Feb. 15, 2017

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Since 1919

Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

The Emory Wheel

Volume 98, Issue 17

Printed Every Wednesday

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

LEGISLATION

GRADUATE

INAUGURATION

Laney ‘Sanctuary’ Protest Ensues During Inaug. Bill Could Students Mark Noncitizen Pursue Licenses Unionization House Dems Dismayed Over Proposal

By RichaRd chESS Staff Writer

By Emily Sullivan Associate Editor An amendment to a proposed state bill could mark the IDs of some legal Georgia residents who are not U.S. citizens with the term “noncitizen.” After a 4-3 Committee of Motor Vehicles vote in favor of attaching an amendment to the bill, House Bill 136 (H.B. 136) will progress through the Georgia House of Representatives for further deliberation, according to State Rep. Amy Carter (R-Valdosta). The proposed amendment calls for the term “noncitizen” to be displayed prominently on temporary licenses, permits and identification cards issued by the state of Georgia. The provision could prevent noncitizens from taking advantage of benefits reserved for U.S. citizens such as voter registration, said State Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), who presented the amendment in Committee Feb. 7. The amendment could affect the hundreds of thousands of legal Georgia residents who are not U.S. citizens, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The language employed in the amendment quickly became a point of contention among some Georgia

See Amendment, Page 2

A group of Emory Laney Graduate School (LGS) students are attempting to form a graduate student union to provide stronger and more formalized representation for graduate students in negotiations with the University. The union would bargain for higher stipends and more medical benefits for graduate students, as well as address concerns such as declaring the University as a “sanctuary campus.” The organizing committee, composed of about 40 LGS students, began working with labor union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at the start of the 201617 academic year to organize a local SEIU chapter that would represent LGS students, according to LGS student Jonathan Basile. The group collected about 225 of the necessary 450 signatures for authorization cards that would allow SEIU to submit a formal proposal to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and form a local chapter. If the signatures are verified, the University will hold a vote between LGS students to determine whether SEIU can bargain on behalf of all Emory graduate students. Basile started the signature collection in response to an August 2016 NLRB ruling which determined that graduate students at private universities who work as teaching and research assistants are employees, and are therefore subject to

See Union, Page 3

LeiLa Yavari/video editor

Matthew haMMond/Staff

Board of Trustees Chair John Morgan presented the University mace to University President Claire E. Sterk at her inauguration ceremony (top). There, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed welcomed Sterk’s iniative to deepen the relationship between Emory and Atlanta. The morning of Sterk’s inauguration, about 175 community members and local activists gathered in front of the Administration Building to call on Sterk to designate Emory a “sanctuary campus.” The “Walkout Day for a Sanctuary Campus” was organized by the Emory Sanctuary Coalition, a group that has repeatedly called for the formal designation to support and symbolically protect the University’s undocumented students. At the protest, Associate Professor of English Craig Womack (BottoM) spoke about his cousin, who was recently deported. Meanwhile, Sterk promised in her inauguration speech to shift Emory from a “diverse institution to a more inclusive one”; to engage the University in global affairs; and to attract “eminent” faculty members and “students who will excel.” The Wheel could not identify anyone who walked out of Sterk’s inauguration to attend the protest.

SANCTUARY CAMPUS

GRADUATION

Trethewey to Speak Coalition Rebuts Admin. Response At Commencement By alEx KlugERman Staff Writer

By alEx KlugERman Staff Writer Former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at this year’s commencement ceremony May 8. The renowned poet has taught at Emory for 15 years and currently directs the Creative Writing Program. She served two consecutive terms as the 19th U.S. Poet Laureate from 201214 and was awarded the Academy of American Poets Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement in 2016. Trethewey authored four award-

NEWS Univ. Files

Joint BrieF AgAinst trUmp immigrAtion order ... PAGE

winning poetry collections, most notably the Pulitzer Prize-winning Native Guard (2006), which was inspired both by her move to Atlanta and her Southern family roots. A Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing, she will leave Emory to join Northwestern University’s (Ill.) faculty for the start of the 2017-18 academic year. University President Claire E. Sterk chose the commencement speaker from a list of pre-approved honorary degree candidates, according to Vice President and Senior Adviser to the University President Gary Hauk. The

See StUdentS, Page 2

OP-ED

The Emory Sanctuary Coalition called University President Claire E. Sterk’s refusal to declare Emory a “sanctuary campus” as a “lack of courageous leadership” Feb. 7 in the latest of a series of back-and-forth statements between the Coalition and University administration. The Coalition, which has repeatedly called for a “sanctuary campus” label over the past month, issued a pointby-point rebuttal of the statements released by Sterk Feb. 6 and by Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Ajay Nair and Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Stuart Zola Jan. 18. In her Feb. 6 statement, Sterk reaffirmed her refusal to adopt the “sanc-

tuary” label. The Coalition responded that a formal designation would potentially have both positive and negative effects but “courage and leadership [from administration] in social justice issues can come at some risk, but no more risk than our current and future undocumented students face at the discretion of a federal government that has promised to deport all undocumented immigrants in the country.” The Coalition also took fault with the perceived lack of action from Sterk regarding the protection of undocumented students. Sterk claimed to support the protection of undocumented students without declaring Emory a “sanctuary campus,” a position the Coalition said “amounts to saying much but doing little.”. While Sterk said she disagrees with the Coalition

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“on what measures should be taken,” she recognized that both parties are invested in the protection of Emory’s undocumented students. The Coalition said the “sanctuary” designation would demonstrate that Emory’s campus is a safe space for undocumented students and that the University is committed to protecting them. In contrast, Sterk and Nair both argued in their individual statements that the label would be disadvantageous to the University, placing undocumented students at risk. The administrators’ responses came days prior to a Coalition-organized demonstration during Sterk’s presidential inauguration in support of the “sanctuary campus” movement.

See Admin., Page 2

SPORTS Women’s

sWimming Wins UAA chAmpionship ... Back Page


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Feb. 15, 2017 by The Emory Wheel - Issuu