4-26-2024 Print Edition

NEWS, 3

Rally will occur Monday at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center CE LE B RATIN G

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 , 2024

FEATURES, 4

First F1 Arcade in U.S. opens in Seaport OVE R

50

YE A RS

O F

LIFESTYLE, 7

LETTER, 12

House music has roots deeper than we acknowledge I N DE PE N DE N T

STU D E NT

Editor-in-Chief Andrew Burke-Stevenson signs off J O U R NA LI S M

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR LV. VOLUME A. ISSUE IV

UPCOMING: The class of 2024 BU Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 19 at 1 p.m. on Nickerson Field.

Director of BU track and field, cross country Students, administration steps down following abuse allegations

uncertain about BUGWU strike as semester ends

BY MARA MELLITS AND BRENDAN GALVIN Investigative Editor and Sports Editor

After five years as the director of Boston University’s track and field and cross country teams, Gabe Sanders stepped down Thursday afternoon, according to a press release from BU Athletics.

Multiple spoken accounts from team alumni, former assistant coaches and one current athlete detailed alleged verbal and emotional abuse by Sanders that occurred since he became director in August 2019.

He previously served as the assistant coach, where “he was the program’s recruiting coordinator and responsible for coaching student-athletes in sprints, hurdles and relay events” from September 2008 to October 2015, according to Sanders’ BU Athletics biography. He then spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford University.

BU Athletics placed Sanders on paid administrative leave on April 4. Athletes were notified of Sanders’ leave on the same day in an email from BU Athletics Director Drew Marrochello.

BU Athletics declined to comment.

BY ABIGAIL HASSAN AND MAYA MITCHELL City Associate Editor and Campus Co-Editor

ZACH SCHWARTZ | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Boston University Track and Tennis Center. The director of Boston University’s track and field and cross country teams Gabe Sanders stepped down on Thursday.

An anonymous post on LetsRun.com — an online discussion forum for runners — wrote that Sanders allegedly threatened to suffocate an athlete with his hands. A current athlete on the team corroborated the allegation and told The Daily Free Press that Sanders allegedly said this in the presence of two other teammates and an athletic

trainer.

Sanders did not respond to multiple requests to comment.

Sanders led the team to several recognitions, from weekly and yearly awards to podium finishes at the Patriot League Championships.

A sprinter who ran under Sanders from 2009-13 said they were “extremely shocked” by the allegations.

“It does not sound like, by

any means, the Sanders that I know,” they said.

When Sanders came back to BU, former athletes said he emphasized the idea of uniting the team as a “family.”

Scotti Hamilton, a former 2020-21 cross country captain, said he felt “positive” after the first meeting with Sanders, but the feeling did not last.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Students, administrators and union members at Boston University face uncertainty about union contracts and academics as the semester comes to an end.

The BU Graduate Workers Union strike began on March 25 after months of failed contract negotiations between the union and BU administration. The union — which consists of graduate teaching assistants, graduate teaching fellows and research assistants — went on strike for increased wages and benefits, childcare funding for working families, a more manageable workload and more.

On April 23, BUGWU posted on Instagram that SEIU Local 509, the labor union that represents it, filed two Unfair Labor Practice charges against BU. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Beekeeping Impact of student arrests at Emerson College Student volunteers BU help protect BU’s Club seeks new ripples through campuses in Greater Boston backyard in Earth hive location

Day Esplanade cleanup

BY LEIA GREEN, JEWEL SILVA AND ELLA WILLIS DFP Writer and Contributing Writers

Arrests at Emerson College on Thursday have shaken the student body and neighboring Boston colleges after police swarmed an encampment organized by students and community members in solidarity with Palestine.

At around 2 a.m. on Thursday, dozens of police officers broke up a tent encampment in the 2 Boylston St. alley and arrested 108 people, according to the Boston Globe. Seven Boston University students were among those arrested, a source said.

Police, wearing riot gear and wielding wooden batons,

BY SIENA GRIFFIN Features Co-Editor

DAVID YEUNG | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Tents in an encampment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday.

108 people were arrested at a tent encampment in a public alley adjacent to Emerson College Thursday morning.

flooded the encampment before forcibly removing protesters. Some protesters were thrown to the ground before being pinned down by officers, according to videos posted to social media.

Bia Dahlberg, a teacher and Boston resident, was arrested at the protest and spent the night in custody before being released this morning.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

BY VIVIAN AINOMUGISHA Contributing Writer

Being kind to your neighbor is common decency — but kindness is a bigger job when your neighbor is a 3-mile stretch of land along the Charles River.

More than 50 Boston University students helped to clean the Esplanade as part of the 25th annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup on Saturday. Part of BU Sustainability’s Earth Day 365 initiative, the cleanup was a campuswide collaboration with the Esplanade Association to involve students in caring for BU’s largest, greenest neighbor.

The Boston University Beekeeping Club is facing challenges securing approval for a new hive location on campus after a majority of their bees died from harsh weather conditions.

Jackson Watts, a junior in the College of Arts and Science and president of BU Beekeeping Club, said club members sustain the hives by adding insulation and sugar water to substitute nectar.

However, most of the club’s bees died when members “improperly winterized the hive” in Fall 2022.

“They’ve taken some sort of hit,” Watts said. “[The hive] was significantly weakened, and a lot of them did die.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

2 NEWS

Students, administration concerned about end of semester as strike continues Continued from page 1 “On March 26th and April 5th, SEIU Local 509 filed separate Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against Boston University (BU) for their efforts to break the Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) strike,” the post stated.

SEIU filed charges over BU’s “reckless strikebreaking efforts” and lists three main unfair labor practices. The union alleges harassment and surveillance of workers engaged in protected activity, implementation of the administration’s selfattestation policy — which forces striking workers to declare themselves on strike — and intimidation to adhere to the policy.

The post also cites multiple instances of wrongdoing, including one where an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences allegedly “chased workers peacefully flyering in the BU Center for Computing & Data Sciences.”

Maggie Boyd, a student pursuing a doctorate in the English department and a BUGWU member, said it is “important that we continue

fighting for a better university.”

“If we have better conditions to do work in, we’ll be better workers. We’ll be better educators,” Boyd said.

Earlier this month, the Office of the Provost stated it would start holding weekly bargaining meetings with BUGWU. The university and the union are still in contract negotiation as of April 25, according to BU spokesperson Colin Riley.

Administration is working “to resolve the remaining articles under discussion at the bargaining sessions” between the university and the union, Riley said.

“The University is hoping to hear back on its compensation and benefits offers in order to come to an agreement on a first contract,” Riley said.

Of the 3,500 workers in the union, not all of them are on strike.

Students have been affected by the absence of some graduate workers. Some classes have canceled discussion sections, rescheduled exams and delayed grading of assignments.

Grace Doulé, a junior in the College of Communication, said that she feels she is missing out since her weekly

discussion no longer meets due to the strike.

“Being able to discuss the readings and the content from the lecture definitely made the content more approachable and more understandable, whereas now we don’t really have that,” Doulé said.

Doulé said she prefers taking classes with TAs because they provide “extra support” during the course.

“They are a more approachable figure in the class sometimes to ask questions to, and they always provide a lot of guidance and have good feedback,” Doulé said.

University Provost Kenneth Lutchen wrote in an email on April 19 that “the majority of classes have not been affected” because the majority of graduate workers are not on strike.

Riley also said that the strike is affecting students differently.

“The impact is a little uneven,” Riley said. “Some people have not had that impact.”

Some graduate workers are not leading labs and discussion sections or helping professors grade, and students remain uncertain about semester

MOLLY POTTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Graduate workers marched from Marsh Plaza to CDS during a strike for improved wages and benefits on March 25. After a semester of strikes and rallies, union members are left uncertain about their contracts as the academic year ends.

grades and the quality of their education.

Riley confirmed that even if a class, discussion or lab section is not meeting because of the strike, students will not have to retake it as long as they have completed the course.

It is unknown whether the university will make permanent changes to the course curriculum if BUGWU continues to strike in the fall.

Angela Cedeño, a junior in the Questrom School of Business, said that even though she’s not relying on help from

her TAs this semester, she feels her peers are missing the “support factor” that graduate workers provide. “[The strike is] not really affecting me as much because I am performing well in the class, but I just feel sympathetic for the people that do need that help,” Cedeño said.

As final exam season approaches, Doulé is experiencing the full impact of the strike firsthand.

“I’ve really been feeling the effects of not having [TAs] around,” Doulé said.

BU Beekeeping Club seeks new hive location Continued from page 1 Watts said the club chose not move the hive back to the original location on the Charles River because of mite infestations and highway noise that is harmful to bees.

“We could put these back in this hive,” Watts said.

“But if we did that, it would basically just be setting them up for failure because there are mites and it also is in a terrible location for bees and it would stress them out and make them suffer.”

Watts said the club asked the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences about placing the hives on the building’s rooftop, but they were denied because of safety concerns.

“The main problem is fear of bees, and people are allergic to bees, and they don’t want bees on campus because of that,” Watts said.

In an email, BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote that he was unaware of any regulations prohibiting the BU Beekeeping Club from moving their hive but believes bees can be dangerous in densely populated areas.

“I think bee hives in urban

areas occasionally have to be moved,” Riley wrote.

“Some people are allergic to bee stings to the point of being life-threatening.”

Learning about insects is crucial because “we are losing species faster than we can even classify and identify them,” Lynette R. Strickland, an assistant professor of biology, wrote in an email.

“Campus clubs like the BU bug club and the bee keepers club provide an avenue for students to foster their interests in insect biology, serve their communities, and hang out with other people who have the same interests,” Strickland wrote.

Luce McCabe, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and co-president of BU Bug Club, said bees are “often overlooked” in the New England area and appreciates that BU Beekeeping Club protects them.

“Bees need a good home base to work out of, and that is where so much important social and behavioral communication happens for the bees,” McCabe said.

McCabe said it is necessary to preserve a hive

where the queen bee lives and reproduces.

“It’s important so bees can proliferate and maintain ergonomics at the colony level,” McCabe said.

Stef Linden, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and trip coordinator of Bug Club, said maintaining local bee communities is crucial to preventing their extinction.

“When people talk about saving the bees, I think we should focus a lot on the bees that we have here

COURTESY OF COLLEEN RATH

already rather than the ones that we’ve brought over from other continents,” Linden said.

Linden said establishing a habitat that naturally attracts bees will allow the species to flourish.

“One thing about bees is that they can fly away,” Linden said. “They’re not bound, in the way that other animals are, and so it’s important to keep them in an environment that they appreciate.”

Watts said BU

Beekeeping Club currently does not have a hive, but it is negotiating with the Esplanade to potentially add an off-campus hive.

“My hopes and vision are both that the hive will return this summer in a location where bees are happy and that they’re healthy, and that the beekeeping clubs will be able to have regularly scheduled meetings and have an active culture on campus by next year,” Watts said.

A member of Boston University’s Beekeeping Club handles a beehive in May 2022. The Beekeeping Club is struggling to find a safe location for their hive.

NEWS 3

Steward financial crisis sparks community action at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center

BY GEORGE LEHMAN Senior Writer

Health care workers and community members will hold a rally outside of St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center on Monday as closures threaten Massachusetts hospitals amidst the ongoing Steward healthcare crisis.

The rally will call elected officials and stakeholders to take steps to “protect the future of care” for the Brighton hospital as the threat of potential closure looms. “[Efforts] starting this week [are] around rallies and forms that are engaging the community and centering the voices of patients, caregivers and the local community,” said Marlishia Aho, the regional communications manager at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the labor union representing workers at Steward facilities.

The Our Community | Our Hospital coalition spearheading the rally movement also launched an online petition calling for new ownership at Steward.

David Schildmeier, the director of communications for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said the coalition’s purpose is to ensure community voices are heard while stakeholders and decisionmakers are grappling with the crisis.

“It’s really to give voice to those who have been shut out of the discussion [and] those

who have the most to lose in this debate,” Shildmeier said. “The patients and families who rely on that St. Elizabeth’s emergency room … the maternity unit … the mental health unit.”

Steward’s ownership has been a concern at hospitals, including St. Elizabeth’s, even before it escalated earlier this year.

“In the last few years, we’ve been warning the state that we were fearful from what we were seeing,” Schildmeier said.

Schildmeier said issues including “supplies not being paid for when nurses went to get certain supplies” and the inability to get “IV tubing or other items that were necessary for care,” were “warning signs that something was wrong” even before Steward’s financial strain became public.

Ellen MacInnis, a registered nurse working at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, said it was clear from early in Steward Health Care’s ownership of St. Elizabeth’s that the company was “breaking an agreement” with the hospital.

“From less than a year in, they were already not keeping their word,” MacInnis said.

She said Steward “deliberately understaffs units time and time again,” leading the Massachusetts Nurses Association to receive “hundreds upon hundreds of unsafe staffing reports where [nurses] say an unsafe situation occurred on this floor.”

“It is almost always about staffing,” MacInnis said. “The

company either doesn’t hire enough people or they don’t do enough to retain.”

Understaffed units compound with a lack of resources in them, MacInnis said. She said the lack of equipment has led surgeries to get canceled at the hospital.

“In a 14-bed unit, I have three beds closed right now because we just don’t have physical beds for them,” MacInnis said, referring to mattresses. She added that there are broken beds throughout St. Elizabeth’s and Steward has not paid leases for many beds in the hospital.

Alongside the lack of necessary resources, MacInnis said the building she works in is also in need of repair.

Out of the four elevators in the building, MacInnis said that two have been broken for a year and another has been broken for six months. As a result, she has to access the elevators in the next building over, which also has a broken elevator.

Consequences extend beyond the walls of the hospitals should the community lose any of the nine hospitals Steward Health Care owns in Massachusetts, including St. Elizabeth’s.

“If we lose these nine hospitals, the entire healthcare system will be thrown into chaos,” Schildmeier said. “Our emergency departments at all our hospitals are overcrowded and overloaded as we speak.

There is no capacity in the system to meet the current needs of patients.”

Schildmeier said Steward is

MATTHEW EADIE | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. Health care workers and community members will hold a rally directed at stakeholders and elected officials outside of the medical center on Monday.

a large employer and “major contributor to the economic viability of these communities.”

“The loss of the hospitals not only means endangerment of the patients, it means a major blow to the economies of these communities and the economic future of all those workers who have given years and years of service to providing care,” Schildmeier said.

District 9 City Councilor Liz Breadon said she has been advocating as an elected representative for St. Elizabeth’s to stay open to provide quality care.

“St. Elizabeth’s is probably the largest employer in AllstonBrighton, and so if it closed it would have very severe implications for the broader community,” Breadon said.

Lenders have set an April 30 deadline for when loans and financial plans are due from Steward.

“The timing is important,” Schildmeier said. “[We’re] hopefully energizing and mobilizing our elected officials and others who are responsible … [so] they take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that these communities … continue to receive the care they’ve received for decades from these hospitals.”

The rallies will take place around a number of Stewardowned hospitals, including the rally at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center on Monday, April 29.

“It’s not about Steward,” Aho said. “It’s about the quality care in the communities that they serve.”

Student encampment protests continue in Greater Boston

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protesters walk through the encampment in the 2 Boylston St. alley at Emerson College on Tuesday.

Continued from page 1 “It’s being covered as nonviolent and [that] police weren’t brutally arresting people, and that is completely and utterly false,” Dahlberg said, saying she knew detained people who had not been given medical attention and someone who was choked unconscious.

David Berkinsky, a graduate student at MIT who was at the Emerson students’ encampment last night, said many showed up to support the demonstration.

He said “there was a very sudden shift” when police forces approached around the corner “out of nowhere” to disband the encampment.

“They were just looking to cause as much chaos as possible,” Berkinsky said. “They gave us maybe a minute or two to decide [what to do], which was, frankly, not a lot of time.”

Berkinsky said Emerson police dragged and threw him by his backpack. He said he watched videos the following morning of public workers cleaning blood off of the sidewalk and walls of 2B. “You don’t need that violent response. It’s so disproportionate,”

Berkinsky said of the police action toward the student protests.

Arrested students were detained overnight in various precincts –– a bail fund was organized by Emerson students and faculty and all have since been released.

Four people were sent to nearby hospitals with injuries, according to the Boston Globe, but the details remain unclear.

This morning, the alley showed little evidence of last night’s events. The walls were power washed and the belongings of arrested students had been shuttled to a nearby building for collection. Signs calling for “no loitering” have been pasted along the walls by police.

“Seeing it now is crazy because it’s hauntingly quiet,” said James Thomson, a senior at Emerson.

In an email to the Emerson community, Emerson president Jay Bernhardt wrote the college “recognizes and respects the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest in Boylston Park Alley in support of Palestine while also holding and communicating concerns related to the numerous ordinance violations caused by their encampment.”

Thomson described

Bernhardt’s email as a “nothing burger.” “[The email] did acknowledge the [night] but also didn’t say nearly enough,” he said. “He didn’t acknowledge at all … how violent and brutal [it was].”

In the morning after the arrests at Emerson, an encampment at Northeastern University went up on the Centennial Quad and was later approached by law enforcement.

Police closed in on the encampment just after 2:30 p.m., surrounding the protesters who crouched arm in arm, forming a circle around their tents and supplies and chanting, “Who do you serve, who do you protect?”

15 minutes later, the riot police disbanded and left the scene, leaving around two dozen officers to continue policing the area.

Students protesting on the quad were in violation of the university’s code of conduct, said Renata Nyul, Northeastern’s vice president for communications, in a statement to the Huntington News, Northeastern University’s campus newspaper.

“I remember Northeastern telling me that this was an open campus and we’re a part of the city,” said Northeastern senior August Escandon, reflecting on touring as a prospective student.

“It doesn’t feel part of the city now because I’ve been kicked to the sidewalk by police officers with guns.”

Students at Harvard and MIT today were outraged by the arrests at Emerson last night but showed few signs of packing up their encampments.

Police presence surrounding 15 tents slowly grew in the center of Kresge lawn at MIT this afternoon.

There were around half a dozen police officers present by 4 p.m.

Berkinsky, who is also a member of MIT Jews for Ceasefire, said the escalation of police presence at Emerson and

Northeastern has forced students to consider how to protect themselves.

“That encampment [at Emerson] was quite unique because of the narrow corridor it existed in, so it would be different here,” Berkinsky said of police forces possibly escalating at MIT, adding later, “We’re just going to try to keep each other safe.”

Harvard Yard was inaccessible to those without Harvard IDs Thursday afternoon. Students and faculty were seen flashing their passes to guards posted at gate entrances surrounding the lawn.

The encampment at Harvard tripled from its original size by the end of Thursday, according to Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine’s Instagram account.

The encampment went up on Wednesday following Harvard’s suspension of the Palestine Solidarity Committee earlier this week.

“We have been clear that the physical safety and well-being of our community is paramount, and we have taken steps to increase security,” Harvard Dean of Students Thomas Dunne wrote in an email to students. “We are also committed to supporting free speech, including the right to protest.”

Dunne continued to say that this right exists alongside “time, place, and manner restrictions” and that “interference with the academic mission or business functions of the University will not be tolerated.”

Violet Barron, a sophomore at Harvard College, said the police treatment of Emerson students was “heinous,” but she wasn’t surprised given the events on college campuses around the U.S. this week.

“This is how schools respond to pro-Palestine stuff, and I think another example of the Palestine exception where you just see disproportionate force

and scrutiny applied to any sort of rhetoric or action that’s pushing for Palestinian liberation,” Barron said.

Barron said she thinks Harvard University administration seemed “hesitant” to use force to remove students from the encampment, but also said “you can’t ever trust admin or police.”

“Of course, we’re always aware of risk and trying to ensure something like that doesn’t happen here,” Barron said.

As encampments pop up in solidarity with Palestine at universities across the United States, the deployment of police has led to hundreds of arrests.

Students were forcibly removed from protests at Columbia University, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California, sparking outrage amongst students in support of Palestine nationwide.

Though there is no longer an encampment at Emerson, several encampments still stand at universities around Greater Boston. Tents remain at MIT, Northeastern, Tufts and Harvard.

Lights were projected against Harvard walls Thursday night that read phrases like “Divest Harvard” and “Free Gaza.”

Mayor Wu has defended Boston police’s handling of the protest at Emerson, telling the Boston Globe “there were safety concerns and the safety risks were growing as more and more obstruction of the public way took place.”

It is unknown who ultimately decided to send police into the alley.

“We know that depending on the will of these institutions, they can crack down and decide that what we’re fighting for … to challenge institutions complicity to a genocide, is too much of a burden, too much of an eyesore,” Berkinsky said. “They’re willing to get rid of us by force.”

4 FEATURES

First F1 Arcade in America kicks off Boston opening with launch party

BY TRUMAN DICKERSON Senior Writer

“When you grow up, you’re not supposed to play anymore. Why? … Why can’t I cut loose and pretend I’m in Monte Carlo?” shouted Kennedy Elsey, a “huge F1 fan,” over the din of a hundred conversations and thumping club hits at the new F1 Arcade’s launch party in Seaport on Thursday.

Elsey was one of many guests who took turns pretending to be their favorite Formula 1 racers on multiscreened racing simulators, which shook and rattled like a real F1 car would on a track in Europe, said Elsey, the co-host of “Karson and Kennedy,” a radio show on Mix 104.1.

In the United States, Formula 1 racing has exploded in popularity. An average of 1.21 million viewers watched the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship season on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, according to ESPN Press Room. And, two years ago, Disney signed a multi-million dollar contract extending their broadcast partnership with Formula 1 through 2025.

With F1 races now occurring in both Austin and Miami, it seems apparent that F1 is attempting to capitalize on burgeoning American interest in the sport — specifically in Boston.

England already has two F1 Arcades, but the first of

COURTESY OF TRUMAN DICKERSON

People race in a racing simulator at an F1 Arcade in Seaport. This F1 Arcade is the first one to open in the United States and another is currently being built in Washington, D.C.

its kind in the U.S. opened in Boston’s Seaport on Monday.

Another is currently being constructed in Washington, D.C., and the vice president of operations for the Seaport F1 Arcade, Matthew Baizer, said that there are “secret” plans “for about three more” in the States.

“Boston understands the concept of competitive social life,” Baizer said. “In particular, the Seaport has been very successful with social gaming concepts.”

Baizer went on to say that the Seaport location was “just a really good match” for the company’s first U.S. location.

“It’s wicked cool,” said Davis Clarke, a social media influencer and capital

management manager at Citizens Bank. “It’s awesome it’s right here in Boston [in] the local community. That’s big for all of us.”

For Jack O’Neill, a freelance podcast creator, it’s no surprise that America’s first F1 Arcade opened in Seaport, which Vivid Maps named the most expensive neighborhood in Massachusetts this year.

“It’s an expensive neighborhood in one of the most expensive cities in the entire country,” he said.

“It attracts a certain kind of people … who would be interested in F1.”

Whatever the reason for the F1 Arcade’s choice of Seaport, it was clear from

Thursday’s launch party that interest in the sport is thriving in Boston.

Corey Whatley, a junior at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration, said he can “definitely see [F1] being very big here in the States.”

Elsey credited the hit Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” as the reason she became interested in the sport.

Others, like Eric Chi, a senior media manager at Streamlabs, discussed the intense drama involved and the “Kardashian” celebrity status of the racers as reasons for his interest.

“There’s just the drama around the sport that I feel

like you don’t see in a lot of other sports,” Chi said.

“It’s a lot of very rich people just being very petty to one another. I think that’s really funny.”

Other attendees, such as Whatley, did not know much about the sport before attending the F1 Arcade opening. Whatley received an invitation from his job at a North End hotel, and he said he thinks he will engage more with F1 after attending the event.

“It’s way more interesting than NASCAR,” Whatley said. “It seems more fun.”

One of the biggest attractions of the arcade is the “F1 Racing Experience,” a racing simulator which features a variety of race tracks at different skill levels for players to drive on. “[It’s] absolutely electric in here,” Clarke said about the racing simulator. “The atmosphere is wild.”

Every racing simulator was free to use during the event on Thursday, but in the future, guests will have to pay $20 to purchase three races.

Stephen Bukoff, the F1 Arcade’s executive chef, foresees F1 Arcades becoming more popular in different cities.

“If you just go down the street and start talking to people, F1 is becoming a very popular brand,” Bukoff said.

“In America, it’s definitely becoming something big.”

herNetwork supports, connects BU’s women in business on campus, beyond

BY SARA CREATO Senior Writer

“Women mean business” — members of herNetwork adhere to this motto, a play on words from the Questrom School of Business’ slogan, “Questrom means business.”

Founded in 2015, herNetwork is a leadership development organization for female BU undergraduate students, “dedicated to empowering and helping undergraduate women navigate their careers in the business industry,” said Rosie Kang, a senior in Questrom and president of the club.

Kang noted that it is often difficult for women to pursue careers in maledominated industries like finance and accounting. She said herNetwork provides a supportive and empowering environment to help women pursue these goals. “[herNetwork is] a great opportunity for undergraduate women to network and build those fundamental skills so that they can hopefully apply them when they go out into the real world and when they attack their first job,” Kang said.

Throughout the academic year, herNetwork hosts professional development workshops, speaker panels and its annual “Women Mean Business” conference in the spring. The all-day networking event invites more than 40 women from a variety of companies and

features panels on a variety of business disciplines, such as finance and marketing.

“It’s a really great opportunity to network and build those connections and to see which industries could be the right fit,” Kang said.

Besides supporting its members professionally, the club also focuses on forging relationships among its members through community-building events.

Last semester, the club hosted a “paint and sip,” where members painted canvases while enjoying non-alcoholic beverages.

“There was that lack of connection with our general members,” Kang said. “I initiated more communitybased events [and] more networking within the group rather than externally.”

Adriana Lam, a freshman in Questrom and the herNetwork marketing chair, said that she enjoys the diversity within the organization, which is not limited to just Questrom students.

“Even if you’re not a business major, join herNetwork, mostly because of the type of people that you’d meet,” Lam said.

Lam said that herNetwork is a great way for people to find the intersection between business and their other interests.

“Following your passion and intertwining it with business is such an amazing quality that you can have

the opportunity to do [at herNetwork],” Lam said.

Maria Vasco — the owner and CEO of Uvida, a sustainable homegoods store in Brookline — was able to combine her passion for environmentalism with business. She credits other female entrepreneurs for offering her guidance throughout the challenges she faced during her business venture.

“Meeting other women who are going through a similar stage in their business or have already surpassed it really guides the way for the next generation of women who are trying to make an impact through their business,” Vasco said.

Female students make up 43% of Questrom’s student body, according to the college’s website.

Kabrina Chang, the associate dean for Questrom’s Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and a clinical associate professor in Questrom said that the appointment of Dean Susan Fournier marked an important step towards female representation in business at BU. “Having a woman as a dean for the very first time in the history of Questrom really shows women that the highest levels of leadership are possible,” she said.

There are approximately 102 women-owned businesses in Greater

KATE KOTLYAR | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

(From left) herNetwork executive board members Camila Garcia (QST ‘25), Rosie Kang (QST ‘24), Tiffany Trinh (QST ‘26) and Soomin Lee (QST ‘25) discuss how to secure summer internships during a panel on Monday. herNetwork hosts events and workshops to empower women in the business industry.

Boston, according to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Vasco said that establishing a network of female entrepreneurs can make starting out in business more accessible for women.

“That’s truly how we create a supportive community and we make it more inclusive for everyone that wants to consider starting their own business,” she said.

Chang said that many of the issues women in business face — such as pay inequity and a lack of paid family leave — stem from larger systemic problems.

“The issues women face in business are not new,” she said. “Some of these structures are really unfriendly, given that women do the lion’s share of the child rearing and work at home.”

Because of the expectation

vthat women’s work is at home, Chang acknowledged the way “flexible work arrangements” impact women in particular.

“For some women, myself included, that could mean that you never stop working,” she said about remote working. “If you can work from home, there’s no sort of separation between my office and home.”

Chang praised herNetwork, which is co-sponsored by both Questrom and Questrom DEI, for educating its members on issues like these and creating a strong community for women pursuing business. “herNetwork shows the strength of women building networks, which is super important, and women helping women,” Chang said. “But it’s also a great educational resource.”

FEATURES 5

In the green: BU students search for nature on campus

BY ELLIE STEVENS DFP Writer

There comes a point in every Boston University student’s career where listening to traffic on Storrow Drive while lounging on the BU Beach just doesn’t feel like sunbathing at the beach anymore.

BU’s campus, or lack thereof, is notoriously known for its two-mile stretch down Commonwealth Avenue with a serious lack of green space.

Despite their urban surroundings, some students have taken it upon themselves to venture far outside the city to explore nature, like Thomas Larsen, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and an executive board member at BU Outing Club.

“I would love for BU to have more green space,” Larsen said.

The Outing Club encourages students to take advantage of the natural world by organizing various outdoor activities, according to their website.

“Our big thing is to get as many people outdoors as we possibly can,” Larsen said.

The Outing Club hosts a variety of different events, from hikes, backpacking trips, camping, rock climbing, ferry tours to the Boston Harbor Island and even a dessert tour around Boston, Larsen said.

Not only does the club adventure into nature, they teach students the tangible skills needed to be prepared for various outings, Larsen said. At every meeting, they have a skill-

based learning activity that can range from a knot-tying lesson to a knife safety and whittling meeting.

The club’s events range in difficulty for people of varying skill levels to get involved, Larsen said.

The club tries to run trips every weekend, but has a low capacity because BU does not supply many vans. As a result, Larsen said they rely on members who have cars on campus.

“We also run a lot of events on BU’s campus or adjacent to BU’s campus,” Larsen said. “We try and host when the weather’s nice. We’ll host picnics on the Esplanade … and we have tons of hammocks as well.”

Larsen said BU students are interested in getting involved with nature because they “do not have the capacity to meet the immense amount of demand [they’ve received].”

“We’re trying our best with the resources we have,” Larsen said.

Noah Sorin, a senior in the Questrom School of Business, said he has spent much of his BU career trying to bring environmental awareness to campus.

So he founded Idori, which stands for “I dream of real impact” and is a series of educational resources and children’s books to teach young children about the environment and sustainability.

“I wanted to create a solution to make learning about sustainability more accessible

to people who don’t necessarily grow up surrounded by nature in a place in Vermont like I did,” Sorin said.

Last semester, he said he attended a Miyawaki tree planting in Brookline. The Miyawaki method is a type of forestation that involves planting many native trees in a condensed spot to increase urban tree canopy.

“I just thought it was such a beautiful community event,” Sorin said. “There were little kids helping plant trees or elderly folks planting trees.

There were a bunch of nonprofits

and community organizations getting involved. And I thought ‘this is amazing.’”

Sorin said the event made him realize what the students BU are missing out on.

“We would benefit so much from having a forest or other opportunities for kids to just get more access to green space,” Sorin said.

Sorin said he is working on planting a mini forest either on the Medical Campus or near the BU bridge in the fall semester, and is researching what native trees would be best to plant.

He received a research stipend

ZOE KU | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

(From left) First year graduate students Pooja Nattu and Landry Kuehn relax at the Boston University Beach on Monday. BU students seek refuge in small pockets of nature on a mostly urban campus.

from the Campus Climate Lab to focus on research to increase green spaces on campus.

The team is consulting with operations and sustainability sources on campus to bring this project to fruition, Sorin said.

Sophia Beredo, a junior in CAS, is a co-president of Epsilon Eta, BU’s environmental fraternity. The fraternity’s main focus is acts of service, where they host events like cleanups on campus or the Charles River Esplanade.

They also partner with local foundations like the Emerald Necklace and Charles River Watershed to help better the surrounding environment in Boston.

Throughout her daily life, Beredo said she makes small active choices that make a difference like walking through the park on her way to get groceries.

“I think if you appreciate those small things like that you are able to experience nature on an everyday scale, and not feel like ‘Oh my god, I have to go to New Hampshire or Vermont in order to actually experience nature,’” Beredo said.

When it comes to BU students immersing themselves in nature, the concrete campus isn’t as big an obstacle as it seems, Beredo said.

“I don’t think Boston really hinders you,” she said. “You just really have to be able to appreciate the small things about nature in order to actually feel it.”

BU students volunteer to help clean at 25th annual Charles River Cleanup Continued from page 1 “The Esplanade is right in our backyard,” said Sam Moller, assistant director of communications at BU Sustainability. “It’s important for us, as BU community members, to ensure that we have a clean Esplanade for years to come and to celebrate this incredible space here that we have right next to us.”

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation organizes the Charles River Cleanup every year, along with five nonprofit environmental groups including the Esplanade Association.

Each organization oversees the cleanup and the year-round maintenance of a different segment of the 80-mile river, which flows from Hopkinton to Boston Harbor.

The Charles River Cleanup — one of the largest Earth Day cleanups in the country — draws more than 3,500 volunteers annually to collect trash from the Charles River and its tributary, the Muddy River, said Jen Mergel, executive director of the Esplanade Association.

More than six hundred of those are volunteers to clean the Charles River Esplanade, which stretches 64 acres from the Museum of Science to BU Bridge.

The Esplanade is a “very visible” part of the campus community and a popular hangout spot for both students and staff, said Aliyah Phipps, residence hall director at Warren Towers.

“It’s very much a part of what a lot of students and staff love about BU,” she said. “We need

to take care of it.”

The association assigned BU volunteers to clean the area from the BU Sailing Pavilion to the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, said Molly Ryan, volunteer and engagement coordinator at the Esplanade Association.

Pedro Falci, managing director of Student Wellbeing, said multiple campus organizations discovered they each wanted to join the Esplanade Association’s cleanup for Earth Day 365 — BU Sustainability’s month-long series of more than 30 events that encourage caring for the planet, which ends today, on Earth Day. The groups combined forces to promote campus-wide involvement, resulting in a joint effort among Warren Towers Residence Life, BU Wellbeing, BU Police Department, Questrom Social Impact and Non-Profit Club, Questrom Graduate Council and Questrom Serves.

“We’re a privileged campus in terms of our access to the Esplanade and our view of the Charles River, and I feel pretty confident saying nobody wants that space to become dirty and uncared for,” Falci said. “This is a chance to be a good neighbor and promote environmental wellbeing in that regard.”

Promoting environmental wellbeing is especially important in an urban area like Boston, where there are more people and more trash but fewer green spaces, Phipps said.

Because the Esplanade is the area of the river closest to urban Boston, it requires more upkeep than other areas of the river, Mergel said. The last 3

miles of the river are downriver from the rest of the Charles — accumulating a lot of trash leading up to where the river flows into Boston Harbor.

“It’s important for us, being a campus in a dense urban setting, to cherish and to really appreciate nature,” Moller said.

Since BU’s campus is shared among so many people, students might not always feel obligated to care for the environment around them, Mergel said.

But when they help clean a communal space like the Esplanade, it can strengthen their sense of civic and social responsibility toward their natural surroundings.

“You could be from Tokyo or Tulsa, or you could be from Tyngsborough, or you could be from downtown Boston, and you have the opportunity to feel like you have a stake in taking care of the landscape,” Mergel said.

For Ileana Nunez, a freshman in the College of General Studies, noticing trash whenever she would walk on the Esplanade motivated her to help clean it up on Saturday.

“It is definitely important because there’s so many of us, and there’s trash everywhere,” Nunez said. “We have to make sure we’re doing our part.”

Environmental initiatives like the Charles River Cleanup are a chance for students to interact with nature hands-on — a rare opportunity in such a major city, said Ella Hinkelman, a senior studying environmental science in the College of Arts and Sciences who participated in the cleanup Saturday.

“Keeping [the Esplanade] green is really important

SARAH CRUZ | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Volunteers pick up trash along the Charles River. More than 50 Boston University students helped to clean the Esplanade during the Esplanade Association’s Earth Day Charles River Cleanup.

because it’s one of the few places in urban Boston that you can retreat to that kind of space,” Hinkelman said.

As a college student in an urban area, Nupur Aroskar said that having a natural landscape nearby is “grounding,” both physically and mentally.

“I’ve had my best memories on the Esplanade,” said Aroskar, a senior in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, who participated in the cleanup.

Ellie Westphal, a freshman in the College of Engineering, decided to attend the cleanup after hearing about it in one of her classes, “Public Gardens and Urban Wilds.” She said the course discussed how cities often face more severe environmental problems than non-urban areas.

“One of the easiest ways to help fix those problems is just to get involved however you can,” Westphal said.

Getting involved in sustainability takes many forms,

Moller said.

“It can be a cleanup. It can be educating yourself. It could be reading a book on sustainability,” Moller said. “But it can also be an opportunity to appreciate the world around us, and I think that’s something that gets missed in the sustainability conversation.”

As for students who participated in the Charles River Cleanup, Mergel said she hopes they gained a stronger connection to the park and to one another. Above all, she said she hopes they know that helping care for the Charles River connects them to “something bigger” — their fellow inhabitants of Boston.

“The beautiful thing about being on the Charles River is that big reminder: The water doesn’t care what municipality you’re in or what school you’re getting a degree from,” Mergel said. “It’s boundaryless and it continues to flow, and so it’s really the thing that connects us all.”

6 PHOTO

GALLERY

Boston Springs Into April

By Sarah Cruz, Kate Kotlyar, Zoe Ku, Aranya Mukerji and Molly Potter

People around Boston, including Boston University students, celebrate the start of spring in April by enjoying the outdoors and participating in Earth Day activities.

Students Sarah Vasily-Cioffi and Hannah Wise watch the partial eclipse on BU Beach on April 8. MOLLY POTTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore Mia Vargas works on their laptop outside on BU Beach. ZOE KU | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Volunteers pick up trash along the Charles River during the Esplanade Association’s Earth Day Charles River Cleanup. SARAH CRUZ/DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

People look through a pile second-hand clothes at an Earth Day Block Party on April 21 in Allston.

ARANYA MUKERJI | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

People participate in various activities, such as painting and sustainable clothing swaps, in an Earth Day Block Party in Allston. ARANYA MUKERJI/DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior Jack Albrecht catches a water balloon during Crash Cummington, an event on Cummington Mall on April 21 organized to show students the importance of active pedestrian spaces.

KATE KOTLYAR/DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior Andrew Jedrey practices tricks on his skateboard on Bay State Road. ZOE KU/DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

LIFESTYLE

7

House music is more than just the ‘rhythm of the night’

BY LEA RIVEL Opinion Co-Editor

We’ve heard the “oonts oonts” jokes about dance music, but fewer people know the roots of that “oonts oonts” sound. The genre is about far more than just a bassline and upbeat vocals to jump along to at the club with a drink in hand.

House music originated in the dance scenes of Chicago and New York in the late early 1980s from the remnants of the disco craze of the 70s before. In Chicago, clubs like the Warehouse played a crucial role in developing the genre, with resident DJ Frankie Knuckles, also known as the “godfather of house,” spinning tunes to keep the dancefloor alive all night.

It’s important to note that these clubs attracted mostly Black, Latino and queer attendees. According to Frederick Dunson, executive director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, they were safe spaces for queer and Black communities to freely dance and enjoy a night out.

Knuckles helped bring house to life by blending disco, funk and German electronic pop. In order to keep the dance floor going, Knuckles experimented with an eclectic mix of beats and styles as disco’s popularity faded and fewer dance tracks were being released.

The Warehouse club in Chicago was eventually shortened

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIKA MORRIS

to The House — known by many to be how the genre got its name, but the club doubled its admission fee in late 1982 and grew more commercial, so Knuckles left and started The Power Plant. DJ Ron Hardy followed at the Warehouse, which he then renamed the Music Box. Musicians consider the first real house record to be “On & On,” by Chicago native Jesse Saunders and collaborator Vince Lawrence. Saunders was influenced by Knuckles among others, absorbing him as an influence and spreading house music to the rest of the club-going population.

Saunders expanded beyond the primarily Black and queer crowds and disco lovers and carved his own milestones. He set up the first house recording

label, became the first house artist to enter the Billboard charts and the first house music artist to be signed to a major label.

House is known for being led by the beat — generally 128 BPM, although it can range between 115 and 130 BPM — with repetitive, catchy hooks.

Between its “sweet spot” tempo and its use of drops, house is scientifically known to trigger parts of the brain that cause happiness.

Some people don’t like music without a story or aren’t attracted to repetition — and that’s no problem — but not all songs require deep lyrics or fleshed-out storylines to be special and enjoyable.

One of the most notable parts about house is how the beats, rhythms and melodies are

unversal.

Many of my most treasured memories have come from the magic of house music. It has introduced me to other students and musicians in Boston and has helped me make friends with people from across the world. Even in foreign countries where I face language barriers with natives or other travelers, we can always bond over the way house music makes us feel.

It has also reignited my passion for playing music. I was trained as a pianist, but lost my love for it as I got older. Since I’ve become a house fan, I’ve not only started mixing those beats, but have also returned to my musical roots once again.

We tend to make a mockery of the way that everyone wants to be a DJ nowadays, but maybe it’s not such a bad thing. In my experience, house music welcomes everybody — that’s what the genre set out to do and still does today.

Though the genre and its surrounding scenes have evolved in the decades since then, its roots in creating safe spaces for marginalized communities are still evident today. In my experience, you can be as little or as much involved as you want in house spaces. They are truly free of judgment.

The genre has come a long way since its beginnings in the warehouses of Chicago. In the 90s, there were a wave of dance hits from artists like Corona and Alice Deejay throughout

America and Europe, and EDM artists like Calvin Harris and Avicii ruled the 2010s. House music has branched off into many subgenres but made its way into more people’s lives.

Today, artists like John Summit and FISHER are bringing attention to the beauty of house music across mainstream platforms. Even mega pop artists have incorporated house music into their records. Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” was a hit album for all sorts of music fans and pays tribute to the roots of the genre, particularly the Black and LGBTQ+ musicians that came before us.

House has evolved into a complex array of subgenres: intense house for techno fans, along with afro house and chillhouse for those seeking something more atmospheric — even jazz lovers can find a place in the genre.

House has been — and hopefully will always represent — a beautiful mosaic of diversity and culture, one that can be incorporated into genres but with roots that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Though it has evolved and expanded greatly, house music is unequivocally about freedom of expression, bonding over sound and finding solace in it.

House isn’t just about the music, but about the energy it can create in a room. The beauty of the rhythm produces pockets of joy and connection — something rare and necessary in this world.

It’s time to embrace maximalist fashion influencers

BY ERICA SCHWARTZ Contributing Writer

I’m a Taurus born to two Taurus parents.

For those who don’t follow astrology, that means I’m stubborn — and I always have been. My headstrong nature combined with my lifelong love for fashion means that I’ve always worn what I wanted to wear when I wanted to wear it.

I was never really interested in following the advice of fashion influencers because I really didn’t want my fashion influenced. That is until I stumbled onto the account of Clara Perlmutter, a New Yorkbased fashion influencer who goes by @tinyjewishgirl online.

As a fellow tiny Jewish girl, I was hooked. I had never seen someone else who dressed like her and I became absolutely fascinated.

As I fell down an online wormhole to try and understand her style, I was introduced to other creators like @annagolkayepez, @polychrom3 and @ myramagdalen. I learned that these influencers were considered “maximalists” in the fashion industry, meaning that they constantly push the boundaries of what constitutes casual wear, and they craft technicolor outfits that break from all conventions.

Instead of styling outfits around one statement piece, maximalists find creative ways to mesh multiple statement pieces into one cohesive look. They throw popular fashion rules to the wind, like mixing patterns and combining black and navy.

Silhouettes are often big and bold.

In a word, maximalist fashion is eye-catching and leans into high camp.

In one recent video, Tiktok creator Myra Magdalen took her almost 860,000 followers through her process of styling an outfit. Because her bodycon dress featured a whimsical castle print, she decided to accessorize it with a plastic toy castle. She then outfitted the castle with faux vines, roses, an image of a dragon eye, a toy unicorn and a small cutout of the comedian Tim Robinson.

The creator did not stop there.

She continued to accessorize with a large plastic toy dragon with glowing red eyes before completing the look by slinging plastic dragon wings and silver knight-inspired armor over her shoulders.

If that isn’t camp, I don’t know what is!

These maximalist influencers don’t take themselves too seriously, and they remind the rest of us to do the same with ourselves. This self-compassion is refreshing, especially in a world where we are constantly bombarded with messaging that tells us to be the most serious, picture-perfect versions of ourselves.

Not only are these influencers a breath of fresh air in a sea of conformity, but they are also pioneers of sustainable practices in fashion.

Sure, this may sound contradictory. I mean, if we’re always told to use less to be sustainable, how can people who

purposely do more have a positive environmental impact? That’s because they are doing more by buying less.

These creators ignore current fads and microtrends in favor of their own personal style, rooted in authentic self-expression.

Instead of buying whatever new top is trending on Pinterest and disposing of it once the internet has moved on to the next new thing, these creators purchase pieces that speak to their individual creative vision and retain them for years.

Scrolling through each of their accounts, you can see tons of repeated pieces, but rarely a repeated outfit.

The creativity of these influencers allows them to constantly repurpose pieces, with creators like Anna Golka often breathing new life into previously

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIKA MORRIS

worn pieces through strategic pinning and draping.

These creators have a knack for styling even the boldest pieces in various ways. In one video, @ polychrom3 styles five outfits with one pair of pants, and no, these aren’t a plain pair of blue jeans. These are high-rise cyan and neon green zebra print. This ingenuity ensures that every piece of clothing gets adequate use.

When we focus on minimalist aesthetics, statement pieces live the majority of their lives gathering dust in the back of our closets. If we all took some inspiration from these maximalist creatives, we could give our clothes a way more active life.

Not only does re-wearing prevent waste, but it also helps you get more bang for your buck.

Who doesn’t want to save the planet while saving money?

While the audience of many of these creators remains large, it doesn’t seem like the whole internet is ready to embrace maximalists.

The TikTok comment section of these creators’ videos is often riddled with naysayers questioning if their outlandish looks are satire. Still, they are all steadily gaining a dedicated audience — including myself — and inspiring many to push the boundaries of their personal fashion comfort zone.

Although I am a big fan of these creators, I don’t dress like a maximalist. I don’t wear three different patterns or 11 different accessories and I definitely bought into the coquette trend.

However, when I dress myself each morning, I try to think like a maximalist.

Am I wearing this because I want to or because others will compliment it? Are there any pieces I haven’t worn in a while?

What accessories are speaking to me today? Does this make me feel good, or does it just make me look conventionally attractive?

By rejecting traditional fashion rules, these creators equally reject beauty standards. Their outfit decisions are driven by internal factors, not external influences like what compliments their body shape or what they think will gain the most approval from others.

They don’t dress for the male gaze, or even the female gaze.

They dress according to their own likes and interests, and that’s what I think we should all try to do every day.

8 OPINION

COLUMNS The summer I turned white | Identity Unveiled

BY REBECCA PENG Opinion Columnist

I still recall the obsessive gushing from my friends during my sophomore year of high school — Netflix had just released “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Beforve,” an adaptation of the book series by Jenny Han. Although I had never read the books, the novelty of an Asian female lead in a teen romantic comedy was exhilarating.

The summer of 2022 brought on another wave of excitement for teen romcom enthusiasts. Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” series on Amazon Prime was released that June. Again, the female lead of the show was marketed as another half-Asian, half-white teenager.

“To All The Boys” follows high schooler Lara Jean Song Covey as her secret love letters are accidentally sent out, leading to unexpected romance and self-revelations.

TSITP revolves around teenager Isabel “Belly” Conklin and her summers spent at a beach town, marked by a pivotal love triangle in between.

Between the releases of “To All The Boys” and TSITP, I went through some significant life changes: graduation, adulthood and a move up coast to Boston University for undergrad. While I understand that I am not the ideal target for Han’s work anymore, my personal growth has influenced my perspective of her.

In ways that teenage me couldn’t have comprehended, I can now articulate why I felt and continue to feel disconnected from Han’s work as an Asian woman.

“To All The Boys” becoming the first book with an Asian girl on the cover to reach the New York Times bestseller list was a major achievement for Asian American representation.

Despite this, almost none of the male leads in Han’s works are Asian. This

is with the exception of “XO, Kitty,” a spinoff series of TATBILB, and that can be attributed to the series being based in Korea.

Both “To All The Boys” and TSITP follow the same tired formula. White male leads fight over the affections of a “Wasian” female lead, surrounded by an overwhelmingly white supporting ensemble. These shows are riddled with whiteness and sprinkled with token nods to the lead’s Asian background.

In “To All The Boys,” the two male leads, played by Noah Centineo and Israel Broussard, were white. The sequel included Jordan Fisher, a biracial Black actor, as a second male lead to Centineo.

Why wasn’t there also an effort to include an Asian male lead as well, and why not diversify Lara Jean’s potential love interests to begin with?

Additionally, love interests of color like Cam Cameron and Nicole Richardson in TSITP and John Ambrose McClaren in “To All The Boys 2” see their plotlines continuously sidelined for their supposedly more desirable white counterparts.

Moreover, these existing cast choices feature only light-skinned people of color, which raises questions about the specific spectrum of racial representation being depicted.

Moreover, the three Covey sisters of “To All The Boys” are supposed to be half-white and half-Asian, specifically Korean from their mom’s side. Yet actresses Lana Condor, Janelle Parrish and Anna Cathcart all come from other Asian ethnic backgrounds. Circling back to “XO, Kitty,” Chinese-Irish Cathcart plays the Korean American lead in a Korea-based show.

In the TSITP books, Belly Conklin was originally thought to be white. However, Han opted for a half-white and half-Asian character and cast actress Lola Tung, who

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIKA MORRIS

was born to a Chinese-Swedish mother and an Eastern European father, to play the now half-Korean character.

It may be difficult to find Asian actresses in Hollywood, but when ethnicity plays some sort of role in a character’s identity, why not seek to cast an ethnic-specific actress?

The heavier responsibility for authentic representation lies with Hollywood casting directors — they need to understand that Asian ethnic identities are not interchangeable. Authors such as Jenny Han, however, still play a role.

As a full Korean herself, Han’s recurrent choice of writing Wasian female leads is backwards at best and self-loathing at worst. If Asians settle for this kind of portrayal, we reinforce the idea that the only way Asians can be represented is

when they are coupled with whiteness.

Of course, Jenny Han isn’t obligated to be the Asian community’s savior. She shouldn’t carry the burden of writing characters that represent an entire race or bear the responsibility of addressing racial trauma in her work.

I empathize with Han, as she is most likely pushed to make her work more “palatable” under the pressure of a whitedominated industry.

Nevertheless, leveraging Asian representation as a marketing point while simultaneously showcasing primarily white characters reeks of hypocrisy.

While I can’t speculate on Han’s personal struggles with internalized racism, her newfound fame demands awareness of the messages she sends through her work.

EDITORIAL

For the record, vinyl still serves a purpose

Record Store Day was this Saturday, April 20.

Special vinyl and CD releases, as well as other promotional material, are released in the day’s honor, and festivities including DJ performances, artist meet-and-greets and parades are held. The event grants independent record stores the opportunity to tap into a market of people who consume primarily digital music, selling physical, special editions of music unreleased online.

Even Boston University got in on the action, with WTBU celebrating college radio’s “Vinylthon,” an event that encouraged shows to play nothing but vinyl music for 24 hours.

It is significant and revealing that, in an era where digital music is readily available and accessible, events such as Record Day and Vinylthon are celebrated nationwide with such enthusiasm.

Nowadays, music is mainly streamed on subscription-based platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music. Because vinyl albums and record players are rather expensive, a monthly rate of around $11 for near-unlimited music access is the superior method from a financial standpoint.

Producing new records is also wasteful, especially when multiple pressings of the same album are released.

We’ve transitioned from vinyl, CDs and even cassettes to our iPhones and other handheld devices. This prompts us to think about the value that analog music like vinyl still plays in the music industry today.

Conveniently, these streaming platforms are fairly comprehensive in terms of access, but the way people listen to music has been heavily altered with the convenience of digital streaming and the rise of social media.

Due to the immense popularity and shortform nature of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, new and veteran artists often go to them to market their music — unfortunately resulting in artists tailoring their music to fit

them.

Many young artists online are catering music to be snippet-worthy — not necessarily by a fault of their own, but because they want to create those 15 seconds that capture everyone’s attention and end up trending.

Artificial intelligence is also changing the way music is created and consumed. With AI programs, anyone can write their own lyrics and pretend they are being sung by someone else. AI programs can also access any cataloged voices to cover another, even deceased singers like Frank Sinatra and fictional characters like Eric Cartman.

This is even more worrisome than the “TikTokification” of music, and potentially dangerous for the industry and the way consumers listen.

Across multiple platforms and genres, we are seeing a prioritization of convenience and trendiness over well-developed artistry.

As we’ve moved into this world of digital streaming and have lost older analog methods along the way, we are forced to ask ourselves: Is the quality of music being lost, or are our priorities just shifting?

Though the commercial value of vinyl has decreased, the cultural value may have increased.

Even if it’s not the primary form of listening to music in this day and age, vinyls are still important to music lovers and others.

Records serve as artifact-like objects, often passed down as family heirlooms. They can signify bonds or memories of times past.

Not to mention, passing down vinyl records throughout generations is much more sustainable than buying newly pressed records.

In the way people still read physical books despite the existence of reading technology, the idea of tangible music is still attractive to many, and in the same vein, also serves an aesthetic or decorative purpose.

Record stores are almost an oasis nowadays.

Used records are great because you can find

music that isn’t even on Spotify and make new discoveries in an analog format.

The world of vinyl is necessary to remind us of the art of music and the way we used to consume it. It leads us to further appreciate full-form albums, and you don’t need any sort of extensive vinyl collection to do so.

Most of us prefer digital music streaming in the digital age. It’s pocket-sized, convenient, cheap and easily shareable. But now that vinyl is no longer the primary medium for music consumption, it can almost serve as an individual form of art.

Still, it’s important to note that modern music and methods of marketing aren’t all bad.

For those who prefer rising or indie artists,

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIKA MORRIS

much of that discovery comes from social media. These platforms make it easier for names to reach those who would enjoy their music and blow up almost overnight. Artists and bands can hit gold mines by finding their target audiences on Spotify and TikTok. Different forms and manners of music consumption can easily co-exist for different purposes and in different environments.

Ultimately, we are lucky enough to be in a generation that gets to experience the convenience of streaming and the physical art of vinyl records at the same time.

This Editorial was written by Opinion CoEditor Lea Rivel.

GAMES 9 Andrew Burke-Stevenson, Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Lambert, Managing Co-Editor

Editorial Board T HE I N D EPE N D E N T STUDE NT NEWSPAPE R AT B O STON UN IVER SI TY

The Daily Free Press is published Sunday through Thursday during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University Students. Copyright © 2024 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All right reserved.

Daisy Levine, Managing Co-Editor

Kiera McDonald, Campus Co-Editor

Andrew DiBiasio, Lifestyle Editor

Kate Kotlyar, Photo Co-Editor

Maya Mitchell, Campus Co-Editor

Macie Parker, Features Co-Editor

Molly Potter, Photo Co-Editor

Anna Rubenstein, City Editor

Siena Griffin, Features Co-Editor

Kayla Baltazar, Multimedia Editor

Mara Mellits, Investigative Editor

Lauren Albano, Opinion Co-Editor

Augie Oppenheimer, Layout Editor

Brendan Galvin, Sports Editor

Lea Rivel, Opinion Co-Editor

Annika Morris, Graphics Editor

CROSSWORD Across 1 ___ Cityspace, Radio station based on BU's campus 5 Black-and-white-cl ad official on Nickerson Field, say 8 Canadian equivalent of NPR 11 Mamas of chicks

36 Andrew ___, ex-Governor of New York

2 Jazz style (Ask a CFA student!)

19 Someone with prompt cards

39 ___& I, "Dance Monkey" singer

3 ___ States 4 Blogging Inits.

20 Gains for the Patriots, say

41 ___-Free (Common label on water bottles)

15 Long-legged wading bird 16 Got the dub 17 Spanish Mrs. 18 Hot ___ 19 Soldiers on horseback 21 Erred 24 ___ off (made angry) 25 "___ Want For Christmas Is You," perennial Mariah Carey #1 26 ____ thousand deaths (agonizes excessively) 28 Some sodas 29 Human ___ 31 Stops taking a class, say 33 Palm starch 34 Make it ___ you go (ad-lib a class presentation, say)

46 "Winning ___ everything"

49 Walking path along BU's Campus 51 Terriers: BU, ___: Northeastern 53 Boston's timezone from November to March

7 On-campus gym 8 2-year program after which graduates automatically matriculate into a different BU sch.

56 "___, ___, gone!"

57 Hand over, like Wheelock College did to BU in 2018 58 With 61-Across, MLB team based in Fenway Park

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27 Like BU Presidents Freeman and Chobanian

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50 Phrase in a cookbook, maybe 52 Femininizing suffix 55 Online pedagogy platform, founded

by BU's neighbors Harvard and MIT 57 Largest coll. at BU

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48 1988 Anime Cyberpunk classic

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62 Org. for the Boston Celtics

45 Rests after a grueling final exam, say

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43 Sponge up

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42 Enter, as numbers on a calculator

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61 See 58-Across

41 "___ , Humbug!"

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40 Sound system (not Mono)

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60 "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in ___"

Down

23 Go: went, do: __

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59 Not normal, for short

63 Numbers spec. to each US citizen

22 Relating to the ilium bone (ask a pre-med student!)

30 Zilch...or something you might find on 9 What you might run 49-Across? up at Fuller's Pub, 32 ___ Stark, Sophie say Turner's GoT 10 ___ River, body of characteer water next to BU's 35 Transmitters campus 37 ___ Ave Bridge 12 Exchanges takes you from 13 "Mazel __!' Hebrew campus to congratulations Cambridge

54 Before, poetically

1 Exciting

Gracie Rohde

6 More wicked

44 Standardized testing for HS Jrs.

12 Nickname for either 47 Jessica ___, of BU's high-rise American actress apartment/suite and buildings businesswoman 14 "Argh!"

5 Charge toward

38 The relationship of your dreams, for short

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10 SPORTS

SPORTS

Former athletes allege abuse from program director

ZACH SCHWARTZ | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Interior of Track and Tennis Center.

Continued from page 1

“Ever since [that meeting], me and the majority of my fellow athletes on the team have just felt he never followed through,” Hamilton said.

During his time as captain, Hamilton saw the team become starkly divided over various issues under Sanders’ leadership.

Laura Parkinson, a runner who was on the cross country team from 2017-21, said she never received any “maltreatment” from Sanders.

“I only saw the first two years of Sanders,” Parkinson said. “I thought he did a decent job of trying to move the program in the right direction, but, again, with what’s come out? I don’t know. I really don’t know anything.”

Several alumni also said Sanders’ “mood swings” at practices and meets contributed to the divide. They added that Sanders showed favoritism toward certain athletes, especially men over women.

“He is someone that we dread being around because he is very negative … It’s very hard as a student-athlete to know how to interact with him because he’s very unpredictable and very emotional,” said a current member of the track and field team, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from Sanders. “This man has become an enemy of just about anyone he’s coached.”

Many former athletes wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from BU Athletics and from Sanders.

According to a text message received by The Daily Free Press, current athletes on the men’s and women’s track and field teams have been told to decline all media requests and keep “news about the team within the team.”

Sanders’ time as a Terrier assistant coach Rosa Moriello was a member of the cross country team from 2010-15 and served as an assistant coach from 2017-18.

Moriello said there were no “big issues” with Sanders while she was there, but she’s “not surprised” to hear the allegations.

“I can’t give you an answer as to why that is,” Moriello said. “It’s just one of those gut feelings.”

Before Sanders was hired, the director of track and field and cross country was Robyne Johnson. She left during the summer of 2019 to take a similar position at the University of California, Berkeley, where she still is director.

Johnson did not respond to multiple requests to comment.

Ethan Knight, a thrower and two-year captain who graduated in 2016, was on the alumni committee that recommended hiring Sanders for director in 2019. Knight said Sanders was “incredibly eager” to lead the program after he was hired.

Many former athletes spoke of the excitement for a new culture shift when Sanders was hired.

“Coach Johnson was very structured in our approach. She had a whole packet of rules that we had to follow,” said Corinne Batsu, a member of the 2017-22 distance team. “The minute Sanders got there, he tore that packet up in front of us dramatically.”

Moriello said Sanders seemed less experienced than the other coaches, and she did not think Sanders was ready for the job of director. She said she reached out to Athletic Director Drew Marrochello to express her concerns, but received no response.

“It kind of felt like [Sanders] wasn’t taken as seriously,” Moriello said. “He had full control over the sprint program, but it just felt like he’s the little brother.”

A former hurdler who was on the team from 2017-21 said that when Sanders came in, he created an “element of dictatorship, almost like he wanted to be worshiped instead of respected.”

Injured athletes neglected by Sanders Natalie Kwortnik, a jumper on the 2019-22 team, said Sanders treated injured athletes like they did not “exist.” Another athlete alleged that Sanders overworked them until they became injured.

A hurdler who was on BU’s track and field team from 201721 alleged that Sanders tried to convert her from a short-distance hurdler to a long-distance hurdler.

After the hurdler tried to protest the switch, Sanders accused them of “having no confidence” and told them “to see a psychiatrist,” the hurdler said.

They added there was an element of “body shaming,” as Sanders would tell them that they “did not look like a short sprinter.”

Eventually, the switch from short distance to long distance became too much to handle.

“I couldn’t say no,” the hurdler said. “That ended up putting a big toll on my body and I had a pretty bad hip injury that required surgery after I graduated, and it was really accelerated by the workouts I did because I just really wasn’t designed to be a longer runner.”

Another athlete said they were injured before their last year on the team.

“I was fortunate enough that I broke my leg and didn’t have to run anymore,” a sprinter on the 2017-22 team said. “Other kids had to keep running and I’m very happy I wasn’t one of them.”

For many athletes, there was no choice other than to continue training with Sanders — transferring was not an option.

Per NCAA regulations, when a student-athlete enters the transfer portal, their scholarship for the current season remains intact.

However, the scholarship for the following term may be in jeopardy, regardless of whether they transfer or not.

When the current school is notified that the student-athlete entered the portal, the school can rescind the scholarship and give it to someone else.

If the student-athlete in the portal decides not to transfer, they could return to school with no scholarship or place on the team.

Because of these rules, studentathletes are hesitant even to consider transferring.

A member of the 2018-22 sprinting team said that they knew of many sprinters who wanted to transfer but could not because of the NCAA rule.

“You cannot have a foot in the door and out the door,” they said.

“It’s a risk all on your end. You can enter the transfer portal and hope to go somewhere just as good, if not better, than BU. But more often than not, just by nature of how competitive scholarships are, it doesn’t normally happen that way.”

Favoritism and sexism on the team Former athletes said Sanders often favored athletes he recruited over walk-ons.

“Because I wasn’t an athlete he recruited, maybe he didn’t feel like he had to put in as much effort in my class as opposed to the people he ended up bringing on,” a hurdler on the team from 2017-21 said.

Kwortnik said she felt isolated

by Sanders not only because Sanders did not recruit her, but because she was on the women’s team.

The member of the 201822 sprinting team said Sanders consistently targeted one of the team’s highly-awarded female sprinters. “​​ We saw [her] as one of the better, more serious athletes on the team,” they said. “But when [Sanders] came in, he labeled her as a distraction and decided that her race and the way she trained wasn’t good or serious enough.”

Kwortnik said Sanders would sometimes schedule women’s sprinting practices and not attend them.

“When he was coaching, he would disregard [the women sprinters] during practice and be hyper-focused on the male sprinters,” Kwortnik said. “How are you supposed to get better or feel like you’re able to talk with [coaches] if they’re not even there?”

Sanders even missed some of the women’s team’s biggest races because he failed to remember their start times, preventing them from running in events, said Lauren Sikoski, a pole vaulter on the 2018-23 team.

At the start of the 2021-22 season, Stephen Fleagle, former

assistant pole vault coach, left the team. Sikoski, a captain at the time, said she volunteered “to step up and be the coach” in Fleagle’s absence, while still fulfilling her responsibilities as an athlete.

“It was very difficult, as a lot of pressure was put on me instead of a head coach taking on that responsibility,” said Sikoski, who was not paid to coach. “[Sanders] wasn’t really there for the program.”

Sikoski said the women’s team met with Sanders multiple times about his negligence compared to the men’s team.

“You shouldn’t have to beg your coach to coach you,” she said about Sanders.

Cross country coach Paul Spangler’s abrupt departure Some alumni felt the swift exit of cross country head coach Paul Spangler in March 2021 — shortly after winning the women’s Patriot League Cross Country Championship — was “unjust.”

The Daily Free Press has been unable to verify whether Spangler was fired or forced to resign. According to a former assistant coach who worked under Spangler, he was forced to resign.

“People were essentially proSanders and his decision, or proSpangler and very defensive of him getting fired,” Parkinson said.

“It created a huge divide within the team.”

An anonymous leak about Spangler’s departure from the team was posted on LetsRun.com in March 2021 — in the middle of the season.

Spangler also applied for director of the BU track and field program, Knight said. Multiple alumni said it was known that Spangler and Sanders applied for the same position.

Spangler did not respond to comment.

Knight said when Sanders was hired, the hiring committee told him he had to keep Spangler as distance coach.

“There would have always been that tension between them,” Hamilton said. “Their personalities are so starkly different.”

Hamilton, a former captain of the 2020-21 distance team, said he never received “clear clarification” on why Spangler departed from the team.

When Sanders set up a Zoom meeting to address the departure, Hamilton said he and his fellow captains came ready with many questions about the firing. But when they met with him on Zoom, they were all muted, and the chat box was disabled.

“It felt like we were getting the same response over and over again, like we were talking to a closed door,” said a former captain of the 2020-21 distance team. “Then when we sent out emails, a lot of them were just unreciprocated and [we] heard nothing back.”

Hamilton said when Spangler told the team he was leaving in a separate Zoom meeting, Spangler was uncharacteristically “emotional.” “[He] started crying and left the Zoom call, which is something that I never thought, in my wildest days, that I would see,” Hamilton said.

Multiple alumni said there was tension in how the two handled COVID-19 precautions. Alumni said Sanders was very strict on COVID-19 protocols, while Spangler was much more lenient.

Many said they believe

BU Athletics used Spangler’s relaxation surrounding COVID-19 policies against him.

“In my perspective, it was also quite frustrating because I worked with Coach Spangler for four years,” said a former assistant coach. “[Athletics] didn’t ask me anything. They just fired him based on their own claim, but they didn’t really investigate the other side.”

But Sanders and Spangler were still professional to each other in front of the athletes, a former assistant coach said.

“I don’t remember it always being super tense,” a former assistant coach who worked under Spangler said. “Which again, I think made it even that much more surprising when coach Spangler was fired because, at least to me, it didn’t seem like this really bad relationship all the time.”

The coach also said they felt like “athletes suffered the most” when Spangler was fired.

Athletes who were on the team at the time said they were confused and upset that their coach was gone.

“This is entirely unfair, this makes no sense,” a former captain of the 2020-21 distance team said about Spangler’s exit.

A former member of the BU distance team said they transferred schools because of Spangler’s departure.

Jordan Carpenter replaced Spangler as associate head coach of the cross country team and assistant coach of the track and field team. Before coming to BU, Carpenter was the head men’s cross country and track and field coach at Pomona-Pitzer — a Division III program.

“Carpenter’s pretty young, he’s pretty new to coaching,” Batsu said. “I guess Sanders and him just got along better because Sanders was clearly the authority figure.”

Lack of support from BU Athletics A member of the cross country team from 2017-20 said they and many alumni reached out to BU Athletics when they were students to express their concerns about the team and received “radio silence” in return.

Sikoski said while she was on the team, many athletes tried to meet with the athletics department to discuss coaches, but these attempts “didn’t really go anywhere.”

Athletes can access an academic advisor and compliance officer to voice their complaints. These professionals help balance the academic and athletic demands of competing in collegiate athletics.

Before graduating, BU varsity athletes have the opportunity to meet with a BU Athletics staff member to reflect on their time in the program. Many athletes use this time to air out concerns or grievances.

But Kwortnik said these conversations typically lead nowhere.

“Every instance, at least [that] I’ve had, with athletics, they’re just trying to quiet things down,” she said. “I feel like most of these things that happened were verbal, emotional abuse, things that are not visible to the eye, but they’re still occurring.”

Senior writer Addison Schmidt is a part of BU’s track and field and cross country teams. She was not involved in the writing, reporting or editing of this article.

SPORTS

11

‘It’s a surreal feeling’: Macklin Celebrini wins 2024 Hobey Baker Award

BY BELLE FRASER Director, Boston Hockey Blog

Macklin Celebrini came into summer training with Boston University and “pissed off” his new teammates.

Not because of an attitude or ego, but because of his competitiveness and how hard he works. It’s a big part of the reason Celebrini won the 2024 Hobey Baker Award on April 13 at the RiverCentre in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

“For a 17 year old to push a group of older players like that, it’s pretty impressive and says a lot about him and his character and about how much he cares. That’s why he is who he is,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said.

Celebrini became the youngest player to ever win the Hobey Baker, and the fourth Terrier to earn the honor alongside Jack Eichel (2014-15), Matt Gilroy (2008-09) and Chris Drury (1997-98). Cutter Gauthier of Boston College and Jackson Blake of North Dakota were the other two award finalists this year.

With 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) through 38 games, Celebrini racked up the conference accolades throughout the season, closing it off with Hockey East Player and Rookie of the Year, the Tim Taylor National Rook-

COURTESY OF BRENDAN NORDSTROM

Boston University men’s ice hockey freshman Macklin Celebrini poses with the Hobey Baker trophy alongside coach Jay Pandolfo. Celebrini received the 2024 Hobey Baker Award, Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Award and Hockey East Player and Rookie of the Year.

ie of the Year and, of course, the Hobey Baker.

“It’s a surreal feeling. Being awarded such a prestigious award, it means a lot.

It’s kind of just a whirlwind right now,” Celebrini said.

But there was one caveat: “Definitely would trade a national championship for that award.”

The comment was a familiar facet of Celebrini’s

personality throughout the 2023-24 season – it was always team before the individual. For a player as gifted and highly-touted as he is, Celebrini was the first to credit his success to his teammates and defer to his gratitude to the coaching staff for putting him in a position to win.

“It meant everything.

I wouldn’t be anywhere without them. I love that group, we’re like brothers. It meant a lot to have them here,” Celebrini said. “Those are relationships I don’t think any of us will forget.”

Celebrini got to share this season with his brother, freshman defenseman Aiden Celebrini. While Macklin’s future plans are unknown, and the Terriers’ run came to an end on April 21 in a 2-1 overtime loss to Denver in the national semifinal, the two are grateful for the time they’ve gotten to spend together in the Scarlet and White.

“He’s my brother but he’s also my best friend, so to see him up there on that stage and win it, it’s a dream come true,” Aiden said. “Growing up playing mini sticks together, going on open ice together, and then getting to ex-

perience that on this stage with him, it’s incredible.”

Macklin and Aiden’s 12-year-old brother RJ has been along for the journey as well, albeit not on the ice.

RJ said his favorite memory of Macklin this season was his two first-period goals against Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal.

“It’s made me a big BU fan,” RJ said. “It’s been amazing. I’ve learned a lot from him. It’s just been amazing seeing your big brother up on the big stage.”

When asked if he could see himself landing on Commonwealth Avenue sometime in the future, RJ grinned. “Yeah, that’s my plan,” he said.

Celebrini has centered the Terriers’ first line through his freshman campaign while averaging 1.68 points per game and most recently skating with fellow firstyears Shane Lachance and Jack Harvey in what turned out to be a dynamite trio.

The phenom’s offensive flair was a given from the start, but the way in which Celebrini elevates everyone around him and displays such detail in all three zones is what has made him a star at every level of the game thus far.

Beyond scoring

game-winning goals and releasing rockets on the power play, Celebrini is blocking shots, hauling you-know-what on the backcheck and logging important defensive minutes in the dwindling moments of the third period whether up or down a tally. Celebrini, truly, did it all for BU this season – but he was never satisfied nonetheless.

“He never takes a shift off, never gives anyone an inch, whether it’s in practice or a game,” Pandolfo said Friday. “That’s why I’m honestly not that surprised that he won this award, even though he’s 17 years old, just because of the first day he stepped on campus just looking at the way he was wired and how he was competing.”

Celebrini’s freshman season had a sour ending, but his impact and mark on the program remains profound. And now, he’s a Hobey Baker winner.

“The last year, it’s been amazing,” Celebrini said.

“It’s been a special place to spend the last year.”

A version of this article originally appeared online in the Boston Hockey Blog, the hockey outlet for The Daily Free Press.

12 LETTER

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

BY ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON Editor-In-Chief

This is my second article for The Daily Free Press.

For the spring and fall 2023 semesters, I was a photo coeditor. The semester before that, a photographer.

So what’s the path from this to editor-in-chief?

It’s an anomaly. When applications came around for the next semester, I applied to a managing co-editor position hoping to pick up skills in line editing. But I got to thinking about what I could do.

I had ideas for what I thought the paper could do to start to deliver stories in new ways, including visuals, graphics, social media — anything to captivate a new audience.

And so I brought these ideas to my interview.

A few days later, I got a call from fall 2023 editor-in-chief Chloe Patel, offering me to take over her position.

I took part of the day to think it over. I thought, with my limited experience line editing articles, I might screw it all up. But news judgment and leadership ability are across mediums, across writing and photography. So I took it.

I was still worried about my ability to edit articles. But learning that managing co-editors Jenny Lambert and Daisy Levine would be working alongside me, I knew their support would guarantee great work.

We edited our first article together before the semester even began.

It was a feature story written by Daisy that included an interview with “Ted” star Seth MacFarlane.

We were celebrating the holidays at home, so it took Jenny and me longer than usual to edit, but it still was a great introduction to working with both of them.

We started the semester on the ground running: multimedia editor Kayla Baltazar revamped our

MOLLY POTTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Instagram account’s format into its current, sleek design. We loved it and I enjoy seeing how professional the FreeP looks on social media — even if Top 3 always needs a reminder to check the day’s posts.

On our third day of publishing, several FreeP reporters and photographers traveled to New Hampshire to report on the first-inthe-nation presidential primaries.

City editor Anna Rubenstein not only oversaw reporters and news writers covering this major political event, but she also co-wrote two articles and published them that night.

Also in the Granite State, features

HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

1. JENNIFER LAMBERT 2. ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON 3. DAISY LEVINE 4. MARA MELLITS 10. ANNA RUBENSTEIN 5. MAYA MITCHELL 11. MOLLY POTTER 6. KIERA MCDONALD 12. LAUREN ALBANO 7. SIENA GRIFFIN 13. KATE KOTLYAR 8. ANNIKA MORRIS 14. MACIE PARKER 9. KAYLA BALTAZAR 15. LEA RIVEL 16. ANDREW DIBIASIO 17. BRENDAN GALVIN 18. AUGIE OPPENHEIMER

17 18 15 16 13 14 10 11 12 5 6 7 8 4 9 2 1 3

co-editors Siena Griffin and Macie Parker highlighted what canvassers were feeling during the primary, setting the tone for their section’s colorful human interest stories.

Our first print edition came out soon after, with layout editor Augie Oppenheimer completely redesigning our front page.

The front page featured investigative editor Mara Mellits’ first piece in her inaugural role, an in-depth look into the part-time faculty union on campus.

Then, our second print edition came. I tried a new format, switching it to a “day print” on Sunday instead of Thursday night, starting around 11 a.m. in the hopes of getting everyone out at a reasonable time.

This did not go as planned.

We ended up getting out around 3 a.m., making it a 16-hour-long print.

Yikes. It’s safe to say we didn’t try day print again.

I was devastated after this. The goal of creating healthier hours for a print had completely failed. But Jenny and Daisy helped me get out of the rut and we worked together to make sure something like this wouldn’t repeat.

We had spring break to recuperate, though because of the basketball team’s playoff run, sports editor Brendan Galvin had to edit stories with Top 3.

Around the same time, campus coeditors Kiera McDonald and Maya Mitchell began in-depth coverage of the incoming Boston University Graduate Workers Union strike. As of today, they’ve published eight articles on the strike.

Our third print reflected this even more, with an amazing front page picture by photo co-editor and my former co-editor Molly Potter.

Molly and photo co-editor Kate Kotlyar killed it this semester — for the digital version of a gallery on the strike, Kate designed a whole new website template, and we’ve used it since.

All of the visuals this semester were amazing. The illustrations by graphics editor Annika Morris have been all-around outstanding. I chuckle a little every time I see the one of President Joe Biden slipping on the plane stairs, made for opinion co-editor Lauren Albano’s excellent political column.

Lauren and opinion co-editor Lea Rivel not only edited a wide variety of opinion articles but also wrote some of my favorite editorials of my time on the paper, including one covering the recent Nickelodeon documentary and one criticizing gender disparities in Beanpot tournament engagement.

In the week leading up to our fourth print night, lifestyle editor Andrew DiBiasio budgeted four articles for each day, topping off the 100 he already published.

For this final print edition, Brendan and Mara published a cross-section collaborative sports investigative piece.

It’s an honor to go out on such a high note, but I’m sad to say it’s over.

But after editing over 480 articles and publishing four incredible print editions, we’re not only great friends but amazing collaborators. Without Daisy’s expertise in narrative structure and Jenny’s knowledge of news writing and AP style, I don’t know where the FreeP or I would be.

I think back to countless CityCo runs, stress-relieving walks down Comm. Ave. and turning off our fluorescent lights to stop an oncoming headache.

Mara is the next editor-in-chief and Andrew and Siena are the next co-managing editors. Even though my time as an editor here is over, I’m excited to see where they take the paper and I know The Daily Free Press is in good hands.