Friday, September 24th, 2021

Page 1

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE XVIII

UNIVERSITY NEWS

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Afro-Latinx Alliance honors Skunk sightings spark cautious curiosity Hispanic Heritage Month Students plan potlucks, social activities to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month BY KASHIF ANSARI STAFF WRITER In the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, Carlos Tejada ’22 and the Afro-Latinx Alliance have been reflecting on what it means to be an Afro-Latinx student at Brown University and the month’s significance for the community. National Hispanic Heritage Month falls between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15 and celebrates the achievements, contributions and various cultures of Hispanic Americans in the United States. Additionally, there are numerous independence days of Latin American countries during the month. Countries like Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrate it on Sept. 15, Mexico on the 16th and Chile on the 18th. ALA was founded by two Afro-Puerto Rican graduates of the class of 2020 who “noticed on campus that there wasn’t a space for both Black and Latinx students to be in one space,” said

Tejada, who is co-president of the Afro-Latinx Alliance. The club was intended honor and celebrate Latin American students with African descendent roots who do not solely fit into either demographic, according to Tejada. ALA aims to assist Afro-Latinx students by connecting them with resources on campus while also fostering a community of peers, Tejada said. It is a place for students to “to debrief and decompress outside of academics,” he added. As part of their effort to build community, ALA runs events during Hispanic Heritage Month that celebrate the wide range of backgrounds and nationalities present in the club, explained Tejada. Potlucks and celebrations for the different Latin American independence days are among the events planned for Hispanic Heritage Month, he added. ALA also plans to collaborate with other organizations at Brown, such as Latinas at Brown, and plan activities that engage with the local Providence community. One of their current outreach initiatives focuses on getting hispanophones,

SEE HERITAGE PAGE 6

Community members cite increased encounters with striped intruders BY JACK WALKER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR As students settle into the rhythm of the first fully in-person semester in nearly two years, an unlikely population has also joined them in their return to Brown’s campus: Mephitis mephitis, or the striped skunk. Since the start of the semester, skunk sightings have spiked on College Hill, and hastily-taken photographs of encounters have circulated across social media, including pictures

METRO

LOKI OLIN / HERALD

of a skunk who wandered into Sharpe Refectory uninvited which was posted on the Instagram account @brownumemes. While skunk encounters are not new to Brown’s campus — The Herald previously reported on them in 2007, 2011 and 2013 — some students report that the sightings have been far more frequent this semester, with many saying they had never seen one on campus before this fall. When discussing close encounters with Brown’s newest and furriest residents in interviews with The Herald, students expressed curiosity and amusement — along with a certain charmed empathy. This semester, Logan Bauman ’23.5 has been “having encounters with skunks almost daily” but did not

realize “that their prevalence was so widespread that it’s getting media attention,” he noted in an email to The Herald. “Almost every night when I go to my dorm in Diman, I have to put my head down, walk briskly and try to keep from making any possibly menacing sounds or movements,” Bauman explained. “Being a city boy from Los Angeles, the sightings have been thrilling enough to me to become one of the big themes of my semester so far.” Alison Kim ’23 noted that she saw a skunk “three feet away” from her when passing Ruth J. Simmons Quad, “just staring” at her. “It was not scared of me at all,” she said.

SEE SKUNK PAGE 6

UNIVERSITY NEWS

U. prof Friedman runs for state senate Dean Gail Cohee to retire

after 20 years at University

Friedman champions afterschool programs, anti-discrimiation legislation

Students, colleagues reflect on Cohee’s impact, legacy, leadership

BY ASHLEY GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

BY STELLA OLKEN-HUNT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Hilary Levey Friedman, visiting assistant professor of education, is taking her advocacy experience and academic knowledge to a new stage as she runs for State Senate District 3. As a sociologist and a mother, Friedman champions after-school programs, education and equality. Friedman said her approach to policy is rooted in anti-discrimation and pro-equity.“When I think about issues like housing, like education, like public safety and gun violence prevention, I see those as systemic and all interconnected,” she said.“We can try to deal with them separately, but really they’re all linked, so that’s how I approach legislation and think about representing this district.” As the president of the R.I. chapter of the National Organization for Women from 2018 to 2021, Friedman was involved in legislative advocacy on anti-discrimination policies, like the Fair Pay Act, which requires that women and people of color are paid the same amount

as men. This exposure allowed her to form many relationships with individuals in state government, she said. To her, running for state senator was a natural way to impact policy from another angle.

“It became the logical next step for me to think, ‘Okay, I’ve been advocating from this side. How do I think about being a champion

Sports

Metro

Commentary

After a scoreless first half, M. Soccer gave up three goals to PC to lose the game. Page 2

After criticism of appointee to police community relations major, position is redesigned. Page 4

Kharel: The United States should focus its efforts on global vaccine distribution. Page 6

COURTESY OF HILARY LEVEY FRIEDMAN

Friedman has received endorsements from organizations such as AFLCIO and the Service Employees International Union.

SEE FRIEDMAN PAGE 4

After years of leading, teaching, listening and advising, Dean Gail Cohee is set to retire from her position of as director of the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender come December. “When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, Gail was the first person that I went to,” said Lydia DeFusto ’22, librarian at the Sarah Doyle Center. “Just knowing that she was there and rooting for me made everything easier. ... She’s been that person for so many other students in so many different hard times.” “She’s one of those people who really makes you feel like she’s truly not just hearing your words but ... absorbing what you’re saying, and that’s ... kind of rare,” DeFusto added.

“It seemed like the right time,” said Cohee, who is also planning on leaving her dean and teaching positions. “COVID was hard. It was like a year and a half equal to five years, and it feels like it’s time for somebody else to direct the center.” Reflecting on her start: Cohee’s path and beginnings at Sarah Doyle Cohee first came to the University in September 2001. Prior to Brown, she received a PhD in English and a PhD minor in Women’s Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, and she taught British literature in Kansas and upstate New York. “Then I was sort of between things,” Cohee said. “I was tenured at my job in Kansas but had moved to upstate New York for personal reasons. I was on leave from that job, and I started teaching at Siena College, outside Albany, New York.” One day, “a friend of a friend sent me this job ad for Sarah Doyle, so I applied,” Cohee said. At the time, Cohee

SEE COHEE PAGE 2

TODAY

TOMORROW

73 / 63

73 / 59


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Friday, September 24th, 2021 by The Brown Daily Herald - Issuu