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Tuesday november 22, 2016 vol. cxl no. 106
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
Over 300 faculty members sign diversity statement By Simone Downs staff writer
The “Faculty statement released in support for diversity at Princeton University” has signatures from 289 assistant, associate, and full Professors, and 40 Lecturers. The statement was made to “firmly emphasize our belief that all members of our community deserve to be treated with empathy and respect,” and outlines the faculty’s desire to stand behind the University’s “steadfast commitment to embrace people of all ethnicities, religions, nationalities, genders, and identities, and our equally fundamental commitment to foster the free and vigorous exchange of ideas.” The statement was released on Nov. 17 and continues to garner support. Carlos Brody, Wilbur H. Gantz III ‘59 Professor in Neuroscience and Professor of Molecular
Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, along with Andrew Leifer, Assistant Professor of Physics and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, produced this statement. “The biggest thing was meeting students that were worried because there are reports of hate crimes and a lot of uncertainty as to changes that could happen we don’t know,” said Brody, explaining why they decided to circulate the petition. “We wanted these students to know that the faculty cares about them, that we care about every individual in our community regardless of gender, identity, ethnicity, or religion,” Brody said. “So we thought that gathering signatures for people to say this personally was a thing that might be valuable.” “I should clarify, it’s not a petiSee DIVERSITY page 3
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U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
Eisgruber signs petition in support of DACA By Jessica Li head news editor
University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 is one of over 100 college and university presidents who signed a statement calling for the continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in light of the recent presidential election. The statement asserts that the signatories are prepared to meet with policymakers of the next administration to discuss reasons for upholding DACA, which protects eligible undocumented students from being placed in removal proceedings
and grants them employment authorizations. The signatories also called upon business, civic, religious, and nonprofit sectors to do the same. “Since the advent of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012, we have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities,” the statement reads. “DACA beneficiaries on our campuses have been exemplary student scholars and student leaders, working across campus and in the community,” the statement continues.
In a statement emailed to the Daily Princetonian, Eisgruber noted that the University, like many other colleges and universities, has been a longtime supporter of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “We believe that the students assisted by the program make valuable contributions to this campus and this country, and that the program deserves bipartisan support,” he wrote. “I was glad to join the many other college and university presidents who signed the letter, and I both hope and expect that we will see additional See DACA page 3
ACADEMICS
Q&A
Q&A: Alia Malek, reporter and lawyer By Emily Spalding staff writer
Alia Malek is a journalist, author, and civil rights lawyer. Her writing has appeared in a slew of publications including The New York Times and McSweeney’s, among many others. She is the author of the narrative nonfiction novel “A Country Called Amreeka: US History Re-Told Through Arab American Lives” and will release her second book in February 2017. Malek is a former senior writer for Al Jazeera America and was recently awarded the Hiett Prize in the Humanities. Daily Princetonian: How have your personal identity and background shaped your professional life? Are the stories you choose to cover at all influenced by your previous experiences in the workplace and/or family life? Alia Malek: The fact is that I come from an ethnic/racial
In Opinion
group that has been the subject of much journalism about being participants, and the creators of the journalism made me always feel critical and sensitive to how people are covered in the media. And, you know, where people do come from particular racialized ethnic groups, the coverage of one story affects everybody.The way that works is — I started off as a lawyer — I started off wanting to work on effects of prejudice and stereotypes ... which I think does stand in part from bad media, whether it’s journalism or pop culture. And after 9/11, I felt like that problem was so big that maybe I needed to — well, I didn’t make the change then, but I started to think that there really needed to be a much more concerted effort to participate in storytelling and journalism and media creation. Eventually, after six years of law I did go to See MALEK page 1
Senior columnist Sam Parsons evaluates both sides of the debate over illegal immigrant extradition in light of President-elect Trump’s campaign promises, and guest contributor Sophie Moullin suggests that the issue of Princeton graduate student unionization is not equivalent to similar efforts occurring elsewhere. PAGE 4
By Sarah Hirschfield staff writer
Elizabeth Sell ‘17 was selected as one of the twelve George J. Mitchell Scholars nationwide in the 2018 class for the program, according to the US-Ireland Alliance. The goal of the scholarship “is to provide tomorrow’s leaders with an understanding about, an interest in, and an affinity for the island of Ireland,” according to its website. Sell, concentrating in chemistry, is a medical technician with the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, and a Diversity Peer Educator. She previously worked as a research assistant at the Children’s National Medical Center. “[The University] taught me that in order to be a leader in medicine I have to be constantly and critically engaging with greater social issues in my communities, both on campus and off campus,” she wrote in an email. Sell has also worked as an undergraduate preceptor for organic chemistry, led a
breakout trip to New York City to explore issues related to access to healthcare for the trans community, and conducted an international service trip to Ghana to explore the problem of electronic waste at Agbogbloshie, the center of industrial e-waste, with a $20,000 grant. Sell noted, “these trips allowed me to put post-heroic leadership and design thinking strategies into action in service-oriented experiences.” This last year has been formative for Sell, as they realized how gender plays an influential role in the American healthcare system. “American medicine was originally designed for the [cisgendered], heterosexual white male patient, and this continues to present challenges to patient-focused and holistic patient care,” she wrote, citing the misdiagnosis of heart attacks in women as an example of how studying only male patients can be detrimental. “The emergence of gender studies as an academic discipline played a signifi-
Today on Campus 12:30 p.m.: In a Geosciences/PEI lecture, Liyuan Liang of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, will give a lecture entitled: “From From Chemistry to Mercury Methylation Gene Discovery.” Guyot Hall Lecture Hall 10.
cant role in advancing this research area, and consequently thousands of lives have been saved as a result of the new AHA guidelines,” she said. Chemistry professor Martin Semmelhack said that as a student in organic chemistry, Sell “stood out in the large organic class as someone who was doing well, no problems with the material, but still came to the office hour/ review sessions.” “[Sell] impressed as someone looking for the complete answer and with a lot of interest,” he added. “I was really pleased when [Sell] was one of the first to volunteer as a precept TA for this semester.” Sell intends to become a physician and will study Gender, Sexuality, and Culture at University College Dublin in September with the scholarship, which allows recipients to spend a year of post-graduate study in Ireland. “A Masters in Gender, Sexuality and Culture will give me the chance to bring genSee SELL page 2
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Sell ’17 named Mitchell Scholar, to study Gender, Sexuality and Culture
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