A Legacy in Basketball: Coach Klusman Retires After Four Decades of Excellence and Dedication at Rollins
By Mariana Fernandez-Carrion on April 26, 2025
Photo by Mike Watters
Coach Tom Klusman announced his retirement as Head Coach of the Rollins Men’s Basketball team. After more than four decades of coaching, from 1980 to 2024, Coach Klusman has made a remarkable commitment to and impact on the Rollins Athletic Department.
His eminent career at Rollins began when he was an outstanding guard and key player for Men’s Basketball from 1972 to 1976 and received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 1976 and his MBA in 1978.
In 2023, Klusman received the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Golden Anniversary Award, an annual award given to someone who has spent more than fifty years impacting basketball. Klusman is also one of ten Division II coaches to conceal 700 victories; his coaching skills led the team to advance to the Elite Eight twice, in 2004 and in 2017.
Under Klusman’s coaching, Rollins has been known for great shooting and tough defense. Klusman’s teams consistently ranked among the top in the conference and nationally in at least one of three shooting categories. For such reasons, he was inducted into the Rollins Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 2000.
During the 2024-25 season, former interim coach Kevin Hogan stepped up and led the program. Starting next season, he will take over the program as the permanent head coach. Hogan did not respond to The Sandspur’s request for comment.
Op-Ed: Fighting the War on Wisdom: A Princeton Professor and Rollins Graduate Speaks as Higher Education and the U.S. Economy Are Under Attack
By Arabella Lilleslatten on April 26, 2025
Photo courtesy of Layna Mosley
When Layna Mosley visited Rollins as a prospective student, the campus was bizarrely empty. The admissions team informed her it was “Fox Day,” and Mosley was charmed. She committed that day and graduated from Rollins College in 1993.
32 years later, Layna Mosley was back on campus to speak on the future of global finance and the waning power of the U.S. dollar—her Rollins thesis advisor, Tom Lairson, as well as her brother and daughter, were watching from the front row of the Crummer Auditorium.
Mosley was the first in her family to attend college. Now, she is on a mission to address global inequalities. Mosley hosted the 6th Interdisciplinary Sovereign Debt Research and Management Conference (DebtCon6) at Princeton University in 2023, with the seventh meeting being held in Paris and the eighth coming up in October 2025 in Washington D.C. From 2017 to 2022, Mosley was on the executive board for the Women Also Know Stuff initiative, an organization that helps journalists seek out female experts in political science, as male researchers are disproportionately featured in the media. To get a taste of the Princeton politics courses, you can glimpse the syllabus and readings for her Political Risk Analysis course.
At Rollins, Mosley majored in International Relations, ran cross country, and had the same roommate from the golf team all four years. She went on to earn a Ph.D. at Duke University and is now at Princeton University as a professor of politics and the International Affairs Associate Chair in the Department of Politics.
With all the free time she doesn’t have, Mosley plays one-on-one basketball with her 11-year-old, rows on Carnegie Lake in Princeton, and runs ultra marathons. “I did some 100 milers too,” she said.
It is objectively a difficult time to be working in higher education—right now, Mosley’s school is being severely threatened—Trump is waging a war on higher education, including Princeton University.
“There is a lot of concern about the hostility of the current administration towards higher education…this is the slow erosion of the freedom of institutions to do what we want to do,” said Mosley.
“And the endowment does all kinds of good. But of course, it’s not clear that the Republicans in Congress right now would say ‘oh but you’re doing good with your endowment by using it for admitting people who don’t have opportunities.’” This stems from the fact that Princeton offers free tuition to students who come from families that make under $100,000 a year.
On April 1, Trump moved to suspend dozens of federal grants to the Ivy League school, not long after stripping away $400 million in grants to Columbia University. The reasoning is inconsistent; some schools have been accused of endemic antisemitism for allowing students to protest despite support from Jewish professors, while U Penn was punished in the form of suspending $175 million for allowing a transgender woman to compete for their women’s swim team in 2022.
Harvard University has already had $2.3 billion frozen in federal funds; Trump threatened to strip it of $9 billion in subsidies as well as remove its tax-exempt status if the school did not comply with the administration’s “intellectual conditions,” like removing diversity programs, toughening disciplinary action against students, and an “audit” of the student body.
The president of Princeton University, Christopher L. Eisgruber, was one of the first to take a stand against the administration, decrying Trump’s attack on Columbia University in The Atlantic back in March. Harvard just recently stood up to Trump: “No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” said the president, Alan M. Garber.
Mosley said that amidst her circle of political scientists at Princeton, “The nervousness is about the endowment, but it is also really about U.S. democracy and institutional erosion.”
The global order is shifting, as freedom has been declining for over 16 years, and we seem to be living in an era of expanded authoritarian rule, according to Freedom House. But Mosley says, “what they are doing—mobilizing what is often economic discontent in a way that targets elites, targets the global system, and targets immigrants—is not new. And are far-right parties inspired by the success of far-right parties elsewhere? Absolutely. Many of the things that Trump is doing right now looks like Hungary’s Victor Orban. Orban goes after the universities.”
Mosley published a paper with the Brookings Institution on “The Financial and Economic Dangers of Democratic Backsliding,” and she shared that when economic concerns and cultural concerns or racist attitudes collide, populists can thrive.
“There has been this big shift in the U.S. where Republicans used to be the party of free trade. That has completely flipped around, and what is so interesting is that the Republicans were willing to follow Trump on this pivot in 2016.”
What many scholars grapple with is explaining why.
“There is an argument that economic anxiety and economic downturns can activate some of these anti-foreigner and anti-immigrant sentiments,” said Mosley. “I think he was using NAFTA as short-hand for ‘Mexico and immigrants from Mexico,’ even though NAFTA doesn’t cover immigration at all,” she said of Trump’s disdain for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which created a free-trade zone in North America for Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. in 1992.
The same goes for our trade policies with China, says Mosley. “The way that tariffs get justified is by saying ‘other countries aren’t playing fairly,’ even though that may not necessarily be true.”
She adds, “It’s an interesting rhetoric because it allows for this argument that international institutions are bad and somehow biased against the U.S…. and also that other countries are not reliable partners, which is ironic because it’s the U.S. that is not being a reliable partner.”
“Trump and his allies have been effective at this as a messaging strategy. It’s bad policy, but it’s also eternally consistent.”
She says this amidst rising gas prices and an inflation rate that has risen since November; basic economics teaches that prices are “sticky” and rise more quickly than they fall, so high prices are here to stay even if tariffs come down.
In April, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) stated right before the new tariff plan took effect that Trump is “ruining the economy on purpose… Starting tomorrow, we’ll be paying more for everything—groceries, food, cars, homes, toys, electronics, everything that you buy…Trillions of dollars of wealth are being demolished. These are everyday people panicked about how much more expensive their next trip to Walmart or Costco will be or when they’ll lose their job.”
Mosley’s research is not focused directly on the United States, despite her encompassing knowledge on the subject. She zeroes in on how developing countries borrow money, how their governments make decisions on where to borrow, and how their political environment affects whether investors see them as risky or not, which in turn affects how expensive it is to borrow money.
This is where the U.S. comes into play. “The U.S. is so important in global financial markets. If interest rates are low in the U.S., it’s cheaper for every country worldwide to get money. U.S. financial events get transmitted to the rest of the world, so developing countries have less sovereignty when they are hit by these external shocks that are not of their own making,” she said.
Although she does not work directly in government, Mosley is on a panel of experts to advise the International Monetary Fund how to better help countries deal with debt issues.
“I’m not making policy, but I feel like I get to have some influence based on my research and my colleagues’ research on how things work in politics,” she said.
Amidst Trump’s anti-DEI crackdowns on over 50 universities, a private liberal arts school like Rollins is certainly not safe from the fire. As investigative journalist Russ Baker said, “The current standoff at Harvard Yard harkens back to a long-playing project of more traditional conservative Republican elements: weakening all institutions perceived, rightly or wrongly, as pillars of the Left, the Democratic Party, those who challenge tradition—and the primacy of both the American white male and the One Percent.” He believes the anti-science, anti-independent institutions, anti-rule of law tirade threatens the liberal arts directly because it deplores the teaching of common values and goals, collective action, and virtues of empathy, compassion, and collaboration.
Rollins sits in uncertainty with these attacks on higher education, as international students fear that their visas will be revoked after Trump’s State Department has changed the status of over 1,500 students already. President Cornwell has been an outspoken advocate for the freedom of higher education, writing op-eds back in 2018 and in 2023 amidst Governor Ron Desantis’ attacks on higher ed.
In a recent letter to the school, Cornwell shared that he is collaborating with incoming president Brooke Barnett to assess where Rollins stands and is refreshing the work of the school around a theme of “Thriving Together,” where Rollins embraces the free exchange of ideas and diverse perspectives and “where all individuals have the opportunity to achieve, grow, gain knowledge, and flourish.”
One of the things Mosley loved the most about her Rollins education was how interdisciplinary her major was and how she learned to approach each topic from an economic and a political lens. Such collaborative approaches are necessary in finding a solution to the current democratic backsliding we face as a nation.
“We have to hope that the courts and judges uphold their oaths to the constitution,” she said. “I think it would be great if business leaders were willing to take a stance. They are not going to do it individually because they worry about being targeted, but one could imagine them doing it collectively. It has to be a coalition of people.”
The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur or Rollins College. Have any additional tips or opinions? Send us your response. We want to hear your voice.
Arabella Lilleslatten
Arabella hails from Sanibel Island, Florida, and is a senior double majoring in Political Science and Music/vocal performance. She started as a Staff Writer for the Sandspur and is now a columnist.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It’s a quote I’ve heard countless times, but I never really stopped to think about its meaning until recently. Growing up, we’re constantly asked what we want to be when we grow up, as if there’s one perfect job out there waiting for us to discover. For years, my answer was simple: “A scientist!”
In high school, I was determined to be a chemist. However, as I’ve navigated college, my career path has shifted not once but about 15 times—sometimes in just a matter of weeks. When I first stepped onto my college’s campus, my mind was set on forensics and then on becoming a doctor. Soon enough, I realized that I hated biology, and, just like that, another plan was scrapped. That’s when I started asking myself, “Why did I feel so drawn to science in the first place?”
Jahn and Myers argue that “parents, career insiders, and media communicate most VAS messages related to math, science, and STEM-based careers.” Maybe I wasn’t passionate about science; I had just been conditioned to believe it was the right choice.
Looking back, I realized my struggle wasn’t about choosing between career paths; it was about unpacking the fears and expectations that had shaped my choices in the first place. If I had been conditioned to see science as the right choice, what did that mean for the things I truly loved?
I had convinced myself that pursuing art would be a mistake. After all, how could I possibly make a living from something I loved? And what would my family think if I didn’t follow a more traditional, secure career? Even though my family has supported my artistic endeavors from the start, I still felt this fear that my passion might never be enough to pay the bills.
And yet, when I look around at the world, I realize so many people are living proof you don’t have to choose between passion and paycheck. Take Walt Disney for example—he started as an illustrator and storyteller, transforming his love for animation into one of the most influential entertainment empires in the world.
And I know what you might be thinking: He was just one of the lucky ones. But luck had little to do with it. According to Eudie Pak’s Walt Disney’s Rocky Road to Success, Disney faced countless setbacks before creating “the Happiest Place on Earth,” including “[b]ankers reject[ing] the concept of his famous mouse over 300 times before one said yes.”
All around us, people are turning hobbies into thriving careers, proving passion and financial success don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Yet, it’s easy to believe following your passion isn’t practical when society, and even our own internal voices, prioritize a steady paycheck. Money may not buy happiness, but it can solve problems, which is why a high-paying job is appealing. Still, what if a career could offer both stability and passion? What if fulfillment didn’t have to come at the cost of financial security?
Here’s what I’ve come to realize: A career doesn’t have to be a rigid choice between passion and security. It can be a journey—one where we explore, adapt, and redefine success on our own terms. We often think we need everything figured out early on, but that’s the myth. Instead of forcing ourselves into a predetermined path, what if we gave ourselves permission to keep searching?
I still don’t know exactly where my career will take me. And that’s okay. What matters is that I’m no longer afraid to embrace uncertainty and chase both passion and purpose.
So, when we hear the phrase, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” let’s remember that it’s not that simple. Passion and paycheck don’t always align perfectly, but they don’t have to be opposites either. We may not have all the answers yet, but we understand that figuring it out is part of the journey.
And, who knows, maybe one day I’ll make a living with my art. But for now I’ll keep exploring, and that’s perfectly okay.
The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur or Rollins College. Have any additional tips or opinions? Send us your response. We want to hear your voice.
Julia Henderson
Julia is a freshman intending to major in chemistry and double minor in art history and English. She currently serves as a Freelance Writer for The Sandspur.
The fate of the galaxy hangs in balance. Anakin Skywalker, once a hero of the Republic, clashes with his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the fiery planet Mustafar. It is on this hostile world that one of cinema’s most iconic villains will be born. Soon, Skywalker will be more machine than man. For now, the Jedi have lost.
Two decades after its original release, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” has returned to theaters for a week, which began on Fri., April 25.
Though “Revenge of the Sith” and the other “Star Wars” prequels continue to be criticized for awkward acting and dialogue, the late 1990s to early 2000s trilogy has been embraced by fans in recent years, especially by those who grew up watching the movies.
On April 16, 2025, The Sandspur sent a survey to students to assess interest in “Star Wars” and the re-release of “Episode III.” A total of 38 students responded, which may reflect limited interest in the re-release.
As one respondent asked in the optional comments, “Is this a piece of cinematic history worth celebrating?”
Chart by Amit Sewnauth
Of the limited student sample, half identified as huge fans of “Star Wars,” while roughly 42 percent considered themselves casual fans. Almost eight percent said they had seen some of the movies but wouldn’t consider themselves to be big fans.
Chart by Amit Sewnauth
More than 47 percent of respondents chose the prequel trilogy and “The Clone Wars” as their favorite era of the “Star Wars” franchise. Over 42 percent favored the original trilogy, while just under eight percent selected the sequel trilogy.
Chart by Amit Sewnauth
Nearly half of respondents reported feeling very excited for the re-release of “Revenge of the Sith.” Over a quarter said they were somewhat excited. Around 18 percent expressed uncertainty, noting that they may be unable to attend a screening. Just under eight percent said they were not really excited.
One respondent shared, “I’ve only ever seen prequels at home, so I am so excited to experience it in the theater.” Another wrote, “Since I have already seen it [“Revenge of the Sith”] more than ten times, it is not that exciting.”
Chart by Amit Sewnauth
When asked to choose their favorite line of dialogue from the film (from a selection of five lines with the option to write in an alternative), more than 40 percent chose Padmé Amidala’s line, “This is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.” One respondent added, “The prequels are very relevant to our current political situation. Lucas saw the way things were going.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “I have the high ground!” and Anakin Skywalker’s “I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire!” were each favored by almost a quarter of respondents.
Emperor Palpatine’s “I am the Senate” received just two votes in the survey. Individual respondents wrote-in Kenobi’s “Hello there” and Palpatine’s “Power!” as their favorite lines.
Despite the limited sample size, the poll suggests that the re-release of “Revenge of the Sith” has drawn interest from a small portion of the Rollins community.
One student commented, “This is the first movie I remember seeing in the theaters and is still my favorite movie of all time.” Another mentioned that “Revenge of the Sith” was their late sister’s favorite movie, adding, “I can’t wait to see it to honor her.”
Whether to revisit a childhood classic, celebrate their favorite film series, pay tribute to a loved one, or check out the film for the first time, students and moviegoers can experience “Revenge of the Sith” in theaters through Fri., May 2.
Amit Sewnauth
Amit is a junior majoring in Critical Media & Cultural Studies with minors in Political Science and Film Studies. He currently serves as a Staff Writer with the Sandspur.
In the same month Donald Trump moved to block states from enforcing climate change policies—the very crisis threatening eight percent of all living animal species—Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought back the dire wolf, the largest of the Late Pleistocene canids, last seen 10,000 years ago.
On April 7, 2025, headlines from major media outlets, including ABC News, Time, USA Today, and CNN, broke the same story: the resurrection of the dire wolf. Colossal Biosciences, a bioscience and genetic engineering company, had brought it back. Colossal is self-described as “the advanced genetics and biosciences company that’s developing the science that will save us, our planet, and the species that inhabit it.”
But don’t get confused—“We’re not a foundation, we’re not a nonprofit, we are not an academic think tank. We are trying to actually develop products and build technologies,” said Ben Lamm, the company’s CEO and co-founder, in an interview with ABC News.
Meet: The Dire Wolf
The dire wolf once prowled the vast terrain of North America, ranging from the icy reaches of Alaska to the arid deserts of Mexico. Fossils of the dire wolf have been found on both coasts of the United States, as well as central, southern, and southwestern regions. The range in the dire wolf distribution indicates that it was adapted to a variety of habitats, ranging from tropical wetlands to boreal grasslands. These canids shared the landscape with other Pleistocene megafauna, including woolly mammoths, camels, giant ground sloths, and saber-toothed cats. Welcome to the Pleistocene epoch—a geological era that spanned from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. Marked by repeated glacial and interglacial cycles, the Pleistocene was a time of dramatic climate fluctuations.
Dire wolves were menacing hunters. The prehistoric dire wolf once co-existed with the gray wolf—the species of wolf we still have today. Weighing anywhere from 125 to 175 pounds, the dire wolf is estimated to have been about 25 percent heavier than the modern gray wolf. The gray wolf shares morphological characteristics with the dire wolf, including head and body shape; this resemblance once suggested the two species shared an evolutionary ancestor. However, more recent genetic data suggest that the dire wolf may be more closely related to the modern-day jackal, placing it in an entirely separate genus.
Dire wolves were carnivorous, with isotopic analysis suggesting their diet focused heavily on horses; ground sloths, camels, and bison made up less of their intake. Many dire wolf fossils found together at Rancho La Brea indicate that these wolves were also social animals, forming communities to hunt and raise offspring.
Dire wolves roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 years; however, the fate of this species is still widely speculated. While they became extinct near the end of the last ice age, the reasoning behind their disappearance remains a topic of debate. Some researchers point to rising temperatures and climate change, while others speculate the evolution of humans—or even a giant comet—as contributing factors to their absence from today’s megafauna.
A Colossal Problem
“On October 1, 2024, for the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction,” reads Colossal Biosciences’ website. Two dire wolf pups, Romulus and Remus, were born last fall in October, but their two-month-old sister, Khaleesi, wasn’t introduced until this past winter. The pups had been “chasing, nipping, nuzzling, and tussling” over the course of the year—but it wasn’t until April 2025 that their existence was made public.
Using DNA extracted from a fossilized tooth and skull, scientists sequenced the genome of the dire wolf and compared it to that of the gray wolf. After identifying 20 key genetic differences across 14 genomes, researchers edited gray wolf DNA to express characteristics typical of the prehistoric dire wolf, such as larger body size and more robust teeth. The edited nuclei were then extracted from these modified cells and inserted into gray wolf ova from which the original nuclei had been removed. These ova developed into embryos, which were implanted into the wombs of two domestic hound breeds, and after 65 days, Romulus and Remus were born.
However, calling this the “de-extinction” of the dire wolf is not entirely accurate. While dire wolves and modern gray wolves look similar, this is the result of convergent evolution, where unrelated species can develop similar traits due to similar environments or adaptive pressures. A DNA study published in 2021 found that dire wolves belonged to a much older evolutionary lineage of dog.
“Dire wolves, it now appeared, had evolved in the Americas and had no close kinship with the gray wolves from Eurasia; the last time gray wolves and dire wolves shared a common ancestor was about 5.7 million years ago,” said an article published by Scientific American in 2021.
Dire wolves emerged from a lineage more closely related to African Jackals rather than the Gray Wolf.
Colossal acknowledges this in their preliminary pre-print paper, published April 11 of this year. “Although Perri et al. confirmed that dire wolves are a distinct evolutionary lineage, a high frequency of phylogenetic incongruence among estimated gene trees led to uncertainties about their early evolutionary history.”
The biogenetics company proposes the possibility of an early species of canid interbreeding with jackals and wolves.
Melanie Challenger, the deputy co-chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in the United Kingdom, said in an interview with CNN Science, “It’s not de-extinction, it’s genetically engineering a novel organism to fulfill the functions, theoretically, of an extant (living) organism. You’re not bringing anything back from the dead. And all the way through the process, there are different, quite gnarly ethical considerations.”
The ethics of “de-extinction”
De-extinction is not a resurrection of species that no longer exist. The dire wolf, like the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the great auk, is a creature humanity will never fully witness again.
Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer, told CNN: “We aren’t trying to bring something back that’s 100 percent genetically identical to another species. Our goal with de-extinction is to create functional copies of these extinct species. We focus on identifying variants that will produce key traits.”
But what purpose does it serve to recreate an animal if we no longer have the vast habitats they once roamed, the prey they depended on, or the ecosystems they helped shape?
De-extinction often overlooks the very reasons species disappeared in the first place: habitat fragmentation, rising global temperatures, invasive species, and the complex relationships that defined their existence. Reducing an animal to a set of physical traits isn’t just ethically questionable, it also ignores the intricate systems those creatures were a part of.
The only way to “bring back” a species is to ensure they never vanish to begin with.
The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur or Rollins College. Have any additional tips or opinions? Send us your response. We want to hear your voice.
Aleks Avram
Aleks is a junior majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Sustainable Development . She currently serves as a staff writer for The Sandspur and hosts a radio show with WPRK.
Rollins College has broken ground with the new cutting-edge facilities of what will soon be the 9,961 square-foot newest athletic facility for the women’s and men’s Tennis & Golf teams.
The project is currently still under construction. Located between Rollins’ Rice Family Pavilion and Elizabeth and Ward Halls, the construction of the complex started in June 2024 by LaBella Associates. It is estimated to be completed this summer. LaBella Associates developed the design for the new athletic facility to meet the NCAA championship standards of these sports and to create a space that contributes to development of the student-athlete community.
State-of-the-art facilities will be an integral part of this architectural project; the new two-story complex will have twin covered balconies for 56 seated spectators to enjoy a view of the tennis matches on the updated tennis courts.
“To be able to come to a match and see with a good view the players’ emotions, efforts, strength, and athleticism is something anyone can appreciate,” said Jay Friedman, Head Men’s Tennis Coach.
In the building, the first floor will be dedicated to locker rooms, coaches’ offices, storage, and training space for the women’s and men’s tennis teams. The second floor will be the hub for the golf program, with storage lockers and coaches’ offices, featuring a specialized grip room and two golf simulator rooms with front line technology. The heart of the tennis and golf complex will be the Players’ Lounge, where students will have a panoramic view of the courts and a place to gather up with teammates and coaches for meetings, events, celebrating athletic and academic successes, and even winding down from schoolwork.
During this year of construction, both teams have faced an unusual dynamic from their regular training. The tennis team has had to travel for an hour and a half to and from practice to various outside courts. With one of the biggest challenges being the constant moving around and the lack of control to plan their schedules and travels, the teams have gone through adversity together, figuring out athletic, personal, and academic challenges, of which Freidman said, “[The] culture is extremely correlated to the time spent and time spent in adversity together and in this aspect, we have been stretched about to our limit.”
According to Pennie Parker, associate Vice President of Rollins Athletics, this new project represents elevating the student-athlete experience, amplifying the programs on the regional and national stage and attracting talented student-athletes from around the world.
Friedman said this new complex will also “speak to what the athletes can feel given the high standards we set for ourselves on the court, in the classroom, and as leaders in the community.” With the history of both sports programs, this complex will become an example of Rollins’ care for tradition, preservation, and development of standards in their programs.
Rollins College Will Know Her Name: ‘Carrie: The Musical’ Takes the Annie Russell Stage
By Davis Fogg on April 25, 2025
Photo by Tony Firriolo
A chorus of terror rings out as students pool together, their feet frozen to the gymnasium floor, suffocated by a wave of bloodied darkness. Bang. Bang. Bang. The doors lock around them. “Please,” Chris pleads, muscles tensed. Among the commotion, a woman, soaked in red, crowned in silence, looks forward. She looks past the screaming faces, she looks past the frantic praying—and for the first time in her life, no one looks past her. After tonight, the students of Rollins College will know her name: Carrie White.
The musical, told through the memories and interrogation of Sue Snell, follows Carrie White—a shy girl in high school tormented by bullies and trapped within the confines of her religious extremist mother. As Carrie discovers a secret telekinetic power within herself, she is forced on a journey of identity, isolation, empowerment, and womanhood.
“I would bet almost everything that everyone in the audience has known someone like Carrie,” said Jessie Hoffman (’25), the lead actress with the titular role. “If we just showed more empathy and kindness to one another in a way like how Carrie should have been treated rather than judging without knowing what’s going on in their personal lives, we could have power to change someone’s life.”
A line in the epilogue echoes Hoffman’s sentiment: “I could say thank God that’s not me, but what does it cost to be kind?” As the entire cast stands before the audience, this line stands out among the rest. “I think kindness is a huge message in this story,” said Stephanie Dezelin (’27), the actress playing Margaret White (Carrie’s mother). “I love thinking about the mentality of ‘thank God that’s not me’ and the afterthought of ‘oh my God, what if it that was me?’ and about what I would do. I think it offers something to think about: If you could do something to change someone’s life, would you do it?”
Dezelin’s portrayal of Margaret White leans into her complexity. “In this version, she’s almost more sympathetic,” she said. “She wants the best for her daughter, but her way of getting there is so warped. She thinks she’s doing a favor for Carrie. She’s so hellbent—ironic—on preventing her daughter from going to hell. I want the audience to know how messed [up] she is as a human being but to also know the complexity of her care. In this [show], Margaret is apologetic.”
As the house lights begin to glow, and the blood-soaked finale burns away its horrors, “Carrie: The Musical” becomes a deeper tragedy—one born from neglect, isolation, and fear. With every note and regret-stained face, the show reminds its audience that the horrors on stage aren’t rooted in telekinesis or possession but in something far more human.
The Rollins College production of “Carrie: The Musical” opened on Thu., April 24 and ran through Sun., April 27.
Davis Fogg
Davis is a senior majoring in English. After a semester working as a Staff Writer for The Sandspur, Davis is now an Assigning Editor.
On Tue., April 22, 27 students were initiated into Rollins’ circle of the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Leadership Honor Society. The event took place at the Barker House, the residence of Rollins President Grant Cornwell and his wife, Peg Cornwell. The Cornwells have been involved with the honor society for several decades. In 2022, Peg was awarded an Eldridge W. Roark, Jr. Meritorious Service Award for her continuous efforts with ODK (an award also won by Lorrie Kyle, Executive Director for the Office of the President, in 2022) and previously served as the faculty advisor at St. Lawrence University. President Cornwell has also been recognized by the society for his philosophical approach as an “entrepreneurial educator.”
The Rollins College ODK circle was established on March 23, 1931, and it has since received four “Circle of Distinction” awards in 2012, 2017, 2022, and 2023, respectively.
The 2025 initiation was led by Joseph Pool (‘26), ODK CLA President, Christie Versace (‘25), ODK Holt President, and Cecilia Hernandez (‘25), ODK Vice President of Operations. The ceremony was followed by refreshments and hors d’oeuvres as inductees mingled in the Barker House.
Marissa Rodriguez (‘27), new ODK initiate, spoke about the event. “I felt a deep sense of pride as I received my pin,” she said. “It felt like a reflection of how hard I’ve worked to get where I am today. And being surrounded by hardworking individuals and receiving such recognition made me feel like I was part of something very fulfilling.”
Pool and Versace did not respond to The Sandspur’s request for comment.
The following 27 students were initiated on April 22 (and 6 new members who could not attend the ceremony will be initiated at a later date):
Allie Adams
Elliott Alley
Amanda Blain
Margaret Burnham
Abby Campoverde
Stephanie Carmany
Charles Curci
Juliana Diab
Farrell Donnelly
Allie Evangelista
Simone Fowler
Angelica Gonzalez
Mariel Horne
Aimal Irteza
Ryleigh Johnson
Katerina Latushka
Ricardo Pierre
Kate Puharich
Marissa Rodriguez
Emma Salerno
Kate Salerno
Mylla Samaroo
Denise Santiago Sanchez
Kelly Sharp
Nicolás Simón
Elizabeth Swartz
Karie Yanez
Paloma Kluger
Paloma is a senior double majoring in English and Sociology and minoring in dance. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief at The Sandspur and has previously served as the Managing Editor.
In the midday of April 13, another fire struck campus grounds.
According to Ken Miller, Assistant Vice President of Public Safety, two female students (who Miller did not identify for privacy reasons) parked their car outside of the Rollins Museum of Art and began to examine it. Smoke escaped from under the hood within three to four minutes after the students exited the vehicle, and the engine compartment caught fire soon after.
Miller went on to explain that an officer from Campus Safety noticed this smoke shortly after it began, at which point he contacted the dispatch officer to contact the Winter Park Fire Department (WPFD). By the seven-minute mark, WPFD had arrived and put out the fire, which Miller said caused heavy smoke to fill the area.
“During the time that the officer was waiting for [WPFD] to arrive, he retrieved three fire extinguishers from adjacent buildings to try and put the fire out,” said Miller. “Unfortunately, it continued to grow and had to be put out by [WPFD] when they arrived on the scene.”
He noted that no foul play or malicious intent was present and added that this is not the first time such an event has occurred on campus. “Unfortunately, with the number of vehicles on campus, situations like this have happened over the years,” he said.
As the semester draws to a close, Miller emphasized the importance of regular vehicle maintenance before students begin their journeys home. “At the end of each semester, you might be driving a longer distance to go home or some other location,” he said. “While it is difficult to be a student with all of the draws on your time, take the time to get the basics checked with things like an oil change, tire rotation, tire pressure check, ensuring all of your lights and turn signals are functioning properly, etc.”
Rachelle English
Rachelle is a sophomore majoring in Business Management. She currently serves as a Freelance Writer for The Sandspur.
If I could describe this past year as Editor-in-Chief of The Sandspur in one word, it would be “fulfilling.” While there were painstaking assignments, long hours, and frustrations over punctuation involved, working for this publication has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had during my four years at Rollins.
When I first got to campus as a nervous freshman, I had many doubts about my abilities as a writer, let alone my abilities in leadership. Through support from my professors, though, I found my voice in the classroom, through class discussions ranging from Southern U.S. literature to social problems; in the dance studio, through choreography and performance; and, of course, on paper. Writing has always been a passion of mine, especially academic writing, but journalism was more of a foreign concept.
Little did I know when I began my work at The Sandspur that I would become the leader of a 131-year-old publication. This paper has given me the opportunity to grow academically, professionally, and personally. It has taught me the power of concision, how to collaborate with a diverse team of individuals, and how to trust my instincts. They—meaning the editors in chief that come before you—don’t tell you that much of your decision making is simply going with what you think is right. They don’t tell you that much of the job is making things up as you go. That is not to say there are no rules or standards—read the entirety of the AP style guide—but leaders are entrusted with building on and improving what they are handed when assuming leadership. Hence, when I assumed Editor-in-Chief, I was hopeful for an upward trajectory for The Sandspur.
One year later, I am unbelievably proud of what this paper has accomplished. I am grateful for the entire staff, who believed in not just my goals but in me as a leader and a person. I do not carry the paper’s successes on my back alone. It has truly been a collaborative effort that has not gone unnoticed. So, thank you to my hardworking, empathetic, and motivated staff for an unforgettable year.
As sad as I am to be leaving this position after I graduate in May, I could not feel more confident to be handing off the responsibilities of Editor-in-Chief to my current Managing Editor, Sarah Ogden. Sarah, I have had the great privilege of working alongside you this past year, and I cannot wait to see what wonderful things you do with The Sandspur next year. If I may give you a word of advice that I wish I had given myself a year ago: trust yourself. You know you are making the right decisions and are leading the paper to success; just remember that.
To the Rollins community, thank you for engaging with The Sandspur, whether you are picking up a paper for the first time or staying updated weekly online. Wishing you a warm and healthy summer!
Fiat Lux!
– Paloma Kluger (‘25), Editor-in-Chief
Paloma Kluger
Paloma is a senior double majoring in English and Sociology and minoring in dance. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief at The Sandspur and has previously served as the Managing Editor.
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