THE BROWN DAILY HER ALD
New RI State House art exhibit celebrates state’s Latino ‘pioneers’
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
What Brown students researched around College Hill this summer
SEE UTRAS PAGE 7
OPINIONS
Editorial: Brown must foster AI literacy
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ARTS & CULTURE SEE TSITP PAGE 12
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ delivers satisfying finale
Indoor turf facility on track to open for spring semester
SPORTS SEE TURF PAGE 14
Law firm threatens Brown’s funding over research about anti-offshore wind groups
threats to cut off federal funds would likely not apply to the CDL, which is privately funded and does not receive support from the sources that
Law sent letter to University demanding research be retracted
BY ELISE HAULUND SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR
This past July, Brown made a deal with the Trump administration to restore the University’s federal funds. But the deal was not the end of threats to Brown’s research funding.
On Aug. 11, Brown received a letter
from Marzulla Law, a law firm with close ties to the conservative legal movement, on behalf of Green Oceans, a local anti-offshore wind group. In the letter, the law firm demanded the University retract three publications from 2023 and 2024 authored by researchers at the Climate and Development Lab, claiming that the publications contained “materially false claims” about the nonprofit and caused “significant harm.”
In the letter, which was obtained by The Herald, the firm stated they are “preparing coordinated reports to key public
and private funding bodies,” including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the Mellon Foundation. The letter stated that “Green Oceans will consider all available legal remedies” if the University does not comply.
In an email to The Herald, Barbara Chapman P’18 P’20, a Green Oceans trustee and member of the litigation team, wrote that the organization believes it has the grounds for further legal action.
“The publications contain provably false statements that have damaged Green Oceans’ reputation and fundraising and
Intl. students more socioeconomically diverse after need-blind admissions, Herald poll shows
Class of 2029 first class admitted under a need-blind policy for international students
BY TIFFANY XIAO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
First-year international students in the class of 2029, the first cohort admitted under a needblind paradigm, are more socioeconomically diverse than preceding classes, data from The Herald’s First-Year Poll suggests.
The need-blind policy, which domestic applications have been evaluated under since 2003, ensures that “applicants’ ability to pay for their education will not be a determining factor in the admission decision,” according to Brown’s financial aid office.
The University announced the expansion of
need-blind to international applicants in 2021. It was implemented during the last application cycle after the University raised $120 million to fund the initiative.
Only nine other U.S. colleges currently offer a need-blind admissions policy for international students, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 said in her convocation speech for the class of 2029.
While Brown’s official admissions data has yet to be released, The Herald’s First-Year Poll, which is based on responses from about 45% of the incoming class, suggests the percentage of international first-year students on financial aid and from low-income backgrounds have increased.
Nearly 55% of international students in the class of 2029 received financial aid, compared
have been amplified by others,” Chapman wrote.
In a statement to The Herald, University Spokesperson Brian Clark affirmed Brown’s commitment to “academic freedom” and the right of faculty to “shape their own research and course of instruction at Brown.”
Marzulla Law’s threats of endangering federal funding would likely not apply to the CDL, which is privately funded and does not receive support from the sources that the law firm listed in its letter, according to the head of the center, Timmons Roberts,
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who is a professor of environment, society and sociology.
As a think tank that studies climate change policy based within the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, one of the CDL’s primary research areas is the “seemingly grassroots and sometimes actually grassroots” organizations that oppose the development of offshore wind plants in the northeastern United States, said undergraduate CDL researcher Charlotte Calkins ’27.
$16.75 million donation to fund new Innovation and Design Hub
BY CATE LATIMER UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A $16.75 million donation will support the renovation of the Prince Lab into the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub, Brown announced Thursday. The building will feature an “expanded and modernized” Brown Design Workshop, classrooms and research labs.
The building will also house two engineering master’s programs: the master of science in innovation management and entrepreneurship and the Brown-RISD master of arts in design engineering.
The hub will “provide a new center for entre-
The building will house an expanded Brown Design Workshop PAGE
for Brown students to build community around the creative process,” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wrote in a press release.
Sergio Gonzalez, senior vice president for advancement, added that the hub will “expand hands-on, experiential learning opportunities” and “strengthen Brown’s position as a leader in design engineering education.”
The donation was made by the Lassonde Family Foundation, led by Pierre Lassonde P’EMBA’18 P’AM’24, a Canadian businessman who has previously given multi million-dollar donations to the University of Utah and Polytechnique Montréal. He serves as the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Franco-Nevada Corporation, a publicly traded mining and energy royalty company.
Renovations to the 63-year-old building will begin in spring 2026 and will take approximately 18
Marzulla
Marzulla’s
Marzulla Law listed, according to the head of the center, Timmons Roberts.
LILA QUINN / HERALD
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ACTIVISM
SJP reinstated as a student group, on probation following external investigation
Decision came after a months-long disciplinary process
BY SOPHIA WOTMAN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
After a months-long disciplinary process and suspension, Brown’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine was re-recognized as a student group last May and is on probation until the end of this academic year.
At the end of October 2024, the University suspended SJP subject to an external investigation into conduct violations at a pro-divestment protest held earlier that month outside a meeting of the University’s Corporation.
Following months of back-and-forth between the University and SJP, the University found SJP responsible for violating two provisions in the Student Code of Conduct — “disruption of community” and emotional “harm to persons,” according to SJP Member Matisse Doucet ’27 and University Spokesperson Brian Clark.
Still under probation, SJP remains unable to hold rallies or demonstrations for the remainder of the academic year, according to Clark and Doucet. While the group is currently permitted to hold general body meetings, they can't host teach-ins and speaker events until November.
AFFINITY
When the group itself was under investigation, two SJP members, who were responsible for registering the group under the Student Activities Office, served as the points of contact throughout the disciplinary process.
Kenan Zaidat ’25, one of these members, said that the process felt unnecessarily “long and drawn out.”
“We could not do anything as an organization for many months, which was frustrating, to say the least,” Zaidat said.
In his view, the University did not have sufficient evidence against SJP, since the group had communicated effectively with the University leading up to the protest and guaranteed they were following policy.
Doucet said that there was an SAO representative at the protest to ensure SJP was following University guidelines.
“We weren’t aware at any point during the protest that we had been in violation of any policies,” Doucet added.
“Brown leaders have continued to work
to ensure that all members of our campus community understand the expectations and community standards for demonstrations and protests on campus,” Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. “While Brown’s policies make clear that protest is an acceptable means of expression on campus, it cannot interfere with the normal functions of the University.”
Zaidat added that the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island’s January letter to the University, demanding Brown
immediately lift the group’s temporary suspension, was seen among members as significant in helping the investigation progress.
During the investigation, the University relied on surveillance and dash camera footage as evidence against SJP members, said RL Wheeler ’25, another student contact for the group. While being interviewed by the external investigator, Wheeler said they were asked to identify individuals who appeared in protest footage.
“I think a lot of students didn’t really feel comfortable with that,” Doucet said. “It felt unsafe for a lot of international students or folks who might not have secure visa statuses.”
The Trump administration has threatened students’ visa statuses in an effort to crack down on pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses. Student activists previously demanded the University destroy surveillance footage of political speech out of fear of retribution by the White House.
For Zaidat, SJP’s suspension was a significant blow to Palestinians on campus who found themselves without a dedicated space “for education, for culture, for grief.”
“It just created this feeling of outrage,” Wheeler said. “At the same time as there was this immense grief that was happening … we couldn’t gather and grieve together.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 16, 2025.
Sarah Doyle Center celebrates 50th anniversary with archival exhibit
Center provides student support, serves as a hub for community-building
BY ZARINA HAMILTON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On Wednesday, the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender hosted a 50th anniversary celebration, bringing together the campus community to commemorate the center’s legacy.
Students and faculty in attendance enjoyed an open house featuring food, refreshments and an exhibit displaying snippets of the center’s archives.
The celebration “recognizes the decades of contributions that our center has made to the student experience at Brown,” wrote Felicia Salinas-Moniz MA’06 PhD’13, director of the Sarah Doyle Center, in an email to The Herald.
“We see this event as a way to bring our campus community together to share stories about the (center) and celebrate the year ahead,” Salinas-Moniz added.
months to complete. The construction will be “funded entirely” by the Lassonde Family Foundation and “several additional donors,” the release reads.
Julie Lassonde EMBA’18 AM’24 P’24, Lassonde’s daughter and chair of the Board of Governors for the School of Engineering, first suggested the Prince Lab renovation to her father’s foundation, citing the facility’s opportunity for “cross-pollination of people and ideas.”
“Brown students are ahead of just about everybody else in terms of starting new businesses and using their minds to create new intellectual property,” Pierre Lassonde said.
The archival exhibit, titled “50 Years in the SDC Archive,” was curated by Maria Gomberg ’26, a feminist librarian at the center. The exhibit features documents from the center’s history, including advertisements for invited feminist speakers, cartoons of the center, posters for student activism events and reflections from former Sarah Doyle Center staffers.
“These archival materials offer a comforting sense of historical continuity,” Gomberg wrote in the exhibit’s description. “For the most part, day-to-day life in the Sarah Doyle seems to be remarkably similar.”
The Sarah Doyle Center officially opened its doors in 1975, a few years after Pembroke College merged with Brown University in 1971, Salinas-Moniz wrote. Women of Brown United, a University women’s liberation group, along with a working group on the Status of Women at Brown, advocated for the formation of the center, named after Sarah Elizabeth Doyle, the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Brown and a former girls’ principal at Providence High School.
“That creates new value for the world, which is what I’ve tried to support both in my business career and in my philanthropic work,” he added.
Page Architects will oversee the design process of the renovation while Shawmut Design and Construction will be the lead contractor on the project.
Lassonde hopes that the space will benefit students both academically and professionally.
“I would love for students to write me in five years saying, ‘I had this idea in the workshop one day and now I’ve started a company,’” Lassonde said. “That’s how you change people’s lives. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Doyle was “instrumental to the founding of Pembroke College,” and the center’s name recognizes her efforts to support women’s education, Salinas-Moniz wrote.
Today, the center “serves as a welcoming space for examining issues around women and gender,” through hosting speaker programs, workshops and community gatherings, she added.
For its 50th year, the center is planning to feature “local community organizations who do work around women and gender” and connect with alums through establishing a continuous digital journal where they can reflect on their time as a student involved at the center, Salinas-Moniz said.
“It’s been so wonderful to see them reflect on how much the center positively
shaped their time at Brown and contributed to their personal and professional growth,” she wrote.
For some student members, the center has served as a second home throughout their time at Brown.
“I am a really big advocate for third spaces, and Stonewall and the Sarah Doyle Center have been that place for me,” said Gender and Sexuality Peer Counselor Leslie Lima ’27. “It’s been a place where I can go and feel comfortable.”
Mia Gutierrez-Huang ’26, another peer counselor, said she discovered the center when she was a first-year living across the street in Keeney Quadrangle. “It always felt like an actual home versus a dorm,” she added.
“As a whole, the Sarah Doyle Center’s work is important because it helps to cultivate a sense of community and belonging for students across identities,” Salinas-Moniz wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 17, 2025.
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
Student March in October 2024. While reinstated, SJP is still unable to hold rallies or demonstrations for the rest of the academic year.
ELSA CHOI-HAUSMAN / HERALD
The Sarah Doyle Center officially opened its doors in 1975.
MAYA MURAVLEV / HERALD The Brown Design Workshop in April. The donation was made by the Lassonde Family Foundation, led by Canadian businessman Pierre Lassonde P’EMBA’18 P’AM’24.
ADMISSIONS FROM PAGE 1
with only 35% of those in the class of 2028. The percentage of international students with a household income of less than $60,000 also rose — from 25% for the class of 2028 to 31% for the class of 2029.from 25% for the class of 2028 to 31% for the class of 2029.
But other metrics show less change. According to the poll, there was a negligible difference between this year and last in the number of first-year international students who attended a private high school, with the percentage hovering above 80%. Similarly, the percentage of first-generation international students increased from 10% in the class of 2028 to about 14% in the class of 2029.
After an initial evaluation, Ethiopian
international student Fenan Megerssa ’29 was offered a financial aid package that reduced his cost of attendance to $5,000
per year. But after submitting an appeal, he was awarded a full-ride scholarship. An annual cost of $5,000 “would have been a
UNIVERSITY NEWS
dealbreaker,” Megerssa said.
Attending Brown gives him the unique opportunity to embrace interdisciplinary study at the intersection of biochemistry, molecular biology and entrepreneurship, he said.
“Back home in Ethiopia, we don’t get time to choose the field that we want to pursue,” Megerssa said. “That’s why I chose Brown and started looking abroad.”
He pushed back on the stereotype of wealthy international students, adding that, “on the other end of the spectrum, (there are people) who are being aided to study here, coming from third-world countries to pursue prestigious education.”
In an email to The Herald, Students for Educational Equity Co-President Breana Alcantara ’27 wrote that she believes the
need-blind policy is a “necessary” part of promoting socioeconomic diversity at Brown. Alcantara also urged the University to recognize that the overall admissions process — not just the consideration of finances in admissions — may continue to disadvantage international students from lower-income backgrounds.
Still, “many students pursuing higher education may be breaking a cycle of poverty, contributing not only their intellect but their lived experiences” to the campus community, Alcantara wrote. “Both in the short- and long-term, promoting socioeconomic diversity in higher education opens up a world of innovation.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 15, 2025.
Brown rises in college free speech rankings, but remains in bottom half
The University ranks at 187th of 257 schools evaluated by FIRE
BY SAMAH HAMID SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Brown has risen 42 places in the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings compared to last year, according to a set of rankings compiled by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. But it still remains near the bottom of U.S. universities.
FIRE is a nonprofit organization focused on protecting “free speech and free thought” on U.S. college campuses, according to their mission statement.
The overall score, totaled out of 100, “reflects how open and supportive a campus is for free speech, based on student surveys, campus policies and recent speech-related controversies,” the organization’s website reads.
Despite these gains, Brown still ranks 187th out of a total 257 schools on the list, with an overall score of 55.2 out of 100 and
an overall letter grade of F.
“It may be more accurate to say that Brown hasn’t improved so much as other schools have gotten worse,” Luther Spoehr, a senior lecturer emeritus of education, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Besides a slight dip in 2024, Brown’s overall scores have remained steady.
“I don’t find this surprising, given the
continuity of ongoing campus issues and Brown's demographics,” Spoehr wrote.
“But unforeseen external events — from events abroad to federal involvement in higher education here in the U.S. — could shake things up fast.”
The University did not reply to several requests for comment.
As for the letter grade, “FIRE doesn’t
grade on a curve,” Spoehr noted. Of the 257 schools, 167 institutions — or about 65% — received an “F.” Brown received an “F” for both administrative support and political tolerance on campus.
According to Spoehr, Brown’s low ranking is likely due to controversies that have affected universities beyond just Brown.
“The past year has featured bitter, sometimes violent disputes, especially the Israel-Hamas conflict, at schools across the country,” Spoehr wrote. “Brown is obviously no exception.”
FIRE singled out three “speech controversies” at Brown, the most recent one being the University’s investigation of former student Alex Shieh. In March, Shieh launched Bloat@Brown, a database evaluating university administrators’ jobs modeled after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. He has since left Brown to build a startup.
Brown also received a spotlight rating of “yellow” due to “vague written policies.” The spotlight ranking rates “regulations on student expression based
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on the extent to which they restrict free speech.”
According to FIRE, the University could earn a “green light” score if it adopts the University of Chicago’s Statement for Free Speech “to affirm its commitment to free expression.” The statement, released in 2015, emphasizes a commitment to “free, robust and uninhibited debate and deliberation.” Over 100 institutions have endorsed the statement.
“I doubt that ranking schools down to the decimal point on a 100-point scale is nearly as precise as it tries to look,” Spoehr wrote. “But student responses to survey questions about such things as whether it’s ever justified to respond to speech with violence are revealing.”
About 375 respondents filled out FIRE’s student survey about how they “perceive free speech” on Brown’s campus. The survey was open between January and June 2025.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 14, 2025.
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KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD Brown placed 187th out of 257 schools with a letter grade of F for their free speech tolerance on campus, which includes 65% of schools scored.
New RI State House art exhibit celebrates state’s Latino ‘pioneers’
The exhibit opened just before the start of Hispanic Heritage Month
BY ALICE XIE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
While visitors to the Rhode Island State House may typically expect to see legislators filing in and out of bill hearings, advocacy organizations preparing testimony and the occasional group of tourists admiring the building’s rotunda, new guests at the state capitol may also spot an array of paintings lining the edifice’s lower level.
Titled “Somos Rhode Island,” the painted portraits feature a variety of Latino trailblazers who have made a lasting impact on the Rhode Island community. The art exhibit opened for public viewing on Sept. 2 — just before the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15 — and is set to remain on display until Nov. 28.
All 30 or so portraits were created by artist René Gómez in a pointillistic style — where thousands of tiny dots are compiled into a larger image. Each aims to highlight an individual’s contributions to local Latino history.
A collaboration between the State House and R.I. Latino Arts, the idea for the project was originally conceived as part of a 1991 personal oral history project by Marta Martinez, the founder and executive director of R.I. Latino Arts.
“It just became something I was interested in (while) talking to individuals,” Martinez said. The project is now a collection of over 200 interviews.
“Somos Rhode Island” began as a website focused on telling the oral stories of Latino community members who were “pioneers” in their respective fields, Mar-
PPSD students
Organizations have been working to pass universal free lunch legislation
BY AVA STRYKER-ROBBINS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Jaylenn Rivera, a junior at the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex in the Providence Public School District, says lunch is usually the same. Cheeseburgers. Pizza. Sandwiches. “Recently, they’re always doing, for some reason, nachos 24/7,” she added.
While Rivera doesn’t particularly love the menu, at least it’s free. “If you’re hungry, obviously, you’re gonna eat it,” they said.
While the PPSD provides universal free breakfast and lunch, efforts to bring healthy school meals to all students in the rest of the state are still underway.
All other Rhode Island schools offer free or reduced lunch plans to students who qualify, but applications can create barriers for students who are not eligible but still are food insecure, according to the National Education Association of Rhode Island, a statewide educators’ union and professional group with over 12,000 members.
tinez added — including the first Latino grocery store owner, doctor and social worker in the state.
Martinez began collaborating with Gómez on the project after Gómez listened to a selection of the oral histories listed on the group’s website and decided to bring in a variety of sketches.
Martinez then recalled asking, “why don’t we just start doing portraits?”
For Gómez, the project is deeply personal. Many of the celebrated figures “are leaders that I grew up with, and knowing their stories inspired me” to increase awareness about more key figures in Rhode Island’s Latino history, Gómez said.
Among the featured individuals are Josefina and Tony Rosario, advocates that helped spur the first wave of immigration from the Dominican Republic to the U.S.
by sponsoring families and supporting them with free room and board. Other portraits depict Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos and Angélica Infante-Green, commissioner of elementary and secondary education.
Known for his signature pointillism style, Gómez worked with Martinez to select the colors for each portrait but personally painted each of them with the help of reference images.
“I wanted to capture their likeness. I want people to see the portraits and know exactly who that is,” he said in an interview with The Herald.
Gómez tried to choose photos that would best represent the painting’s subject and their legacy, as well as what would be most recognizable.
After Gómez’s work was complete and the histories of each featured individual were compiled, Martinez hosted
a reception at her gallery in Providence.
The event caught the attention of Secretary of State Gregg Amore, who later contacted Martinez to ask if she was interested in displaying the collection at the State House.
Martinez delivered the exhibit “the very next day.”
In an interview with The Herald, Amore described the exhibit as an opportunity for “Rhode Islanders who are interacting with government to see an incredibly vibrant artistic display that tells a story.”
Amore, a former U.S. history teacher, was drawn to the project because of its ability to “tell the untold stories of Rhode Island.”
“We want to make sure that Rhode Islanders and the Latino community, in and of itself, has an opportunity to
celebrate its contributions — culturally, economically, politically — and this is a great way to do that,” Amore said.
Martinez recalled that the project unveiling was “very heartwarming,” especially for family members of those featured in the project.
“It really makes me realize how significant and deep the impact that this project has on the personal lives of people,” she said.
Gómez hopes that these portraits will inspire the local community “to be proud to be a Latino in Rhode Island and know the history behind some of the public figures and people that you might not even know,” he said.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 15, 2025.
are entitled to free school lunches, unlike the rest of RI
in an email to The Herald.
the only children that qualify for free lunch in certain school districts, there can be stigma surrounding free lunch reliance, the NEARI site explains.
“It is an antiquated and broken system,” the website added. “We must do better for our children.”
The Healthy School Meals for All Coalition, a group of 40 community organizations, aims to establish a program that would offer all Rhode Island students nutritious meals during the school year, said co-director Karin Wetherill.
“The current situation is that we divide families in the cafeteria, unlike anywhere else in the school, based on their family’s income,” Wetherill said in an interview with The Herald.
everyone, help create the supportive, healthy environment that we need in every school and make sure all kids are ready to learn.”
These bills did not pass during the most recent legislative session, which ended in June.
“It’s purely money, it’s competing priorities in this state,” Wetherill said, explaining why the bills failed. Given the uncertain future of federal funding, “there’s just a lot of unknowns, and that’s a tough environment to make decisions,” she added.
But the coalition is not giving up, Wetherill said. The group is still hoping to push for these bills or similar types of legislation in the 2026 legislative cycle.
44.9% of enrolled students across regional collaboratives and state, private and charter schools were eligible for free or reduced lunch.
Since 2019, all PPSD students have received free school lunches through the district’s federal Community Eligibility Provision program. The initiative offers schools in high-poverty areas free meals through National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, wrote Victor Morente, a RIDE spokesperson,
As of 2024, 38% of Rhode Island households are food insecure, according to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. In October 2023, the Rhode Island Department of Education estimated that
The program allows high poverty schools and districts to serve meals at no cost to enrolled students without having to collect household applications.
School districts in Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Newport and Central Falls also qualify for the CEP. A few schools also offer all students free meals through “non-pricing plans” or Special Provision 2, which still require students to periodically submit eligibility applications.
Since lower-income and unhoused students — as well as those who rely on federal food-assistance programs — are
This February, Representative Justine Caldwell (D, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Senator Lammis Vargas (D, Cranston, Providence) introduced the Healthy School Meals for All Act, which would provide all public school students with free breakfast and lunch regardless of family income.
“When we welcome every student, every day to the cafeteria line to get a solid, healthy breakfast and lunch, we’ll eliminate not only hunger but stigma and unwarranted shame as well as administrative burdens for schools,” Vargas said in a press release. “Investing in universal school meals will make them better for
“Having worked in advocacy for a long time, we know these campaigns can take years and years,” said Megan Tucker, the region’s senior director of field advocacy for the American Heart Association.
“It’s our job to keep pressing forward, to keep raising this issue, to come up with new and innovative approaches, and to engage as many partners across the state as we can to really elevate this issue and make it a priority,” she added.
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
JJ LI / HERALD
RISD
RISD Museum viewing day shows newly acquired pieces
Curators discussed the process of acquiring pieces
BY JAMIE JUNG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Surrounded by textile fabrics hanging from the walls beside inkblot paintings and portraits, dozens of people filed through the Rhode Island School of Design Museum’s Danforth Hall, exploring artworks that spanned genres — from cloth looms to blackout poetry to 19th-century portraits.
Visitors soaked in new art as the museum displayed its most recent acquisitions during a Wednesday viewing day. The limited opportunity allowed visitors to experience some of the over 100,000 artworks in the museum’s collection — many of which have not yet been displayed to the public.
“After today, all of these pieces are going back into storage,” María Fernanda Mancera, assistant curator of Indigenous art at RISD Museum, said at the event.
“So this is a really good opportunity for members of the community to see them and get an understanding of how the curators are thinking about expanding their collection.”
Mancera specializes in worldwide Indigenous art and spoke at the viewing day about the complexities of working within that niche.
“The RISD collection has a very rich group of Andean textiles, but most of them are ancient, so they cannot be shown because of conservation or even cultural considerations,” she said. “We’re hoping to bring pieces from artists who are working in the present and can tell stories of continuity.”
Since RISD houses one of the most comprehensive art museums in southeastern New England, “it’s important that people not only from Providence but across the state see themselves represented here,” Mancera added.
Kate Irvin ’93, a curator and department head of costume and textiles, emphasized how “collaboration” and “connection” are important facets of her work with the mu-
seum.
In collaboration with Mancera, Irvin acquired “Los caminos de la presencia wichí” or “The paths of the Wichí presence” by Claudia Alarcón and Silät, a collective of artists from the Wichí indigenous communities of Argentina, who Alarcón, an Argentine artist, worked with to create the hand-woven textile loom composition.
Mancera noted the story of connection behind the textile piece, pointing out the “hidden knots” which act as “an indication where one (pair of) hands stopped and the other took over or vice versa.”
Irvin was also able to acquire a textile piece by two Brown-RISD dual degree alums. Yukti Agarwal ’25, a student of Irvin, and Ethan Hoskins ’24 developed a textile portrait piece on RISD’s own Jacquard loom, which employs an automated form of weaving that is controlled by a series of punched paper cards that operate much like binary code.
When Agarwal and Hoskins invited Irvin to a studio visit, the piece caught her
attention. “It really made so much sense to have this work in the museum and to document this collaborative way of working that I think is so important to all of us right now,” Irvin said.
While curators are able to acquire some pieces through personal relationships and networks, other pieces required lengthy and careful negotiation processes.
Ariane Porter, the membership manager of the RISD Museum, spoke about a 19th-century portrait that was especially difficult to acquire. The museum had to work “very delicately and diligently to acquire this piece,” Porter said, since artwork owners sometimes have “emotional attachment” to works in their personal collection.
When acquiring artwork, money isn’t always the deciding factor, she added. It is not about “who can give me the most money … it’s more of the ethos, the mission, the values of said institution.”
“If they agree with that then they will be kind enough to either gift it or it’s a straight up purchase,” Porter said.
Alexandra Poterack, the director of academic programs at the RISD Museum, emphasized the importance of the museum as a learning opportunity for students.
Museums are a space “where multiple perspectives can exist, collectively and simultaneously, and I think that is more important than ever at this moment,” Poterack said.
Students are also able to request office hours with the museum’s curators to pull unexhibited pieces from storage for observation.
The RISD Museum is no exception, Irvin explained. She recalled walking through a gallery “with a RISD class, speaking to them” while on the other end of the gallery, “a group of first-graders were drawing circles on the rug.”
“Hearing glimpses of their response to big artwork in that space is really important,” she added. “I think there is joy there.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 17, 2025.
After a century in RI, Hasbro to relocate Pawtucket headquarters to Boston
Toymaker’s board games, toys, licensing businesses will move to Seaport
BY MICHELLE BI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Hasbro will relocate its headquarters from Pawtucket to Boston’s Seaport District by the end of 2026, the toymaking giant announced earlier this month. For state and local officials in Rhode Island, the announcement comes as a disappointment.
“It is disheartening to see a company so deeply rooted in our community choose to turn its back on that history,” Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told WJAR. “This is a painful reality for the people of Pawtucket, who stood by Hasbro for over a century.”
“We maintain that Rhode Island is the best place for Hasbro to call home, and many more companies agree with that sentiment,” Gov. Dan McKee said in a news release.
The new location at 400 Summer St. will serve as the company’s headquarters for its board games, toys and licensing businesses, and it will house “at least 700 full-time employees expected to transition from Rhode Island to Boston,” according to Hasbro.
Since it was founded in 1923, the company has been based in Pawtucket. Up until 2023, the company also worked out of an office in downtown Providence, but later that year, Hasbro announced it was going to consolidate that office with its Pawtucket
location, The Herald previously reported.
About a year ago, the company began considering a move out of Rhode Island — news that caught state and local officials by surprise, as text messages analyzed by the Providence Journal revealed.
Following the initial rumblings, state and local officials made numerous attempts to keep the toymaker in Rhode Island.
“Pawtucket did absolutely everything possible to keep Hasbro here,” including creating “a bold and comprehensive proposal” that offered a new site by the Blackstone River for the company’s headquarters, Grebien said in the statement.
Last November, Rhode Island’s I-195 Redevelopment District Commission also voted unanimously to offer Hasbro a parcel of Providence land for its headquarters.
But ultimately, Boston prevailed. The city began trying to attract Hasbro in 2018 and pursued the company further last year with a variety of incentives, including tax breaks.
Once the relocation is complete, Hasbro will have “no corporate footprint in Rhode Island,” Andrea Snyder, the company’s spokesperson, told WPRI.
Hasbro did not respond to a request for comment.
The company has a long history of philanthropy in Rhode Island that the toymaker has said will continue despite its move.
In 1994, Hasbro donated $2.5 million to the construction of Hasbro Children’s Hospital, a teaching hospital for Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School.
Without Hasbro’s support, “the vision of a pediatric hospital in Rhode Island would not have become reality three decades ago,” wrote Elena Falcone-Relvas, a spokesperson for Hasbro Children’s and Community Health Institute, in an email to The Herald. Beyond financial support and toy donations, Falcone-Relvas commented on Hasbro “employees’ deep volunteerism and its leadership’s ongoing service to our boards and committees.”
Hasbro also played “an integral role” in the establishment of the Partnership for Rhode Island, a nonprofit roundtable
composed of state business leaders, which supports K-12 education, as well as workforce and infrastructure development.
Partnership members include University President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, as well as Brown Chancellor and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan ’81 P’14 P’19.
In the company’s statement, Hasbro promised to “continue to support Hasbro Children’s Hospital with annual donations” and continue “recruiting from Rhode Island’s colleges and universities.”
“We would expect (Hasbro’s) commitment to the hospital to always be there,”
Falcone-Relvas added.
“There is no question that our hearts are broken by this decision,” Grebien said in his statement. “However, when Pawtucket is faced with adversity, it strengthens our resiliency, and we come back even stronger.”
State officials will work together “to create a plan to revitalize this prime real estate for exciting mixed-use development opportunities,” he added.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 17, 2025.
After Hasbro announced plans to move out of its office in Downtown Providence in 2023, the toy company is moving all operations to Boston.
MAX ROBINSON / HERALD
The viewing day allowed visitors to experience some of the over 100,000 artworks in the museum’s collection.
MAYA MURAVLEV / HERALD
This includes tracking the connections between anti-offshore wind groups, their lawyers, the fossil fuel industry and rightwing think tanks, Calkins continued.
In an interview with The Herald, Roberts said the CDL aims to understand what players are blocking climate change and how they are doing so. The original assumption of climate researchers was that as scientists discovered solutions to climate change, people would “naturally, automatically” shift away from using fossil fuels, he said.
“But of course, that was quite naive,” Roberts added.
Fossil fuel companies stand to lose revenue as reliance on renewable energy grows, he said. “So they are actively engaged in trying to undermine, stop, slow and roll back that transition that just has to happen.”
Since the CDL began publishing research about Green Oceans a few years ago, they have received multiple complaints from the group, which organizes against the development of offshore wind turbine farms in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Green Oceans has also demanded that academic
journals remove research conducted by the CDL. But the August letter was the first time they directly threatened Brown’s research funding, according to Roberts.
Isaac Slevin ’25, the first author on two of the targeted papers, called anti-wind groups’ criticism of his research “unsubstantiated.” The CDL has also sent letters pushing back against the claims and have faced no subsequent legal action.
Roberts feels confident that the CDL will be safe against legal threats.
“There’s some language in here about documented, ongoing harm, and it’s quite hard to imagine that this is real harm,” he said. He pointed to the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” raised by Green Oceans and their substantial national influence as evidence of the group’s success.
Green Oceans disagrees.
“The harm has escalated,” Chapman wrote. “The CDL publications have been widely amplified, used to exclude our participation in public forums, and have contributed to a hostile environment.”
It remains unclear if Marzulla Law actually has the sway necessary with public or private sources to pose an actual threat to Brown’s research funding. The firm did not respond to a request for comment.
Chapman wrote to The Herald that Green Oceans is “not asking anyone to stop supporting research at Brown,” but rather “asking funders and administrators to ensure that work bearing Brown’s name meets basic standards of accuracy, disclosure, and fairness.”
On Sept. 2, Green Oceans filed a memorandum in support of the Trump administration’s order halting construction on Revolution Wind, a $4 billion project to construct a wind farm that would have powered over 350,000 homes across Rhode Island and Connecticut. The construction of Revolution Wind was 80% complete when construction was halted.
Nancie and Roger Marzulla, co-founders of Marzulla Law, were listed as their attorneys on Green Oceans’s memorandum. Green Oceans also provided recommendations to senior officials in the Interior Department about how to cancel offshore wind leases, according to emails obtained by Politico.
In an Aug. 27 statement, they claimed that they “have never received funding from the fossil fuel industry or related organizations.”
But the CDL’s research never claimed that Green Oceans directly received funding
from fossil fuel companies, according to Roberts, Slevin and Calkins. A key point in the research, Slevin said, is that the connections between local anti-offshore wind groups and fossil fuel companies extend far beyond the money.
Following the funds that groups receive from companies with anti-renewable energy interests, such as fossil fuel corporations is useful, but “cannot be the only framework that we work through, because it writes local agencies out of the picture,” Slevin told The Herald.
The CDL’s research instead explores “information subsidies,” which are lines of reasoning, talking points and terminology that “trickle down” to local groups from fossil fuel-funded think tanks, Calkins explained. Although the local groups may not directly be tied to fossil fuel companies, their lawyers and information sources may be closer, the CDL’s research posits.
In their statement to The Herald, Green Oceans maintains that the CDL’s research is false.
“Questioning whether offshore wind delivers real climate benefits while inflicting undeniable environmental harm is not spreading misinformation; rather it represents responsible science and public advocacy,” Chapman wrote.
According to Roberts, legal complaints like the Aug. 11 letter appear to have the “intent to silence our voices.” But he and his team feel even more inclined to continue their work.
Less than two weeks after the Aug. 11 letter, the CDL published a new report showing the Marzullas at the center of a web of “anti-environmental litigation and lobbying, and deep ties to fossil fuel interests,” the report says. The firm has a history of environmental litigation in federal courts, defending clients such as developers and local coalitions, according to the CDL report.
A version of the paper had already been drafted when they received the letter, Roberts said, and the notice “made me want to quickly put it up.”
Slevin said he feels that it symbolizes a bigger “political vibe shift” where universities are targets of “bullying.”
“I think if you’re doing effective environmental work, I would hope that you’re pissing off arms of the fossil fuel industry and their allies,” he added.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 14, 2025.
GRAY MARTENS / HERALD
HISTORY
Exhibit examines how fashion in Islamic insurrections shaped American identity
The exhibit opened earlier this month in the Hay Library
BY IVY HUANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Those walking through the Harriette Hemmasi Exhibition Gallery at the John Hay Library can’t miss the V-shaped wall erected in the middle of the room.
The wall is just one feature of the gallery’s new exhibit, titled “Fashioning Insurrection: From Imperial Resistance to American Orientalisms,” that opened with a reception on Sept. 9. The exhibit is part of “American-Islamic Exchanges in the Long 19th Century,” a year-long research initiative launched by the Center for Middle East Studies.
The exhibit examines how 19th-century American engagement with the fashions and styles of insurrections in the Islamic world — such as the Greek War of Independence or the Algerian resistance to the French — shaped early American identity.
“We look at how Americans were paying attention to these events and how they were using not only the dress, but (also) many of the themes that were popping up to reckon with their own identity and their own relationship to their revolutionary past,” said Gwendolyn Collaço, the main organizer of the exhibit and curator of the Anne S.K.
Brown Military Collection.
The idea for the exhibit was born from Collaço’s exploration of the uniforms in the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection last year. While the collection is known for European and Western military history, Collaço strove to “bring a more global vision” to the exhibit, she said.
To highlight the relationship between geographical and gallery space, Collaço requested that a V-shaped windowed wall stand in the center of the room. The wall separates different geographical sections of the exhibit from each other, using a latticed window to emphasize the “distortion and transformation” of American adaptations of regional dress, Collaço said.
“The exhibit offers a stunning visual reminder that the nascent United States of America and societies of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries were not isolated entities living in entirely separate worlds,” wrote Associate Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History Faiz Ahmed in an email to The Herald.
Initially, Collaço thought the exhibit would focus on “insurrection and revolution from a non-Western perspective,” she said.
But after examining the collection more deeply, Collaço realized the “collection’s old focus of uniforms has actually a really interesting story to tell” when brought into conversation with “wider society” and U.S. fashion, she told The Herald.
To demonstrate how uniforms impact present-day fashion, Collaço decided to feature a contemporary costume loaned from Minwoo Oh, a RISD apparel design student in the class of 2027.
At the opening reception, Oh joked that he is the only living artist whose work is included in the exhibit.
“I’m sorry I was the only artist that could make it today to the gallery,” Oh recalled telling the audience.
Being included in the exhibit, Oh told The Herald, “reflects how much I was able to achieve within a short time.”
According to Collaço, each section of the exhibit has a connection to Brown.
The Greek section, for instance, features a portrait of Samuel Gridley Howe, a Brown alum from the class of 1821 who fought in the Greek War of Independence. The Algerian section showcases a sword that belonged to Rush Hawkins, who married Annmary Brown, the granddaughter of the University’s namesake Nicholas Brown. The larger “American-Islamic Exchanges in the Long 19th Century” research initiative arose from a funding competition held by the CMES in the spring. Collaço, Ahmed and Karin Wulf, director of the John Carter Brown Library and history professor, submitted the winning proposal.
The proposal won because of its “wonderful mix” of activities, including art exhibitions and workshops, and because it showcases collaborations at and beyond Brown, according to Elias Muhanna, associate professor of comparative literature and history and the director of the CMES.
These collaborations beyond Brown include a Yale class on 19th century commercial painting that Associate Professor of Art History Holly Shaffer is co-teaching, as well as workshops with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert on Tunisian letterlocking, Collaço said.
Starting in January, the Fashioning Insurrection exhibit will have a sister exhibit located in the John Carter Brown Library that will take a “wider approach to the idea of revolution,” according to Collaço.
The Fashioning Insurrection exhibit “puts on display the greater riches of the collection for teaching and research,” said Joseph Meisel, University librarian and adjunct associate professor of history.
Beyond sparking new discussions and ideas, the initiative aims to “nurture new relationships and partnerships in the future — across differences and on terms of respect and equality — in the hope all of this might just help shape a better society and world for all,” Ahmed wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 18, 2025.
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
The exhibit explores 19th-century American engagement with the fashions and styles of insurrections in the Islamic world.
HEALTHCARE
As PE firms acquire opioid treatment programs, access shows no improvement
Acquisition of opioid treatment programs did not affect patient access
BY JONATHAN KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As the number of opioid-related deaths in the United States has increased nearly ten-fold from 1999 to 2023, methadone — a medication used to treat opioid use disorder — has proven to be an effective drug in reducing rates of mortality.
Available only at opioid treatment programs, expanding access to methadone has been identified as a key priority for public health officials. But new findings from a Brown study should spark discussion over whether reaching these goals may be at risk, said Yashaswini Singh, the study’s lead
PUBLIC HEALTH
author and an assistant professor of health services, policy and practice.
The study found that while an increasing number of opioid treatment programs are being acquired by private equity firms, this has not led to an increase in methadone supply.
“Generally, there’s a lot of opacity and lack of transparency that surround these investments,” Singh said. “It’s really difficult
to know where investments are flowing, in what regions and what the effects are for treatment or access to care.”
The rise in the number of OTP acquisitions by PE firms could partially be attributed to Medicare’s coverage of methadone beginning in 2020, she explained.
“With all these payment changes, it sort of led to an untapped revenue stream for investors because they’ve suddenly discov-
ered a lucrative area thanks to regulatory changes that make payments more favorable,” Singh said.
According to the study, the number of OTPs acquired by PEs increased from 0.26% in 2011 to 18.9% by 2022. While methadone shipments were about 13% higher in PE-acquired OTPs compared to both non-acquired OTPs and PE-exposed OTPs, which are facilities located in areas with PE-acquired OTPs, these results were not found to be statistically significant after controlling for other variables.
Singh said these higher rates could suggest PE-acquired OTPs “were experiencing higher rates of methadone supply even before acquisition.”
“We can’t say for certain that it was a result of the acquisition itself,” Singh added.
The study presents one of the first findings that illustrate the impact of PE
acquisitions on the quality or access to OTPs. In other healthcare settings including nursing homes or primary care physician practices, PE acquisition has been found to worsen patient care or increase costs, Singh explained.
While PE involvement in such settings is not inherently negative, more research is needed to determine the long-term impacts of such acquisitions on patient care. Singh added that treatment access can be expanded if investors increase capital to fund technological upgrades or expand hours of operation.
“We need to do a lot more work to understand what this really means for the patient,” she said.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 16, 2025.
Working-age adults with disabilities experience higher loneliness rates
Severe loneliness among disabled adults highlights the need for changes
BY HALLEL ABRAMS GERBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Working-age adults with disabilities reported higher levels of loneliness in contrast to people without disabilities, Brown researchers found. The study surveyed over 3,800 working-age adults with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64.
About two-thirds of adults with disabilities in a national survey said that they “often experienced severe loneliness.”
Higher loneliness could amplify existing health disparities that disabled people face, according to Maggie Salinger, an assistant professor of medicine and co-author
STUDENT RESEARCH
of the paper.
“Loneliness is a widely-recognized risk factor for morbidity and mortality, but there is relatively little research about loneliness in people with disabilities, especially those younger than 65,” Salinger wrote in an email to The Herald.
“This population may be predisposed to loneliness, since disability is the byproduct of social and structural barriers that restrict access to full societal participation,” she added. Salinger — in collaboration with Melissa Clark, a professor of obstetrics & gynecology and health services, policy and practice — inspected survey data from October 2019 to January 2020 as well as October 2023 to February 2024.
The surveys asked working age people with disabilities how often they felt “a lack of companionship, left out or isolated,” Clark said in an email to The Herald.
In a study of over 3,800 working-age adults with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64, roughly two-thirds of adults with disabilities said that they “often experienced severe loneliness."
Ongoing feelings of loneliness for this population were almost three times more common than previous findings for the general adult population, she added. The severe amounts of loneliness were consistent across different types of disabilities and the separate surveys.
Kim Fernandes, an assistant professor of anthropology who was not involved in the study, added that “these statistics are not surprising, particularly in the … sociocultural context in which loneliness is produced and what it means to be a working-age person with a disability.”
Fernandes explained that this may be a result of an inflexible workday or social isolation that comes with not being able to attend inaccessible activities.
“You just may not have the energy to go out and do a social activity for work, and also then continue to work,” they explained. “There’s many reasons why the traditional workplace can be a lonely environment.”
This survey emphasizes the importance of more research into working-age adults with disabilities, Salinger added, to understand “drivers of the disproportionately high loneliness burden in this population and to mitigate long-term health consequences of loneliness.”
“We hope that this study shows how critical it is for public health officials to consider inclusivity and accessibility in their design and implementation of loneliness interventions,” she said.
What Brown students researched around College Hill this summer
Three students fondly reflected on their summer research
BY EMMA MEJIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Once the school year ends, while some Brown students pack their bags and drive off College Hill, others stay in Providence for the summer to work on an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award.
Known as an UTRA, these grants allow students to collaborate with faculty members on research projects or course development during the academic semester or summer break. Students of all disciplines have the opportunity to explore a topic that interests them.
The Herald spoke with three UTRA awardees to learn more about what they did this summer.
Remy Dufresne ’27: Melding quantitative modeling with environmental justice in the Salton Sea
Remy Dufresne ’27 worked in the Freilich Lab and spent his summer modeling hydrogen sulfide gas production in the Salton Sea, a hypersaline lake in Southern California.
“My job was to get to the bottom of why it was releasing foul odor smells and causing adverse health impacts on surrounding communities,” Dufresne said.
Dufresne investigated this question by using a computational model to map gas production based on various environmental factors.
Although the project is still ongoing, Dufresne gained some preliminary insight. After completing a parameter sweep of different variables, he concluded that low oxygen and high biomass were factors that lead to higher hydrogen sulfide gas outputs from the lake, which negatively affect surrounding communities.
Dufresne compiled a graph conveying his findings, which he shared with a community organization and residents in California for educational purposes.
Dufresne appreciated the opportunity to make an impact with his research, noting how quantitative evidence can lead to real change to “get caps or limits on these gas outputs.”
“I was really drawn to this project because it had such a foot in not only quantitative analysis and computation, but also environmental justice,” Dufresne said. “This is an issue that’s affecting real people.”
Hilary Nguyen ’27: Understanding the connections between gut microbes and host metabolism
Hilary Nguyen ’27 started her involvement in research with a cold email to the Chellapa Lab, where she spent the summer studying metabolic processes in the intestines of mice. The lab studies nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD, which is a cofactor
related to cell signaling and metabolism.
“The precursors for NAD, which is an important cofactor in a lot of the biochemical pathways that your body needs to make energy and break down the food you’re eating, can be shared between the microbes (in the gut) and the host,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s work investigated how changes in the composition of microbes in the gut and NAD metabolism affect each other.
To visualize this process, her activities included labeling bacterial RNA with fluorescent probes that allowed her to observe shifts in microbial communities under varying metabolic conditions.
The microbiome of a host impacts health, she said, and the necessity of NAD makes it fundamental to the field’s research.
This work has applications to fields like aging and regenerative medicine, cancer and ulcerative colitis and other intestinal diseases, according to Nguyen.
As a biochemistry concentrator, Nguyen appreciated how her coursework supplemented her lab experience and vice versa. The two realms of learning “help each other become more interesting because I’m able to see connections,” she said.
Nguyen, who hopes to become a pharmacist, noted that research is often important for graduate school applications, but she said the best part of her work was the colleagues and mentors she met.
“The people are what make the science worth it to me,” she said.
Paola Chapilliquen ’27: Supporting bilingualism in Rhode Island
Paola Chapilliquen ’27 spent her summer working on a project titled “En Comunidad: Amplifying the Voices of Latinx neighbors” with Assistant Teaching Professor of Education Tricia Kelly. Her project focused on supporting bilingual youth education in Rhode Island.
Much of Chapilliquen’s work was done with the Coalition for a Multilingual Rhode Island. With the coalition, she helped develop a community map highlighting how and where bilingualism is thriving in Rhode Island.
She also contributed to research aiming to improve Spanish-language development for community members, interviewing local teachers about how bilingualism shows up in their classrooms.
Chapilliquen spent time volunteering at
Progresso Latino, a social services organization that supports Rhode Island’s immigrant community. Chapilliquen worked at the organization's daycare center.
“It was so great to … see their gears turning in Spanish and in English,” she said.
Chapilliquen also worked with the Mount Pleasant and Washington Park Libraries to aid in developing a curriculum for bilingual story hours. She read stories to children and engaged them in bilingual activities, and “loved being with the kids every week.”
She also helped create a digital bilingual book repository, filled with a collection of books, resources, discussion questions and activities as a resource for caregivers and community members.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 14, 2025.
SUMMER SHI / HERALD
SOPHIA LENG / HERALD
SOPHIA LENG / HERALD
Dear Readers,
All summer long I’d been traveling on New England’s finest modes of transport: the MBTA’s Providence/Stoughton line and Boston’s Green Line. During my travels, the Green Line was only delayed about ten times, while the MBTA tracks caught on fire a mere two. So more accurately, all summer long I’d been waiting on and in New England’s finest modes of transport. In these interrupted moments of limbo, with only 200MB of data to spare, I was prompted to stare wistfully outside the scratched-up train window and think about how much our lives were spent in transit and the transitory. I’d then promptly fall asleep against the glass, usually waking up to find that I was no longer where my body thought I was. I found that I didn’t mind the sitting in stillness for another delay because I knew where I’d eventually end up. All summer long I traveled to Shanghai, Seattle, and yes, Providence, RI, toward the people I loved and the places holding them.
In the first issue of post- (!!) this semester, our writers are also journeying. Ivy delves into the world of performative men in this week’s Feature article and discovers the ways in which we are all performative men deep down. In Narrative, Samaira considers the path that Love takes across her bedroom ceiling, while Mar goes to a museum in Amsterdam for a conversation with a stranger. Meanwhile, for the first A&C article, Sofie enters the virtual terrain of Roblox chat rooms to investigate how Gen Alpha is shaping the discourse on body image. In the other, Indigo writes a letter to Timothée-Chalametas-Bob-Dylan for the way his A Complete Unknown role helped her
healing process after being sexually assaulted. In Lifestyle, Yana details her venture into trying coffee for the first time and how “coffee chats” have taken over Brown. And Jessica takes you across a whirlwind of departments, study spots, and dining halls in her post-pourri quiz to help you determine which concentration you really should be studying! Finally, check out Lily’s crossword this week, which transports you back to the 2016 (yet arguably eternal) Hamilton craze with a “Best of Wives and Best of Women” theme.
Now that I’ve returned to where home has been for the last three years (both Providence and post-!), I’m feeling so grateful that the Main Green and Coffee Exchange and 88 Benevolent St. are my frequent destinations. I’m even more grateful for the people who await me there. As you embark on your own odysseys, I hope you’ll pick up this week’s issue of post- to keep you company (especially if there’s, say, a threehour MBTA delay)!
“LET
ME BE STRAIGHT— well I mean, I’m always straight. You guys are gay.”
“Whenever I see you guys together on campus, it’s like a sunrise.”
Love Triangles
1. Belly + Conrad + Jeremiah
2. Bella + Edward + Jacob
3. Elena + Stefan + Damon
4. y/n + Zayn + Harry
5. Me + you + your sister (why no girls??)
6. King Arthur + Queen Guinevere + Sir Lancelot
7. Short-term memory loss + Short-term memory loss + Short-term memory loss
8. God + Satan + Job
9. BDH + Indy + Noser
10. Zendaya and the people from Challengers whose names I can’t remember
by lily coffman
1. Raleigh HBCU
5. Nigerian metropolis
7. POTUS when Hamilton opened on Broadway
8. With 4-Down, what Eliza is the "best of" in Hamilton's 44th song
9. Hamilton's bills
“The water awoke myself to my body, a thing so funnily forgotten. The coldness pressed against my limbs so that I could feel every hair I’d always pondered shaving off, and in the full of my throat a fresh thud of heartbeats gathered.”
— Elena Jiang, “on coastlines and other beginnings”
“Here we find the midpoint in our evolution—the oceanic transition into TikTok bisexual boy style—taking the lessons you learned in your sauce incubation and graduating into a sauce moth (the sauciest insect).”
— Sean Toomey, “sweating towards bethlehem”
1. At a snail's pace
2. Nun garb
3. Sweetener for an Ivy Room smoothie
4. See 8-Across
6. Lip or cheek
COPY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
FEATURE Managing Editor Elaina Bayard
Section
Section
POST-POURRI
Section
HEAD ILLUSTRATORS Junyue
LAYOUT
Layout Designers
OPINIONS
Kaak ’29: ‘Robophobia’ is all too human
If you often find yourself doomscrolling on social media, it is likely you have encountered a new parodic trend on artificial intelligence: videos about “clankers.” In these videos, “clankers,” “wirebacks” and countless other phrases are used as slurs against AI, often within the context of a skit. At a first glance, the joke is relatively harmless. AI has become an increasingly polarizing topic, especially due to students’ reliance on it in schools and universities. It follows smoothly that some people would take to the internet to make fun of it. But when viewing these videos with greater scrutiny, it becomes less clear what they are parodying. While the “robophobia” trend might seem harmless, it is a thinly-veiled attempt to reenact real-world bigotry by the groups that originally carried out the discrimination it parodies.
The most problematic aspect of the trend is the fact that most of the videos barely relate to AI, but instead are short-comedy reenactments of Jim Crow era oppression. But how exactly did the hatred for AI take this specific course? Why was it that the content immediately mirrored the racism that African Americans have experienced and still experience? A likely source for the racialization of AI discourse is identi-
fied by pop-etymologist Adam Aleksic, who explains that the term “clanker” originates from people feeling that they needed a slur for AI.
Aleksic also points out that the proliferation of the word is rooted in its similarities to the n-word, fundamentally linking the hatred of AI to racism against African Americans. Over time, content creators began orienting the jokes in their videos as direct references to the discrimination that Black Americans have faced. Some internet users have rightfully reported discomfort at seeing these jokes online, even more so because of the fact that many are made by white users. In reality, these superficial skits to address the dangers of AI are just an outlet for bigots to say slurs with plausible deniability.
At their very core, “robophobic” jokes hinge on the assumption that there is a logical comparison to be made between the plight of African Americans and the rise of AI. The jokes are born out of “amused racial contempt,” and more often than not normalize the racist imagery invoked within them. Historically, racist humor was limited to far-right online circles; however, the widespread nature of the “robophobia” trend reveals that racist thoughts and imagery reside within the greater internet subconscious. The implications of “robophobic” jokes are clear: African Americans are comparable with something non-human. With the rise of casual racism online, the proliferation of such a horrible comparison can only make the internet more toxic.
The most problematic aspect of the trend is the fact that most of the videos barely relate to AI, but instead are short-comedy reenactments of Jim Crow era oppression. “ “
However, this toxicity does not stay on the web. Even if users primarily interact with racism online, it becomes normalized both on social media and in real life. College students and individuals aged 18-29 are disproportionately exposed to platforms like TikTok where casual racism occurs, making college campuses especially susceptible to normalized racism.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of users themselves to call attention to the radicalization of their space. Chances are, if you are a Brown student read-
Editorial: Brown must foster AI literacy
Artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize the way we work, learn and live our daily lives at a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution. In the past year, Brown has taken numerous steps to advance the University’s preparation for this new era. Last December, the University announced that Michael Littman PhD’96, would become Brown’s first provost for AI. The University also recently announced a $20 million grant designated towards a new AI institute studying the relationship between AI agents and their human users. Although these are positive first steps, Brown must capitalize on its momentum by introducing an AI literacy requirement, among other initiatives, to prepare undergraduates for entering an increasingly tech-driven workforce.
In an interview with the Brown Alumni Magazine, Littman commented on the remarkable
scope of his role, which includes everything from the integration of AI in course curricula to the automation of university paperwork, demonstrating the University’s ambitious approach towards AI. That being said, devising a universal policy is nearly impossible given that each department has unique demands. An English class will approach AI very differently than a computer science class, for example. To successfully integrate AI into Brown’s curriculum, the University should instead offer an alternative, yet required, space for students to fully engage with the complexities of the technology.
One possible solution is to institute an AI literacy requirement. The College already requires that students take two writing-designated courses because it believes writing is an essential part of the “intellectual process.” As AI becomes more
ing this, you’ve seen one of the aforementioned “robophobic” videos. You might’ve sent it to a buddy, got a quick chuckle out of it or even saved it. It’s likely many readers have even caught themselves making use of the popular AI slurs. However, as a community defined by its openness and diversity, we as Brunonians should be careful when engaging in a trend so clearly rooted in racism. Bigotry has no home on our campus, and it should have no home in our humor either.
Avery Kaak ’29 can be reached at avery_kaak@brown. edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
To successfully integrate AI into Brown’s curriculum, the University should instead offer an alternative, yet required, space for students to fully engage with the complexities of the technology. “ “
advanced, it will continue to encroach on the intellectual process in ways that we cannot anticipate. Rather than be left in the dust, we must be prepared to confront a world in which competent writing skills alone are not enough for individuals to engage academically. Brown should create an AI literacy course designation specifically granted to courses that utilize and educate students about AI. Given its versatile applications, these courses could span across departments, making the requirement relevant to every student.
Beyond this course designation, the University can require additional AI modules as part of Brown’s first-year orientation, similar to how it requires learning about alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. The content could include an overview of Brown’s various policies surrounding AI, alongside introductory videos on how the technology should be approached in the academic setting.
Furthermore, many courses at Brown have already implemented “AI-TAs,” including CSCI 0150 “Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Computer Science.” These chatbots are large language models fine-tuned on course mate-
rial and programmed to help students learn, without giving away explicit answers. These chatbots are not a replacement for human teaching assistants, but rather a supplement for when students are unable to attend office hours or TA sessions, or when such sessions are exceedingly busy. Expanding the use of AI-TAs across courses, by creating a centralized platform for AI-TAs at Brown, could be a way to get more students to engage with AI while remaining compliant with the Academic Code of Conduct.
By establishing an AI Literacy requirement, providing first-years clear guidance on the University’s expectations and creating AI-TAs, the University can be assured that it will continue to provide a world-class education in the 21st century.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board, and its views are separate from those of The Herald’s newsroom and the 135th Editorial Board, which leads the paper. A majority of the editorial page board voted in favor of this piece. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
ANNEKE BLUE / HERALD
COURTESY OF APAVLO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
OPINIONS
Berkwits ’29: The downfall of good advice
Two weeks ago, as I sat on a rickety folding chair under the Main Green’s blue September sky, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 gave me and the rest of the incoming first-year class a piece of advice: Risk failure. It was amid this guidance that she herself, through the small, brave act of sitting at a table of strangers, met her future husband. Her anecdote felt benevolent and thoughtful, but also somewhat futile. Although it is Brown University’s 262nd academic year, it’s only my first, and it seems as though everyone has an opinion on how I should go about it.
Convocation was hardly the first time I have
been confronted by an onslaught of advice. Throughout the entire college application process, from essays to decisions to transitions, advice runs rampant. Go to almost any family function, website, podcast or teacher and they will impart their, oftentimes contradictory, two cents. It has become impossible to turn off. There is nearly always some wisdom and good intent in the words shared but, in our internet age, advice-giving has lost its personal quality.
Advice is relational in its essence. In the past it has been a way to pass down generational or experiential wisdom. Whether it be by listening to grand-
We should receive advice with intention and appreciation — not from infographics and self-help books. “
parents speak of decades past or friends corroborating your very modern struggles, the fact that this counsel is imparted by people that matter to you is what gives it meaning. As I think about the best advice I have received, it has been from those who know me and those who I aspire to be like in one way or another. When advice becomes removed from the interpersonal it loses its efficacy.
This shift away from the personal stems largely from the online obsession with self-improvement. Sponsorships and partnerships provide numerous endorsements of the products and experiences to buy that will assure happiness, love or success. This commodification of self-improvement makes it so that the countless self-help blogs and social media accounts that give so-called miracle advice are more interested in profiting off of engagement than actually solving problems. We get quantity over quality, oversaturating society with unsolicited and impersonal advice. No situation is left unadvised. And because of our constant exposure, this ambush of maxims has no doubt leaked into our everyday lives. We have all become that chatty distant relative at Thanksgiving, spreading constant counsel because we feel we must have an opinion on everything that can be neatly explained in a one-line
“
solution. Bold, unapologetic, highly simplified: We have crafted our lives and experiences into our own forms of Barbara Kruger’s artwork.
All of this is not to say that advice is a dead craft. Since being at Brown, I have received helpful guidance from habituated students over coffee and empathetic counsel from family over FaceTimes. I have also spoken with friends starting off in new cities and received letters and emails from those I love. It is an incredible gift that I have people who care about me and my experiences.
Thus, we should give advice sparingly and authentically to those who want to receive it. We should receive advice with intention and appreciation — not from infographics and self-help books. Experience and relationships have power that advice only strengthens. Let us lean into that. Let us use advice as a good deed for those we care about. Let us use advice to grow individually and interpersonally.
Talia Berkwits ’29 can be reached at talia_berkwits@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
Tesler ’29: Performative reading is good, actually
In October 2024, The Atlantic published a widely circulated article called “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books.” Drawing on accounts from 33 professors, it argues that many students arrive at college unprepared to read complete novels. Some professors suggested potential causes, including increased screen time and short-term video exposure, as well as fewer books in the classroom, as America has shifted towards excerpt-based standardized testing.
However, beyond the insular, elite circles of traditional academia, books have also found a different kind of popularity on social media. The most prominent imagery of books on social media is “performative” reading, epitomized by staged paparazzi photos of celebrities holding books and, most recognizably, the “performative male” who reads feminist literature in public with the intent to impress women. Reading has become sexy.
But the emphasis here is on the aesthetic and symbolic value of reading, not the substantive value of books. It’s tempting to criticize these images as insincere or anti-intellectual, but we should embrace their positive contributions to the literary discourse as they have the potential to revitalize a declining love for reading.
Critiques of performative reading are popular
and decry people using books as props rather than actually appreciating them. This criticism is valid, but it ignores a beneficial by-product: performative reading pushes books into the spotlight. While not everyone posing with a book on their Instagram is actually reading, increased exposure to literary imagery may encourage people to want to read themselves. As college students, we shouldn’t be too quick to criticize this trend since we’re barely reading as it is. Rather, we should be glad that performative reading may move the needle in the right direction.
The other side of online literary culture is the discussion-based communities on various social media platforms. Content on these platforms varies from seconds-long wordless TikTok videos to almost hour-long reading vlogs that detail the reading process and opinions of the vlogger. These creators put greater emphasis on feel-good genre fiction, as opposed to the classical literature that would be seriously studied in university English departments.
There is frequent criticism about these communities’ genre fiction fixation and the superficiality of content creation. Although these critiques are valid, they overlook the ability of these videos to increase exposure to reading. This informal, stylized and personality-forward approach to literary discussion creates a welcoming environment that may encourage previous skeptics to indulge in the pleasure of reading.
If our algorithms lead us to a reading vlog or book recommendation video, we should take a beat and consider whether our time could be better spent with a book.
As people increasingly turn to social media and short-form videos for entertainment, these spaces are becoming the new frontier of reading. As college students, we are one of social media’s main demographics, so while it may be entertaining to poke fun at trends like the performative male, social media could be a promising solution to this modern problem. For every time that we mock a post of a celebrity or performative man posing with a book in hand, we should strive to pick up the book ourselves, if only to better mock the poster. If our algorithms lead us to a reading vlog or book recommendation video, we should take a beat and consider whether our time
could be better spent with a book. Appreciation of books in any form is aspirational. The creation of open spaces where people feel comfortable discussing anything from Sarah J. Maas to Jane Austen, or joking about men reading Joan Didion, is more exciting than alarming. So the next time you see a performative man reading bell hooks on campus, take a second to laugh, definitely question his intentions and then be happy he’s reading at all.
Zeke Tesler ’29 can be reached at zeke_tesler@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
ANNEKE BLUE / HERALD
ANNEKE BLUE / HERALD
ARTS & CULTURE
REVIEW
‘Materialists’ excels conceptually but lacks emotional depth
Film raises questions about modern dating, but characters fall flat
BY RAJAA GHANDOUR CONTRIBUTING WRITER
What is more important when deciding to marry: love or material gain? This is the very question that Celine Song explores in her newest movie “Materialists.”
The film arrives on the heels of her critically acclaimed debut film “Past Lives” — which was nominated for Best Picture at the 2024 Academy Awards — and with that success comes inevitable expectations. While her debut was filled with emotional vitality and tender humanity, “Materialists” struggles to match the same depth. The film is so absorbed in its central concept that it overlooks the nuances of its characters, leaving it sharper in theory than in feeling.
The plot follows Lucy (Dakota Johnson), an actress-turned-professional matchmaker, whose clients chase near-impossible ideals of wealth, status and beauty. At a wedding she organizes, she meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), a private equity investor considered a “unicorn” — the ideal candidate in the dating market. He is tall, good-looking, charming and, importantly, very wealthy. Lucy initially hopes to recruit him as a client, but Harry quickly becomes interested in her.
Meanwhile, Lucy rekindles her relationship with struggling actor John (Chris Evans), her ex-boyfriend with whom she shares undeniable chemistry. But their relationship had previously unraveled due his
REVIEW
lack of financial prospects. Throughout the film, she is caught between the stability promised by Harry and the passion she still feels for John.
Lucy positions relationships in terms of “math.” Men are measured by height and income, and women by age and beauty. Each person is a sum of digits, and for love to work out, the numbers must add up. It is a striking metaphor for love and intimacy in the modern age, in which dating apps and social media already reduce attraction
to swipeable profiles of wealth, beauty and curated desirability.
But in Song’s portrayal, characters exist more as symbols for this commentary rather than fully realized people. Lucy is defined almost entirely by her pragmatism, Harry by his wealth and status and John by his financial instability. There is little substance beyond the socioeconomic categories they represent. Their conversations feel more like a seminar on romance and capitalism than the messy and intimate
exchanges of real-life relationships.
This undercooked plot leaves gaps where emotional depth should be. We are told that Lucy and John are drawn to one another, but we are rarely shown why. We can infer that Lucy admires John’s relentless pursuit of his acting career, and he insists she inspires him to continue auditioning. These glimpses are charming, but fleeting. The film stops short of exploring the everyday tenderness, humor or vulnerability that might have made their bond
feel authentic.
But by reducing its characters to symbols of wealth and want, “Materialists” became the very thing it critiques. Its observations about the commodification of love are undeniable. But stripped of depth, texture and genuine humanity, the romance at its core feels hollow.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 14, 2025.
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ finale is the ending everyone has been waiting for
Final episode of the viral three-season show was released Wednesday
BY TALIA LEVINE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
This summer, fans of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” have been anxiously awaiting the series finale in the hope that it would finally end the
never-ending online debate of Team Conrad versus Team Jeremiah.
Viewers, rejoice. The ending everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived — and in great fashion.
In the show’s third and final season, released this summer, viewers watch Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) after she follows her boyfriend and childhood best friend Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) to college. Back in high school, Belly dated Jeremiah’s older brother, Conrad Fisher
(Christopher Briney), but their relationship ended just before the Fisher brothers’ mom, Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard), died of cancer.
Throughout the show’s first two seasons, there was one truth that all viewers could rely on: The comically named Belly made a lot of bad — albeit entertaining — choices. But during season three, viewers watch as she, for the first time in her life, makes a decision for herself that is focused on nothing other than self-discovery.
Belly is not alone on this journey. The main trio — consisting of Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad — consistently makes life-altering and last-minute decisions that lead them closer to who they truly are. From an impulsive engagement and a last-minute love confession to breaking off a wedding the morning of the ceremony, season three is full of moments that leave fans equal parts alarmed and perplexed.
When Belly impulsively gets on a flight to Paris following her cancelled wedding with Jeremiah, then struggles to adapt to life abroad, viewers clearly see how much Belly has lost herself. But as she begins to find herself, Conrad and Jeremiah are forced to confront the love they have, both past and present, for their childhood friend. Jeremiah’s growth, in particular, is remarkable: He finds new passions and a budding romance, all without financial support from his father. The brothers reunite at their mother’s grave and repair their relationship after years of tension and unresolved angst. Luckily for the show’s fans, Jeremiah ends the season as more than just a narcissistic boy in a college fraternity. And, even more luckily for the show’s fans, Conrad finally gets the girl.
While the iconic trio finds their way, Belly’s best friend, Taylor Jewel (Rain Spencer), finally gets her happy ending with Belly’s brother, Steven Conklin (Sean Kaufman), after their painfully long onagain, off-again relationship. Hopefully viewers will get to see more of the couple in the movie epilogue/adaptation of the series that was announced on Wednesday.
Although Conrad and Belly’s reunion in the series finale is painfully cheesy, com-
plete with lines like “I’ve changed everything about myself and the one thing that never changes is that I love you,” it’s good to see Belly finally thinking through her choices before making them. Her newfound common sense and chic Parisian haircut really highlight her character development, and it’s clear that by the season finale, Belly has come a long way from her days of broken French.
While Belly’s Paris adventures are a bright spot of the series, the number of plot holes grows with each new episode. How is she still in France for over a year without a visa? How can she afford a nice one-bedroom apartment in Paris as a college student taking online classes and working two under-the-counter, part-time jobs?
But the only thing larger than the number of plotholes was the season’s budget. From on-site filming in Paris to a seemingly infinite amount of Taylor Swift songs in the show’s soundtrack, it’s clear that Amazon spared no expense. Nonetheless, the music in the show is reliably well-timed — especially in the fifth episode, which was directed by Jenny Han and is told from Conrad’s point of view.
Thankfully, fans can rejoice knowing that almost all of the loose ends have been tied up, and after a three-season run, the finale did the characters justice. Loved by all ages, from elders to teenagers, Jenny Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is a cultural phenomenon that can speak to anyone — no matter if they’re Team Jeremiah, Conrad or Belly.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 17, 2025.
COURTEY OF A24
“Materialists,” which arrives on the heels of Celine Song’s critically acclaimed debut “Past Lives,” struggles to match the same depth.
COURTESY OF AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
After three seasons of Team Jeremiah, Conrad or Belly debates, the finale has granted all characters justice.
EXHIBIT
Exhibit highlighting sound in Indigenous communities opens at Cohen Gallery
“the sun has its own drum” presents the work of four Indigenous artists
BY SUMMER SHI & SUHANI GARG SENIOR STAFF WRITER & CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Sept. 11, the Cohen Gallery at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts filled with conversation, light and rhythm as “the sun has its own drum” held its opening reception. Running from Aug. 19 to Dec. 14, the exhibition displays artworks by four Indigenous artists whose work explores sound as a medium of kinship, storytelling and resistance.
“the sun has its own drum” derives its name from Warm Springs, Yakama and Navajo Nation poet laureate Elizabeth Woody’s idea of “sonic geographies.” The exhibition positions sound not only as vibration but as relation between human and spiritual beings, and between ancestral traditions and contemporary practices, according to a speech delivered by curator and public humanities master’s student Christina Young GS at the opening.
Elizabeth James-Perry, whose work is on display, is Aquinnah Wampanoag, a
REVIEW
The exhibition positions sound not only as vibration but as a relation between human and spiritual beings.
federally recognized Native American tribe in Massachusetts.
James-Perry said that the curators reached out to her after seeing her “Echolocation” woven wampum piece, which resonated with the theme of sound. The work translated the repeated signals of a sperm whale calling during dives into woven wampum, a reflection of her background in Indigenous art and marine science.
“As Wampanoag people, we have a relationship with whales that goes back to ancient times,” she said.
James-Perry also revisited a theme from one of her earlier works, creating
seven large wampum earrings as a tribute to Squant, a giant female being in Aquinnah Wampanoag heritage. Each oversized earring depicts a species tied to the ocean and is adorned with spun plant-dyed fiber and beads. “Each is around eight to 10 inches long — bigger than a typical wampum earring — but small enough to draw the viewer in,” she added.
Duane Slick, a Meskwaki painter and a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, described his displayed works as “dream paintings” that lean toward the spiritual rather than the physical.
“I am constructing the space and
orchestrating the geometry to a type of rhythm,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. The stripes in his nocturnal abstractions recall blanket patterns, both as landscape geometries and ceremonial objects, Slick added.
“Night is the absence of light, which can heighten our senses,” he wrote. “I liken some of it to the experience of listening to traditional singing and drum playing.” Slick frames his paintings as distillations rather than direct ceremonies, given his “separation from daily tribal life.”
“It is a form of cultural preservation, in that it is informed by culture and the environmental conditions from which the culture exists,” Slick added.
Robert Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag artist, painted three old wooden doors with a scene featuring a village with colorful houses, music, birds and people.
“The three doors really show how the natural world and the automated world come together,” Peters said. “We have natural environments, city environments … and (the piece is) about how they intersect.”
Erin Genia, another artist in the gallery, is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe and a multidisciplinary artist. She contributed a video project about fire to the gallery, which runs just over an hour.
Throughout the opening ceremony,
visitors reflected on the significance of seeing these works displayed in a collegiate setting. Ruth Torres, a staff member with Brown’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative who is also a member of the Schaghticoke tribe, said she was especially moved by James-Perry’s wampum jewelry.
“I really like the traditional materials and techniques that not all wampum artists use nowadays,” Torres said, explaining that while “it’s more commercially efficient to do it in a more modern way,” James-Perry’s use of natural dyes and elements stood out.
Javin Felipe ’26, co-coordinator of Natives@Brown, said he felt a personal connection to the exhibition. “I think it’s really beautiful that this exhibit is happening and incorporating so many Indigenous artists throughout the region,” he said. Felipe said that since Indigenous art is often sidelined in contemporary galleries or treated as anthropological rather than artistic, it was impactful to see this work represented at the exhibition.
“I think it’s truly powerful to see Indigenous artworks like this come to fruition at an institution like Brown,” Felipe said.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 16, 2025.
Pop stardom reaches a fever pitch in Addison Rae’s debut album ‘Addison’
Former TikTok
star creates addictive body of work
BY ALYSSIA OUHOCINE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
It’s fair to say that no one saw it coming: Among the revolving door of influencers in the Hype House, Addison Rae wasn’t necessarily a shoo-in for pop stardom. In 2019, she had no persona or shrewd management team. A few years ago, Googling her name would reveal only bizarre paparazzi videos and cringe-inducing performances on latenight television. But the Louisiana native has proved herself far removed from her content creator days.
Released on June 6, the 33-minute album is a celebration of pop music that fuses the referential with the authentic.
“Addison” peers into pop formulas, and with a wink to both predecessors and fans, turns the overdone into the deeply sincere. At its core, Rae tells a story of the moment, providing meta commentary on both the culture and the disorienting nature of stardom.
The album opens with “New York,” immediately introducing listeners to the record’s masterful production. Despite being molded for commercial success, the album’s writing and production credits are limited to only three creatives: Rae herself, Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser, who Rolling Stone describes as uber-successful Swedish songwriter Max Martin’s “protégées.”
While “New York” relies heavily on the city’s cliches — Rae references the “big apple” and “The Bowery Hotel” — it represents the novelty of her exit from Los Angeles. The dance-pop track pulses with an anticipation that develops over the course of the album for this new chapter of her life.
“Diet Pepsi,” the album’s second track, was the record’s first single. Released in
August 2024, the song quickly went viral and achieved critical acclaim as Rae’s debut release with Columbia Records. Rae’s honeyed vocals inaugurate the start of her new musical era on this sensual, world-building track.
There’s a tonal shift on the next song, “Money is Everything.” It opens with a spoken introduction by Rae, who posits “But money’s not coming with me to Heaven / And I have a lot of it / So can’t a girl just have fun?” The move is reminiscent of Britney Spears’ iconic spoken interludes, and the references don’t stop there. Over an infectious dance track, Rae sings “And when I’m up dancing, please DJ, play Madonna / Wanna roll one with Lana, get high with Gaga / And the girl I used to be is still the girl inside of me.” Unafraid to acknowledge her emulation of pop icons, “Addison” derives its power from openly celebrating the vitality of pop music and its role in popular culture.
Addison comes into her own on “Aquamarine,” a Eurodance-esque track that immerses listeners in an ocean-inspired soundscape. The album’s second single features hypnotic vocals by Rae as she celebrates ascending into higher self. The song’s messaging is bold — Rae sings “The world is my oyster / And I’m the only girl / I’m dancing in my own reflection / I’m the ray of light.” To achieve her dreams of celebrity, Rae understands she must first recognize her own greatness.
“Lost & Found” is the album’s first interlude. The lines “I lost myself and found myself again” repeat to underpin the central theme of the record: Rebirth is essential to Rae’s new glamorous persona. Later on, the interlude “Life’s No Fun Through Clear Waters” reinforces the larger messaging of the album. Rae is highly attuned to the critiques and controversies surrounding her career, turning her party girl image into an act of defiance for those who deride her artistic vision.
“Addison” is chock-full of responses to disbelievers, with “Fame is a Gun” being
her greatest challenge yet. The song opens with the sarcastic “Tell me who I am / Do I provoke you with my tone of innocence?” Mesmerizing vocal modulations appear across the record and become a defining characteristic of Rae’s sound. She is unashamed in her pursuit of fame, going so far as to proclaim “God gave me the permission.” In some ways, you can’t help but believe her: The girl-next-door personality has been stripped away to reveal a cutthroat icon with an acute mastery of synths. The excitement of new love is the subject of the R&B inspired track “Summer Forever.” Rae creates a dreamscape, the stripped down pre-chorus soaring to a satisfying climax. This track shifts focus from “High Fashion” where she acknowledges “I don’t want cheap love / I’d rather get high fashion.” The electric elements of the song underscore its grittiness in both sound and subject. The song poses an interesting question for listeners doubting Rae’s impact on the music world. What other industry ingénue finds themselves able
to sing, “You know I’m not an easy fuck / But when it comes to shoes I’ll be a slut,” and more importantly, make it cool? The song has expanded its influence beyond music circles, scoring a Lucky Brand denim campaign featuring Rae.
“In The Rain” is a more introspective track, though the lack of emotional punch makes it one of the album’s weaker songs. The concept of crying in the rain to mask one’s tears is both unimaginative and incapable of supporting the weight of an already overplayed theme in pop music, where a star’s glamorous life masks their inner turmoil.
Vulnerability is reclaimed almost immediately on the album’s shining point, “Times Like These.” The song’s 2000s-inspired production provides a desolate setting for Rae’s contemplative musings. She sings of the uncertainty of her life in this transitional period, ruminating on her body and mental state, with impassioned lyrics like “Do I eat what I want tonight / Or will it make me feel less tight?” and
“Am I too young to be this mad? / Am I too old to blame my dad?” The track is the peak of Rae’s lyricism and is bolstered by superior production, allowing the heart of the record to shine — “Head out the window, my song on the radio / Head out the window, let’s see how far I’ll go.”
The album comes to a fitting conclusion with “Headphones On,” an exploration of Rae’s attitude for the journey ahead. Through a series of layered vocals, Rae articulates “Guess I gotta accept the pain / Need a cigarette to make me feel better / Every good thing comes my way” before deciding to “put (her) headphones on.” The track takes on an opiate nature, a soothing ending to an album that oscillates manically between the highs and lows of fame.
“Addison” is a stellar debut and a manifestation of a unique cultural moment. Listeners are privy to the journey of a rising popstar willing to take her audience anywhere, but only if they keep their headphones on.
SOPHIA LENG / HERALD
COURTESY OF ETHAN JAMES GREEN VIA SONY MUSIC CANADA
“Addison” peers into pop formulas, and with a wink to both her predecessors and fans, turns the overdone into a project that is deeply sincere.
RUGBY
Facing a rocky 0-3 start, women’s rugby hopes to replicate last year’s successes
Reigning national 7s champions have lost their first three games
BY LYDELL DYER SPORTS EDITOR
For years, the women’s rugby team (0-3) has been one of Brown Athletics’s brightest stars. Last year’s roster became the first rugby team ever to win the Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s Women’s Premier Cup three years in a row. But only three games into the season, the Bears’ magical run seems to have come to an end.
After dropping their home opener 45-21 to Sacred Heart (2-1-1) in late August, the Bears fell 33-14 to Quinnipiac University (2-1) a week ago and lost 47-8 against Harvard (3-0) on Saturday. Still in the infancy of their season, Brown is already facing a massive 0-3 handicap as the Bears try to fight their way back into the NIRA playoffs — a goal that injuries and roster losses aren’t helping, according to Head Coach Rosalind Chou.
“The seniors that graduated were an exceptional class, and were our top-three try scorers last year,” Chou wrote in an email to The Herald. Among the star-studded senior class were Akilah Cathey ’25 and Nikki Lynch ’25, both of whom earned first-team All-NIRA honors for their 2024 seasons. In March, the two players were nominated for the 2024 MA Sorensen award, which is given annually to the top women’s collegiate rugby player in the United States.
A total of nine players — “two of which were the next in line to replace two of the graduated seniors,” Chou wrote — have also been sidelined throughout the early
FACILITIES
stretch of the season due to injuries. As a result, the team hasn’t had a full roster, requiring the coaching staff to ask the team’s “healthy athletes to play a full 80 minutes,” she added.
Now, the team is looking to three of last year’s star players to steer this season back in the right direction.
After scoring two pivotal tries in last year’s CRC Championship final against Army West Point, Laryssa Barbosa ’26 was selected to be part of the National Collegiate Rugby’s women’s team in the Algarve 7s tournament in Portugal. Yona Allouche ’28, who was recognized as rookie of the year during the team’s annual banquet, is looking to follow up with a dominant sophomore season. And Kate Muldoon ’26, who earned an honorable mention for a prominent NIRA award last fall, is looking to finish her collegiate career strong.
With the change in personnel and pervasive injuries, the team has had to play a “different style of rugby,” according to Chou. “We are using new tactics on attack, so we are still learning these new systems.”
“Preseason has been especially exciting as we transition from a slower, forwards-focused game to a faster-paced, kicking and territorial approach,” Allouche wrote in an email to The Herald. “The new system encourages everyone to be an option, to take initiative and to be flexible.”
Brown sought to put this new system into action during their home opener against Sacred Heart on Aug. 30. But within the first 12 minutes, the Pioneers dashed the Bears’ hopes, trouncing the Bruno defense and scoring twice.
Jenna Lowry ’27 tried to revive Brown’s offense, scoring the first Bear try of the season in the 18th minute. But by then, the prevailing rhythm of the day had already crystallized: For every point Brown scored, Sacred Heart scored two.
“We saw some strong moments from a number of our student-athletes today against an impressive Sacred Heart team,” Chou told Brown Athletics after the 45-21 loss. “We have installed a lot of new systems and have asked a lot of this team in preseason. … We have a lot of great data,
so we can improve (in) some areas next weekend.”
Unfortunately for Brown, the following weekend’s match against Quinnipiac brought few improvements. Falling behind by 12 points within the first seven minutes of the game, the Bears played from their back foot for the remainder of the contest.
“We are having lapses in the first half that have put us in a hole,” Chou wrote in an email to The Herald. “Much of it is game management choices and communication.”
Despite a standout performance by Barbosa, who recorded two tries on the day, Brown fell 33-14 to Quinnipiac.
Saturday’s match-up against Harvard was a perfect opportunity to bounce back with a storied Ivy League rivalry. And as the opening whistle blew, Brown seemed to finally flip the page.
After a foul was called on Harvard’s Amber van Meines for a high tackle, the Bears were handed a golden opportunity: a penalty kick within the 22-meter line. Julia Murray ’26 — who racked up 58 points in conversions and penalty kicks last fall — took the shot, and only four minutes into the game, for the first time all season, the Bears had a lead.
But after the 3-0 start, things quickly devolved. The Bears’ defense played with grit and an almost reckless willingness to pursue contact, but in the face of Harvard’s blazing speed and strategic passing schemes, Brown’s defensive holes were laid bare.
The Crimson scored their first try eight minutes into the contest. Only five minutes later, they scored again. And then again, and again, and again, until the referee blew her whistle for halftime, and Brown found themselves in a deep 33-3 hole.
“With key forwards graduating last year, we faced a tough challenge against Harvard’s scrum,” Allouche wrote. “Additionally, we spent a good amount of time in contact, with several players trying to disrupt the opponent’s possession. At times, this commitment around the breakdown left us slightly short in the defensive line for the following phase.”
Coming out of the break, the Bears showed a spark of promise. The offense came out with an aggressive drive to reach the tryline, and within the first 15 minutes of the half, Caitlin Moroney ’28 plowed through a line of defenders and lunged across the endline. But just as soon as the offensive spurt arose, it vanished again, and Brown failed to put up another point for the remainder of the game. When the final whistle blew, the Bears were down 47-8.
“I’m hoping in the next few weeks we can get more of our athletes back and healthy,” Chou concluded. “The team has played with so much heart and tenacity, (so) we hope that we can really start to see some results in the games.”
Brown will next compete on Saturday, Sept. 27 at noon against Army West Point in New York.
“While these last few games haven’t gone the way we hoped, I am really proud of the progress we’ve made and continue to make in adapting to this system,” Allouche concluded. “No game has gone to waste, and we’ll keep analyzing our decision-making, pace (and) chemistry and continue to come up with new ideas and strategies moving forward.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 15, 2025.
Indoor turf facility on track to open for spring semester
Facility will contain two strength and conditioning rooms
BY EMILY FEIL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Construction of a new 76,000-square-foot indoor turf facility is currently on track to be completed in January 2026 for use in the spring semester by students on varsity, club and intramural sports teams.
The University announced plans for the fully donor-funded facility in June 2023, and construction began in May of last year.
The building will contain two strength and conditioning rooms for both varsity and recreational use, as well as “roll-up divider curtains that allow the space to be divided into several different configurations,” the facility’s project manager, Paul Griffin, wrote in an email to The Herald.
According to Vice President of Athletics and Recreation Grace Calhoun ’92, the facility has been a priority of the athletics department since her arrival at Brown in 2021. Early modeling “suggests up to 1,500 students may benefit from the multi-purpose space on a daily basis,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.
The facility will enable teams to hold year-round practices “regardless of weather or daylight issues” and will expand the space available for club teams and intramural leagues, Calhoun wrote.
“We would find ourselves booking indoor time at a turf facility in Seekonk, which is about 15 to 20 minutes away,” said Jon Torpey, the head coach of the varsity men’s lacrosse team. “Having a facility that is walking distance from our locker room is a game changer.”
Torpey said he also thinks the facility will “even out the playing field” against schools that can begin practicing earlier in the spring season due to warmer temperatures.
Soccer player Rylee Keeley ’28 said that she is excited to “have somewhere that we can train inside and not absolutely freeze.”
She added that the shared space could be an opportunity for athletes to interact and “catch up with some of our other athlete friends,” helping maintain a “close-knit community feeling” among players.
Alexandra Madrid ’28, a field hockey player, said the indoor turf field may allow teams to spread out across athletics facilities, granting more flexibility to ac-
commodate students’ schedules.
Athlete recruitment could also be positively influenced by the facility, Madrid said, since recruits wouldn’t have to see athletes practicing in freezing temperatures.
Amid threats to Brown’s federal funding, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 warned in March that a possible response to further reductions in revenue and funding included withdrawing from investments in the William A. and Ami
Kuan Danoff Life Sciences Laboratories.
Since the indoor turf facility is entirely funded through donations, the University did not label it at risk of paused construction due to federal actions, University Spokesperson Brian Clark explained in an email to The Herald.
On Thursday, the University also announced donor-funded renovations to the Prince Lab, supported by a $16.75 million donation from the Lassonde Family Foundation.
COURTESY OF AMELIA BASHY VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
The Bears’ matchup against Sacred Heart in August. Brown is already facing a massive 0-3 handicap as they try to fight their way back into the NIRA playoffs.
MAX ROBINSON / HERALD
The Indoor Turf Facility construction on Thursday. The University announced plans for the facility in June 2023, and construction began in May of last year.
STUDENT ATHLETES
Recruited athletes less likely to submit video introduction, Herald poll shows
Recruited athletes comprise about 6% of the first-year class
BY TEDDY FISHER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Recruited athletes were less likely to submit video introductions as part of their applications and more likely to select economics as their intended concentration than other students, data from The Herald’s First-Year Poll shows.
Recruited athletes are required to complete Brown’s standard application process to be admitted. But many are given exclusive benefits, including official campus visits and formal support during the application process, The Herald previously reported.
Rahul Ramakrishnan ’29, a recruit to the men’s crew team, said the admissions office conducted a pre-read of his application, providing him with insight into his potential admission outcome. Ramakrishnan tentatively committed to Brown in September 2024, before being officially accepted to the University in December.
The Herald’s polling found subtle differences between the applications
for athletes and non-athletes.
While 84% of students not recruited for athletics submitted a short personal video as a part of their application to the University, only 67% of recruited athletes did.
The video introduction, which provides admission officers greater insight into a student’s personality, is a unique — and relatively recent — addition to the Brown application process. Video introductions were offered as an optional component of the University’s application starting in 2018.
Ramakrishnan, who submitted a video introduction, wrote in a message to The Herald that his coach “was clear that all rowers must submit a video so that admissions can gain a better understanding of them as people.”
Ramakrishnan wrote that recruited athletes may be less likely to submit video introductions because as applicants, they “know that it is extremely likely that they will be accepted” — regardless of whether they submit a video.
“The principles that govern the admission of prospective student-athletes to Brown are the same as for all other applicants — we admit candidates on the basis of academic achievements as well as personal strengths and accomplish -
SOCCER
ments,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.
“In addition to competing at the highest level, our student-athletes achieve academic excellence in classrooms and laboratories across campus” Clark added. He also emphasized that Brown regularly ranks highly in NCAA academic achievement honors, recognizing the academic accomplishments of student athletes.
Beyond the admissions process, The Herald’s poll also found differences in athletes’ political affiliations and intended fields of study compared to their peers.
While 1.8% of students who were not recruited for athletics expressed approval of the Trump administration, 11% of recruited athletes did. At the same time, the poll found that 14.3% of recruited
athletes do not have a political ideology, compared to just 6.9% of students who were not recruited as athletes.
When it came to academics, 18.4% of recruited athletes indicated that they were unsure about their intended field of study at Brown, compared to 6.2% of other students, poll data shows.
Of the recruited athletes who have an intended concentration in mind, though, economics is a clear favorite with 16% of recruited athletes saying they plan to concentrate in the department, versus 6.6% of students overall. Nearly a quarter of recruited athletes plan to pursue a career in finance compared to just 10.8% of the total class.
Miya Wu ’29, a recruited athlete who plans to concentrate in economics, offered a possible explanation.
From Wu’s perspective, economics
“is the equivalent of the ‘language’ of all trades,” given its broad applicability in the post-graduate environment. Studying economics can also help athletes monetize existing skills, she added.
Given her “rigorous training and competition schedule” for her sport, Wu landed on the concentration in part because of its “relatively light workload.”
Along with many of his teammates, Ramakrishnan told The Herald that he also plans to concentrate in economics, but many of his teammates also have a second concentration in another discipline.
During the recruiting process, some athletes may also seek to work with an admissions advisor.
For Chris Lanser, an admissions counselor from IvyWise, counseling recruited athletes “adds another layer” of work, as he advises these students on various “ways to raise their athletic profile.”
Judy Rasetti, also an admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote that her work with athletes is largely “the same as with any other student.” Although a recruited athlete may work with a specialized athletic recruiting counselor, her role involves “helping the student balance their athletic goals with academic fit, campus culture and long-term aspirations,” she wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 15, 2025.
Women’s soccer ties Hofstra, rolls past Central Connecticut State
The team tied 1-1 against Hofstra before smashing CCSU 4-0
BY MILES MONROE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Beneath the lights of Stevenson-Pincince Field, the women’s soccer team (5-1-2, 0-0 Ivy) tied Hofstra University (3-1-4, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) 1-1 on Thursday. The Bears followed the performance with a resounding 4-0 win at Central Connecticut State University (0-4-1, 0-0 Northeast) on Sunday.
Coming off the heels of an impressive draw against No. 18 Wake Forest and a strong win against Northeastern University earlier this month, the Bears headed into this week’s matchups with momentum. From the moment the team walked onto the field against Hofstra, intensity ran high.
Despite a relentless Bruno pursuit, Hofstra seemed to have the upper hand during the opening stretch of the game. The Pride almost scored in the 14th minute after a diving save by star Bruno netminder Bella Schopp ’26 deflected the ball in front of the goal, sending it straight to the feet of a Hofstra attacker. Despite a clear shot, the Bears watched the ball bounce off the post with a sigh of relief.
As the first half progressed, Brown took to the offense, tallying a total of five shots, none of which found the back of the net.
Following a series of unlucky attacks, and buoyed by two excellent Schopp saves, both teams entered halftime scoreless.
“We started too slow, which led to so
many unforced errors, and we just couldn’t get control of the game like we would have liked in the first half,” star midfielder Joy Okonye ’27 wrote in an email to The Herald.
The second half picked up right where the first ended, with the same level of physicality and energy from both teams. When the final whistle blew, Brown had 12 fouls to Hofstra’s 11.
Nevertheless, both teams traded chances back and forth, hoping to tally a score before it was too late. In the 72nd minute, it was Hofstra that found glory when a failed defensive clearance by Brown resulted in a wide-open net for the opposition.
Just like that, Brown found itself trying to claw back as time continued to slip away. Hofstra hunkered down defensively, fearing the fleeting 19 minutes might still be too much time for an insurgence.
And they were correct. Just four minutes before the end of regulation, Brooke Birtwistle ’28 launched a heaven-sent ball
into the box off of a free kick awarded to Brown. The ball found the head of two-time All-Ivy Honorable Mention defender Naya Cardoza ’26 for a beautiful header that the Hofstra goalkeeper could only admire as it sailed into the net.
“The second half was settling better, and we were more aggressive going forward and holding possession, especially after we conceded the goal,” Okonye said. “The game could’ve easily gotten away from us, but I am happy we were able to keep pushing and finally got the tying goal.”
The final minutes played out without change, and the match ended with a score of 1-1.
“The team showed a lot of fight there in the end to go down a goal and be able to come back in the last five minutes of the game,” Head Coach Kia McNeill said to Brown Athletics. “Our team hasn’t really faced a lot of adversity until today, and I think we showed fight and resilience, and
we’re going to need that going forward.”
The team had minimal time to ponder on the draw, as another heavy-hitting matchup arrived just three days later when the Bears traveled to play CCSU on Sunday afternoon.
The only way to describe the matchup is pure domination from start to finish.
Brown’s attack was relentless — for 90 minutes straight, the Blue Devils were grasping at straws, unable to withstand Bruno’s onslaught or launch any type of attack of their own.
Brown’s scoring spree started in the 37th minute when Birtwistle connected with Cardoza for a header that looked eerily similar to the team’s goal against Hofstra.
With a lead established, the Bruno train of attack kept rolling. Just a few minutes later, defender Hasti Gholami ’27 netted her first career goal after tapping one in following a corner kick.
With time winding down in the first half, the night of firsts continued when Corine Gregory ’27 tallied her first career goal in the 45th minute. Gregory received the ball in the box with her back turned toward the goal. She opened across the face of the goal to her left and cut the ball back into the bottom right corner of the net in a feat of athleticism.
The second half opened with a Cardoza header off of a perfectly lifted corner kick from Okonye. The goal marked Cardoza’s fourth of the year — which ties for the most goals in the Ivy League — and provided Okonye’s fourth assist, which leads the Ivy League.
For the rest of the game, Brown trounced the opposition, outshooting CCSU 21–6 and not allowing one shot on goal from the opposition. Schopp kept a clean slate as the Bears cruised to a 4–0 victory.
“Even with the result, I still think we have room to grow and can be more clinical in the final third during the run of play,” McNeill said. “That’s a scary thought after scoring four goals, but we have to continue to push towards our true potential to be in top form for Ivy play.”
The Bears’ final out-of-conference matchup before Ivy League play is slated for Wednesday at Providence College.
“It is a different feeling going into Ivies, so we want to start right,” Okonye said. “We just have to take game by game and keep reminding ourselves what Brown women’s soccer DNA is and feed off of that.”
KAITLYN STANTON / HERALD
COURTESY OF JAMIE FIEDOREK VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
Players celebrate Naya Cardoza ’26’s game-tying goal against Hofstra. The match finished as a draw, 1-1.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
A day in the life of the Blue Room’s supervisor, Antonia Monteiro
Monteiro reflects on 25 years in Brown Dining, managing the Blue Room
BY MAYA NELSON UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
Antonia Monteiro, the Blue Room’s supervisor, has just been sent to voicemail after calling Andrews Commons for help. She tries the Sharpe Refectory next.
Since all seven of Brown’s dining halls share materials and ingredients, this sort of call is not unusual. “I make sure we have everything we need,” said Monteiro, who spends most mornings taking inventory of supplies and making orders on her computer.
The Blue Room is one of five retail dining locations at Brown, meaning that almost everything — from the chicken salad to the pastries to even sliced deli meat — is prepared off-site. The muffins, though, are delivered frozen but baked fresh every morning.
This year will be Monteiro’s 25th with Dining Services. On her office wall hangs a service award thanking her for 20 years of hard work. “At 25, they get you a rocking chair,” she joked.
Monteiro started out as a food service worker at the Ratty and has jumped around from the Ivy Room to the Engineering Research Center Cafe and finally to the Blue Room, where she joined as a lead. Five years ago, she was promoted to supervisor, and the memory stands out to her as one of the most meaningful during her time at Brown.
Since then, she has begun every morning the same way, rising just before 6 a.m. and taking the bus to work. “I do the assignment sheet for the day, (figure out) what everybody’s stations are going to be, (and) I bring it upstairs,” she explained. “And then I get my coffee.”
Monteiro takes it with cream and sugar. Her Blue Room sandwich order is just as “boring,” she said, and her coworkers make fun of her for it. It’s just “a piece of
ham and a piece of cheese.”
Managing over 10 staff members, Monteiro is constantly moving between her downstairs office and the counter upstairs. When things get busy and students are queuing out the door, she’ll hop behind the counter with her staff and start spreading bagels or wrapping sandwiches.
“Every day is a different challenge,”
she said. With so many moving parts, there’s never a dull moment at the Blue Room. “It’s ‘Antonia, we don’t have this, Antonia, we’re out of this,’” she said. “I call the Ratty: ‘Do you have mozzarella cheese? I forgot to order mozzarella cheese.’”
Today, though, it’s provolone. Since everything at the Blue Room comes in fresh each morning, it can be difficult to get the exact order numbers right.
With pastries coming from Seven Stars Bakery, muffins from Sysco and bread — ordered 72 hours in advance — from Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowder House, Monteiro spends a lot of her day focused on stock.
Up until now, the morning has been relatively calm. It’s a Tuesday, so there’s no 10 a.m. rush at the bagel bar. “But then (at 10:30 a.m.), the bagel bar turns into the salad bar,” Monteiro said. “That’s when the chaos starts.”
deli station is preparing sandwiches for express deliveries. Faculty and staff often pre-order from the Blue Room to cater meetings, Monteiro explained. On the other side of the line, Monteiro is informing students that the sandwiches won’t be available until 11 a.m., and she high-fives a faculty member leaving with his coffee.
“I like the interaction,” Monteiro said. “I like the customer service part” of the job.
Monteiro is from Cape Verde and came to the U.S. when she was 16. She went to Hope High School, only a few blocks north of Brown. After her older brother started working for the University’s Department of Facilities Management, she decided to follow in his footsteps.
“Brown is a great place to work,” she said. “You come across all different people from all over the world. That is my favorite part, to get to know other people.”
But since Monteiro became a supervisor, the atmosphere has changed, she said. Since the line workers are unionized and management is not, it sometimes feels like there is a divide between the two, according to Monteiro.
“I wish there wasn’t, but there is,” she said. “We all work together, and to me,
Blue Room, it was entirely staffed by students. “I had such a great relationship with the kids,” she said, noting that there used to be a lot more interaction between students and Dining Services staff. Now, she doesn’t get to mingle with students as much as she used to — something she misses.
In general, Monteiro said Brown students are polite and follow the rules, aside from ordering wraps with every ingredient offered or occasionally forgetting to swipe. “At busy times we have to close the door,” she said, but rarely does it get more serious than that. atively calm.
Before and after the lunch rush, Monteiro will catch up on administrative work — finalizing orders, collecting invoices and dealing with repairs. She packs a lunch from home, though for breakfast she’ll always grab something quick from the bagel bar.
By 3 p.m., the chaos winds down. After cleaning up, Monteiro catches the bus back home, where her dog and daughter greet her. Every day, she takes the dog for a walk, then takes herself on a second walk since her dog is too old to go very far. She makes dinner and unwinds by watching YouTube streamers on her phone — Kai Cenat is her favorite.
While the bagel bar transforms, the
Monday through Friday, she’ll do it all over again.
This Tuesday is less busy than usual. By 10:42 a.m., the provolone cheese has arrived, and the breakfast latecomers are being redirected. “No more salmon — we’re closed!” yells one Blue Room staffer. Monteiro heads back downstairs to her office, located behind the Campus Market, and hopes to make a dent in her busy inbox.
Instead, her lead food service worker is waiting for her. “We only have two broccoli cheddar left,” her lead announces.
The Blue Room is out of soup.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 17, 2025.
TWTP provides first-year students with space for discussion, community
Pre-orientation program helps students adjust to Brown
BY ZARINA HAMILTON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
While most incoming first-year students were still packing their bags, some of their peers had already arrived on College Hill for the Third World Transition Program.
The five-day program, organized by the Brown Center for Students of Color, hosted a wide range of events including workshops, discussion groups and social activities over the week preceding the fullclass orientation.
Founded in 1969, one year after Black students at Brown and Pembroke College led a walkout to demand an increased number of Black students be admitted to campus, the program aims to unpack oppression faced by minorities in the United States and build community among incoming students, according to the program’s website.
The program theme for this year, “Voices that Echo,” was designed to remind students that despite living in “a moment of
fear,” students can look back on similar moments in the past to “think of a better tomorrow,” TWTP Co-Coordinator Marco Lima ’27 explained. Now, weeks into classes, The Herald spoke with several first-year students who participated in the TWTP about the program’s impact on their time at Brown so far.
Julia Cuy ’29 said attending the TWTP gave her a “sense of grounding in seeing other people of color also being incredibly
successful.”
TWTP students have the opportunity to attend a wide range of workshops that tackle issues including classism, racism, cisheterosexism, religious discrimination and more according to the TWTP website.
“It’s very healing,” Lima said. “It’s all the things you want to talk about but never have the space to, and you get to do it here.”
One impactful workshop for Nadia Patel ’29 was a lecture centered on ableism.
“Someone that may present as a healthy
individual actually may be dealing with their own struggles on the inside,” she said.
For Selina Kao ’29, a Rhode Island native, the workshops were “eye opening to see how a lot of these issues do play out within my community,” she said. “It did open my worldview.”
Students also appreciated the effectiveness of affinity-based discussion groups, called Collective Conversations — another core component of the program. Each group was composed of first-year students, Minority Peer Counselors and students formerly enrolled in the program, who bonded over their shared experiences, Cuy said.
“The Collective Conversations were very healing,” she added.
Patel attended two of these Collective Conversations — a religion and spirituality group and an Asian-American group. She emphasized the value in learning about others’ cultures, while simultaneously finding similarities.
“If I notice that maybe someone isn’t fitting in, I feel more inclined to be able to go up and talk to them,” Patel said.
Kao emphasized the importance of having a space to “share ideas and build community and empowerment” amid threats to affinity groups and diversity initiatives at universities nationwide.
“Everyone there really wanted to see what you had to say, and that was something that I really enjoyed,” Kao said.
This year’s program took on additional significance given that first-year students are no longer required to read the “Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice,” Lima noted. In lieu of the whole-class reading, the program hosted an additional presentation to discuss the report, he said.
“We have our own power in order to make sure that diversity, equity and inclusion is included in these spaces,” Patel added.
The program also featured a variety of community-building events, including a movie night, multiethnic dinner and introductions to student groups and wellness resources on campus.
For many students, the community formed by TWTP was just as impactful as the learning component, and many of them are still close with their TWTP circle.
“Once this swarm of other people comes in, it just gets to be a lot,” Cuy said. “It’s nice to have those other TWTP-ers that you can ground yourself to.”
Antonia Monteiro calls to coordinate the operation of Blue Room. Monteiro started out as a food service worker at the Ratty, and has jumped around from the Ivy Room to the Engineering Research Center Cafe to finally the Blue Room, where she joined as a lead.
COURTESY OF FARHIYO OMAR
The Third World Transition Program hosts a range of workshops that tackle racism, classism, cisheterosexism, religious discrimination, ableism and imperialism.
MAX ROBINSON / HERALD