In the recent State of the Union address, some Democratic congress members protested President Trump’s speech with underwhelming gestures, such as wearing pink or holding small signs with slogans like “Musk Steals.” This is in line with a disappointing and sheepish strategy seemingly proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of lying down and doing nothing, the idea being that Trump will inevitably fail on his own and people will turn on him. This is a horrible strategy and only guarantees that the opposition party bears no responsibility for or to make any meaningful attempt for change when they are needed most. It’s also precisely this strategy that got us here in the first place: maintaining the status quo, not offering a vision for the future, and providing few material changes to their constituents.
The Democratic party’s lying-down strategy makes one thing clear: They never really believed that Trump was the evil threat to democracy they campaigned on, or if they did, it does not seem to bother them that much. If they truly believed it, and it was more than a campaign strategy, they would want to do something about it. But instead of acting as any sort of real opposition to the current administration, many Democratic congress members have gone quiet and have even turned to belittling and decrying their constituents.
They complain about the amount of phone calls they receive, which is part of a coordinated effort by activist groups to motivate congress members to do something about this. As citizens heckle congress members in town halls across the country, most of them proceed to ignore them, appearing annoyed or even smirking in the case of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies on a recent children’s book tour in Oregon.
One of the few Congress members who seems to care is the aging Bernie Sanders. Unlike his peers, Sanders has spent the last few weeks traveling the US, holding rallies to listen to people’s frustrations and mobilize groups. Representative Al Green has also taken the time to oppose the administration outspokenly, but his efforts were met with a Congressional censure voted for by 10 members of his own party. This is the kind of action needed in these troubling times. An inspiration, a glimmer, a hope, a vision—anything is better than just lying down and doing nothing if you can even call that a strategy.
This leads me back to the recent “protests” of holding up signs while Trump spoke to Congress. At this point, we should be well aware of the fact that appealing to Donald Trump’s emotions or intellect is not a feasible strategy. What would be of better use to Democrats is to fight back and listen to their voters. The last decade of American politics proves that no amount of moral highroading will get Trump or his voters to change their minds.
Some centrist political groups even suggest that the party should shift even further to the political center. But how about, instead of doing the same thing over and over, they try something new? Speaking to the concerns of the working class would be a good start. Not down-talking to your base would also help. Not shifting even further right towards center is a bare minimum step.
But alas, this is the opposition we’ve been given so far, which isn’t much of one. If the Democratic party is unwilling to listen or change its approach, then perhaps it is time for a new party to emerge. The political history of the United States has changed a great deal since its beginning. Many historical parties have come and gone after experiencing diminishing national wins in elections. Maybe the story of the Democratic party now will not be one of rebirth and change but of fizzling out. If the leadership continues at this rate, the party might go the way of the Federalists or the Whigs and fade into the dustbin of history. In its absence, maybe something new will come about. Something that will answer the call to oppose the establishment and speak for the people.
This weekend, my friends and I attended a rather unusual festival about 45 minutes from campus: the first-ever Kentucky Meat Shower festival in Bath County. If you’re unfamiliar with the story of the Kentucky Meat Rain, you are in for quite a rotten treat.
On March 3rd, 1876, in the Olympia Springs region of Bath County, mysterymeat began to rain from the sky. Yes, you heard that right; chunks of unidentified meat fell onto unsuspecting Kentuckian farmers, supposedly “enough to fill a wagon” according to the witnesses. To this day, we don’t know much about the incident, and there are many theories ranging from reasonable to completely fictional. One of the most common theories for the meat shower relates to vultures. It’s common for the scavenger birds to eat too much, not knowing when their next meal will be, and they sometimes have to throw it up in order to make themselves lighter for flight. It is entirely possible that a large flock of these creatures could have been flying and multiple of them began vomiting their dinner below. This would explain the different sizes and theorized meats; different people there (for some reason) decided to eat the meat and argued over which animal it was: mutton, deer, bear, horse, etc. If it came from vultures, it could easily be many animals depending on what the birds had eaten. The main witness to the shower, Mrs. Crouch – the wife of the farmer whose land the meat fell on – did mention, however, that the sky was clear while the meat was falling from the sky. So either she had poor eyesight, the vultures were flying very high, or there’s another explanation.
Kurt Gohde’s Strange Fascination: The Origin
One man, some of you may know well, considers himself an expert: Professor of the Arts at Transylvania University, Kurt Gohde. Years ago in a time known as 1998, Kurt Gohde was looking through a newspaper that advertised used books while packing up to move to Kentucky for his new job at Transylvania. He would often scour the arts section (of course) and also a section labeled “odd things”. Within this odd section was a book on unusual weather phenomena, which Kurt took interest in and purchased, hoping to find something about his new home in Kentucky. Within this book was the meat rain, and Kurt was hooked for eternity it seems. As Gohde has told me, “the best way to become an expert at something is to become interested in something nobody else is”.
Later on in his time at Transy, he was assisting librarian Susan Brown with digitizing portraits in special collections. While searching for portraits to photograph in closets full of old stuff, a small jar that would mean nothing to most people presented itself to him. With Olympia Springs on the label, Kurt knew exactly what this old jar of meat had to be: a remnant of the meat shower. It was truly fate that he would come across that, as he is now traveling around with this jar to answer questions for articles and festivals like this one.
When asked what his favorite theory is, not based on realism or plausibility, Kurt had quite an interesting response, saying he recently decided on a new favorite. “My favorite theory right now is something that was publicized potentially as a joke.” Gohde tells me that this silly theory consists of two Kentuckians and a knife fight. “These two knife fighters are so skilled that they slice each other into bacon strips, and then a whirlwind comes along and picks up the bacon strip slices of knife fighters and puts them back down.” With this rather unusual and unlikely theory, the sky meat would be human and these two hypothetical knife fighters would have had to chop each other up like a butcher. “My assumption is that there’s no one who’s ever been in a knife fight whose goal is to slice off little slabs of the other person and just keep going.” Kurt usually enjoys the odd theories, but until very recently this one wasn’t one he really enjoyed. “I’ve never really loved it because it seems so ridiculous, but now that’s why I love it.”
The First Annual Kentucky Meat Shower festival
Transylvania Students and Gohde pose with the jar of meat-rain as if they had waited their whole lives to see it
The festival had a few key stops for visitors. The doors to enter the courthouse-turned-museum still include the bullet holes where a shootout happened sometime in the 1800s. Walking around you can find newspapers, pictures, and relics from Bath County past. At the tail end of the room was where Kurt’s informational table sat, partnered with his jar of meat. Outside were vendors featuring crafts, shirts, and homemade items, which my friends and I gladly passed the time spending money on. A few food trucks were available with a wide variety of snacks and meals to choose from, drawing you in with their alluring smell of fried goods. Even outside of the festival itself, the place has the charm of a very small town, overlooking hillsides and farms that roll on forever.
There was one thing, though, that stood out from the activities list we knew we had to do: the meat contests. At 2 o’clock sharp, the event organizer Ian Corbin stood in the middle of the street with his megaphone and announced the three meat-related contests that would take place: the Bologna Throw, the Hotdog Eating Contest, and the Meatball Toss.
I went first in the Bologna Throw, a line of people waiting their turn behind me. I stood in the center of the street and reared back the slimy slice of meat as if it were a frisbee. I made it a little over halfway down the stretch, the bologna slapping against the side of a food truck. I only held my lead for about two more contestants before I was dethroned, as a much stronger, older man beat us and the kids who participated for a twenty-dollar cash prize. His bologna went all the way to the intersection, past the food trucks and vendor tables. There was only one “injury” of the event aside from my pride: Kurt Gohde’s own mother being slapped in the face by a wild bologna throw.
Kurt Gohde (left) and Casey Casey (right) race to finish their hotdogs during the competition
Next up was the Hotdog Eating Contest, in which our friend Casey Casey and Kurt Gohde himself participated. The goal was to be the first of the total seven contestants to finish eating two hotdogs. Neither of the two we knew won the contest (with a forty-dollar cash prize might I add), but at least they got two free hotdogs for lunch. I requested they both continue eating their ‘dogs to see who could beat who between the two of them, and Gohde beat Casey by one bite – in case you were wondering who’s the better hotdog eater.
To end our evening at the Meat Festival, my friends and I participated in the Meatball Toss, which was basically like your usual egg toss, where the objective is to not drop it when tossing to your partner. As sad as it is to say as a previous softball player, my throwing partner and I were out on the second toss. The competition was quick, two locals winning the twenty-dollar prize.
Competition Winners pose with their cash prizes
Future Events: 150th Anniversary
This year was the first year of Bath County’s Kentucky Meat Shower festival, put together by local Radio Host Ian Corbin. This year served as a test run for Ian, hoping for it to be bigger and bolder next year for the 150th anniversary. Gohde became involved when he was in town with his jar of meat a few months prior. Ian reached out to him with hopes that the meat itself could attend the festival and Kurt would be able to answer questions for visitors. Little did Ian know Gohde has been planning his own Meat Rain event for the 150th year for decades now. After the smaller success of this event, Ian and Kurt are now able to work together to put on a bigger and crazier festival in 2026.
Gohde poses happily in front of the Bath County CourtHouse/Museum
Kurt Gohde has already been working on his big idea: creating a rain of 1,876 pieces of meat on March 3rd, in the same field where the meat initially rained down. You may think him to be a madman, and you would probably be right. However, it is going to happen, crazy or not. Ian Corbin will have his festival the weekend before the anniversary date, similar to this year, while Kurt will host his shower the following Tuesday on the exact 150th anniversary. These events will be separate, but the two are working to help each other in different ways, such as Corbin helping work out how to transport people to the farm property.
Gohde hopes that his meat rain recreation can be a big public event and wants to encourage people to attend by having certain pieces of meat come with prizes. “Maybe somebody wants to sponsor it by saying: I would like to attach to a piece of meat that somebody finds that they can win a day with my dog, or whatever crazy thing so that the people have all sorts of incentive to go out and get the meat,” said Gohde. Like a golden ticket with meat rather than chocolate, Professor Kurt Gohde is sort of like Meat Willy Wonka.
I can tell you now I will definitely be attending the next festival in 2026, and will be gaining as many meat-prizes as I can collect. I hope to see some of you there as well, so mark your calendars and count down the days until the Olympia Springs’ sky rains meat once again for the first time in 150 years.
If you would be interested in sponsoring a meat-rain prize, whether it be cash, a coupon to your business, or the old VCR you’ve been trying to get rid of, or if you just want to learn more about this strange phenomenon, contact Kurt Gohde at kgohde@transy.edu.
On Saturday, March 1st, the Transylvania Pioneers Women’s Basketball team clinched the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title by defeating the Mount St. Joseph University Lions 69-62. The championship title marks the seventh year in a row that the Pioneers have won the tournament title, clinching an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the process. The Pioneers, led by first-year coach Hannah Varel, now head to the NCAA Tournament riding a sixteen-game winning streak.
Despite some struggles early in the season, with the Pioneers holding a 6-5 record through the first eleven games of the season, the Pioneers won the HCAC regular season title by multiple games; the Pioneers have not lost a game so far in the year 2025. With a 16-1 record in HCAC play, the Pioneers earned the number one seed in the conference tournament, and the right to host the tournament in the Beck Center, for the fourth consecutive year. With this year’s HCAC Tournament expanding to eight teams, the Pioneers began tournament play on Saturday, February 22nd against the eight-seeded Blufton University Beavers. After a back and forth first quarter, the Pioneers began to expand their lead in the second quarter with timely three-point shots, holding a twelve point lead at the half. However, the Beavers continued to fight back, slowly chipping away at the Pioneer lead throughout the second half, with the Pioneers leading by five points halfway through the fourth quarter. Late free throws helped the Pioneers hold on for a 58-52 victory. Advancing to the semifinals, the Pioneers faced the number four-seeded Anderson University Ravens on Friday, February 28th. Things started looking quite grim for the Pioneers, with the Pioneers trailing by eight after the first quarter. The Pioneers slowly worked their way back through the next two quarters, trailing by one as the fourth quarter began. However, a dominant fourth quarter, with the Pioneers scoring twenty-four points while shooting sixty percent from the field, holding the Ravens to only four points scored on only thirteen percent shooting, would erase the memories of the tight first three quarters. The Pioneers won 70-51 and advanced to the championship game against the two-seeded Mount St. Joseph the next day.
This is the second consecutive year that the Pioneers have faced the Lions in the HCAC Championship game, with last year’s championship quickly devolving into a twenty-eight point rout in favor of the Pioneers. Things would not be so easy for the Pioneers this time around, as the first three quarters would be a constant back and forth. The Pioneers led by one point after three quarters. Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph would trade one-possession leads through most of the fourth quarter, with a jumper by junior guard Makya Grinter tying the game at 59-59 with a little over three minutes to go. The game would ultimately be decided in the final two minutes when the Pioneers scored three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, courtesy of senior guard Sadie Wurth and sophomore guard Riley Flinn respectively. This created a deficit that the Lions could not overcome, and after some free-throws for good measures, the Pioneers secured a 69-62 win.
This win continues the Pioneer’s dominant run through the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, with it representing their seventh-consecutive tournament championship. The Pioneers previously earned their fourth consecutive HCAC regular season title, and twelfth overall. Wurth, who scored fifty-seven points across the Pioneer’s three tournament games and scored one of the decisive shots of the championship game, was named tournament MVP, as well as being named to the All-Tournament team alongside junior guard Sierra Kemelgor. This was in addition to the numerous regular season honors earned by the Pioneers, with Kemelgor being named HCAC Defensive Player of the Year, first-year head coach Hannah Varel winning HCAC Coach of the Year, and Wurth and Kemelgor being named to the First and Second All-Conference Teams respectively.
With the win, the Pioneers also secure their fourth-consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers will travel to Bloomington, Illinois to kick off the NCAA Tournament. There, they will face the Trine University Thunder on Friday, March 7th at 6:00 P.M.. Should the Pioneers advance to the second round, they would face off against the winner of a match between the home-team Illinois Wesleyan Titans and the Centre College Colonels on Saturday, March 8th at 8:30 P.M..
Before reading this article, I ask you to please be mindful and respectful towards the subject. We as students should focus on building a community rather than making others feel unsafe or silenced. I suggest reading with the intention of understanding and learning.
There can be a lot of fear and anxiety arising from current events happening in our country. There are various faculty, staff, and students who are here to offer you support. The information that will be discussed in this article is for anyone who finds it helpful. The purpose of this composition is to inform you on what your rights are, what to do in certain situations, and resources that are available to you. Transylvania is considered private property, meaning in order for ICE to set foot on campus, they would need a valid and signed judicial warrant. Without a warrant, they are unable to enter any buildings, both academic and residential ones. However, this does mean that public places are not protected in the same way private places are. If they do end up on campus and ask questions to students or faculty, all students, faculty, and staff have the legal right to stay silent and withhold any information about anyone on campus, including your colleagues and friends. Regardless of where you are, the first precaution you can take is carrying an official government-issued form of identification or at least copies of it. This includes driver’s licenses and state IDs, but stronger forms of identification include your passport, birth certificate, and any documentation proving your legal residence. If you feel uncomfortable carrying these kinds of documentation, you may also keep pictures of it on your phone, though it is not guaranteed to be taken as valid in this form. If approached by an ICE agent, do not run away and try your best to remain calm. Having someone with you may also ease this anxiety and fear. Know that you have the option to stay silent if asked any questions and can explicitly state “I choose to remain silent.” For legal support, there are resources available such as the Kentucky Refugee Ministries in Lexington. They provide services such as assisting in filling out or filing forms, representation before the Immigration Court, and disclosing additional information on your rights.
In addition to that, Transy has offices that are available to provide support, assistance, and guidance. This includes the Spirituality and Religious Life office, Counseling Services, and Student Wellbeing Office. It can be difficult as part of an underrepresented community on campus to open up to faculty or staff. The intention of this article is to bring support to not just these communities, but for the overall community of Transylvania University. There is a need to support those around us and to ensure voices are heard. Various individuals around the campus have your benefit and wellbeing in mind and strive to bring you this support. If you find yourself overwhelmed with worries and anxiety, reach out to someone. It may be easier said than done, but expressing yourself to potential like-minded and unprejudiced people can bring light to the situation. Remember, you are resilient, you are loved, you are supported, and you are not alone.
While walking through downtown Lexington, you may have noticed that the empty building on the corner of Main and Broadway looks different. Some of the windows are boarded up and entrances are blocked up with chain link fencing.
On one of the windows, a banner has a logo and URL. This website was not extremely helpful, having only two sentences of platitudes about a new “dining, shopping, and gathering” concept for the space. The side also includes a rendering of the renovated building, showing the brick facade painted white and new windows without the green tint that exists now. The render also shows example businesses that could populate the building, all of which seem to be bars or higher end retail. Do we need more bars in downtown Lexington? We already have so many of them. The retail might be promising. But given how the Square is faring across the street, I’m not entirely convinced this project will be successful. I’m just glad that it’s not just being turned into more parking or something (as Cincinnati is planning on doing to some riverfront property near downtown).The project website (https://www.325westmain.com/) claims that the building will be open by fall of 2025, around when Gatton Park a couple blocks away will be open to the public.
This story may be updated as more information becomes available.
On Thursday, February 20th, Transylvania University hosted Greg Woolf, a renowned ancient historian and archeologist who was recently appointed the director of the NYU Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. On Thursday night, Dr. Woolf gave the 2025 Collis lecture to a crowd in Carrick Theater, titled “The Environmental Sustainability of Ancient Cities.”
Woolf received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oxford in 1985 and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Doctor of Philosophy in classical studies in 1990. Woolf taught ancient history at many institutions, such as Oxford, the University of St. Andrews, the University of London, and UCLA before assuming his current position at NYU in January 2025. In his scholarship, Woolf has examined material culture, urbanization, and religion, as well as looking at how all three interact with imperial systems, especially the Romans. When introducing Dr. Woolf prior to the lecture, Transylvania professor Dr. Frank Russell emphasized how Woolf’s 1997 article “Beyond Romans and Natives” was an inflection point in the classics discipline, helping shift discussion of Roman imperialism from the shadow of modern debates on colonialism to a more nuanced discussion of cultural exchange. Both Russell and Woolf added that the content of the lecture was related to topics explored in Woolf’s recent book, The Life and Death of Ancient Cities: A Natural History.
Woolf opened by explaining his main goal behind the research that led up to the lecture. His goal was to contextualize Roman cities in historic debates over naturalness versus unnaturalness in environmental sustainability. The works of ancient writers like Juvenal and Galen have cast Roman cities in a negative light, with Woolf comparing them to the works of more modern writers like William Blake who criticized urban life during the Industrial Revolution. And while the pollution and industrialism of the nineteenth century that angered authors like Blake existed in the Roman period – evidence of high lead emissions during the imperial period can be found in Greenland’s ice caps – this resulted from the industrial-scale mining that largely occurred in rural areas of the empire. As for urban areas of the empire, Woolf argued that Roman cities were far closer to sustainable ‘green cities’ than the polluted dystopias that they are often portrayed as in literature.
This is an argument that makes quite a bit of sense when considering the limitations of the ancient world. Roman urbanism reached its height around 200 CE, with hundreds of small cities forming around the empire, along with a handful of megacities. The limitations of transportation meant the materials for building Roman cities were usually locally sourced, both from nearby forests and quarries. Roman cities were also circular economies, with archeology showing that older structures were consistently harvested for materials in newer structures. As for supporting the needs of the citizens of megacities, Woolf turned to their surrounding rural areas, or what he refers to as their hinterlands. Woolf argues that rather than Roman megacities creating the ancient equivalent of suburbs, megacities only formed in areas with rural hinterlands that could serve as breadbasets for their citizens such as the Italian peninsula and the Nile and Orontes river valleys.
Woolf brought up many other points to support his argument for Roman sustainable urbanism, such as the trend of more green spaces appearing in Roman cities over time, the distinction between the biological waster of cities and the chemical waste of mining activity, the Mediterranean brushwood that served as a quick growing source of fuel for cities, and the – albeit traditionally undesirable – biodiversity that came with urban growth in the form of fungi and rats. In a Q&A session after the lecture, Woolf conceded that this Roman urbanism relied on the imperial system surrounding it, the same one that undertook the extreme pollution-causing mining and based much of its economy on human slavery. Overall, Dr. Greg Woolf gave a fascinating lecture that brought to light the initially surprising, but in hindsight clear environmental advantages of urbanism in the ancient world.
Transylvania Theater has done it again! Transylvania Theater’s latest mainstage production is a for-the-stage adaptation of the classic novel by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Kate Hamill. This is the second play by Hamill, who was named Playwright of the Year in 2017 by the Wall Street Journal and is known for innovative adaptations of literary classics that Transy Theater has produced in recent years, as Little Theater hosted performances of Kate Hamill’s Little Women in October of 2022. Many of the actors who starred in Little Women return for this production, including Vanessa Rivera (‘25) and Mary Clark (‘25), who play the leading roles of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy respectively. Pride and Prejudice opened to audiences in Lucille Little Theater on Wednesday, February 26th, and will continue its run through Sunday, March 2nd. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for the opening performance of Pride and Prejudice on the 26th.
An important note before I begin this review. I have not read the novel Pride and Prejudice. I have not seen any film or television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, including the lauded 2005 film adaptation directed by Joe Wright. Other than a vague knowledge of the names of characters like Lizzy Bennett and Mr. Darcy, I have unintentionally avoided Pride and Prejudice related media for most of my life, with this production being the first time I was exposed to the story as a whole. Because of this lack of knowledge of the source material, I will be judging the Transy Theater production on its own merits as a contained story, not as an adaptation of the novel or film. If you are a die-hard Jane Austen fan who wants to know whether Kate Hamill and Transy Theater deliver a faithful adaptation of the 1813 original, you will just have to attend the show and find out.
Similar to the Hamill adaptation of Little Women, which trimmed down its source material to focus on the relationships between the titular women of the March family, this adaptation by Hamill focuses heavily on the relationship between the women of the Bennet family and close friend Charlotte Lucas, how they each confront the pressures of the patriarchal system they are living in, and how they resist the tendency of those forces to tear the women and their families apart. The adaptation confronts the contradictions of the need to find a partner one loves, signified by the ever-present ringing of bells throughout the show, and the importance of finding a “perfect match,” with the show’s characters split on if such a thing even exists. The show lays the absurdities of these competing social pressures bare, with moments of slapstick-laden comedic chaos contrasted with moments of genuine tragedy. This is perhaps best signified by the literal game of blind man’s bluff that serves as the play’s cold open. Lizzie later describes the pursuit of marriage and love as a game, and this cold open shows the anxieties many of the characters hold about losing that game and being left out in the cold.
Hamill’s vision for the Pride and Prejudice story relies heavily on the individual eccentricities of each character, and those shined through in the performances of the Transy Theater cast. The absurdity of the social game played by the Bennet family shines through Katelynn Humphries’ (‘26) hysterical Mrs. Bennet, her younger mirror in Addie Regnier’s (‘25) Lydia Bennet, and Sam Goss’ (‘27) jaded straight-man performance of Mr. Bennet. Luke Aguilar (‘27) performed excellently in two wildly different roles in Mr. Bingley and Anne de Bourgh. Lumi Kaono (‘27) brings a justified exasperation to Hamill’s comically tragic interpretation of Mary Bennet. The absurdity of the show shines through the most in Will Johnson’s (‘28) Mr. Collins, who puts his slapstick skills to the use in his surreal take on the character, who is tremendously funny at times and tremendously disturbing at others. In particular, a scene between Mr. Collins and Lizzy near the end of the first act feels as if it was lifted straight from the climax of a horror film, rather than a nineteenth-century novel. However, the absurdity of the show only works when balanced by the emotional core of the show in the relationship between Rivera’s Lizzy Bennet and Clark’s Mr. Darcy, as well as Samantha Farr’s (‘26) Jane Bennet. Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful romp through the perils of nineteenth century British high society that adeptly balances the hilarious with the heartfelt. And the story is brought to life through the tremendous work of the actors, technicians, artists, and everyone else working in Transylvania Theater. Pride and Prejudice runs through Sunday, March 2nd in the Little Theater, so if you have access to tickets, be sure not to miss it!
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of aromanticism. If so, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Aromanticism (along with asexuality) is often referred to as “the invisible orientation” due to the fact that it is rarely discussed and not as represented as other queer identities, despite there being just as many of us. This is why, in 2014, members of the aromantic community came together to create a week where aromanticism could be talked about and celebrated. It’s picked up since then, even being officially recognized in a couple states, but there is still more work to be done. That’s why I’ve decided to take a moment and discuss what it means to be aromantic, why this week of visibility is so important, and what you can do to help.
Let’s start simple. Aromanticism is defined as the lack of romantic attraction. Someone who is aromantic experiences little to no romantic attraction to others, regardless of gender. Aromanticism is different for everyone who identifies with it, but this is usually the underlying thread. People who are aromantic may not experience crushes, be interested in traditionally romantic activities, or want to participate in physical affection. It’s important to mention that this is different from asexuality, which is the lack of sexual attraction. The two are similar and can often go together, but this is not always (or even usually) the case. Someone who is aromantic is not always asexual, and vice versa. Part of this confusion comes from unfamiliarity— the Oxford English Dictionary says that the earliest known use of the word “aromantic” wasn’t until the 1960s, although the word wasn’t added to the dictionary itself until 2018.
Only seven years ago.
It’s very difficult to track the history of aromanticism. Much like asexuality, it’s historically been misunderstood as a personal deficit or decision, rather than a legitimate identifier, mainly due to the fact that romantic attraction is normalized in our society to an overwhelming degree, and has been for years. Many people in the past who might have otherwise identified as aromantic were regarded as bachelors or old maids. Some were considered too busy with work to bother with romantic relationships, or perhaps they were religious and chaste. Many others entered romantic relationships simply because they believed they were supposed to in order to be “normal” and have a happy life.
The word for this belief is “amatonormativity,” a term coined by Elizabeth Brake in 2012 to describe the societal assumption that everyone benefits from romantic relationships, and cannot possibly be fulfilled without one. Obviously, this isn’t true, regardless of one’s romantic orientation. But regardless of whether we believe it or not, it has been the prevailing social narrative for millennia: grow up, get a partner, marry that partner, settle down and have a happy life. Till death do you part and all that.
Much like the rest of the history of aromanticism, the origin of this sentiment is difficult to track. Some blame conservatism, some blame religion, some blame both. It’s certainly become more popular after the European Enlightenment of the 1700s; increasingly so after the introduction of the nuclear family in the 40s and 50s. Nowadays, despite the slow breakdown of familial and social norms, amatonormativity is everywhere: movies, TV shows, music, books, social media, toys, cartoons, advertisements, politics, school, religion…on and on and on. It doesn’t even have to be heteronormative! Depictions of homosexual relationships do the exact same thing.
It’s everywhere. It’s inescapable. And unfortunately, no matter your reasons, no matter what you do or don’t feel, if you deviate from that pattern you are abnormal and wrong. And if you are openly aromantic, chances are you will hear this from someone at some point. People will say you’re a prude, or that you haven’t dated the right people. They’ll say you’re too young or naive to know how you feel. They’ll say you’re sick or mentally ill. You’re disabled. You’re broken. You’re inhuman. According to them: You do not exist.
And it’s different for aromantic and asexual people than it is for other members of the queer community. They at least have decades of openly queer people to look to, hundreds of years of music and art, and thousands upon thousands of years of literature expressing queer love. They have proof. And what do we have?
Seven years in the dictionary and eleven years since we were taken out of the DSM-5.
This is why Aromantic Awareness Week is so important.
Aromanticism is called the invisible orientation because it is so, so easy to believe that we don’t exist. But we do. There may not be anyone like us in movies or TV shows, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t watching and waiting for the moment that there is. There may not be much literature on us, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sit here and write my own. We may never in our lifetimes be mentioned in any piece of civil rights legislation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight for those who will come after us.
And for those reading who are not aromantic, you no longer have the excuse of ignorance. It doesn’t take much to support someone who’s aromantic; all it takes is for you to acknowledge them, to see them and accept them. Progress is only possible through empathy and education, and if you need a good place to start, a week of visibility is an excellent opportunity.
And for those who are aromantic, for those who’ve never gotten a crush or been on a date or kissed someone, for those who don’t know if they experience romantic love, for those who experience sexual love but not romantic love, and for those who are still figuring themselves out:
I see you. You exist. And you are so, so loved.
Aromantic Awareness Week is an annual week of visibility that takes place the first full week after Valentine’s Day. In 2025, Aromantic Awareness Week took place February 16-22. More information on aromanticism and Aromantic Awareness Week can be found on the official ASAW website, AUREA, and the AZE literary journal.
I don’t usually get to do things like this (busy schedule and all), but last Thursday, I got to attend a screening of Tim Kirkman’s film Lazy Eye along with several dozen other students, faculty and visitors. Personally, the film itself was good, but I wish I’d gotten to speak to Kirkman after the movie ended— the film’s halting progression and Kirkman’s brief comments on its themes leave a little too much to the imagination for a truly satisfying viewing experience.
Lazy Eye is a film that takes place over a single weekend in a little house in Joshua Tree, California. The protagonist is a gay graphic designer named Dean (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe), whose ex-boyfriend Alex (Aaron Costa Ganis) has just reached out for the first time in fifteen years after their relationship collapsed due to Alex’s sudden disappearance. Once they meet up in Joshua Tree, they waste no time picking up where they left off, rekindling their romance and flirting over Harold and Maude and Dean’s complaints about his work. However, several startling revelations about their respective pasts put Alex and Dean’s reunion in jeopardy, and the two must decide whether it will be worth it to continue their relationship or call the whole thing off.
In terms of the film’s strengths, the cast and set carried the movie. Near-Verbrugghe was wonderfully, painfully guilty as Dean, his complicated, insurmountable feelings for Alex leaving the audience sympathetic and completely frustrated all at the same time (á la Louis in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America). Costa Ganis’ portrayal of Alex is undeniably sweet and sensual with a bitter undercurrent of hesitation that emerges during moments of vulnerability. With such a small cast, the two are on-screen for almost the entire film, a presence that adds to the film’s emotional impact, rather than distracting or drawing away from it. All throughout, the isolation of the little house in Joshua Tree contributes to the feel of Alex and Dean’s secret, budding romance, the backdrop of mountains and stars present in nearly every shot making the audience feel as if they’re intruding on something intimate.
Kurt Gohde (left) asks audience-submitted questions to Tim Kirkman (right) about his movie in a Q&A
And really, they must be, because Kirkman doesn’t seem keen on giving his audience anything more than what they see onscreen. The plot— for all its twists and turns— doesn’t really go anywhere in the end, leaving several questions unresolved and the characters’ development similarly up in the air. It’s entirely possible that this was intentional on Kirkman’s part; during the Q&A session following the screening, any questions about the film’s themes or open-endedness were answered with a vague statement about leaving further interpretations up to the audience. As a fan of ambiguous endings myself, I can certainly respect this, but from a writer’s perspective, I’m doubtful that this approach was suited to such a simplistic, isolated story. With “bottle episode” films like these, the lack of action or effects tends to increase the audience’s focus on the script. With no other source of resolution, they expect a complete story within the writing itself. And although depriving audiences of that satisfaction ensures that they’ll be thinking about the film for a while, perhaps it’s not in the way a director might intend. I’m personally unsure, but Kirkman seemed perfectly happy to leave it in the audience’s hands.
However, there was one question Kirkman answered in full. It was a good question and I’m going to print his answer here, both because of its relevance and the fact that it was the only time he was clear about the film’s themes. I’m still not sure if I like Lazy Eye or not, but even if the film itself wasn’t clear to me, I’m glad Kirkman addressed this part out loud. It seems important.
[AUDIENCE MEMBER]: What did you hope people would take away from this movie when it first came out (2016), and how has this changed?
[TIM KIRKMAN]: I think putting something out in the world in any art form at all is a risk, and you do it as an offering. I set out to make a movie where queerness wasn’t the center of the story. I didn’t want to make it the problem in the story. Since Lazy Eye came out eight years ago, it’s less of an important question. But these people have problems just like anyone else and that normalization is what I want people to take away from this.
I think those old stereotypes will stop as soon as you stop taking our rights away and attacking us, because we will stop making movies about how you do that.
And then we will be as boring as you are.
*Tim Kirkman is an American director whose previous work includes the feature films 2nd Serve and Loggerheads, as well as the documentaries The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me and Dear Jesse, which was nominated for an Emmy in News/Documentary Writing in 2000. Lazy Eye was released in 2016 and can be found on Amazon.*
As we continue to grow up, we begin to leave many things behind from our childhood. College is hard. It is the true beginning of adulthood and to be honest, that doesn’t always sound all that fun. I often look around and see individuals who are stressed beyond measure. Maybe they can’t get motivated; we all struggle with getting out of bed some days. With all the adversities of college life and adulthood, it is oftentimes hard to navigate how to take care of ourselves. I know we’ve all seen the infographics of self-care tactics, and while those are helpful, they don’t always work for everyone, and to be honest… very few people have time for them anyways.
If you’re reading this you may have been captivated by the word nostalgic. That’s one thing everyone wants to feel these days. No matter how bad of a day one has, having that hint of nostalgia can bring back such happy memories of childhood. One thing that I believe we forget how to do once we attempt to grow up, is take care of our inner child. Many of us get caught up in our adult worries, and nothing feels fun anymore. Taking care of that inner child can be so beneficial for our overall well-being. I believe by bridging the silliness of childhood with our current lives, we can feel more happy and more motivated to accomplish daily tasks.
How do I take care of my inner child and what does that even mean? I see it as meaning different things for every individual. It is looking for those moments that make you feel like a happy carefree kid. These activities don’t even have to be something that you did when you were a kid, while they could be, that is not the primary goal. This conscious choice one makes to take care of your inner child is more about the simplistic comfort and silliness you so desire to feel. There is no one way to accomplish this goal, it’s all about trial and error.
Maybe you have no idea where to start! Here are some examples of how I try to incite carefree joy and comfort. First, I love to sit and color with my friends, sometimes putting on my favorite show or movie in the background. Maybe you love to play games – if so let me know if you ever want to play Sims 4 together. These outlets are great during school because we don’t have to use our brains too much. If you want to get more simplistic… just go outside! Perhaps to a park where you can take a break from campus and walk around, swing or make a flower crown. It could even be finding comfort in a warm drink on a rainy day. Maybe you don’t have time for that on a regular basis… that’s where you incorporate basic silliness into your daily routine. Trust me, it is easier than you think. Maybe you skip to class, or dance around your room a bit on a study break. It can be as easy as reminding yourself to laugh or just incorporating your own personal silliness into life. It is all about being mindful and remembering that you’re still just a kid on the inside who wants to play and have fun. Taking care of your inner child isn’t always easy, and it is a hard task to remember. It may take a while to figure out what works for you. I hope after reading this you feel inspired to be silly and go on more random adventures just for fun. Good luck!
