Issuu

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 36

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Paxson celebrates 10th anniversary at U.

Bill Clinton discusses world affairs in lecture

University president shares reflections, goals in conversation with The Herald

Former president reflects on modern politics, leadership, creative nonfiction

BY MIZUKI KAI SENIOR STAFF WRITER July will mark a decade of President Christina Paxson P’19’s leadership on campus. Paxson was selected as the University’s 19th president in March 2012 and succeeded Ruth Simmons, who served in the role from 2001 to COURTESY OF CORRIE PIKUL 2012. President Christina Paxson P’19 has undertaken a number of projects, An economist and public health including Building on Distinction, the University’s 2014 strategic plan. expert, Paxson is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia, number of projects, including Building where she earned graduate degrees on Distinction, the University’s 2014 in economics. At the time of her ap- strategic plan which aimed to increase pointment, she served as dean of the student diversity through the Brown Princeton School of Public and Inter- Promise — an initiative eliminating national Affairs, formerly known as loans from financial aid packages — and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public to recruit scholars through increased and International Affairs, and profes- support for faculty. sor of economics and public affairs at Reflecting on her decade of leaderthe school. Since 2012, Paxson has undertaken a SEE PAXSON PAGE 9

BY CANQI LI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke to the campus community Tuesday afternoon in the 2022 Casey Shearer ’00 Memorial Lecture. The conversation was facilitated by Derek Shearer — professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and former U.S. ambassador to Finland — two years after the event’s postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was the largest on campus in more than three years, according to Ruth Goldway, who helped establish the lecture series 20 years ago in honor of her late son Casey. The lecture began with a brief introduction from University Presi-

dent Christina Paxson P’19, opening remarks from Goldway and memorial remarks from Anthony Yannatta and Julie Yannatta, Shearer’s older siblings. The event then featured a conversation between Clinton and Derek Shearer, Casey Shearer’s father who also helped establish the series. The two spoke about current political issues, Clinton’s personal interests and career advice to future generations. During the discussion, Clinton addressed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, stating that he does not know if the West should have done anything differently in the past. He noted that, during his presidential administration, he “spent sleepless nights” weighing the potential benefits of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but was “criticized.” “There was a NATO conference in 1997 in Madrid where … we left open the door for other countries to join if they wanted to,” Clinton said.

SEE CLINTON PAGE 6

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Grade inflation remains high, data shows

What it takes to put on Spring Weekend

During 2020-21 academic year, only 10% of grades were Bs, 1% were Cs BY GRACE HOLLEB & COREY GELB-BICKNELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER & UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR “The fraction of the As is getting pretty high — too high for comfort,” President Christina Paxson P ’19 told The Herald in 2014, pointing to the continuous grade inflation at Brown and at its peer institutions. And since then, the trend has continued to hold strong. For decades, the proportion of A grades has steadily risen. In the past two academic years, which consisted largely of remote learning and saw some courses adjust grading styles, grade distributions rose to significantly higher levels. Grade inflation is not unique to Brown. Students across the country in a wide range of higher-education institutions have transcripts that tend

to have higher grades than their counterparts decades prior. Recent data shows Brown has the highest average GPA in the Ivy League, and with average grades steadily rising, some members of the Brown community are grappling with the purpose of grades and the consequences of grade inflation. Students and faculty alike disagree over whether grades at Brown are intended to assist in learning, measure mastery of class material or act as a metric for employers. The data In the 2020-21 academic year, 67% of grades were As — up from 39% in 1993, according to the Course Factbook on the University’s website and previous reporting from The Herald. In the Life and Medical Sciences disciplines, 74% of all grades were As — the highest percentages of As across all disciplines. The portion of As in the last academic year at the University is up 10 percentage points from just two years earlier in the 2018-19 academic year — the highest percent increase since 1993. In contrast, the percentage of S grades

SEE INFLATION PAGE 5

BCA, SAO, DPS, EMS among those with roles in preparation, planning process BY EMILY FAULHABER SENIOR STAFF WRITER As Spring Weekend approaches, groups across campus have been planning to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Brown Concert Agency began planning this spring’s event practically as soon as 2021’s digital Spring Weekend concluded, Kenney Nguyen ’22.5, co-chair of BCA, said. The Student Activities Office and BCA began working in collaboration at the beginning of the fall semester, said Matt Branch, associate director for student activities. BCA leads planning efforts for the concerts, while SAO works in an advising role to support “the students who are making decisions about (which artists are) coming to campus,” Branch said. SAO also helps to schedule arrival times of the artists, create and implement a safety plan and coordinate with various stakeholders, Branch

ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD

said. Class Coordinating Board, Black Student Union, Sounds@Brown, Underground Thursdays, the Undergraduate Council of Students and the Undergraduate Finance Board are also involved in various parts of planning for the weekend, he added. According to BCA Co-Chair Ellie Barksdale ’23, BCA members begin the process by discussing artists they would like to bring for Spring Weekend. They then send a list of five names to a local agent in Providence, who contacts the artists and negotiates with them until they accept their bids.

Commentary

U. News

Metro

U. News

Editorial: Confusion over election rules shows UCS is broken Page 6

New migration studies certificate to be launched in spring 2023 Page 7

Legislators discuss bill to limit teaching of race, gender, sexuality Page 10

Warren Alpert Medical School celebrates 50th anniversary Page 12

“There is a lot of expectation management” for the students involved in this process, Nguyen said. The individual negotiations for headliners, mids and openers can take a month to a month and a half, according to Barksdale. Decisions about the lineup order and the individual roles of BCA members in the planning process all are made in the fall as well, she added. “The fall is more music focused while the spring is more festival focused,” Barksdale said.

SEE WEEKEND PAGE 11

TODAY TOMORROW

58 / 41

54 / 38

RAPHAEL LI ’24 DESIGN CHIEF

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Two years of COVID-19, as told by University administrators Paxson, Carey discuss challenges, lessons learned over course of pandemic BY MIZUKI KAI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Prospective students packed the Main Green April 13, participating in University-hosted activities during one of the warmest days in Providence this semester. The program — A Day On College Hill — is a typically annual event for admitted students to get a taste of the undergraduate experience before deciding whether or not to attend the University. Yet the class of 2026 is the first cohort since the class of 2023 to gather on campus for the event because of public health restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. ADOCH’s return to campus marks two years of the University operating through the pandemic. The Herald spoke with administrators including President Christina Paxson P’19 and Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 about COVID-19 policy decisions and reflections from the past two years.

Year 1 (2020-2021) ADOCH is canceled On March 6, 2020, the class of 2024 received an email from Dean of Admissions Logan Powell announcing the cancellation of ADOCH and other on-campus admitted student events “due to growing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19.” These were the first in a string of cancellations and closures that the University would announce over the next two years. The Core Crisis Team, headed by Carey, decided on the cancellation, The Herald previously reported. According to Carey, conversations about canceling ADOCH started at the same time as concerns regarding study abroad programs and athletic events. “There was particular concern about travel being a risk and also travel being shut down,” Carey told The Herald.

“The first half of March moved pretty fast, from a focus on students in Europe — in particular Italy, one of the first European countries where we had a lot of students to go into lockdown — to, in two weeks, telling people to pack

utive Vice President for Finance and Administration Barbara Chernow ’79 wrote that they were “committed to using the findings of this testing pilot to refine approaches, as needed, for the coming year.”

up and go home,” Carey said. “It was a pretty rapid and dynamic time period.”

According to Carey, the Healthy Fall 2020 Task Force, chaired by Vice President of Campus Life Eric Estes and Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs Emily Oster, focused on planning for safe residential and academic activity in the fall. “It was pretty clear that testing was going to be a key part of that,” Carey said. “The summer really gave us an opportunity with a smaller population,” he added. “Mainly, the employees and students who never left and a slowly increasing population of faculty, staff and students involved in research.”

Classes move online, students leave campus Six days later, the University announced that all courses would be moved to online instruction following a two-week break due to the increased public health risk caused by COVID-19. “We were hoping that we could get through the semester and exams be remote,” Paxson told The Herald. “And then, it just hit a point when we decided that we had to do this.” The decision followed Rhode Island declaring a state of emergency as well as the decision to move online by the rest of the Ivy League. “Harvard and other universities announced that they were going online, so I started getting emails from students saying, ‘We know you are going to make this decision,’” Paxson said. “There was a lot of concern about losing control, that the spread would happen fast and hospitals would get overwhelmed,” Carey said. With approximately 4,600 students in residence halls, “the risk of overwhelmed hospital systems was a pretty clear indicator that sending people home was the right thing to do,” Carey added.

Three-semester plan announced In a community-wide email sent July 6, 2020, Paxson announced the three-semester model that offered on-campus instruction in the fall, spring and summer of the 2020-21 academic year, with each student taking classes for two semesters. “The decision to do the three-semester model was a hard decision and it put a lot of burden on faculty and staff to cut people’s downtime,” Paxson said. “People were pretty tired because they couldn’t get their summer break.” Students return to campus The University initially announced that students would be returning to campus on Sept. 9, 2020, a decision that

First COVID-19 case at Brown On March 14, 2020, the novel coronavirus reached College Hill. A member of the Brown community tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first case on campus. “When we first started, it was terrifying — we didn’t know who might get really sick,” said Adam Pallant, clinical director of health services. “There was a point where we could do a total of six tests a day, and that was what we were limited to because that’s all the state had. So early on, we had to do a lot of guesswork.” Those who were suspected to have been in contact with the affected indi-

GRAY MARTENS / HERALD

vidual were told to self-quarantine, The Herald previously reported. “If you were exposed to somebody who had COVID for more than 15 minutes in less than six feet, you were thrown into quarantine for 14 days,” Pallant said. “It was hard because it got a lot of people really mad at us as healthcare providers.” Summer Pilot Program In a June 17, 2020 Today@Brown

announcement, the University introduced the summer pilot program as a transition into routine testing for the 2020-21 academic year. According to the announcement, the University worked with Verily, a life sciences and healthcare company, to offer routine testing for essential graduate students, faculty and staff who remained on campus. In the announcement, Provost Richard Locke P’18 and then-Exec-

was reversed Aug. 11. A month later, on Sept. 10, Paxson announced that Brown would be welcoming students back to campus between Sept. 18 and 20 for the first time since the school’s closure in March. The decision came as a result of improvements in Rhode Island’s public health situation, low positivity rates from Brown’s testing program and low demand for quarantine rooms, The Herald previously reported. Paxson said that “the decision to come back in person in 2020 was much harder because we were doing everything for the first time.” “We knew that we couldn’t have students sharing rooms, especially if they were taking a lot of courses remotely and for public health reasons,” Paxson said. “We had to figure out how to get hotel rooms, which we did.”

Year 2 (2021-2022)

GRAY MARTENS / HERALD

Vaccine mandate In an email sent to the Brown community April 6, 2021, Paxson announced a mandate that required all undergraduate, graduate and medical students on campus or participating in in-person instruction to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for the fall 2021 semester. “There was never really any question in my mind that we would require the vaccine,” Paxson said. “The only issue for students was how soon they could get them, so we realized that we had to make the vaccine mandate for the fall semester.” Carey explained that the “underlying rationale” of the mandate was “the effectiveness of the vaccine at preventing severe illness and hospitalization.” “We felt that that outweighed any downside to making it mandatory, and

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

I think our community responded to that really well,” Carey said. “We have very high compliance rates and very little criticism from within the Brown community.” Paxson explained that “the more controversial issue” was a vaccine mandate for employees, as the University had not previously required them to receive other vaccines. “We had a lot of discussions with staff and with faculty, and I think there was very little pushback to the vaccine,” Paxson said. “In fact, the response I got from most people was, ‘this is great, this is going to make me feel safe coming back.’”

booster shot. Carey said that the process of making the decision to mandate the booster was “very similar” to the process of mandating the first two doses. “The Omicron wave in November and December only accelerated” the process, Carey said. “There was very strong emerging evidence that the booster was going to be very helpful in responding to Omicron.” “I have never heard of a University that has booster compliance as high as Brown,” Paxson said. “It’s almost 99%.” The switch to rapid antigen testing In an email to the Brown community on Jan. 12, 2022, Carey and Estes wrote that the University was no longer performing PCR testing for vaccinated individuals and would be providing rapid antigen testing as an alternative. Carey said the decision was “driven by medical advice, guidance and what was happening around us,” citing the transmissibility of the Omicron variant as seen in the outbreak at Cornell at the end of the fall semester. “We were confronted with a variant that was much more transmissible,” Carey said, “and an antigen test is better at showing whether someone’s infectious now.”

Masking and testing made optional In a June 23, 2021 email to the Brown community, Carey announced changes to asymptomatic COVID-19 testing and mask-wearing policies. The email stated that fully-vaccinated community members would no longer be required to get tested routinely or wear masks indoors after the University reached a 90% vaccination rate. “By the middle of the summer, the number of new cases was so low,” Paxson said. “There were days with no cases at all, so we concluded it was safe to lift the mask mandate.” The Brown community reached a 90% COVID-19 vaccination threshold on July 7, 2021, The Herald previously reported. Shortly after, the University reopened indoor dining on July 12, 2021, The Herald previously reported. Masking and testing returns Facing a national rise in COVID-19 cases, Carey sent out a July 27, 2021 email to the Brown community reinstating routine testing for all students. A week later on Aug. 3, Carey and Paxson announced that the University would reinstate the mask mandate. “We were following the data,” Paxson said. “The Delta surge came, and we

GRAY MARTENS / HERALD

had to go back to this.” Returning to campus The first week of September 2021, undergraduate students moved back to College Hill for a fully in-person fall semester. “This year, there was never a question about whether we would have

GRAY MARTENS / HERALD

students back on campus; that was a given,” Paxson said. “The question was: How do we manage it in a way that is responsive to changes in the virus, the science and our understanding of how to cope with a virus?” Indoor dining returns Amid an uptick of cases just three days into the fall 2021 semester, with the most students on campus since the start of the pandemic, the University halted indoor dining Sept. 13, 2021, The Herald previously reported. On Sept. 22, Carey wrote in a community-wide email that the University would reopen indoor dining, marking the start of consistent indoor dining for the entire student body. The decision came as a result of a decline in the number and rate of positive asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and the increased waste of grab-and-go meal boxes, according to the email. “As we had robust contingency plans in place that allowed us to pivot rather quickly as needed, there was not much difference when we moved between in-person and grab-and-

go meal service with the exception of some infrastructure and signage adjustments,” George Barboza, vice president of dining programs, wrote in an email to The Herald. “All decisions regarding what dining halls were open (or) closed throughout the pandemic were based on on-campus population numbers and how we could effectively serve the campus community in a safe and healthy environment while also keeping our staff safe and healthy,” Barboza added. According to Barboza, dining services have “aligned closely with normal operations” in the 2021-22 academic year with few challenges. In contrast, challenges in the first year included “preparing and packaging thousands of meals per week and delivering and distributing them at various locations throughout the campus,” Barboza wrote. Booster mandate In an email to the Brown community on Dec. 14, 2021, Carey wrote that the University would require all students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19

Masking and testing made optional, again On March 10, 2022, Carey announced in an email to the Brown community that testing and masking for vaccinated students would be optional moving forward with noted exceptions. According to the email, the change came as a result of declining positive test results, moderate symptoms of positive cases and a high rate of vaccination on Brown’s campus. Paxson said the decision involved balancing concerns about the Omicron variant and the effectiveness of the vaccine and booster. “As cases have come down with Omicron and we’re seeing no evidence of serious illness, we decided that we could do without the masks,” Paxson said. “We were always weighing risks and benefits.” Reflections Two years after the University was abruptly shut down, Paxson said that the University has “learned a tremendous amount” regarding “how to manage” the pandemic. “I’m proud of this community. I’m proud of the way the faculty came back to teach. I’m proud of my team for putting together all the health protocols and the students for coming back and hanging in there through difficult times,” Paxson said. “At Brown, we live by our values, and I think the values of collaboration and compassion have really shone through throughout this pandemic.”

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. FACEBOOK.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

Artis ’22: The fight for a Green New Deal needs people power In July 2017, I co-founded Zero Hour, a global, youth-led climate justice organization mobilizing for a livable planet while working to dismantle the systems of oppression at the root of the climate crisis: colonialism, capitalism, racism and patriarchy. In the summer before my first semester at Brown, activists launched a movement for youth-led climate justice around the world, which later helped inspire Greta Thunberg to strike outside the Swedish Parliament and found Fridays For Future. While the COVID-19 pandemic upended climate justice activism around the world, even fracturing organizing efforts here on Brown’s campus, our movement grows ever-stronger today. Throughout the turmoil, the Green New Deal — a whole-of-government approach to tackling climate change — became an important issue in the 2020 presidential election and may prove to be a litmus test for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections. Mass mobilization for the Green New Deal gives us our best chance to ensure a habitable, just planet for future generations. The Green New Deal is a Congressional resolution that recognizes that the United States has historically been responsible for a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions and thus resolves that it is the federal government’s responsibility to make a number of emissions reductions measures law. If it were to become a federal program, the Green New Deal would aim to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions on track with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and create millions of high-wage union jobs. Furthermore, it would commit to securing clean air and water, climate and community resilience, healthy food, access to nature and a sustainable environment for future generations. Climate justice recognizes that marginalized groups — for example, Black, brown and Indigenous communities, people with disabilities and low-income people — are more impacted by climate change. Certain marginalized groups face disproportionately high exposure to contaminated air and water, while also being more likely to be harmed by climate disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, monsoons and heat

waves. The Green New Deal acknowledges how identity intersects with climate change, vowing to “promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future and repairing historic oppression of Indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the el-

a way that we never have before. Achieving a just transition to renewable energy will take all of us. It is not enough to be a passive supporter of climate science and climate action. The movement needs you to get involved. Call your representatives, mobilize in the streets, register your peers to vote, sign petitions and learn and talk about climate change and sustainability.

“We as individuals cannot afford to be bystanders in this fight for a livable planet.”

derly, the unhoused, people with disabilities and youth.” In short, the Green New Deal is serious about climate justice. Opponents have called it radical, but there should be nothing radical about eliminating greenhouse gas emissions to ensure a habitable planet for future generations, creating union jobs and combating structural inequities perpetuated by climate change. A number of social and environmental organizations, including Zero Hour, the Sunrise Movement, Black Lives Matter and March for Our Lives, have thus called on members of Congress and congressional candidates to become Green New Deal “champions” by co-sponsoring bills that would encode the Green New Deal into law. For the first time, we have a set of bills that have been introduced in Congress that would tangibly establish the vision of a Green New Deal if passed. For decades, the environmental movement has organized for climate action, and we now have an established group of elected leaders who are committed to climate justice and have the power to negotiate policy in the halls of Congress. But we cannot just entrust this work to elected officials: To secure a habitable planet, we all must engage in politics in

Climate change is here, and its impacts are all around us. Persistent climate change apathy — the idea that many citizens are unwilling to accept the sacrifices that come with addressing climate change — underscores the importance of popular involvement in climate justice activism. In March 2022, I joined the 2041 ClimateForce expedition to Antarctica to join a global team of climate leaders and witness the effects of the climate crisis firsthand. During our voyage along the Antarctic Peninsula in western Antarctica, we received news of the Conger ice shelf collapse and the record heat wave that swept across the eastern side of the continent. But despite evidence of climate change all around the world, Congress continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry using upwards of $20 billion in tax money annually. These subsidies are especially egregious considering the industry’s continued violations of Indigenous sovereignty and the staggering profits that companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron have enjoyed recently. And amid the worldwide spike in gas prices, members of Congress pressed fossil fuel executives to increase production in a congressional hearing about price gouging by Big Oil earlier

CA L E N DA R

this month. Rather than holding the industry accountable for profiteering or calling for the rapid rollout of renewable energy and increased federal subsidies for electric vehicles, members of Congress are helping perpetuate fossil fuel extraction. Even President Joe Biden has failed to address climate change using every tool at the administration’s disposal. Despite promising no new fossil fuel leasing, he allowed the largest fossil fuel lease sale in U.S. history to move forward in the Gulf of Mexico before a federal judge intervened to block the sale, citing climate concerns. Biden is continuing to allow pipelines such as the Enbridge Line 3 and Line 5 pipelines to transport tar sands oil, as well as opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline shutdown despite strong opposition from Indigenous peoples and the climate movement. Now is the time to challenge Big Oil, complicit elected leaders, businesses continuing to pursue profit over people and planet and major financial institutions that bankroll fossil fuel expansion. Climate change is a systemic problem that requires systemic solutions. Although institutions and deeply rooted systems of oppression are to blame, we as individuals cannot afford to be bystanders in this fight for a livable planet. Your voice and your vote are powerful, so use them. Together, we can elect Green New Deal Champions, mobilize private industry toward a circular economy and finally win climate justice for marginalized communities that have been on the receiving end of systems of oppression for generations. I’m ready to mobilize with you.

Zanagee Artis ’22 can be reached at zanagee_artis@brown.edu. Artis is the co-founder, executive director and policy director of Zero Hour. He is also the co-author of “A Kids Book About Climate Change” and a co-host of “1 Point 5: A Kids Podcast About Climate Justice.” Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

COVID -19 AT BROWN APRIL 14 TO 20

APRIL S

Confirmed positives

210

Students in on-campus, designated off-campus quarantine housing

130* APRIL 7 TO 13 Confirmed positives

171 Students in on-campus, designated off-campus quarantine housing

83* *APPROXIMATE

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

INFLATION FROM PAGE 1 dropped from 16% to 12%, suggesting that more students may have elected to take courses for a grade. “It’s clear that the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic played a role” in this recent shift, Paxson wrote in an email to The Herald. Though data has not been released for the 2021-22 academic year, Zia wrote in an email to The Herald that grade distributions in the summer 2022 and fall 2022 semesters were somewhat lower than the past two semesters. He added that he believes grades will continue to “return toward pre-pandemic levels.” The percentage of students receiving Bs and Cs have also decreased over the last 30 years. According to the Course Factbook and The Herald’s reporting, the portion of Bs distributed to students fell from 29.1% in 1993 to 16% in the 2018-19 academic year and 10% in the 2020-21 academic year, while the portion of Cs dropped from 7.5% to 3% to 1%, respectively. In the humanities departments last academic year, only 6% of students received Bs and 0% received Cs. Brown had the highest GPA in the Ivy League for at least from the mid1990s to 2012, but all eight schools have experienced an increase in average GPA since 1950, according to Vox. One reason for Brown’s higher relative GPA is the University’s grading system, which allows for S/NC grading and omits Ds, failing grades and pluses or minuses, according to Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin. Brown’s system also allows for students to drop a course at any point in the semester, meaning that many students choose to drop courses if they believe they will not receive an A, according to Karen Newman, professor emerita of comparative literature and English. Zia believes there are a number of reasons for particularly high grade distributions during the most recent academic year, when the school implemented a truncated three-semester model. “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve consistently heard feedback from both instructors and students about how much time and care students committed to their studies, especially last year when many students were studying remotely and in-person extracurricular opportunities were more limited,” he wrote. Zia noted that in end-of-semester course evaluations, a higher percentage of students reported attending every class session, completing all assignments and dedicating more weekly hours than in previous semesters. He added that students on average took 10% fewer enrollments while the three-semester model was in place than in previous academic years and that many first years took a single remote course in Fall 2020 before matriculating in the spring. But McLaughlin believes that the recent increase in average grades largely reflects leeway given to students who battled hardships during the pandemic. He said that faculty evaluations have improved alongside grades. “Maybe students are cutting the faculty a little bit of slack, too,” McLaughlin said. “Human sympathy for the person on the other side.” Senior Lecturer in Political Science Nina Tannenwald agreed. “The rapid increase over the last two years surely reflects leniency on grading during

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Distribution of Brown undergraduate grades since 1993

GAYA GUPTA AND JED FOX / HERALD

COVID,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “But it exacerbates a trend that has been under way for a while.” Looking beyond the University At the national level, grade inflation is neither rare nor inconsistent; grade distributions across the country have radically shifted over the past several decades. In 1960, only about 15% of all college grades nationwide were As, compared to over 40% in 2008, according to a Teachers College Record analysis published in 2012. The proportion of Cs distributed among all colleges decreased from about 40% in 1960 to about 15% in 2008, according to the analysis. In 2013, Harvard former Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay Harris announced that the most common grade at the college was an A, sparking a discussion about grade inflation at the school. Jeffrey Miron, senior lecturer and director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard, told The Herald that he doesn’t see grade inflation in higher education reversing in the near future. “For every student focusing on their own grades, they will lobby for higher grades and choose courses with higher grades,” Miron said. “For any professor, it’s always easier to give students higher grades.” “There’s no one who can easily enforce (a lower) grade distribution,” Miron added. National grade inflation may also be caused by an increase in pressure and competitiveness for elite post-graduate opportunities, which make a strong transcript “essential,” Professor of Engineering Allen Bower wrote in an email to The Herald. He also believes student performance has “genuinely improved” over the years. At Dartmouth, among courses with at least 10 students, the proportion of classes which had a median grade of A rose by 13% in the three terms after the onset of the pandemic, according to the Dartmouth. “Clearly there has been a progressive uptick in the share of As awarded in undergraduate classes on our campus and many of our peer schools,” Paxson wrote. “While it’s important to evaluate that data over time, the far more

important focus for Brown is ensuring that the quality of instruction and the content of our courses remains worldclass — and by every measure, that is the case.” Some schools have implemented policies to combat grade inflation, but those attempts have faced significant challenges. In 2004, Princeton tried to lower GPAs using a policy of “grade deflation,” according to the Atlantic, putting a cap on the proportion of As in each class at 35%. After nine years, the school ended its policy, citing that it “had unintended impacts upon the undergraduate academic experience that are not consistent with our broader educational goals,” according to the Atlantic. Other schools have attempted to increase transparency around grade distributions to combat grade inflation. In 1994, Dartmouth made the decision to report grade medians of every class, in order to “allow ‘outside users’ of a transcript to get a better understanding of a student’s rank in their classes and because grade medians could potentially reduce grade inflation,” according to the Dartmouth. Still, Dartmouth’s average undergraduate GPA increased from 3.42 in the 2007-08 academic year to 3.52 in the 2017-18 academic year, the Dartmouth reported. Reporting median grades may actually fuel grade inflation, since students may choose courses with higher median grades, Dartmouth Dean of Faculty for the Social Sciences and Professor of Social Sciences John Carey wrote in an email to The Herald. Columbia instituted a similar policy to Dartmouth, reporting the percentage of students that share an individual’s grade on their transcripts, according to Forbes. McLaughlin believes these top-down policies would never be implemented at Brown. “There’s a very strong sense of faculty and student government,” McLaughlin said. “I would not expect grade policy changes to be something that the administration imposes on the campus,” he said. Without changes to the University system at large, Lecturer in Economics Alex Poterack believes that national grade inflation is here to stay. “As tuition has gone up, universities have moved to more of a model where stu-

dents are the customer,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. And “the customer,” he added, “is always right.” An ongoing conversation at Brown Grade inflation has long been discussed at Brown, but opinions over the ideal grading system and distribution remain scattered. Often, disagreements stem from fundamentally different outlooks on the purpose of grades. Some believe grades are meant to measure relative student performance as a means of providing information to that student and to potential employers. “If we’re going to give grades, I think they should send a signal of how well the student learned the material,” Poterack wrote. He believes grade inflation makes grades “less meaningful.” To preserve the value of grades, Poterack caps the number of As in his courses to roughly the top third of the class — though he added that students who receive a grade greater than 90% are guaranteed an A. Still, Poterack said he would rather have no grades in college than significant grade inflation. “If we’re going to have the signal, it should be a useful signal,” Poterack wrote. Tannenwald echoed this sentiment. “The problem is the fundamental bluntness of the evaluation system,” she wrote, referring to the University’s policy against giving out grades with pluses or minuses. “A student who is doing B- work in a course ends up with the same grade as a student doing B+ work.” “It feels unjust and fundamentally unfair,” she added. Bower made a similar argument, writing that a large portion of A grades means “some people don’t get recognition for exceptional work.” Bower also believes the lack of specificity in Brown’s evaluation metrics provide unreliable information at the borders between grade levels. “The difference between the lowest A and the highest B is very small, but this distinction can have a huge impact on a student’s perceived success in a class and future prospects,” he wrote. Tannenwald noted that although Brown’s Open Curriculum was put in place to reduce the emphasis on grades, the pressure put on instructors to bump

5 student grades up is evidence the policy has failed to do so. “Brown students deserve a better grading system. And so does the faculty,” she added. McLaughlin said he has not seen any official policy changes to tackle grade inflation at Brown during his tenure, though the question of incorporating pluses and minuses into grades has inspired public discussion several times. In 2006, the College Curriculum Council voted on whether to add pluses and minuses to grades and rejected the proposal in a vote of seven to six, The Herald previously reported. In a 2003 poll conducted by the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, 82% of faculty members supported the addition of pluses and minuses, The Herald previously reported — but only 24.6% of students supported the proposal in the 2006 Herald poll. Some others argue that inflated grades have little bearing on the habits and reputations of Brown students. “You wouldn’t get into this school if you were not in the top 5% of your (high) school,” Alex Cooper-Hohn ’23.5 said. “These are all people who worked very, very hard to get into here, and it’s not like the academic habits are going to shift astronomically.” “Employers already know Brown students are smart,” Cooper-Hohn said. “It comes with Brown’s reputation.” But Kevin Masse ’25 argued that grade inflation can allow privileged students to gain status through Brown without having to meet high standards. Still, Cooper-Hohn believes limiting high grades could be detrimental to student learning. “I have a really good friend who got a 70% in organic chemistry and who loved computational biology,” Cooper-Hohn said. “After he got that grade he said, ‘I’m clearly not made for this,’ ” prompting a switch to pursuing finance. Ultimately, Cooper-Hohn said, the end goal of college should be to support the “mastery of skills to add to society.” Ella Spungen ’23.5 suggested that grade inflation may also promote student learning by alleviating anxiety. “The pressure cooker environment is not conducive to learning. … I would rather there be a focus on students’ mental health and well-being and have professors get creative with ways to motivate students that go beyond grades,” she said. Spungen added that grades are never a perfect metric, as they do not necessarily reflect “how difficult or intellectually challenging or stimulating a class is.” Zia agreed on the importance of prioritizing learning over assessment, but argued that testing and grading can be crucial to the learning process. Graded “assignments provide students with an opportunity to consolidate knowledge, to apply their learning to new topics and to gain feedback from instructors on how they are doing,” he wrote. He also quoted the 1968 student-written “Draft of a Working Paper for Education at Brown University” — a document that helped inspire Brown’s Open Curriculum and grading policy and argued that performance evaluation is just one of several benefits of testing. “We’ll continue to track data on undergraduate grades over the next few years to see if that stabilizes,” Paxson wrote. “If at any point there is a need to explore measures related to how students are assessed, we would look to the Brown faculty to develop the best approach.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

EDITORIAL

Broken elections, broken UCS After years of apathy among students, this year’s student government election finally attracted attention — but for all the wrong reasons. On April 18, the Student Government Association announced that Chas Steinbrugge ’24 had won the race for president of the Undergraduate Council of Students. But on April 22, UCS announced that Steinbrugge was not, in fact, president-elect. Despite eliminating its elections threshold and runoffs earlier this month, SGA suddenly changed course and announced a runoff between Steinbrugge and Ricky Zhong ’23, initially the runner-up. The reversal stemmed from contradictions between the new SGA election procedures — which use plurality voting — and the UCS constitution — which requires runoff elections when no candidate initially receives a majority of the vote.

that “the undergraduate student body shall elect members to the Undergraduate Council of Students as described in the bylaws.” However, bylaws cannot be changed solely by the executive; they must be amended “by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members,” per Article IX, section one. But that’s just our reading of the constitution. Maybe it’s time for an SSC — a Student Supreme Court — to adjudicate procedural disputes, although that would probably just mean more byzantine rules that no one would understand. Still, it would be a better solution than having President Christina Paxson P’19 step in to offer an advisory opinion, as she did this year, according to UCS Vice President Sam Caplan ’22. As advocates for the student body, UCS should aim to remain independent from the influence of administration. How can we expect UCS to govern the student body when it cannot even govern itself?

In this election cycle, there are no winners. Both Steinbrugge and Zhong are victims of this chaos. Steinbrugge had a once-certain victory ripped from his hands. Zhong had to fight for a runoff election that, according to the UCS constitution, he was entitled to all along.

It’s unfortunate that this chaos has seemingly garnered more attention for student government than anything else they’ve done in recent years, and the attention is not about anything they’ve accomplished, but what they have failed at — the fundamental task of running a functional election.

This pandemonium would not have happened if student government simply followed its own rules.

This is particularly embarrassing considering how obsessed UCS is with election procedures.

But that’s easier said than done, since nobody seems to know what the rules are. The SGA election procedures are the law of the land, until they aren’t. This runoff is only occurring because UCS leadership determined that the UCS constitution takes precedence over the SGA rules. But UCS rules don’t always trump SGA rules. The publicly-available UCS Elections Code, for example, does not. As UCS leadership explained in an April 22 email to the student body, that is “a document that we did not use in this election process since the SGA coordinated elections.” From the website, however, that was not apparent to the student body, least of all Steinbrugge, who lodged complaints alleging violations of that code in response to the runoff.

Of the weekly UCS general body meetings covered by The Herald this semester, at least eight discussed elections or elections procedures in some form. One three-week stretch of headlines for meeting coverage read as follows: “UCS discusses spring elections procedure and timeline,” “UCS continues discussion on spring elections procedures” and “UCS eliminates official student group endorsements for spring elections.”

Who has the final say in how bylaws and codes are interpreted and which rules take precedence over others? According to that same email, “the UCS constitution grants the executive the ability to determine election procedures on any given year.” The UCS constitution says no such thing. Article VIII, section one of the constitution, which is posted on the UCS website, states

CLINTON FROM PAGE 1 “They had to be a democracy and have a certain amount of military capacity … (for) joint planning and training.” Clinton noted that he knew that the Baltic states — Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia — would not satisfy those requirements. “They were known as the captive nations, and believe me … they were eager to join NATO. They just weren’t ready yet. They hadn’t cleared all the hurdles,” he said. Clinton added that these countries were accepted into NATO in the following years. Clinton pointed to the meetings he had with Soviet leaders during his presidency as a response to critics who have said that his administration caused the current conflict in Ukraine and “alienated the Russians and made them feel small.” “In the eight years that I served, I met with Boris Yeltsin 18 times and Vladimir Putin five times,” he said. “The idea that we were trying to jam Russia or isolate them … was just not true.” The conversation then moved to Clinton’s views on China’s position in global politics. “My theory was always (that) we should work for the best and prepare for the worst,” Clinton said. To critics of his harsh foreign policy toward China, Clinton said he aimed “to keep America from sticking its neck out on cooperation and … not being able to do anything to defend themselves.” After discussing global politics, Clinton discussed some of his hobbies, such as his passion for playing the saxophone and solving New York Times word puzzles. Derek Shearer then asked Clinton to

give advice for students who are considering a career in politics. While Clinton said he has regrets about pursuing politics, he noted that he would have had regrets in any other career he chose. He noted that in order to have a successful political career, individuals need to have a “very high pain threshold” and be able to take criticism seriously rather than personally. Clinton added that he would encourage the next generation to take risks. “The unhappiest people at my high school reunion are not the people who have gone bankrupt, lost elections, been beat up (or) had terrible things happen,” he said. “The unhappiest people are the people who were afraid to try what they wanted to do in their lives.” The conversation ended with a discussion on climate change, and Clinton called for greater action in confronting the impending crisis. “Does anybody believe we are going to make it a million years the way we are going?” he asked. Student attendees had mixed reactions to Clinton’s speech. “I found his thoughts on his meetings with Presidents Yeltsin and Putin fascinating,” Francisco Cerda ’24, who attended the lecture, wrote in an email to The Herald. “It highlighted how events can be often predictable yet simultaneously unstoppable like Putin’s regime in Russia.” Edan Larkin ’23, president of Brown Democrats, wrote in an email to The Herald that despite disagreeing with Clinton’s politics, she attended the lecture because she was “interested in hearing from whichever elected officials Brown brings to campus.” While Larkin appreciated Clinton’s advice for those interested in politics, she noted that she disliked “how he downplayed his

UCS’s fixation on sorting out its own internal incompetencies distracts the group from its job: helping undergraduate students. Can UCS ever go beyond creating, modifying and getting lost in its own tangle of rules? Or is it a hopeless project? When the runoff is over and the dust settles, it will be up to new leadership to prove that it isn’t. Editorials are written by The Herald’s Editorial Page Board. This editorial was written by its editor Johnny Ren ’23 and members Catherine Healy ’22, Caroline Nash ’22.5, Augustus Bayard ’24, Devan Paul ’24 and Kate Waisel ’24.

COURTESY OF CORRIE PIKUL

Former President Bill Clinton spoke with Derek Shearer about current political issues and his own personal interests, then gave career advice to future generations. wrongdoings.” The popularity of this year’s event also brought challenges for the event’s organizers, according to Elizabeth Rush, assistant professor of the practice of English and an organizer of the lecture series. “The day that we made the announcement we sold out of tickets, so we decided to move the event to Pizzitola Sports Center to accommodate more people,” Rush wrote in an email

to The Herald. Changing the location resulted in logistical challenges and was “not a small feat,” Rush wrote. But, according to Rush, the extra work was worth it. During the event, the 2022 Casey Shearer Memorial Awards were distributed to first-place winner Michelle Liu ’22 and second-place winner Henry Block ’22.5 for their short stories in creative nonfiction. The lecture was part of the Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture Series, which

was created to commemorate Casey Shearer ’00, an economics concentrator with a passion for sports journalism and creative nonfiction who passed away days before his graduation. Clinton previously gave a speech on campus in 2000 as the first lecture of the series, created by Shearer’s parents to do “something in his honor,” according to Elizabeth Taylor, distinguished senior lecturer emerita of English, who was one of Shearer’s instructors.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Migration studies certificate to become available in spring 2023 Certificate will include methods requirement, gather faculty from multiple departments BY ALEX NADIRASHVILI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR Starting in spring 2023, undergraduate students will be able to apply for a certificate in migration studies, Professor of Sociology David Lindstrom wrote in an email to The Herald. The migration studies certificate will be co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Population Studies and Training Center’s Migration Studies Initiative, which supports faculty and student interdisciplinary research on migration-related issues, according to Besenia Rodriguez ’00, deputy dean of the College for curriculum and co-curriculum. The undergraduate certificate will engage a wide range of disciplines at the University, Lindstrom said. Faculty from the departments of education, American studies and sociology, as well as the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, will contribute courses, according to a certificate proposal Lindstrom shared with The Herald. The certificate and initiative “were developing unbeknownst to each other,” said Andrea Flores, assistant professor of education and a member of the MSI. “It just kind of happened that we found each other,” Flores added. “It was a natural fit.”

The certificate has “productive ways of thinking about curricular interventions,” according to Flores. She said it will complement MSI’s current undergraduate offerings, such as advising offered for students pursuing independent studies centered around migration. Lindstrom said he was surprised by the range of existing courses at the University that addressed conversations around migration. He added that the certificate will provide students with a framework to explore migration studies through different methodological approaches, including ethnographic qualitative methods and statistical analysis. “Our objective at the undergraduate level is … to provide students with a theoretical and methodological framework to understand how scholars approach migration,” Lindstrom said. Students will come “to understand migration from the perspective of the individual and households and the importance of policy and international relations.” Students currently studying topics related to migration have been seeking “structured learning and advising … and formal recognition of the learning they are doing,” Rodriguez wrote in an email to The Herald, adding that the College Curriculum Council, a body of students, faculty and administrators which oversees the undergraduate curriculum, is “excited” that “groups of faculty across various departments have been able to construct such opportunities.” “I think the mission (of the certificate) is to build students’ understandings of an issue that is of great global

SIMONE STRAUSS / HERALD

and social importance, but also often of very intimate personal importance for students” themselves, Flores added. In order to fulfill the certificate’s requirements, students will have to take three migration-based courses — SOC 0315: “International Migration,” a new foundational course being developed by the sociology department; an elective migration course chosen from select classes in the departments of American studies, ethnic studies, education and sociology; and a third elective from a greater list of preapproved courses, according to the proposal. Students also must complete an elective methods course that is not a requirement for their already-declared concentration. Students participating in the program will also be required to complete a capstone, which will either involve incorporating a migration focus into a

concentration thesis, conducting migration-related research with faculty or completing an internship with a community organization that serves migrant communities, according to the proposal. Focusing on methodology and experiential learning is central to “Brown’s approach to undergraduate certificates,” Rodriguez wrote. “When you’re doing research on social issues that affect people’s lives, the idea is to create, in some ways, usable knowledge. … It involves working with communities to figure out how to make that knowledge visible and actionable,” Flores said. The goal of the certificate is to “help students build those skills that allow them to become more sensitive practitioners when they leave school.” Lindstrom believes that the “real, practical skills” that students will be learning in different research strate-

gies through the certificate will allow them to be better equipped to meet the demands of the current job market. Lindstrom and other faculty members involved in the certificate’s development are currently putting together a website introducing the program. Further information will soon be found on the University’s Advising Sidekick, Focal Point and the University Bulletin, according to Rodriguez. Students will be able to discuss their plans for the certificate with their advisors starting next semester. Migration “is core to the human experience. … Developing analytical skills to sort through and make sense out of information (about immigration) is a critical skill,” Lindstrom said. “That’s the mission of (the certificate) — to develop conscientious citizens and competent and talented professionals.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Rural Students at Brown aims to foster community, raise awareness New student group hopes to gain U. recognition in fall semester BY JACK TAJMAJER SENIOR STAFF WRITER A new student group, Rural Students at Brown, aims to foster a safe space for rural students admitted to the University. Spearheaded by Abby Bachenberg ’23 of Welcome, Minnesota; Toby Arment ’23 of Rawlins, Wyoming; Victoria Rose ’23 of Hillsboro, West Virginia and Jed Fox ’23 of Schoharie, New York, director of technology at The Herald, the organization hopes to be recognized as an official club by the Student Activities Office for the fall semester, according to Rose and Bachenberg. Bachenberg and Rose explained that the new organization would fulfill a need for community among the University’s rural students. The group also plans to offer support for rural students outside College Hill, such as teaching rural high school students about “not just recruiting for Brown, but also college generally,” Rose added. Bachenberg said that over 50 people have indicated an interest in joining the club. She explained that she thinks there are “about 200 people who are actually rural at Brown,” so the founders were “really excited” to see lots of interest. Both Rose and Bachenberg said that finding other rural students on campus was not a challenge because they were

members of the Brown Band, a group that has attracted significant numbers of rural students, according to both students. Rose stressed that “if it wasn’t for that weird coincidence, I think it would be really really difficult” to find other rural students. Rose added that one of the goals of the organization is to raise awareness of rural student experiences, especially in the classroom, and to increase faculty awareness of rural communities in their lesson plans. The idea for the group, Bachenberg and Rose said, originally came from Libbi Rogan ’21.5, who worked to create a similar organization before the COVID-19 pandemic made it too difficult to sustain alongside her other rural outreach on campus, including her collaboration with the Office of Admissions on its fly-in program. The founders of the new organization — all of whom knew Rogan through the Brown Band — heard about her efforts and decided to create “a space where rural students can get to know each other” and “share advice and resources that have helped,” Rose said. Bachenberg proposed a “pre-orientation for admitted (rural) students” as a possible event the organization will support, but reiterated that the club’s main purpose is to serve as a more casual, community-oriented “space where people can hang out and talk to each other.” Rose noted that the organization is also “currently in communications with the admissions office” about collaborating on the University’s fly-in program for rural students.

SIMONE STRAUSS / HERALD

Bachenberg and Rose explained that the founders are open to input from the club’s members in deciding the direction of the club. “Where it goes from (the start) will really be up to the members and what they want,” Bachenberg said. She noted that the group has its “application to become a club submitted” and is “just waiting to hear back from SAO” before they plan for the next semester. Colby Johnson ’24, a rural student from Campbell’s Creek, West Virginia who filled out the interest form for the group, said he was happy to hear about the organization’s formation. “It is still so essential for rural students to have a place, no matter the amount of people who show up,” he said. “It just felt really nice to feel like there was something on campus for students like me.” Johnson stressed that he does not “want this to be a club just to be a club” and instead wants “this club to start

encouraging rural students to reach out” and “take up space.” “The most important thing is that a club (alone) will not fix anything,” he said. “It takes students joining, it takes students participating, it takes rural students stepping up to the plate again.” Rose noted a lack of awareness about the experience of rural life as a large problem on campus, saying that “no one really got it at all” when she attempted to talk about her experiences in a public transportation seminar where “half of the class was from Boston or Connecticut.” “Everyone at Brown, pretty much, is from a city or a suburban area,” she said. “I have taken RIPTA successfully, like, twice and I’m still terrified of it.” Bachenberg said the University “didn’t really support” her transition from a rural environment to an urban one. “It’s just kind of a culture shock,” she explained. “I never really got

connected to other rural students at Brown.” Although Bachenberg has felt “pretty supported” at the University, “it’s not really by the administration per se,” she added. “The amount of rural students is so small that it’s not something that anyone knows to think about.” Johnson recently wrote an op-ed in The Herald that discussed his negative experiences with other students surrounding his rural background, encouraged non-rural students not to “perpetuate stereotypes” and called for the formation of a “rural students collective.” He said he has since received messages from “15 to 20” students ” who “have quite literally come out of the closet as rural students.” “Rural students experience a lot of the same things and educational differences that other marginalized groups do as well,” he said — but there hadn’t been any official community for them previously. “It’s really easy to feel alone here,” he explained. “What I’m hoping to get out of it is to really connect to other rural students on campus.” Speaking directly to rural students, Johnson said that they need to let go of “the internalized biases” and “accept your differences as a vital part of your contributions.” “I hope the one thing this club does is to really let rural students know that there’s a community supporting them,” he added. “There is another group behind them, waiting for them, cheering them on. … This is just one step into making sure rural students are actually welcome here on campus.”

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse.

FACEBOOK.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

132nd Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Ben Glickman Managing Editors Benjamin Pollard Caelyn Pender Senior Editors Katie Chen Gaya Gupta Jack Walker post-magazine Editor-in-Chief Kyoko Leaman Sections Arts & Culture Editors Rebecca Carcieri Irene Chou Laura David Metro Editors Brendan Gardner Oliver Kneen Liza Mullett Katy Pickens Sameer Sinha

University News Editors Corey Gelb-Bicknell Will Kubzansky Caleb Lazar Alex Nadirashvili Shilpa Sajja Kaitlyn Torres Science & Research Editors Kathleen Meininger Gabriella Vulakh

Multimedia Photo Chiefs Danielle Emerson Victoria Yin Photo Editors Elsa Choi-Hausman Roslyn Coriz Julia Grossman Dana Richie

Senior Science & Tech Editor Claire Liu

Illustrations Chiefs Ashley Choi Loki Olin

Sports Editor Peter Swope

Social Media Chief Alejandro Ingkavet

Commentary Editorial Page Editor Johnny Ren

Podcasts Chief Livi Burdette

Opinions Editors Augustus Bayard Bliss Han Jaehyun Hong Jackson McGough Matt Walsh

Podcasts Producer Da-Young Kim Production Copy Desk Chief Lily Lustig

All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media), and they must be exclusive to The Herald.

Design Editors Julia Grossman Lena He Neil Mehta Anna Ryu Brandon Wu

Submissions must include no more than two individual authors. If there are more than two original authors, The Herald can acknowledge the authors in a statement at the end of the letter or oped, but the byline can only include up to two names. The Herald will not publish submissions authored by groups. The Herald does not publish anonymous submissions. If you feel your circumstances prevent you from submitting an op-ed or letter with your name, please email herald@ browndailyherald.com to explain your situation.

Digital News Graphics Chief Aanchal Sheth

You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com and letters to letters@browndailyherald. com. When you email your submission, please include (1) your full name, (2) an evening or mobile phone number in case your submission is chosen for publication and (3) any affiliation with Brown University or any institution or organization relevant to the content of your submission.

Director of Technology Jed Fox Business Office Manager Chelsey Barton-Keenes General Managers Alexandra Cerda Sophie Silverman

Please send in submissions at least 24 hours in advance of your desired publication date. The Herald only publishes submissions while it is in print. The Herald reserves the right to edit all submissions. If your piece is considered for publication, an editor will contact you to discuss potential changes to your submission. Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

Sales Directors Joe Belfield Amit Levi

Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

Finance Director Andrew Willwerth

Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Design Chief Raphael Li

@the_herald

facebook.com/browndailyherald

@browndailyherald

youtube.com/browndailyherald

88 Benevolent, Providence, RI (401) 351-3372 www.browndailyherald.com Editorial: herald@browndailyherald.com Advertising: advertising@browndailyherald.com

The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. is a financially independent, nonprofit media organization bringing you The Brown Daily Herald and Post- Magazine. The Brown Daily Herald has served the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $200 one year daily, $100 one semester daily. Copyright 2021 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Faculty group, Office of Provost form task force on pre-K child care Group to investigate faculty, staff, graduate student access to child care BY EMILY CIGARROA SENIOR STAFF WRITER In collaboration with the Office of the Provost, the Faculty Executive Committee has formed a task force on pre-K child care, as announced at the February faculty meeting by Govind Menon PhD’01, professor of applied mathematics, on behalf of the FEC. The task force will investigate “the feasibility of a new on-campus facility for infant and toddler care,” as well as “the possibility of expanding toddler care in partnership with the Brown/ Foxpoint Early Childhood Education Center,” according to an FEC report shared with The Herald by Menon. The group is expected to submit a report to the Committee on Faculty Equity and Diversity, the FEC and the Office of the Provost by the end of this semester, according to Menon. “Subsidized high-quality child care is a basic need for all working parents,” Menon wrote in an email to The Herald. Currently, the “lack of high-quality child care has a disproportionate impact on women, not just in the immediate years of infant and toddler care, but also in disadvantages in professional opportunities that accumulate over time.” The need for a task force on child care was made especially evident during the pandemic, said Provost Richard Locke P’18, as schools and child care centers closed down due to public health concerns. Since the pandemic, the University has received requests from faculty, staff, postdoctoral students and graduate students asking for greater support around child care, Locke added. Sage Morgan-Hubbard, assistant di-

PAXSON FROM PAGE 1 ship, Paxson told The Herald that her proudest achievements were those that increased access and support for a diverse range of students. Paxson said this included when the University became need blind for veterans, developed a program for rural students and created the Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center. “At the end of the day, it’s all about whether the students who are here re-

YUQING MAO / HERALD

rector of the Brown Center for Students of Color and member of the task force, said she believes it is the University’s duty to support the child care needs of its community members because Brown is one of the largest employers in Rhode Island. Menon, who has two children who have been enrolled in Brown-affiliated child care, wrote that he understands personally how beneficial an expansion of this service could be for families. “As our kids made friends, the parents became friends,” he added. “These ties of community were of deep sustenance during the pandemic and are part of what make Brown such an attractive place to work.” Dave Sobel, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences,

who is also a member of the task force, believes it will provide “fair access to affordable child care” for all members of the community. This is important not only for the “health and wellbeing of children and families, but also for ensuring equity among (Brown’s) community members,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. Morgan-Hubbard said that she believes staff voices will play a crucial role in the group’s work. Child care is a “make or break” factor in people’s decisions to come to Brown, she added. “It is a real honest disadvantage to not have support as a parent,” said Assad Assad GS, a single parent who is pursuing a PhD in theater arts and performance studies. “It hurts children to have a parent that’s stressed out and

kind of rundown and maxing out their paycheck every month to pay for child care,” he added. “I’m a single parent, and I’m low income, and it’s been really hard for me to feel like I have a place in academia,” Assad said. “I have just as much merit as anyone else who got accepted to Brown, but I can’t easily go to conferences (and) evening events unless I find a babysitter, which means it costs more money.” Assad said he has previously struggled with the University’s current child care policies. He also expressed disappointment over the fact that there are no graduate students holding an active position on the task force, believing that this will lead the task force’s ultimate initiatives to be “completely unstable in the long run.”

Menon emphasized that the task force’s charge “explicitly accounts for the needs of graduate students,” who will have a chance to offer their feedback to the task force’s report once it is shared with the community. He encouraged anyone with concerns over the task force’s organization and membership to reach out directly. Ultimately, Assad hopes the task force can take further steps to support parent-scholars. “I’ve always held that Brown could do more — much more — and been confused as to why they aren’t,” Assad added. “So I’m hopeful that the task force would take (this issue) up and think about why the children of grad students, staff and faculty (don’t) have more support on campus.”

ally represent the breadth of the world,” Paxson said. Paxson added that she believes the external “perception of Brown has changed” in the last decade of her leadership. “When I came to Brown, there was still a conversation around: ‘Are we a university or are we a college? Do we do research or do we educate students?’ And in my mind, that’s a false dichotomy,” Paxson said. “You can do great things in terms of advancing knowledge, discovering new things and

involving students in those efforts.” Looking forward, Paxson said she is “excited” about projects such as shifting to need-blind admission for international students as well as “building (Brown’s) capacity in public health, medicine and engineering.” Additionally, Paxson said she hopes to continue the University’s work on educational innovation and equity through the creation of opportunities for students to spend time studying around the world and a college access pipeline program

for students in Providence Public School District. “What I love about this job is there’s always something really important and really interesting to work on,” Paxson said. She noted that the pandemic has been one of the University’s greatest challenges in her tenure. “The last two years feel a bit of a blur; I think we kept the University moving forward, and I’m really proud of that,” Paxson said. “The whole community made our way through it. Students,

faculty and administrators — everybody had to pull together to get through that. It was hard.” With that in mind, Paxson said her favorite thing about Brown “is the community” that came together in the past few years. “I love the fact that people at Brown are independent thinkers and that they really do care about each other,” Paxson said. “That came through a lot in the last two years, and the faculty, staff, students and alumni have all been really incredible.”

Editor ’s Note

Our last print edition of the spring Today’s issue marks the final print edition of The Herald this semester. The Herald will publish our final issue of the semester tomorrow online and will continue to publish breaking news and stories on our website throughout finals and summer break. Regular print publication will continue in September. As always, we are immensely grateful for your readership and hope you will continue to engage with The Herald next semester. Happy reading period! —Editors’ Notes are written by The Herald’s 132nd editorial board: Ben Glickman ’23, Benjamin Pollard ’23, Caelyn Pender ’23, Katie Chen ’23, Gaya Gupta ’23 and Jack Walker ’23

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

METRO

Lawmakers consider bill to limit teaching of race, sexuality in RI schools Bill aims to involve parents rather than schools in discussions regarding identity BY SAM LEVINE CONTRIBUTING WRITER State lawmakers in the House Education Committee convened for a public hearing April 11 on H7539, a bill that seeks to restrict teaching about race, sexuality and gender identity in Rhode Island public schools. Hundreds of Rhode Islanders submitted written testimony to the committee, and many also came to the Rhode Island State House to voice their opinions on the legislation. The bill, originally introduced Feb. 18, proposes new guidelines for curricula that address topics of race and sexuality. The bill would prohibit educators from teaching history that presents members of any race as a victim or oppressor and would forbid the use of “pejorative” terms such as “supremacy,” “racial guilt” and “racial fragility,” according to the text of the bill. Additionally, the bill stipulates that “sex education shall not explore sexual preference, gender dysphoria or sexual lifestyles.” The bill states that by teaching these subjects, students are not “judged and accepted by the content of their character” but instead by “their race, ethnicity, gender or religion.” Rep. Patricia Morgan, a Republican from Warwick who authored the bill, told The Herald that the bill aims to protect the civil rights of children in schools. Children “are not being judged as individuals” when subjects such as race, sexuality and gender identity are taught in schools, Morgan said. “They are being stereotyped and judged as members of an identity group, … and I think that is antithetical to the Civil Rights Act,” she added. Morgan said she has received “at least 100 phone calls” from parents who are concerned about what is being taught to their children in schools and who believe their children’s civil rights are being violated in the classroom. Rep. Edith Ajello, a Democrat who represents College Hill in the House, opposes the bill. “It’s divisive (and) it’s

HARSHINI VENKATACHALAM / HERALD

mean-spirited,” she told The Herald. “And it’s doing nothing to make the education of the children in our schools better (and nothing) to help them live in this world and thrive in this world.” Some at the hearing earlier this month said the portion of the bill addressing sexuality and gender identity education resembles other bills being passed in state legislatures across the country in recent months, including a bill passed in Florida in March that critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which garnered national attention. But according to Morgan, H7539 has nothing to do with legislation appearing in other states. Instead, the bill is about “allowing the right people to help those children” who identify as LGBTQ+, she said. John Palella, lecturer in education and a researcher on the teaching of LGBTQ+ history in classrooms and racial history, told The Herald that it is important for children to learn about gender and sexuality at a younger age. “As all the research shows, it’s actually super healthy for children to learn about different gender identities, identities different from themselves … and

(to understand) the inclusivity and diversity of those identities,” he said. Teaching children about these identities can also provide them with the tools to identify their own experiences, according to Daisy Bassen, a child psychiatrist based in Warwick. “I think when children understand and have language to describe what they are experiencing, they are able to feel good about themselves … and participate in the world in a positive way,” she told The Herald. But Morgan alleged that classrooms are not the proper environments for these discussions. “Teachers are not therapists, they are not psychologists, they are not mental health professionals,” she said. “They don’t have the expertise to deal with these issues.” Instead, Morgan believes that conversations about gender identity and sexuality should remain between children and their parents. “Nobody cares about you more than your mother and father,” she argued. “I used to be a teacher, and I cared about my (students),” Morgan said. “But the truth is, I was (just) a tourist in their lives.” Morgan said parents are a much

more constant presence in children’s lives and conversations about gender and sexuality with parents should happen, even though they can be difficult. But Bassen noted that this may not be the case for all children. “Obviously we hope that every child has a family system where they can feel nurtured and appreciated and loved,” she said. “But that’s not true for every child (and sometimes) they need to find that affirmation and that recognition in a school teacher, in a guidance counselor, in a coach,” she added. Ajello agreed that children need to be able to rely on their teachers for support. “Most of us, as parents and human beings, can’t probably imagine all of the different challenges that some students bring to school and deal with in their own lives,” Ajello said. “We need to allow teachers the freedom to (help) deal with that in ways that are supportive.” Morgan said that parents should send their children to see a mental health professional if they are struggling with their gender identity or sexuality, but she opposes having these mental health professionals in schools.

According to Bassen, access to mental health support in schools is beneficial to students. Schools are focused on the social-emotional development of their students, Bassen said, and she does not “understand how you can work on social-emotional development and not have school psychologists or social workers” available to students. She added that when mental health professionals are in schools, students can more easily and immediately access mental health resources. Palella emphasized that students should receive support and acceptance in schools. “It’s not up to the school to police children’s identities,” he said. “It’s (up to the school) to create a home space for them to explore and be supported.” “Schools that have open dialogues about gender and sexuality are the schools where students who are trans or gender non-conforming or LGBTQ+ are the healthiest and the happiest, when they have these spaces to talk about their identities,” Palella added. As for the future of the bill, Morgan said that she will be refining the language with lawyers to clarify any ambiguities. But the main purpose of the bill will not change, she said. The bill aims “to protect our children,” Morgan said, “to make sure that their civil rights are protected in all cases and to refocus educators (and) our schools on their primary purpose, which is to prepare children for successful adult life by teaching them academics,” she added. Ajello believes that support for the bill is not widespread. And in a state legislature with a strong Democratic majority, the chances that the bill passes remain slim, she added. “I understand that legislation like this is concerning,” Ajello said. “That the topic is (being) brought up and considered in Rhode Island at the State House is … deeply concerning. But I do not think that there is anywhere near a majority of opinion among my colleagues that would support passing anything like this.” Although the bill “will probably die” in committee, she said, proponents of the bill “may come back with a big game” in the next legislative session.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

U. transitioning to ‘managing’ COVID-19 cases, admin says Carey responds to lack of student concerns about virus in The Herald’s spring poll

we are experiencing,” he wrote. “I think we’re at a point where we’re really transitioning to managing (COVID-19 cases) rather than trying to disrupt them,” Carey told The Herald. The announcement also clarified that although mask-wearing requirements on public transportation and airlines were recently lifted, masks are

still required on University shuttles. Since the University moved to a mask-optional policy, 41.1% of undergraduate students reported not wearing a mask more often than not in all indoor spaces where masks are not required, The Herald found in its 2022 spring poll. The poll, which included over 1,000 anonymous undergraduate student re-

sponses, also asked students how often they take rapid antigen tests and how concerned they are about the spread of COVID-19 on campus, among other COVID-19 policies. Approximately 26.5% of respondents reported that they have not tested at all for COVID-19 since testing became optional, while 40.7% test less

than once a week, 22% once a week, 9.9% twice a week and 1% more than twice a week, the poll found. Additionally, 33% of students responded that they were not concerned about the spread of COVID-19 on campus, while 28% responded that they were somewhat concerned, 28% were slightly concerned, 8% were very concerned and 2.9% were extremely concerned. In response to these statistics, Carey said he thinks community members have “adapted well” to the test-optional policy. He added that students may still test for a number of reasons such as concerns about symptoms and exposure, or before attending large events. “Hopefully people aren’t ignoring symptoms,” he added. As summer approaches, the University has not discussed specific guidance for travel policies, although Carey said he would “certainly encourage people … to wear a mask on a plane” and follow any additional testing and masking rules for international travel. The University is “not anticipating or planning” a mask mandate or quiet period for the fall semester but is “planning for a normal semester” and is “prepared to adjust” if needed, Carey said.

festival, Nguyen said. The budget “is less than people expect. Our rule of thumb is if (the artists) are performing in arenas, they are too expensive for us,” Nguyen said. Other groups have also been preparing for the festival on campus. “Spring Weekend is a team effort. We have to plan very far in advance to make sure all of the pieces are in place,” Branch said. Around 150 staff members will work the events directly, he added. With Spring Weekend being the “biggest event on campus,” DPS has been preparing to ensure the event’s safety, said DPS Lieutenant John Carvalho. He said that an “assessment” is run on any outside guests that will be visiting campus for an event, which in the case of Spring Weekend includes

the performers. The assessment looks at the “impact” that the visitor will have by investigating other events they may have attended on other campuses and incorporating internet research, Carvalho said. DPS works alongside Event Staff Services, who perform gate checks and other safety precautions. DPS will set up an additional dispatch site for the weekend within their offices at the DPS dispatch center, Carvalho noted. Traditionally, the additional dispatch site has been in Sayles Hall but has been moved for this year since it was “tough to hear the radio” because of the loud music, he added. Thirteen DPS officers will be on staff for the event, with some armed and unarmed, according to Carvalho. If there are safety staffing shortages, DPS

will contract security company Allied Universal to fill any gaps. Brown EMS will also have EMTs on staff for the event, and will have four “strategically placed” posts situated around the Main Green, said Amy Sanderson, Brown EMS chief. “The concert is such a large group of people. We have to (be able) to have an EMT who can get to any part of the crowd at any given time,” Sanderson said. Sanderson said she works directly with DPS in their dispatch center in order to control where ambulances need to be sent. There will be a total of four ambulances available for the event, as Brown EMS contracts with Alert Ambulance Service to obtain an extra ambulance, though all vehicles will be staffed by Brown EMTs.

Brown Emergency Response Team, a subgroup of Brown EMS, went through some additional training protocols in order to prepare for event staffing, according to Sanderson. A training for the group focused on using the radios appropriately, managing specific operations and understanding proper triage protocols, Sanderson said. “We have to always be prepared and a little bit more aware of certain things, like how to recognize when someone’s really sick and potentially need(s) hospital care,” Sanderson said. Although the planning process for Spring Weekend is intensive and lengthy, Branch said it “feels like a celebration of everything students have accomplished since the beginning of the school year.”

BY HALEY SANDLOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER From April 14 to 20, 182 students and 28 employees reported positive COVID-19 test results, according to an April 22 Today@Brown announcement from Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. The announcement also reported that approximately 130 students were in isolation in designated on- or off-campus housing. “Without minimizing the impact of COVID-19 on individuals, we are not seeing indications of widespread transmission, clusters or outbreak, or instances of severe illness or hospitalization,” Carey wrote in the announcement. “Furthermore, we do not have any indication that increased restrictions, such as returning to mandatory indoor masking, are necessary or would have much impact on the level of positivity

WEEKEND FROM PAGE 1 Barksdale added that BCA thinks a lot about “genre diversity” as well as diversity of performers. “This year we’re super excited to have Afrobeats for the first time and a Latina artist for the first time,” Barksdale added. Nguyen said that Spring Weekend has always been a “forward thinking” festival. “We take pride in highlighting up-and-coming artists and (giving) a platform to” new artists, Nguyen said. The budget for booking artists for the festival has been roughly $300,000 in previous years, according to UFB’s website. BCA and UFB are in constant negotiations about the budget for the Spring Weekend

TRACY PAN / HERALD

Since lifting mask-wearing requirements in most settings, a majority of students have reported going maskless more often than not when it is not required, according to The Herald’s 2022 spring poll.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Social networking platform Sidechat gains prominence on campus App launched at U. offers opportunity for anonymous commenting BY JUSTIN LEE STAFF WRITER Sidechat, a mobile application designed for college students to anonymously “share memes, jokes, thoughts, confessions and more” with their classmates, according to its App Store description, has become increasingly popular in the Brown population, with some posts on the Brown Sidechat page garnering hundreds of reactions. “It is kind of similar to Yik Yak,” another anonymous messaging app, said T.K. Monford ’25, a student contracted to be an ambassador for Sidechat during its launch at Brown in mid-March. Features of Sidechat include an advertisement-free interface, push notifications and anonymous private

messaging between users. Ethan Bove ’25, who uses Sidechat, described the app as “unhinged” and “entertaining.” “It’s always funny … to poke fun at things from anonymity,” he added. Henry Niehaus ’25 added that the app is an “interesting way” to keep up with classmates. But Sidechat’s anonymous nature also has a “divisive” side in that it “is used by people to say things they wouldn’t say to someone face-toface,” he added. “When you give people an anonymous platform, it’s just like setting the stage for … toxicity that would otherwise not happen,” said Chas Steinbrugge ’24, who runs the Instagram page @ brownumemes. Isabella Steidley ’23 MPH ’24 added that posts on the platform are often obscene. “I don’t like scrolling through 20 sexual jokes,” she said. Content on Sidechat is moderated, meaning that posts must follow company guidelines, according to Monford. So far, the Sidechat app has been

launched for specific schools, including private universities such as Harvard, Princeton and Tufts, Monford said. Only students attending a college where Sidechat has been launched can create, read and comment on posts, he added. Mikael Obiomah ’25, another student contracted to help launch Sidechat at the University, said the app received “hundreds of signups” during the first day of promotion, which was conducted at tables around campus offering free cookies. According to Sidechat’s Terms of Use, the application is run by Flower Ave Inc., a mobile app studio based in New York City. The Herald was unable to reach Flower Ave for comment. Some students told The Herald that Sidechat seemed more popular in the underclassmen population. “I haven’t heard about (Sidechat), but it seems like something freshmen would be obsessed with,” said Joseph Suddleson ’22. According to Claire Bergan ’22.5, the rise in popularity of Sidechat rep-

resents a generational divide in the student body’s platforms of choice. She noted that her peers used to look to meme pages on Facebook for commentary on campus life and the student experience. But now, Bergan said she does not “really look at” similar pages as a senior. “By the time you’re a senior, … you’re less worried about establishing community and more worried about just sort of maintaining the relationships you’ve built,” Suddleson said, adding that upperclassmen possess a “very outward-looking, forward focus” compared to underclassmen. Most of the people recruited to help launch Sidechat were first-years and sophomores, according to Monford. Steidley said she visits dearblueno.net, a re-creation of the original Dear Blueno Facebook page, to view anonymous questions, thoughts and confessions instead. Though Steidley does not post on dearblueno.net, she said she still reads through all of the posts, preferring it over Sidechat.

Compared to Sidechat, dearblueno. net is more “conversation-based with longer content that revolves around campus-specific questions,” the anonymous developers of dearblueno.net wrote in an email to The Herald. Dear Blueno is made and maintained by Brown students with opensource code that never stores the data of anonymous authors and commenters, they added. Clare Kennedy ’22 discussed how the original Dear Blueno Facebook page was in some ways analogous to Sidechat during her first year at Brown. “In a lot of ways, it was a really good resource, especially as a freshman (when) you have a lot of questions about what’s going on,” she said. “There’s a divide in … (upperclassmen and underclassmen’s) tolerance for drama,” she said, adding how age also brings less time for “talking to strangers online.” As you get older, your focus shifts to “people closer to you,” who are “actually present in your life,” she added.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Warrent Alpert Medical School celebrates 5oth anniversary School spends half century developing research, community integration BY HALEY SANDLOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER In the early 1970s, a group of students in the University’s two-year medical master’s program, smelling of formaldehyde and cadavers, were betting on whether or not Brown would establish a four-year medical school. Those same students would go on to be members of the first graduating class of Brown’s four-year medical school. Since its founding in March 1972, 3,893 physicians have earned MDs from Brown’s medical school — renamed the Warren Alpert Medical School in 2007, according to a news announcement. To celebrate the medical school’s 50th anniversary, the University will host a 15 month event series called “50 Years of Medicine at Brown,” according to Michele Cyr, senior associate dean for academic affairs for biology and medicine. This series will kick off with an event on Pembroke Field Friday, April 29 and include a number of different programs and activities. It will end with an event in June 2023 in coordination with commencement and reunion. The events will be planned by a steering committee composed of medical students, faculty and staff from the University and medical school, including representatives from community and government relations, advancement, communications, the President’s Office and the School of Public Health, according to Cyr. 50 years of liberal education Brown’s medical school was established under the leadership of founding Dean of Medicine Stanley Aronson, second Dean of Medicine David Greer and a “cohort of medical students and faculty committed to a novel re-imagining of medical education,” according to the Warren Alpert Medical School’s website. “It was a very progressive school,” said Glenn Mitchell ’67 MA ’69 MD ’75, who also serves as treasurer of the Brown Medical Alumni Association. “We had no grades. We had individual evaluations (for) courses (and) wonderful exposure, right from the beginning, to clinical work.” Brown provided the opportunity for students to gain clinical experience ear-

JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD

Efforts for future development of the Warren Alpert Medical School include integration into the health system and increased community engagement, as well as efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion. ly on at local hospitals rather than simply reading from textbooks, according to Jon Elion ’72 MD ’75, clinical associate professor of medicine at Brown. Elion said he vividly remembers meeting a patient with Parkinson’s disease during one of these clinical opportunities who had a “wonderful sense of humor.” Students of the Medical School have always been able to explore other interests beyond medicine. Anthony Caldamone ’72 MD ’75, professor of neurology and pediatrics at the medical school, said that he received a minor in music and was able to take music courses in his first two years of medical school. “I’ve gained a greater appreciation for culture in the fine arts than I would have otherwise,” Caldamone said. In the mid-1980s, Brown established the Program in Liberal Medical Education, an eight-year program for undergraduate and medical studies and one of the “key distinguishing features of the medical school,” Cyr said. Judy Jang ’03 MD ’07, interim associate dean of PLME, noted that the program gives undergraduates the chance to gain an “enriching experience” in exploring additional topics of interest beyond the courses required to apply for medical school. When Jang herself was a

PLME student, she took classes in visual arts alongside her biology and business economics concentration, and spent a summer abroad in Taiwan, she said. Nisha Trivedi ’94 MD ’98, assistant professor of health services, policy and practice at the School of Public Health, also took advantage of the intellectual freedom in the PLME program by taking an advanced music class even though she could barely read a musical score. “At Brown, I learned that there’s so much that I could do as a physician outside of clinical medicine,” Trivedi said. As a professor, Trivedi developed a first-year seminar, PHP 0050: “Pain and the Human Condition: Exploring the Science, Medicine, and Culture of Pain,” that combined her experience in anesthesiology, her background as a neuroscience concentrator and her interest in public health. Evolving curriculum, research Throughout its 50 years, the medical school’s curriculum has evolved from a traditional structure to a competency-based one. The curriculum evaluates students on “the Nine Abilities” which define “the knowledge, skills and personal and professional values we expect of all of our graduates,” according to the medical school’s website.

Cyr added that the school has recently put an emphasis on a “culturally sensitive curriculum” that embodies diversity, equity and inclusion. The medical school has a committee that “reviews curricula” to ensure inclusivity and cultural sensitivity and recently hired Anne Vera Cruz, assistant dean of curriculum for diversity, inclusive teaching and learning, to ensure that professors’ slides and syllabi “represent our values,” Cyr said. The medical school has also made important contributions to research in cardiovascular and vaccine biology and international health over the past decades, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Mukesh Jain said. More recently, key areas of research in the medical school have included brain health, cardiovascular disease and cancer, he added. Looking ahead: The next 50 years “Milestones like this offer an opportunity to look at where you’ve been and where you’re going,” Jain said. Looking ahead, he added, the medical school is focused on four areas of development: an integrated health system, community engagement, doubling research and increasing diversity and inclusion.

The medical school hopes to develop an integrated health system to increase engagement between the medical school and regional health systems such as Lifespan and Care New England, in order to develop more clinical-oriented research in the health system, according to Jain. PLME is also working to continue building on the “longitudinal relationships” between undergraduates and medical school faculty so students can gain early exposure to the clinical side of medicine, Jang said. The University hopes to increase community engagement in Rhode Island in order to target issues such as access to health and education, as well as food and health security. The medical school also plans to “triple down” on its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, including developing an anti-racism curriculum for faculty, according to Jain. Provost Richard Locke P’18 has also highlighted research as a “major initiative” for the University, Jain said. The medical school will contribute to the effort to “double research,” including bringing new diagnostics and therapeutics to patients, Jain said. “There’s room for improvement for everyone, including Brown,” he added.