The Thinker finds himself in an unfavorable new crowd. Art by Adrian Axtell. When one ventures into the digital realm, they are putting themselves in danger of hearing the opinions of trolls, undisclosed advertisers, AI bots, Matt Walsh  and children. No one’s safe. Not on YouTube, not on Twitter, and heaven help you if you have the misfortune of downloading YikYak. To indulge in a little hyperbole, everyone is acting stupid. People are ill-informed, angry and loud, and they couldn’t be prouder of it. They want to be heard, despite the fact that they don’t have anything to say. People have disregarded intellectual curiosity in favor of inflammatory grandstanding, and in doing so, they’ve abandoned the art of being a true hater.  Social media corporations have done nothing to curb the prevalence of misinformation and rage-baiting. In fact, they’ve actively encouraged it .  A recent study , published by the The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that Twitter’s algorithm promotes posts that were divisive, emotional and from accounts the user was likely to disagree with. These practices keep people on the app for longer and encourage them to make content of their own.  "Enragement equals engagement, equals more ads, equals more shareholder value," NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway said. It doesn’t matter that this culture of outrage can have real consequences on people’s physical and mental well-being. Harm is irrelevant when profit is on the line.  As a result , people feel compelled to share their opinions constantly, without researching or looking inward first. There are great rewards to those who have the most provocative or inflammatory take, and these same rewards are not reaped in equal amounts by thoughtful criticism. Nuance takes effort, nuance takes time. And so, nuance becomes passé, and cruelty becomes du jour. Through the prevalence of this manufactured internet culture, the art of being a hater, a critic, is drowned out and diluted.  Growing up, many children are chided to think before they speak. This tenet has been disregarded in the digital age, when people do not have to reckon with the impact of their words on those around them. Often, internet users are protected by anonymity. They do not have to grapple with the personhood of those on the other side of the screen. To this effect, they lose sight of their own personhood, if only for a moment. It’s easy to dehumanize our enemies, but to succumb to blind anger robs us of our humanity, too.  In addition to incentivizing outrage and cruelty, our media landscape encourages thoughtlessness . People are lulled into a mind-numbing doomscroll, where all they can do is take in content and gobble up the slop they are served . People are equally encouraged to watch content passively and speak about it actively. It is as if people are consuming this slop without chewing, then spitting it back up without caring whom it lands on.  People are no longer placing value on critical thinking. They’re just placing value on being critical.  One of the most infuriating parts of this new style of communication is the people who frame this drivel as social commentary. This is the juxtaposition at the heart of our media ecosystem: people are simultaneously rewarded for being ignorant and for framing themselves as if they are not. Helena Riley, @freshhel on the social platform X, said it best : “I understand [that] a very popular personality to perform rn is like ‘glamorous philosopher’ but some of you are stupid.”  If you don’t read critically or reckon with the content you consume, you won’t have anything interesting to say, and no amount of buzzwords and pseudo-intellectual posturing is going to save you from that fact. If you are an ill-informed hater — if you picked up your pitchfork before you even knew what the mob was for — you’re not morally virtuous. You’re not an intellectual. You’re just a bandwagoner. You might be on the right side of history in a particular moment, but with no true moral framework, you will just as easily end up against those who least deserve your ire.  To remedy this culture of worthless criticism and poor-quality hating, we must rediscover the beauty of critique. But is it foolhardy to gatekeep being a hater, an experience as human as grief and joy?  There were probably critics as soon as there were creators, people appraising cave paintings and remarking to themselves, “What a crude glorification of the hunting lifestyle. This totally plays into the hunter-gatherer industrial complex.” However, to be a good hater, one must first be a lover. You must have a love of an artist , a craft, a movement. Or the critique will ring hollow. To be a good hater, you must fundamentally be an optimist. You must believe things can be improved, or there is no reason to critique them as they are. If doom and gloom is the only option, why resist? Why not accept your dismal reality? A hater stands up against this passivity and says, “I am upset. I will not accept this reality. I don’t like it.” This act, acknowledging the darkness of the present, is the first step towards imagining a brighter future. That is why, at its best, hating is a simultaneously cynical and hopeful act.  When we lose this hope, this curiosity that is at the true heart of critique, we fall victim to stupid nonsense. I believe stupid nonsense is an inalienable human right, as important to our survival as food and water. That being said, I want us to be a little more honest about our stupid nonsense, rather than dressing it up in a costume of intellectualism. We hear it. We speak it. We perpetuate it. And that is why we must all be more thoughtful, more informed, in our commentary, before all this stupid nonsense makes language meaningless. I hope someday I can live in a world that is thoughtful and empathetic enough that I can receive all criticisms with open arms. I hope someday I can dance with my hater brethren in a golden field, as we gleefully complain about the scratchiness of grass and the overbearing nature of sunshine. I hope someday I can read the comments of my peers with confidence, knowing that they will broaden my perspective and my understanding, rather than prompting me to write a judgemental screed on the nature of commentary.

Art by Basil Allen. Disclaimer: The Devil’s Advocate is a satirical column that does not reflect the views or opinions of The Collegian.  I heard someone mention the 'cat distribution system' offhandedly. How does this system work exactly? - Curiosity killed what now? There is an ancient, powerful force that bequeathed us humans with the cute, furry creatures we call cats, short for Cute Animal, Truly. That’s why the Egyptians sanctified them. The Cat Distribution System is a self-sufficient system designed to reach only those who have been deemed worthy. When the time is right, and you have proved yourself accordingly, the nearest cat in need will be deployed to you. It is your duty to adopt or take care of the cat as long as possible for maximum karmic value. Should you fail this destined task, Bastet herself will curse you for a thousand years.  Note, this is a natural duty which will present itself whether you want it or not, especially in Salem, the city of outside cats. As this has happened to me, I suggest being prepared at all times. Keep cat food and a water bowl in your backpack or car when you go out. And if there’s anyone you dislike who’s allergic to cats, you can save some fur for them too! How do I save money when I don’t have a job because no one will hire me? I need $700 ASAP - Broke Given the political and economic state of the world right now, you may not find a job for a while, degree or not. But the math for this one is pretty simple, actually. All you have to do is divide the amount of money you need by the number of friends and family members you have, then send a couple of pleading texts their way. It’s important to diversify your portfolio. Believe me, this little “favor” works.  In fact, it’s so successful, you’re gonna have to create a long-term plan. Such angel investors need to be treated kindly. Time your requests and remind them how much they mean to you, besides the money.  I would consider this a perfectly acceptable way to acquire much-needed cash. After all, governments operate on debt, corporations receive bailouts and many universities rely on donor funding. Feeling bad about asking for money is only a hindrance. Does shame pay the bills?

On Feb. 12, Willamette University’s Art Department showcased their multimedia art with a fashion show. “CARRY ON” demonstrated the fierce attitudes and commitments of Willamette University’s students, giving way to boisterous designs and character imbued by the artists. Each student struck a pose, showing their work to the world. As each artwork was exquisite, the judges were all ready with their 10/10 scorecards. Lacie Wheeler ('26) struts on the runway on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers. The purses were displayed in the main gallery in the art building after the the fashion show. Photo taken by Mac Childers on Feb. 18, 2026. Hanna Futrell ('26) takes center stage on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers. A full view of the gallery displaying the multimedia purses on Feb. 18, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers. Art students show off their bags on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers. (Top to bottom, left to right) "Insides" by Fenn Corsello ('26), "Everything, Everywhere" by Ava Goldberg ('27), "Enigmatic Swag" by Aissatou Coyle ('26), and "Jurse" by Kendall Hall ('27). Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2026 by Mac Childers. (Top to bottom) "I craft, therefore I am" by Alma Snortum-Phelps ('27) and "Reverie" by Armondo Valdez ('27). Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2026. Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2026 by Mac Childers. Art students receive high scoring marks from the judges at the fashion show on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers.

Chocolate pudding in the lunch dessert bar on Feb. 9, 2026 at Goudy Commons. Photo by Sofie Szigeti. Desserts are a unifying force for all across campus. A dessert is the perfect ending to a satisfying meal, the encore after the performance. Therefore, it is crucial to know which desserts served at Goudy are worthy of the long walk to the dessert bar after finishing a meal or precariously balancing a small dessert plate between a dinner plate and a drink to make it all in one trip. The dessert observation period for this article lasted about a week. Don’t let me yuck anyone’s yum, but without further ado … 8. S’mores chocolate pudding The s’mores pudding had too many textures and flavors colliding with each other that did not seem to go together. I know that s’mores are a classic flavor and that the components are supposed to go together, but they just didn’t somehow. The overall look of it was not very appealing, either, and made me feel like the kid in “Matilda” with a face full of chocolate . 7. Chocolate Oreo pudding I know, I know. Another pudding? Really? Yes, really. But this one actually tasted quite good, and I would recommend it to those who like pudding. The flavors complemented each other, the Oreo bits added a nice texture, and it tasted like a normal chocolate pudding with a bit of a twist. It’s a good addition to the lineup of desserts that deserves a place at the bar.  6. Strawberry cupcake with soy whipped frosting Though not the highlight of the cupcakes that Goudy provides, it was an interesting change that I was intrigued by. The cake was pillowy, the frosting had a nice taste and feel, and the freeze-dried strawberries were a superb garnish. Sadly, the cupcake had little to no flavor outside of the strawberries on top, but the effort was appreciated. 5. Cherry chocolate cake with soy whipped topping Goudy consistently shines in terms of the fluffiness of its cakes. This was no exception. The cake itself was wonderful and had a slightly honeyed flavor to it. Where the ball was dropped was the flavor of the frosting. At first, the frosting tasted good, if a bit sour. After a few seconds, however, it morphed into a sickly sweet medicinal taste that many cherry-flavored treats unfortunately fall prey to. It was reminiscent of the experience of choking down disgustingly sweet cough syrup as a child. Overall, this was a good cake that was taken down a few notches by its frosting. 4. Raspberry chocolate vanilla cake As per usual, the cake was airy and had a satisfying vanilla flavor that didn’t overpower the raspberry frosting. The frosting itself did not have much of a taste in the way that La Croix tastes like the memory of a flavor, but that was okay for this cake, as it accented an already good taste. Chocolate shavings and raspberries were an appreciated detail. 3. Chocolate chunk cookies A true classic from Goudy. The chocolate chunk cookies are something to rely on and provide an enjoyable hit of chocolate for my fellow chocolate lovers. A soft, doughy texture, large chunks of chocolate and edges with a bit of crunch made this a wonderful dessert option. Were they better than the typical chocolate chip cookie? Not necessarily, but they were good if one wanted a sweet treat for no cost. 2. Marionberry crisp Easily the best crisp offered at Goudy. The marionberries provided a wonderfully bittersweet taste unlike any other berry, although I may be biased as an Oregon native. The superiority of the marionberry is not the main point. The main point is that Goudy knows how to prepare some awfully delicious preserves, and the crisp provided just the right contrast to the berry to create an outstanding dessert. 1. Chocolate chip blondies Better than any cookie, the blondie combines the texture of the brownie with the luscious taste of a chocolate chip cookie, creating the single best dessert that Goudy serves. The perfect time to get them is when the chocolate is visibly oozing from the fresh blondie. That’s when the chocolate gives you a “Ratatouille”-worthy flashback to childhood. There’s not much to say other than chocolate chip blondies are downright delicious, and there is not one person who could convince me otherwise. Chocolate chip blondies at every meal is a movement that I could get behind. After all, there can never be too much of a good thing.

Dave Metzger recording and conducting a short film released for Disney's 100th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Laura Metzger. While it’s not Los Angeles, Oregon has a rich history in film. A plethora of classic films have been filmed in the state, including “The Goonies,”   which was famously filmed in Astoria, and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,”   which was filmed at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem.  Adding to this history is Dave Metzger, who has worked as a composer, orchestrator, and arranger on over 50 films, many of them with Disney. Metzger currently lives in Bend, but he was born in Corvallis and lived in Salem for over 30 years, giving him personal and professional connections to Willamette University. “My in-laws were Willamette graduates back in the — man, I guess that would have been the early 1950s,” Metzger said. “I have a lot of friends that are or were professors and staff members at Willamette University, so I've always had a deep appreciation and love of that school.” Throughout his career, he traveled back and forth between Salem and Los Angeles for his work, much of which has been with Disney. He received his first credit for the company as an orchestrator on “The Lion King” in 1994.  Since then, he’s worked with Disney on many more films, including orchestrating the music for both “Frozen” films and “Moana.” He also composed the scores for the 2023 short “Once Upon a Studio,” the 2023 film “Wish” and the 2024 film “Mufasa: The Lion King,” among many other credits. Though Metzger has worked in all aspects of film music, there are differences between composing and orchestrating for films. “A lot of times, the composer is just going to write the melody in a very basic way, so an arranger then will write counter melodies and things like that. … If [the other parts of the score] weren't there, you would kind of think that the song was fairly spare and not much going on,” Metzger said.  Some composers work by writing the melody of the song, leaving other work up to the arrangers and orchestrators, but Metzger tends to add more to his work, often composing for the full orchestra. Metzger’s journey to film started early in his life with a mentor who encouraged his love for film and a spark of inspiration from a legendary composer. “I was really lucky to be in a choir class in junior high with a really great director who also was a composer, and so she was sort of my mentor … so I just wrote a ton, starting at age 12, all the way through junior high,” Metzger said.  He continued this composition work all the way through middle and high school, writing music for school bands.  He was 16 when the first “Star Wars” movie came out, which displayed the legendary film compositions of John Williams. “That's when I really caught the bug of film music, and I knew that that's what I really wanted to do for a career,” Metzger said. As an orchestrator or arranger, when working with other composers, Metzger said he has to ensure he maintains the work of the original composers while turning it into a full score.   “I don't want to write something that [Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom Metzger worked with on “Moana”] is not going to respond to or do something really weird to his songs,” Metzger said. “Part of it is actually trying to figure out what they're looking for. … There's a narrative arc for the whole movie, and so … I'm trying to tie in all of the songs in the movie in some way so that there's some kind of consistency to it.” A recent project that Metzger composed was “Once Upon a Studio,” a 2023 short film  featuring Disney animated characters spanning the company’s over 100 years of storytelling. The film is a love letter to Disney’s rich animation history, and Metzger worked that history into the film’s score. “I would use themes from some of the classic films, but most of the time, I would actually write in the style of the era,” Metzger said. “It was really a blast. That was a hugely fun project for me because I'm a Disney nerd.” Early in Metzger’s career, he arranged the version of the Disney classic “When You Wish Upon a Star” that played alongside the Disney logo with longtime collaborator Mark Mancina. Metzger had a full circle when he conducted the recording of “Once Upon a Studio,” with every Disney animated character performing the song in a group shot. “I'd worked with that song before, but there was something really cool … in the context of “Once Upon a Studio” to be able to do that,” Metzger said. “I don't usually conduct, but that was kind of fun.” Metzger continues to work with Disney and in Hollywood to this day, recently composing 2024’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” and arranging and orchestrating the 2025 remake of “Snow White.” “There's just always something about Disney animation, and I love the people there,” Metzger said. “I've been there, working with them for so long that they're really kind of family.”

Giant, painted salmon jump down Waller Dam. Art by Addie Martin. Waller Dam, which has been diverting water from the Mill Creek to create the Mill Race — or Mill Stream — since 1864, is probably hindering the passage of salmon and trout. In light of that fact, the North Santiam Watershed Council (NSWC), the non-partisan, non-governmental organization which works to manage Salem-area streams, received around $1.8 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2023. The money has funded research into the efficacy of options for improving it and another local dam. In early March, the council will know the results of some of that research. Salmon and trout used to be in abundance in Salem’s streams. In a 1972 article  on the Willamette Heritage Center website, a writer recalled that in 1916, daily trout catching limits were capped at 30 fish per person.  President of Willamette’s Castaway Club Eyan Hackney (ʼ26) said there hasn’t been a species survey on Mill Creek in 20 years. Salmon are considered a keystone species . They provide food and ecological benefits to humans and animals alike. They have also long been culturally significant  to Indigenous communities of the Willamette Valley. Giving one example of their benefit, Hackney explained that mussels use the fish in their reproduction process as hosts of larvae. Mussels, in turn, play a crucial role in cleaning streams through filtration, potentially limiting the effects of toxic algal blooms and pollution. Their presence also helps improve riparian vegetation, which can mitigate the effects of rising temperatures on streams, Hackney said. To allow the passage of these fish, Waller Dam has a fish ladder, but in a November interview, NSWC Executive Director Brandin Hilbrandt said it has “too much of a jump” and is “not necessarily favorable for fish passage.” She said that the NOAA money will help the council “evaluate [the ladder’s] current effectiveness and explore options that better support fish passage.”  The NSWC sent a similar “project and technical assistance funding” proposal in 2022 as in 2023 in tandem with other local councils. They were not selected. For years prior, a local private citizen had been raising questions about the ecological conditions at Waller Dam to local leaders, Hilbrandt said. She said that the citizen has remained active in the project as it has developed. Up in the air The potential options yet to be analyzed for the future of the dam range from removal to no action at all. Now with the grant funding, the NSWC council will be able to work to officially assess if the city should improve the dam, and if so, how.  In November, Hackney, with a focus on conservation, told The Collegian he was interested in seeing the dam removed, even if it meant disrupting the regular flow of the Mill Stream. His club has been studying the stream in preparation for a study on the creek through a grant of their own. However, he has since said he favors a “V-shaped cutting” improvement being made to the dam, not removal. Hilbrandt later elaborated, “ It's important to also note that there are water rights on Mill Race — water must be conveyed through Mill Race to meet the water right.” Other ideas floating around include modifying the dam so that it can be raised and lowered, and using a pump to provide flow to the Mill Race, Hilbrandt said. What’s next Soon, with the results of the council’s assessments, stakeholders will know what’s actually possible for the future of the dam based on construction capabilities and flood-risk assessment, among other factors. The results will be presented to a community stakeholder advisory committee, which Hackney said he will be a part of alongside local residents, neighborhood associations, planning commissioners, city council members, state agencies, local organizations, wildlife groups, tribal partners and City of Salem representatives. The committee is intended to guide community feedback into the decision making process. “What we’d love to see is a community-based decision,” Hilbrandt said. Following the presentation of the NSWC research results, the committee will help advise the improvement process over two years. Decisions about whether or not to complete an improvement project will lie with the city. Any actual dam improvements will need a new funding source. The 2023 grant funding was tied to the Inflation Reduction Act.  The 10-year act, passed in 2022, is now facing stark Republican opposition  in the U.S. Congress.  It allocated $240 million  toward salmon passage improvement projects nationwide in the hopes of “restoring habitat for healthy salmon.” Should salmon again migrate in large numbers through Salem’s center, some Salemites would be able to grab a coffee, set up a lawn chair and watch the migration right in their backyard.  “How neat would that be?” Hilbrandt asked.

ODP, WEB and Lū‘au among student groups with lowered spring budgets ASWU Treasurer Mitch Septoff ('26) presents at the ASWU senate meeting on Jan. 29, 2026. Photo by Lucy Devlaeminck. Disclaimer: As a student organization, The Collegian was also impacted by funding changes. Advocacy efforts remain separate from news coverage. Willamette’s student organizations are facing significant funding cuts. In December , the Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) senate voted to give the university’s student organizations — the Willamette Events Board (WEB), Outdoor Program (ODP) and The Collegian — $20,000 each as a “tide over” until a consensus could be reached on how best to manage ASWU’s funds moving forward.  “We just don’t have as much money as we used to,” said ASWU Senator and finance board member Peyton Edmunds (’29). According to ASWU Treasurer Mitch Septoff (’26), one of the reasons for this lack of funding is that post-COVID, there are simply more clubs and organizations making requests during funding rounds, meaning that ASWU does not have the money to grant them all.  Clubs tend to make requests in all three funding rounds for a semester, while organizations typically only request funding in the pre-fall and pre-spring funding rounds.  In the 2026 pre-spring round, ASWU had a budget of $150,000 set aside for organizations, plus an additional $30,000 left from the fall semester that was not put back into the Reserve to help cover this semester’s gap.  However, organizations requested over $220,000.  When it was time for ASWU to vote on pre-spring funding, Septoff said, “The recommendation that the finance board came up with was not well-informed enough for my liking or the liking of other people in the organizations.” This led Septoff to recommend that the ASWU senate give organizations $20,000. That way, “organizations who needed to make payments and disbursements over winter break would have the ability to do so, without [the senate] making a final decision on funding.”  This decision was also in part, he said, because “all the organizations requested [a minimum of] $30,000, and we know we probably weren’t going to cut below $20,000.” Complicating matters further, Septoff said, there is no organizational funding precedent for student orgs the way there is for clubs. Organizations are generally larger than clubs, and certain things, like Leadership Awards, can not be cut between fall and spring semesters.  “The organizational precedents, if they ever existed, fell out of use so thoroughly that we actually don't have record of them today,” Septoff said. He added that while the finance board is working to draft a new precedent, without it, the ASWU senate and finance board are left to make “best judgment decisions.”  Septoff said that when making cuts, one of the things that the finance board considers is “discretionary versus mandatory spending,” essentially looking for what can be cut without impacting the quality of the organization. On Jan. 29 , after some deliberation, the ASWU senate voted to confirm the budgets for organizations this spring.  Organizations, clubs respond  ODP provided two possible budgets to ASWU, one was their original ask for $60,000, as well as a reduced ask of $41,000. ASWU voted to fund the reduced budget, meaning that ODP is facing the largest cuts of any of the student organizations this round.  According to Outdoor Program Coordinator Kira Grimes (’26), these cuts “pretty drastically impacted the number of trips and the types of trips that we could run.” Grimes said that ODP is working to “maximize our outdoor programming with the reduced funding that we would be getting in this semester.”  WEB had initially requested around $35,000. In the end, ASWU allocated $30,000 to WEB instead — a roughly 15% cut from their ask.  That total allocation was still thousands over ASWU’s target budget. The ASWU senate voted to pass this allotment with the agreement that WEB will cut another $8,500  in the fall.  “If we had accepted the amount that was originally proposed to us…,” said WEB President Zia Brandstetter (’26), “it would have devastated us as an organization.”  Even then, the budget that was approved this January “cut a lot of stuff,” she said. While WEB does keep the profits from Black Tie in a non-ASWU-affiliated account, Brandstetter shared that the account is “not huge, but it’s sort of supplemental.” Brandstetter said these budget conversations are never trivial. “Midnight Breakfast can't go away. Black Tie can’t go away again.” She added, “It is a difficult decision for everyone involved, and I do not envy the finance board, or the ASWU treasurer’s position, or ASWU exec at all.”  The Collegian, which also has its own ad revenue, had the lowest reduction out of any student organization — down 5% from its original ask — with expectations to reduce spending further in the fall. Lū‘au, though it is not technically an organization, is also facing funding cuts, explained President of Hawai‘i Club and co-coordinator of Lū‘au Payton Kawahara (’27). While Hawai‘i Club is funded separately, the Lū‘au funding request was made during the same pre-spring funding round. As of Feb. 19, Kawahara said they are still not funded. Kawahara said the Lū‘au planning committee originally requested $35,000, which was less than the previous year. However, their requested budget has since been cut down to $21,000, but “it is still not entirely approved.” On Feb. 12 , the ASWU senate voted to partially fund Lū‘au to the amount of $5,800. Kawahara noted that Lū‘au is “cutting a lot of things we normally wouldn’t have thought to cut in the past,” including things like the T-shirts for the dancers and volunteers. Kawahara added that to compensate for the potential funding cuts, they will be holding fundraisers at Panda Express on Feb. 27 and April 3.  “We care about things a lot,” ASWU Senator Edmunds said. “And a lot of the cuts we make, we don’t want to make.”

A duck in a Willamette jersey about to score a goal on the soccer field while the crowd cheers behind them. Art by Wes Mowry-Silverman. Hello, Bearcat Fan! March is upon us, and as such we only have a mere three more months until summer. Thank god. Like spring in Oregon, this weekend was filled with lots of highs and lows for our glorious Bearcats, so let’s get on with the news. Men’s basketball  concluded their season in Spokane on Saturday, losing 87-97 to the Whitworth Pirates in the conference final after beating the Loggers 80-75 on Friday. The weekend saw two ’Cats record career highs in points, including Kellen Sande  (’27) and Davis Hester  (’28), with 26 and 27, respectively. Congrats to men’s basketball on a fantastic season! Men’s tennis won their first Northwest Conference matchup since 2019 over the weekend, routing Puget Sound 6-1 at home. The ’Cats dominated in doubles and lost only their No. 1 singles match to secure the win.  Women’s tennis  lost 2-5 against the Loggers away on Saturday but won their No. 1 and No. 6 singles matches to nab two points from Puget. Baseball  faced Pacific three times over the weekend, losing both games in a doubleheader on Saturday but winning the last of the series 8-6 on Sunday. In the latter, right fielder Shayde Koga (’29) recorded four RBIs in five plate appearances, contributing greatly to the win. Softball  headed south to the Lone Star State on Friday, going 1-5 in their games over the long weekend. The Bearcats faced a gauntlet of close doubleheaders against Southwestern, East Texas Baptist and Trinity, winning the final game of the series 3-2 in San Antonio. Men’s track and field  began their outdoor season at the Umpqua Opener in Roseburg and saw many No. 1 finishes, including Davandre Campbell  (’29) in the 110-meter hurdles, Roan Bashioum (’27) in hammer, Austin Snodgrass (’27) in shot put and Judah Ali ' ifua  (’26) in javelin. Women’s track and field  also participated in the Umpqua Opener and saw similar success. Taking No. 1 finishes for the ’Cats were the 4x400 relay team, Olivia Jacobson  (’28) in hammer, Whitley Stepp (’26) in high jump and Henri Osborne  (’28) in shot put. In the wider world of sport:  The NHL and PWHL returned after the international break for the Olympics, with the trade deadline looming for both leagues. The NFL combine happened this weekend, with former Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq breaking the record for the fastest 40-yard time by a TE in the event’s history. Unrivaled playoffs began on Saturday, with the Vinyl defeating the Laces and the Paige Bueckers-led Breeze triumphing over the Rose, both teams now advancing to the semifinals on Monday night. College basketball is winding down its regular season in preparation for March Madness, with evil incarnate, otherwise known as Duke, at No. 1 in the men’s AP poll and undefeated UConn firmly at No. 1 in the women’s.  In the coming weeks: Track and field continue their outdoor season with the Eldon & Chuck Throw Down this weekend. Yee-haw, I guess?. Baseball faces Warner Pacific on Tuesday evening, then Linfield at home Saturday and Sunday. Softball  faces the Loggers at home on Saturday and Sunday, and tennis matches up against Whitworth on Sunday. Lacrosse heads north to face the Whits, starting in Walla Walla and then heading up to Spokane.

Ground view of some of Konan's campus on Sept. 4, 2025. Photo courtesy of Rand Carswell ('27). In the fall semester of 2025, four Willamette students arrived at Konan University in Kobe, Japan, the first from Willamette to take part in a new study abroad program.  Unlike the Tokyo International University (TIU) study abroad program, the Konan University program is in a city situated between the ocean and mountains in Southern Japan, and is only available for the fall semester. It’s also not an exchange program and offers more rigorous Japanese language courses. Willamette seeks to experiment with this new program to see how it appeals to students. This semester, the first participants from Willamette returned to Salem.  According to Joe Bowersox, director of the Office of International Education (OIE) and professor of environmental science, OIE worked with Japanese studies professor Miho Fujiwara to “find an option for students, particularly those in advanced Japanese studies, that wanted to have a little bit of an intensive language experience.”  Willamette’s relationship with Konan is unique in that it is not direct. Instead, Willamette works through a consortium with the University of Hawai‘i. Bowersox explained that this means that “Willamette students kind of become University of Hawai‘i students for the semester that they are in Konan.”  The overall student response has been positive, according to Bowersox.  Roan Sticka-Jones (’27) is one of the students who participated in the program. He decided to go to Konan because he liked how it is a smaller school and Japanese language focused. Sticka-Jones took the Level 4 Japanese language class, which ran for three-hours every morning. He also took a Japanese linguistics class and an anthropological class about Japanese culture, which were taught in English.  Rand Carswell (’27) also went to Konan, and they found that the elective classes, taught in English, were similar to a 200-level course at Willamette. The Japanese language course’s “rigor and pacing” made it “Probably the most difficult class [they’d] ever taken.” Amid the intensive Japanese class, Carswell appreciated that the professors were very knowledgeable in their fields and felt they “learned a lot in that environment. The professors will do anything to help you learn the language; they were really awesome,” they said. Some aspects that Sticka-Jones and Carswell enjoyed about studying in Konan stemmed from the campus environment.  Sticka-Jones reflected how the most fun part was meeting other people from the study abroad program: “There were around 35 program participants, and the people were from all across the U.S. and from other countries. They all had different levels of Japanese knowledge.” For him, the cool part about interacting with the students in Konan was that the “students speak a lot of Kansai dialect, and it was fun to learn that dialect,” he said. Meanwhile, Carswell, a big nature person, appreciated being in a city “right in between the ocean and mountains.” They took the nearby Nunobiki Railway into the mountains where they explored shrines and hiking trails. “The view there is breathtaking,” they said.  From overall student feedback, Bowersox highlighted how students were appreciating the faculty members from the consortium schools that helped to facilitate transition issues. Carswell also emphasized how they appreciated the study abroad staff.  For the foreseeable future, according to Bowersox, Willamette’s Konan University program will take place during every fall semester. While study abroad applications for the 2026-27 year are closed , the deadline for applying tends to be at the end of the fall semester of the previous academic year.  Being in an experimental stage with the program, OIE will continue to collect feedback from students and see how it goes. Bowersox felt that, for students interested in studying in Japan, “It’s nice that we were able to provide another option for students that maybe want to explore outside of Tokyo.”

A rainy day at Geer skate park on Feb. 7, 2026 in Salem, Oregon. Photo by Sofie Szigeti. In October, the city of Salem unveiled a brand new skate park in northeast Salem.  The project had been underway since January of the same year, and after a few delays, the park was finally open for business and quickly surged in popularity. In the first few months since its completion, Geer Park has been making waves through the Salem skate community.  Joshua Santos-Díaz (’28) is from Salem and has been around the city to many skate parks. “I know the skate parks around here are not really liked because they are older or not taken care of,” he said. Geer Park, on account of its newness, is nicer than many others around the city. For Santos-Díaz, the new park has sparked increased interest in skating in the Salem community. The increased interest is evident in the variety of ages that show up to skate at the park. Both Santos-Díaz and Jack Godsil (’28) mentioned that younger kids are usually at the park, but there are also plenty of older adults showing off their skills. “I was just out last weekend, and there were a bunch of new and older people from the ’80s generation coming out,” Godsil commented. Godsil was interviewed for the initial article by The Collegian on Geer Park in February of 2025 , and The Collegian followed up with him now that the park has been open for a few months. He explained that the park was a replacement for an old BMX, or bicycle motocross, track, so there are some obstacles that are geared toward bikes rather than Godsil’s chosen skateboard. Godsil explained that these obstacles can be dangerous to skateboarders with “zigs and zags that are hard to navigate,” but, undeterred, he sees it as a fun challenge because “it poses a new way to skate the park.” The difficulties the obstacles present don't take away from the park or steer skaters around Salem away, he said. However, because the park is so new and popular, it can be very crowded. Godsil explained that one of the biggest issues is that the amount of people standing around the obstacles sometimes makes them “unskateable.” New skaters aren’t always aware of the skate park etiquette that keeps things smooth and safe. Expanding on the hazards created by the crowd, Godsil mentioned a recent time he was trying to pull off a trick and there was a group of younger kids standing a little too close to where he would be speeding by.  The crowd is full of people with different skating abilities, and the park does well to accommodate that. There are difficult sections, like the steep walls and old bike tracks, but there are also obstacles that are designed for beginning and intermediate skaters. Godsil emphasized, “It’s a skate park that’s pretty designed for everybody because there are so many different ways to skate it.” Reflecting on how skating has impacted him personally, Santos-Díaz said, “In skating you learn how to fall, pick yourself up, and try again. I think that really shaped a lot of my mentality. As long as you get up, you’ll eventually get it.”

The WITS help desk on Jan. 23, 2026. Photo by Mac Childers. Ahead of the spring semester, the Willamette Integrated Technology Services (WITS) help desk let go of more than half its student workers and cut student hours, leaving some former employees confused. At the end of last semester, the WITS help desk leadership, which provides on-call tech help to the campus community, informed its student workers that their hours would be reduced to 20 hours per week, divided among all student employees.  Student workers were then told that only one and a half student workers out of the five who were active would be retained for regular work with the help desk instead. Jeremy Lovato, the chief information officer for WITS, said the purpose behind this change was to streamline the process of resolving service requests or tickets. “The goal for any IT organization is to have a first point of contact resolution, and that requires your help desk team to deal with highly complex requests and have access to some of our systems that are secure and have access to personal information,” Lovato said. Lovato added that, since they’re trying not to escalate so many tickets up the chain of command, they needed to have more professionally skilled help desk staff. This includes being able to have one student developing deeper relationships with staff, faculty and clients, along with being able to provide the more complex training required to make the help desk more efficient, he said. When asked when the decision to phase out most student help desk workers was made, Lovato said the changes were planned to “go live this calendar year,” and the decision had been made over the course of the fall semester. In a later statement to The Collegian, he spoke further about the intentionality behind the change. “This transition was intentionally planned within WITS as part of aligning staffing with higher expectations for IT service delivery and security, and it was timed at the end of a semester, which is when student employment is typically reassessed,” Lovato said.  Lovato also spoke to the potential for students to be reassigned throughout other IT areas at the university, such as application development and the web development team. When asked to clarify if the students who were working at the help desk had been redistributed to other areas of IT, Lovato restated the staff had been “reduced to one.” Former student workers react Maya Colclazier (’26) and River Hosten (’26) are two such students who were let go from the help desk. Colclazier was an employee at the help desk since August 2022 and was promoted to help desk lead in June before being laid off in December. She felt there was a lack of communication throughout the process. “I think in the time I was working there, it had been kind of all over the place, and then restructuring started when Mr. Lovato came on,” she said. Colclazier witnessed the budget and available work hours, especially for the help desk, get reduced consistently.  “It wasn’t a shock that something like that would happen eventually,” she said. “We just didn’t know when and to what extent it would be.” In line with Lovato’s responses, Colclazier highlighted the importance of consistent service as one of the reasons given for the restructuring, while also discussing concerns with the communication around the situation.  Hosten was a newer hire to the help desk, having been brought on this past July. He noted his surprise at being hired so close to his graduation, and spoke about a seeming lack of effort being put into his training and how he was “mostly trained in things [he] asked to learn about.” Both Hosten and Colclazier spoke about their concerns with the manner of communication used.  “The way that they explained it at the time was very confusing because I think they were trying to make it seem not as bad as it was,” Hosten said. "They originally told us they’d have 20 hours available for student workers a week, but 20 hours split between five student workers is not sustainable to have a living.” Lovato, in a statement responding to concerns brought up by the former student workers, acknowledged the concern students had about the transition. “Anytime roles change, especially in a student employment context, it can be personal, and I take that seriously,” Lovato said. “While the decision itself was made deliberately, I recognize that how change is communicated and experienced matters. That perspective is important to me, and it’s something I carry forward as we continue to lead and improve how we support students through transitions.”

Davis Hester ('27) jumps for rebound against LaVerne on Nov. 7, 2025 in Cone Field House. Having trailed in their home opener by 15 at the half, the team came back to win in overtime. After their semifinal win last night, head coach Mike Lenahan recalled the game as an example of the team's tenacity from the outset of the season. Photo by Jack Godsil. The men’s basketball team triumphed 80-75 over the No. 2 seed Puget Sound Loggers in their first Northwest Conference (NWC) playoff appearance in 11 years last night.  Today, the ’Cats will face the No. 1 seed and NWC tourney hosts, the Whitworth Pirates, whom they’ve lost to twice in the season so far. The game will be streamed from Spokane, Washington on FloSports at 5 p.m. Following a disappointing 2025 season in which they placed dead last in conference, the Bearcats defied the odds to clinch the finals with a No. 3 NWC finish in the regular season.  In the semifinal matchup against Puget Sound, the Bearcats saw solid performances from veterans and rookies alike, with Tanner Overby (ʼ28) logging four steals and 20 points, Davis Hester (ʼ27) stepping up to drop 14 points and two steals, including a crucial one late game to seal the game, and Kellen Sande (ʼ27), who had been a solid but relatively quiet presence for the ’Cats in the regular season, leading all scorers with 26 points and blowing his season points-per-game (PPG) average of eight out of the water. After the game, Sande, who won a high school state championship with Cascade High School, said he thrives on a playoff atmosphere. “It’s easy to get up for,” he said, “to trust the work you’ve put in and go in confident.” He gave all “glory and praise to Jesus Christ” and asked that Willamette community members tune into the game tonight. Willamette was able to overwhelm Puget Sound with their signature lightning-fast play, earning 18 fast break points and 19 points earned off turnovers. The ’Cats were outmatched by the Loggers in offensive rebounds, nabbing just five to the Loggers’ 13, but they were able to bring the Loggers’ tally down from 23 in their last meeting. Still, defensive rebounding will be a main focus tonight in the finals against a big, physical Whitworth side. Head coach Mike Lenahan said that the Bearcats were able to win by playing with joy and allowing the close game to ebb and flow while remaining confident. “Over the course of the game there are about 160 possessions,” he said. “Every one matters, but none of them matter too much.” An unlikely rise The ʼCats season has thus far been marked by the spectacular rise of Tanner Overby. In the 2024-25 season, the rookie Overby scored 61 points. Heading into the conference final, he has scored 516 points, he holds the school PPG record, which was last set in 1991, and he is the NWC player of the year. He is the first Willamette men’s basketball player to earn player of the year since Mike Ward (ʼ93) did it in 1993, according to the NWC archives . Like Overby, the squad was nearly all brand-new to the limelight this season. Lenahan wrote to The Collegian that of the 10 players who saw the court the most this year, only one had averaged double-digit minutes last year. Lenahan himself is new to the program in his third year as head coach. In his own rookie season, he was able to take the squad, which had won only one conference game the season prior, to within a hair’s width of tournament play at No. 5 in the conference, tied for No. 3. Despite the promising rookie season, last season the team floundered, winning just three conference games. Now, Lenahan’s troops have gone from stat-sheet oversights to championship contenders seemingly in a matter of months. The Buccs are balling The Bearcats will take on the Pirates in the conference final today, who bested No. 4 ranked Lewis & Clark last night 76-60. The Pirates have been utterly dominant in the regular season, only losing two games in conference play and going 20-5 overall.  The last time the ’Cats made it to the NWC finals in 2003, they fell to Whitworth. Since 1994, the Pirates have won 17 championships and appeared in 22 finals, making them the winningest team in NWC men’s hoops by a wide margin in the 21st century.  The ’Cats will need to mitigate opposing offensive rebounds and maintain their good defensive form to beat the brutally efficient Pirates. The Buccs specialize in high shot efficiency and lockdown defense, leading the NWC with an opponent field goal percentage of just 38% and a scoring margin of 12.3.  In layman’s terms, Whitworth averages 12 more points per game than any opponent they face, with Willamette being the next best team in the NWC with 3.7. The Pirates are led in almost every statistical category by senior Stephen Behil, including points, minutes and defensive rebounds. If the Bearcats pull off the win, it will be the second year in a row that a team that finished last in NWC men’s basketball standings the prior season came back the next year to win the championship after the River Otters achieved the feat in 2025. As for the team’s approach tonight, Lenahan said they’re playing to “get to spend another week together.” Referring to the Bearcats’ two regular season losses to the Buccs, Sande seemed entirely unfazed when speaking over the phone shortly after the team’s semifinal win.  “They’re going to have to beat us three times,” he said. “It’s tough to beat a good team twice, let alone three times.”