Friday, October 25, 2024

THE BROWN DAILY HER ALD

Corporation vote against divestment has raised discussions on neutrality

BY CATE LATIMER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

in their letter to the brown community announcing that the corporation voted against a divestment proposal from 10 companies with ties to israel, President christina Paxson P’19 P’Md’20 and chancellor brian Moynihan ’81 P’14 P’19 wrote that brown’s mission is “not to

adjudicate or resolve global conflicts.”

the communications indicate that despite heightened calls for divestment from companies with ties to israel, the University has made a critical decision that goes beyond the one-time proposal: not to take an official stance.

Within the past year, despite heightened calls for divestment from companies with ties to israel, the University has made a critical decision: not to take an official stance.

brown is not alone in this course of action.

Facing invigorated campus protests, a

slate of top colleges and universities have adopted policies of institutional neutrality, which typically prohibit administrators from commenting on contentious social or political issues.

in May, Harvard decided to refrain from commenting on public policy issues. Schools such as Penn and barnard college have adopted official institutional neutrality policies. at others, including yale and columbia, the move is still under consideration.

i n the last year, three i vy League presidents have stepped down following backlash against statements they made

Providence may become first East Coast city to ban new gas stations

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Contract includes 3% annual increase in base hourly rate

BY ETHAN SCHENKER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

the teaching assistant Labor Organization has ratified its first longterm contract with the University, the union wrote in an email to members Wednesday afternoon.

Voting members of the union, which represents undergraduate computer science tas, casted their ballots on the three-year agreement between last week and Monday night. the contract passed with 94% of the votes. the contract, which will apply to all cS tas, replaces a one-year interim agreement in place for the 2023-2024 academic year. it will go

into effect after both the union and the University sign the final agreement in the coming weeks and last until fall 2027, taLO President yasmine abdelaziz ’25 said. Negotiations for a long-term contract started in March 2024.

“additional steps remain to execute the agreement, and we expect to communicate further when the agreement is final and ready to post publicly,” University spokesperson brian clark wrote in an email to the Herald. “Undergraduate teaching assistants have played an important role in the department of computer Science for more than 50 years, and we’re pleased to have reached this point in the bargaining process.”

the newly-ratified contract includes a 3% annual increase in the base hourly rate for all undergrad-

regarding the israel-Hamas war. University presidents have found that institutional neutrality could “remove them from the political crossfire,” according to Luther Spoehr, a senior lecturer emeritus in education at brown.

brown’s Public Statement Policy, created in 2022, states that brown “may exercise its leadership by issuing institutional leadership messages, or Public Statements, for matters of direct impact to the brown community or matters affecting higher education and/or the ability of brown or other educational institutions to fulfill their mission of education and research.”

Breaking down how relationships unfold on Brown’s campus

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Unlike the policies of many of its peer institutions, brown’s policies allow institutional statements on matters that impact other institutions of higher education internationally, not just brown.

Still, public statements must meet certain criteria, including alignment with brown’s mission.

brown may issue public statements if an event would affect brown or other institutions of higher education in their ability to pursue brown’s mission, if the issue directly impacts students, faculty and

U. set to reconsider legacy admissions as students discuss issue

Jewish activists may face conduct violations

Students are sleeping in “Gaza Solidarity Sukkah”

BY CIARA MEYER AND SOPHIA WOTMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

early tuesday morning, members of Jews for ceasefire Now were threatened with conduct violations by the department of Public Safety for sleeping in a temporary structure that they had built to celebrate the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

the group erected the sukkah, a tent-like structure that Jews use for holiday traditions such as eating meals and sleeping, on the Quiet Green last Wednesday. While the construction of the sukkah was sanctioned by the University, administrators told the group Wednesday

evening that sleeping in the structure was not permitted under brown’s green space usage policy.

University Spokesperson brian clark wrote that the group’s requests to build the sukkah “indicated no plans for sleeping in the structures, and the University approvals provided were for the short-term use of space on the greens, provided the students adhered to brown policies.”

On thursday evening, dPS officers told JFcN members they were not allowed to be within 20 feet of the structure between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m, according to a Wednesday press release from JFcN that also said the warning did not refer to a written policy. clark did not specify why students could not be in the sukkah during that time, but he noted that students were barred from sleeping in the sukkah due to the green space

AI-assisted cheating drives in-person exams

BY CLAIRE SONG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

after an era of take-home exams, primarily due to cOVid-19, in-person exams are returning to campus. For some professors, suspected cheating and ai use is behind the shift.

Since large language model tools like chatGPt became commonplace and freely available, some measures suggest cheating has become more common. turnitin, a popular plagiarism detection program which released an ai detection feature in april 2023, reported that more than one in ten papers

Professors cite ease of cheating with LLMs like ChatGPT SEE EXAMS

reviewed in its first year were at least partially written using ai aPMa 1650: “Statistical inference i” and biOL 0470: “Genetics” have both returned to in-person exams this semester.

“i grew tired of dealing with suspected academic dishonesty (and) students collaborating or straight-up having ai generate their solutions,” wrote applied Math Lecturer amalia culiuc Phd’16, an instructor for aPMa 1650, in an email to the Herald. “there was always some plausible deniability: friend groups all had the exact same answer because, according to them, they had studied together.”

culiuc mentioned that ai usage is “harder to detect” in computational assignments. She added that she most clearly

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Paxson and other University officials have gestured to this policy in response to calls for divestment

UNIVERSITY NEWS

uate teaching assistants in the cS department. Undergraduate tas, who currently earn $20 per hour, will have a base rate of $21.85 by fall 2026 under the new agreement. before the interim agreement, Utas were paid $15.50 hourly.

the new contract also overhauls the procedure for addressing allegations of discrimination and harassment. adopting language from the Graduate Labor Organization’s current contract, taLO’s new agreement will allow undergraduate computer science tas to enter a formal grievance process for complaints of alleged discrimination and harassment. if complaints are not resolved early in the grievance process, the complaint can proceed to third-party arbitration. before the new contract, tas could not formally enter a grievance and arbitration process for discrimination complaints, which were instead “processed through the procedures of the University Office that handles such discrimination claims.”

the new contract also adds a description of roles and responsibilities for the joint Undergraduate ta and Socially responsible computing ta position. the previous agreement lacked a description for the role that encompassed both positions.

additionally, the new contract redefines what constitutes “extensive course development,” — such as creating new or structurally modifying existing assignments — and establishes new guidelines for the timeline that professors and tas must follow for covered course development work.

“there are strict guidelines for a timeline to be created and what is counted as extensive course development,” abdelaziz said. “but there is added flexibility for the tas and the professors to talk with each other in good faith about timelines and what is considered extensive development.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 23, 2024.

The new contract also overhauls the procedure for addressing allegations of discrimination and harassment.

NEUTRALITY FROM PAGE 1

staff in their roles or if “brown’s influence or advocacy has the capacity, ability or potential to effect change,” according to the policy.

University Spokesperson brian clark wrote that the policy means that brown doesn’t make “institutional statements on social, political or policy matters unrelated to the University’s operations in advancing education, scholarship and discovery.”

Since the start of the israel-Hamas war, Paxson and other University officials have gestured to this policy in response to calls for divestment.

“On very contested issues where there are many different views, we don’t feel it’s appropriate for the University to take sides,” she said in a February interview with the Herald.

clark cited the importance of maintaining academic environments for debate and discussion as the reasoning behind brown’s Public Statements Policy.

“Sustaining an academic environment in which this is the case is fundamentally important to our collective ability to fulfill brown’s teaching and research mission,” he wrote.

What is institutional neutrality?

institutional neutrality has a long history at colleges and universities. Most often it is associated with the University of chicago’s “Kalven report,” created in 1967 during the Vietnam War.

the report suggests that a university should not “speak for the institution and issue statements that take a side on important public controversies that do not directly bear on the university’s mission as an educational institution,” Spoehr explained.

but institutional neutrality does not “preclude members of the university community from making their own public statements as individuals,” he said. rather, it prevents individuals from making statements on the entire unit, whether that be an academic department or the university as a whole.

Supporters of institutional neutrality

tend to argue that it would be unfair for a university to take an official position that portions of its community do not share. doing so, the argument goes, would give the university a new role “beyond its foundational ones of inquiry and instruction,” Spoehr said.

“a university that doesn’t stay in its lane risks becoming — or at least being seen as — just another partisan organization,” Spoehr wrote. but the policy has faced backlash.

“ i nstitutional neutrality does not exist,” said ellen Schrecker, a higher education historian and professor emerita of american history at yeshiva University.

“Universities are implicated in everything that’s going on in american society, and we can never see institutional neutrality, so why call for it?” she added. “What we need to see is institutional, genuine support for free speech.”

Speaking on universities and colleges generally, Schrecker expressed her concern that many university codes of conduct make it more difficult to express free speech by specifying the places, times and manners that speech can occur. but at many universities, she argued, this isn’t the case. “What we’re seeing is not exactly institutional neutrality, but institutional support of the status quo.”

t he discussion about institutional neutrality and public statements at brown is not over.

i n their Oct. 9 letter, Paxson and Moynihan wrote that “brown’s standards for divestment should be reviewed to ensure that they are aligned with the Public Statement Policy.”

the two added that “divestment would be a symbolic political statement,” a position shared by an advisory committee that had previously recommended against divestment.

clark acknowledged the difficulty in distinguishing between investment and taking an official stance.

“With the October meetings having just concluded, considering this will be a question for the future, but the timeline has not been determined,” he wrote.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

FROM PAGE 1

usage policy and fire safety directives.

JFcN abided by this policy for the first four nights of the holiday before deciding to sleep in the sukkah on Sunday night, which proceeded “without incident,” according to their press release. it was not until their second night in the sukkah that they were threatened with conduct violations.

eden Fine ’25, a member of JFcN, said that the group explicitly expressed their intent to sleep in the structure in their request to erect the sukkah on University grounds. in an email exchange that was reviewed by the Herald, an administrator told JFcN organizers that this intent was not communicated to the University officials that had approved the request.

“brown’s supposed commitment to protecting free expression and students of all religious stripes is fundamentally at odds with their threats and restrictions on this religious practice,” JFcN wrote in their press release. “the administration continues to contort the University’s inten-

tionally opaque policies to repress student expression and religious practice.”

the University’s green space and fire safety policies “are related to the time, place and manner of requests and have no relationship to content or religious practices,” clark wrote.

Setting up sukkahs is “something that happens on this campus every year,” Fine said. they noted that rabbi Lex rofeberg ’13, who has provided rabbinical support for JFcN, told the group that he used to sleep in a sukkah on brown’s campus when he was a student.

the permissibility of sleeping in temporary structures on brown’s greens has become particularly relevant since demonstrators erected a week-long encampment in support of divestment last spring. at the time, brown cited its green space policies in issuing conduct violations to encampment participants.

Sleeping on the University’s green spaces is in violation of “long-standing brown policy,” clark wrote. While students have erected sukkahs in previous years, there

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

have been “no exceptions for sleeping in those cases or any other,” he added.

Simon aron ’28, a JFcN member, said that abiding by warnings not to sleep in the sukkah from Wednesday through Saturday, he “didn’t want to be bullied by the administration out of practicing my Judaism.” aron said that he and other JFcN members “were willing to face the consequences” of spending the night in the sukkah.

a fter d PS collected the students’ names and id numbers, aron said the group went back to sleep. the students were told they would undergo a conduct review process, but were not given any indication of what their specific consequences could be, aron said.

“i love being Jewish so much,” he added. “and it feels awful that an institution like brown University would try and suppress my Judaism.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 23, 2024

information, failure to provide appropriate sources may mean we have to modify or remove unverified claims.

The Herald will not publish anonymous submissions or submissions authored by organizations. Leaders of student organizations can be identified as such but cannot write under the byline of their organization. The Herald cannot publish all submissions it receives and reserves

ACTIVISTS

ciara Meyer / HeraLd

While the construction of the sukkah was sanctioned by the University, administrators told students that sleeping in the structure was not permitted under Brown’s green space usage policy.

LOCAL BUSINESSES

Local knitters find community at new yarn store on Brook St.

Knit Club hosts crafting circles drawing both newcomers and pros

BY ANNIKA SINGH STAFF WRITER

What started as a few knitters getting together on a Zoom call has become a brick-and-mortar space to unwind and meet other yarn crafters. Located at 144 brook St., Knit club is a welcoming space for Providence locals and students to work on their knitting projects and become part of a full-fledged knitting community. it hosts weekly crafting circles on tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

the crafting circles are accompanied by soft instrumental music and a bottle of wine that rests on the large family-style table. the Herald attended a tuesday craft

years, and others were in their first month of learning.

“i knitted really poorly in high school, (when) i didn’t know anything about yarn weight and needle sizes, and i just kind of made it work. then i got really into crochet, and i’m now trying to learn how to knit again,” said Michelle Jennings, a knitter at the tuesday craft circle. “this is literally my first knitting attempt in 13 years.”

For less experienced knitters, the yarn store hosts an array of workshops, ranging from 101 knitting classes to courses teaching more elaborate projects.

amadi Williams, a Knit club employee who teaches the 101 workshops, said that the classes have a “100% success rate” so far.

the 101 workshops feature “a lot of beginnings,” Williams said. “i think it’s really about supporting people as they’re going through it.”

circle and observed as attendees quickly filled up the room and unpacked their crafting supplies and spools of yarn. Within minutes, projects were well underway.

Some attendees asked for advice on which type of yarn to use. Others walked in wearing completed projects they’d made in the weeks prior. Some even brought baked goods for the group to share.

according to Lindsay degen, the founder and manager of Knit club, there are very few requirements for membership: “you’re a member of the club if you show up and make.”

attendees had a wide range of knitting experience — some had been knitting for

“this is the first store i’ve been at where it’s fostering such a sense of community, and it’s really exciting for me,” she added.

Williams excitedly described attendees’ curiosity and commitment to learning. “there was a woman that came in who had one hand, and she learned to knit and had a solid chunk of a scarf by the time we were done with the class,” she said. “She was so dedicated, and we found different ways to go around her not being able to use both hands to knit. that was really cool.”

Williams shared that once, a girl, who’d come in for a 101 class and stayed after to make sure she understood everything,

returned and made “full-on bunnies.” in addition to the 101 workshops, Knit club also offers a lot of project-based courses, according to degen.

the longer-term project classes are often taught weekly with attendees typically returning each session to continue working on their project. a recent workshop taught the process of knitting a small lobster toy, and an upcoming workshop will teach participants how to knit a mushroom.

the store is the only one of its kind in the area, degen said. “i had the overwhelming feeling that Providence has always been in need of a yarn store, and there hasn’t been one in Providence for a long time now.” Within the first week of

offering the knit circle, she said, “people came immediately.”

though degen was initially concerned about a lack of younger attendees at the craft circle, she said she intentionally planned the circles to be at convenient times for different age groups. “i’m really proud that, while we welcome everybody, it caters to the younger end of the knitting spectrum,” she said.

“i did a private lesson with a girl that was maybe eight or nine, and now she’s knitting a whole bunch of hats for her friend with cancer,” Williams said.

One of the key goals of the store is to “create a space of belonging, especially for non-represented crafters,” degen said.

“crafters tend to skew white, so i try to foster something that can make diversity happen, both in age and everything that you can think of.”

Williams added that “this community can sometimes looks very one-sided, and so it’s really exciting to see such a range of people in a space like this.” degen also described the split between new and returning attendees as “about half-and-half.”

“i will say, every week is different,” Williams said. “there’s people that i will know the names of, and what projects they’re working on,” while there are others she is meeting for the first time.

degen also said the Knit club will occasionally host events to foster community. in late September, the store hosted a Lord of the rings-themed birthday party on the day of the fictional character bilbo baggins’s birthday. “We streamed the trilogy back to back to back, and we had a knitting marathon.”

the event ran nine and a half hours. “We had to open early and close late,” she said.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 23, 2024.

RISD to consider an Israel divestment proposal written by students

RISD Trustees to “share their thoughts” on the proposal by early March

BY SANAI RASHID AND MEGAN CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

the rhode island School of design’s board of trustees will “share their thoughts” on a divestment proposal put forth by riSd Students for Justice in Palestine by March, according to Jaime Marland, a riSd spokesperson.

Marland declined to comment on whether this will constitute a final decision on the divestment proposal.

rSJP Spokesperson Jo Ouyang ’26, a brown-riSd dual degree student, shared the update at a thursday afternoon rally, after five rSJP representatives met with select members of riSd’s board of trustees investment committee earlier that day to discuss the board’s investment strategy.

in May, riSd President crystal Williams agreed to convene a meeting between the members of the board of trustees in-

tOM Li / HeraLd

RSJP also proposed a student body referendum to prove the prevalence of support for divestment on campus and strengthen “the connection between RISD students and the administration.”

vestment committee and a select number of student activists, under the condition that rSJP would not disrupt commencement activities.

according to Ouyang, the committee talked about “having a consensus or vote” on the divestment proposal at the meeting and discussed possible ways to make the

outcome of those discussions public. back in May, several rSJP members occupied 20 Washington Place, known as Prov-Wash, for three days, the Herald previously reported. demonstrators disbanded the sit-in voluntarily when it was clear that their demands would not be met, a spokesperson said.

during the thursday protest, demonstrators shared multiple demands, including disclosure of riSd’s investments, student oversight of future investments and condemnation of israeli actions in Gaza by Williams.

at the meeting, the student activists focused primarily on divestment, according to their meeting outline.

rSJP has scrutinized riSd’s financial ties with defense manufacturer textron in the past. the israeli air Force currently includes aircraft made by bell and beechcraft, textron subsidiaries. the group has also criticized airbnb for allowing listings of rental properties in israeli settlements in the West bank.

Marland previously told the Herald that textron and airbnb are not in riSd’s investment portfolio. in a May statement, President Williams rejected protesters’ demands to sever all financial ties with textron. in the proposal’s final notes, rSJP wrote that they “want to work with the (board of trustees) to come to common ground in terms of how to ethically use (riSd’s) funding.”

rSJP also proposed a student body referendum to prove the prevalence of support for divestment on campus and strengthen “the connection between riSd students and the administration.”

according to Marland, the committee will bring the students’ divestment proposal to the board’s Stewardship & Sustainability committee “and move forward with a recommendation to the full board, who will then consider the proposal.”

riSd has divested from companies in the past. in 2015, the school’s board of trustees unanimously voted to divest from fossil-fuel extraction companies, following a student sit-in.

“i think this trustee meeting is really a crucial step for us to remain in communication with the board of trustees, and we hope to have future meetings,” Ouyang said. “but this will also not stall our tactics and strategies of protesting on this campus and calling for divestment now.”

The Knit Club hosts workshops, ranging from knitting 101 to multi-week guided knitting courses.

COMMUNITY

Haitian immigrants in RI find support in community organizations

210,000+ Haitians have been paroled in US through 2023 program

BY SANAI RASHID SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Over the past two years, about 1,100 Haitian immigrants have come to rhode island, according to baha Sadr, the state refugee coordinator at ri department of Human Services.

across the country, the number of Haitian migrants who have entered legally has grown, in part due to President biden’s 2023 humanitarian parole program. in august, the United States customs and border Protection released data which found that more than 210,000 Haitians have been paroled into the United States through the program.

but entering the country is only the first step in an often difficult adjustment process. in rhode island, nonprofits and other community organizations offer essential support during the transition.

bernard Georges, the executive director of New bridges For Haitian Success who immigrated to the United States in 2000, explained that there has been a long history of Haitian immigration into the United States due to the “violence, political instability and poverty” of the nation. the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse and infiltration of gang-related violence (which caused the country’s main international airport to close for nearly three months) have worsened conditions in the country, he said. Natural disasters have also been a consistent hardship for Haitians. after Hurricane Matthew, a team from New bridges traveled to remote areas in Haiti to provide healthcare assistance. according to Georges, the organization was also able to send an ambulance with medical supplies to the country through a donation from Governor daniel McKee.

“When i came here in 2000, there

was no Haitian organization to help me navigate the american system,” Georges shared. His father, who immigrated to america before him, first lived in Florida but then moved to Providence because his co-workers — some of whom were undocumented — told him that “rhode island was safer” for Haitian immigrants.

Most of the work that New bridges does involves assisting Haitian immigrants in rhode island by providing a communal space to access resources of all types. according to Georges, over 3,000 Haitians utilize the organization’s services.

“When Haitians arrive here,” Georges said, “they often have nothing except the desire to work and to take advantage of the american economic opportunity.”

but for many clients of New bridges, finding a job is difficult.

a New bridges client, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, shared that it took him five months to find a job after arriving in the United States in 2023 through the humanitarian parole program.

He further described facing discrimination in several of the jobs he has found, including as a rideshare driver and a stocker for a chain store, from both clients

and managers alike. at the chain store, he would often eat in his car because he felt so isolated, he said. eventually, he decided to leave the job.

His brother and mother, who have both been living in a merica for over twenty years, have been able to provide financial stability while he works with New bridges to secure a new job.

When asked if america was what he thought it would be, he answered “no.”

rolande Martial, a caseworker for the client in question, says she has helped thousands of immigrants since starting her work with New bridges in March. Normally she assists around 30 people each day, writing intake forms and working to find her clients housing, employment opportunities and making them aware of the english as a Second Language programs as well as immigration services the organization provides.

Since english is not taught at schools in Haiti, for newcomers trying to find work in rhode island, the language barrier can be especially difficult. the organization’s eSL classes are particularly popular, with over 40 students currently enrolled in the program.

Valery d erosiers, a member of the

board for New bridges, said that “Haitians that come here are coming in with a lot of skills — you have people that were probably doctors, engineers, working other highly educated jobs back in Haiti.” but derosiers added that when many Haitians come to america, their experience is often undervalued. in her experience, Haitian immigrants are “expected to act as if they are uneducated.” as soon as they (cross) the border, their experience is basically wiped out,” derosiers said. “that has a psychological effect on a person.”

Georges noted the harm of similar negative tropes that have been circulated about Haitians. Georges said it was “painful” to hear former President donald trump claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio had abducted and eaten their neighbor’s pets. “it hurt,” he said. the Morija Haitian Seventh-day adventists church provides both support and a space for community gathering to rhode island’s Haitian community.

Pastor agee Vetiaque explained that the church offers services in english, creole and French, aiming to “support people with all backgrounds to come and put their faith and work together.”

He added that during the busiest services of the year, the church has served as many as 300 people. during the winter months, the church hosts clothing drives where items such as gloves, hats, coats and boots are provided to Haitian community members in need.

in addition to their Pawtucket location, the church also has a mission in Haiti. “We are always trying to sustain (the) two groups,” agee said. “While we are here, we are always trying to help people back (home).”

New bridges also helps their clients with immigration services, and is currently working with the city of Providence and the mayor’s office to have the funds to pay for more lawyers to represent clients during their immigration hearings.

the organization is also looking to expand these efforts, working with roger Williams University School of Law to provide a law clinic at the center. “We want to have law students help our clients obtain their legal documents quicker, instead of the one or two lawyers we currently have working here.”

While New bridges prioritizes Haitians in the rhode island community, derosiers emphasized that the organization is open to helping all of those in need.

For example, since May 2020, the organization has hosted weekly food drives within the community. Over 400 people come a day, according to Georges. i know the name of the organization is New bridges for Haitian Success,” said d erosiers. “you may think that we are only serving Haitians. but when i come on Saturdays, i see the whole community at the food drives.”

“Our work wants to bring people together to see how we can really, truly make a big presence in the state,” derosiers said. “Haitians are not in hiding. We are at the forefront of the community.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct 20, 2024.

PVD gets one step closer to becoming first East Coast city to ban new gas stations

Proposal awaits approval from the City Council and mayor

BY CIARA MEYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

a proposed amendment to the city’s draft comprehensive Plan, a ten-year guide for urban planning and development, could make Providence the first east coast city to effectively ban the development of new gas stations.

the amendment, which was originally proposed by Providence city council Member John Goncalves ’13 Ma’15, was approved by the city’s committee on Ordinances on Monday, the Herald previously reported. the full council will vote on the plan on Nov. 7. then, Mayor brett Smiley has the option to veto or approve the plan, which also requires state approval. if the plan is approved, a zoning ordinance would prohibit the construction of new gas stations. the amendment aims to support a transition to green energy and electric vehicles, according to Goncalves. the original comprehensive Plan proposal, approved in June, “discouraged” but did not ban the development of new stations. Goncalves’s

original version of the amendment offered no exceptions to the prohibition of new gas stations and was approved by the city’s committee on Ordinances on Oct. 9. Since then, the city council and the mayor collaborated to produce the current version of the plan, which allows for new gas stations only through special-use permits. those permits are granted when the land is deemed “unsuitable for residential development.”

With this week’s adjustments, Smiley is now “supportive of the changes made to the comprehensive Plan,” Josh estrella, the mayor’s communications director, wrote

in an Oct. 22 email to the Herald.

Controversy over the amendment: but that wasn’t always the case. Last week, Smiley indicated that he might veto Goncalves’s original proposal to issue a complete ban on new gas stations. “an 11th hour decision to simply ban something most Providence families rely on, with no research on its economic impact, is not the path forward for a 10-year plan,” estrella wrote in an Oct. 17 email to the Herald.

Goncalves emphasized that the amendment will not impact existing gas stations. Prohibiting new gas station development “will help us to shift away from fossil fuels and support the transition to more clean green energy” and electric vehicles, Goncalves added.

Goncalves said the mayor’s critiques were “inconsistent with the tenets of the (Providence’s) c limate Justice Plan,” which set a goal for the city to become carbon-neutral by 2050. “if the administration decides to block this, they would be contradicting their own goals in terms of the climate justice plan,” he said.

in an Oct. 17 statement released after Smiley threatened the veto, city council President rachel Miller wrote that hundreds of residents have engaged in con-

versations about the plan and that the amended draft reflects their priorities and feedback.

“to threaten a two year process … over this issue is irresponsible,” she wrote in the statement. “there are over 40 gas stations in the city, (on) land which can be used as gas stations in perpetuity. there is no known demand for more.”

estrella did not comment on Miller’s remarks.

Providence as a hopeful leader in green energy:

the plan also calls for the city to prioritize “the development and installation of (electric vehicle) charging stations across Providence.” to Goncalves, the plan could make Providence a leader in the transition to green energy. “being the first city on the east coast to get this done will hopefully prompt other cities” to follow, he said.

Kim cobb, the director of the institute at brown for environment and Society, wrote in an email to the Herald that “we must recognize that the future of transportation is electric if ri is to achieve its ambitious emissions reductions goals.”

electric vehicles are “cheaper to drive, reduce harmful air pollution, and reduce

greenhouse gasses by 70% compared to even the most fuel-efficient gas car,” she said.

Goncalves said he is working on additional legislation to support electric vehicle infrastructure, complementing previous laws that exempt charging stations from taxation and incentivize e V use. t he amended plan also proposes that the city encourages existing gas stations to install charging ports.

community members have also expressed support for the amendment. during an Oct. 16 public hearing on the plan, Providence local alex diaz-Papkovich said “restricting new gas stations is a move that will save lives, heartache and money.”

“the Providence proposal to ban the construction of new gas stations is a strong, and much needed, signal that the era of burning fossil fuels for energy needs to come to a close as soon as possible,” wrote Stephen Porder, the associate provost for sustainability. “i’m proud that our home town is taking a leadership role in the transition to a cleaner, healthier and more efficient future.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 22, 2024.

After Hurricane Matthew, a team from New Bridges traveled to remote areas in Haiti to provide healthcare assistance.

Media by cHLOe JOHNSON / HeraLd

SPORTS FOOTBALL Bears’ early Ivy success uprooted in crushing 29–17 loss to Princeton

Football dropped its third straight game, falling to 2–3 on the season

BY LYDELL DYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

after a short six-day turnaround, the football team (2-3, 1-1 ivy) went on the road to face the Princeton tigers (2-3, 1-1 ivy) in New Jersey on Friday night. With last year’s thrilling overtime victory on the minds of a bears team in need of a win, the game was sure to be an exciting match-up. Unfortunately, after a lethargic 19-0 start to the game, bruno was unable to stage a comeback and lost 29-17.

“Honestly, i think we can play better,” Head coach James Perry ’00 said in an interview with brown athletics. “We did things we are capable of doing better. the kids will be hungry to make those corrections. the coaches will too. it’s a hard place to play — i know that firsthand — but we can play better than we did.”

the tigers dominated the first quarter. Scoring a 66-yard rushing touchdown on their opening possession, Princeton’s running back John Volker exploited an ineffective bears run defense. Minutes later, Volker exposed the defense again, this time scoring from seven yards out. On the other side of the ball, the tigers’ defense kept bruno off the scoreboard, and only ten minutes into the first quarter, the bears were down 12-0.

“Our defense had a slow start for sure and Princeton was able to make a couple plays early,” senior captain isaiah reed ’25 wrote in a message to the Herald. “Once we got settled in as a unit, i think we were

able to play more like us. We were able to create sacks, turnovers and get off the field. We just gotta play like that the whole game.”

When Princeton threatened to score for a third time and blow the game open, cornerback Sami Miller ’25 provided the bears with a crucial turnover. intercepting the ball with 55 seconds left in the first quarter, Miller took advantage of Princeton’s turnover-prone quarterback blain Hipa, who now has eleven interceptions on the season. With the ball back in their hands, bruno’s offense had a chance to draw to within one possession.

Less than a minute later, the bears handed the ball right back, their first of five turnovers. Picking up right where they left off, Princeton scored — this time through a scramble by Hipa — extending their lead to 19.

Now facing a three-score deficit, the bears turned to their hurry-up offense in an attempt to catch Princeton’s defense offguard. Whether due to lack of adjustments on Princeton’s side or brilliant execution by the bears, when Jake Willcox ’24.5 faked a handoff halfway through the second quarter, the tigers bit. Willcox delivered a strike down the middle of the field to an isolated Levi Linowes ’27, and after starting at their own 25-yard line, bruno was now at the opposing two-yard line. Within striking distance, Perry dove deep into his playbook, calling a reverse to Solomon Miller ’26 who ran untouched into the endzone. With 8:39 left in the half, the bears were finally on the scoreboard.

despite the promising drive, the bears’ offense was unable to replicate the same level of success heading into the second half. though the team had two separate

possessions in which they drove over 50 yards, and lost the ball. One, a fumble by Matt childs ’28; the other, an interception thrown by Willcox (his second of the day). by halftime, the tigers were up 22–7. avoiding turnovers is “something we’re usually good at,” Perry said. “it’s something we take a lot of pride in.” Going forward, “we just have to take better care of the ball — that was unacceptable.”

When play resumed, the bears’ offensive struggles seemed to persist. almost going three-and-out, bruno faced a challenging 4th-and-1 situation on their own 30-yard line. even deep within their own territory, the bears refused to be intimidated, and a three-yard pick-up by Stockton Owen ’25 moved the chains. converting on 4th down was the push the bears needed, marching 75 yards downfield before a one-yard touchdown rush by Qwentin brown ’26 capped the drive. With a successful Pat, the bears had once again made it a one-possession game.

Making their first appearance of the half, the defense played like a completely different squad. On Princeton’s first offensive possession, sacks by Kevin coss ’24.5 and Owen clark ’26 forced the tigers to punt. though an inefficient drive by bruno’s offense gave Princeton the ball back, the defense was at its best. this time, however, Princeton drew threateningly close to the endzone, marching all the way down to the two-yard line. Just when they needed a big play, reed — who started for the first time since getting injured prior to Harvard’s match-up — stepped up, intercepting a pass from Hipa and giving the bears life.

“i was definitely glad to be back out there with the guys,” reed wrote. “My mentality is still the same as before the little injury, i was hungry then and i still am now. i love going out and competing with these guys every week, so it was tough to have to just watch the last few games.”

Following the reed interception, the

tides of momentum seemed to turn in bruno’s favor. after a 65-yard drive, christopher Maron ’25 kicked a field goal from 33 yards out and brought the bears to within five points, 22-17. Smelling an upset, brown’s defense forced a three-and-out on Princeton’s next possession, after which Qwentin brown blocked the tigers’ punt attempt with a diving effort.

With possession of the ball at the 49yard line, bruno was in position to win the game. rumbling down to Princeton’s 25 yard line, it appeared the bears may be able to overcome the 19-point deficit and pull off an improbable comeback. but for the second time of the day, childs fumbled the ball. Making quick work of the bears defense, the tigers scored another touchdown and put the game away.

despite the loss, Perry expressed pride in his team. “these kids are awesome,” he said. “i have no question we are going to practice great. i have no question we are going to be hungrier. We’re coming back home to play cornell. i have no doubt they’ll be ready to go and we’ll play our best football next week.”

Under the pressure of a losing record for the first time all season, the bears will look to build momentum against cornell next Saturday at home. the game, slated to start at 12 p.m., will be streamed on eSPN+. “coming back home next week to protect the den against a good cornell team is all the fuel we need,” reed concluded. “We’re gonna take this one on the chin, learn from it and come out swinging next week.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 20, 2024.

Women’s soccer holds on for tense 1-1 draw against Columbia

Brown extends its home unbeaten streak to six

BY BEN GOLDBBERG STAFF WRITER

Under clear skies on Saturday afternoon, brown women’s soccer (5-3-5, 2-1-2 ivy) held the league-leading columbia Lions (6-3-4, 4-0-1 ivy) to a 1-1 draw at Stevenson-Pincince Field.

i n a back-and-forth affair, b rown opened the scoring in the fifteenth min-

ute on a goal line scramble finished by ella Weil ’28. Midway through the second half, a defensive mistake led to columbia’s equalizer. Neither team was able to find a winning shot.

columbia is a “well coached team with a lot of seniors, so i thought we played really well,” Head coach Kia McNeill said.

“We executed our game plan, our press worked really well, and i thought we were able to turn them over in key moments of the game.” the opening minutes featured a flurry of activity and high pressure from both teams’ forward units. Less than ten min-

utes into the match, columbia’s forward Nata ramirez was played through on goal and beat brown keeper bella Schopp ’26, but the shot rebounded off the crossbar before falling safely to the feet of a brown defender.

brown responded almost instantly, winning back possession higher up the pitch numerous times and generating opportunities in the opposing box. Following a throw-in with 30 minutes to go in the first half, Layla Shell ’26 struck a magnificent attempt from outside the box that hit the crossbar. the ball bounced kindly for brown, falling to ella Weil ’28, who was

able to bundle the ball over the line while battling multiple Lions defenders.

“i thought Layla Shell hit that (shot) well, and i was almost already celebrating,” Weil said. “Once it hit the crossbar, it’s whoever gets there first, and i tried my hardest to be in the right position.”

“ella has been incredible for us all season,” c oach McNeill said. “She’s a freshman that doesn’t play like a freshman. She scored a tremendous goal and had a couple other good looks on goal. She’s definitely somebody that i think is a candidate for rookie of the year in the conference.”

the tempo settled down following the goal as both teams attempted to avoid making a mistake. McNeill made six substitutions within the opening half. “i think the way we play is very up-tempo, upbeat. it’s hard to sustain that for 45 minutes, let alone 90 minutes,” coach McNeill said.

“i think we do have a lot of depth with this group. being able to sub and not have the quality of the game drop is really important for us.”

Following halftime, the Lions came out with the upper hand, generating the first few opportunities but no clear-cut shots on net with the bears’ defense holding strong. but as the ball fell to a brown fullback, no one was ready for her pass back across the defense. columbia’s Sophia cavaliere capitalized — latching onto the misplayed ball, she burst past the lunging tackle of Kyra treanor ’28 before rounding Schopp and passing the ball into the open net.

columbia’s goal extended their streak

of scoring in each of their previous seven games. “they play a very similar formation to us, attacking with the two up top and then the five overload in the midfield,” Naya cardoza ’26 said. “When they send those attacking midfielders in and the wingers in, it becomes an overload on our three-back. that’s what makes it difficult.” the final twenty-five minutes of the game saw both teams generate chances, but no one was able to finish them. brown benefited from the dynamic runs and energetic pressing of ayla Sahin ’28 as they sought a winning shot.

When the game reached its conclusion at the 90-minute mark, brown had extended its home unbeaten streak to six games, having notched four wins and two draws in Providence this season. Meanwhile, columbia — who upset bruno as the four seed in the first-round of the ivy tournament last season — has yet to be defeated in conference play this fall.

“We’re fighting for the playoffs,” cardoza said. “We want to make sure that every team knows that we’re here to compete game in and game out, and we’re just riding off of that.”

the women’s soccer team will be back in action at home on Saturday against cornell (3-7-4, 2-3 ivy).

“We can take a lot from this game, but also we need to move on and focus on cornell,” Weil said. “We just need to keep the energy going.”

When the game reached its conclusion at the 90-minute mark, Brown had extended

unbeaten streak to six games, having notched four wins and two draws in Providence this season.

150 pro-divestment activists protest Brown Corporation over divestment decision

Corp. voted against divestment from companies with ties to Israel

BY KATE BUTTS, CATE LATIMER AND SOPHIA WOTMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

On Friday morning, as members of brown’s governing corporation convened for their October meeting, over 150 activists gathered to protest a recent decision against divesting from 10 companies with ties to israel.

the protestors marched from the Main Green down to the Warren alpert Medical School, where the corporation meeting was held. they surrounded building exits and confronted corporation members as they entered and exited the building.

the corporation’s decision to strike down the divestment proposal was publicly announced last Wednesday. it followed a recommendation by the advisory commit-

tee on University resources Management, or acUrM, against adopting a student-backed proposal to divest from companies with ties to israel. acUrM includes brown community members and issues non-binding recommendations to the corporation.

a press release from the brown divest coalition, the student group that authored the divestment proposal, called the cor-

poration’s decision an “egregious moral failing and affront to democratic values the institution purports to uphold.”

the corporation’s decision against divestment “resulted from a process that was deliberate, inclusive, fair and participatory,” University Spokesperson brian clark previously wrote to the Herald.

On the Main Green, students joined in chants and heard a speech from Niyanta Nepal ’25, the president of the Undergraduate council of Students, in which she condemned the corporation’s recent decision not to divest.

“We are here to continue demanding divestment, to stand in solidarity with our martyrs in Palestine and Lebanon and to solidify our strength as a mass movement for Palestine,” Nepal told the crowd.

arman deendar ’25, an organizer with brown divest coalition, said acUrM’s recommendation process is “designed to

fail for students wanting to actually make change on this campus.”

in its report, ac U r M found that brown’s indirect investment in the companies cited in the divestment proposal was not significant enough to meet the definition of “social harm” required for the committee to recommend divestment. chancellor brian Moynihan ’81 P’14 P’19 and President christina Paxson P’19 P’Md’20 wrote in a letter to the community that acUrM’s recommendation “played a central role in the corporation’s deliberations.”

a group of about five counter-protestors stood near the demonstrators on the Main Green, holding an israeli flag and passing out pamphlets against an ongoing UcS referendum to add student seats to the corporation.

after gathering on the Main Green, the group of protestors marched down the hill to the Warren alpert Medical School and split up to surround multiple different entrances to the building.

at the entrance on eddy Street, a group of about 40 protestors stood in front of the doors holding up large banners with pro-divestment slogans.

at another entrance, a larger group of approximately 50 protesters banged their drums, held banners and chanted loudly into bullhorns chants such as “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

“We’re gonna force them to watch us as they walk out of this building,” said Garrett brand ’26, a rally organizer.

brand stated that the goal of the protest was to “let (the corporation) know that the shady way they handled the divestment vote

will not stand.”

Just before noon, student protesters followed earl e. Hunt and Oliver Haarmann, two members of the corporation, as they left the building to buy lunch at a nearby restaurant. Protestors quickly formed a crowd around them, chanting against divestment and calling them out by name. the crowd followed Hunt and Haarmann back to Warren alpert. the two were escorted inside by department of Public Safety officers.

after their meeting ended, the corporation members left through different exits. Some walked out of the building and were pursued by protestors, while others were escorted by officers to chartered brown University Shuttle buses.

as corporation members walked out, the demonstrators chanted and jeered at them. at one point, protestors surrounded one of the buses and temporarily prevented it from driving through an intersection.

bennett Lacerte ’27 said that he was proud of how the protest had gone so far.

“We’ve definitely succeeded in making the corporation know that we’re here and making them uncomfortable,” he said.

Lacerte felt that the protesters had put their all into the demonstration. “it’s a lot to maintain energy for this long, but i think we’re doing well so far,” he said.

Protestors left Warren alpert around 1:30 p.m. and marched back to the Main Green.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 18, 2024.

da

The protestors marched from the Main Green down to the Warren Alpert Medical School, where the Corporation meeting was held.

FAMILY WEEKEND

Your guide to Family Weekend 2024, College Hill edition

Here are what to see, do and eat this weekend.

BY JULIANNA CHANG UNIVERISTY NEWS EDITOR

as brown welcomes loved ones onto college Hill for Family Weekend 2024, family and friends have a whopping 114 events to choose from over the next three days. Here are some things to see, do and eat.

ON CAMPUS

as you arrive, take a stroll around campus to enjoy the foliage.

On the way, pet some adorable (and smelly) mini ponies on the Main Green from 12 to 2 p.m., and head to Patriot’s Court to shop for clothes at the Fashion@Brown Fall Fair

OPEN HOUSE

if you’re a parent looking to learn more about your student’s college experience, stop by one of the many open houses hosted by University departments and offices — including the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender, the Department of German Studies and Study abroad advising.

SILENT DISCO

Looking for an energy pick-up after your walk? do not fear: the University is hosting a grand total of eight hours of silent disco this weekend. return to the Main Green from 12 to 4 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m. on Friday or 12 to 2 p.m. on Saturday to (silently) jam out to your favorite tunes with friends and family.

THAYER

after you’ve burned some calories on the dance floor, head to a local restaurant for an introduction to Providence’s food scene if you’re looking for a bite close to campus, check out any storefront on thayer Street for some college-student staples.

EVENTS

Once you’ve eaten, grab a ticket to one of the many a capella performances happening on Friday and Saturday night. Or, if you’re in the mood for a lecture, stop by Salomon Center Room 101 for the Family Weekend Keynote — “Our Climate Future: Students as Changemakers” — featuring Kim cobb, the director of the institute at brown for environment and Society, and moderated by President christina Paxson P’19 P’Md’20.

DAY TWO

On Saturday, start your day at the Bruno Family Breakfast Buffet, hosted in Sayles Hall Auditorium from 8 to 10 a.m. if you are looking for a place to exercise, do some yoga on the Quiet Green, walk to India Point Park or participate in a Cardio-Jam session to get your blood pumping.

ACADEMICS

afterward, head to one of the many academic offerings hosted throughout the day and afternoon, including a panel at the Center for Career Exploration, an open house at the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice or a faculty research forum.

SPORTS

For your athletics fix, support the bears at any of the home games happening this weekend. Football plays Cornell at 12 p.m., women’s ice hockey takes on Princeton at 3 p.m. and men’s soccer faces Cornell at 7 p.m., among others.

WICKENDEN

On Sunday, end the weekend with your brunonian at one of the many local cafes and coffee shops. check out Amy’s Place on Wickenden Street for a breakfast sandwich, PVDonuts for some specialty donuts or Coffee Exchange for a warm drink before heading home. be advised: you can expect a wait!

UNIVERSITY NEWS

How do relationships unfold on Brown’s campus? Lovebirds explain.

Students and alums discuss how they found love on College Hill

BY SANAI RASHID SENIOR STAFF WRITER

How does love manage to fit in between classes and career fairs? in a place where ambition and intellect run high, is there still room for romance? the leaves are falling into place — and for some students, it may be time to fall in love as well.

When Mariah Kennedy cuomo ’17 visited brown during her senior year of high school, she did not just fall in love with the campus. She also fell for tellef Lundevall ’13, now her husband.

they two overlapped one semester — Lundevall, a football and basketball player, decided to play an extra season at brown — and became good friends.

the two often spent their summers together on the Kennedy compound in cape cod, “walking on the beach, looking at the fireworks and chatting in between on Snapchat,” Kennedy cuomo said in an interview with the Herald.

“all of my friends knew that i had a crush on tellef all of my four years at brown,” she said. but it wasn’t until brown’s alumni reunion Weekend in 2018 — six years after the couple first met — that they made it official with a kiss at the campus dance.

“We call it our inaugural kiss-aversary,” Kennedy cuomo said. the two officially tied the knot earlier this summer on cape cod.

“People evolve from freshman year to senior year,” she said. “if you’re able

to maintain a friendship with someone through your own evolution and theirs, that can lead to even stronger relationships.”

Many of the couple’s closest friends and colleagues from brown celebrated their union — six out of 14 members of Kennedy cuomo’s bridal party were brown-affiliated, and six of Lundevall’s best men played football at brown.

isaac Fernandez Lopez ’27, who started a relationship three weeks ago, shares Kennedy cuomo’s optimism about finding love on campus.

“Now that i am in a relationship, i fully get to become the kind of people i used to hate — those couples who wouldn’t stop yapping about their partners,” he said. “i mention her all the time, and i love it. it’s great, being annoying.”

but Fernandez Lopez said he has long avoided this kind of commitment. as a first-year, he mainly used dating apps like tinder to connect with people, who often were not brown students and were looking for short-term relationships.

More than 50% of tinder users are between the ages of 18 and 25, and “college students are a huge part of that,” according to spokesperson tomas iriarte reyes.

tinder’s 2023 Future of dating report highlighted the low-pressure approach this age group of users applies to dating. Gen-Z prefers to use “terminology that doesn’t try to define a connection before they’re ready to.” thus, phrases like “vibing” and “sneaky link” were born, as well as “situationship,” a term that embodies a commitment-free relationship as an intermediary between friends and dating.

in late September, 1,177 undergraduates answered questions about their relationship status in the Herald’s fall poll. around

7% of respondents were hooking up with multiple people or in a casual relationship. Male respondents made up the majority of this category.

in 2018, tinder launched tinderU, a feature designed for college students to connect with others from nearby schools. its campus-specific profile additions allow students to share “common factors like graduation year, major, clubs and greek life to find a match,” reyes said.

Fernandez Lopez is still friends with some people he met through the app, but he didn’t meet his current girlfriend there. “Nothing ended in disaster, but nothing ended in a relationship either.”

according to the Herald’s poll, over 60% of undergraduate students are single. 24.4% of students said they were single and

searching for a relationship. Single female respondents were the most likely to be content with not being in a relationship, with about 30% of female respondents not looking for a partner.

diqiu Liu ’27 doesn’t have a “fear of missing out” because she is single.

“i’ve met a lot of people who are so focused on improving themselves, that it inspires me to be less desperate to be in a relationship,” she said.

but Liu admits that it took time for her to value her independence in the way that she does.

“the purpose of being in a romantic relationship is to have someone to rely on, and always have your back,” Liu said.

“Sometimes when i feel weak and small, i want that.”

as a teenager growing up in beijing, china, Liu recalled being a big fan of american rom-coms. the romanticized view of love those films sometimes offer made her feel “like (she) had to meet that standard in order to be in a relationship.”

but the platonic support Liu found through her friendships at brown, like with her roommate, taught her more about love than any rom-com ever could.

“We take care of each other in non-verbal ways,” she said. “People at brown really respect each other and want to emotionally support one another.” Read more at

Rahman ’26: Brown is not a democracy

Last Wednesday, the University announced that its corporation rejected a proposal to divest from 10 companies alleged to “facilitate the israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.” the decision comes after years of sustained activism and provides administrative finality to a contentious issue that continues to divide our campus. in response to the decision, the Undergraduate council of Students announced that they would hold a referendum “demanding student seats on the brown corporation and expressing a lack of confidence in current leadership.” the council’s proposal is deeply misguided and fundamentally misunderstands brown’s role as an institution of higher education, not a democracy.

in april, the brown divest coalition, which authored the divestment proposal, reached an agreement with the University to end its week-long, unauthorized encampment on the Main Green. in exchange, organizers for divestment and counter-organizers would be provided an opportunity to present their case directly to a subset of the corporation and to the advisory committee on University resources Management, which offers non-binding recommendations to the corporation. this was a fair and inclusive process that brought in testimony from over 3,800 community members. citing acUrM’s charge that divestment “requires a causal link between the investment … and the associated harm” and prohibits “recommend(ing) any action that advances a position on social or political questions,” the committee decisively voted 8 to 2 against the measure.

While critics of the acUrM decision rightly point

out that the committee’s mandate poses a high barrier to divestment, its charge was fully known to the organizers when they agreed to the deal. both bdc and the students against divestment had a chance to make their case, and bdc failed to make a compelling argument for direct social harm.

the response to the decision was disappointing. the following day, bdc posted a graphic with the words “FUcK yOU cPaX, FUcK yOU brOWN cOrP, Free PaLeStiNe.” More consequentially, the Undergraduate council of Students announced a vote of no confidence and a referendum to demand student representation on the corporation.

it is incredibly ironic for demands for democratic representation to come out of UcS, a coalition that in the spring was elected from a record-low voter turnout of only 21%, and faced criticism for violating election rules about running on tickets. While students should and must have a place in shared governance at our University, we have famously seen what happens when students are the only voices in charge. a recent example of this was when, two years ago, the Undergraduate Finance board burned through a $1.2 million surplus, leading to a historic club funding shortfall.

the proposal also ignores the reality that shared governance is alive and well at brown. For two years, i had the privilege of serving as a member of the University resources committee, where i along with faculty, staff, and students across the University worked to approve our $1.83 billion budget. indeed, students from all degree programs serve on committees across the university from the title iX coun-

cil, college curriculum council, Student conduct board, commencement Speakers committee, dining council and many more. to criticize “a lack of shared governance” at the University because a single vote did not go your way is not only hypocritical but also in bad faith.

the corporation acts according to its fiduciary responsibility to deal with complex, weighty, and often confidential matters. Students, by nature of their short tenure here on college Hill, do not have the long-term vision or investment to ensure brown’s continued success over decades. instead of recognizing strategic missteps, UcS, whose president ran on a pro-divest platform, has instead chosen to double down to draw attention away from its own failures. in doing so, they distract from UcS’s actual role in pushing for tangible quality-of-life reforms at the University.

i empathize with the students who so fervently fought for divestment. it’s easy to feel powerless when watching events from across the world, but there is a real disconnect between the situation in Palestine and the protesters’ demands which, if actualized, would make zero difference for Palestinians. in fact, in the 6 months between the deal and the corporation’s decision, things have only gotten worse. While brown does not have the power to stop the violence, if protesters instead channeled their moral outrage into solutions within our grasp, we could make a tangible difference in the lives of Palestinians. in that same six months, we could have demanded that brown foster collaborations with universities in the West bank, we could have advocat-

Davis ’27: We all have something to learn from J.D.

Like nearly 45 million people, i spent the start of October watching the 2024 vice presidential debate. as a Harris-Walz hopeful, i was prepared to not only support the governor of Minnesota, but vehemently oppose J.d. Vance’s stances. but as i watched the debate, i found myself disagreeing with only half of what Vance said. His talking points could be placed into two categories: politically moderate assertions that most americans would agree with, and repurposed donald trump extremisms. but when it came to this latter category, it seemed as though Vance himself didn’t believe what he was saying.

Many americans hold this same opinion. in a pre-debate poll by the New york times held in Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin, more people found the words “trustworthy” and “honest” applicable to Walz than Vance. but why do so many americans find Vance to be so dishonest? Perhaps it’s because this elephant often sounds more like a donkey.

Vance, born in Middletown, Ohio, and bestselling author of “Hillbilly elegy,” has long been a critic of the GOP— that is, until 2021. as Vance’s Senate race gained traction, he quickly turned from trump opposition to trump’s running mate. From appalachia to yale, from bringing baked goods to a transgender friend to condemning pro-trans policies in the media, from criticizing trump’s ludicrous border wall to becoming one of its biggest supporters, J.d. Vance has undergone radical changes. and it’s this unpredictability that makes him so dangerous for our democracy.

to put it plainly, political opportunism is un-american. in a country built upon the foundations of representative democracy, what does it mean to be represented by those who don’t honestly believe what they claim to represent? Our elected officials are expected to genuinely reflect the beliefs that we as voters hold, not shift their positions because it’s politically advantageous. if we are to let this egregious scheme take

ed for brown to host displaced Gazan college students as we did for afghan refugees, or we could have pushed for a real Palestinian Studies department. in choosing to center radical voices such as brown Students for Justice in Palestine, which declared on the anniversary of Oct. 7 that the deadly pogrom was “a historic act of resistance,” i fear this movement has lost its way. in an Oct. 10 post, the brown Palestinian Solidarity caucus declared that “brown is a genocidal institution.” these blanket condemnations completely abdicate our responsibilities as moral actors to act according to our values. if you truly believe that brown is a genocidal institution, then why wouldn’t you, with your tuition dollars, divest from brown?

the mission of the University is to “serve the community, the nation, and the world” by “preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry.” this mission statement does not imply a democratic subservience to the whims of its students, but rather a commitment to providing opportunities for critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving. the corporation made its decision. it’s time we end this long shouting match and find more productive outlets for our outrage.

Tasawwar Rahman ’27 can be reached at tasawwar_rahman@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Vance

place within our nation’s highest office, then we open ourselves up to much graver threats beyond this year’s election cycle.

assuming that the above-mentioned times poll holds true after the election and the trump-Vance ticket is elected into public office, this distrust carries over, eroding the already waning trust the american people have in our government. in a time when we are so incredibly divided, more is needed to lend itself to unity and prosperity for the next four years. We cannot allow political opportunism to gain such a permanent foothold within american politics. by allowing J.d., Vance, and those like him to succeed in deceiving the american public, we set a dangerous precedent encouraging more politicians to prioritize ascendancy over principles. as brown students, we often hear that we are the future leaders of this country and the world. and while that sounds like a cliche used during convocation speeches, i believe it to be true. but if we are to bear

Slevin ’25: Democracy is good, actually

it shouldn’t be too much to ask for the people who teach, learn and work on this campus to have a say in decisions that affect our day-to-day lives. instead, we are usurped by the peculiar institution that is the brown University corporation: a body that largely consists of wealthy benefactors with little experience in higher education. When they parachute into campus three times each year to make the University’s most consequential decisions, they bar the students, faculty and staff who live here from even observing their deliberations — much less participating in them.

this is why the Undergraduate council of Students has released a referendum asking for broad democratic reform at brown, including the election of students to sit on the brown University corporation. the referendum is an attempt to rectify the long history of disenfranchisement of student voices within the University, and to bring University employees into decision-making spaces. the University’s most significant decisions are made through processes that are anything but responsive and responsible. every member of our campus community who wants to make change — by achieving fair workplace conditions, increasing funding to caPS or divesting from unspeakable violence — must submit to the unrepresentative and largely self-appointed corporation. i hope all students will vote yes on the referendum. Here’s why. Student advocates don’t fail because they lack strategy or strength. they fail because university

structures are designed to shut them down. there are a variety of areas in which the entities that govern brown are not responsive to students’ desires and do not reflect the values that brown says it espouses. i have heard several voices on campus, including the Herald’s own tasawwar rahman ’26, cite the existence of University committees to claim that shared governance is alive and well at brown. but it turns out that many of the committees actually do very little, and students who applied to them come away disheartened. the Student conduct board doesn’t actually review student conduct violations; it only considered a single case last year. President Paxson herself conceded that discussions by the brown University community council will “necessarily be performative rather than productive, at least as currently structured.”

While i’m glad rahman had a positive experience on the University resources committee, nearly half of its designated faculty seats are currently vacant because many faculty don’t feel they have actual power on the committee. as far back as 2007, some faculty committee members suspected that “budget decisions are reached by administrators on the committee in advance of the general meetings,” and that the rise in administrative committees make it “appear as if faculty input is solicited but in practice removes essential faculty participation in decisions affecting academic operations.” after all, the number of administrators on the Urc equals the number of students and facul-

ty combined.

the ad hoc Gift and Grants review committee examined a single grant in 14 months, and the formal committee established in March has yet to meet. and the institutional sustainability committees no longer operate. the list goes on. Meanwhile, major decisions affecting students, faculty and staff are made in spaces where we have no voice. Sometimes, corporation committees suggest decisions. More often, senior administrators have a tendency to coordinate with one another, or they act unilaterally. Students, faculty and staff must work incredibly hard to achieve even a sliver of university power.

this is one of the reasons pro-divestment students are so upset. While President Paxson called the divestment process “deliberate, inclusive, fair and participatory,” the advisory committee on University resources Management’s charter virtually bans the committee from recommending that the University divest from anything. this is highly suspect, considering that acUrM was established by President Paxson in the wake of its predecessor committee’s recommendation just four years ago in favor of divestment.

but the death of shared governance at brown extends far beyond performative committees. Students have long favored greater fairness and inclusiveness in admissions, but we have no formal voice in admissions policy. So students are forced to agitate. three-quarters of brown’s black students

that duty as our mentors suggest, we must learn from the story of J.d. Vance and the dangers of political opportunism: We must ground our future leadership in genuine principles and a firm stance on the issues we believe in.

Vance’s story serves as a cautionary tale: political opportunism leads to the denigration of public service. Political expediency is simply the beginning. if we indeed are to shape the future, we must learn from his mistakes and remember that leadership isn’t about winning at all costs — it’s about serving others with honesty and conviction.

Christian Davis ’27 can be reached at christian_davis@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

walked out of class in 1968 to demand more black admitted students, among other forms of representation. Students were forced to demonstrate again in 1975, when the University refused to follow through on promises it made to the demonstrators seven years earlier.

Students continue to rally for admissions equity: an undergraduate referendum to consider banning legacy admissions passed in 2018 with 81% of the vote, and another referendum in favor of a test-optional policy passed with 74% of the vote in 2021. administrators refused to act responsibly. then, this fall, black freshman enrollment dropped by 40% and Latine enrollment by 29%. administrators insist nothing is amiss: the dean of admissions claimed that brown will admit “increasingly diverse incoming classes.” but how brown plans to do that is entirely unclear, and many of our peer schools have managed to keep admissions diversity stable. despite students’ best efforts, we have been sidelined by senior administrators and corporation members who seem to insist on maintaining policies that make brown less diverse.

Read more at browndailyherald.com

Isaac Slevin ’25 can be reached at isaac_slevin@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

ARTS & CULTURE

ARTS & CULTURE

Exhibition ‘Alchemy’ interprets societal transformation with mixed media pieces

Event hosted by CSREA featuring director

Stéphanie Larrieux

BY MANAV MUSUNURU SENIOR STAFF WRITER

the center for the Study of r ace and ethnicity in america unveiled “alchemy,” the latest addition to its imagining Social Justice art exhibit series, on Sept. 19. the exhibition features a collection of artworks portraying various interpretations of societal transformation.

When discussing the planning of the exhibit’s theme, Stéphanie Larrieux Phd’08 — lead curator of the series and associate director of the cSrea — noted that art can often help people understand social issues.

“i try to reflect on the major issues society is grappling with at a given moment in time and look for artworks that help support us in processing whatever is going on,” Larrieux wrote in an email to the Herald.

t his year’s theme was inspired by the medieval practice of alchemy, which sought to transform basic metals into gold.

i was attracted to the idea of transforming something seemingly ordinary into something different, often of greater value. the challenges and experience of divisiveness we face as a society could benefit from a similar transformation,” Larrieux wrote.

the artworks in the exhibition “comment on various issues like mental health, immigration, intersectionality and social justice,” c Srea communications and Outreach Specialist Zachary Legat wrote in an email to the Herald.

REVIEW

theme was inspired by the medieval practice of alchemy, which sought to transform basic metals into gold.

a ccording to Larrieux, the c S rea hopes the exhibition will “engage the public, expand community and help shape the conversation on critical issues concerning the study and understanding of the impact of the dynamics of race and ethnicity in the U.S.”

“We hope that people will find the collection to be engaging and inspire them to look for ways to alchemize a seemingly ordinary moment, idea or feeling into something more,” Legat added.

When curating the collection, cSrea staff members contacted a diverse set of artists to acquire pieces centered around the exhibition’s theme. this allowed for an intentional “variety in visual style and diversity of mediums,” allowing viewers

to “enter into the conversation about the world we live in from a range of perspectives,” Larrieux wrote.

a multimedia art piece featured in the exhibition — “another Me” by Flostitanarum — moves and changes colors when viewed through a downloadable augmented reality mobile app. according to the exhibition’s brochure, the piece tackles subjects such as “racial stress, communication techniques and best practices for handling conflict.”

“alchemy” also showcases a variety of mixed media pieces including wooden sculptures, textured canvases and photographs. Works from local artists — including Jordan Seaberry, an assistant professor at the rhode island School of

design — are also featured. the exhibition is on view in the cSrea office at 96 Waterman St. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. those interested in visiting the exhibition can schedule a

viewing by emailing cSrea@brown.edu.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 22, 2024.

‘Slow Horses’ season four reinvents the modern spy thriller

BY ANISHA KUMAAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Spy thrillers bring to mind a few things: beautiful women, brushed steel gadgetry and the inevitable “good guy” victory. “Slow Horses” gives these traditional spy thriller tropes the finger, then farts for good measure. its fourth season, which premiered on apple t V+ last month, is no exception, unflinchingly spotlighting espionage’s dirty underbelly — plans gone wrong, shifting allegiances and a chilling disregard for human life.

t he show, adapted from Mick Herron’s “Slough House” novels, follows the misadventures of a ragtag team of M i 5 agents in London relegated to Slough House — a distant, dilapidated office for agents who made critical mistakes in the line of duty. Led by the deceptively shabby Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who emits as many sarcastic one-liners as he does odors, the slow horses are supposed to spend their time doing old paperwork. instead, they do anything but.

For four seasons in a row, the slow horses have invariably ended up at the center of intelligence fiascos, thwarting high-profile extremist kidnappings,

cOUrteSy OF aPPLe t V+

ters and car crashes are careless and commonplace. i ts real triumph lies in the performances of its protagonists, who carry the show deeper into personal plotlines for the first time, despite a weaker script.

Oldman is at once repulsive and endearing as Lamb, but where his character has been a constant driving presence in the past, this season, he’s conspicuously absent from the screen. instead, Lowden takes center stage as r iver, and while his familial angst is a captivating story on its own, the narrative felt a little lopsided compared to previous seasons. Unrecognizable behind a bushy beard, Weaving valiantly attempts to fight down his b ritish accent to play Harkness, but his character is so utterly evil that at times, it feels two-dimensional.

traditionally a bottle show, “Slow Horses” leaves the viewer with multiple open-ended questions at the end of season four — perhaps an indicator of a pivot to longer-form arcs after its renewal for two more seasons.

russian bomb threats and internal sabotage. t heir pariah status makes them the perfect pawns for d iana taverner (Kristin Scott t homas), the ambitious second-in-command at M i 5, who often uses them to do her dirty work.

r iver c artwright (Jack Lowden), a slow horse with a tendency for heroics, is all too willing to dive headfirst into danger, tangling himself in complicated criminal plots. He’s joined by unbear-

able computer whiz roddy (christopher chung), short-tempered Louisa (rosalind eleazar), shorter-tempered former coke addict Shirley (a imee-Ffion e dwards) and chronic gambler Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan), among others. b ut in season four, r iver becomes a critical piece of the plot itself. t he first episode opens with r iver’s grandfather d avid (Jonathan Pryce), a former M i 5 agent suffering from cognitive decline,

committing an unthinkable crime in self-defense. Over the next few episodes, the slow horses work to uncover d avid’s complicated history. e ventually, r iver finds himself face-to-face with american mercenary Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), who holds the keys to his past, as M i 5 closes in with a shoot-to-kill order.

d renched in blues and grays, the show’s cinematography highlights the grittiness of urban London. b lood spat-

Filming is complete on season five, with episodes anticipated to be released in the summer of 2025. after the blood’s cleaned up and the dust settles, the slow horses are always, somehow, ready for more. So far, viewers are too.

Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden effortlessly carry a shaky plot

The show, adapted from Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, follows the misadventures of a ragtag team of disgraced MI5 agents in London.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Presidential election invigorates Brown campus organizers

Herald poll found reproductive health, democracy are top issues in 2024

BY MANAV MUSUNURU SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For c ara Hutton ’26 and talia r eiss ’27 — co-presidents of Planned Parenthood a dvocates at b rown — abortion rights have been at the top of their minds during this election cycle.

t hey’re not alone in b rown’s student body. i n t he Herald’s fall 2024 poll, 47% of respondents who planned to vote ranked reproductive healthcare as a top three issue in the 2024 presidential election.

t he importance of reproductive health has been particularly noticeable yet unsurprising, Hutton and reiss said.

Hutton believes the poll results align with most of the country’s priorities. “Most people want freedom to choose what to do with their bodies,” she added.

a ccording to Hutton, Planned Parenthood a dvocates’ first meeting of the year had record attendance among members. r eiss added that the club’s election-focused events — such as postcard writing and phone banking for pro-choice candidates in swing states — have also seen higher turnout and increased energy.

r eiss believes this increased involvement is driven by the d obbs decision, which overturned r oe v. Wade, and people being “acutely aware of what the trump presidency did for reproductive rights.” She added that “another trump presidency would have similar, if not worse, effects.”

“ i f you’re saying that your priority is reproductive rights, then it’s really all of our responsibility to do that work,” r eiss told t he Herald. “ e specially given that we live in r hode i sland, where we have so many protections.”

Mahir r ahman ’26, president of b rown d emocrats, noted a similar increase in turnout and excitement within the club this year, especially after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe b iden as the d emocratic nominee this summer.

r ahman said that when he met with members of the executive board over

the summer, they preferred Harris over b iden and were energized by her entrance into the race.

b ut while this enthusiasm hasn’t faltered among the general body, it has been adversely impacted by Harris’s stances on the war in i srael and Palestine, r ahman believes. He said that voters across the country have raised similar concerns, especially in the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

d espite personal objections to the d emocratic Party’s handling of the i srael-Hamas war, r ahman, who is Muslim, along with other club members, is still campaigning for Harris.

“Harris is the stronger choice in protecting minorities and personal freedoms in this country,” r ahman said.

91% of respondents to t he Herald’s poll indicated that they plan to vote for Harris.

a representative from b rown r epublicans did not respond to multiple interview requests from t he Herald.

a s the election approaches, anxiety among b rown d emocrats and Planned Parenthood a dvocates has increased.

Hutton is frightened about the impact of the election on women and

members of other marginalized identities. r ahman described the upcoming election as “nerve-wracking,” with many

in b rown d emocrats feeling anxious amid tightening polls.

Plus, some states are making it harder to vote, said Logan tullai ’25, the national president of e very Vote c ounts, a nonpartisan organization that looks to increase voter registration.

Leah c arey ’25 — who advertises voting to student-athletes as a part of the national nonprofit t he team — recalled the barriers she had to face when requesting her own absentee ballot. c arey, who moved from c alifornia to texas, said that it was much more difficult for her to obtain an absentee ballot in texas than it was in c alifornia due to differing policies.

b ut some states have increased voting access in recent years, according to tullai. For example, the passage of the 2022 “Let ri Vote a ct” made some pandemic-era voting-accessibility policies permanent.

e very Vote c ounts has also seen an increase in student involvement and enthusiasm, tullai said.

a t b rown, the integration of turboVote into the b rown app and student accounts has allowed e very Vote c ounts to reach all voters across campus, in -

cluding those missed by tabling events.

b oth tullai and e verton Prospere ’27 — the director of legislative advocacy for e very Vote c ounts and the president of its b rown chapter — emphasized the importance of civic engagement in maintaining the stability of U.S. democracy. t ullai also highlighted the importance of down-ballot races, noting that change can originate from the community level and that participation is key to a healthy society.

For students who are ineligible to vote, tullai and Prospere said that volunteering on campaigns and testifying in the state legislature are alternative ways to get involved. c arey added

students can be civically engaged and spread information on registration and elections on social media.

“ d emocracy” was ranked as the second most important issue to b rown undergraduates in t he Herald’s poll.

“ d emocracy only functions when people get involved,” Prospere said, noting that youth aged 18-29 have the lowest turnout rate among all age groups.

“Students, young individuals have a big voice,” he said. “ i t’s an unawakened voice that is essentially not being used.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 23, 2024.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

son.”

saw ai usage in aPMa 1210: “Operations research: deterministic Models,” a class that requires writing proofs.

“it’s very hard to explain — hence why it’s so hard to prove — but you can really tell when a text doesn’t quite sound human-generated,” she wrote. “i think students literally copied and pasted the entire exam into chatGPt and had it output answers.”

She added she had even seen the phrase “as an ai language model” in her students’ work, indicating they did not do any proofreading.

culiuc added she often had to turn a blind eye to blatantly obvious cheating, due to the “lack of admissible evidence” to prove cheating had occurred.

“interestingly, my student evaluations included quite a few comments about how take-home exams had made them less likely to engage with the material and how some had observed their classmates cheat but didn’t feel like they could say anything,” she wrote. “that really made me feel like i was doing the right thing going back to in-per-

ADMISSIONS

aNtH 0300: “culture and Health,” a class that has essay-based midterms, also switched to in-person blue book exams after a few semesters of online exams.

associate Professor of anthropology

Katherine Mason cited chatGPt as a major reason for this switch. if an exam is given online, the temptation to cheat using chatGPt would be really high,” Mason wrote in an email to the Herald. “Good old paper solves this problem and that’s why i made the change i did.”

Professor of biology Mark Johnson, an instructor for genetics, instead attributed the switch to the “simplicity” of in-person exams.

“during the cOVid pandemic, we taught genetics completely remotely, so we came up with a way to do exams online,” Johnson said. “it’s really flexible for students with accessibility issues and it made taking the exam easier, more accessible and more possible.”

He noted that using take-home exams came with its downsides. Students now had to come up with a place where it could be quiet and have access to

technology. take-home exams “posed a bunch of challenges to learning,” he said.

He added that the genetics teaching team wanted to give students an opportunity to “just focus on reading the question” and “doing the best they can.”

“Our class really emphasizes taking concepts that we talk about in class and applying them to genetics problems,” he said. “if you sit down to do that at your computer in your dorm room with access to the entire internet, it’s easy to get distracted and do a bunch of things that you think might be helpful but are getting between you and the learning.”

For Johnson, the first in-person genetics midterm this fall turned out to be a “good decision.”

He explained that in-person exams ensure everyone has access to the same set of resources, unlike take-home exams, where there was ambiguity on what resources were allowed.

“bringing the course back to in-person and on paper, it really simplifies all of that,” Johnson said. “the only resources you have are the pencil that you’ve brought and the paper that’s in front of you.”

“it allows us to focus on a particular type of learning experience that we want during the exam,” he added.

culiuc mentioned that the switch to in-person exams has improved student learning. in aPMa 1210, for instance, she is using the same notes that she had used during Fall 2023, when exams were takehome. yet, students are now catching errors that no one had noticed the first time around, indicating to her that students are engaging more with the material.

“i think (students) take the class more seriously: they organize more study groups, ask more clarifying questions and read through the notes more carefully,” she wrote. “i’d say the big shift is in the perceived difficulty — i’m not giving any fewer as than when the exams were take-home, but an a is now less of an expectation and more of a reward for consistent hard work throughout.”

Johnson also noted that the difficulty of the course did not change due to the shift to in-person exams.

“Genetics is not a class that really emphasizes memorization,” he said, adding that the exams focus on “implementation of ideas to solve problems.” He added if

the class was more memorization and factbased, then chatGPt would likely have been a larger issue.

Shrey Mehta ’26, a student who took genetics last fall and is currently a tutor for the class, said he believes the difficulty of the class did not change substantially.

“there’s definitely a mindset shift and people are more stressed about it being in-person,” Mehta said. “i think the professors made (course content) pretty fair this year and maintained the difficulty of the exam, from what i heard from my tutor students.”

culiuc mentioned that she does not think “all ai usage is evil,” and has encouraged students to utilize ai to generate practice problems for exams.

Still, “when you read your 5th ai generated proof in a row, warn the student not to do it again and then they apologize with an ai generated email, you start wondering what the point of your job even is,” she said. “it goes without saying that that student’s email did not, in fact, find me well.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 15, 2024

Most students oppose legacy admissions, fall Herald poll finds

Legacy students are more likely to support legacy admissions, data shows

BY TALIA LEVINE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

as brown is set to reconsider its policy on giving applicants with familial connections to brown preference in the admissions process, the Herald polled over 1,100 undergraduates to understand their opinions on the controversial practice.

according to the poll, 9% of current students have at least one parent who attended brown’s undergraduate program, the University’s criterion for a legacy admission.

the students who receive this preference are much more likely to support its continuation compared to other students. Most students oppose keeping the policy in place.

Last spring, the University announced that it would reinstate standardized test requirements starting this application cycle and keep the binding early decision process intact after a lengthy review by the ad Hoc committee on admissions Policies. but

the University did not announce a final decision on using family preferences in the admissions practice. instead, it vowed to seek community input to inform any future changes to the policy.

the University has yet to publicize when or how it plans to collect community input among current students. in last spring’s alumni magazine, a letter from President christina Paxson P’19 P’Md’20 invited alums to share their “thoughts about family preference in admissions.”

Paxson also noted that “members of multi-generational brown families are among some of our most loyal alumni who support brown in a myriad of ways and carry forth brown traditions and culture.”

Six brown alumni groups declined or did not respond to a request for comment on their views on legacy admissions.

the ad Hoc committee found that “students whose parents attended brown tend to be exceptionally well-qualified, with academic records that are stronger than that of average matriculants” and have higher enrollment rates.

in an interview with the Herald, Paxson said that “our legacy students are now much more diverse, and they will become increasingly so as time goes on.” She also

said that if the University “were concerned primarily with socioeconomic diversity, it would make sense to eliminate this practice.”

the ad Hoc committee reported similar findings, claiming that the removal of legacy preferences “could lead to somewhat more diversity in the group of admitted students,” which would potentially increase the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds.

in a statement shared with the Herald, Students for educational equity, an undergraduate student advocacy organization, reiterated their previous calls “for the abolition of legacy admissions due to its inequitable preference for wealthy white students and restriction of access to higher education institutions for students who do not fit their historic mold.”

an end to legacy admissions, although not a panacea, could be all the more important after the removal of affirmative action in providing fair admissions standards for applicants with varying educational backgrounds and resources,” See wrote.

See is attempting to pass a bill in the rhode island State House to ban legacy preferences in admission for any university in the state.

Following the fall of race-based affirmative action, brown saw a 40% decrease in the share of black students in this year’s first-year class, along with a 29% drop in Hispanic students.

“Legacy preferences constitute affirmative action for the rich,” richard Kahlenberg, an expert witness in the case that brought about restrictions in race-conscious admissions, wrote in a previous email to the Herald. “this practice was never defensible, but even less so now that brown cannot use race in admissions.”

“Lots of other superb universities — Oxford, cambridge, Johns Hopkins,

berkeley — don’t use legacy preferences. brown should join them,” Kahlenberg said. alex Shieh ’27, a legacy student himself, supports ending legacy admissions.

“the american dream is powered by education’s near-magical ability to inspire the next generation of leaders and change-makers,” Shieh wrote in an email to the Herald.

but unfair admissions practices like legacy preference and affirmative action threaten the credibility of the american dream by rigging the game against those who work hard yet lack the preferred familial or racial pedigree.”

U. investigates pro-divestment activists for conduct violations after Corp. protest

Protesters shouted at Corporation members leaving October meeting

BY KATE BUTTS AND SOPHIA WOTMAN

SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

the University is investigating potential student conduct violations for demonstrators who attended a Friday protest of the corporation’s recent vote against divestment from companies with ties to the israeli military.

the pro-divestment activist group Students for Justice in Palestine “held the registered and planned series of events” for Friday’s protest, according to University Spokesperson brian clark. the University is investigating both student groups and individual protesters, which are subject

to two different disciplinary processes. in a community-wide email sent out Sunday morning, executive Vice President for Planning and Policy russell carey wrote that some of the students’ behavior at the protest was “deeply concerning”

and “entirely unacceptable.” c arey cited reports of protesters “banging on a vehicle,” “screaming profanities at individuals” and at one point using a “racial epithet directed toward a person of color.”

demonstrators at the protest jeered at corporation members as they exited the Warren alpert Medical School, the Herald previously reported. Some demonstrators followed members as they walked away from the building. at one point, demonstrators temporarily blocked a brown University Shuttle bus carrying corporation members from crossing an intersection. carey wrote in the email that some of these actions may violate the University’s code of Student conduct, and will be “reviewed through University disciplinary processes.”

“as a campus community, we should be resolute that these behaviors are not acceptable, are not reflective of the brown student body or our community as a whole and are not commensurate with what we expect of ourselves and others,” carey wrote.

While carey did not cite any specific

policy violations, the code of Student conduct outlines prohibited behavior including discrimination, harassment, emotional or psychological harm and “actions that are unreasonably disruptive to the University community.”

in a statement to the Herald, the brown divest coalition — an umbrella organization for pro-divestment groups that includes Students for Justice in Palestine — described carey’s email as “an attempt to attack and defame student protesters holding the corporation accountable to their decision to continue to invest in companies enabling genocide and apartheid” and said that corporation members who voted against divestment should be “deeply ashamed.”