April 20, 2017

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Thursday April 20, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 47

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Peter Brown: Inventor of late antiquity

By Ruby Shao news editor emerita

The fall of the Roman Empire ushered in a dark age, replete with decay and barely worth studying. Or so scholars thought until history professor emeritus Peter Brown invented the field of late antiquity, which spans 250–800 A.D. “Looking at the late antique world, we are caught between the regretful contemplation of ancient ruins and the excited acclamation of new growth,” he wrote in his 1971 book “The World of Late Antiquity.”

Brown’s discovery of the era’s dynamism has driven his career.

Specializing in the transition from ancient to medieval times, as well as the rise of Christianity, he has authored a dozen books, garnered numerous honors, and earned international acclaim.

“Peter Brown is surely one of the great historians of our time,” said history professor Helmut Reimitz. “He changed the ways that we think about the end of the Roman world and the beginning of the medieval and European and, if you like, Western society and civilization.”

Dimitri Gondicas, executive director of the Program in Hellenic Studies, explained that Brown shows how people in the past envisioned themselves.

“It’s what we call history in the longue durée and from the ground up, not merely events, officials, dates, and battles,” Gondicas said.

For Brown, the treasures of late antiquity first emerged through art. On a trip to Ravenna, late Roman mosaics overwhelmed him with their sheer beauty. Intrigued, he set out to understand how the Roman Empire transitioned into the Middle Ages.

Late antiquity contains so much wisdom about how people overcome difficult conditions, rendering the field relevant to contemporary individuals, Brown said.

“I’m much more interested in how people survive than how they make great things. Great achievements are wonderful, but the real test of a culture is how it passes itself on,” he explained.

Born to Irish Protestants in 1935, Brown grew up on two of the continents that he has explored in a scholarly context, Europe and Africa. For the first four years of his life, until World War II broke out in 1939, Brown spent every winter and spring in what was then the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

His father worked as a railway engineer in Khartoum, having

struggled like many other Protestants to find employment in his intolerant Catholic homeland. He alone, of all Brown’s direct kin, held a university degree.

Each summer and fall, the heat caused men to send their wives and children out of Sudan. Brown and his mother, a homemaker, returned to a small, quiet, rainy seaside town called Bray on the east coast of Ireland.

“I grew up with two imaginative worlds: one the world of the Middle East, one the world of basically Dublin, Ireland,” Brown said.

In the Sudan, he saw hippopotami, crocodiles, and camels under starry skies. Such experiences affected him long after.

“Living in the Sudan put in me a love of the Middle East, a real interest in it, distant memories of a very sunny world with large, dark Sudanese servants in long white robes,” he said.

Once the war began, his mother moved permanently to Ireland, taking Brown with her. The two grew close, especially since he had no siblings. His father remained in Sudan, only returning to Ireland in 1948. Brown did not get to know him until peacetime, but expressed extreme fondness for him.

He received a scholarship to attend Shrewsbury School in England at the age of 13. The institution included students from various socioeconomic classes, including farmers’ sons who left classes every Friday to help their fathers transport animals to the market.

Brown intended to study science, but his headmaster discouraged him from doing so because he had performed so well.

He instead pursued classics, then the most prestigious and challenging subject, renowned for disciplining the mind. New lessons in Greek added to the Latin and French that he had studied in Ireland. At 15, he switched to history.

“Everybody thought I was rather dropping out,” he said, laughing. “I’m very glad that in some ways I’ve always remained in touch with my classics background. But I was a historian, in the sense that for me, a language was a way into a world ... I want to look through the glass, rather than just look at the glass.”

He added that whereas classics concentrated on the great works of the past, history allowed him to explore the more ordinary topic of how people lived in the past.

Brown partly traced his love of history to his upbringing. Over See BROWN page 2

RUBY SHAO ;; THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Peter Brown at Scheide Caldwell House, home to the Program in Hellenic Studies, which Brown directed from 2000 to 2011.

U . A F FA I R S

‘Gatsby’ Director Baz Luhrmann named 2017 Class Day Speaker

COURTESY OF EVA RINALDI VIA FLICKR

Oscar-winning director Baz Luhrmann will address the Class of 2017 at the Class Day ceremony on June 5.

By Claire Lee associate news editor

Academy Award-nominated film director, screenwriter, and producer Baz Luhrmann has been invited to address the Class of 2017 at the Class Day ceremony on Monday, June 5, according to a University press release.

Class Day takes place on the eve of the University’s Commencement and is being organized by members of the graduating class. “[Luhrmann’s] life exhibits what it is like to dream, preserve and explore the full breadth of one’s desires and passions, which is a fitting mindset to convey to graduates before entering the real world,” Class Day co-chair Deana Hamlin ’17 said in the

release.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Luhrmann was immersed in art and theater at an early age. His mother was a ballroom dance teacher, and his father ran several businesses, including a movie theater where Luhrmann found himself captivated by the world of film. He later attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art, where he received a degree in acting.

Luhrmann has produced several critically acclaimed films, including “Strictly Ballroom” (1992), “Romeo + Juliet” (1996), and “Moulin Rouge!” (2001), the last of which was a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2008, he released “Australia,” and a few years later, he directed and co-

wrote “The Great Gatsby” (2012) based on the 1925 novel

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Class of 1917.

“The committee was especially intrigued by Luhrmann’s landmark production of ‘The Great Gatsby,’” Class Day co-chair Jacob Cannon ’17 said in the release. “Luhrmann’s talent in shedding new light on such a historic work showed us that he can push the bounds of our imagination while at the same time employing noteworthy aspects of Princeton’s rich traditions to do so.”

Students in the Class Day committee also noted that Luhrmann’s re-creation of “The Great Gatsby” resonates with the graduating class. This past November, the Class of 2017 extended an honorary class membership to Fitzgerald at the 125th celebration of Triangle Club, a musical-comedy theater group on campus in which Fitzgerald had served as an active member.

“We are thrilled to welcome Baz Luhrmann to Class Day 2017,” Class Day co-chair Paulina Orillac ’17 said.

“The three of us are just really excited to welcome someone who has truly embraced his individual style and hasn’t been pigeonholed into one genre or medium,” she added. “We believe he will be inspiring to our classmates as we look to forge our own careers.”

The Class Day ceremony will be held on Cannon Green at 10:30 a.m. It is a ticketed event for seniors and their invited guests, with live stream sites available.

ON CAMPUS

OIT unveils two-factor authentication system for Blackboard site log-in

By Jacob Tyles science contributor

The Office of Information Technology has implemented an additional security measure requiring duo two-factor authentication to access Blackboard. Students will be able to download this update beginning May 8, supplanting the normal duo authentication required to access University-specific documents and services.

The update requires students to enroll a device that will be used in the authentication process during login.

Once students log in with their passwords, they will be prompted to approve the login through a push notification on their cell phones, a sequence of numbers generated by OIT, or through a landline. This added security measure is to ensure the protection of students’ intellectual property, personal information, and University data.

Students may register their devices earlier by logging in to the Duo SelfService Portal. OIT will also provide help tables at Frist Campus Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, and Wednesday,

May 3, if students want to set up the duo 2FA process before May 8. A table will be set up at Frist during the week of May 8 to assist in enrolling devices in the duo 2FA system.

As information technology and security grow increasingly complex, the ability to defend against a breach into a systems network has become more important.

Last year, a weak link in cluster printers led to a widespread attack in which a white supremacist group was able to print out anti-Semitic fliers across campus printer clusters. This attack affected not only the University, but also several other universities across the country. The breach was quickly resolved, but it became a blaring wakeup call that we take our information security for granted. It has been through OIT’s unwavering commitment to strong security that we can trust University systems.

The decision to switch to the duo 2FA system demonstrates the need to improve overall campus security.

Peter Russell ’19, a student involved in cyber security research on campus, said he regards the update as a positive sign of OIT’s vigilance.

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Contributing columnist Marissa Rosenberg-Carlson challenges conservative stances on free speech, and senior columnist Imani Thornton rebuts Bhaskar Roberts’ argument about depictions of violence. PAGE 4

4:30 p.m.: Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, will present a lecture titled “Live Your Life Like a Start-Up” at 4:30 p.m. in Maeder Hall Auditorium.

“You can really see OIT’s move to update the system as a broader effort to improve the cyber hygiene of the University’s network, given that there are so many connections between University clusters, machines, and assets,” Russell explained.

“Hackers usually exploit this interconnectedness to gain access to secure connections via a weaker link.”

An example of such a breach happened in Target in the fall of 2013 through a clever attack against a weaker node. The breach occurred through accessing an unsecured heating, ventilation, and air conditioning node which linked to meat scales, which subsequently routed to the cash registers. It was through this missed detail that nearly 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million addresses and emails were leaked.

In consideration of such security breaches, the duo 2FA will act to further enhance the security of its systems, as well as the integrity of sensitive information of all students, faculty and staff.

The link to the duo 2FA update can be found on OIT’s website.

WEATHER

ON CAMPUS

HIGH

75˚

LOW

51˚

Scattered showers. chance of rain:

50 percent

The Daily Princetonian

page 2

Thursday April 20, 2017

Sahner: What did I do to deserve this level of attention from such a great figure and great mind?

BROWN

Continued from page 1

.............

time, he increasingly recognized his unusual perspective as someone who touched more cultures than average.

“I had to make a real effort to understand, often, my own nextdoor neighbor,” he said. “So I was constantly aware — and I think this is important, because this is one of the primary things a historian can really teach people — that people are different, and that it’s your duty to understand them.”

Brown won a scholarship to attend New College at Oxford University, but had to wait a year before enrolling because he was too young. He spent the hiatus taking typing lessons at a secretarial school and German classes from a professor at Trinity College Dublin who had fled the Nazis.

Upon arriving at Oxford, he decided to study medieval history.

Weekly tutorials, which involved personal, one-on-one mentorship from faculty, gave him huge confidence.

“I was awful in the sense that one of the ways in which the English system works very well is that it encourages young men to show off. If you had a scholarship, you were supposed to be brilliant, to talk brilliant, to look brilliant.

Now as I couldn’t talk brilliant and I didn’t look brilliant, I at least worked brilliant. So I was a very reclusive student,” he said.

Although Brown played rugby and association football in his first term, he soon decided reading was much more fun.

“The great thing about Oxford is that I was totally free to just bury myself in the library, which I did,” he said. In his last year of university, he decided to become a history professor. He began researching material that he could teach, so as to not only find out about the past, but also help people understand it.

That year, he stumbled upon St. Augustine, who would form the subject of several of his books,

including his 1967 debut, “Augustine of Hippo.” Augustine represented both a high-powered intellectual and a wonderful preacher, whose gift for communication provided Christians like Brown with the language to understand their faith, he explained.

After completing his bachelor’s in 1956, Brown won a fellowship at Oxford’s prestigious All Souls College, where he stayed until 1975. Unlike other colleges, All Souls included many non-academic fellows, including lawyers, civil servants, and publishers. He was emboldened by being treated as their equal. Most importantly, these outstanding, cultivated non-researchers came to figure within his intended audience.

He hoped to address both them and the students he taught for tutorials.

During a dinner at All Souls, Brown met Charles Monteith, a publisher from Faber and Faber, the publishing house of acclaimed author T.S. Eliot. Monteith asked him to write a short biography of Augustine. Starting to tire of late medieval England, Brown agreed. The resulting book, “Augustine of Hippo,” established his reputation.

In the course of the project, Brown lost his faith. He explained that he thought he could manage everything himself. He became a Christian again after moving to the United States in 1978, which embraced religion more than England did. Piety also gained appeal when he observed devout Muslims in the Middle East, especially old-fashioned religious circles during his 1978 visits to Egypt and Iran.

He noted that his Christianity has led his late antiquity studies to focus on Christianity rather than, say, barbarian invasions or gold mining. He likes investigating how Christians in a different era created the language that enabled them to handle never-ending problems, like the afterlife and the care of the poor. He added that his faith deepens his scholarship by making him feel that he is studying real people with real

concerns.

“You need a language with which to express things, which at a certain age you felt you could do yourself, and gradually, somehow, it’s like switching from pastel paint to heavy oils,” he said, referencing his faith, whose importance has increased with the growing seriousness of life.

Brown’s former doctoral student, University of Cambridge Research Fellow Christian Sahner ’07 GS ’15, noted that Brown injected momentum into the historical study of religion, showing that it belonged to not just theology, but also social and cultural history.

Brown cites the balance of his scholarship between eastern and western Christianity as his proudest accomplishment. Few scholars research both equally, as the task demands mastery of different languages and intuitions.

His commitment has challenged him throughout his career to break into new territory, such as by examining the Desert Fathers, Syriac poetry, and languages like Greek and Coptic.

Upon leaving Oxford in 1975, Brown moved to Royal Holloway College at the University of London. He served as the head of the department of history and enjoyed the more cosmopolitan flair of the faculty. In 1978, he immigrated to the United States to become a professor of classics and history at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown came to the University in 1986.

There he met Betsy, who is currently an independent scholar. Betsy had first encountered Brown’s name through his books, since her father specialized in the Roman Empire as an ancient historian. Her parents had long known him. It seemed natural for her and Brown to meet over a lowkey coffee, she said. They married in 1989, and together played a major role in the lives of graduate students, according to Sahner, history professor Jack Tannous GS ’10, and Vanderbilt University history professor David Michelson GS ’07.

Brown’s former students and

colleagues described him as generous beyond the call of duty.

Brown invited students to his house at least once a semester for social engagements like tea, and he continued to advise students in his home after he stopped teaching, Michelson said.

According to Sahner, every session in Brown’s living room began with long discussions of life outside academics, over sweets like ice cream, before delving into work-related topics. Sahner said that the conversations felt much more like ones between friends than between a graduate student and his adviser, essentially his boss.

“It was extremely flattering. I mean, what did I do to deserve this level of attention from such a great figure and a great mind who could clearly be occupied doing much more important things than talking to me?” Sahner added.

Michelson said that Brown would always welcome him if he rang the doorbell. In fact, some nights he worried about presuming on his hospitality. Even if Brown was preparing for bed, he might extend an invitation to tea.

Reimitz noted that Brown’s personality, and particularly his empathy as a person and a scholar, colors his work to a rather distinctive degree. His profound interest in others, whether now or in the past, equips him to reconstruct social relations. Brown helps countless people by listening to them, talking with them, and sending them feedback with an exceptionally fast turnaround, according to Reimitz.

Tannous said Brown closely reads the books of even complete strangers, then emails them with compliments and suggestions.

Some of the recipients have fixed the messages on their walls, to reread when overcome with despair about their prospects in academia.

“You’ll meet people all over the world who have a note from Peter Brown. He doesn’t need to do that.

He just does that because it’s the kind of person he is,” Tannous

said.

Michelson voiced admiration for Brown’s humility.

“I said, ‘Well, honestly, I’ve been here only one semester and I feel like I’ve fallen two years behind in that time.’ He got a big grin and he started to laugh and he said, ‘Perfect. Now think about how long I’ve been doing this, and how far behind I must feel,’” Michelson said. He felt grateful for Brown’s solidarity with him.

Brown impressed upon his students that they needed to learn by traveling, not just reading.

He taught them to understand history from the perspectives of the people involved, rather than from a supposedly omniscient Western historian’s viewpoint, Michelson said.

Occupying a place enables a scholar to envision the setting of a community when writing about it, Brown explained. Brown inspired his students to pursue big questions and synthesize seemingly unrelated cultures into a common story, according to Sahner.

“One of the greatest testaments to his breadth of interests is the range of his students, who have gone on to work not just on one corner or another of late antiquity, but indeed whose expertise spans this whole world,” Sahner said.

Brown’s exceptionally poetic writing imparts his infectious enthusiasm to young people, who will keep developing the field, Tannous noted.

“He evokes a period in a way that nobody else I know does. He has an amazing way of making it living and breathing and palpable, with images that stick with you,” Tannous explained.

Brown retired with the title of Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History in 2011. The University then split his job into two, assigning the Eastern half of the Mediterranean to Tannous and the Western half to Reimitz, according to Sahner.

Nevertheless, Brown’s productivity continues. Every day, he See BROWN page 3

The Daily Princetonian

Thursday April 20, 2017

T HE DA ILY

The best place to Write Edit Opine Design Produce Illustrate Photograph Create

on campus. join@dailyprincetonian.com

Brown and spouse play a major role in students’ lives BROWN

Continued from page 2

.............

wakes up at 4 a.m. He then studies up to three languages, each for an hour, using books and recordings.

Language learning constitutes Brown’s main hobby. He dismissed his familiarity with over 20 languages as “not so difficult,” given the numerous cognates involved. “I speak as many as I need for traveling,” he said.

Next, he takes a walk in a local park, where he passes dogs that he later describes to Betsy. Finally, he reads historical texts intensively, relaxing the pace of his schedule as the day wears on.

Fifty years after the publication of his first book, “Augustine of Hippo,” Brown is researching a book on the meaning of the Christian notion of universalism in late antiquity.

“What did it mean to preach to all nations? Did they really think they could convert everybody, or simply bring the gospel to everybody? Those are two different questions,” he said. He added that he is also writing an autobiography, based on his old papers and teaching notes.

Beyond scholarship, Reimitz said Brown maintains a strong presence on campus. Brown remains active in late antique activities, and readily accepts when asked to participate in or chair events.

“Peter never ceases to amaze me, because the mind is so fresh.

He has changed by continuing to learn, by thinking about more and newer things, by asking more and more questions, by being eternally young. I mean, he’s one of the youngest people I know,” Gondicas said, calling Brown one of the wisest, smartest individuals he has ever met.

Brown recommended that scholars aspiring to emulate him start from a specific object that they love, with the goal of avoiding information overload, which hampers progress.

“You should always think small and intensely, and then radiate outwards,” Brown said. He added that researchers should mine unfamiliar and embarrassing developments, like the cult of saints or the monastic movement, which often conceal cultural tensions.

Regarding his legacy on history, Brown said that the discipline has advanced in the direction that has always attracted him. No longer hypnotized by the great works, experts have expanded their knowledge of the day-today. They have also followed his lead in examining the world beyond the spotlight, which shines on figures like Augustine. Upon glimpsing a bit of the carpet, people perceive the carpet’s enormity, he said, taking the carpet to symbolize the richness of the world.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Daily Princetonian is published daily except Saturday and Sunday from September through May and three times a week during January and May by The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., 48 University Place, Princeton, N.J. 08540. Mailing address: P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542. Subscription rates: Mailed in the United States $175.00 per year, $90.00 per semester. Office hours: Sunday through Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephones: Business: 609-375-8553; News and Editorial: 609-258-3632. For tips, email news@dailyprincetonian.com. Reproduction of any material in this newspaper without expressed permission of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2014, The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Princetonian, P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542.

page 3

Opinion

Thursday April 20, 2017

page 4

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

In real defense of free speech Marissa Rosenberg-Carlson contributing columnist

D

uring his book talk last Tuesday, “What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense,” Dr. Ryan Anderson ’04 said a lot of things that offended me. “Let me start, as any good conservative should start, by turning back the clock 50 years,” he said.

I wanted to scream that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. He went on to emphasize the importance of gender-differentiated parenting roles that only a man and woman joined in union can play. I wanted to describe in painstaking detail how my parents strove to mix and share roles, and how my childhood friends who were raised by two moms, two dads, or single parents are all well-adjusted.

Remark after remark flew in the face of nearly everything I believed about family, sexuality, and gender. Part of a father’s job, according to Anderson, is to help his daughter navigate being a woman and protect her from some of the complications of sexuality. I was ready to retort that I don’t need him or anyone to protect me. But I kept quiet.

I later conveyed my dismay to a conservative classmate. He conveyed his surprise that “lefty students” like me didn’t protest the event. He was relieved to see

our “new appreciation for free speech.”

If anything, though, free speech protections would have permitted me to protest. This got me thinking: What is free speech, and what is it not? Free speech is a legal and political right, not a tool for arbitrating “proper” forms of interpersonal discourse. Freedom of speech includes, among other things, the right to use offensive phrases to convey political messages, to engage in symbolic speech (e.g. burning the flag in protest), or to not speak (e.g. to not salute the flag). As a result of the 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio Supreme Court decision, freedom of speech most notably does not protect speech that will invite or produce “imminent lawless action.”

Anderson and I are equal under the law. His freedom of speech protects him from institutional and government censorship or arrest, but it does not protect him from criticism, mockery, or social consequences. Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in his 1927 Whitney v. California decision that the answer to hateful speech is not “enforced silence,” but “more speech.” I am not an agent of the government, and I have no power to compel Anderson’s silence even if I wanted to do so. But

I do have the power to speak and the right to assemble and protest him.

That said, I chose not to protest Anderson’s event because I find his perspective tiresome. Same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. Though discrimination against LGBT individuals and communities persists, I feel his views on marriage aren’t politically salient enough to warrant my engagement at the moment.

But in considering the option, I accounted for the value of protest as a form of engagement. In 2015, Vassar Professor Hua Hsu penned a piece for the New Yorker in defense of students’ rights to protest. He observed how students across campuses attempt to “hold their institutions accountable in ways both impossibly big and manageably small.” If we want a more diverse campus community, we must also anticipate that students will make more vociferous demands for inclusion and sensitivity. Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt analyzed so-called “coddled college students,” who increasingly demand protection from words and ideas they don’t like in the name of emotional well-being.

Williams College administrator Ferentz Lafargue rejected this phenomenon, and argued instead that students demand

new political vocabularies to imagine and create progress: “To be sure, the real world is full of anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism and racism.

The question is: Do we prepare students to accept the world as it is, or do we prepare them to change it?”

So the question becomes, how do we change the things we cannot accept? We pick our battles. It doesn’t always make sense to bring out the picket signs. It didn’t for me last week. Sometimes making change does require us to engage in Socratic debate, as long as the parties engaging in the dialogue are equally communicative and have equal privileges in the discourse.

But our politics are urgent and their stakes are heightening.

Sometimes we have to yell to be heard. To my peers at Princeton who proclaim themselves defenders of free speech, but squirm at the thought of liberal students reacting to conservative speech: What scares you? If you hold that open engagement is essential to academia and — especially now — democracy, how do you recommend we make our impact?

Marissa Rosenberg-Carlson is a Near Eastern Studies major from San Francisco, Calif. She can be reached at myr@princeton.edu.

Centering white feelings

In response to ‘Don’t condemn white artists for addressing race’ Imani Thornton

senior columnist

A

n article written by columnist Bhaskar Roberts ’19 on Sunday, April 16, claims that white artist Dana Schutz’s controversial rendering of Emmett Till’s dead body was born out of empathy for Till and, by extension, the pain suffered by the black community. Roberts was particularly scandalized by black artist Hanna Black’s response to Schutz’s work, noting that Black is constraining the ways that white people can fight oppression on behalf of black people.

Black’s response, however, is deeper than the simple idea that white portrayal of black suffering is “disrespectful” or “disingenuous” because black people continue to suffer at the hands of white people. Not only does Black make clear arguments related to free speech — “white free speech and white creative freedom have been founded on the constraint of others, and are not natural rights” — but she also makes clear arguments

related to appropriation and capitalism. Roberts seems to gloss over these issues in Black’s letter by first noting that Schutz has genuine sympathy for Till. Neither Roberts nor I can argue about whether Schutz has genuine feelings of empathy for Till, but of course that is not the point.

The proof is in the pudding of the Schutz-issued statement that Roberts features: “I don’t know what it is like to be black in America, but I do know what it is like to be a mother ... the thought of anything happening to your child is beyond comprehension.” Schutz’s empathy may be genuine; it may even be profound. However, her hamartia — that she knows what it is like to be a mother, instead of black — does the work of centering her white female feelings over that of the black community. It is important for people to have empathy, even necessary in the changing traumatic process of history. However, the ways that we empathize can replicate terrible systems, particularly those that center around historically oppressive populations. While

I do not necessarily believe that no white artists can ever depict black pain, I find it interesting that rather than concentrating on the tragedy of Till’s murder, Black and I had to spend a great deal of time focusing on the pain of a person representing an already centered population.

Roberts notes that because Schutz is not receiving compensation for her portrayal of Till, her rendering is less offensive. But while Schutz may not be receiving any direct payment for the rendering, the publicity will likely afford her plenty of capital.

One’s reputation and work can provide future capital and resources down the line.

Although Schutz’s decision not to put the painting up for money may be considered an act of charity, it is myopic to pretend that she is unmindful of her own reputation and artistic future when exhibiting the work. For example, Schutz now has a narrative resume of sorts in the New Yorker, which will probably provide her with exposure leading to future artistic endeavors. Roberts also brings up a fair point about the HBO series about Till produced by

Will Smith and Jay-Z. While this kind of artistic endeavor should be frowned upon if its only motive is profit, it is fallacious to equate efforts by two black men to portray Till’s story with that of a white woman.

A great deal of Black’s concerns, and that of black people harmed by appropriation and capitalism, is the exploitative nature of such acts. Certainly, black people can also exploit the pain of fellow black people and other people of color.

Yet the historical legacy of colonialism and imperialism, perpetuated largely by European powers, make the 21st century versions of these behaviors all the more traumatizing when conducted by white people. The kind of innocence that is assumed of white women like Schutz can change the course of history — as it did for a murdered 14-year-old Till, and now, as this small painting inserts itself into an already tragic story.

Imani Thornton is a politics major from Matteson, Ill. She can be contacted at it4@ princeton.edu.

vol. cxli

Sarah Sakha ’18

editor-in-chief

Matthew McKinlay ’18 business manager

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Randall Rothenberg ’78 Annalyn Swan ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73

141ST MANAGING BOARD managing editors Samuel Garfinkle ’19 Grace Rehaut ’18 Christina Vosbikian ’18 Head news editor Marcia Brown ’19 news editors Abhiram Karuppur ’19 Claire Lee ’19 opinion editor Newby Parton ’18 sports editor David Xin ’19 street editor Jianing Zhao ’20 photography editor Rachel Spady ’18 web editor David Liu ’18 chief copy editors Isabel Hsu ’19 Omkar Shende ’18 design editor Rachel Brill ’19 associate opinion editors Samuel Parsons ’19 Nicholas Wu ’18 associate sports editors Miranda Hasty ’19 Claire Coughlin ’19 associate street editor Andie Ayala ’19 Catherine Wang ’19 associate chief copy editors Caroline Lippman ’19 Megan Laubach ’18 editorial board co-chairs Ashley Reed ’18 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 cartoons editor Tashi Treadway ’19

NIGHT STAFF 4.19.17 copy Daphne Mandell ’19 Stuti Mishra ’20 Minh Hoang ’19

Like what you see? Join the ‘Prince’!

Email: join@dailyprincetonian.com

Thursday April 20, 2017 CARTOON

The Daily Princetonian

page 5

issued in public interest pulkit singh ’20

..................................................

Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you ... Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!

One of the best videos of all time!

Buy an ad.

Say what you want.

For more information, contact ‘Prince’ business.

Call (609)258-8110 or Email business@dailyprincetonian.com

FARMERS’ MARKET

HARJOT SIDHU ;; THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Students enjoy the Princeton Farmers’ Market outside of East Pyne on Wednesday. The market will be set up on Wednesdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. throughout the spring.

Thursday April 20, 2017

Sports

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } W O M E N ’ S W AT E R P O L O

Women’s water polo wins final game of season, rides confidently into CWPA Championships

By Michael Gao staff writer

The No. 9 Tigers capped off their regular season in the pool with another strong showing against George Washington University last Friday, as the Tigers handled the outmatched Colonials by winning 16-6 on senior day.

The class of 2017 represents one of the most illustrious and successful groups in the history of the program. It has won over 85 percent of its bouts in the pool and has captured two Collegiate Water Polo Association championships.

2016 U.S. Olympian and senior goalie Ashleigh Johnson played her last home game in stellar fashion, with seven saves in 16 minutes, before being relieved by backup goalie freshman Kasey Bersh, who had 5 saves of her own. Junior utility Haley Wan, who has had one of the most storied careers in the program’s history, recorded yet another hat trick, scoring four goals. But it was sophomore and fellow utility Lindsey Kelleher who provided the Tigers with most of their offensive punch in the game, scoring an impressive five goals. Ultimately, after dominating from beginning to end, Princeton emerged from the

pool with a smooth 16-6 rout.

It’s a confidence-booster that bodes well for the Tigers’ trip to the CWPA championships at the University of Indiana, where the second-seeded Tigers will play the seventh-seeded Bucknell University Bison.

Sitting at 22-3 overall with a 7-1 CWPA record, having no losses to lower-ranked teams, Princeton stands a good chance of once again emerging at the top of the CWPA podium and securing a comfortable berth in the NCAA championships. Its preeminent challenger will be the only CWPA and non-Californian school to defeat the Tigers this season: the University of Michigan (No. 7 in the nation and seeded first in the tournament). In their last encounter at Lewisburg on April 2, the Tigers fell 14-6. Since then, however, Princeton has overcome two other nationally ranked opponents, Indiana University and Hartwick College, and once again poses a major threat to any team in the pool. With their confidence, skill, and tenacity, the Tigers, anchored by strong leadership, a powerful offensive, and perhaps the best goalie in Division I water polo, aim to once again make a major splash in the pool.

COURTESY OF GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM

The women’s water polo team defeated George Washington University in the last game of the season.

TRACK AND FIELD

Tigers compete at Texas Invitational, prepare to host Larry Ellis Invitational

By Viral Deokar staff writer

The Princeton Track and Field teams traveled to Austin, Texas this past weekend to compete at the Texas Invitational — a two-day event held April 14 and 15. The Tigers went head-to-head against some of the best teams in the nation, namely top-25 teams Texas, Kentucky, and Auburn. Despite not having full teams, the men still placed sixth, and the women finished tenth in the warm Texas weather.

On the men’s side, junior William Paulson won the 1500m by nearly four seconds with a time of 3:46.39. Junior Josh Ingalls followed with a win in the 800m at 1:50.26, while junior Garrett O’Toole placed eighth at 1:52.88. Senior Ray Mennin finished sixth in the 400m at 48.00 seconds. Freshman Joey Daniels took sixth in the 110m hurdles in 14.04 seconds. The time would have broken the school record, but unfortunately wasn’t wind legal.

In the 400m hurdles, freshman Gab Montefalcone took fifth at 53.16 seconds, followed by junior Spencer Long who placed sixth at 53.46 seconds and senior captain Greg Leeper, who took eighth at 53.66 seconds.

Transitioning to the field events, senior Jared Bell nabbed fifth place in the discus throw with a mark of 51.19m (167-11 ft).

Junior Mitchel Charles placed eight in the shot put with a throw of 16.21m (53-02.25 ft).

Senior captain Xavier Bledsoe took sixth in the high jump

with a clearance of 2.07m (6-9.5 ft). Finally, the duo of junior August Kiles and senior Ben Gaylord took fifth and eight respectively. Kiles cleared 5.21m (17-1 ft), and Gaylord cleared 5.06m (16-7.25 ft).

On the women’s side, a trio of Tigers competed well in the 100m hurdles. Sophomore Ellie Randolph clocked in at 13.96 seconds. Senior captain Allison Harris finished at 14.14 seconds. Junior Maia Craver finished at 14.27 seconds. The times would have been Princeton top-10 marks but were not wind legal. Randolph and Harris already rank fourth and sixth respectively in the Princeton record books. Senior captain Elisa Steele finished fifth in the 400m with a personal record of 55.00 seconds. Her time ranks fifth in program history.

Freshman Devon Block-Funkhouser placed fourth in the 400m hurdles at 1:02.88. Harris finished seventh in the pole vault, clearing 3.93m (12-10.75).

After some quality competition these past weeks, the Tigers will gear up for their premier home meet, the Larry Ellis Invitational, held April 21 and 22, only two weeks away from the HEPS Championships. The meet attracts high quality competitors, so fast times and great marks are on the horizon. At this point in the season, the teams will begin to lighten their training and rest up for the important upcoming meets. Prior to Larry Ellis, Princeton will hold a small, multi-event meet for decathletes and heptathletes.

Tweet of the Day “Princeton Climbs Rocky Top Again, Introduces Bret Lundgaard As Head Coach Of Women’s Swimming & Diving Team” princeton tigers (@putigers)

COURTESY OF GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM

Track and field athletes have enjoyed a successful season and look forward to hosting the Larry Ellis Invitational.

Stat of the Day

No. 9

The Princeton Tigers Women’s Water Polo Team is tied for No. 9 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Varsity Poll.

Follow us Check us out on Twitter @princesports for live news and reports, and on Instagram @princetoniansports for photos!