For the past three years, Centenary’s Black Student Union (BSU) has hosted Family Reunion, feeding the Centenary students and the community with great soul food, games, and music . . .

In the fall of 2023, Shreveport will welcome its first French immersion school in Fairfield Magnet Elementary School. The first classes to open will be kindergarten and 1st grade, all with francophone native-speaker teachers. After that, two classes will open each year. Shreveport was the only major city in Louisiana without a French immersion school until now.

Ramadan, Easter, and Passover are celebrated during the same week only three times each century, but such was the case during the first week of April 2023. Muslim students are halfway through their month-long observance of Ramadan, during which they pray and fast from sunrise to sunset to purify themselves, self-reflect, and show devotion to Allah. Many Muslims also use the holiday as an opportunity to practice kindness, empathize with those who suffer from food insecurity, and make charitable donations to people living in poverty . . .

Happy April Fool’s Day, dear reader! In honor of this day full of pranks and tricks, and as a marker of being halfway through our publications, The Conglomerate very proudly present our satirical issue! Satire, for those who may not know, is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues” (via a lovely Google Search).

The Academy Awards are often a highlight for film lovers everywhere. The most recent awards ceremony early this month awarded a record number of women and people of color. Because it is often critiqued due to the white and male monolithic award winners, film lovers were ecstatic to see the list of winners this year . . .

On March 6, 2023, Louisiana’s Secretary of State, Kyle Ardoin, made an official statement about three other states withdrawing from the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as the ERIC; Louisiana had previously started withdrawing from the ERIC back in January 2022 . . .

Centenary students and faculty dine in the cafeteria several times daily. While doing so, they interact with the contracted Sodexo staff, who cook and serve them food. Although these staff members are familiar faces, not much is known about them as people outside of their professions . . .

Remi Miller is a senior studying political science here at Centenary College. Her extensive list of extracurriculars includes being the News and Worldview editor for The Conglomerate, being an SGA senator, and recently, starting Centenary’s first professional attire closet. To find out more about the closet, I spoke with her on February 26, 2023, and asked a series of questions about the closet’s development . . .

In continuing to celebrate and honor Black History Month, I was able to talk to Morgan Bradford. Besides being a senior here at Centenary, Morgan is also President of the Black Student Union organization on campus. She has done a fantastic job throughout her presidency so far, and I am very glad I was able to interview her during this month.

On January 27, 2023 I had the opportunity to attend the Korean Art Song Festival with Yeon-Kyung Kim which was hosted by the Hurley School of Music’s Voice Department. It was an exceptional display of diversity and cultural richness that was a delight to both those performing and audience members.

On Friday January 20, 2023, Ridgewood Middle School hosted a handful of Centenary students, including myself, and allowed us to talk to their 8th grade students about high school and college. This event was made possible through the joint effort of Dr. Christal Schoen from Centenary and Mr. Joseph Johnson of Ridgewood Middle School. It served as one of the last events for this year’s Dream Week.

In the United States Congress, the House of Representatives (the bigger chamber), elects a Speaker during the first session of every new Congress. The Speaker is second in the line of presidential succession after the vice president. They are in charge of the organization of debate and House accounting. Typically, although not a constitutional rule, the Speaker is a member of the majority party. They often act as a spokesperson for the party and lead discussions in a manner that benefits their party’s interests . . .

Welcome to the Spring 2023 volume of The Conglomerate! We’re so glad to be back and see all of you (even though we can’t actually see your faces…). We hope you’ve all enjoyed the holiday season and found some way to relax. I know the staff, Executive Board, and I made the most of it - even if that meant doing absolutely nothing. Despite being away from the paper for almost a month, I have been waiting for us to start publishing again. Little did I think that it would be the day so soon . . .

As most students may very well know, Pandora is Centenary’s art and literary magazine and one of the only outlets for students to express themselves creatively on campus. But have you ever wondered where the magical mags come from or how they became so popular on campus? I spoke with Pandora’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Jane Storms, to get the inside scoop.

Welcome to Issue 10 of The Conglomerate – the last issue of the Fall 2022 semester. I still can’t believe this issue is finally here, and the paper has completed another successful publishing period.

I turned eighteen last December, marking me as an adult. Sure, I couldn’t drink, smoke, or rent a car, but I excitedly began to count down to the 2022 midterm elections because I could finally do what I’d been waiting years to do: vote.