNSON: I think it’s really important to not fall to the pressure necessarily, like what’s going on around you. It’s totally fine if you want to partake in hookup culture or not. Just make sure that whatever it is is something that you want to do, because at the end of the day, if you’re forcing yourself to do something that you’re not comfortable with, eventually you’re going to end up with a lot of regrets. So just be careful, stay true to yourself and you know, if you make mistakes, it’s OK. 

TRISTEN STALLWORTH: Everytime that something has happened, the girl is always adamant that she does not want it to be serious. It feels weird at first, but then it’s like eh … whatever. And like the two times I tried to go for something serious, you know, I had my heart shattered into a million pieces. Which, you know, is the tragedy of the game. It is what it is.

MEGAN BARNES VO: But there are plenty of college relationships that have survived. Jason and Casey Scott from Dorchester County are just one example of a UMD love story. They met in college in 2001 when Casey was a freshman and Jason was a junior. They had a few mutual friends, which helped them get to know one another. But things looked a little different around here when they went to school. Students used to have to wait outside the ticket office for games. This was the spark that they needed. 

CASEY SCOTT: It was the Terps’ last year at Cole Field House. And it was a year that we won the national championship in basketball. So there was a lot of hype and everyone wanted tickets to home games for basketball. And back then to get a ticket you had to take your student ID and camp out and wait in line. And you just went to the box office and they gave you a ticket … it was the very last home game of the year was against UVA. We were still in the ACC. 

JASON SCOTT: Last game in Cole Field House ever. 

CASEY SCOTT: And it was big. And and I really wanted to go and I was in bio lab. It was three hours long and I was like, ‘I’m leaving because this is not gonna get in the way of me going to this last game.’ Screw the medical degree, right? So I get in line and I’m behind all of my friends and I’m by myself. And you could get two tickets with your ID and Jason said, ‘Well, why don’t I come back to your part of the line? We’ll get four tickets together.’ And so we spent that whole night like talking and, you know, flirting. And I think we’ve been together ever since. 

CASEY SCOTT: Those shared experiences that a big campus with sports can really bring people together.

MEGAN BARNES VO: Now the two have been married for 10 years and have some wisdom to impart on UMD students of today. 

CASEY SCOTT: We used to communicate on instant messenger.

JASON SCOTT: Yeah, that was it. There was no text messaging. 

CASEY SCOTT: It wasn’t like unlimited, you know, like you paid per call … so like you live by that campus phone. 

CASEY SCOTT: Facebook was created while I was in college and when it started you had to  get a Facebook account, you had to have an at “edu” email address and so it was really campus specific. And I remember, like my junior and senior year friending people on Facebook and being like, ‘Is this is this just the new Myspace? Like, what is this? Like is this OK?’ So yeah. I think just the communication … you didn’t know necessarily where people were at every any given moment. 

JASON SCOTT: Communication would be easier today. That’s the very simplified version of that. 

CASEY SCOTT: And dating apps weren’t popular.

JASON SCOTT: No. I feel like you can go on social media and learn a lot about a person before you ever meet them or say you meet them or go on a date or something and then you can learn a lot about them on social media or through Google or through whatever else. Back then, I mean, there was, there was no really searching around to learn about someone. 

CASEY SCOTT: Or to make assumptions about someone ahead of time that maybe weren’t true, you know? You really did have to talk to the other person face-to-face and read their facial expressions. 

MEGAN BARNES VO: Let’s make one thing clear: UMD students haven’t given up all hope when it comes to dating. They just have certain things they’re looking for. 

DONGGEON KIM: Every relationship is different, but as long as you put in the effort it works out in the end. 

EMMA MCGRAW: Well, definitely as an upperclassman now, it definitely gets a lot harder to manage a relationship just because I have an internship, an on-campus job, plus my classes. And so, my boyfriend also has two jobs that he does plus his classes, so i feel it was definitely easier when we were underclassmen, freshman, sophomore year it was easier to see each other but now we have to physically plan out time to see each other, and plan it into our schedules, because we’re so busy now.

TRISTEN STALLWORTH: When she’s like, ‘I’m busy,’ but she carves out time to see you, that’s a good green flag.

MICHAEL TIBURZI: What I do like about being in a relationship. I guess in college is that it does provide some type of stability.

EMMA MCGRAW: So I definitely think don’t have the mindset that every weekend or you have to go and meet someone and hook up with them — that’s not how you’re actually going to find a potential partner. And I feel like there’s just a lot of pressure to go and do that in college. So I think love finds you in the most unexpected ways. So sometimes you don’t have to go out constantly searching for it, sometimes it just comes to you. 

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

MEGAN BARNES VO: So there you have it! Students have some strong feelings about dating in College Park, and things could only go up from here.

Thanks for listening to Offbeat! I’m your host Megan Barnes. If you or anyone you know might be struggling with an unhealthy relationship, be sure to check out the resources provided by the CARE Office, You can find them at health.umd.edu/CARE. This episode is brought to you with the help of our editor Julia Bischoff, our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey and our reporter Fatima Yazdi. Also a special thanks to Nur Yavuz. Our music this month is by Steven O’Brien. Follow Offbeat on Twitter at @DBKOffbeat and follow The Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @thedbk. You can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. And if you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

MUSIC: 

The following music was used for this media project:

Music: Fromage by Steven O’Brien

Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10409-fromage

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

[INTRO MUSIC]

JULIA BISCHOFF VO: From candy hearts scrawled with phrases like “kiss me” and “xoxo” to crimson love notes and everything in between, Valentine’s Day is certainly in full swing here at the University of Maryland. But dating looks different for everyone, and there are a variety of standards and preferences that students have when it comes to love. 

JULIA VO: Hi, I’m Julia Bischoff and welcome to Offbeat by The Diamondback. This is just part one in our two part exploration into dating in College Park. Today our team spoke to students to learn more about what the dating scene around town looks like. Let’s hear what they have to say!

MICHAEL TIBURZI: I am currently dating somebody. I’ve been in a relationship for a while now, so it’s been actually pretty good. 

DONGGEON KIM: I’m taken, yeah.

DEVIKA GOVINDARAJAN: Single

TODD PHILLIPS: Single and desperate!

JENNIFER GARCIA-HERRERA: Single and single.

CYNCLARA HILLIARD: In a relationship.

NIKITA KHAPRE: Single. 

CAILIN BLESSEY: I am currently single, very much so.

OLIVIA MARX: I’m single.

LAUREN MONNIG: I’m taken 

OLIVIA MARX & MEGAN BARNES: Whoaaaa!

GRACIE PERRY: I think in general relationships aren’t easy. So, it doesn’t just fall right into place.

MICHAEL TIBURZI: It’s fine dating in college. I know it’s traditionally kind of unstable. I don’t think that — especially like — dating life in general. I would hate to be still on those apps, swiping left and right, trying to play guessing games and having dull lull conversations all the time. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: Do you think finding people on dating apps is a good way to find people?

DEVIKA GOVINDARAJAN: I feel like for the long term probably not cause the likelihood of finding someone that matches you perfectly just from their profile is pretty slim, so it’s a lot of hit and miss. But I guess it’s one of the best ways to do it now. 

CAILIN BLESSEY: Oh that I meet people? Oh, definitely the bars. I don’t have any dating apps, I never have. I love looking at my friends’. I never have because I don’t know, I feel like you have to be pretty outgoing to respond to that sometimes, and I’m just … I’m not. 

NIKITA KHAPRE: I feel like the only way that I’ve been “meeting people” has been by going out to the bars and stuff, but those aren’t really the types of people you’d be in a long term relationship with anyways, so yeah. 

JENNIFER GARCIA-HERRERA: Just the vibes around here. I don’t want to go meet people at Looney’s. 

AYOMIDE AWOYERA: I am pretty friendly, so I just meet people naturally. I haven’t tried any dating apps, I haven’t tried — what’s the thing called? First blind dates or whatever. Instagram mostly. The DMs, it goes down in the DMs. 

CAILIN BLESSEY: I feel like a lot of people I know that are also single also tell me that this is just not the place they feel like they want to meet people. We’re so close to D.C. so you can go there, I don’t know, just not this campus in particular. And everyone I know that has a boyfriend, they don’t go here. 

GRACE KPETEMEY: Have some of the people that you’ve been dating been [from] UMD?

AYOMIDE AWOYERA: Only one.

MEGAN BARNES: As a taken woman how did you meet your significant other?

LAUREN MONNIG: In high school … they don’t go here.

MEGAN BARNES: Has it been hard?

LAUREN MONNIG: It has been, but you make it work and it’s okay.

GRACIE PERRY: Uh no actually, I met them the summer — well I met them a few years prior to us dating, but we started dating the summer before my freshman year. 

GRACE KPETEMEY: And do they go to UMD?

GRACIE PERRY: They don’t. 

CYNCLARA  HILLIARD: We went to the same high school, we’re high school sweethearts.

MEGAN BARNES: Do they go here?

CYNCLARA HILLIARD: No. 

GRACIE PERRY: It’s hard nowadays to realize who real people actually are. You know?  We have such a tendency to look at how you appear or look at how you appear on your social media. If somebody doesn’t seem how they appear or how you think they appear people automatically think like ‘oh they’re lying, they’re lying,’ but just talk to them, you know? I think communication is so important.

KIMBERLY CLOPP: Being an older student, I feel like that “toxic” is a great word to describe a college dating scene. I think I remember that from my undergrad. From my perspective, there isn’t much of one for masters students. You do get a lot more picky. And I think a lot of that boils down to experiences that you have and things that you’ve learned in your younger relationships, but it’s still very, very hard. 

MICHAEL TIBURZI: It’s really difficult to meet anybody who wants to do something that’s long term in a way that isn’t just for the four years that you’re here. Then again, I don’t really know that anybody during our era of life, like the 18 to 20 something, young 20s is really looking for that. I think if you have a standard that you want to meet and there are specific things like green flags and red flags, listen to it. And listen to ‘this is kind of like a red flag for me.’

JULIA BISCHOFF: Are there any green flags?

NIKITA KHAPRE: My green flag would just be communication. As in, just like tell me how you’re feeling because we can’t really work anything out if you’re not gonna be open to a conversation. 

DEVIKA GOVINDARAJAN: I like when they pay on the first date; big green flag or at least offer.

DONGGEON KIM: I don’t know if it’s just me because I am biased with my girlfriend, but I don’t really see any red flags there. You have to put certain boundaries with your relationship, and you have to communicate with your partner obviously, which is why communication is such a green flag.

ENOC MUNEZA: So, I feel like someone who is easy going. If we automatically are just chatting and and like it’s going well then I might try to get your number or something. 

ZOEY ANASTASIADIS: Having goals or a vision of some sort, a plan. 

OLIVIA MARX: Be confident and bold and if you find someone attractive I think that’s okay to share. But also, just know when to stop. 

GRACE PERRY: I think green flags are definitely like asking you how you feel and wanting to know how you perceive certain situations because we all have different experiences. 

HOST VO: Thanks so much for listening to Offbeat, I’m your host Julia Bischoff! If you liked this episode, be sure to come back at the end of the month where we dive deeper into the modern dating scene and talk to more students about their experiences. Today’s episode is brought to you with the help of our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey, and our two reporters Megan Barnes and Fatima Yazdi.  Our music this month is by MusicLFiles. Follow Offbeat on Twitter @DBKOffbeat and follow The Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @thedbk. You can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. If you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

The following music was used for this media project:

Music: Celebrate Your Wins [Full version] by MusicLFiles

Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10381-celebrate-your-wins-full-version

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

[AMBI MUSIC]

JULIA BISCHOFF: Once upon a time, in a land 40 minutes away from the UMD Campus, is The Maryland Renaissance Festival, where our adventure full of kings, queens, jesters and more unfolds. For listeners who have never been, a renaissance festival is where people dress up in historical outfits, eat different delicious dishes, and watch live performances. 

Hello, and welcome to Offbeat by The Diamondback, a podcast for those who swing to their own rhythm. I am your host Julia Bischoff, and today we are exploring Maryland’s Renaissance Festival at Revel Grove.

[AMBIENT SOUND]

JULIA BISCHOFF: As we walked through the front gates, we were instantly greeted by the wonderful sights and smells of the festival. Stilt-walking mimes lumbered past, outfits of festival-goers jingled as they walked by, and performers sang old-timey tunes. It was overwhelming to begin with and the grounds were expansive. In fact, it is one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country. I sat down with Jules Smith, the president and one of the owners of the festival, to get more background on it. 

JULES SMITH: A typical weekend is around 34,000 would be average for the nine weekends of the year. The past four weekends we’re selling out every weekend. We start at lower numbers, around 11, 12,000 a day but now we’re much higher than that. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: Jules told me he was originally involved in the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, but started up here in 1977 when a friend let them borrow some land in Columbia, Maryland. Originally they would take the festival down every winter, and reconstruct it every summer. Eventually they moved it to where the fair is now in Crownsville, which is much more permanent. But there’s something special about renfaires as opposed to other weekend events.

JULES SMITH: It’s like a street festival, a village festival, where people can walk around and enjoy and experience different from the other people at the event just based on what they select to do. So, it’s not like sitting in a theater or watching television or something where it’s being fed to you, but something you pick and choose. I think also we offer security because people come here and they can relax. There isn’t much to bother them. It wouldn’t be nice to have a beer as you’re walking down the mall in Washington and interact and enjoy things with other people rather than be concerned about what’s going to happen…And that’s kind of the atmosphere we have here where everyone is involved and we have fun and enjoyment of a show.

JULIA BISCHOFF: The serenity of being inside the fair, after getting over the initial overstimulation, definitely lived up to Jules’ and everyone else’s descriptions. Some people stayed in character the whole time, while others came as they were. We walked through taverns while orcs, elves, and men alike chatted over mead and beer. Tavern performers sang funny songs about old nursery rhymes. Lively vendors sold an assortment of items from magical to mundane. And festival-goers wore some of the most intricate and impressive costumes I have ever seen. It was a true community feeling, but let the festival-goers tell you themselves, starting with our lively long-time vendor Josh. 

AMBIENT NOISE

JOSHUA LAMONT: My name is Joshua Lamont. I am the owner of the Rock Shoppe and Sluice Mine. 

JOSHUA LAMONT: Yeah, yeah I am trying to do the math in my head right now, but that’s hard. So 98 to 2002. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: 24 years?

JOSHUA LAMONT: 24 years. Oh my god yeah, 24 years. Next year will be our 25th year!

JOSHUA LAMONT: And honestly, this was just a spot of trees, no one could build here cause we can’t cut down any trees, so it’s so hard to build a full structure. They gave us three weeks, and we built our first sluice in the middle of a hurricane in 1998 with tarps over our heads. It was really quite terrifying. But yeah that’s how we got here to Maryland Renaissance. 

JOSHUA LAMONT: It’s weird, so I’ve done this my whole life, right? So you have what we call fair kids. Our parents, who have done this and we’ve grown up and inherited and kind of — The people for me are definitely the most fun. My staff, who I absolutely adore. This is Serena our newest hire.

SERENA: I am the best one here.

JOSHUA LAMONT: Whose sister is about to beat the living heck out of her.

SERENA: I am second best. 

JOSHUA LAMONT: For those listening — good seeing you man — for those who can’t see, her sister has a murderous glare. 

JOSHUA LAMONT: No, honestly, it’s just my family. It’s just like coming home. It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of stress, but it’s good to be around the people you grew up with. 

[AMBIENT NOISE]

TYLER HEATHERSTON: Hi My name is Tyler. I’m from Delaware, well originally Pennsylvania, but I live in Delaware. Yeah it’s been a couple years, but I’ve been coming here about a decade ago and then a little bit of time and now I am back. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: What inspired you to come back?

TYLER HEATHERSTON: Just want to have a good time, just want to see the fair again … shopping, looking at the stuff that’s all around. People watching.

Megan Barnes: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen today?

TYLER HEATHERSTON: Uh, a woman drumming on her own breasts in line for the food, that was a little nuts. I mean, I don’t think I’ve seen anything crazier than that previously. 

[AMBIENT NOISE]

BROOKE HITNER: Hi, I’m Brooke. I’m wearing an all black dress. It’s from Amazon, surprisingly high quality. Got a nice little belt and some skirt hikes so my legs can actually breathe, and then the fae ears with the clip-on earrings. And then I’ve got the makeup on. I am doing kind of a scar look. Faera from a Courts of Thorns and Roses. I was going for kind of her look, but I wanted to do something a little bit scarier because I am an FX makeup artist, so I love the spooky stuff. 

BROOKE HITNER: I started coming last year. I just moved to Maryland from Hawaii and so I started coming last year, and just got hooked and absolutely love it. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: So what keeps you coming?

BROOKE HITNER: Oh just the people. They’re so freakin’ sweet, even dress kinda spooky. Everybody just comes up and are like ‘I love your dress!’ and I’m like ‘Thank you, I love you!’ And you just make great friends because everybody is so frickin’ friendly. 

BROOKE HITNER: I work from home most of the time when I am not doing FX makeup, I’m an operations manager for a couple different companies, so I don’t get that interaction unless I’m working as a makeup artist or here. So, that’s why I love. 

[AMBIENT NOISE]

CAPTAIN RANDY DEVILLE: This is Captain Randy DeVille

CAPTAIN HENRY DEVILLE: Captain Henry DeVille, thank you very much

JULIA BISCHOFF: Is it your first time coming here?

RANDY & HENRY: God, no. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: How long have you been coming here?

RANDY & HENRY: 25 years. 

JULIA BISCHOFF: 25 years! What keeps you coming back?

RANDY & HENRY: The lovely ladies and the cold drinks. 

RANDY & HENRY: Get your tickets early next year because they’ve been sold out for several weeks. 

[AMBIENT NOISE]

JULIA BISCHOFF: After slinking through the taverns, watching comedic performances from silly jesters, 

AMBI OF JESTERS: (singing) Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, but Jill forgot to take her pill and now they’ve got a daughter.  

JULIA BISCHOFF: And eating the biggest turkey leg I’ve ever seen, it was time to end our day at Revel Grove. And like many other festival-goers, we decided to round things out by watching Maryland’s state sport, jousting. The match started with the jousters testing their skills by catching increasingly small hoops on their lances

JOUSTING MC: Before we begin this trial by combat, we must first test this field to ensure it is suitable for your seeds. Prince Miguel, you shall have the first pass. 

[BOOING]

JULIA BISCHOFF: People from all over the festival grounds gathered around the jousting arena. Each corner was given a jouster to route for, and our section cheered on the valiant Sir William. 

JOUSTING MC: And Sir William! Lay on!

[CHEERING]

JULIA BISCHOFF: Sir William did, in fact, miss the small hoop, and our section was not happy.  

[BOOING/HECKLING]

JULIA BISCHOFF: The crowd quickly got over their annoyance with Sir William when it was time to give out favors before they began the main event. 

JOUSTING MC: To bestow upon your knight, please come to the fence and do so now!

JULIA BISCHOFF: With favors handed out and the jousters, as well as the crowd, all warmed up, it was time to begin the dueling. 

JOUSTING MC: Is sworn to vow. His heart knows only virtue. His sword defends the weak. His shield upholds the mighty. His words speak only truth. And his wrath undoes the wicked! Is Sir William at the ready? Is Prince Miguel at the ready? Is Sir Keagan at the ready? Is Prince Balthazar at the ready? Then let this joust begin!

JULIA BISCHOFF: Jousters leveled their lances at each other and ran.

[CRASH]

JULIA BISCHOFF: Again.

[CRASH]

JULIA BISCHOFF: And again. 

[CRASH]

JULIA BISCHOFF: And again!

[CRASH]

JULIA BISCHOFF: And then things started to get crazy. After a couple rounds charging at each other with their lances on their horses, jousters ditched the saddles and resorted to full blown sword fighting. 

[AMBIENT SOUND]

JULIA BISCHOFF: Sir William was a quick loss. He lay still off to the side of the field as the other knights and princes dueled it out. 

[AMBIENT SOUND]

JULIA BISCHOFF: They recklessly slashed through each other until only Prince Balthazar was left standing. However, in a shocking turn of events, Sir William stumbled out of his early grave to claim victory.

[CHEERING]

JULIA BISCHOFF: He rose from his spot on the ground and stumbled towards his opponent. They jabbed at each other sluggishly, wounds from the long fight gnawing at their bones, and eventually Sir William gave the winning blow. 

[JOUSTING ANNOUNCER]: Sir William DeBracey!

JOUSTING MC: My lords and my ladies! These brave performers and their steeds have risked life and limb to bring you this unique form of entertainment. Please put your hands together for Debracey Productions!

JULIA BISCHOFF: As the match came to an exciting close, the sun slid slowly behind the jousting arena, blending the sky into an array of orange and pink hues. It painted the perfect picture as we left in the wave of people exiting the fair. And after a long day of festivities, no matter how exhausting they were, I knew I would be back in August when the festival picks back up.  

JULIA BISCHOFF: Thanks for listening to Offbeat, I’m your host Julia Bischoff. This episode is brought to you with the help of our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey, and our two reporters Megan Barnes and Fatima Yazdi.  Our music this month is by the lovely Maryland Renaissance Festival Performers. Follow Offbeat on twitter @DBKOffbeat and follow The Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @thedbk. You can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. If you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.

STELLA ROUSE: And so if young people are gonna marry their passion for these issues and have that translate into a change in policy, they’re gonna have to come out and vote, and I think there’s, at least, a signal that that’s occurring. 

[MUSIC]

MEGAN BARNES: Voting. It’s a basic right that all Americans 18 and older share, but mobilizing people to do so has always been a point of concern in most elections. However, in recent years, young people took the polls at higher rates than ever before. Mail-in ballots are the new frontier, and many universities have their own polling locations on campus to grant easy access. And with midterms happening just last week, it should seem like an easy thing, but factors like identity and lack of information act as barriers to the political process. 

Welcome to Offbeat by the Diamondback, a podcast about passion and power at the University of Maryland. I’m your host Megan Barnes. For this episode, I wanted to see just how mobilized UMD students were to vote in the recent midterm elections. I also spoke with experts to gain insight on the brains of young voters and what universities can do to ensure student voices matter. Don’t be afraid to stick around until the end to break down the current results of these tight races. 

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

MEGAN: The only way to ask UMD students why they voted was to take to the polls myself. There were two polling places on campus: One at STAMP and the other at Ritchie Coliseum. We asked various students why they voted and why they felt midterms were important. I’ll let them take the lead. 

JULIA WALL: As a woman, you know, we haven’t always had this right to vote, and I felt like I was doing a disservice to our ancestors by not voting in a way. And also I feel like you can’t really complain about things that are happening if you don’t, you know, use your right to vote. 

EUGENE BANG: I think as citizens, especially in Maryland, it’s important for our voices to be recognized in voting for local lawmakers and also for the gubernatorial election in general. 

AMANDA NOBIL: I think everybody’s voice matters, and, I mean, the fate of the nation is in the people’s decision, so I want my voice to be heard. 

RAYMOND JAMES MCGHEE: I mean, I think I’ve just been told throughout my life, that it’s important to participate in the democratic process, and I think it’s important for young people to show out to vote show that we need to be represented show that were worth catering to in terms of like, candidates platform. So I think that by coming out to vote, we’re showing that we need to be heard and the issues that we care about, they should care about too.

JULIA BUSHMAN: I think it’s so important. I’ve like been texting my friends and like encouraging them because like, I feel like a lot of people, especially like students, like a lot of us are are out of state. So it’s like, knowing where you can vote and just like encouraging people and like, every vote counts. And like, even though it seems like it doesn’t, it’s like I feel like it’s a part of like, being an American citizen is like voting because like, if you have an opinion, you need to like voice that no matter what that is, like, you need to be like represented, so

MEGAN: While some seemed well-versed in all things politics, others viewed things at a more … surface level. I asked some students which was more important: midterm elections or the presidential election.

ARCHIT RAVISHANKAR: Obviously the presidential election and stuff get more popularity and media attention, but I feel like the midterm elections is also very important. Especially just because all the small issues and stuff or the local lawmakers, and the local county executives and state senators that do actually make those possible. So I think they’re both important, but I feel like midterm elections are a bit more important for each individual person.

JULIA WALL: I’d say midterms definitely aren’t as, I guess, advertised as the general elections are, and a lot of times it just goes under the rug especially for college students’ minds like with midterms coming around the corner, or just passing. It’s kind of like the last thing on a lot of people’s minds. And it’s something that you kind of have to dig for to get information on to find out details on how to do this.

ANGELA LUO: I’ll be honest with you, I do not know the difference between the two, so I feel like that says enough about like how prominent it is, but I think as you get older you start involving yourself in politics more and more, so I think it’s just like a natural thing.  

MEGAN: Another student was mostly just along for the ride. 

GEORGE JAMALDINIAN: She was going, so I followed her here. She encouraged me. I would not have gone — or at least I wouldn’t have prioritized it. I could follow it more, but I just don’t. 

MEGAN (on tape): Like do you feel it’s not as important as…?

GEORGE JAMALDINIAN: No I still think it’s important, I just don’t prioritze it. 

MEGAN: A much as like a general, presidential election?

GEORGE JAMALDINIAN: Yeah, like, I have friends that actually care about it, so I just follow their lead. 

MEGAN: But how can we explain this lack of knowledge or even the younger generation’s newfound passion for the polls? I spoke with Dr. Stella Rouse, a government and politics professor at UMD who specializes in how identity informs political attitudes and representation. 

STELLA ROUSE: I think historically, younger people have not been as engaged, particularly in voting. I think young people are engaged in other forms of civic engagement and participation, things like protests and marches are things that young people tend to gravitate toward, issue based things like that. But, in terms of voting, we’ve always seen a gap between older adults and younger adults in terms of turning out to vote, and that’s amplified in midterm elections because, obviously, most of the population is really focused on the presidential elections when they vote. 

Now I will say that over the last two midterm elections, that we have seen an increase in young people coming out to vote. We don’t have the numbers yet, but it looks like we’re going to see record turn out for young people. Young people have really made a difference in this election, is what the exit polls are showing, the preliminary data. 

But I still think we have an information gap, even among college students, right? You talked to a student who didn’t even know the difference between the two. And so, you know, I think often times we forget that even more educated people perhaps may not be educated when it comes to politics and voting, and when elections are being held and what they’re being held for and why they matter. 

MEGAN: But what can be done to mobilize young voters and keep them informed? This isn’t a new idea, and, over the course of the past few years, numerous nonprofits and organizations have been founded to combat the lack of young people at the polls. 

JENNIFER DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN: My name is Jen Domagal-Goldman, and I am the executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge which is a non-partisan national initiative of Civic Nation that works to support more than 950 colleges and universities across the country as they work to improve civic learning, political engagement and non-partisan voter participation. 

MEGAN: UMD was actually the very first school to join this initiative back in 2016. President Darryll Pines even joined the group’s presidential commitment to strive towards full student voter participation. Domagal-Goldman told me that mobilizing students to vote tackles three key themes: 

JENNIFER DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN: So we talk about civic learning, political engagement, and then voter participation. So, in that, we’re really focusing on the both, the legal requirement and kind of the ethical and moral obligation that colleges and universities have to help their college students register students, eligible students, to vote, to educate them about how the process works, and what their rights are and how to understand their ballots and the process and then to be able to access polling places. And also to show up and turn out at the ballot box, whether that be voting by mail, or voting early, or voting on campus, or voting at home. So really helping them help that and you know, at a campus like the University of Maryland, you have a huge proportion of students who come from within the state of Maryland. 

But also, in that class, and on your campus, and on other campuses like you, you have a large number of students who aren’t from the local area, aren’t from that state, and need to follow different state and local rules about elections, and usually focus on a given campus aren’t experts about that, and so part of what we bring to the table is the ability to share information and to share ways of engaging students who either, you know, may choose to vote somewhere else and have different timelines and processes they need to follow, and to really help students show up. 

MEGAN: Domagal-Goldman views voting as a sort of muscle that you have exercise in order to continue the habit. So the earlier people vote, the more likely they are to to keep doing so for any future elections. 

Dr. Rouse offers some insight as to why some college students fail to use this so-called democratic muscle in the first place. 

STELLA ROUSE: At the college level, I think one disconnect is often between students who are in the social sciences and sort of self select themselves to be interested in politics and in voting versus students who, perhaps, that are in the hard sciences and STEM-based fields that are likely to be less engaged in the political system simply because they’re interests are not really tied to politics or policy or things like that. So having a concerted effort in terms of reaching out to those students and informing them and educating about how important it is to be civically engaged regardless of what field you’re in I think is really important and something that should be more of a priority for any institution, but, if we’re talking about Maryland, I would say even for the University of Maryland to prioritize those efforts to get civic education in the training that STEM and hard science students receive because many of them have had no reason to really be interested and don’t feel like what they do really translates into politics. So that shouldn’t be discounted as being a citizen regardless of what you do, whether you’re an engineer or you’re a scientist or whatever the case may be, it’s still really important to participate in the process. 

MEGAN: But this isn’t to say that UMD hasn’t made any efforts to mobilize student voters. In fact, recent data shows otherwise. 

JENNIFER DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN: So we launched in 2020 a president’s commitment to full student voter participation and your president signed that commitment. We know that campuses who signed that commitment in 2020 had an average of 5.7 percentage points higher student voter turnout than other campuses. 

In the last midterm election in 2018, the University Maryland had an 85.3 percents registration rate, which is fantastic. You had a 36 percent turnout rate, which was up from 26.7 percent in 2014. And then in 2020, you had a student voter registration rate of what I would argue is basically the same, it was  84.7, and a student turn out rate of over 71 percent. 

MEGAN: As I scrolled through Twitter on Election Day, I saw numerous videos of college students lined-up at the polls, with some of the lines even going around the corner. Some of these students were waiting in line for over 90 minutes, a fact that I was first excited about. Students across the nation wanted to vote and the fact that they were waiting in line for that long showed that they really care. But this is a double-edged sword. 

JENNIFER DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN: They shouldn’t have to wait in lines for two hours you know what I mean? And so how do we make sure that that doesn’t happen? Does it mean one of those campuses needs two or three polling sites on campus instead of one? Does it mean that we need to do a better job of helping them understand there are other ways that they can vote? Are we seeing higher numbers in states who have implemented same day voter registration, which we know helps decrease a barrier to young people and first time voters voting, because if they can register on that same day, that’s great, but that can make the line take longer, right?

Transportation could be a barrier, having classes or work and not being able to get time off can be a barrier, right? Not having the right ID in specific states could be a barrier or the evidence of their address, you know, particularly around campuses.

MEGAN: Every school that joins ALL IN creates an action plan for the election cycle regarding those three key elements we mentioned earlier. They’re all dependent on the needs of each campus, and ALL IN has a primary contact, usually a faculty member, who acts as a liaison between the group and campus. 

But civic education should not only be restricted to college students. In fact, both Domagal-Goldman and Dr. Rouse agreed on the fact that it needs to extend to the youngest potential voters. 

STELLA ROUSE: Direct efforts at civic education are really important. Like one thing that myself as a political science professor and someone who believes in civil engagement its been disheartening to see those types of classes at the high school level have been pretty much abandoned, so students at a younger age aren’t getting that civic education, so returning that would be I think a priority or be part of efforts to return that. 

JENNIFER DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN:We need to grow voters, like it’s not just something that happens one day. And so it takes more than just the work of a single higher education institution to help do that, right? Like there are policies that need to be thought about and put in place. There’s work that needs to be happening at the K-12 level. You know, there’s work that peers can do to help engage their fellow students and other things. There are roles for faculty to play in terms of sharing reminders or pertinent information in a classroom. You know all of these different pieces come in to kind of create this broader framework, and until we kind of do all of those pieces, you know we’re never going to see the kind of full voter engagement that we really want to see. 

MEGAN: To say that the younger generation isn’t engaged in politics would be a lie. They just have a different way of showing it.

RAYMOND JAMES MCGHEE: That that can come from either being really like cynical, and like feeling like your voice doesn’t matter. And just like being, like, kind of like jaded toward the democratic process, which I think I think I’d like push back against that because that I think just compounds the problem. 

STELLA ROUSE: What my research has shown, generally, young people tend to engage differently than older people, not necessarily less. And sometimes the way that the media portrays young people is looking at whether they vote at similar rates as older people, and then, when they find that they don’t, they say ‘Well, they’re not interested in politics,’ and that’s not true. They’re interested in a different form of participation, sort of an active form of participation rather than a duty based form of participation. And so, what I’ve found in my work is that young people really are engaged, like I said, in protests, marches, boycotts, things that have a more direct effect because they have traditionally been very, sort of, disheartened by institutions in what they can do and have believed that their vote maybe does not matter in terms of bringing about change. 

But what I would say is, in the last two midterm elections and in the last presidential election, young people have come out in higher numbers and it’ll be interesting to see whether that trend continues this year, which I think it will, and into 2024. And so maybe by that time we can actually say that young people are catching up in terms of their voting rates compared to older people which would be a great sign because ultimately all that passion and effort that goes into, for example, marching for climate change or the MeToo Movement, that ultimately you need the right people in office to bring about policy change. Marches and things like that bring about a lot of attention but not necessarily change a policy. And so if young people are gonna marry their passion for these issues and have that translate into a change in policy, they’re gonna have to come out and vote, and I think there’s, at least, a signal that that’s occurring. A very promising signal, and we’ll see if that holds up. 

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MEGAN:  So where exactly do these election results stand? 

The biggest surprise was a Senate race in Pennsylvania. John Fetterman defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz to flip a seat for Democrats, giving the party its first glimmer of hope. On top of this, democrats officially maintained majority over the Senate after tight races in Arizona and Nevada were finally called over the weekend. This just leaves Georgia, where democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker are facing a potential run-off election. Will Democrats have a fifty-one to forty-nine majority, or will both parties see an equal split? 

Let’s shift to the House, where Republicans are expected to take control. In Virginia, Republican Jen Kiggans ousted sitting January 6 committee member Elaine Luria. On top of this, three-term Democratic congressman Tom O’Halleran saw defeat by Republican businessman Eli Crane in Arizona. 

It wasn’t a clean sweep, however, as Democratic candidates were able to flip seats in states like North Carolina, Texas and Ohio. Shout-out to Florida, who elected the first Gen-Z candidate to Congress. Maxwell Frost will take his seat at just 25 years-old with the hope of bringing young voices to the House floor. 

Finally the governors. Maryland had a huge win, with Democrat Wes Moore defeating Trump-endorsed candidate Dan Cox. He is the first democratic governor since 2015 and only the third Black governor to be elected in the United States — ever. In Texas, Beto O’Rourke lost to incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, this being his third election loss overall.  

In Arizona, republican Kari Lake was defeated by democrat Katie Hobbs in a very close election for the state. Massachusetts and Oregon made history by electing the nation’s first openly lesbian governors: Maura Healey and Tina Kotek. 

The election isn’t over yet, as mail-in ballots continue to be counted and residents of Georgia might face another go at electing their senator. All we can do is wait and keep a close eye on the polls, I know I will. 

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Thanks for listening to Offbeat! I’m your host Megan Barnes. This episode is brought to you with the help of our editor Julia Bishoff, our assistant editor Grace Kpetemey and our reporter Fatima Yazdi. Our music this month is by Alexander Nakarada. Follow Offbeat on Twitter at @DBKOffbeat and follow the Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @theDBK. You can find a transcript of this episode at DBKnews.com. And if you liked this episode, tell your friends and tune in next time!

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Music: 

The following music was used for this media project:

Music: Favorite by Alexander Nakarada

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License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

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