MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 12
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Grad students withdraw their petition to vote for unionization
The shocking decision is a ‘strategic’move HALEY SUH & REBECCA TAN News Editor & Executive Editor
In a dramatic turn of events, the graduate students who spent the last two years campaigning for a union, have withdrawn their petition to represent Penn’s graduate and professional students who serve as teaching and research assistants. “We made this decision in a Special General Body Members’ Meeting on Thursday, February 15, and our petition to withdraw was submitted to the NLRB today and we are waiting for an official acceptance notice,” Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, GET-UP, said in a statement posted on Facebook at 7:40 p.m. on Feb. 16. Just a month ago, GETUP celebrated a victory in its campaign to unionize: After 203 days, Philadelphia’s National Labor Relations Board announced that the group would be allowed to hold an election on whether to unionize. “When we finally got the answer on Dec. 19, it was a such a relief to know,” member of GET-UP Olivia Harding said at the time. “Penn is both an educator and an employer of us, so [this decision] justified everything we had been working for.” Now, GET-UP’s decision to rescind its petition means
MONA LEE | NEWS PHOTO EDITOR
Family of Blaze Bernstein comes to campus The Bernsteins came to campus for the first time since the death of their son, College sophomore Blaze Bernstein, to pack up the things he left behind and to attend a campus memorial on Feb. 18 SARAH FORTINSKY Senior News Editor
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n the weeks following the tragic death of College sophomore Blaze Bernstein, his parents, Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper, have emerged as the central figures in the eye of a media firestorm, stoic and loving in their grief. This weekend, for the first time, the Bernsteins came to Penn to mourn with the staff, students, and faculty who knew — and loved — their son. Just days after the news of Bernstein’s death, his parents set up a memorial fund for those looking to honor Blaze’s memory. As reports came in of the arrest of Bernstein’s alleged killer, Sam Woodward, and his ties to a neo-Nazi hate group, the Bernsteins have maintained their message
of love, generosity, and inclusivity. “As this began to unfold, we realized that we had an opportunity to set an example for people everywhere,” Jeanne wrote earlier this month. “To show them how even in the face of tragedy and loss, there is something better to concentrate on rather than bitterness, revenge, self-pity and regret. We wanted people to embrace love, tolerance and kindness, to do good.” At Penn, students and faculty alike have felt the effects of his death on campus. Many have long awaited his memorial, which took place this Sunday. The College student was a central figure in the Kelly Writers House and in the wider writing community. He was slated to become SEE BLAZE PAGE 2
MONA LEE | NEWS PHOTO EDITOR
The Bernsteins came to collect Blaze’s belongings, including this toolkit that his parents gave him.
that graduate students will not be able to expect a union in the coming months. “This action means that there will no longer be an election later this semester to determine whether eligible graduate and professional students will choose to be represented by GETUP,” wrote Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett in an email to all graduate students at 5:40 p.m. Student leaders say that GET-UP’s decision is a strategic move to help graduate students across the country retain the right to unionize in the long-term. Following in the footsteps of other pro-unionization groups at the University of Chicago and Yale University, GET-UP wants to delay its vote because of worries that the GOPdominated NLRB might use the vote as a chance to overturn the 2016 landmark decision that formally categorized graduate students at Columbia University as “employees.” This ruling, known as the “Columbia decision,” came after students at the university appealed to the NLRB in hopes of unionizing. It set a precedent for graduate student workers at various other institutions to begin their own campaigns toward forming a union. GET-UP is worried that if its vote passes through, Penn will file an appeal to SEE GET-UP PAGE 6
1vyG conference held at Penn for the first time
At Bernstein memorial, friends and family share memories
The conference took over a year to plan
The event, which was held at Kelly Writers House featured a potluck with Bernstein’s favorite dishes
MADDIE NGO & DEENA ELUL Staff Reporter
MADELEINE NGO & SARAH FORTINSKY Staff Reporter & Senior News Editor
More than 300 first-generation, low-income students from universities across the country flooded campus this weekend to attend the first 1vyG conference on Penn’s campus. This is the first time the conference has taken place at Penn, but KOS MANTE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER the fourth year it’s been in existence. It featured panels and dis- 1vyG, which is the largest conference in the United States for firstcussions on topics ranging from generation, low-income students, saw over 300 attendees this year. career advice to mental health awareness for FGLI students. on Saturday. Although Gutmann the 1vyG Conference, wrote a Beginning with registration initially said she would not be 26-page application to bring the and opening ceremonies on Fri- speaking at the event, she an- conference to Penn alongside Colday, the conference lasted through nounced two days before that she lege junior and co-chair Candida mid-day Sunday, and this year’s would attend. Alfaro. Moore has been directpanels and workshops focused For FGLI students at Penn who ing board members and planning on the future of students in atten- have been organizing the confer- for the weekend-long conference dance. ence, this weekend’s activities since June 2017. Penn President Amy Gutmann, were the culmination of nearly a On Saturday, five first-gena FGLI student herself, and Penn year of work. eration 1991 Penn graduates Provost Wendell Pritchett opened In April 2017, Anea Moore, SEE 1VYG PAGE 8 the second day of the conference College junior and co-chair of
As the snow from the weekend melted away this Sunday afternoon, friends and family of College sophomore Blaze Bernstein gathered at the Kelly Writer’s House to share food and memories of the Penn student, who died early this year. Bernstein, whose tragic death has stunned members of Penn’s campus in many ways, was an active member of the KWH community and closely involved in many publications, including Penn Review and Penn Appétit. To honor Bernstein, who was known for his love of food and cooking, the KWH hosted a potluck featuring many of his favorite dishes. Boxes of La Croix, Bernstein’s favorite drink, were placed on a table next to a whisk.
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College sophomore Amy Marcus, one of the organizers of the memorial, baked snickerdoodles for the memorial. Marcus said when she had a concussion last semester, Bernstein brought her snickerdoodles to cheer her up. Stacks of black #BlazeItForward shirts were given to guests, along with copies of his poem, “Picking Marbles from Dirt,” which was published in the Penn Review while he was a high school student at the Orange County School of the Arts. Bernstein’s pre-major academic advisor, Jamie-Lee Josselyn, was the point person coordinating the memorial, along with Bernstein’s parents, four students — three of whom spoke at the event — and
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some University officials, who helped with the logistics. Guests were encouraged to write down their memories of Bernstein on a colorful note card, folding and dropping them in a jar labeled, “Memories of Blaze.” A poster with a collage of photos of Bernstein stood behind the podium where his parents, Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper, along with friends and Penn faculty members shared their stories of Bernstein. The walls in KWH were lined with tissue boxes for anyone to use as the speakers shared their stories. Following Josselyn’s introduction, Gideon Bernstein, Blaze’s father, was the first to speak. He shared memories of times in the kitchen with his son and moments that were characteristic of his son as he was growing up. “He was a person who was SEE MEMORIAL PAGE 3
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