Symposium honors Lani Guinier, bell hooks
BY RYAN DOHERTY & ANIYAH NELSON STAFF WRITER & SENIOR STAFF WRITER
To open the second half of a twoday symposium honoring the lives and legacies of Lani Guinier and bell hooks Feb. 18 and Feb. 19, moderator Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College, used three words: “Friendship, feminism and institution-building.”
The symposium, co-sponsored by Brown’s Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the Department of Africana Studies, brought together panelists from around the country to celebrate the two scholars and the relationship between their work and social justice.
“I started thinking about these two giant women, one impacting law and
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education, and another scholar and author whose works — particularly in terms of intersectionality — are just phenomenal,” said Sylvia Carey-Butler, vice president for institutional equity and diversity and inclusion. “I kept thinking, we have to do something to celebrate them.”
Day one of the symposium focused on Lani Guinier, a legal theorist and civil rights activist who was the first woman of color to receive tenure at Harvard Law School. Day two highlighted bell hooks, an author and activist who wrote
Jabberwocks win award at Northeast Quarterfinal
A cappella group competes for first time since start of COVID-19 pandemic
BY SOFIA BARNETT & DANA RICHIE UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR & STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Jabberwocks — the University’s oldest a cappella group — took the stage by storm in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Northeast Quarterfinal. On Boston University’s Tsai Performance Center stage, Alden Forbes ’23 was recognized for her work in planning the set’s dance performances with the “Outstanding Choreography Award” and was immediately wrapped into a group embrace.
At the start of their set, the group danced about the stage in slow, sweeping motions and formed a pyramid around first soloist Forbes as she sang the opening song, “Give You Blue” by Allen Stone. The Jabberwocks guided the audience’s attention to Forbes, creating a dynamic image by
extending their arms down and away from the pyramid.
Dorrit Corwin ’24, former president and current member of the Jabberwocks, told The Herald that she was “surprised” by this recognition.
“We’re singers,” Corwin said. “Most of us don’t dance at all.”
Corwin left the stage thinking that her team “killed it vocally” and that their choreography “did the job.”
“It’s minimalist,” she added. It “brings the competition back to the roots of singing.”
Forbes, a former ballerina with extensive experience creating choreography, told The Herald that preparing the group’s routine was initially challenging because she is “used to choreographing specifically for dancers.”
“A huge part of this was gauging the group’s skill level and (comfort),”
Forbes said. Another challenge was “balancing the necessity for dance moves in the ICCA assignment with showcasing the individual talents and personalities of the group within the set in general,” she added.
Forbes said that she ultimately
about the intersection of race, capitalism and gender. The symposium came just over a year after hooks passed away in December 2021 and Guinier passed away in January 2022.
Day 1: ‘Intellectual giants who challenged the status quo’ Day one of the symposium began with a performance from Shades of Brown, a campus multicultural a cappella group, before President Christina
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Bolsen first appeared on quiz show in 2019, returns for reunion tournament
BY SOFIA BARNETT UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
Justin Bolsen ’26 was hitting a “pretty heavy leg day” in the Nelson Fitness Center last October when he got an email from the executive producer of “Jeopardy!”
Bolsen, who reached the semifinals of the quiz show’s teen tournament in 2019 at age 14, immediately knew: “This was my redemption arc.”
“I read through the email on my phone and I (was) hyperventilating,” Bolsen said. “This has been a huge dream of mine, something that has kept me awake at night. Like, ‘What if I got to go back? What would happen?’ ”
In the email, Bolsen found out he would compete with the other contestants from the high school tournament the season he competed — as well as contestants from a separate tournament the same season, for a total of 27 competitors.
“They brought us back and doubled the numbers and made it crazy,” he
Participatory budgeting aims to include local voices
METRO Residents age 13 and up to vote on use of $1.5 million for health equity initiatives
BY ELYSEE BARAKETT STAFF WRITER
With current distrust of elected officials, intense political debates around the dinner table and a swarm of misinformation on social media, some may feel isolated from decision-making in the democratic process.
Amid these challenges, participatory budgeting offers a “beacon of hope that we can find opportunities for governments to uplift this idea of ‘people power’ in a time when I think you really need it most,” said Jonathan Collins, assistant professor of political science, public policy and education.
Participatory budgeting is a bottom-up investment in public infrastructure where citizens get a direct say in how to fund public projects,
Collins explained.
Approximately $1.5 million total has been allocated to the central Providence and Pawtucket and Central Falls Health Equity Zones — areas that have been impacted by environmental and health burdens — for participatory budgeting. Community members will be able to determine how the funding is spent through participatory budgeting.
The participatory budgeting process begins with representatives from various community organizations connecting with residents to understand the problems they are facing, which can take the form of conversations or field surveys, Collins explained. Then, these representatives turn public preferences into policy proposals that are then voted on by the public.
Dominique Resendes, assistant director of place-based initiatives at One Neighborhood Builders, explained that the steering committee felt it was important to include young
Justin Bolsen ’26 competes on ‘Jeopardy!’
added. “It’s literally like the Hunger Games.”
Bolsen will appear on Thursday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” in this season’s high school reunion tournament, which will air locally at 7:30 p.m. on WPRI 12 and stream on YouTube TV and Paramount+.
Bolsen’s “Jeopardy!” debut took place in 2019 after his grandmother texted him suggesting he audition for the show.
“I’d been in quiz bowl all through-
out middle school and was a pretty big trivia fan at the time,” he said. Through middle school, Bolsen woke up for quiz bowl practice at 6 a.m. five mornings a week, practicing for hours.
For Thursday’s episode — for which filming took place at the end of January — Bolsen described running back and forth between the “Jeopardy!” stage and the “Wheel of Fortune” stage during downtime.
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Pillars on Race exhibit gives look into Providence history
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UpHill Chinese Drama Society hosts spring performance
trade
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Frank Richards of Carter Center discusses slave
, link with blindness
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Panelists cover feminism, diversity, inclusion in higher education
COURTESY OF JUSTIN BOLSEN
Bolsen was 11 years old when he first started quiz bowl training, which required him to attend practice at 6 a.m. five days a week.
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
SEE
SEE BUDGETING PAGE 8 SEE JEOPARDY PAGE 7
JABBERWOCKS
The symposium brought together panelists from around the country to celebrate the works of the two influential scholars.
SYMPOSIUM PAGE 7
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UpHill Chinese Theater Group performs popular ‘Goodbye Mr. Loser’
Cast reflects on script selection, prop-making, rehearsal, performance experience
BY KELVIN JIANG STAFF WRITER
The UpHill Chinese Theater Group hosted three showings of their spring performance “Goodbye Mr. Loser” on Friday and Saturday. The performance was in Chinese, with English subtitles provided on a screen.
“Goodbye Mr. Loser” is a Chinese comedy film released in 2015 adapted from a successful play of the same name that gained significant traction in China, according to Autumn Qiu ’25, the show’s director. She said that the drama society, which includes Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students, chose to put on the show because of the high esteem it holds in the Chinese community. She added that the society was able to secure the rights to the script and the show did not require elaborate props.
“The choices were limited because we didn’t want to bring (a story) that’s too heavy for audiences,” Qiu said.
According to Qiu, the club chose the script in August 2022, with casting occurring in September and rehearsals starting in October. She mentioned that around 30 people auditioned for various roles within the play and 18
actors were selected for the final cast. Qiu added that in addition to hosting auditions, she also scouted tech team members with an interest in lighting, sound and design.
The show’s set and props were built by RISD students, according to Gary Zheng ’24, who played the male lead Xia Luo in the show and was involved in the club’s production last year. “They worked really hard, so we appreciate their work,” he said. “This was the most difficult show in terms of tech that we’ve ever done.”
Some members of the cast had no prior acting experience, while others had extensive theater backgrounds.
“I’ve never auditioned for anything before, so when I got the role, I was overjoyed,” said Olivia He ’26, who played Qiu Ya, another leading character in the show. Ivy Zhuang ’25, who played the female lead character Ma Dongmei, said she has acted in many plays and musicals in high school.
Zhuang told The Herald that she wanted to try something new by joining the show. “I’ve never acted in Chinese before,” she said.
According to Qiu, rehearsals occurred in weekly four-hour blocks in the List Art Center.
Booking a rehearsal space was not a simple process, Qiu said.
“We wanted to book spaces as early as possible because, at Brown, all student performance groups are trying to” reserve rehearsal venues, she said. Qiu added that the cast needed to quickly adapt to the new stage dimensions in Alumnae Hall during tech
week because they had not been able to rehearse there previously.
For He, one of the greatest challenges of the show was maintaining her character’s emotions in times when she had no lines. She added that getting into character occasionally posed a challenge since she disagreed with her character’s decisions at times. “It was hard for me to actually act it, but then I slowly accepted her (personality),” He said.
According to Qiu, around 400 audience members attended the three shows in total. Multiple cast members noted that audience laughter often
was unpredictable, citing discrepancies due to language barriers and the use of subtitles.
“It definitely surprised me,” Zhuang said. During Saturday night’s performance, “around half of them (didn’t) speak Chinese, so they were laughing a little before or after the actual laughing points that we expected.”
The cast became more comfortable as the shows progressed. “I did enjoy the stage a lot more as I performed more,” wrote Jintao Yue ’26, who played supporting male lead Yuan Hua, in an email to The Herald. “There was less anxiety and uncertainty as I
became more confident in my portrayal of the character.”
Audience members Jialiang Zhou ’24 and Xiaoyue Hou ’25 both expressed their enjoyment of the play.
“I know a lot of (the cast) never acted before, but the play was really good (and) everybody’s acting skills were really on point,” Zhou said. Hou added that she really liked that the performance had “a lot of references to Chinese pop culture” and “a lot of scene changes.”
The UpHill Chinese Theater Group hopes to start booking spaces for next year’s rehearsals and showtimes soon,
CALENDAR
TODAY’S EVENTS
Black History Month Trivia
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Room 375
Voro’pi: Art and Education Inbetween Worlds 5:30 p.m. Joukowsky Forum
TOMORROW’S EVENTS
Biomedical Engineering Seminar: Gregory Tietjen, Yale
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Barus and Holley, Room 190
Author Event: Gage Greenwood
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Brown Bookstore
Lunch Talk with: Jamille Pinheiro Dias
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
159 George St.
Magic Lantern Cinema Presents: Alcarràs
6:30 p.m.
Granoff Center
CMES | Performing Legality in Service of Colonialism
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Joukowsky Forum
Build a “Baby” ChatGPT Songwriter: AI/ML Workshop
7:00 p.m.
Friedman Hall, Room 208
2 W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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COURTESY OF AUTUMN QIU
Members of the cast had varying levels of previous acting experience before the play – some had never acted in a show before, while others had extensive theater backgrounds.
Frank Richards discusses ties between river blindness, slavery at lecture
Carter Center senior advisor previously led river blindness eradication efforts
BY RYAN DOHERTY STAFF WRITER
Frank Richards, senior advisor at the Carter Center, a health advocacy organization, spoke on the history and spread of river blindness and the transatlantic slave trade at the annual School of Public Health Black History Month lecture Tuesday afternoon.
Onchocerciasis, more commonly known as river blindness, is a disease spread by parasites found in the Americas and Africa. Its namesake symptom, blindness, is accompanied by severe skin disfigurement and itching.
During his lecture, Richards used DNA sequencing studies to discuss how river blindness in the Americas is a product of the slave trade, as “human encounters with competent (river blindness) vectors were facilitated by (formerly enslaved people) who still harbored O. volvulus worms” — the parasites responsible for onchocerci-
opted for more modest choreography to highlight what she thinks the group does best: singing and building connections.
“I think that’s actually what set us apart and made us stand out, and it made me more comfortable going into the set and everyone else more com-
asis — from Africa.
Richards explained how sites where river blindness was concentrated in the Americas prior to disease elimination efforts coincided with the geographic distribution of formerly enslaved communities.
As director of the Carter Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program from 2005 to 2020, Richards headed mass drug administration programs
backstory of “October Sky,” noting that Forbes and the group worked diligently to ensure that they appropriately approached performing a song of grief.
The song, originally written and performed by singer YEBBA, chronicles her experience mourning the suicide of her mother, reflecting on her memories and processing an irreplaceable loss.
Thornton recalled one rehearsal
using ivermectin, a drug proven to treat the disease.
Richards explained that successful mass drug administration requires community-level action — all community members must take treatments to stop the spread of an infectious disease. These programs have found success within South and Central America, causing 94% of the at-risk population in the Americas to no longer require
It “is a really powerful aspect of group performance and a cappella that I think often goes unnoticed … I’m really glad and proud that we tapped into that.”
The group’s choreography for the song featured slow motions of anguish, with members physically leaning on each other for support, collapsing to the ground and kneeling around soloist Christine Alcindor ’25 with extended
treatment, according to Richards. The communities in which river blindness persists in the Americas today are largely located in remote areas of the Amazon, he added.
According to Richards, attempting to reach complete disease elimination faces challenges and diminishing returns. Like with any disease, total elimination efforts of river blindness attract controversy due to their cost-
liness, he added.
But completely eliminating a disease comes with significant payoffs for health equity, Richards explained. “Elimination programs are one of the greatest accomplishments you could have in public health,” he said.
Throughout the lecture, Richards reminded audience members of the Carter Center’s founder and and former president Jimmy Carter’s significance in combating river blindness, recalling that he was “essential for advocacy, for the news media wanting to know what is going on, for political support … and access to donors.”
Audience members found the historical lens of the lecture particularly insightful. Levell Williams GS, a second-year MPH student and health equity scholar, said he appreciated “the (elements) of history and epidemiology and how those can relate to one another” in the lecture.
First-year MPH student Nadia Tsado GS, who also attended the lecture, told The Herald that it is “always important to look at the historical context of any disease or ailment that you’re looking at. … That tells a bigger picture.”
fortable — being able to connect with each other first, and then move into the dancing department,” she said.
Noah Glickman ’23 attended the performance and called the Jabberwocks’ choreography for “October Sky,” the third and final song of their set, “incredibly poignant” and “particularly moving.”
“There was one particular moment where the song was discussing a family photograph,” Glickman said. “And (they) really evoked the nostalgia … (of) little kids sitting on the floor … (with) parents … consoling each other, and I really felt like her choreography evoked that emotion.”
Benjamin Thornton ’24, the group’s music director, reflected on the solemn
where the group discussed what the song meant to each of them. He said it was “particularly touching to hear people’s connection to themes of loss, whether it be a person or a thing.”
Thornton added that while writing the choreography, Forbes drew from each group member’s interpretation of the song to shape the final choreography.
It “was certainly a heavy topic to grapple with as a group,” Thornton said. “I think Alden’s choreography did a really strong job of trying to tell that story of loss.”
“It was just really inspiring and meaningful to hear everyone’s interpretation of what the song meant to them and then to come together and have a shared interpretation,” he added.
arms, among several other moves.
Kennedy Waite ’23.5, a group member who was unable to perform due to vocal rest, said that the group’s performance was “phenomenal.”
“I feel like they’re all celebrities,” she said. “I’m just so unbelievably proud.”
Waite added that this performance was a “big deal,” explaining that the competition marked the group’s first time back into the world of competitive collegiate a cappella since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is our first time as a group doing this,” Waite said, explaining that the current formation of the group “has never competed … so this makes me really excited.”
W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 3 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
UNIVERSITY NEWS
REIHAN ABAR / HERALD
As director of the Carter Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program from 2005 to 2020, Frank Richards headed mass drug administration programs using ivermectin, a drug proven to treat river blindness.
JABBERWOCKS FROM PAGE 1
DANA RICHIE / HERALD
Alden Forbes ’23, a former ballerina with extensive experience creating choreography, told The Herald that preparing the routine was challenging because she is “used to choreographing specifically for dancers.”
SPORTS
Track and field teams win 14 gold medals in Brown Invitational
Brooke Ury ’24 breaks school record in 60-meter hurdles with 8.49-second finish
BY LYDELL DYER STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, the men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted Bryant University, Hartford College, Harvard, Providence College, the University of Rhode Island and Wesleyan University in the Brown Invitational. This was the teams’ last competition before next week’s Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships. In their final home meet of the season, the Bears put on a show for their fans, earning a cumulative 14 gold medals.
The men’s and women’s teams also each won their respective team competitions with the men’s team recording a total of 152 points and the women’s team racking up 172 total points.
According to Brooke Ury ’24, her coach whispered a reminder in her ears before she laced up for the 60-meter
hurdles — “This is your home turf — show them this is your house.” Ury did just that, setting a new personal best and breaking a 30-year-old program record after crossing the finish line in 8.49 seconds. The previous record was set by Susan Smith ’93 in 1993 after her 8.50-second finish. Ury now ranks first on the team’s all-time leaderboard with the fastest indoor 60-meter hurdles in program history.
“I think we went into this with a lot of really high expectations, and we were able to meet them, if not surpass them,” Ury said. “We just hit this momentum that made us unstoppable.”
Bruno continued its season-long domination in the jumps, taking home gold medals in the men’s and women’s high, triple and long jumps. For the men’s team, the Bears’ efforts were spurred by Zach Love ’24, who won the long jump with a 6.92-meter leap and the triple jump with 13.55 meters.
“This was our last meet before (the) Ivy League Championships, so we are just trying to fine-tune some things,” Love said. “The goal for (Heptagonals) the same as always: Run fast, Love’s
was complemented by stellar performances from his teammates. John McNeil ’24 won the men’s high jump after clearing a height of 2.12 meters. Nene Mokonchu ’26 out-jumped her opponents in the women’s high jump, landing the top spot on the podium after surpassing 1.66 meters. The long and triple jumps were also successful for Bruno: Grace Desmond ’23 secured her gold medal after a 4.97-meter long jump and Daryn Davis ’24 did the same in the triple jump after an 11.60-meter finish.
“We had school records today, we had (personal bests) today (and) we had people tying their” personal bests, Head Coach Ken Hunt told The Herald following the meet. “Overall, what’s more important to go along with those performances is the energy. We are starting to see energy here that … just has not been here (before). And that’s the energy of winners.”
The Bears kept that energy high by showing off their speed, racing to victory in the men’s 60-meter dash. Solomon Miller ’26 finished in first place,
line in 6.96 seconds. In a dominant performance, Bruno not only took home first, but second and third places in the race as well: JonCarlo Migaly ’24 and Daniel Sarisky ’25 both finished in under seven seconds, with times of 6.98 and 6.99 seconds, respectively.
Even with obstacles in the way, the Bears could not be stopped. Marcus Gillespie ’24 hurdled to victory in the men’s 60-meter dash after crossing the plane in 8.14 seconds.
Brown also cruised through the middle-distance races. Amy Willig ’23 led the pack in the women’s 500-meter, ascending to the top of the podium with a time of 1 minute, 17.49 seconds. The men’s mile saw Brown take home all three podium positions. John Farrell ’26 won the race in 4 minutes, 20.78 seconds. Geordie Young ’23 was a close second with a time of 4 minutes, 23.22 seconds and Justin Hickey ’25 was right behind him, crossing the finish line in 4 minutes, 24.14 seconds.
both the men’s and women’s teams taking home the gold.
Gabe Cannavo ’23 paced himself at the beginning of the race, following close behind two Hartford runners. Around seven minutes into the race, he put on the burners, overtaking both Hartford runners and propelling himself into first place. Within the next 40 seconds, he lapped two other runners. After an intense 9 minutes, 5.27 seconds, Cannavo crossed the finish line to earn first place.
Grace Dorantes ’23 did the same on the women’s side. Gliding past the finish line in 10 minutes, 17.79 seconds, Dorantes not only defeated the rest of her heat but also set a new personal best.
The track and field teams will now prepare for next weekend’s Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships at Dartmouth. “The most important thing that’s going to benefit us next week as a team,” Hunt said looking ahead to the weekend, is “having that right energy.”
SPORTS
Women’s basketball triumphs over Penn 68-59, falls to Princeton 80-37
Grace Arnolie ’26 named Ivy League Rookie of the Week after high-scoring game
BY DENNIS CAREY
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
This past weekend, the women’s basketball team (11-13, 4-8 Ivy) played a pair of home games against strong Ivy League opponents. After a crushing 80-37 loss to Princeton (19-5, 10-2 Ivy) Friday night, the Bears got redemption with a 68-59 win over the University of Pennsylvania (16-9, 8-4 Ivy) Saturday.
“Any time you can play a team for a second time and show that you have grown a lot as a team is really exciting,” said Head Coach Monique LeBlanc, referencing a loss against Penn earlier in the season. “It validates the progress that they’ve made.”
While the team put up strong per-
formances across the board against Penn, Alyssa Moreland ’26 and Grace Arnolie ’26 led the charge. Moreland had 14 points with three blocks, three steals and eight rebounds, and was effective on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Arnolie was the Bears’s main offensive weapon, scoring 20 points with six 3-pointers. This strong performance led to Arnolie’s selection as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the third time this season.
“Honestly, it’s just the way that our team plays together. Over the course of the season we’ve learned to (work) so well together that we get each other open shots,” Arnolie said. “Being able to get my shots and rhythm by great passes from my teammates is what allows me to sink them.”
Saturday’s game got off to a difficult start for the Bears: Penn went on a quick 10-3 run to take a large lead early in the first quarter. But Bruno was able to recover thanks to Arnolie’s shooting in the first-quarter, who shot 60% from be-
hind the arc, scoring nine of the Bear’s 14 points in the quarter.
Despite their early seven-point deficit, Brown was eventually able to tie the score at 14 apiece with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter. But the Quakers were able to break away and score in the period’s final minute, leaving the Bears down 16-14 entering the second quarter.
The Bears also struggled to grab rebounds early in the first quarter — nine of Penn’s 16 points were second-chance points off offensive rebounds.
Despite the close score entering the second quarter, the Bears quickly fell behind. Arnolie went quiet for the period and Bruno struggled to score as the Quakers shot effectively. Shooting 42.1% from the field and 62.5% from behind the arc, Penn was able to outscore the Bears 21-11 in the quarter after Bruno only shot 38.5% from the field and 25% from behind the arc. The Bears were able to limit second-chance points, but their shooting defense remained a weakness, as they were out-
shot in each of the first two periods.
While the Bears entered halftime down 37-25, they got off to a scorching start in the third quarter and carried the momentum for the rest of the game. In a strong third quarter, the Bears outscored the Quakers 26-14 and tied them on four occasions.
The first-year duo of Moreland and Arnolie powered the run, with Moreland scoring six and Arnolie adding nine points on three 3-pointers. Brown was also able to outscore Penn 6-4 on second-chance points and out-rebounded them 8-7.
“We’ve been working for a while about coming into the third quarter and (going) on a run,” Moreland said. After a halftime pep talk, our goal was to say, “‘now we’re gonna play even better,’ and that’s what we did today.”
The shooting defense also improved immensely, and Penn was unable to easily get shots off, shooting only 37.5% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc.
Entering the fourth quarter with the
game tied, the Bears had momentum on their side. Moreland shined in the period, notching eight points and five rebounds to seal the game for Brown. She also scored two clutch late-game breakaway baskets to secure four crucial points for the Bears.
The Bears’ defense during the final frame was crushing, allowing only 23.5% shooting from the field and no makes from behind the arc. The Bears outscored the Quakers 17-8 in the fourth quarter to secure a 68-59 victory.
“It means a lot,” said Arnolie. “We’ve been working so hard and we’re just coming off a tough loss (the previous) night, and it was really just a great boost to our confidence (that) showed us how we’ve been improving and that when we really focus on the details and on working together … we can beat anyone.”
The Bears remain at home this Saturday with a game against Columbia at 4 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
4 W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023
performance
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KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
Women’s hockey ends winningest season in 17 years with Dartmouth loss
Lone goal by Ellie Gauvin ’26 not enough for Bears to secure season-end victory
BY AUSTIN XIANG STAFF WRITER
The women’s ice hockey team (9-191, 7-15-0 ECAC) fell short in a defensive battle against Dartmouth (8-210, 4-18-0 ECAC) on Saturday afternoon, losing by a final score of 2-1. The loss spoiled the team’s senior night and season finale, preventing Bruno from reaching their first double-digit win season since 2006-07.
spite Dartmouth’s nine shots on goal versus Brown’s two. They also survived a Dartmouth power play after a tripping penalty on defender Cameron Sikich ’25.
Dartmouth “played well off the start,” said defender Ellie Gauvin ’26. “That’s something we were battling with all year.”
Nearly four minutes into the second period, Dartmouth fended off Bruno’s attack and initiated a two-on-one rush on defender Cassidy Piersiak ’24. Goalie Kaley Doyle ’24 deflected the initial shot from Dartmouth’s Abby Grexton off her leg pads, but the second shot off the rebound was ruled a goal despite Doyle’s attempt to lay out and trap the puck with her blocker.
But Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi quickly challenged the goal. After a lengthy video review, the call was over-
“I believe my players,” Ruzzi said. “Our goaltender was telling us it was under her blocker (and) it didn’t go in, so we chal -
lenged that. There’s nothing to lose there at that point.”
Brown was later awarded a power play from a tripping penalty on the Big Green, but the Bears failed to capitalize off it and the game remained scoreless.
Nearly halfway through the second period, a pair of penalties gave Brown just over a minute to put points on the board with a 5-on-3 skater advantage. But the Bears’ offense could not get going and Dartmouth kept Bruno at bay, even with Brown’s offense spending most of the power play in the attacking zone.
“We just did not play to our style of play,” Ruzzi said. “We weren’t making simple plays. We were making it a little easy on them.”
The game was still scoreless heading into the third period, but a hold called on defender Meadow Carman ’25 and a boarding penalty on Sikich gave Dartmouth their own 5-on-3 power play five minutes into the third. This time Dartmouth converted, with Tiffany Hill sneaking the puck behind Doyle’s back on a rebound, putting the Big Green up 1-0.
Later, an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Dartmouth gave the Bears yet another two-minute power play. Just 15 seconds in, Gauvin fired a shot from
the left point and snuck it by the left side of the opposing goalie, opening the scoring for Brown and tying the game at one apiece.
“It just shows the importance of getting pucks on net,” Gauvin said.
But the game remained tied for less than a minute, with Dartmouth’s Sydney Herrington redirecting an airborne puck to push it above the sight of Doyle and into the goal.
With under four minutes to play in the game, Ruzzi opted for an aggressive approach and called for an empty net. Despite the extra attacker, the Bears were unable to make a final push and ultimately fell to the Big Green 2-1.
“I almost think today was a day where the emotions got the best of them,” Ruzzi said. “You think about when you go into this game that it’ll be the last one together — I think they’re trying a little bit too hard and doing some things that were really uncharacteristic for the team, but certainly the effort was there.”
The game was the last for seniors Eva Durandeau ’23, Vivian Lu ’23 and captain Madie Stockfish ’23, who were honored prior to the game.
“It was really bittersweet,” Stockfish said. “I’m happy to be celebrating the
Men’s basketball drops games against Princeton, Penn
a 9-4 run.
BY ABE WYETT STAFF WRITER
On Friday and Saturday, the men’s basketball team (13-12, 6-6 Ivy) faced off against Princeton (17-8, 8-4 Ivy) and Penn (16-11, 8-4 Ivy).
Princeton handed Bruno a 78-67 loss, and Penn dominated, winning 90-69.
After Brown leapt to third in the Ivy League standings with a triumph over Cornell the previous weekend, Brown’s losses pushed them to fifth in the Ivy League rankings, one spot from qualifying for the Ivy League tournament.
“I don’t think what we saw this weekend is who we are, but we have to own that it is who we were this weekend,” said Head Coach Mike Martin ’04 in a post-game press conference. “I’m confident we will learn from it.”
It “wasn’t the week we (were) expecting to have, but a perfect opportunity is up ahead for us to bounce back,” wrote Aaron Cooley ’25 in a message to The Herald. “Last week we simply got outplayed, but we’re not a team that’ll let adversity keep our head low.”
Princeton 78, Brown 67
Cooley, Nana Owusu-Anane ’25, Kino Lilly Jr. ’25, Dan Friday ’24 and Paxson Wojcik ’23 started in the game against Princeton. Brown did not lead at any point in the game, scoring their first point down 6-0 in the fourth minute on a free throw by Friday.
With 8:15 left in the first half, Princeton led 25-14. Owusu-Anane snagged an offensive rebound — one of his seven of the game — leading to a dunk that would spark an 8-0 run for the Bears to make the score 25-22. But Princeton continued to pull away, finishing the half leading 39-29.
Princeton kept up their strong play to begin the second half, taking a 5136 lead with 13:46 left on the clock.
Kimo Ferrari ’24 and Felix Kloman ’24 combined for Bruno’s next nine points, cutting the deficit to 10 on
The Bears would inch as close as eight points, trailing 55-47 with eight minutes to play, but Princeton’s strong inside play allowed them to hold their lead, ultimately prevailing 78-67 over the Bears.
Owusu-Anane tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Wojcik and Lilly Jr. scored 15 and 10 points, respectively. Bruno reached the charity stripe 34 times against Princeton, but their woes at the line continued as they went just 23-34 (67.6%) from the line. With a cumulative free-throw percentage of 62.53%, the Bears rank 347th out of 352 D-1 teams in freethrow percentage over the course of the season. Brown also shot 2156 (37.5%) from the field and 2-16 (12.5%) from behind the arc against Princeton.
Penn 90, Brown 69
The following day, Brown fell to Penn 90-69. The Quakers, after beginning the game leading 9-0 — and holding Bruno scoreless for three minutes — led for the entirety of the contest.
“We weren’t as ready as we needed
program and how far it’s come, but it’s also really sad that it’s my last athletic game in my career.”
Ruzzi commended the seniors on their contributions to the team, both on and off the ice.
“When you lift up your program and take it to the next level, and when you graduate and you watch it skyrocket — that’s something that’s always gonna be theirs,” Ruzzi said. “They are why we are growing as a program, not just their play. Like I told them in the locker room, it’s not really about what we do on the ice — it’s what they’re building (in) that locker room.”
Despite ending the year with a loss, the team still had its most successful season in recent memory. Though they faced a number of injuries, Ruzzi’s second year as head coach saw the team secure their most wins in 17 years. She said the team will look to build off this season with more depth and development.
“We’re going to take our talent to the next level by developing the players we have here and bringing in a higher level of talent,” Ruzzi said. “I’m really excited about the direction we’re going but it all depends on how we show up in the fall.”
to be to compete at the level we need ed to tonight and that falls on me as a head coach,” Martin said regarding Penn’s hot start. “I have to get these guys more ready to play at a higher level from the very beginning.”
Penn controlled the game on both ends of the court in the first half, leading by as much as 27 points. The two teams entered halftime with the score at 47-29 in Penn’s favor.
The Quakers took a game-high 34-point lead, 76-42, with 10:31 left in the match. Wojcik then hit backto-back threes to spark a run that would bring Brown within 18, but the deficit proved too large to overcome, with Penn winning 90-69.
Wojcik, the Bears’ top scorer, tallied 24 points on 6-10 shooting (60%) and scored nine points of his 24 from the free-throw line. Perry Cowan ’23 contributed nine points and Owusu-Anane grabbed 15 rebounds along with three blocks.
The Bears shot 22-65 from the field (33.8%) and an impressive 1227 (44.4%) from three-point range. With a 13-19 (68.4%) performance from the free-throw line, Bruno was
ing Cornell the previous weekend in front of a lively home crowd, the Bears struggled when playing on the road.
“Playing at home in front of a huge crowd is always great and allows us to feed off of the energy from our fans,” Wojcik wrote in a message to The Herald. “Road games are always tough, but I don’t think being on the road affected our play.”
“I think the difference between Cornell and this past week is that we had to find our own energy to get us going,” Cooley added. “If we want to get this last regular season road game against Columbia in the winner’s column, we’re going to have to shift the energy and level of focus that we play with.”
Brown faces off against Columbia in New York on Friday at 2 p.m. in its final road match and penultimate contest of the season. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 5 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
SPORTS
SPORTS
Bruno slips to fifth place in Ivy League rankings with two critical losses
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
Sender ’25: A Rhode Island town tried to guide its own development. The state should listen to its residents.
Set on Point Judith in the town of Narragansett, the picturesque community of Galilee is currently engaged in a battle over the future of its sizable harbor, a fight which could have far-reaching consequences. The small village of just 3,400 is one of the most important economic centers in the state — it is the largest port in Rhode Island and responsible for tens of millions of dollars’ worth of trade every year, mostly in seafood. Just beyond the port is a five-acre plot of land that used to be an inn, now opened up for a large development opportunity right in the heart of the community. The land, owned by the state’s Department of Environmental Management, once seemed destined for the same fate that countless parcels in small towns across America have faced. The state leased the land to PRI X, a joint venture between Paolino Properties and Procaccianti Companies, which announced ambitious plans last fall to largely convert it into a parking lot. In the face of this disappointing vision, the town stepped up by not just rejecting this plan but also presenting their vision which is dynamic and sets a standard in America for the planning of dense mixed-use development. The Galilee community must receive state support to ensure that its vision is not crushed by outside interests — demonstrating to small towns nationwide that they have the power to reject soulless corporate development.
This story begins in 2005, when PRI X first received the lease to the properties making up the lot. Since then, they have done little to maintain the property, letting it fall into disrepair and “creating a dangerous blighted condition,” Narragansett Town Councilwoman Ewa Dzwierzynski previously told GoLocal-
Prov. Over the last two years, RIDEM requested proposals for the development of the full property — before rejecting all of them and deciding to permanently break the property up into three lots, two of which would be used for parking operated by PRI X, who proposed sig-
well as new commercial space, all surrounded by green space, to make the area a truly vibrant community center. This plan reflects the vision of the community and was drafted to meet their needs. It has significant support, and the only thing holding them back is
Galilee shows how small towns can use the resources within their communities to direct local development and draw on the public in holistically planning for the future of their town — now it just needs the state’s support to make their plans a reality.
Other small towns, in desperate need of revitalization, should take from Galilee’s playbook and reclaim their agency in directing their future. There are many ways this can be done, and Galilee has aptly demonstrated the power that community-oriented planning can have. We should all hope that more communities take note.
nificant amounts of parking in their plans for the lot. While PRI X owns the inn building, it leases the land for parking from the state. But last summer, the state paused all plans to do a hazardous materials assessment. And just last week, the town of Narragansett ordered PRI X to demolish the old building.
Lost in this shuffle was a more ambitious plan from the town to repurpose the site into a complete town center. Substantial parking would remain, but there would also be a small hotel, a large mixed-use development and landscaped green space allowing for town gatherings and drawing more people to the port. Should this project succeed, the town would follow up with plans to expand into the surrounding lots, building new housing as
RIDEM’s decision to maintain a large surface parking lot.
Galilee has done an incredible amount of grassroots work already and can win this fight with sustained effort. It is now time for state lawmakers to step in — and, when the environmental review process ends, direct RIDEM to recognize the desires of the town, not the vested interests of PRI X to turn the area into parking. The importance of the story of Galilee to small towns the nation over should not be understated. It is hard for a small town to stand up to wealthy developers — it is even harder for those towns to develop their own responses. Galilee can become one of the most important case studies for how small towns can take their futures into their own hands.
The story of small-town America getting paved over by big developers is not new. What is new, however, is the incredible response the community of Galilee has mounted. The petition in support of community-driven plans for the land has over 4,000 signatures, and their vision for the future is bold. If they succeed, they would demonstrate that communities can decide their own fate when they assert themselves. It will put developers on notice and let them know they cannot count on the disorganization of small towns to offer no resistance to their desires. Hopefully, the story of Galilee can inspire other small towns across the nation to demonstrate not just a commitment to oppose bad development, but a commitment to make something new on their own terms.
Gabe Sender ’25 can be reached at gabriel_ sender@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.
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6 W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
“Galilee can become one of the most important case studies for how small towns can take their futures into their own hands”
The whole process was a “blur,” he said.
“I got up on the podium and my hands (were) starting to sweat a little bit,” he said. “My hands (were) really shaky and I was so nervous. I was trying to make jokes with the other contestants to loosen myself up a little bit.”
But Bolsen said that once the game began, everything became “automatic.”
“I’ve been trained in trivia for basically my whole life — it’s just a skill that (I) can tap into,” he explained. “The trivia version of me is an entirely different person.”
Gus LaFave ’26, one of Bolsen’s
SYMPOSIUM FROM PAGE 1
Paxson P’19 made introductory remarks.
In her welcome speech, Paxson described Guinier and hooks as “intellectual giants who challenged the status quo and fought to ensure that the voices of Black women were heard.”
The symposium “represents one of the many ways that Brown reaffirms our values as a community that, first and foremost, advances knowledge, welcomes diversity and respects human dignity,” she said.
Following Paxson’s remarks, Professor of Sociology Prudence Carter introduced and moderated a discussion between former University President Ruth Simmons — who joined via video chat — and Crystal Williams, president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
Simmons served as the University’s 18th president from 2001 to 2012 and was the first Black president of an Ivy League university. She currently serves as president of Prairie View A&M University, though she plans to step down at the end
METRO
close friends, called Bolsen “a force of nature.”
LaFave recalled Bolsen’s preparation process, as he went from “doing his classwork, to the gym, straight to studying obscure Middle Ages royalty and still making our dinner plans early,” he told The Herald.
Bolsen “would tell us to talk about any obscure interests we might have, and (he would) sit back and listen, absorbing information with a remarkable attention to detail and nuance,” LaFave added. “If you were to tell me that someone I knew was going to be on ‘Jeopardy!’, it would have to be Justin Bolsen.”
Benjamin Ringel ’26, another one of Bolsen’s friends on campus, said he “swears (Bolsen) knows everything
of February to join Rice University as a distinguished fellow.
Williams, who previously served as vice president and associate provost for community and inclusion at Boston University, was named RISD’s 18th president in December 2021, becoming the school’s first Black president. Together, the two discussed the importance of diversity in education.
According to Simmons, education played a critical role in reshaping society after the Jim Crow era. “Lies were unmasked” through education, she said.
Williams added that diversity is crucial to improving education. “When you have multiple perspectives around the table, the knowledge that is generated at that table is fundamentally deeper, wiser, broader (and) better,” she said.
Both speakers agreed that working on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion is an inherently complex process, as Williams cited the important role institutional leaders play in facilitating discussions about these issues.
Carter also asked the panelists to
about everything.”
“When I got into Brown, people told me I’d be going to a place full of some of the smartest people I’d ever meet. When I think about that, I think about Justin,” Ringel said. “Over winter break, I let him borrow my Quizlet Plus account to study for ‘Jeopardy!’, and every day I got an email notifying me about how much time he’d spent reviewing flashcards.”
“I have a lot of respect for his mentality about the whole thing,” he added. “He’s the opposite of the ‘I’m not here to make friends’ guy. The way he described the other contestants, now his buddies, was really glowing.”
Teagan O’Sullivan, Bolsen’s fellow “Jeopardy!” competitor and a first-year student at American University, met Bolsen at the 2019 teen tournament
share their thoughts on the future of affirmative action in the face of this summer’s upcoming Supreme Court ruling — which could overturn race-conscious admissions in American colleges and universities. Simmons and Williams both expressed concerns about educational access becoming more restrictive if the court strikes down affirmative action.
Still, Simmons added that she believes a comparable policy will replace affirmative action if it is struck down.
Later in the day, Danielle Holley, dean of Howard University’s School of Law, and Tricia Rose, professor of Africana studies spoke. Another session focused on Black women in law, featuring Gerald Torres, professor of environmental justice and professor of law at Yale, and moderated by Harvard professor of African and African American studies Evelynn M. Hammonds, also a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Day 2: ‘bell never hesitated to tell you what’s what’
and has considered him a “good friend since that time.”
O’Sullivan explained that while she and Bolsen met at the tournament, they had never competed against each other until this year’s reunion tournament.
“Playing against each other this time was fun, yet bittersweet,” O’Sullivan wrote in a message to The Herald. “You never want to have to play against people you’re close with, but … being able to compete against him made it a bit more fun and relaxed. Nothing felt competitive or cutthroat.”
O’Sullivan added that Bolsen’s “charismatic yet laid-back personality” makes him “both a great TV contestant and person to be around.”
According to O’Sullivan, the group
Guy-Sheftall and M. Shadee Malaklou, director and founder of the bell hooks center at Berea College, kicked off the symposium’s second day with a conversation. Both speakers worked closely with hooks throughout their careers.
Reflecting on her 40-year friendship with hooks, Guy-Sheftall said that what she came to “cherish about the embrace of a dissonant feminist identity,” she learned in conversations with hooks and from reading her work.
Guy-Sheftall noted that she first met hooks at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in 1981, where hooks was promoting her first book. She recalled sharing her room with hooks after being informed that hooks could not afford a place to sleep.
The two panelists received questions about challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion, with a focus on bans on hooks’ writings in schools — such as Florida’s rejection of Advanced Placement African American Studies’ initial curriculum. Malaklou said that while she is upset access to hooks’ work has been restricted,
atmosphere was “incredibly pleasant.”
“We have all grown so much since our first ‘Jeopardy!’ appearances, but even with this passage of time and the amount of change we have all undergone, we have maintained a sense of camaraderie that was ultra-present as we taped,” she wrote.
As for Bolsen, building relationships motivates him in his continued pursuits of trivia and knowledge.
“I see trivia as a way to connect with people,” Bolsen told The Herald. “It helps me relate to people in general. Like, if one of my friends asks if I’ve read a particular book that they’re into, I can be like ‘oh my god, yeah I had to read it while studying for quiz bowl.’ I can talk to people about so many things.”
she finds power in hooks’ work existing “outside of the panopticon of the white gaze.”
Malaklou also worked closely with hooks and spent time with her in the final years of her life. While reflecting on this relationship, Malaklou remembered hooks calling on her to improve the curriculum at Berea and address faults in her own life.
“bell never hesitated to tell you what’s what,” Malaklou said.
The day also included a discussion titled “writers and intellectuals on bell hooks,” featuring Riché Richardson, professor of African American literature at Cornell, writer and activist Rebecca Walker and DaMaris B. Hill, professor of creative writing, English and African American studies at the University of Kentucky. Noliwe Rooks, chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown, moderated the discussion.
A third and final panel focused on “wild women in the world,” featuring Rooks, Hammonds and Guy-Sheftall, moderated by Carey-Butler.
Providence City Council and City Archives host Pillars on Race event
Black History Month
BY AVANI GHOSH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Providence City Council and the Providence City Archives hosted their annual Pillars on Race event in honor of Black History Month on Friday. The event included curated exhibits focused on racial history in Rhode Island looking at the “Four Pillars of Progress and Stagnation” — which include housing, education, development and structural racism, according to the event’s flyer.
City Archivist Caleb Horton said that the exhibit traces Providence’s racial history through the story of immigration from Cape Verde and examines the historical development of Fox Point, College Hill and South Providence. To explore this narrative, the exhibit explores historic racial discrimination in housing — including through local maps of redlining — as well as the contributions of housing activist and former Rhode Island State Rep. Maria Lopes and other topics.
For City Councilor Mary Kay Harris, the event signified change and progress, while giving the public a chance to reflect on what she described as often-hidden
narratives. “I never had the opportunity to learn about Black history. I never had the opportunity to learn about my history,” Harris said. “Black history is American history.”
Brandon Brown, project procurement manager for the exhibit, said that the event offered a unique opportunity for attendees to engage with and immerse themselves in Providence’s history of racial inequity.
“Action has bred through the gathering of people,” Horton added. Even though there are many ways to learn about Black history on the internet, the tangibility of the historical artifacts and their personal connection with the community “makes an impact to make some memory.”
Mike Rollins, executive director of the East Side/Mount Hope YMCA and a professional saxophonist, played jazz at the event.
“Music is a healer. It’s a connector of people of all walks of life,” Rollins said at the event. For him, jazz is a celebration of Black history, culture and art — but also a way to unify people.
“Music has no face. Music has no color, no gender, no identity,” Rollins said. “What I’m doing, everyone can feel, and I can translate that into sound everyone can pick up.”
Poet Damont Combs — also known as Mr. Orange Live — performed spoken word poetry at the event. His three poems told the stories of the unfair treatment
of Black people throughout history, Black homelessness and structural racism — as well as strength and hope within the Black community.
Combs said at the event that remembering these stories is important: “A library is filled with books. But, if no one
reads them, then where is the knowledge going?”
“There are still so many instances of injustices in our city. There is still so much work to be done,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said in his speech at the event. “It’s all of our obligation to take
action to right those wrongs.”
Horton noted that he hopes that attendees left the event with an understanding that “we stand on the shoulders of giants,” as young activists continue the fight of the “people that came before us.”
W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 7 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
JEOPARDY FROM PAGE 1
exhibit explores racial inequity in Providence from 1935 to present
AVANI GHOSH / HERALD
The event featured performances such as spoken word poetry by Damont Combs and a jazz performance by Mike Rollins. “Music is a healer. It’s a connector of people of all walks of life,” Rollins said.
people in this decision-making process because a lot of these policies impact them. Resendes explained that the voting age for the participatory budget process is therefore 13 years old. Assistant Director of Collective Impact Lucy Berman ’19 added that this gets young people excited to register and show up for the polls and instills good voting habits early on.
Participatory budgeting in Health Equity Zones Health Equity Zoning targets “structural drivers that are leading to poor health outcomes in populations,” said Christopher Ausura, HEZ initiative director for RIDOH. He said that historically, public health officials focused on interventions that were mostly specialized rather than holistic, but these interventions were low-impact and high-cost.
Ausura said that although communities may face similar problems, the roots of the issues are caused by different factors, such as infrastructure, physical environment or historic inequity from redlining.
“We’re really trying to address the underlying structural barriers and the systems and institutions that have, whether intentionally or unintentionally, created these barriers” in accessing health care, he said.
“We are bringing the people who understand the problems and have the answers and know how to solve them to the table — not in a transactional token way, but building their ability to lead and drive long-term change,” Ausura added.
ONE Neighborhood Builders
ONE Neighborhood Builders is a nonprofit committed to developing affordable housing and connecting with residents to foster “healthy, vibrant and safe communities,” according to their participatory budgeting press release. ONB will facilitate the participatory budgeting process to determine how $1 million in state funds will be invested in central Providence.
The group started working with participatory budgeting in Olneyville in 2015, and later expanded to include other neighborhoods in central Providence, Berman said.
Berman explained that there are many barriers to voting, such as being undocumented, being unable to take off work to go to the polls, not feeling informed enough or not trusting the government. Participatory budgeting, on the other hand, is “a very low-barrier, multi-pronged approach to voting that has online options, multi-day in-person options, different locations and ballots in different languages,” Berman said. “We’re hoping that this can have a long-term impact on voter behavior and on civic engagement.”
Resendes explained that Health Equity Zoning addresses immediate needs — such as connecting people with rent support, transportation and translation services — while working to remove structural barriers to positive health outcomes.
Ausura said that the life expectancy in Rhode Island is “not trending in the right direction, which means we’re not succeeding at the bottom-line mission to protect the health of the public and advance positive outcomes for the communities across the state.”
Ausura said that the communities receiving funding were determined by
looking at factors like social vulnerability, population density and racial demographics. Other social programs in place are just safety nets but don’t break the greater patterns of inequality, he explained. Working with the community through HEZ strives to get to the root of these problems.
Community Impact
Jennifer Recinos, a member of ONB’s Resident Advisory Council, explained that she is both hopeful and skeptical about the participatory budgeting process. She said that this distrust “comes from a big disappointment in being raised in Providence and seeing how the schools have failed us, how the social justice systems
have failed us or how the police have failed us.”
In her role, Recinos works on bringing as many people as she can into the decision-making process. She also noted that the number of people from the community participating in their meetings has increased over time, and the group has created a way for the community to feel connected.
“There’s the actual investment that’s going to be made through the participatory budgeting initiative and health equity in these communities,” Collins said. “But then there’s a secondary thing, which is this larger awareness that is created around the conversations that are
happening in these health equity zones, and I think the latter is the thing that I find maybe even more inspiring.”
Collins said that participatory budgeting is becoming “contagious” in the state, and the process has been used for issues around education. The state is “establishing itself as one of the premier beacons for participatory democracy, and I think the world will be watching.”
Recinos said this work has illuminated several community needs — such as water fountains, homeless shelters and warm places for people to sit. “A million dollars feels like a lot but it’s a drop in the bucket when it comes to the systemic issues that are here,” she added.
8 W EDNESDAY, F EBRUARY 22, 2023 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
BUDGETING FROM PAGE 1
ELYSEE BARAKETT / HERALD