SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 8
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Two Afghan refugee students detail journey to University
Sima Raha and Zahra Fayeq discuss treacherous journey to flee Taliban BY AKSHAY AMESUR STAFF WRITER A rickety transport bus rolled to a fence’s edge at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Its creaking metal frame bore the scars of bullet holes, gashes inflicted just hours earlier by soldiers determined to halt the bus’s journey. But the bus moved on, churning up a cloud of dust in its wake as it inched toward a stop outside the airport’s gates in the darkness of a desert night. In the rows of seats behind the driver, 148 women crouched on the floor, covering themselves with hijabs and scarves to hide from the Taliban soldiers who did not want them to leave the country. Two of these women, Sima Raha and Zahra Fayeq, recall the sound of horrified screams as they hid on the bus.
“Turn off your mobile phones,” they remembered the driver whispering to the silent passengers. “We cannot have any light.” As the group waited on the bus through the night, the fence shook from two explosions whose flames destroyed an entire airport terminal. Raha and Fayeq are among the 14 refugee students from the Asian University for Women who are studying at Brown by special permission of Provost Richard Locke P’18, The Herald previously reported. As a member of the New University in Exile Consortium, the University has partnered with AUW, an international university headquartered in Chittagong, Bangladesh, to give the students a new academic home. Raha is a social advocate from Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province. Before the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15, 2021, she worked with the International Association of Students in Economics and Business, promoting female empowerment and rural development. Fayeq studied at the top of her class in her hometown of Ghazni and spent her time advocating for social reform, specifically to alleviate challenges fac-
COURTESY OF SIMA RAHA
Sima Raha and Zahra Fayeq boarded a U.S. military plane in the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after multiple prior attempts to flee the country were stopped by the Taliban. ing women. Both women were students studying remotely at AUW. Fayeq and Raha characterized their lives in Afghanistan before the Taliban’s takeover as “normal,” but they had grown used to threats such as fre-
METRO
Nonprofit tax program to be reviewed City report discusses need for greater contributions from nonprofits such as U. BY RHEA RASQUINHA SENIOR STAFF WRITER The amount the University voluntarily pays to the city of Providence is being reconsidered after the release of a Jan. 14 report by the Providence Financial
Department on the city’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes program. As a nonprofit institution, the University does not pay property taxes to the city. The PILOT program, as well as two voluntary payment agreements between the University and the city of Providence, will expire in 2023. The expiration, along with the proposed changes to the PILOT program outlined in the report, could change how much revenue Brown provides for the city. The Financial Department report
reviewed PILOT agreements and recommended changes to the agreements made with nonprofit organizations. Through the PILOT program, the state pays the city a fraction of the property tax value of tax-exempt nonprofit institutions, such as the University. Current assessment of land owned by Brown is $1.3 billion, according to the report. That estimate includes new acquisitions — the University recently purchased the River House apartment
SEE PILOT PAGE 7
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Experts, plaintiffs explain U. lawsuit Plaintiffs allege hundreds of millions of dollars of damages for 170,000 group BY JACK TAJMAJER SENIOR STAFF WRITER Last month, a lawsuit alleged that the University and 15 other schools did not maintain the need-blind admissions policies required for a legal antitrust exemption and therefore fixed “the
net price of attendance,” according to a Jan. 10 press release from the plaintiffs’ legal team. Court records show that the suit is not yet moving toward trial — and legal scholars said that the process ahead may take years as a result of both the size and complexity of the case. The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Illinois and is being presided over by Judge Matthew Kennelly. At the heart of the suit is the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994. In 1989, the Department of Justice
began an antitrust investigation into 57 colleges and universities that resulted in Sherman Antitrust Act filings against the eight Ivy League schools and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991, which alleged the schools illegally conspired to restrict competition for financial aid. Section 568 of the law allows “two or more” institutions to use the same standards for determining aid and employ the same financial aid application form — so long as they review
SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 8
quent explosions and acts of violence in mosques, educational centers, wedding halls and schools. Despite looming fears over this lack of security, women could go for walks, get ice cream and fresh juice, go
shopping and take selfies with friends, Raha said. “We were studying, doing online classes, going to offices and work,”
SEE REFUGEES PAGE 3
SPORTS
For Black U. athlete alums, sports stay central Dennis Coleman ’75, Bekah Salwasser ’01 hold roles in sports law, nonprofit management BY ADIZA ALASA STAFF WRITER Dennis Coleman ’75 and Bekah Salwasser ’01 were both accomplished athletes during their time at Brown — Coleman started as quarterback for the Bears for two seasons while Salwasser was twotime captain of the women’s soccer team. Though they no longer take the field for Brown, sports remain central to the lives of both alums. Coleman currently works in the realm of sports law, and Salwasser holds major roles in the Boston Red Sox Foundation and the Red Sox organization more broadly. The Herald spoke to both alums to learn more about the impact sports had on their time at the University and lives after college. ‘We, as African-Americans, belonged there’: Dennis Coleman ’75 Sports have always been a part of Coleman’s life. “Sports (were) always
Arts & Culture
Metro
U. News
Commentary
“The Worst Person in the World” stuns with performances Page 2
Thayer Street preps for Valentine’s Day celebrations Page 2
A cappella groups to hold annual spring auditions next week Page 4
McGrath ’24: Social media use can be paralyzing Page 7
in my bones,” Coleman said. “Didn’t everyone start playing as soon as they could walk?” he quipped. Growing up in Darby, Penn. as one of eight children, all of whom excelled in athletics during their youth, Coleman participated in basketball, baseball and track and field, but he found particular success in football. Coleman was an all-state quarterback in high school and led his team to two seasons with 8-1 records his junior and senior years. While Coleman was academically gifted and president of his senior class, his high school graduation coincided with the Civil Rights Movement. Rather than focusing on academics, Coleman fixed his full attention on the movement. “I was really interested in the movement. (I was) old enough to understand; too young, slightly, to participate,” Coleman said. “I was more concerned about W.E.B. DuBois and (Ralph) Ellison (than Shakespeare).” Coleman’s high school performances on the field earned him the attention of recruiters from the University of Southern California. USC encouraged
SEE SPORTS PAGE 5
TODAY TOMORROW
DESIGNED BY DANA TONEVA ’24 STAFF DESIGNER JULIA GROSSMAN ’23 DESIGN EDITOR
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NEIL MEHTA ’25 DESIGN EDITOR
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
ARTS & CULTURE
‘The Worst Person in the World’ features delightful performances Lead actress Renate Reinsve gives a portrayal for the ages in Norwegian dramedy BY FINN KIRKPATRICK SENIOR STAFF WRITER As the end credits roll on Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” the viewer’s first thought might fall along the lines of “that film lied to me.” To be clear, this is no Watergate-level nefarious lie. It’s an innocent falsehood that makes the truth even better. This deception on Trier’s part comes in the fact that the supposed “worst person in the world” is incredibly likable. In fact, that might be underselling it. Renate Reinsve as Julie, the heart and soul of the entire film, is nothing short of unboundedly phenomenal. Julie is captivating because she is depicted honestly without any sheen of superficiality. She doesn’t quite know what she wants out of life, what she wants to be or who she wants to be with. The film follows Julie’s decision making, or lack thereof, over the course of a year from its prologue through 12 chapters — which range from small vignettes to semi-self-contained short films — to the epilogue. The filmmaking and structure of “The Worst Person in the World” is loose, but not in an disorganized way. The film is flexible in the way it transitions from section to section and scene to scene. Much like with life itself, there are trajectories you expect the film will follow, but then out of nowhere someone or something new shows up and captures the audience’s attention. The film focuses on two simul-
COURTESY OF OSLO PICTURES
The film focuses on two relationships in Julie (Renate Reinsve)’s life: one with her current boyfriend Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), a successful comic book artist, and another with Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). taneous relationships in Julie’s life: one with her boyfriend Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), a successful comic book artist whom she meets at the very beginning of the film, and another with Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), a man with whom she has a meet-cute and develops a “will-they-won’t-they” dynamic with. Both of their characterizations get filtered through her perspective. They both bring out the best and worst of Julie in different situations, but it never swings to one extreme too often — their relationships show the full scale of human emotion. Nothing is sensationalized in any of these dynamics; everything is grounded. Julie, Aksel and
Eivind sometimes act mean and selfishly, but these actions are not a knock on the quality of their character — they are an affirmation of their humanity. Even in the surreal scenes of the movie, there remains truth. Two scenes break the established realism in quite drastic ways. In one, Julie attempts to sort out her life by pausing reality around her and setting off on a jog throughout Oslo. She is surrounded by citizens who have become mannequins of themselves as she searches for one specific person. In another scene, Julie and a group of friends trip on mushrooms, which is executed with overexaggerated, reality-changing visuals
that reveal certain displeasures in her life. Both scenes, while absurd in their presentation, seek to comment on very real aspects of Julie’s headspace. Trier had to go beyond the sphere of reality in order to dive deeper into Julie’s psyche. While each scene and individual performance is masterful, the film slightly hiccups when it comes together as a full composition. The issue is not the film’s format, as the episodic nature of the story is able to dissect characters in an exacting and deeply fascinating way. It’s more that not much is learned after the credits roll. To put it vaguely, many monumental life events happen to Julie in the final third of the
film and the reactions to them seem a little underplayed in relation to their objective significance. The film exudes charm and relatability, but once the tone shifts to more pressing matters, those traits falter. This is not to say that these issues ruin the movie — far from it. In most aspects, the film is brilliant. The ending is not bad by any means, but it does makes you wonder if the movie understood its own message. The genre is fluid throughout the film, with most of it feeling almost like a romantic comedy in form, sans much comedy. The genre fluidity is great as it means the movie is able to capture a larger range of real emotions, adding to its humanistic presentation. The variable tone of “The Worst Person in the World” leads to some loose ends that must be tied up before the film’s finale, but Trier’s excellent script and direction and Reinsve’s phenomenal performance are able to meet the task. Even for its faults, “The Worst Person in the World” is able to do something that most movies can’t. It makes you feel like you know and understand the protagonist on a profoundly deep level. The relationship between actress and director is at near virtuoso level, as Reinsve reads her lines and plays to the style of Trier’s filmmaking as though that was what she was born to do. The script could have been a complete mess and filmed on a flip-phone and you would still witness one of the best performances of the past few years. Luckily, the script is quite good and the filmmaking is slick, stylish and well thought-out. “The Worst Person in the World” may not quite be able to stick the landing, but its journey to that final point is so damn good that you’ve got no other choice but to forgive it.
METRO
Thayer Street preps for Valentine’s Day celebrations Heart-shaped falafels, ice sculptures, festivities, holiday discounts planned BY KATY PICKENS METRO EDITOR Businesses on Thayer Street are planning a bustle of activities, discounts and samples for singles and couples alike this Valentine’s Day. With offerings from an ice sculpture walk and limited-edition Valentine’s Day cookie cakes to discounted beverages and seafood specials, vendors hope that love will be in the air and customers on the street for the romantic holiday. Shaking Crab has been serving a specialty Valentine’s Day menu for the week leading up to the holiday, with options including fried catfish baskets, double mussel boil bags and mac and cheese. “For our normal menu, customers create their own combos, but for Valentine’s Day, (menus) are all preset,” said Shaking Crab server Robert Gonzalez. “Each order comes with an appetizer, sides, one of the different boiler bags and dessert — all for one price.” He explained that this makes it
easier to get all the orders out as soon as possible on Valentine’s Day, which is often very busy for the restaurant. He said that he was looking forward to seeing both couples and singles come to the restaurant over the weekend and on Valentine’s Day. “Valentine’s Day is our busiest time of the year,” Gonzalez added. “Hands down, number one.” Both singles and lovebirds will have festivities to look forward to on the street itself, according to Donna Personeus, executive director of the Thayer Street District Management Authority. Eight ice sculptures will line Thayer Street from Bowen to Waterman streets during a special Galentine’s Day event sponsored by the Thayer Street District Management Authority tomorrow. The sculptures will be on display and nearby participating businesses will offer samples and discounts on their products from 1 to 5 p.m. as part of the event. “It’s just (us) thanking people for coming down and kind of experiencing Thayer,” Personeus said. “There will be a little something for everyone.” She added that there is no registration required for the event, which is free for anyone who walks down Thayer. Businesses including Aroma Joe’s, Shaking Crab, Andrea’s, Berk’s, Rev’d Indoor Cycling, Chinatown and the Brown Bookstore will all be participat-
ing in these specials for the Galentine’s Day event. According to Personeus, Berk’s will be offering an additional 20% off merchandise, which can be added to preexisting sales. She added that Chinatown would offer a “buy one get one free” sale, Andrea’s will have a wine special and Aroma Joe’s will give away three different types of 24-ounce specialty drinks “in honor of Valentine’s Day.” The Brown Bookstore will offer 20% off its Logofit merchandise for the Galentine’s Day event, according to its Instagram. Insomnia Cookies is selling heart-shaped red velvet cookie cakes in honor of the holiday, Personeus said. Customers looking for savory delicacies can turn to Abu Yarub Al-Shami on Thayer, according to Ayia Tatari, cashier and social media manager for the restaurant. “We cannot wait to see customers fall in love with our Middle Eastern delicacies, such as our best-selling Shawarma wraps,” Tatari wrote in a message to The Herald. For the Galentine’s Day event, the restaurant will offer free heart-shaped falafels as an appetizer on orders over $20 from Feb. 12 to 14. “We are so thrilled for Thayer Street’s Galentine’s Day,” Tatari wrote. “We hope to serve you soon here at Al-Shami.”
ELSA CHOI-HAUSMAN / HERALD
Some stores on Thayer will offer discounts and samples for Valentine’s Day, among the busiest times of year for certain businesses.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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REFUGEES FROM PAGE 1 Fayeq added. At that time, “women had freedom and choice of what to do.” In summer 2021, the two women began hearing reports of increasing Taliban activity. What were initially stories of insurgents taking isolated towns and cities turned into Taliban forces conquering entire provinces. “I was hopeful that they would not take over Kabul,” Raha said. “As the capital, it will not collapse,” she recalled thinking. But in early August, everything changed. Raha and Fayeq received urgent calls from AUW’s administration, which was frantically working to evacuate its students from Afghanistan. On Aug. 14, Raha, Fayeq and 146 other students were told to be ready to leave the country in 48 hours on a Zoom call with the university’s founder, Kamal Ahmad. Raha recalled going outside that day and seeing droves of people running through the streets, scrambling to prepare themselves for the Taliban’s imminent arrival. Fears raced through Raha’s mind. “What if I can’t go to university because the Taliban are in control?” she recalled thinking. She found herself huddled in a corner of her bedroom, terrified of what would happen next. “It was difficult to sleep,” she said. “I (couldn’t) even imagine what (was) happening. Every night, I closed my eyes and had nightmares of the Taliban running after me.” The next day, Aug. 15, Kabul was officially Taliban territory. “There was no (longer a) world for women,” Raha said. Kabul was not its former self — a vibrant city where one could see schoolchildren on afternoon walks and hear the sounds of Afghan music, Raha added. When the Taliban arrived and constructed a new government, they “brought a new culture for women,” Raha said. Afghan women were no longer allowed to travel freely without a male guardian, or “marram,” and had to be completely covered in a full-body black hijab. This is not characteristic of traditional Afghan society, Raha said. Taliban checkpoints guarded all major roadways and restricted people’s — especially women’s — ability to travel, Raha said. Raha said it was a risky situation, and when she realized she would not be able to continue her education, “All my dreams collapsed and shattered,” she said. “I was just thinking (about how) to save my life.” At 5:00 a.m. Aug. 28, the 148 women
COURTESY OF SIMA RAHA
From the roof of her Kabul home in the winter of 2020 (left) to Brown’s campus in the fall semester (right), Sima Raha documented her journey from Afghanistan to Providence with her cell phone, one of her ownly possessions she could take with her on the plane. gathered outside of a Kabul supermarket. They hoped to catch a bus to the airport, where they could secure seats on an international flight to safety. But when the Taliban got word of the large gathering, the women were forced to return home due to safety concerns. The next day, the women tried again, splitting into seven groups and successfully evading the Taliban’s notice as they boarded pre-coordinated buses. They drove to the airport terminal, spending that night in the buses. The women went from terminal to terminal the next day, desperately hoping to find a flight to safety. Upon hearing that the women were university students, the Taliban shot at their buses, hoping to intimidate the drivers into turning back. “My life matters. I have children,” Raha recalled a driver saying as he sped away from the airport and back into the heart of Kabul. The women had returned to square one. “All of us had a life, had families. But if we stayed, we (would) not … We were exhausted,” Raha said. “Some of the girls gave up and said (they wanted) to spend the last moments of (their) lives with family.” When she arrived back home that night, Raha sat quietly with her siblings. She had to figure out another way to leave the country. “I stared into my sister’s and brother’s eyes and realized it was (one of) the last moment(s) I had with my family,” she said.
COURTESY OF SIMA RAHA
Raha left her hometown in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province behind when she fled the country.
Raha remained hopeful. “I will not give up on my dreams,” she recalled telling herself. She would not stay in Afghanistan “without freedom of choice, without freedom to learn and work.” “It is better to die.” Fayeq was motivated to leave the country so she could “become a person who is equipped enough to support and empower women in Afghanistan,” she said. “If I stay(ed) there, nothing (would) change. I (would) be nothing.” Raha and Fayeq’s dreams of continuing their education came true in the form of a WhatsApp message from Ahmad at 11 the next morning. Ahmad had coordinated the women’s departure with the U.S. military. The women were to leave their homes immediately with just a single handbag containing their required travel documents, a phone and a phone charger, which they would use to board a U.S. military plane. Hours later, the 148 girls arrived in the rubble-filled Kabul airport. “Everything was destroyed,” Raha said. “The Taliban had taken people and blindfolded them and bound their hands.” The women worried that they would be next. When they reached their terminal, the women encountered a group of Taliban soldiers who attempted to intimidate them into retreating. “Where are all you young women going all alone?” Raha recalled the soldiers shouting. “Forget about education, there is no education for you!” Their words still haunt Raha, giving her headaches every time she remembers the day’s events. The women trembled with fear as each of their names was called and they handed their documents to the soldiers. They were ultimately allowed to depart with only their documents and mobile phones — leaving their handbags behind at the airport. “When I look back on those days, I say to myself ‘I was so fearless, as were my friends,’ ” Fayeq said. “What if the buses exploded or (were) bombed from underneath?” “I’m so thankful for our lives,” Fayeq added. “I feel like we are blessed.” After the plane briefly made stops in four countries, the women were transported to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin for a long-term stay. When she arrived in America, Raha recalled thinking to herself, “I will be someone now, someone who can bring
change in society. Not only (to) Afghanistan but the world … Every day of life is a gift, so I am thankful.” According to James Rowan, chief of staff to the Provost, it was during the students’ time at Fort McCoy that the New University in Exile Consortium requested member institutions to aid the women. Brown had begun discussions of hosting displaced Afghan scholars and students Aug. 16. The University created an “adaptive application process,” according to Asabe Poloma, associate provost for global engagement. Taking the students’ traumatic journeys and lack of academic documentation into consideration, the administration developed an accessible application and ultimately accepted 14 students. A fifteenth student from Herat, Afghanistan was later added to the cohort. The 15 women were allowed to begin their studies in the spring semester as non-degree-earning “special-students,” Poloma said. They will be able to reapply to Brown as full-time students later this year. The Afghan students are currently in the U.S. with humanitarian parole status, which allows two years of residency. After those two years, they will be eligible to apply for refugee status, which will allow them to continue living and pursuing education in the U.S., The Herald previously reported. Since their arrival in the U.S., Raha and Fayeq have begun the next chapter
of their educational journeys at Brown, working to use their knowledge as a tool for good. “We are given the opportunity to help. We want to make good use of it,” Fayeq said. “A lot of people helped us all around the world; therefore, I want to help people … no matter where they are, where they live, which ethnicity (or) which country.” Fayeq hopes to explore political science and international affairs-related courses, while Raha is pursuing computer science, economics, international and public affairs and political science. “For me, humanity is important (in order) to be a global leader,” Raha said. “I have met so many kind people … I only hope I can pay back all of this kindness.” Raha and Fayeq also hope to pursue diverse extracurriculars, with Fayeq studying Turkish and Spanish and Raha exploring the Brown Outdoor Leadership Training program, Brown Debating Union and club basketball. “I believe knowledge is not something that is learned from a book,” Raha said. “It also involves what is outside — learning and talking and communicating with people.” Though both students are still working to overcome the language barrier and worry for the safety of their families in Afghanistan, they remain optimistic for their future. Fayeq said, “I think we are going to improve a lot here.”
COURTESY OF SIMA RAHA
A view of the transport buses which Raha, Fayeq and their peers took to the Kabul Airport. After being shot at, they were forced to turn back.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Campus a capella groups to host spring auditions next week Jabberwocks, IGCAC work to reconcile relationships after fall incident BY LAURA DAVID ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Next week, the 10 groups comprising the University’s Intergalactic Community of A Cappella will host their annual round of spring semester auditions. These spring auditions come after a tumultuous fall semester for the IGCAC community after racist and sexualizing comments made on audition notecards between 2017 and 2019 by members of the Jabberwocks a cappella group were released publicly in a Dear Blueno post, The Herald previously reported. In response to the post, the Jabberwocks delayed their fall auditions and canceled many events with fellow IGCAC groups, Jabberwocks member and Recruitment Chair Gus Benson ’24 told The Herald. But this semester, the Jabberwocks and the rest of IGCAC plan to move forward together, with all the groups slated to hold their auditions next week. Auditions for the spring semester will take place in person from Feb. 14 to 16 at various locations on campus. Prospective singers must sign up for an audition time slot on a Facebook event and are also being asked to take a rapid antigen test before they perform, if possible, according to Olivia Williams ’22, IGCAC czar. For those who don’t feel comfortable showing up to sing in person, virtual options will also be available. “I know there was a little bit of a hiccup last semester, but I think everything worked out. I think we’re just excited to welcome new people into all the groups,” said Anna Barnett ’23, a
member of the Ursa Minors. “I trust the people who are in charge to make the right decisions and put in the correct procedures to make sure that everything runs smoothly.” IGCAC and members of the Jabberwocks worked throughout the fall semester to improve relationships between the Jabberwocks and other a cappella groups following the September incident. “We’ve been in dialogue with a lot of people internally at Brown, in (the Student Activities Office) and (in the) Jabberwocks,” Williams said. “A lot of the dialogue about moving forward has remained pretty internal.” Williams noted that many of the Jabberwocks’ current members were not implicated by the post. When the cards were released, only one member of the Jabberwocks remained from the cohort responsible for the incident, The Herald previously reported. Though much of the conversation around the Jabberwocks was handled privately between the group itself and IGCAC leadership, this semester IGCAC plans to “potentially involve the Community Dialogue Project on campus to facilitate more dialogue around the issue,” Williams mentioned. The CDP specializes in facilitating conversations among community members on difficult subjects. Williams also said IGCAC is excited to work with SAO “to make sure that we can sort of rebuild from this history and just move forward in a way that is creating a safe space for everyone in a cappella.” In the time since the Dear Blueno post went live, the Jabberwocks themselves have dedicated time to undergoing internal reforms and working to reckon with their group’s history, Benson said. The group met with other a cappella groups individually and also held an IGCAC-wide town hall in September
REBECCA CARCIERI / HERALD
Auditions for the spring semester will take place in-person Feb. 14 to 16 at various locations on campus, with an additional remote option. Groups are asking auditionees to take a rapid antigen test before singing.
to discuss the impact of the Jabberwocks’ group culture on the campus a cappella scene, Benson explained. For the entirety of the fall semester, the Jabberwocks also dedicated their weekly Sunday rehearsals — one of the group’s three weekly practice slots — to discussing that culture and trying to reform it, using the feedback from its discussion sessions with other groups as a guide. “We spent a lot of time listening to members of the community air their grievances in hopes of trying to understand where they were coming from,” Benson said. “We dedicated that Sunday rehearsal to just talking about that group culture and the ways that we comport ourselves, our relationship with the rest of IGCAC and confronting the historical identity of the Wocks as a predominantly male and predominantly
white group.” The group also reached out to its alumni network to compile a more comprehensive history of itself in an attempt to confront its “problematic legacy.” “A lot of (that history) is detailed in a transparency packet that we created in the fall, which is something that’s going to be distributed to all of the individuals who are auditioning in the spring and from here on out,” Benson said. “We’ll continue to update that package each year with each iteration of the Jabberwocks.” Despite the events of the fall, the Jabberwocks and other groups remain optimistic about the upcoming audition period and excited for IGCAC’s plans for the spring. “Spring auditions are always smaller than fall,” Williams said, “but we love to
just open it up because there are some — especially first years — who aren’t sure what they want to do on campus or don’t know about a cappella when they come in. We just want to give folks an opportunity to audition intermittently.” Williams also said that spring auditions can sometimes feel more relaxed given the reduced number of auditionees compared to the fall. “It’s just a much more mellow audition process,” she said. “We want to give people as many opportunities to get involved in the groups as possible.” “I think we’re all feeling really excited,” Barnett said. “Every time we get new members, it’s a really exciting event because we get to meet new people … I think that’s always what I’m looking forward to, meeting new people who love music as much as I do.”
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SPORTS FROM PAGE 1 Coleman to attend junior college at Arizona Western College for a year before transferring in order to improve his academics and gain muscle. Determined to meet these goals, Coleman became a Ford Foundation Scholar at Arizona Western, an upward trajectory paralleled by his continued success on the field. “I figured that I was going to shut my father up, so I decided to study,” Coleman joked. Coleman’s academic success at the junior college drew the attention of a Brown recruiter, Louis Farber ’29, one of Brown’s Iron Men. Although Coleman had been set on attending USC, an after-class conversation with his philosophy professor changed the trajectory of his life. “I get goosebumps when I talk about this… He said ‘If you go to school (at Brown), you’ll go to school with the sons and daughters of kings and presidents, and the very people that will someday run this country. And that is where you belong,’” Coleman recounted. “I’ll never forget that as long as I live.” Coleman’s Arizona Western football team went on to win the Junior College National Championship that year, and though he was recruited by many universities, he ultimately chose Brown. Watching a basketball game during a recruiting visit to campus in the winter of 1973 solidified Coleman’s desire to attend the University. “Four out of the five starters on the basketball team were African-American,” Coleman said. “A whole side of the gym was filled with students and three quarters of those students were African-Americans with big afros and it was just amazing.” Brown’s relatively large Black population at the time was a welcome change from Coleman’s prior experience in Pennsylvania and Arizona. “I was surprised … to see that many African-Americans at Brown … What I realized was, I’m one of the beneficiaries of the riots of Malcolm X, of Martin, of the civil unrest,” Coleman said. “Brown opened the doors to African-American students (that) should have been opened long ago … They didn’t lower their standards at all. We, as African-Americans, belonged there.” Coleman noted that the socioeconomic diversity within the University’s Black community made its environment so unique. His role as a football player connected him to a wide range of individuals. “We had African-American students who were the sons and daughters of African-American doctors and lawyers,” he said. “But we also had friends that came from single parents (and) working class families … It was a beautiful mix of people. It was a very welcoming place.” Black quarterbacks were so rare in college football at the time that some students at Brown were doubtful that Coleman would even have the opportunity to play the position when he arrived on campus the second semester of his sophomore year. “I came here to play quarterback, nothing else. That’s the way I looked at it,” Coleman recalled. On Oct. 6, 1973, Coleman made history when he faced off against Penn’s Marty Vaughn in the first-ever matchup between two Black quarterbacks in the more than 100 years of major college football. Though history was being made in the game against Penn, Coleman remained humble leading up to the event. “Oh, it was just another game. We were
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS just going down to play Penn,” he said. The Penn game marked Coleman’s return to playing in his home state. “It was my first time playing in front of my family since high school,” Coleman said. “My whole town was at the game. It was a big deal. Not the Black quarterback thing, but ‘Denny,’ as they called me at home, was coming home to play for Brown.” Coleman recalled Vaughn saying after the game, “I didn’t even know that you were Black, man, until I saw you out on the field. I said to one of my teammates ‘Woah, they’ve got a Black quarterback, too!’” “We became fast friends and are friends to this day and we talk about (that game) now. We laugh about it,” Coleman said. Coleman’s transfer to Brown’s football team sparked a turnaround for the program. The University tallied a 3-30 record in the three seasons prior to his arrival. In Coleman’s first season competing for the Bears, the team improved to 4-3-1. The following season, he led the Bears to a 5-4 season. These consecutive winning seasons were the program’s first since the 1940s. “People were going nuts about the success of the team,” Coleman said. “It was a big deal.” Beyond the pride of turning the program around and winning football games, Coleman recalls gaining the admiration of Providence’s Black community. “The African-American community in Providence came to games, … and they would tell me ‘We never went to Brown’s games and we couldn’t believe that Brown had a Black quarterback,’” Coleman said. Coleman’s status as a successful Black quarterback at Brown was inspirational to many Black youths. “I had kids that used to want my wristbands … that would tell me years later ‘You don’t know what it meant to us to have you as a Black quarterback at Brown,” Coleman said. But even with all the athletic success, “The most wonderful part of Brown is that I met my wife … in September 1973 in the Ratty,” Coleman said. Coleman and his wife have been married for 42 years. After graduating from the University with a degree in history, Coleman went on to attend Georgetown Law School. There, he found a sense of community with Black students who matriculated from schools like Brown. Following Georgetown, Coleman returned to Providence in 1978 to work for Edwards and Angell LLP and became the first Black lawyer in Rhode Island history to work for a major law firm. Three years later, he and some associates started their own firm on Waterman and Ives streets. This marked the beginning of his work representing athletes. As a young Black lawyer in the 1970s, Coleman said he felt his racial identity gave him an advantage in the field among clients. “There were just a few of us — Black guys, that is — that were doing this work. And so Black guys were like ‘I want him because he’ll understand me,’” Coleman said. “I honestly believe that gave me a leg up. I used it that way.” Today, Coleman is a Senior Counsel for Ropes & Gray LLP and leads a nationwide sports, media and entertainment practice. He represents a variety of professional sports industry clients, including coaches from the National Football League. Coleman uses his influential position to mentor the next generation of
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COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Dennis Coleman ’75 played quarterback for the Brown football team. He said during his college experience, he connected with a wide range of individuals within the Black community at Brown. Black lawyers. “I spend a lot of my time talking to young lawyers of color trying to help them navigate their way through Big Law. I really enjoy the opportunity to be a mentor to younger people,” Coleman said. “I honestly believe that I have a true obligation to young African-American lawyers … because it’s still a struggle.” ‘For me, it’s about making sure it’s not just my voice:’ Bekah Splaine Salwasser ’01 Bekah Splaine Salwasser grew up in Cambridge, MA as one of five children, all of whom were casually introduced to sports at a young age. “Because our house was so small and so crowded, the soccer field was a place where I felt like I could literally and figuratively sort of spread my wings and fly,” Salwasser said. Excelling rapidly in soccer while discovering that time and effort invested into the sport often yielded positive results, Salswasser was recruited by many universities. She ultimately chose Brown because of its proximity to her family, sense of close-knit community, liberal values and commitment to diversity. Although Salswasser was seeking racial diversity in her decision to matriculate to Brown, she recalls being the only Black player on the soccer team during her four years. “As you can imagine, it felt very isolating,” Salwasser said. “It’s something that a lot of people of color have to figure out, and it’s something that we have to navigate as a minority in a majority situation.” Salwasser’s talent offered some relief from the burden of being a minority in the soccer world. “I was very fortunate on almost every field I played to be one of the best, if not the best, player,” Salwasser said. “And that allows you to position yourself differently.”
In addition to the challenges of being the only Black woman on the team, Salswasser faced a major physical challenge during her college soccer career. She had just verbally committed to play at Brown in January 1997 when she tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus. She then re-tore her ACL that July, requiring complete reconstructive surgery. After months of rehabilitation, as well as overcoming the fear of another injury, Salwasser made her debut for Brown soccer her sophomore year in 1998 and earned the Ivy League Rookie of the Year honor. A natural leader, Salwasser captained the University’s women’s soccer team her junior and senior years. “There’s no separating the fact that I’ve been a sports team captain and have also been an executive director of just about every job I’ve had,” Salwasser said. Salwasser graduated from Brown in 2001 with a degree in psychology and child development and played soccer semi-professionally for the Boston Renegades after going undrafted in the newly-founded Women’s United Soccer Association. Salwasser captained the Renegades and led the team to two national championships in both years she played for them. Following her stint with the Renegades, she earned a spot playing professionally with the Boston Breakers of the WUSA. “I am fueled by doubt,” Salwasser said of her achievement. When the WUSA folded due to financial instability in 2003, Salwasser transitioned to nonprofit work. A former classmate from Brown who played on the men’s soccer team connected Salwasser to the organization Boston Scores, which works to combine soccer education with literacy for middle schoolers in the Boston Public School district. “I loved the idea of leveraging
the formula ‘academics + athletics = success,’” Salwasser said. After enjoying her work in the nonprofit realm, Salwasser continued to network in the Boston area and ultimately arrived at her current position of Executive Director of the Red Sox Foundation, where she has worked since 2018. At the start of 2021, Salwasser took on a second role for the organization as executive vice president of social impact. As head of the foundation, Salwasser manages a team of 12 individuals who provide opportunities in health, education and recreation to youth, families, veterans and communities in need across New England. Her team gives away resources such as grants, tickets and autographed merchandise. They also run a college scholarship program and offer a program called Reviving Baseball in the Inner-cities. In her social impact role, Salwasser works to increase the diversity among the Red Sox staff in addition to ensuring equity in the organization and fostering a culture of belonging at the institution through an advisory counsel. Salwasser’s identity as a Black woman in her newest role in social justice comes with added pressure. “You’re being asked to represent an entire demographic,” Salwasser said. “For me, it’s about making sure it’s not just my voice. There are other Black experiences. There are other Black female experiences.” “I’m honored with this opportunity, but at the same time, we can’t just continue to stick with certain demographics in specific roles,” she added. Black people “have value to bring in all aspects of business and life and not just through the lens of (diversity, equity and inclusion).”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Faculty remain positive about start of semester despite obstacles Instructors address Omicron, flooding, masking policies, burnout
On Jan. 26, classes for the second semester of the 2021-22 academic year officially began. The semester started amid uncertainty across the country about how universities should be operating in regards to the Omicron variant. The Herald spoke with multiple University faculty members about teaching during the pandemic and about how recent events, such as the campus
date one remote student. “Having the technology available has been really very helpful,” Terry-Morgan said. “It’s also very good for meeting with students.” Zoom has also proved advantageous for faculty advisors. Ross Cheit, a professor of political science who is advising theses and working in research this semester, holds both in-person office hours and meetings on Zoom. Crawford found this semester’s shopping period chaotic. “I have never had so much change in my class lists,” she said. “It’s made it very difficult because by now I would normally have assigned people in two-person scenes. I have to push my whole syllabus a week.” Crawford reported that the studio she works in often has connectivity
floodings, have affected their classes. The University announced Jan. 14 that professors must teach their classes in the format originally listed in Courses@Brown, The Herald previously reported. This excluded the first week of the semester, when professors could host classes on Zoom to avoid overcrowding during the shopping period. Many faculty members noted that in-person classes are preferable. Connie Crawford, adjunct lecturer in theatre arts and performance studies and director-in-residence of Rites and Reason Theatre, prefers in-person learning due to the physical nature of her performance classes. “Being able to use our whole selves and respond moment to moment in complex ways deepens the learning,” Crawford said. She also mentioned that Zoom makes improvisation difficult because speakers cannot smoothly exchange words without muting, unmuting and dealing with sound glitches. Elmo Terry-Morgan, associate professor of Africana Studies and theatre arts and performance studies and the artistic director of Rites and Reason Theatre, also conducts his classes in person, though all of his students log onto Zoom during class to accommo-
issues, so accommodating students over Zoom was difficult. “But we try,” she said. This semester’s shopping period provided a new set of challenges for faculty and students in the form of a Jan. 29 blizzard and flooding in multiple University buildings, The Herald previously reported. “It was a surreal day, almost post-apocalyptic, like we had survived the apocalypse and we were walking around lost,” Elsa Belmont Flores, assistant director and lecturer at the Center for Language Studies, said. Flores teaches in Sayles Hall, one of the buildings that flooded following the blizzard, but her classroom was not directly affected. Because she had not received any communication from the University about the flooding, Flores entered the building through a side door, as the front was roped off with yellow tape. Some of Flores’s students stepped over the tape, but many were very confused and did not enter the building at all. Regardless, Flores adapted and provided virtual options to those who missed class. Faculty also commented on the University’s masking policy.
BY SARAH ONDERDONK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
Professors say shopping period was especially chaotic this semester and expressed concern over burnout among faculty members who have taught for four semesters in a row due to the added summer semester. “I have really appreciated the policy of faculty being able to remove our masks,” Flores said. “I think particularly for a foreign language, students will feel a bit of anxiety when being spoken to through a mask in a language they are still acquiring.” She pointed out that though students have the option of lowering their masks when speaking if they are fully vaccinated and socially distant, the majority of students choose to keep them on. “It hasn’t really been an impediment for communication,” Flores said. She also believes that because many students have gotten used to wearing masks, it has created a sense of security that they do not necessarily want to lose. Crawford, on the other hand, has struggled with the way the masking policy affects her acting classes. The University has supplied the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies special masks that have clear plastic over the mouth so that students can see more of each other’s faces, but Crawford has found that the
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Crawford expressed a similar sentiment and specifically highlighted the struggle of adjunct professors. “There’s a systemic issue with colleges and universities, all across America, with adjunct labor,” she added. “These multiple semesters are a stressor in a new way.” Despite the unpredictability of the times, faculty members remain optimistic that the University will continue to stay in person and are keeping an open mind about new possibilities. Terry-Morgan added that he is always eager to learn new methods for teaching during the pandemic. “We’re in a transitional phase,” he said. “So we have to learn new stuff.” Flores is encouraged by the high vaccination rates and the ways in which students and faculty continue to uphold masking and social distancing guidelines. “I want to believe that at this point, we have more plans (in place) before we reach the point where we have to go fully remote,” she said. “I’m confident and want to be positive that I will be able to complete this semester in person.”
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material makes it difficult to breathe. “I trust the medical decisions made by Brown,” she added. “So if they are requiring masks, that’s a good thing for the health of the whole community.” Still, Crawford hopes that the University will grant an exception to allow students in her class to remove their masks if they are far enough away from each other during scenes. Terry-Morgan is currently working on getting a student from the Brown Trinity MFA Program to do a workshop on what he calls “speaking behind the mask,” which would help students learn to enunciate and project with their mouths covered. Many professors also expressed concern over faculty burnout. For some, this semester marks their fourth in a row due to the unusual summer semester last year. “Faculty with children at home, especially young children, are shouldering an almost impossible task,” Cheit said. “I am extremely worried (if) the University will be able to do enough to ensure that we do not lose junior faculty members during this time.”
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
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McGrath ’24: Online, we feel everything and accomplish nothing For every minute I spent thinking about climate change last year, I probably spent another twenty minutes scrolling through Zara’s massive summer sale. And while I’m genuinely terrified of the looming climate crisis and our government’s de facto refusal to prevent it, I’m selfishly even more terrified of my own hypocrisy — how I can reflexively roll my eyes when someone refuses to go vegetarian, but excuse my own passive refusal to recycle in my dorm room. How I can tweet about the dangers of performative activism in one tab and then order laundry detergent from Amazon Prime in another. How I can embrace self-delusion when it’s convenient and look down at others for doing the same. This cognitive dissonance — my inability to transfer the empathy I feel in online spaces into offline action — is only one piece of a much larger consumerist puzzle. Not only does social media constantly remind us of all the ways we could be doing better (Should we be boycotting H&M? Unfollowing Trisha Paytas? Burning our Harry Potter merch?), but even our attempts to discuss these issues online still in some ways prop up the very things we’re attempting to criticize. Our likes, our views, our user data and, yes, even our hate comments generate financial and social capital for the creators we see, the platforms that host them and the advertisers that fund them both. Not only is our implication in the harm caused by late-stage capitalism seemingly inescapable, but even the methods we have to critique this consumerism still in some ways perpetuate it. Social media exposes us to so many problems and tragedies that I’m often left feeling too overwhelmed to actually start addressing them. At the same time, I’ve also clicked through enough mid-roll ads in Youtubers’ blackface apology videos to make me wonder if avoiding moral implication is even possible at all. We often talk about what it means to vote with our dollar — how the products we buy have moral price tags as well as financial ones. On
PILOT FROM PAGE 1 complex in the Jewelry District in July 2021, The Herald previously reported. If it paid full taxes on all its properties, the University would owe $49 million for its properties, the report says. The state reimbursed Providence $13 million in 2021, 27% of the University’s estimated property taxes, according to University Spokesperson Brian Clark. Overall, if nonprofit land parcels were taxed at the same rate as other businesses, Providence would see an annual yield of over $130 million, according to the report. Current state PILOT reimbursements generate $33 to $34 million for the city. According to the report, nonprofits own about 39.3% of all land parcels in Providence, a disproportionate share of property exempt from taxation compared to other cities. The report said that the city should consider modifying PILOT agreements “to ensure fair contributions … and additional stability for Providence’s fiscal future.” “Through a state-administered PILOT program, the University’s presence in Providence brings the city significant revenue in its annual budget,” Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. The Financial Department report also mentioned that these reimbursements can be reduced due to changes in the annual state budget. “A large burden of recovering lost revenue from tax exempt organizations ultimately still falls on taxpayers,” read the report. The City is also currently facing a pension crisis and funding shortfall,
the internet, however, we vote with our clicks and our views. This means that simply witnessing a trend — or criticizing it — inevitably fuels related ideas, creators and corporations. Take, for instance, the rise of online thrifting. While secondhand shopping has always been around, it’s fair to say that the internet has made it cool again. A cheap alternative to “fast fashion,” thrifting offers the best of both worlds: not only does it reduce your carbon footprint, but it allows you to snag those trendy “vintage” pieces that you can’t always find shopping retail. And while thrift hauls on
Forever21 ads pop up between these sustainability-focused videos — a constant reminder that even the tools we use to debate the ethics of consumption are not free from the tactics used to market this very consumption to us. Unable to escape this implication at every turn, even successfully making a change to our consumption habits can still eerily feel like a failure. Afterall, I’m complicit whether I’m buying a textbook from Amazon or Amazon is mining my data. While the thrifting debate was relatively quickly resolved, this model of online commen-
“Our implication feels inevitable, but doing nothing still feels objectionable.”
TikTok and YouTube have certainly helped popularize the practice, these same social media sites have also given rise to a wave of backlash. Last summer, many internet users became concerned about the possibility of thrift store gentrification — that the sudden popularity of thrifting and resale make it harder for low-income shoppers to find wardrobe staples at their now picked-over local Savers. There was then, of course, also inevitable backlash to this backlash: As it turns out, stores like GoodWill and the Salvation Army actually receive so many donations that they end up dumping most of them in landfills or overseas markets anyway. And while this emotional whiplash was honestly pretty exhausting, I did ultimately walk away from this debate with some genuinely actionable advice — that thrifting is good. It was still slightly haunting, however, to see
said Gabe Mernoff ’22.5, who serves as the advocacy coordinator of Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, which directly serves and advocates for people experiencing homelessness. In collaboration with Students for Educational Equity, HOPE is currently working on University accountability by organizing and collaborating with local politicians, Mernoff said. SEE is a student organization that works to improve local education systems and campaign for policy changes. According to Clark, the University makes direct payments to the city through two different agreements apart from the PILOT program. These are the Memorandum of Understanding on voluntary payments signed in 2003 and a separate Memorandum of Agreement signed in 2012, both of which include the specifics of voluntary payments and the payment schedules. In fiscal year 2021, Brown paid over $4.3 million in voluntary and transition payments through the 2003 MOU and 2012 MOA, along with $1.9 million in property taxes for commercial buildings, Clark wrote. These commercial properties include the Brown Bookstore and Hemenway’s restaurant at 121 South Main St. Although both agreements will expire in 2023, the University expects to consider a new agreement with city leaders before then, continuing partnerships that “make a positive economic impact locally,” Clark wrote. As the city considers nonprofits’ contributions to its revenue, officials at the state level are also examining
tary extends far beyond climate change and sustainability. It’s a parallel cycle of discourse that Loyola University Chicago Associate Professor of Marketing Jenna Drenten has fittingly deemed the “TikTok tabloid.” Does Axel from TikTok actually deserve his fame? Should we be commenting on John Mulaney’s divorce? Should calorie counts be prefaced with trigger warnings? Is it appropriate to contact West Elm Caleb’s boss? In the TikTok tabloid, everyday users fuel debates about social media’s various fads and influencers. As these questions might suggest, the most popular takes within these debates often boil down to “this trend is problematic so it shouldn’t be trendy” or “this famous person is problematic so they shouldn’t be famous.” What we are really having is a meta debate about the ethics of media consumption itself — in our
PILOT programs. The nonprofit sector and recommendations for PILOT programs were discussed in a presentation by Bryant University Professor of Economics Edinaldo Tebaldi at a Jan. 31 meeting of the Special Legislative Commission to Analyze and Make Recommendations Regarding Tax Exempt Properties in the State of Rhode Island. “Nonprofits are vital to a well-functioning market economy and to promote development,” Tebaldi said, as they bring in qualified workers and other businesses. According to Tebaldi, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that nonprofits generated about 67,000 direct jobs and over $3.9 billion in wages in Rhode Island in 2021. He added that the economic benefits provided by nonprofits are not only from direct hiring and income but also from indirect impacts through increased demand for labor and goods and services. According to Clark, “Brown serves as a major economic engine for Providence and Rhode Island” through hiring, direct and research spending, bringing visitors and investors to Providence and property development, among other financial support measures. Clark added that the University has also invested over $225 million into the Jewelry District over the past decade and has attracted companies including Wexford Science and Technology and Cambridge Innovation Center. The University also runs its own police department and emergency medical services, Clark wrote, which reduce pressure on
world, a form of anti-capitalist commentary that is considerably less actionable than “stop shopping on Amazon.” Even when we take issue with the trends and influencers that pop up on our For You page, in simply knowing about them we have already volunteered our participation in the form of views and attention. It’s not just that the internet makes me feel like I can never fully act on my values — simply being on the internet is itself proof of the fact that I quite literally cannot, no matter how hard I try. Our implication feels inevitable, but doing nothing still feels objectionable. While this sounds pretty bleak and admittedly defeatist, I am by no means suggesting that we should stop trying altogether. Our small changes do in fact matter, especially when many of us commit to making them. The internet is, however, equal parts validating and frustrating, exhausting and invigorating, addictive and repulsive. And it’s the most corrosive elements of the internet — namely, the way it forces us to inevitably commodify ourselves and one another — that are cannibalizing what could otherwise be a force for good. The internet hasn’t hardened me to the world’s tragedies so much as it’s made me aware of my perpetual implication in them. Despite what pundits so often conclude, social media burnout isn’t as simple as mere desensitization to the world around you — it’s feeling the weight of everything all at once. There is power, however, in realizing that we’re not actually carrying this burden all alone.
Sarah McGrath ’24 can be reached at sarah_v_mcgrath@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
MUKUL KHANNA / HERALD
If nonprofit land was taxed at the same rate as other plots, the city would see an annual increased revenue yield of over $130 million. the city’s first responders, and it maintains a $10 million endowment to ensure annual support to the Providence Public School District. “We’ve rallied a lot around this issue of Brown being an extractive force to the community, and we feel that Brown’s tax-exempt status is another way that perpetuates this unequal power,” Carina Sandoval ’23, co-president of SEE, said. “If you’re listening to the voices of the community … their big push is that Brown needs to pay more taxes.” According to the “A Matter of Truth” report by the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and 1696 Heritage Group released in 2020, the issue of nonprofits and voluntary contributions to the city affects racial justice. “While the expansion of land (owned by nonprofits) continues to unfairly shift the burden of the tax code, the absence of tax dol-
lars limits the city’s ability to invest in initiatives that support the needs of people of color,” the report says. Clark did not comment on the “A Matter of Truth” report in an email to The Herald. “This is intimately connected to so many issues in the city,” said Mernoff, who is a graduate of PPSD and is “a lifelong resident” of the city. “Providence is the third most economically unequal city in the entire country,” according to a 2018 Brookings Institution report, and currently faces great disparities in housing, education and social and racial justice, Mernoff added. He said that if the University wants to prioritize addressing these issues in Providence, action is needed. “This is the place for them to put their money where their mouth is,” Mernoff said.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
8
UNIVERSITY NEWS
BCSC, Dining Services host annual Soul Food Night at Ratty Event includes music, performances, student group features, soul food dinner BY NEIL MEHTA SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Brown Center for Students of Color held its annual Soul Food Night at the Sharpe Refectory Thursday afternoon. The event featured music, performances and a soul food-themed dinner menu. The event has been planned collaboratively between the BCSC and Brown Dining Services for the past 12 years as part of the BCSC’s Black Heritage Series. More than 600 Brown community members attend the Soul Food Night annually, according to Anne Marie Ponte, coordinator of co-curricular initiatives at the BCSC. Faculty and students of all grade levels attended the event. Students not on a meal plan were able to reserve their spots virtually, according to a Feb. 10 Today@Brown announcement. This year’s Soul Food Night was
arranged by Black Heritage Series programmers Cyprene Caines ’23 and Mali Dandridge ’22.5. Caines, who didn’t attend the 2019 Soul Food Night during her first year at Brown, looked forward to sharing the experience with peers this year Soul Food Night “is an event I’ve always heard people rave about and say that they love,” Caines said. “I’m excited to experience it for the first time and also … collaborate to make it (happen). It’s a beloved event for sure.” Caines emphasized the importance of food in bringing students together, especially as part of the Black Heritage Series. “Food is definitely representative of the legacies that we continue to honor,” she said. “Food is something that brings any community together.” “Even though this (dish) might be from the Caribbean, or this (dish) might be from the U.S., or this might be a dish that continental Africans are accustomed to making, we can see similarities and bond over that,” Caines added. Some students heard about the event through campus announcements and advertising while others stumbled
NEIL MEHTA / HERALD
The annual event took place Thursday afternoon at the Ratty. Students and faculty members enjoyed a soul food-themed menu. upon it while making their usual trips to the Ratty. Student Nathan Perez ’24 has been looking forward to Soul Food Night after seeing a campus poster advertising the event. “I’m quite satisfied with the … event, the music and the food itself,”
he said. Unlike Perez, Jacob Gelman ’25 followed his friends into the Ratty, not knowing that the event took place today. “I’m really happy I came,” he said. “The food was really good.” In addition to a D.J. set and student performances, this year’s Soul
Food Night platformed Black student organizations on campus. Club representatives, such as the Black Star Journal Editor-in-Chief Amiri Nash ’24, promoted their clubs at booths set up throughout the Ratty. The Black Star Journal, founded in the fall, is a publication highlighting Black voices on campus, The Herald previously reported. “I was invited to (Soul Food Night) through the BCSC,” Nash said. He was connected to the BCSC through Dandridge, who is both a programmer for the Black Heritage Series and the content lead at the Black Star Journal. “Events like this that bring the community together allow Black students to explore the possibilities they have” at Brown, Nash said. “Students have been coming up and … talking about the newspaper. We’ve got a few prospective members already.” The Black Heritage Series will continue through February, programmed by Caines and Dandridge. The monthlong series will conclude with a guest speaker event to be announced later this month.
LAWSUIT FROM PAGE 1 applications individually and in a needblind manner. In response to the law, 28 university presidents formed the 568 Presidents Group — referred to by the plaintiffs as the 568 Cartel in this suit — in 1998, though membership has fluctuated over the years. The 568 Presidents Group website says that the group maintains a “need-based financial aid system that is understandable and fair and will bring greater clarity (and) simplicity … to the process of assessing each family’s ability to pay for college.” A website sponsored by litigators representing the plaintiffs alleged that 16 elite universities have “systematically violated the terms of (the) antitrust exemption by failing to admit students on a fully need-blind basis or,” in the University’s case, “by colluding with institutions who failed in that way.” University Spokesperson Brian Clark declined to comment in an email to The Herald because the University’s response to the claims “will come not through the news media, but through the judicial process directly.” The complaint by the plaintiffs further alleges that some of the institutions are “need-aware” for students on the waitlist or transfer students, that they engage in “wealth favoritism” by prioritizing applicants whose families have the potential to make substantial contributions and, for some of the universities, that they use software that collects data on zip codes or parental
financial aid students and their families who we believe have been overcharged by these elite universities.” The suit requests damages for stu-
students likely did not face monetary harm from the collusion — unless the members of the 568 group had “market power collectively.”
lions of documents produced,” as well as “depositions of key people” from the involved universities, and that it “would be at least three or four years” before
and might be at risk if they use pooled financial data.” But Crane cautioned that schools should be able to collaborate with each
occupation. In the University’s case, the complaint specifies that seven defendants — including Brown — were at one point members of the 568 group and therefore “conspired with the other defendants,” regardless of whether they adhered to need-blind admissions policies. “We have conducted a substantial investigation of these practices, which we allege are unlawful,” wrote Robert Gilbert, a litigator for the plaintiffs, in an email to The Herald. “We plan to vindicate the rights of more than 170,000
dents who attended each of the institutions during the period of time when the schools were members of the group, as well as a permanent injunction preventing the involved universities from continuing to conspire. The complaint alleges that the total damages amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Daniel Crane, a law professor at the University of Michigan, told The Herald that he’s “skeptical” that the suit would lead to “really large damages.” Since a number of other “elite schools” weren’t involved in the collusion, he argued that
Still, Crane noted that there is precedent for this type of suit. He cited the initial 1991 antitrust suit pursued by the Justice Department and said that under U.S. antitrust laws, private plaintiffs are able to bring a lawsuit. Crane explained that the next step in the case is likely discovery, during which each party involved in the lawsuit can obtain evidence from the other through written questioning, document requests, requests for admissions and depositions. He guessed that there could be “mil-
the court reaches a resolution. Crane also noted that he couldn’t make a judgment on the likelihood of the plaintiffs winning the case without access to all of the information, but thinks the lawsuit could be “serious” if a “substantial group of colleges” considered need in their application process. Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, wrote in an email to The Herald that if the plaintiffs’ claims are true, “the defendant schools might not be entitled to the antitrust exemption,
other to shift limited financial aid funds to higher-need families. When asked about what students should take away from the suit, Crane claimed that “there’s an integrity issue” and that if universities claim to be need-blind, “they should be held accountable to that.” “If I was attending a school that was allegedly cheating that commitment, I’d want to know,” Crane said. “I would want to hear a response from these schools and an explanation of what’s going on.”
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
Legal scholars said that the process ahead may take years as a result of both the size and complexity of the case. Daniel Crane, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said that the case could produce “millions of documents” and “depositions of key people.”