Dr. Matthew Blasi, one of Centenary’s English professors, recently gave a reading from his debut novel, Sweet Muffin Ranch. The novel follows Gene, his family, and their rescue and rehabilitation center for dogs. Before Dr. Blasi read an excerpt from his book, Sam Brown, Dr. Jones-Pierce, and Dr. Martin all read brief pieces. Sam Brown read a couple of flash fiction pieces, and Dr. Jones-Pierce read a creative nonfiction excerpt about a childhood friend

As qualifying for the Louisiana gubernatorial election ended on August 10th, there are officially 16 candidates vying for the governor’s seat—eight Republican, four Independent, three Democratic, and one with no declared party. All sixteen candidates will run against each other during the primary election on October 14th. Unless one candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates (regardless of party affiliation) will go on to compete for the governor’s seat during the general election of November 18th . . .

Dear Reader,

It is my absolute honor to welcome you to the Fall 2023 volume of The Conglomerate! With the start of a new volume and a new semester, I have been thinking a lot about beginnings. As a society, one of the beginnings that we talk a lot about is the beginning of a new year. Many people have lots of New Year’s traditions, ranging from starting a new planner to making a meticulous list of goals for the year, and, of course, it would be hard to forget about New Year’s resolutions . . .

With Centenary in Paris approaching fast and the school year about to start, it’s a good time to start preparing for traveling abroad. Maybe you’re a first-time traveler joining the rest of your freshman class to explore Paris, or perhaps you’re just thinking ahead for your May module. Either way, it’s important to know some tips when you’re traveling internationally . . .

There are so many words that I could use to describe Remi Miller, our head of the News and Worldview section. She is assertive, creative, determined, fashionable, driven, passionate, and so much more. She has done a fabulous job guiding the News and Worldview section this year

Dear Readers, it seems that somehow, we’ve reached the end of The Congo’s 2022-23 publication year.

No matter how many times I reread that sentence it still has yet to sink in. It honestly feels like only the other week where I was accepting the Editor-in-Chief position – being told strongly that “it’s a crazy job, absolutely mental, but you’re going to be fantastic and love every moment.” Simply speaking, that claim was nothing but an understatement . . .

Most of you may know Emily Moreno as an incredibly encouraging, stylish, and beautiful woman, but we here at The Conglomerate know her as the brave and hardworking soul in charge of getting everyone paid. However, next year Emily will be leaving her post as Business Manager to become the Sports Section Head for the 2023-2024 school year . . .

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.