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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Marco Rubio pens letter against Pop América exhibit
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 15
‘THE COMFORT OF AN OPEN DOOR’
By Stefanie Pousoulides News Editor
Two Republican senators have requested a federal agency’s review of the use of federal funds for an exhibit once at the Nasher Museum of Art. A Nasher spokesperson argues the complaints were taken out of context and misrepresented the exhibit. In an Oct. 1 letter to the chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, Sens. Marco Rubio, R., Fla., and Rick Scott, R., Fla., took issue with Pop América’s display of portraits of Ché Guevara, a Marxist who played a prominent role in the Cuban Revolution. The senators wrote that the Nasher website described the works in the exhibit—which ran Feb. 21-July 21—as demonstrating “‘bold contributions’” to “‘social protest, justice movements and debates about freedom.’” “This statement is either blithely ignorant or deliberately deceptive, given the exhibition’s inclusion of propaganda celebrating a thug who mercilessly silenced his opponents with bullets,” they wrote in the letter. But Wendy Hower, director of engagement and marketing at the Nasher Museum, told The Chronicle that their letter “misquoted” the museum’s website. The “bold contributions” quote actually refers to the artists whose work was featured. “United by the common use of Pop’s rich visual strategies, the artists made bold contributions to conceptualism, performance and new media art, as well as social protest, justice movements and debates about freedom,” the exhibit page on the website reads. The Nasher did not receive federal funding for the exhibit—it was the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, that received funding from the NEA for Pop America. The exhibit is now housed at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. In their letter, Rubio and Scott pointed to a need to provide “a contextualization of the works in question” in order to inform the viewers of “Guevara’s bloody legacy” and the requirements for determining what goes in an exhibit. If an individual who is “responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity” is included in an exhibit funded by the National Endowment of the Arts, there should be information presented about those offenses, Rubio and Scott added. Hower said she was unsure who might have submitted a complaint about the exhibit. To her knowledge, the criticism was not filed by people who visited the Nasher, and the museum never fielded “complaints from anyone who saw it and experienced it in person.” She added that works with Guevara comprised three of the roughly 100 pieces in the exhibit. See RUBIO on Page 12
Meet the Blackshears
Matthew Griffin | Contributing Photographer The Blackshear family sitting in their apartment in Trinity Dorm on East Campus. From left to right: Aiyana, John, Amoli, Andwele, Kimberly and Aza.
By Matthew Griffin University News Editor
Raising four young children in a freshman dorm isn’t exactly typical. For John Blackshear, the faculty-inresidence in Trinity dorm, it has meant befriending students, serving as their mentors and talking philosophy. It has also meant humoring drunk students and making sure they don’t wake the children at night.
“They awould try to talk to us and communicate with us as if it’s like a Tuesday afternoon,” John said. “But it’s 2 o’clock in the morning, so they’re trying to have intellectual conversations with us and they’re swaying side to side.” John, dean for academic affairs, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and an adjunct instructor in psychology and neuroscience, has been part of the faculty-inresidence program at Duke since 2016. The program gives free rent to faculty that live in
campus residence halls and aims to promote more exchanges between students and faculty. He joined the program after a colleague approached him about it. At the time, John was living outside Raleigh with his wife Kimberly—dissemination and outreach coordinator for the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy—and four of their six children: Andwele, 7; Amoli, 6; Aiyana, 4; and Aza, 1. The long commute to campus cut See BLACKSHEARS on Page 4
Board of Trustees liaison to retire at year’s end By Nathan Luzum Managing Editor
Richard Riddell, senior vice president and secretary to the Board of Trustees, is set to step down June 30, 2020. Serving in the role since 2007, Riddell acts as a liaison between the Board—Duke’s governing body that sets its strategy—and the administration. He sets their agenda and serves as trustees’ main point of contact with the University. He came to the University in 1992 as a professor in the theater studies department and is currently the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans professor of the practice in theater studies. “I’ll be 70 years old next year and that seems like a good time for the next adventure,” Riddell said in a news release. “I’ve loved working with Presidents [Richard] Brodhead and [Vincent] Price, members of the Board of Trustees and
talented and dedicated colleagues and staff. I look forward to working with everyone to ensure a smooth transition.” Price commended Riddell for his service to the University. “Richard Riddell is a deeply valued adviser and counselor to me, the trustees, the faculty and so many members of the Duke community,” Price said in the release. “His knowledge of how the many parts of Duke fit together and his commitment to Duke’s excellence and core values have been essential to our success over the past 15 years. I join now several generations of colleagues and trustees who are grateful for Richard’s intelligence, wisdom and tireless devotion to Duke.” Aside from his work at the University, Riddell is also an accomplished scene and lighting designer. He won a Tony Award in 1985 for the musical “Big River” and has also worked on Broadway. Prior to his tenure at Duke, he taught at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego.
Courtesy of Duke Today Richard Riddell served as the senior vice president and secretary to the Board of Trustees.
The ups and downs of being a tour guide
Duke grad nominated for Woman of the Year
Faculty respond to Department of Education
Working as a Duke tour guide can be fulfilling to many, but it comes with its own set of challenges. PAGE 3
Former women’s golf champion Virginia Elena Carter named finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. PAGE 8
More than sixty faculty signed a letter praising Price and Kornbluth’s statement on academic freedom. PAGE 11
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