Jim Pfaendtner, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, delivered a message on the NC State Poe Hall Updates website on May 29, 2026.

“We’d like to share a brief update with you regarding Poe Hall. We are pleased that we have received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the abatement and demolition plan associated with the building. As part of that plan, NC State will fully demolish Poe Hall and construct a new space for our students, faculty and staff in the College of Education following the recommendations from expert consultants.”

NC State will prepare for the demolition of Poe Hall next week by adding fencing around the building. They shared that they have a preference to “reduce disruptions to our academic calendar.”

The building, located in the Main Campus of NC State on The Court of North Carolina, has been closed since November 2023, as hazardous levels of chemicals known as Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) were found inside.

According to WRAL News, over 200 members of staff, faculty and students using Poe Hall have reported cancer diagnoses. Students and faculty that claimed to have been affected have filed large lawsuits against NC State since the discovery that linked the chemicals to Poe Hall.

The auditorium was filled with people dressed in traditional African wear, formal wear and traditional dance attire. Family, friends and performers from all over NC showed up and showed out for the event. The room was teeming with a mishmash of culture and generations. ASU’s Annual Africa Night is an evening full of performances that exemplify African music, fashion, beauty and more.

The theme of the night was highlighting the iconic time of 2016. The night’s MC and student from NC A&T, Shemi Bukoye, began getting the crowd riled up and hype alongside DJ AMP, who chimed in every now and then with “Bruh” adlibs.

Then, MC Bukoye formally introduced us to the night’s first scene of the skit. Interjected between the night’s cultural performances were 10 powerful scenes featuring Young Kofi, a kid navigating being African in high school during 2016.

Following the first skit, we entered a model segment then got to know this year’s Ms. and Mr. ASU contestants. The 2016 models were dripped out in the best fashion styles of the era. They wore skinny jeans with checkered patterned flannels, Supreme tees, “Chief Keef” inspired fits — the best drip of the decade. After the 2016 model segment, we got right back into the next skit.

Introducing: The Story of Young Kofi

Young Kofi constantly faces adversity because of his culture. People don’t like foreign things; Kofi and his Ghanaian culture was one of them.

In one of the first scenes, set in their classroom, we see the friends of Kofi’s crush, Aisha, tell her not to talk to Kofi because he is an “African booty scratcher.” The African experience is shown as one looked down upon; African persons in 2016 were synonymous to a funny accent, ebola and booty scratcher.

Enter Marcus: Kofi’s biggest hater, bully and class disruptor. Kofi was tired of people like Marcus making fun of him for being African; he was tired of being called weird and other names.
Kofi’s parents were described as your stereotypical African parents: loud, quick to anger and dramatic. After being bullied, he came home pants sagging, making the mistake of not greeting his elders as he blasted loud rap, all to try to fit in with his classmates.

His parents didn’t understand his desire to change — specifically, the shame surrounding his identity — and the same goes for his friends and Aisha. He went from being himself, to changing to be someone else, and yet it was not enough for anyone; it’s never going to be enough. But your identity doesn’t have to be enough for others, it just has to be enough for you.

It took him a while, but he came to understand that it doesn’t matter what he does; people will judge nonetheless. With the scenes building to a peak, it was Kofi’s time to present who he truly was without reservation; he isn’t the one who needed to change — it’s society.

Prior to the final scenes, the models came out in the most beautiful traditional wear — embodying African beauty and pride. After this traditional model segment, we got right back into the next scene.

Presentation Kofi changed back to the “old” him with his glasses and nerdy fit. He also presented his pride for his culture and country: Ghana. Finally, at the climax, he showed Marcus who is boss ‘cause he had it coming. The students and teacher tried to break them apart and the curtains closed, but we all knew who won that fight.

After seeing the history of young Kofi — present day Kofi was powerful. He was shown as a self-assured young man who takes pride in his culture regardless of what others say. And I’m happy to report he got the girl in the end by being himself.

The Night’s Close

The night ended with a presentation of African countries and a collection of African flags. While people were repping their countries, the flags of Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Liberia and more flew across the stage. This was a celebration of African culture.

The Talley State Ballroom was transformed into an old-fashioned roller rink. There were concession stand staples, including nachos with the classic artificial cheese and candy, such as M&M’s, Skittles and Starbursts. The room was filled with music played by DJ KDOT, dim purple light and skaters ready to hit the rink.

The “skating rink” was a colorful makeshift floor of blue, green and red puzzle pieces. BSB perfectly mimicked a skating rink and people treated it as such. The ballroom transported skaters to their very own 70s rink.

Skate night was a hit for many. Many came eager to hit the floor rolling, some with borrowed skates provided by the BSB and others bringing their own skates, such as seasoned veterans who laced up their skates with a quickness the beginners and first timers didn’t have.

It wasn’t long until people were gliding across the floor, while some were scared to roll on their own. Some even struggled to get onto the floor, left stumbling and clinging to the outskirts of the skating rink.

People dropped like flies at times, flailing uselessly as they refused to fall, only to fall regardless. Thankfully, there was a barrier to protect people who could not stop on their skates.

DJ KDOT took to queuing iconic sound effects like “Bruh” and “Oh My God” during these instances. Most people got up and continued to skate like nothing happened or continued to fall and stumble, only to eventually rise with the help of skaters around them.

“Do you know how to skate?” was the question of the night.

“I do not know at all, I cannot do skating at all in my life, I think,” said Paulson Antony, an international graduate student in computer engineering.

“Not at all,” said Justin Garrett, a fourth-year studying political science and the BSB President. “It’s better when friends and the Black community are around to help you. There’s a bunch of people who know how to skate, so they taught me and I did a little one-two today.”

DJ KDOT did a phenomenal job setting the mood through the music and mixes he played. Playing popular songs like Drake’s “Nice For What,” kwn’s “back of the club” and iconic line dance songs that brought people to the floor, which veteran skaters were impressively able to do on skates!

For fast-paced songs, people skated like nobody’s business, and with such happiness as the music coursed through them. Some tried and failed to do line dance with skates on. Some people moved with more ease than others. It was mesmerizing to watch them glide across the floor, as if it were as easy as walking. In a way, the control was so beautiful and sensual.

This was a night filled with carefree laughter, good music, good people and attempts at skating and moving with grace across the wooden floors and the colorful makeshift roller rink floor that transformed the Talley State Ballroom entirely. It was a night worthy of starting a week dedicated to community and unity. Garrett described these BSB events throughout the week as a celebration of all students on campus.

“Hosting events, especially Pan-Af Week, is really important because it just gives everybody a representation of Black community on NC state campus and it really highlights us and what we do on this campus.”

On April 20, the AATS hosted its 28th annual Fashion Exposé in Talley State Ballroom. The AATS is an organization based in the Wilson College of Textiles that brings together students of color from diverse backgrounds and provides them support, networking opportunities, professional development opportunities and a community based in fashion and textiles. With many students being a part of Wilson College of Textiles, the AATS is a melting pot of creative and brilliant minds focused on pursuing careers in the fashion and textile industry. 

Every year, during NC State’s Pan-African week, the AATS hosts its exposé, platforming emerging and experienced designers within NC State and surrounding colleges. Each year is a different theme and this year’s theme was Culture & Heritage.

This year, the show included 15 designers, with nine novice designers and six intermediate to experienced designers.

The show began with its host, Jessica Couch, welcoming the audience and giving a rundown of the show’s itinerary. After she concluded the introduction, the show began with its nine novice designers. 

The novice category includes inexperienced designers with new skills and at a beginner’s level. The category included students within the Wilson College of Textiles and even a student from North Carolina A&T studying fashion merchandising. 

In the novice category were Haleigh Aldridge, Victoria Barrett, Emi Colburn, Sienna Cuevas, Asia Faulk, Kristen Hurtado, Sarah Pierce, Aayushi Shah and Madina Tahirli.

Before their collections walked the stage, each designer within the novice and intermediate categories had a quick one-minute video giving an introduction of themselves, what the theme of Culture & Heritage meant to them and how it inspired their collection. 

The collections were all incredibly personal and special to the designers. One designer, Victoria Barret’s collection titled “Just Dance!” was an ode to video games and moreover, the experiences and memories she made playing video games, especially Just Dance! Her collection, like many others, was filled with vibrant colors and a wide variety of textiles and fabrics. 

The novice category concluded and was followed by a brief intermission, including videos from the different majors within the Wilson College of Textiles and a college professor on the intricacies of fashion and African-American history and heritage, tying together the theme of Culture & Heritage. 

After the novice category, the intermediate category followed and included six designers: Allie Albrecht, Amelia Boys, Brooklyn Brown, Peter Centeno, Mae Reilly Mueller and Fred Pierce. 

The intermediate category is for designers who have more experience and knowledge in designing and this category showed nothing short of that. Consisting of all Wilson College of Textiles students, with most studying Fashion & Textile Design, this category had collections with at least five outfits for each, some having as many as eight. 

The intermediate category ranged from couture looks inspired by the culture of New Orleans and Mardi Gras, as seen in Brooklyn Brown & Peter Centeno’s collection “The Grande Parade,” to crochet-fabric blended looks inspired by Irish heritage and the intrinsic femininity of craft-making as seen in Amelia Boys’ collection “Stone Meets Foliage.” The outfits throughout the category exuded expertise and intentionality, showing the talent of every designer. 

After a brief intermission, Couch returned to the stage for the exposé’s finale: the winner presentations. All 15 designers returned to the stage and the winners from each category were announced. 

For the novice category, Madina Tahirli and her collection “Vatan” won. And in the intermediate category, Fred Piece Jr. and his “Imperium” collection won.

At the end of the show, I was able to speak with novice designer Aayushi Shah about her collection “I’m Sorry, Sari.” Shah is a second-year studying Fashion & Textile Management with a concentration in Fashion Development and Product Management. 

Shah states that her collection is “saying goodbye to the Sari.” She continues: “Saris are very difficult to drape, so I’m bringing easier-to-wear garments like lehengas and patialas.” 

The Nubian Message asked Shah what Culture & Heritage meant to them and how that influences their life. 

Shah responded: “Culture and Heritage is everything to me. It’s who I am. Every decision I make is rooted in my culture and how I grew up, my parents [and] how they raised me. All my family is from India, all of them live there in India, so whenever I get to go there, I’m reconnected with my culture again and it just means family and home.”

It’s difficult to write a review on an album like “EMOTIONS.” The top-tier beat-making and production mixed with vocals that occasionally feel like lazy fillers and unorganized bars create a paradox. He takes inspiration from his predecessors, posing on covers in albums like Prince, Michael Jackson and Tupac, as well as going to the Grand Teton National Park, the location of the self-titled album “Ye”, in his music video for “Talk About It,” the opening track on “EMOTIONS.” 

These juxtapositions and paradoxes, whether it’s the production of his album compared to his vocals, or his “influence” from these legendary musicians, can seem ridiculous. But that’s the point. Nine Vicious is as revolutionary as he is not. Attempting to write a sound review for an album like this is like trying to explain a new video game to your Gen X parents in a language they can understand. It’s borderline impossible because the music is not the only product.

At best, during the album, Vicious sounds like a mix of his YSL and Opium predecessors, blending styles like Lil Keed, Young Thug, Playboi Carti and Destroy Lonely. It works because even though he is pushing the needle even further from traditional hip-hop, he is similar-sounding enough to resonate a little with someone familiar with these other artists. “Purple Swag,” “Vivienne Westwood / RIP,” “Fashion Killa” and “Project4play/Svj” do this the best.

At worst, he sounds uninspired and bored. He improved on the rager/Carti side of his music, but when dipping into more melodic sounds, as he’s seldom done in the past, the results are more varied. 

“Sunset Hill (feat Kacy Hill)” never reaches the point that you desperately want it to during the song, ending in a boring fashion. “Amazing,” a rendition of Rihanna’s “Sex With Me,” does this sound a little better. Again, on top of a wonderful beat, Vicious sounds like a Playboi Carti and Veeze mixture, applying the lethargic sound that made Veeze a staple in new hip-hop, and it works.

The album is a lot of fun to take at face value. It’s not meant to be overanalyzed. Many of the songs are replayable. The catchiness of “My Whole Heart” is a good time. Someone familiar with the underground will undoubtedly find at least a few songs they like when listening to the album.

“EMOTIONS,” though, is too long. It’s 23 songs for an hour and 12 minutes, and the needle never really moves. It’s not an experience that I enjoyed listening front-to-back after the first time, no matter how many bright spots there were. It’s much better to listen for a time or two, to find favorite songs and then leave the rest of the album alone.

I will grant grace on account that 2025 brought movies such as “Sinners,” “Hamnet” and “Weapons” which gained mass box office success and critical acclaim, all of which were nominated for Oscars. However, that doesn’t change the fact that in 2018, 24 of the top 25 highest grossing films at the box office were either franchise films, adaptations or re-releases. 

Within my years of movie theater experience, it seems as if with every neglected original film, there’s always a sequel, remake or adaptation in the theater right next door that’s getting an egregious amount of attention. The viewership is usually ironic, as many of the moviegoers are actively drafting hate tweets as they’re leaving the theater. 

Even then, the tweets are made with very little substance and are usually irrelevant complaints, such as a character’s race being changed (some of y’all owe Rachel Zegler and Halle Bailey several apologies, OK?). They don’t care about the preservation of the source material; they just want to whine about something. 

Regardless of what some urchins are complaining about on the internet, it doesn’t change the fact that Hollywood speaks box office. They don’t care how many people seemingly hate their recycled ideas as long as the cash keeps flowing and we, as a society, continue to hate-watch things. 

The influx of unoriginality also stems from the fact that movie theaters are still struggling after COVID-19. Box office revenue from 2021-2024 still trails $2 billion to $3 billion behind in revenue from 2017-2019. 

Hollywood needs your attention and your money, which means they want to play it safe with a sequel rather than take a risk on an original or a niche project. 

Movie theater ticket and concession prices also don’t help this phenomenon. People are more inclined to watch something familiar than something completely new since it costs 20-30 bucks to see anything in theaters nowadays. 

Even if an adaptation, sequel or remake isn’t good, it will most likely generate a profit since many studios hire well-known actors to star in them. They cater to a consumer culture that is more focused on a name than content. 

This has been the case with many recent adaptations, such as the Wuthering Heights film, written and directed by Emerald Fennell. Twitter (I’m not calling it X) had a field day with this one, dividing many fans of the original novel and the movie, but it still grossed over $240 million internationally. 

Wuthering Heights was the last film Zeineb Benachour, a second-year student studying accounting, had seen in theaters. She thought the film was not a great adaptation of the book; she felt it would’ve been fine if it were a film of its own. She enjoys going to the theater when there is a film being released with good publicity

“When I watch movies, I try to watch older movies because I think the 80s, 90s and 2000s were when movies were a lot better than they are today,” she said. “I’ll usually go to the movies if I see something online or if there’s a movie that’s come out recently that has a lot of hype around it and people are talking about it a lot.”

Benachour has also seen a similar pattern in the book industry: “Have you seen what’s happening? Like, the tropes: people are just churning out books with tropes they think

consumers want to see, and they’re doing the same thing with movies. And so now they’re adapting all these terrible books that are coming out into movies. So that’s just even more bad movies.”

Streaming platforms make this statement ring true as well. According to Neilson, seven of the 10 most-watched streaming originals were based on pre-existing material. 

Rani Albinati, a third-year student studying computer engineering, spent his last time at a movie theater seeing “Iron Lung,” a science fiction horror film based on the 2022 game of the same name. The film isn’t necessarily an adaptation, though, as the original game really doesn’t offer much other than four walls in a submarine and a jump scare. 

Even though Albinati didn’t care for the game, he felt that the effort put into the film by Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, who wrote, starred in, produced and directed the film, is what made it enjoyable. 

“I think what was nice about Iron Lung is that, what I know of it, is that it was solely funded by the director, Markiplier, and you can tell he made every decision in that movie. You can kind of tell that that movie was made with love.” 

Markiplier was able to take such a creative risk with Iron Lung since it was independently funded, but it also meant he didn’t have to adhere to the standards that many Hollywood studios have for movies. Those same standards are what make cash cows out of modern films, to be constantly milked for profit. 

Nell Pietri, a French masters candidate, brought up how it’s the movies that break barriers that have a bigger impact for longer periods of time. “A lot of movies are sticking around. They’re the ones that are not fitting into the Hollywood standards. At least not at first, and the ones that make people, I don’t know, uncomfortable, it’s the same reason why “Parasite” was such a hit. It was not to Hollywood standards, and it shocked people, and it’s gonna stick because it’s a part of a new era in a way.”

So how do we fix this? What can we do to break this cycle of consumer and studio conditioning so filmmakers don’t have to play it safe when creating art, and allow us to return to the theater to support them? 

Well, Pietri brought up how France imposes a tax on movie tickets, which funds their National Centre of Cinema (CNC). This tax amounts to 10.72% of the ticket price, which goes right back into the French film industry to offer financial aid for production and to keep the industry alive without a financial burden. 

This kind of change obviously won’t happen overnight, but it is possible. We have more influence over the flow of cinema than we know, and I think if we continue to show up more for original or indie films, we can make a real difference in not just the movies we consume, but in media as a whole.

Whether you love it or hate it, it’s still around, and the University Activities Board (UAB) has been struggling to find any good artists since COVID and the loss of Dreamville (RIP). And frankly, this year’s Wolfstock performance doesn’t leave much hope for next year’s.

That’s not to say all of it was bad. So first, let’s talk about the good parts.

The Good

The band, Odd 39, was a pleasant surprise. Composed of four NC state students, the band was the opener for Wolfstock and delivered an incredible performance. They played original songs such as “Stay or Leave” and “Don’t Let me Down,” followed by a cover of “War Pigs” and “Upside Down” written by Jack Johnson, and popularized by Curious George.

In an Instagram post made by Dugout Entertainment, the band stated they take inspiration from other bands like The Backseat Lovers, Peach Pit and Kings of Leon, which you can hear in some of the original songs they performed. In particular, their main vocalist Jay Meland has a similar vocal grit to Joshua Harmon, the lead singer from The Backseat Lovers.

I recommend checking them out as they’re set to perform on April 25 at The Train Yard!

Although I went in blind, I also found myself pleasantly surprised as I enjoyed some of K Camp’s performances. “What’s On Your Mind,” was an ethereal experience. The light fog rolling into the crowd, the yellow lights slowly flashing as though we were at heaven’s gates and the build-up in vocals pulled me into his production.

I didn’t expect to add him to my playlist but here we are.
The only other things I liked were the flower tosses, and I found it a bit sweet when K Camp dedicated some of the songs to the women in the crowd.

And there is where all the good ends. Now let’s get into the bad stuff.

The Bad

It doesn’t come as a surprise that a huge field like Miller Fields turns out to have dead soil. With all the student organization events and field games that go on in Miller Fields, dust quickly polluted the air due to the onslaught of college students.

With how much dust we were kicking up, you’d think we were chinchillas taking a bath. I can still feel the dust particles lodged in my throat days after the event.

Another thing that bogged down the Wolfstock experience were lines. Dear God, the lines. I was walking past the line around 6:20 p.m. and at that point it was creeping into the Carmichael rear parking lot. And by the time I came back ten minutes later after dropping off my stuff at my dorm, we’d reached the forest section of Rocky Branch Trail.

However, we were moving relatively quickly. UAB staff members were checking student IDs by the gates and going down the line which helped streamline the process.

That was until I saw the line for the food truck tickets and Wolfstock merch.

The Ugly

I’m not kidding when I say the line went from a hundred feet from the entrance to the other side of Miller Fields. To say we were moving at a snail’s pace would indicate we were moving at all (which we weren’t).

After an hour or so of waiting in the line and anticipating getting my free food truck ticket, a staff member came down and told us there were only 200 tickets left.

A decent chunk of people left the line, but a few minutes later, the staff member came back and told us there were no more tickets. Promising free food truck tickets and leaving hundreds of college students scrambling for a way to eat when they probably didn’t bring their wallets wasn’t the best way to kick off the event.

That still wasn’t the worst of it.

In the middle of enjoying K Camp’s performance I hear this agitating, grating voice yelling for Yung Gravy. And it’s not just one or two disrespectful people in the crowd – it was a decent amount of white folks.

And as disappointing and exhausting as Wolfstock was, maybe it was the experience NC State deserved. In the words of Abby Lee Miller: You were good, but I’m waiting for you to be great.

Professors Belle Boggs and David Zonderman led the meeting with Braxton Winston II, a long-time union member and president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Professor Boggs, also the North Carolina chapter president of the American Association of University Professors, opened the teach-in. She discussed the unjust process of Edwards’s firing and how it reflects on other employees at NC State.

“We cannot be afraid of saying things or reading the wrong things or being caught by someone who says they need support but really has a hidden camera,” said Boggs.

Boggs praised Edwards, stating that he fit his occupation to a high degree and that the Board of Governors firing Edwards was a choice and by no means a forced outcome.

Braxton Winston was the second speaker, participating in the teach-in as an experienced union worker serving as an informant. Winston emphasized that few NC State employees were connected to a union at the time of Edwards’s firing, connecting it to the fact that North Carolina the second lowest of all fifty states in terms of union rates.

North Carolina lacks strength in union bargaining, primarily due to NC’s Right to Work laws. These laws prevent union membership from being a mandatory condition of hire, which significantly reduces the bargaining power that unions hold. As a result, less than three percent of all North Carolina salaried workers are connected to a union.

Winston also noted how North Carolina was a primary resistor in adopting Brown v. Board of Education to coincide with their strict Right to Work laws. On the other end, the rise of public sector unions came largely due to bolstered Black support during the call for greater rights in the Civil Rights Movement.

Winston also said North Carolina’s history with race and labor has been particularly tumultuous. “The plight of Black Americans was the start of the labor movement in this country,” said Winston. “In the south, you still have a low union density because in North Carolina, agriculture still makes up the largest part of the state’s economy.”

Professor David Zonderman was the third and final speaker at the teach-in. Zonderman further emphasized the racial dynamic between North Carolina and labor laws, noting the Right to Work supporters’ racial scare tactics to dissuade white workers from joining unions in southern states.

Zonderman also brought more attention to North Carolina’s other primary law suppressing unions, that being the Employment at Will ruling. The law, which Zonderman stated “comes out of master-servant law,” allows for both the employer and employee to terminate employment for any reason excluding demographic discrimination, which can be difficult to prove.

The Employment at Will ruling is a contentious piece in Jae Edwards’ firing, as Edwards’ removal with minimal process after the Accuracy in Media video is a primary source of dissent from voices who disagree with the ruling.

The teach-in concluded with all speakers unionized in their push to rehire Edwards, or at least, see NC State give greater transparency to the process behind his firing.

“It just all happened so fast,” said attendee Elijah Evans when asked how he felt about Edwards’ firing. “It just absolutely wasn’t fair and Jae has had such an impact on the community … I know so many people whose lives were so positively impacted by Jae. I absolutely believe he should be reinstated.”

The campaign to rehire Jae Edwards and resources to help are actively covered on the Instagram page justice4jae.

Artemis II broke multiple records and set new horizons while out in space for 10 days. As the spacecraft’s pilot, Victor Glover was the first Black man to travel beyond Earth’s lower orbit. The other crew members broke similar records with Christina Koch being the first woman, Reid Wiseman the oldest man and Jeremy Hansen the first Canadian to travel the farthest from Earth.

In Wiseman’s opening remarks for the conference, he said, “When we came home, we were shocked at the global outpouring of support, of pride, of ownership of this mission. And really, I think at the beginning, that’s what the four of us wanted. We wanted to go out and try to do something that would … unite the world.”

Further into the event, Robert Pearlman from collectSPACE, “a news publication and online community for space history enthusiasts and professionals,” asked them which photo taken during the mission they would want turned into a stamp. Glover immediately thought of a picture of Earth.

“So what popped into my head, as you were asking, that is the picture of the Earth as we started to go farther from the Earth … because when we were getting really close to the moon, talking about looking at you and how beautiful Earth is, that represents how far we were … I cannot overstress that we did this together. And so that picture to me is at least representative of a lot for this mission,” he said.

“I think something that we all feel and we try to share is how much we want to reflect back to you all how we did this, not we as a crew, we as countries and as humans did this,” Glover said.

After the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth, many would expect them to celebrate the progress made in space exploration. But they did more than that, they celebrated the team that contributed to this historic moment.

When Aaron Anthony from CBS News asked Koch what advice she would give to the first woman to walk on the moon, she emphasized the importance of teamwork. “If you remember that being part of a team is your main goal, and the main thing that you put ahead of everything else, that when the world tries to make the accomplishment something different than what it really is, which is a team accomplishment, you will know,” Koch said.

The crew isn’t just thinking about their team but also the future astronauts who get to take the Artemis mission even further. “Part of our ethos as a crew and our values from the very beginning were that this is a relay race,” Koch said.

“We’re always thinking from the perspective of what is the next crew going to think about this? How will this help them to succeed?” Koch said. “We’ve really just worked to make sure that they are set up for success.”

In fact, the crew has batons to symbolize the core aspect of not only the Artemis mission but the goal of space exploration: advancement.

The emphasis on bonding is not limited to their roles as astronauts but extends to who the crew members are individually

“I will tell you, first of all, the four of us are now forged in a friendship that is very unique and we will cherish this bond that we share for the rest of our lives,” Wiseman said.

The crew showcased their bond when Hansen had requested to name one of the bright craters on the moon Carroll in homage to Wiseman’s deceased wife. “It was a powerful moment up here … my crewmates approached me when we were at Kennedy in quarantine and they said, hey, we — the three of them — had talked and they would like to do this. And that was an emotional moment for me. And I just thought that was just a total treasure that they had thought through this and they had offered this,” Wiseman said.

The moment had left them emotional. “I think when Jeremy spelled Carroll’s name … I think for me, that’s when I was overwhelmed with emotion. And I looked over and Christina was crying. I put my hand down on Jeremy’s hand as he was still talking. It was right there on that rail and I could just tell he was trembling … And we all pretty much broke down right there,” Wiseman said.

When asked by Rebecca Morales from BBC News about the number one thing they’ll miss about being in space, Koch was the first to answer. “I will miss this camaraderie,” she said. “This sense of teamwork is something that you don’t usually get as an adult. I mean, we are close, like brothers and sisters, and that is a privilege we will never have again.”

“We are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through. And it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life,” Wiseman said.

Koch explained their experience, stating: “When we saw tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had. And honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth,” she said. “It was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbed in the universe. I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there’s one new thing I know, and that is planet Earth.”

According to the Artemis II crew, their mission was fueled by the human pursuit of connection and a desire to quench curiosity. This mission brought not just the crew together but the world as well.

In Section 1, the purpose of the order begins by stating the Fourteenth Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The order goes on to say how the amendment has been misinterpreted and excludes people with birthright citizenship who were born in the US but not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

The two situations in which someone is not granted birthright citizenship whilst being born in the U.S. extend to: “(1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”

This interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment extends to those illegally in the U.S., but also to those who are here legally. The list of Visa holders is expansive and is divided mostly into Immigrant and Non-immigrant visa categories. There are also cases of asylum seekers and those who have obtained refugee status.

To clarify, the definitions given at the bottom of the order include, but are not limited to, Mother, meaning the immediate female biological progenitor, and Father, meaning the immediate male progenitor.

The order was set to be implemented 30 days after it was issued, and would affect persons in the US 30 days after that. However, there have been at least nine lawsuits and various court cases prolonging the implementation of the order, including but not limited to: expectant Mothers, immigration organizations and the U.S. States.

Birthright citizenship has a long history in the U.S. In the Dred Scott v. Stanford case in 1857, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet Scott, sued the St. Louis Circuit Court for their freedom because they lived in a state territory where slavery was prohibited. Scott lost the case against the state; he then sued again and the case made its way to the Supreme Court.

In the end, Scott and his family lost the case because the Supreme Court ruled that enslaved or freed people of African descent were not citizens and therefore could not have citizenship. The ruling caused a stir in the North, which eventually led to a catalyst for the Civil War.

U.S.-style birthright citizenship isn’t common, with 33 countries out of the 159 in the European University Institute (EUI) dataset, including the U.S., offering citizenship without at least one parent being a legal citizen or visa holder or an application being made for the child. However, this dataset only includes 159 out of the 195 countries globally.

When asked about how the new order could affect people who come or live in the U.S., Caleena Sterrett, a third-year studying accounting, said, “Yeah I definitely see it making it way more difficult for people to come to the U.S. Because it’s like, I even know people whose parents are born in Nigeria or something, and then they [their parents] got a visa to come to the U.S. and work. And so I think that would definitely make it harder for people that I know personally.”

The new order by President Trump would affect unauthorized or authorized immigrants. This also includes long-term permanent U.S. residents, students and anyone else whose parents were not “naturalized” in the U.S.

According to a study done by Pew Research, in 2023, about 245,000 babies were born to unauthorized immigrants, which made up about 9% of the babies born that year and about 15,000 babies were born from authorized immigrants.

In another study done by Pew Research, about 49% of Americans believe people who immigrated illegally should have citizenship. Almost all Americans, about 95%, believe people who immigrated legally should have birthright citizenship along with U.S. citizens.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s order will be made in June or July.