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The student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901

The Wellesley News

The student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901

The Wellesley News

The student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901

The Wellesley News

Hannah Bates, Staff Writer

All content by Hannah Bates
Image credit: Dan Scavino (Wikimedia Commons)

It’s easy to blame young men for the election of Donald Trump: Here’s why you shouldn’t

Hannah Bates | November 13, 2024

Going into the presidential election, many news organizations and pollsters commented on the increasing number of young men participating in right-wing rallies and conservative organizing. Many drew the...

Image credit: Caitlin Donovan

A tale of two watch parties

Hannah Bates | November 13, 2024

In the immediate aftermath of Kamala Harris' loss of the 2024 election, I, like many people, had unfortunate flashbacks to 2016. Flashbacks of waking up the day after Election Day and being informed by...

White text on a blue background has a stylized letter "W" and the text "Opinions"

Turning the page: Reviving recreational reading at Wellesley

Avery Finley and Hannah Bates | November 7, 2024

The summer before third grade my parents were, to put it mildly, frustrated by my lack of interest in reading. I did love books; my mom would read to my sister and I almost every single night. However,...

Wellesley weighs in: Has Kamala changed?

Hannah Bates | October 31, 2024

“Kamala Harris was such a great candidate when she first launched her campaign but now it's like I'm barely tolerating her. She's dragging the party closer in the direction of the Republican Party and...

Image courtesy of Terri Sewell

Wellesley weighs in: third party voters

Hannah Bates | October 10, 2024

“I wish people would stop vote-shaming third party voters. I plan to vote third party and I don’t need to be told that I’m “throwing away” my vote. I’m voting with my conscience.”   I...

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Rethinking Rankings: Why Babson Might Not Be a Top Two School

Hannah Bates | October 1, 2024

One of the funniest Halloween costumes I have seen at Wellesley is credited to an Olin student in one of my political science courses. At first glance, he seemed to have just dressed as a slightly more...

White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

Wellesley Weighs In: What the 2024 Presidential race means to students

Hannah Bates | September 24, 2024

The 2024 Presidential Election has and will likely continue to dominate the news cycle as we march towards November. It can sometimes be difficult to analyze how Wellesley students feel about the continual...

Donald Trump (photo credits Gage Skidmore) and Kamala Harris (photo credits office of Kamala Harris)

Watching with Wellesley: Wellesley Students React to the Presidential Debate

Hannah Bates | September 17, 2024

On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Wellesley students gathered in basements, dorm rooms and academic spaces to watch former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris face off in the first presidential...

Female athletes racing in track and field

Women are Breaking Barriers in Sport: Why Not Break the Binary?

Hannah Bates | March 27, 2024

Recently, I have seen many headlines announcing triumphs of women in sport: from Caitlin Clark breaking the NCAA scoring record for both men and women’s basketball, to the Paris 2024 Olympic games emphasizing...

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Moderate Trap of Nikki Haley

Hannah Bates | February 7, 2024

The former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley,  is on some level hard not to root for. Haley can easily be read as a foil to former President Trump: a young woman of color who allows herself...

Photo courtesy of Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash

What we gain from gifting

Hannah Bates | December 13, 2023

As a long-time retail worker, I am intimately familiar with the gift-purchasing process. It is my responsibility to help customers find the best gift without totally overshooting their budget. However,...

College recruitment is often a racially and financially biased process.

I am an NCAA champion: we should end college recruiting

Hannah Bates | September 20, 2023

On May 27, 2023, during the NCAA rowing championship, I rowed in the Wellesley varsity eight as it crossed the finish line, securing a national title and team championship. Crew has been a fundamental...

Collection of letters

Um, am I allowed to like, hate filler words?

Hannah Bates | March 22, 2023

I didn’t notice it at first. The first few ‘ums’ slipped easily past my ears. However, I soon found myself counting the number of ‘likes’ she would fit into one phrase. Soon, it became all I...

A person is blowing a bubble out of pink bubble gum. The bubble gum has the words "bimbo culture on it"

To be or to bimbo? A guide to navigating BimboTok

Hannah Bates | February 22, 2023

I have recently found myself in an interesting corner of the internet known as “#BimboTok.” Under this and similar hashtags one will find hundreds of videos from creators self-identifying as “bimbos,”...

Banner reading this website has been seized over images of a book shelf

What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?

Hannah Bates | December 7, 2022

On Nov. 3, the FBI officially shut down Z-library, a website that offered over 11 million books and 84 million articles for free. What led to the arrest of the creators and site runners Anton Napolsky...

Photo of Wellesley College entrance

Photo courtesy of Wellesley College

The Future of Wintersession Reaffirmed after Rumors of Cancellation

Hannah Bates | December 7, 2022

Wintersession has been a staple at Wellesley College for decades and is known for giving students the ability to explore educational opportunities from study abroad to skill building workshops. However,...

Image shows many "I Voted" stickers on a white background

Not voting isn’t the political protest you think it is

Hannah Bates | November 2, 2022

In this upcoming election, like many other Americans, my vote will be statistically insignificant. I am from Monmouth County, New Jersey, which sits inside the state's fourth congressional district. My...

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