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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
VOLUME CLIV, ISSUE 53
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Panelists discuss complexities of BDS Omar Barghouti, Alissa Wise, Linda Sarsour discuss their roles in movement
measures such as boycotts, BDS calls for countries, businesses and universities to cut their economic ties with Israel
ian-American, is a member of the Justice League NYC, a group that advocates for criminal justice reform.
sour, a Palestinian American political activist — expressed their belief that BDS is essential to ensure the human rights of Palestinians. The event organizers hoped the three speakers could dispel any misconceptions around the BDS movement to attending community members. BDS is “not some grand, conspiratorial, nefarious thing, but actually it’s a movement led by Palestinians with very clear demands and goals,” said Ben Bienstock ’20, a member of SJP and JVP. During the event, Barghouti, Wise and Sarsour explained the primary demands of the BDS movement. Through
until the country extends “full equality” to the Palestinian citizens of Israel and ends its occupation of contested territory, including West Gaza and East Jerusalem. All three speakers have played key roles in advancing the BDS movement and other activist causes. Barghouti co-founded the movement in 2005, while Wise helps lead JVP, a Jewish group that works against “anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression.” Barghouti appeared at the panel over video chat after being denied entry to the United States by the U.S. consulate in April. Sarsour, a Palestin-
To explain the importance of the BDS movement, Wise began by outlining the stark differences between the Israelis’ and Palestinians’ lived experiences despite residing in proximity of each other. “The parallel universe of Palestinian life under Occupation in the West Bank and Gaza (and) … the basic rights Palestinian citizens of Israel don’t enjoy that Jewish citizens do, is harmful,” Wise said. Wise and Sarsour pointed to and acknowledged the recent deaths of 34
LEON JIANG / HERALD
Linda Sarsour (left) and Rabbi Alissa Wise (right) spoke about the importance of the BDS movement and its goals.
METRO
R.I. residents report housing as most pressing challenge
Ocean State residents generally say that poor access to affordable housing lowers the quality of their communities more than any other factor, according to a report issued by health insurance provider Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island in partnership with the University’s School of Public Health. The report, released Oct. 23, examined how R.I. residents perceive various aspects of their community life. The report also examined factors that included food access, transportation availability, safety and employment. The researchers interviewed more than 2,200 respondents over the phone. Giv-
Beloved U. professor passes away at 64
BY SPENCER SCHULTZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On Monday night, student groups Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine hosted three speakers at the University to discuss the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The speakers — Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, Rabbi Alissa Wise, the deputy director of Jewish Voice for Peace and Linda Sar-
BY HENRY DAWSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Robert Douglas Cope remembered for compassion, engaging lectures
BY OLIVIA BURDETTE AND CELIA HACK SENIOR STAFF WRITER AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
Blue Cross Blue Shield, U. School of Public Health partner to survey 2,200 residents
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
en the large sample size, the report can be understood to reflect the opinions of the entire state, said Melissa Clark, Professor of Health Services and Principal Investigator of the report. Access to affordable, quality housing received a compiled score of 48 out of a possible 100 — the lowest score in the report. Participants were asked to evaluate cost of housing, ease of utility payment and access to affordable internet. Jobs scored almost as low, at 56 out of 100. To determine this score, respondents were asked about the availability of jobs paying living wages and access to adult education. Clark said the report did not offer many surprises to those working in healthcare, but rather reinforced existing data and highlighted specific problems. The report “gives additional data to organizations that are working in these areas as evidence of the importance of
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Associate Professor of History Robert Douglas Cope— known as Doug by colleagues, friends and family — passed away Oct. 6 at the age of 64. During his 31-year stretch at the University, Cope became well-known among undergraduates for his vibrant and engaging lectures in courses on colonial Latin America, conquests, the Mexican Revolution and, most famously, pirates. “Above all, he really was a master storyteller,” said Jennifer Lambe, associate professor of history. Lambe first met Cope while she was an undergraduate at the University. She took three classes with him — HIST 0233: “Colonial Latin America,” HIST 1967E: “In the Shadow of Revolution: Mexico Since 1940” and an upper level seminar on resistance and rebellion in Latin America. Lambe was consistently drawn to Cope’s courses because of his ability to “communicate the material in a way that made it come alive for
students.” He could engage “everyone in the class in a really effortless way,” she added. Cope wore many hats during his time at the University: He served as a first-year and sophomore advisor, an advisor for undergraduates and graduates in the Department of History, a graduate student supervisor for the colonial Latin American field of study and a concentration advisor for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. In each of these positions, Cope demonstrated an incredible dedication to students at the University, Lambe said. “Doug was the kind of person who you asked to do something, and he would always say yes,” she added. Javier Fernández-Galeano PhD’19, visiting assistant professor of history who knew Cope as a professor and mentor at the graduate school, remarked that Cope possessed a “legendary” talent for engaging students through his lectures. Without the aid of Powerpoints or other presentations, “students were able to visualize the historical narrative because of his incredible capacity to make his lectures so tangible,” Fernández-Galeano said. Cope also made Fernández-Galeano feel personally welcome in the field of academia. “As someone who came
SEE COPE PAGE 3
METRO
MBTA approves proposal for faster train between Boston, Providence
SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD
If approved, travel time would decrease to 46 minutes, frequency of trains would increase BY ISABEL INADOMI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
In the commute between Boston and Providence, missing a train does not always mean a brief 20 minute delay — sometimes, this misstep can set travelers back by two hours. For Joslyn Mills, a postdoctoral researcher at the University who used to spend 20 hours a week traveling between the two cities, the Massachusetts Bay
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Theoretical Physics Center moves into recently renovated Barus building Page 3
Anthony Bogues reflects on career in academia, life as activist Page 4
Flynn ’20.5: Secularization of U. motto would undermine institutional history Page 6
Hall ’20, Winsor ’22: U. should deny recruitment efforts from oil companies Page 7
Transportation Authority’s infrequent service, slow trains and common delays were daily frustrations. But the commute may improve due to a vote by the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board on Nov. 4. The Control Board voted to
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MBTA FROM PAGE 1 back substantial investment in the commuter rail system, committing to replace diesel locomotives with electric trains and increase service frequency and speed. To go into effect, this resolution requires extensive state funding, including an initial $1.5 billion to start the first phase of the transformation, according to the Providence Journal. The Providence/Stoughton Line, which provides service to Boston, “is already electrified and therefore it presents a great opportunity to pilot a new high-speed rail service,” wrote Josh Block, press secretary for Gov. Gina Raimondo, in an email to The Herald. Raimondo has been working with Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker to create faster public transportation between the two cities, Block added. In addition to the conversion from diesel to electric trains, each train car would be independently powered, allowing for faster acceleration. The MBTA would also raise the level of boarding platforms in the eight stations between Providence and Boston, eliminating the need for unfolding stairs from compartments and allowing for faster connection times. “The trip time could be reduced from what is currently about an hour and ten minutes to 46 minutes,” said John Flaherty, deputy director for Grow Smart RI. The proposal would also increase the frequency of trains to every half hour or twenty minutes, Flaherty added. “What they’re looking to do is to potentially have the commuter rail system operate more like a subway.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS In the MBTA system, Providence is the second busiest stop outside of Boston, Flaherty said. Flaherty added that there is a demand for fast, non-automotive transport between the two cities. Boston has “the worst congestion anywhere in the country,” and the MBTA’s proposal would incentivize train use and cut down on the need for car travel, he said. Grow Smart RI, an organization that promotes sustainable development in the public and private sectors, was “thrilled” with the outcome of the vote, Flaherty added. Students like Chiaka Ibe ’21 and Katie Friis ’21 are excited by these proposed changes. During job recruiting season last year, Ibe was traveling to and from Boston once or twice a week and often took the commuter rail. Ibe said that a faster trip and more frequent service would have been much more convenient for her, especially when making it to early morning interviews. “If I had more time to sleep before I had to go to Boston, that would be incredible,” she said. For Friis, a Boston native, a shorter train ride would make it easier to visit family and friends. “It would probably make me more incentivized to go to Boston for a shorter amount of time,” she said. In addition to faster travel time, switching to electric trains includes extensive environmental benefits. Though the scope of carbon emission reductions still depends on the source of electricity, Senior Lecturer in Environment and Society Kurt Teichert said that Rhode Island’s current power grid runs on natural gas, which is cleaner than diesel.
Teichert avoids using the commuter rail because of the MBTA’s current diesel locomotives, which contribute to poor air quality in stations like Back Bay. “As much as possible, if I know I have something going on in Boston, I will look at the schedule and book an Amtrak,” he said. “There’s a number of local source emissions that go away when you electrify the trains, and that’s the primary health and environmental benefit,” Teichert said. He added that the “particulate matter is particularly problematic for people that live along those lines” and is associated with higher rates of asthma in those communities. “The transportation sector in the Northeast is both the single largest and the fastest-growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,” Flaherty added. “If we don’t do something somewhat radical on the transportation front, we’re never going to make a whole lot of progress on reducing emissions.” The vote still leaves the question of funding for MBTA’s full system transformation — which is estimated to cost approximately $29 billion — unanswered. But public interest in the change is significant, Flaherty added. “There’s a great deal of support for raising the money necessary to really overhaul the transit system,” he said. Block added that conversations between Raimondo and Baker will continue regarding the proposal. “Our two teams are continuing to discuss logistical hurdles — such as financing, acquiring the locomotives, working with Amtrak on scheduling, etc. — in order to advance the proposal,” he wrote.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
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INDEX FROM PAGE 1 putting more resources into some of them, and … some that are very underfunded now,” Clark said. Will Gomberg ’20, co-director of Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, pointed to lack of funding as one of the largest barriers to addressing affordable housing issues in the state. “Everyone knows there’s a crisis, and everyone knows there’s not enough resources being mobilized to address the crisis,” Gomberg said. The report has the potential to bring awareness to groups outside of the “housing and homelessness” sphere so that they recognize the significance of housing quality as a indicator of health, he added. “Of all the issues facing our state, housing is among the most pressing,” Gomberg said. “We need to address it to effectively address anything else.” Gomberg identified problems that might have factored into the poor rating of housing in the report, such as interminable waitlists, lack of state funding, old housing stock and income discrimination. Waitlists for housing benefits are “inaccessible,” sometimes leaving individuals in limbo for as long as a decade, he added. The lack of a dedicated line item in the state budget for affordable housing leads to a dearth of sustainable funding, according to Gomberg. Additionally, the old housing stock can lead to health problems with lead, among other concerns. Beyond these issues, source of income discrimination by landlords
SARAH MARTINEZ / HERALD
prevents potential tenants from using housing vouchers to lease. Gomberg also called for the University to work more to address its impact on housing in the state. Clark said the University should invest more resources and people to study the quality of life in the state. For example, researchers from the School of Public Health could investigate the disparities identified in the report between opportunities for children and older adults compared to other populations, Clark said. Ada Amobi, the physician lead at the
Health Equity Institute for the Rhode Island Department of Health, was surprised by responses to a question about discrimination in the healthcare setting — only 7 percent of respondents said they had experienced discrimination, which was much lower than typical statewide findings in other research, according to Amobi. While the study oversampled for children and older adults, it did not oversample for minority populations, which could have skewed findings about minority groups, she added.
To Amobi, the report highlights the importance of understanding that health issues are connected to more than just access to a doctor’s office. Factors like transportation, food access and safety should be considered as well. “The question now is, ‘How can the public health community and the healthcare community … and other stakeholders work together to create a healthcare road map for Rhode Island knowing that everything is very much connected?’” Amobi said. After the report’s release, Blue Cross
Blue Shield announced its intention to direct its BlueAngel Community Health Grant program toward resolving the housing issues identified in the report. This grant was established 17 years ago, and since then has raised over $4,000,000 in funding for R.I.-based nonprofits, according to a BCBSRI press release. According to the release that invited non-profits to apply for the grant, “The expectation is that by investing in access to safe and affordable housing, health outcomes for all Rhode Islanders will improve over time.”
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
Theoretical Physics Center celebrates opening of new space
NICOLE KIM / HERALD
The renovated building will alleviate space constraints in Barus and Holley and provide a dedicated space for the Brown Theoretical Physics Center.
Recently renovated Barus building offers new space for collaboration in physics BY JACK BORRIS STAFF WRITER The Brown Theoretical Physics Center celebrated its move into the recently-renovated Barus Building with an opening reception attended by students, faculty and staff Monday. The renovation, which cost just under $1.2 million, added over 8,000 square feet of space for the year-old center. The building, which formerly housed the Education department, was expanded and revamped over the summer to suit the needs of the BTPC, which moved into the space in September. The Education department moved to 164 Angell Street last semester, The Herald previously re-
COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Community members remember Associate Professor of History Robert Douglas Cope for his vibrant enthusiasm for his work.
COPE FROM PAGE 1 from a humble background, he was always invested in making everyone feel included. That kind of presence is something very unique in academia.” Cope’s compassion for others also extended into his academic research. He was particularly interested in studying marginalized communities and ensuring historical justice for indigenous
ported. The BTPC is comprised of faculty, post-docs, students and visitors researching high-energy physics, astrophysics and condensed matter physics. According to the center’s website, the BTPC aims to increase collaboration among theorists and “supports interdisciplinary cross-departmental research with other STEM disciplines.” Before the Barus Building reopened at the beginning of this semester, researchers working for the BTPC were housed in Barus and Holley alongside the rest of the Physics department. The center “is designed to bring synergy to our work so that we have more contact with each other to think about new ideas,” said Brad Marston, professor of physics and associate director of the center. In addition to offering a dedicated space for the center, the renovation of the Barus Building helped alleviate space constraints in Barus and Holley.
“We used to be completely jammed for space with the expansion of the engineering school, so we didn’t have any place to put visitors who would be coming to work with us,” Marston said. “Now we have some space.” The ground floor of the Barus Building is now a common area meant to encourage physics students and faculty to collaborate, including breakout rooms for smaller group work. Upstairs, the building contains faculty offices and conference rooms. “I’m particularly proud of the front of this building, which we call the ‘Physics Forum,’” said Jim Gates, professor of physics and director of the BTPC. “This is a place that the center does not own; rather, it’s for the use of everyone in the Physics department. … We had a student in here over the weekend for a physics conference who said that this feels like a magical place, and that’s exactly what I wanted.” The center’s faculty are excited about the interdisciplinary opportu-
nities that the new space will enable. “I’m hoping that the building will lead to new discoveries and new collaborations between groups, both in physics and in other physical science departments,” Marston said. “For example, I have some collaborations with people in Chemistry and (the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences). So now being physically closer to them, it’s easier to go meet with them or for them to come over here.” The team-oriented nature of physics work is aided by the new collaborative spaces, said Professor of Physics Meenakshi Narain. “Most of the way you do physics — whether it’s experimental or theoretical physics —is by bouncing off ideas with each other,” she said. “So having a center like this where you create those team-building discussions and bring people from everywhere (to collaborate) … is great.” Although the Education department was the most recent occupant of the
building before the BTPC, the Barus Building was once an important facility of the Physics department. Along with the former Wilson Hall, now called Friedman Hall, the Barus Building was the site of early experiments on electron diffraction and cathode tubes, Marston said. “This is kind of a return for us,” he added. Carl Barus, the namesake of the building, “was a physicist who was the fourth president of the American Physical Society.” Ultimately, Gates sees the Barus Building as an invaluable tool for furthering inter- and intra-departmental dialogue about physics at Brown. “This place here is basically my vision based on what I’ve seen at places such as the Googleplex and other places where innovation goes on,” he said. “Our university is really stepping up to the plate so that we have an opportunity at Brown to welcome students into this world and to contribute to some of the developments.”
people, Fernández-Galeano said. Cope’s first published book, titled “The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720,” explores categories of race in Mexico during the colonial period. The book was “a classic in history from below” — a historical narrative captured from the perspective of marginalized groups — and received an honorable mention for the Herbert E. Bolton Prize for the best book in Latin American Studies, said Neil Safier, associate professor of history and director of the John Carter Brown Library. Before he passed away, Cope was working on a book examining working class individuals and the informal economy of Mexico City in the eighteenth century, said James Green, professor of Latin American history and director of the Brazil Initiative. The Department of History is hoping to find the manuscript of the book on Cope’s computer so that his work can be published. Though Cope’s colleagues described him as shy and introverted, when Cope discussed his research “he was full of life and energy,” Green said.
Cope was raised in a working class family as the oldest of four siblings. He first entered higher education at St. Clair County Community College, where he earned an associate degree in humanities in 1977, before receiving a bachelor’s degree in history from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan in 1979. Cope continued to study Latin American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning his master’s in 1981. Following his graduation, Cope was accepted as a Fulbright Scholar and chose Mexico as his host country. One of his sisters, Marikay Cope, remembers her older brother returning from his trip and trying to teach her Spanish. Cope loved learning languages — he was fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and could read and write in French, Marikay said. “Doug has always been the smartest person I know. We laugh sometimes that he got the lion’s share of the family,” Marikay said. Because Cope was 14 years older than Marikay, he was already away at college while Marikay was growing up. Her fondest memories of their time to-
gether are during the summers when her older brother returned home. As a young girl, she remembers Cope scooping her up and letting her ride on his shoulders, telling her stories and making impressions of Sesame Street characters. “He did a really great Grover,” she said. It was a tradition every summer for Cope, Marikay and their father to make the drive up to Detroit for a Tigers baseball game. Baseball was Cope’s favorite sport. Above all, Marikay remembers her brother for his quiet compassion. Cope contributed to over 50 charities throughout his life, supporting causes such as the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, firefighters and various animal charities. Oftentimes, Cope would make a donation in the name of his nieces and nephews, Marikay said. “If you were to talk to any of his nieces and nephews, their greatest memories of their Uncle Doug were the unique things he would send them,” Marikay said. One year, he sent his nieces and nephews a letter notifying them that he had adopted a
cow to help a family in a foreign country in their name. Another year, they received a stuffed toy seal along with a certificate verifying that they had saved a seal’s life. But outside of the packages sent to his nieces and nephews in the mail, Cope’s family was unaware of his many other charitable donations, Marikay said. While looking through Cope’s apartment after he passed away, Marikay and her sisters discovered dozens of letters from charities Cope had donated to over the years. “He never talked about (his donations). But I think he felt like he made a good living, and he didn’t need all of the money he made. He wanted to use it for something good,” Marikay said. Cope is survived by his three younger sisters — Melissa Zantello, Marge Fagan and Marikay — along with his brothers-in-law and several nieces and nephews. The Department of History will be holding a memorial service for Cope Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. The service will be hosted at the John Carter Brown Library.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Anthony Bogues on academia, activism, advancing justice U. professor, activist, former politician discusses justice, legacy of slavery
BY NITYA THAKKAR CONTRIBUTING WRITER Anthony Bogues regards himself as many things: a critical intellectual, scholar, writer and curator. Over the past 19 years, Bogues has embodied each role while holding various positions at the University: He first joined Brown’s faculty in 2000 before serving as the chair of the Department of Africana Studies from 2003 to 2009. The University most recently appointed Bogues to be the director of the Center for the Studies of Slavery and Justice in 2012. Bogues’ appointment as the inaugural director of the CSSJ in 2012 fulfills a central goal established in the University’s 2006 report from its Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice to create a center focused on advancing research about the legacy of slavery and justice. Despite his established career as a professor on a college campus, Bogues says that he does not view himself as an academic, due to academia’s tendency to be removed from the real world. “Academia is a space where you can work as a critical intellectual, but you also have to follow actual protocols and disciplines of an academy, so you end up with narrow questions,” Bogues said. “I’m more preoccupied with trying to think about the world we live in, think about history and ideas and cultural expressions and think about the ways in which people of African descent have shaped the world.” Bogues, who is a renowned scholar in Caribbean and African studies, says that he uses his work to understand how to advance racial and economic
BDS FROM PAGE 1 Palestinians, 16 of whom were civilians, following an Israeli air strike in Gaza. “Nobody denies the history of the Jewish people or the persecution of the Jewish people — my question to the Jewish families that support the State of Israel — do you truly believe that anywhere in this world there could be a state that exists or a country that exists for safety and security for one people at the expense of another?” Sarsour asked. After explaining the BDS movement’s importance to achieving rights for Palestinians, the three speakers also addressed allegations that the movement is anti-Semitic in nature. “Since there is nothing Jewish about Israel’s regime of occupation, … ethnic cleansing and apartheid, there is nothing inherently anti-Jewish, then, about a non-violent human rights struggle to end this system of oppression,” Barghouti said. Sarsour added that as an active supporter of the BDS movement, she still believes “in self-determination for the Jewish people. I believe Jewish people deserve to be in safety and sanctity and security, just like every other people.” “But when you go ask a Palestinian, whose grandparents and great-grand-
justice inside and outside of the University. Path to the University While growing up in Jamaica, Bogues said he found himself engrossed in literature — novels, poetry and philosophy from authors like Marcus Garvey, an activist for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to W.B. Yeats, the Irish poet. This literature inspired Bogues to be an activist, he said. Bogues “was part of a generation, like myself, that emerged from the ’60s very much concerned with questions of decolonization and equality,” said Brian Meeks, chair of the Africana Studies department. “When nobody else was reading radical literature, he had huge bookshelves full of it. He is very much concerned with how to make a difference and change things through theoretical thinking.” Bogues’ activism began at his high school, where he worked to change the school’s history and literature curriculum to be more representative of the Caribbean and to create a more democratic school structure. Additionally, in high school, Bogues led public demonstrations against the police brutality that working-class and low-income black communities faced, he wrote in an email to The Herald. Possessed by the desire to challenge the status quo, Bogues said he wanted to pursue a career as a writer post-high school. But being a writer was not held in high regard in Jamaica, partially due to the financial constraints associated with the career, Bogues said. So, he opted to become a radio and television journalist instead. “From a young age, I always felt that the power of the word and being able to write about the world through words was very important,” Bogues said. For about a decade, Bogues worked as a journalist in London before returning to Jamaica in 1979 to work as a TV producer for the Jamaica Broadcasting
parents were displaced or massacred, so that there could be a state created for the sanctity and security of the Jewish people, that is another valid narrative that needs to be heard. You can’t tell Palestinians what to think about the state of Israel,” she added. Wise also said that critiquing the movement and its advocates as anti-Semitic undermines its validity and draws unnecessary divisions between Jewish people and BDS activists, as well as other Palestinians and Muslims. To Wise, the BDS movement represents a call for transformation that will “offer freedom and equality for all people” who live in the region, she said. Wise went on to explain how she became involved with the BDS movement as a Jewish Rabbi. Upon learning of Israel’s occupation of areas such as the West Bank, Wise said she “began a period of learning and unlearning that transformed the rest of my life.” “ My life’s work became about realizing justice for Palestinians, even as my ancestors were some of the first ones to settle outside the walls of Jerusalem.” Wise also defended fellow panelist Sarsour from accusations that Sarsour possessed a record of engaging in anti-Semitism. “Linda is more tolerant and more patient of the Jewish community
Corp. But Bogues was still set on making a change, so in the late ’80s, he became a full-time activist for the People’s National Party. This Democratic-Socialist party aimed to decrease unemployment rates and increase access to education for all people, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In 1989, the party won a general election, and Bogues was made the chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Michael Manley. Bogues only stayed in the position for 3 years. He decided to leave politics after a banker from the United States told him that Jamaica had “no sovereignty” as a “debtor nation.” “At that moment I decided I needed to leave politics since I was only there to change society, and if that was not possible, then I needed to do something else in this new conjuncture of global neoliberalism,” Bogues wrote in an email to The Herald. “I decided to go to school and study because the world was changing,” he added. Bogues received a Ph.D. in political theory from the University of the West Indies in 1994. In 2000, he came to Brown for a summer fellowship at the John Carter Brown Library to research the Haitian Revolution. Upon presenting this research, Bogues was asked to join the University’s faculty, where he has remained for nearly two decades.
COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Anthony Bogues endeavors to advance racial and economic justice inside and outside the University.
Leading the CSSJ Since he was appointed the director of the CSSJ, Bogues has seen his work at the Center and his scholarship fuse together, driving conversation around the connections between slavery’s legacy and justice today. “You can discuss slavery as if it is something that has historically gone and passed, and recognize it or give an apology and that’s it. Or, you can say to yourself that slavery has a legacy today that continues to structure our everyday lives,” Bogues said. “We have to ask, ‘What are the ideas in our
national discourse today that have been shaped by slavery and how do we deal with them?’” Thus far, Bogues has witnessed his work at the CSSJ impact a number of institutions. At Brown, Bogues has worked with other departments, like the classics department, to create workshops about the history of the Transatlantic slave trade. Bogues said he hopes to continue these workshops this year. Through initiatives like the collaborative workshops, Bogues said that the CSSJ is influencing the way people think about slavery and its legacy today. Bogues and the CSSJ have also worked with museums around the world to challenge biases in curatorial practices. For instance, Bogues said that a French museum requested his advice to ensure that an exhibit re-
garding the Haitian Revolution would avoid perpetuating any stereotypes of Haitian people. Moving forward, Bogues aims to continue changing the way that Brown, Rhode Island and national communities regard slavery’s legacy today and ideas of justice. “He is ambitiously determined to recenter Caribbean philosophy and Black radical thinking in American thinking,” said Matthew Guterl, a professor of Africana Studies and American Studies. “Much of his work has to do with creating new archives and new ways of seeing and understanding Black radical past. We are so lucky as members of the community to have him at Brown because he is such a treasure, and I am so grateful every day I can learn from him.”
than I am, and stays a closer relationship to Jewish organizations that I find hard to stay connected to,” Wise said. “Every time a Jewish community is under threat, Linda is going to be the first person there.” Sarsour had previously drawn criticism for her connection with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan has made multiple anti-Semitic statements throughout his career. In 2018, he received intense criticism after he posted a tweet that equated Jewish people with termites. Later that year, Sarsour denied knowing Farrakhan, despite speaking at a 2015 “Justice or Else” rally that Farrakhan had organized. Sarsour stepped down from the board of the Women’s March in July following concerns over her connections to Farrakhan. During the panel, Sarsour told students “to be clear, I’m anti-Zionist. To be anti-Zionist is not anti-Jewish.” In a Nov. 18 op-ed in The Herald titled “Before her visit to campus, students should know about Linda Sarsour’s history of anti-Semitism,” Emily Tunkel ’19 criticized the decision to invite Sarsour to campus. “I am a Jew. Linda Sarsour is anti-Semitic. You cannot tell me that I’m ‘taking her statements out of context’ or ‘that’s not what she really meant’ — what Sarsour said has hurt me,” Tunkel wrote.
Members of the student groups that organized the event added that they felt criticisms against Sarsour were part of a campaign to discredit her work. Bienstock said the claims against Sarsour represent the “weaponization of anti-Semitism” used to “attack women of color who have some sort of tangential tie to Louis Farrakhan and who support the rights of Palestinians.” Jonathan Weisskoff ’20 said he attended the event with the hope of forming his own impression after seeing Barghouti and Sarsour “vilified” in the news. “Now I feel I have a first-hand impression that is not in alignment with those vilifications, so that gives me a stronger sense of being able to think independently of things that I might see on media.” Mohammed Akel ’23, who is Palestinian, attended the event as a member of SJP. “It’s a nice opportunity to educate myself. Even though I’m Palestinian, I still know that there’s so much more to learn,” Akel said. “They’re amazing speakers that I personally appreciate, and I’m just looking forward to seeing the whole Brown community interact with them.” The panel took place eight months after the undergraduate student body voted in favor of a referendum to divest the University’s endowment from companies “complicit in human rights
abuses in Palestine” and ask the University to increase transparency about the endowment, as The Herald previously reported. Sixty-nine percent of voters, or 27.5 percent of the student body, voted to pass the referendum. Because the referendum focused specifically on divestment from corporations rather than Israel as a state, the referendum was not a part of the broader BDS movement. President Christina Paxson P’19 informed the campus that the University would not act on the referendum’s results, partially as a result of her refusal to embrace any planks of the BDS movement. Near the end of the event, Barghouti said he supported the undergraduate student referendum, adding that “the urgent matter today is to continue pressuring your university to divest.” Bienstock said that the student organizers were able to invite the three prominent speakers because they supported the University students’ activism around divestment. But he told The Herald that Monday’s panel is not related to Brown Divest, which campaigned to pass the referendum. “The broader BDS movement is somewhat ancillary to the very specific demands that Divest is making on non-Israeli companies,” Bienstock said.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY
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Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink 12:00 P.M. Watson Institute
VR Pop-Up Open Studio 1:00 P.M. Granoff Center
The Open Curriculum and Study Abroad 4:00 P.M. Page-Robinson Hall
Faculty Forum on Impeachment 2019 5:00 P.M. 280 Brook Street
TOMORROW
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Brown Humanity Society Meet and Greet 12:00 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center
Margo Mahan - The Racial Origins of U.S. Domestic Violence Law 4:00 P.M. Watson Institute
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Akua Naru, “The Keeper Project” 5:00 P.M. Smith-Buonanno Hall
Brown Gender History Workshop 6:00 P.M. Norwood House
Q U OTE OF TH E DAY
S U D O KU
“Everyone knows there’s a crisis, and everyone knows there’s not enough resources being mobilized to address the crisis.” —Will Gomberg ’20 SEE INDEX PAGE 1
B AR E FO OT ON T H E B EACH RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Los Angeles Times Puzzle CR O SDaily SWOCrossword RD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Hook or Cook: Abbr. 5 For the calorieconscious 9 Purse handle 14 Fairy tale baddie 15 Ugandan baddie 16 Remove pencil marks 17 Completely destroy 18 Rikki-Tikki-__: Kipling critter 19 __ Carlo: Grand Prix setting 20 *Reason consumers purchase certain brands 23 Ankle artwork, briefly 24 Fathers and grandfathers 25 Bks.-to-be 28 *Bumbling beginner 35 Historic WWII bomber 37 Threat punctuator 38 Timber wolf 39 Mil. detainee who may reveal only the starts of the answers to starred clues 41 Paper purchase 42 Poll findings 45 Island state of Australia 48 *Hookups for computer peripherals 50 Dadaist Jean 51 Wish undone 52 Opposite of ’neath 54 *Financial analysts 63 Inventor Howe 64 Winslet of “Titanic” 65 “The rest __ to you” 66 Insurance giant 67 “Did You __ See a Dream Walking?” 68 Int’l alliance 69 “Our Gang” dog 70 Ph.D. hurdle 71 Remove from power
DOWN 1 Ear on your plate 2 Isla surrounder 3 Stiffly neat 4 Religious belief 5 Infielder’s untimely move 6 1998 Apple debut 7 DVR pioneer 8 Tough nut to crack 9 Advanced study group 10 Relaxed pace 11 Hindu princess 12 Regarding 13 Rounded end of a hammer 21 Uncommon, aviswise 22 Much sought-after clownfish of film 25 Gets all gooey 26 Nocturnal noise 27 Clearheaded 29 Brit : lie-down :: Yank : __ 30 Former Japanese capital 31 Trillion: Pref. 32 Kagan of the Supreme Court 33 TWA competitor 34 Plot a new route
36 Actress Anderson 40 Serious conflict 43 Assume as probable 44 Disparaging remark 46 Habitual pot smokers 47 Fraction of a min. 49 Ate like a bird 53 Thick-skinned beast 54 Kind of tide
55 Fonda’s beekeeper 56 Oven user’s accessory 57 Thorn in one’s side 58 Shankar with a sitar 59 Western natives 60 Biblical twin 61 Grooves in the road 62 Carpet cleaner’s concern
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02/07/12
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
REBECCA HO / HERALD
By Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
02/07/12
Students pile into cars and drive down to the Rhode Island School of Design beach, hoping to eke out the last days of sun before chilly winter winds, soggy rainstorms and thick snow close up the shore.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
No, Brown should not change its motto BY JAMES FLYNN ’20.5 OPINIONS EDITOR
In her column last week, Rebecca Aman ’20 argued that Brown should change its Latin motto from “In Deo Speramus,” — meaning “In God We Hope” — to “Speramus,” — meaning “We hope.” The original motto, she writes, “is not only contradictory to our founding values but also undermines our contemporary commitment to diversity and inclusion.” Both of these claims misunderstand Brown’s purpose for retaining the Latin motto. Like Brown’s seal, the motto is an indelible artifact of the University’s history, rather than a reflection of Brown’s values in 2019. It contributes to Brown’s identity by reminding us of this history. For this reason, it is worth preserving. It is worth mentioning that I count myself among the 19 percent of Brown students who, in the poll that Aman cites, identify as atheist. I have no particular attachment to this “Deo”; I do not think that God contributes anything to Brown’s community and values anymore, nor that He ought to. But I do appreciate institutional history, and I cannot ignore the integral role that God used to play at Brown, both at its founding and at the time when the University adopted its motto and seal. Aman is right to point out that at the time of its founding, Brown was especially tolerant of different sects and creeds, at least in comparison to other universities. But she downplays
the fundamentally religious nature of Brown’s founding and early history. Brown was primarily a Baptist institution. In 1763, the Philadelphia Baptists Association sent the Reverend James Manning, the University’s future first president, to Rhode Island with the explicit purpose of founding a Baptist college. The charter
sioned along with the motto in 1834, contains a conspicuous red cross — unambiguous religious imagery. Both the seal and the motto are records of Brown’s institutional history. One could argue that, just like the motto, the seal alienates non-Christian students and therefore ought to be removed. But no one is asking
“An institution is defined as much by its history as it is by its contemporary values.”
specified that the president had to be Baptist, and this rule was not amended until as late as 1926. Since 1776, for over two centuries, Brown has held commencements in the First Baptist Church in America, built “for the publick Worship of Almighty GOD; and also for holding Commencement in.” But if we were to take Aman’s argument to its logical extent, then we should also stop hosting commencement in the Church. I suspect that even the most secular among us would object to doing away with such a time-honored tradition. Aman’s logic takes us in some other unwelcome directions. Brown’s current seal, commis-
Brown to get rid of the iconic seal. To get rid of the seal, just like the motto, would be to deny and erase the parts of Brown’s history that one just so happens not to like. Fortunately, Brown can retain the Christian imagery and language in its motto as historical artifacts and not as reflections of the community’s values today. Other universities do the same thing. Yale’s seal depicts the Bible, imprinted with the Hebrew words Urim and Thummim from the Old Testament. Its current Latin motto “Lux et Veritas” is supposed to be a translation of the two Hebrew words. Princeton’s seal also depicts the Bible, and its Lat-
A previous version of the Nov. 3 article “University research may aid cancer treatment” stated that decrease in growth factor is key in preventing cancer’s spread, but the researchers did not reach a conclusion about the spread of cancer. In addition, a previous version of this article said that cells can move through the bloodstream into other organisms, but they actually move into other organs. A previous version of this article also stated that cells come together in two ways when suspended in fluid, but the fluid is irrelevant. A previous version of this article stated that turning off EMT would limit the spread of cancer cells, but it in fact enhances the spread of cancer cells. The article has been updated to reflect these changes. The Herald regrets the errors.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Managing Editors Anna Kramer Priyanka Podugu Senior Editors Anita Sheih Sarah Wang Editorial Page Editors Grace Layer Krista Stapleford post-magazine Editor-in-Chief Anita Sheih
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Aman concedes that her proposal “would not necessarily require the University to remove the motto from the few places where it is still depicted” on campus. This makes sense; I cannot imagine anyone wanting to etch out “In Deo Speramus” from atop the Van Wickle Gates. The gates are, after all, one of the campus’s most iconic artifacts, even though they were built in 1901, late in Brown’s history. Brown comprises an amalgam of physical structures, iconography, traditions and rituals that originated in many different historical periods. All of them together, from the Van Wickle Gates to the commencement ceremony in the First Baptist Hall — and, yes, even the current Latin motto — define the University. An institution is defined as much by its history as it is by its contemporary values. My guess is that every student — regardless of whether they believe in one god, many gods or no god at all — can appreciate this fact. James Flynn ’20.5 can be reached at james_ flynn1@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
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Editorial Leadership Editor-in-Chief Emily Davies
in motto is “Dei Sub Numine Viget” — “Under God’s power she flourishes.” Today, despite their Christian insignia, these institutions are no less secular than Brown. The point is that such insignia inform us about the institutions’ past, not their present, and for that reason they are valuable.
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
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Ban oil money, recruiters from campus BY GALEN HALL ’20 AND GALEN WINSOR ’22 STAFF COLUMNIST AND OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Last month, a representative from ExxonMobil arrived on campus to recruit Brown geology students. One of us, Galen Winsor, went to listen and ask questions. As geology students, we have deep concerns about the extent to which Brown supports and receives support from companies like ExxonMobil, which is one of the main perpetrators behind the climate crisis. We wanted to see how ExxonMobil could justify asking young scientists — part of the generation bearing the brunt of the climate crisis — to join their company. The representative from ExxonMobil was welcomed by a University geology professor. After the professor left the room, the representative began his presentation with a slide that supposedly predicted energy consumption trends for the next 20 years: it showed a small decrease in coal use, an increase in natural gas and the tiniest of increases in renewable energy. Continued reliance on traditional fossil fuels is the “reality,” the rep claimed, adding that such reliance is necessary for increased global standards of living. The rest of his presentation continued in this vein: grossly misleading graphics and project overviews meant to demonstrate ExxonMobil’s commitment to responsible energy production and establish its position as a legitimate social actor. In ExxonMobil world, climate science in the 1970s wasn’t relevant and natural gas provides a sufficiently clean alternative to coal. And while the company touts that it has sequestered a large amount of their total emissions through carbon capture and storage, the vast majority remains in our atmosphere. By allowing companies like ExxonMobil to recruit on campus and uncritically accepting their donations, Brown becomes complicit in a humanitarian atrocity. Departments should reject recruitment offers from major fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron, and neither the University nor individual departments should accept any donations from these companies. As things stand, the world is nowhere near adequately responding to the climate crisis. Global emissions of greenhouse gases are rising at an increasing rate every year, while major carbon sinks such as the Indonesian rainforest
are being destroyed. International commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement — which most nations are ignoring anyway — would still lead to warming of over 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels, far above the potentially catastrophic 2°C goal. Meanwhile, by lobbying and funding climate science denial from politicians and discredited researchers, companies like ExxonMobil have crippled the United States’
“By allowing companies like ExxonMobil to recruit on campus and uncritically accepting their donations, Brown becomes complicit in a humanitarian atrocity.”
ability to lead an international effort to avert the climate crisis — consigning our generation and those after us to an increasingly unlivable planet. To stop climate change, we must stop using fossil fuels, which would end the most powerful industry in the world and negate the value of billions of tons of oil and gas still held in reserves. If we take action, it will amount to the largest expropriation of private wealth in history. So fossil fuel producers have undertaken a concerted effort to stop that from ever happening. Their more obvious efforts have included lobbying — the industry spends an average of $125 million per year lobbying on Capitol Hill alone — campaign donations and a revolving door between federal and state governments and fossil fuel companies. Added up, this makes the industry one of the biggest forces in Washington. But the truly insidious strategies from corporations such as ExxonMobil have come in the form of mass-media public relations campaigns, educational material for students from first-grade to the graduate level and targeted donations to hundreds of elite universities. All of these efforts seek to undermine the scientific consensus that emissions from burning fossil fuels cause climate change, and that climate change will ultimately harm, displace or kill hundreds of millions of people — even as
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Linda Sarsour is a progressive advocate, not an anti-Semite To the Editor: As a Jewish resident of Providence and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, I felt compelled to respond to Emily Tunkel’s op-ed, “Before her visit to campus, students should know about Linda Sarsour’s history of anti-Semitism.” Tunkel writes that, by inviting Sarsour to speak, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace are “giving a platform to an anti-Semitic individual.” Her accusations against Sarsour depend on a series of tenuous claims of guilt by association. Linda Sarsour is a courageous progressive leader who stands with our community in the fight against anti-Semitism. As an outspoken woman of color and a Palestinian, she’s become a lightning rod for right-wing smears. Progressive Jews have stood with her against these attacks. Over
Exxon’s own scientists privately confirmed the potential for catestrophic effects of climate change. Beyond subverting climate science, ExxonMobil’s communications-oriented strategies seek to convince most people in America, including the educated elite, to refrain from questioning the “need” for continued reliance on fossil fuels. This long-term corporate strategy is
100 Jewish leaders have signed a letter defending her, including Nancy Kaufman of the National Council of Jewish Women, Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah and Stosh Cotler from Bend the Arc. Bend the Arc released another statement condemning smears that falsely impugned Sarsour’s support for the Jewish community following the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting: Sarsour “immediately jumped in to support us in our time of mourning, attending vigils, and promoted fundraising efforts for funerals and for the safety and security of Tree of Life and other Jewish institutions in Pittsburgh.” This is the kind of solidarity that we need to stand against the rise of the far right. To accuse Sarsour of anti-Semitism is deeply misguided and plays into the hands of real anti-Semites. Joel Reinstein
designed to ensure that there are no real challenges to ExxonMobil’s right to extract, produce and sell oil in the U.S. for decades to come. Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urgently recommends that we completely remove fossil fuels from our energy system in the next two to three decades, starting now. The kind of rapid, radical change the IPCC calls for is impossible so long as institutions like Brown continue to support the fossil fuel industry. Brown’s decision to continue accepting donations from fossil fuel companies — it did in 2017, according to information published by ExxonMobil — and allowing them to recruit on campus reinforces their hold on society and politics. Make no mistake: ExxonMobil relies on direct access to students like us to ensure its future success. Even more importantly, Brown legitimizes the false science promoted by oil companies like ExxonMobil by allowing them to recruit and donate. There is a serious disconnect between the way prestigious institutions like ours treat ExxonMobil — granting them audiences on campus, accepting their money and even allowing them to advertise in our yearbooks — and the way they ought to be treated given the grievous harms they have caused. This is a hard pattern to break loose from. Major oil compa-
nies can leverage significant funds and lucrative careers for students graduating into an uncertain job market, which makes them hard to refuse. Nonetheless, when the departments accept ExxonMobil’s grants without question, they legitimize a false, unethical position on climate science that is destroying our planet and future. Furthermore, accepting even small donations from corporations like ExxonMobil means that our scientists receive money from the very companies that falsely dispute their findings. That said, fossil fuel products power our economy, and immediately shutting down all fossil fuel infrastructure would have catastrophic effects. It can be tempting to conclude that we should cooperate with major petroleum producers like ExxonMobil — especially as an ostensibly apolitical institution dedicated to research and education. Yet these companies’ history of obstruction, misdirection and science denial make it clear that the opposite is true: Brown’s choice to uncritically allow ExxonMobil access to its students, accept its donations and give it space in our yearbook is not a neutral one. It is deeply political: it is a choice to support a false, unethical worldview and a project of ecological destruction. We do not mean to call out any one department because the problem is systemic, but the fact remains that companies like ExxonMobil deserve to be ostracized. We are running out of time. Increasingly powerful storms, fires, droughts and heatwaves devastate vulnerable communities around the world while powerful, wealthy institutions like Brown continue on the path of least-resistance. In a world on fire, Brown should be a vanguard of justice, science and progress. Instead, it is all too often a hub for corporate recruitment — a pipeline to high-paying, exploitative jobs that perpetuate harmful practices and systems. We, members of the generation defined by the climate crisis, are calling out the complacency of Brown’s administration and departments. Cease Brown’s role in the climate crisis and reject the false science and harmful practices of companies like ExxonMobil. Galen Hall ’20 and Galen Winsor ’22 can be reached at galen_hall@brown.edu and galen_winsor@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019