The Columbia Chronicle, September 23, 2019

PAGE 3: Graduate assistants voice concerns over change in pay

PAGE 8-9: Student evaluations of faculty may be impacted by gender and race bias

PAGE 6: Chicago filmmakers explore queer aesthetics PAGE 15: Students on edge after multiple armed robberies in South Loop Volume 55, Issue 4

September 23, 2019

ColumbiaChronicle.com

‘JUST THE BEGINNING’

YOUTH STRIKE FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

SEE CLIMATE STRIKE, PAGE 13

» STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

editor’s note

Books should be read, not banned » BLAISE MESA CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

his week we acknowledge some of the most egregious violations of freedom of speech with Banned Books Week.

Make no mistake, Banned Books Week is not simply about banning books. It’s about limiting conversations on race, religion and sexuality in classrooms across America.

Banned Books Week started in 1982 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Island Trees School District could not remove books from the library due to the book’s content. Now, Banned Books Week is an annual event occupying the last week of September to showcase banned books and encourage readership.

In April 2019, the American Library Association released a list of the 11 most “challenged” books of 2018. The list included books such as “George” by Alex Gino, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas and “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan.

“George” was banned for mentioning dirty magazines and a transgender character; “The Hate U Give” was banned for being “anti-cop,” and for profanity, drug use and sexual references; and “Two Boys Kissing” was banned for “including LGBTQIA+ content,” according to the ALA’s website.

ALA estimates that organizations attempted to ban or restrict access to 483 books in 2018. Some of these books were even burned.

Book burnings are unacceptable. They are reminiscent of the book burnings from the 1930s at the hands of Nazis.

Specifically, May 10, 1933, when Nazis burned approximately 25,000 books.

We may chuckle when we see J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books have been banned due to depictions of witchcraft and Dumbledore’s sexual orientation, but this is no laughing matter.

The reasons given for banned and burned books this year are terrifyingly similar. It should not be radical to call on people, schools and organizations across the country to stop banning books. It seems elementary to repeat, but it rings true: If the Nazis did it, we definitely should not.

Moreover, it’s pathetic people across the country find the mere mention of an LGBTQ+ couple kissing so offensive that 2 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

MANAGEMENT CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Blaise Mesa Alexandra Yetter

MANAGING EDITOR

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Grace Senior

DIGITAL CONTENT & BRAND MANAGER

Micha Thurston

Miranda Manier

REPORTERS

NEWS EDITORS

REPORTERS

Katherine Savage Kendall Polidori Paige Barnes Isaiah Colbert Dyana Daniels Marielle Devereaux Mateusz Janik Knox Keranen Lauren Leazenby

a book is banned or burned because of it.

Avoiding conversations on race and sexuality do not make issues and conflicts go away. In fact, it will only make

COPY them worse. LGBTQ+ students and people of color will inevitably feel demon COPY CHIEF Margaret Smith

COPY EDITORS Summer Hoagland-Abernathy ized and devalued if these books, and the Kaci Watt representation they provide, are banned.

Banning books may prevent life-savGRAPHICS ing conversations. “The Perks of Being

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Maddy Asma A Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, was Jennifer Chavez banned, in part, for addressing suicide, Wesley Enriquez according to the ALA’s website. This Shane Tolentino stigmatizes depression and suicide, MULTIMEDIA which makes it harder for students to find help when they need it. It’s okay to SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Mike Rundle PHOTOJOURNALISTS

Ignacio Calderón not be okay, and people needing someone Camilla Forte to talk to can always call the National Jacqueline Luttrell Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273 Steven Nunez 8255, or message the National Suicide

PODCAST PRODUCER Yasmeen Sheikah Text Line, 741-741.

ADVERTISING/ Some Chronicle staff members recomMARKETING mend the following banned books:

“Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin

“Beloved” by Toni Morrison “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald “Animal Farm” by George Orwell “Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine

L’Engle “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee Books can provide windows to other worlds. Readers can dive into stories they would never have come across. From infancy to adulthood, people should not be missing out on thought-provoking literature. bmesa@columbiachronicle.com

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Graduate assistants feel ‘blindsided’ over change in pay » KENDALL POLIDORI NEWS EDITOR FIVE DAYS PRIOR to the start of the Fall 2019 semester, graduate assistants received an unexpected notice of a change in their pay.

At a department meeting held in Spring 2019, graduate assistants were told by Interim Dean of Graduate Studies Jeff Schiff and English and Creative Writing Department Chair Pegeen Reichert Powell, the outgoing interim dean, they would be making above Chicago minimum wage, according to Rebecca Khera, an English and Creative Writing Department graduate assistant and graduate student instructor. The Chicago minimum wage is $13 an hour as of July 1, 2019.

This made graduate assistants believe they would see an increase in pay this academic year.

Instead, graduate assistants received an Aug. 29 email from Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies Kara Ratcliffe, stating this year the college would make the switch to a yearly stipend of $6,000 for graduate assistants. The switch would result in graduate assistants earning roughly $1,200 less before taxes than when they earned a $12 hourly wage for 20 hours of work per week—or roughly $7,200 a year, during the 2018–2019 academic year.

Those graduate assistants will be working 12 hours per week this year instead of 20.

With the increase to the $13 an hour minimum wage, graduate assistants who worked 20 hours per week would now be making roughly $7,800 per academic year before taxes.

Jeffrey Barbieri, a nonfiction graduate assistant and graduate student instructor, said at least three returning graduate assistants complained to Jenny Boully, an associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department and graduate studies program director. Boully then contacted Ratcliffe about the complaints, Barbieri said.

Returning third-year graduate assistants were then informed by Ratcliffe on

» COURTESY JEFFREY BARBIERI & REBECCA KHERA

campus

the first day of the Fall 2019 semester that they would continue working 20 hours a week Jeffrey Barbieri, nonfiction graduate assistant and graduate student instructor, and Rebecca Khera, English and Creative for a stipend of Writing Department graduate assistant and graduate student instructor, share concerns over the program’s pay change. $4,000 a semester, or $8,000 for the academic year, while first- External Relations, said if the graduate “Graduate students operate on already year and second-year graduate assistants assistants working 12 hours a week were tight budgets, which has been shown to will earn a $3,000 stipend each semester paid Chicago minimum wage, they would contribute to the vast mental health crisis for 12 hours of work per week, according make $4,680 a year before taxes. With the among graduate students,” Bomar said. to Barbieri. change, however, those graduate assistants According to Schiff, a limited num“Graduate students are in a very precari- will earn $6,000, with the third-year graduber of students agreed in writing to ous situation, and it is ridiculous that [the ate assistants earning $8,000 a year, which work additional hours for an increased college] feels the need to try and squeeze is also above the new minimum wage. stipend, with terms considered on a caseus like this, in terms of cutting off $600 a Jon Bomar, director of employment by-case basis. semester,” Barbieri said. “What are [they] concerns for the National Association of “As with all organizations, we revisit polreally accomplishing by doing that?”

Graduate-Professional Students—a grad- icies on a regular basis,” Schiff said.

The college transitioned to a stipend uate student-led association comprised According to Barbieri, returning to replace the “uncertainty of uneven of students across the nation that advo- third-year graduate assistants signed a bi-weekly payments” with predictable and cates for graduate student rights—said contract two years ago after accepting their expected payments, which allows students for a 20–25 hour per week assistantship, positions. In the contract, they agreed to to better plan and manage their finances, $4,000 a semester, or $8,000 per year, is work 20 hours a week for three years. All Ratcliffe said. “unusually low,” particularly for students who signed the contract will be able to With the stipend in place “there will who live in Chicago. continue working 20 hours a week. be a cap on hours so that [graduate assisBomar said announcing a pay change After this academic year, graduate tants’] time will be respected,” Schiff five days prior to the start of the semester assistants will follow the new pay switch said. “Students will be better able to plan is “shameful” and “borderline abusive.” of 12 hours a week with a $6,000 yearly their finances.”

On average, Bomar said a stipend for a stipend, Barbieri said.

Khera said she believes the college 20-25 hour a week graduate assistantship “They have known [about this change] waited to release the information until five ranges from $18,000-$30,000 per year. for a while because this was in the works days before the semester began so it would According to Schiff, that is not the case. last year, yet the graduate students have not have to raise their pay in accordance He said those averages reflect the pay of been blindsided yet again,” Khera said. with Chicago minimum wage laws. teaching assistants and would relate to “This is their attempt to trap students into Technically, the decrease in pay for some the college’s graduate student instructors, these jobs.” graduate assistants is related directly to not graduate assistants.

Barbieri said Columbia continues to hire the reduced number of hours they are now Graduate student instructors teach well-paid administrators but does not pay working each week, making their pay- courses by themselves and make a stipend graduate students a living wage. A graduate checks smaller than they were expecting. of $4,000 a semester—$8,000 a year— degree is something people should not have “We are already living on so little,” Khera according to Khera. to suffer through in order to accomplish, said. “Now, they are trying to rob us of the Khera and Barbieri are both graduate he said. scraps they give us in the first place.” assistants and graduate student instrucAlthough Barbieri, along with other At one point, Khera was simultaneously tors, and make a $16,000 yearly stipend for graduate students, has issues with the strucworking four jobs just to make ends meet. both positions, they said. ture of the college and the new stipend sys“While $600 [less a semester] may not At Columbia, graduate student instructem, he said the work he does at the college seem like a lot, it can mean the difference tors are “instructors of record,” according to is valuable. between having groceries, paying utilities Lukidis. Students who hold assistantships “The positions themselves are nice … we or going to the doctor for a lot of students,” work directly with a faculty or staff member are doing useful work,” Barbieri said. “But Khera said. as a teaching assistant, research assis- ... getting squeezed is a slap in the face.”

Lambrini Lukidis, assistant vice pres- tant or marketing and events assistant, ident of Strategic Communications and Lukidis said. kpolidori@columbiachronicle.com SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 3

campus

Columbia falls short in national rankings—but students don’t mind COLUMBIA WAS NOT included on The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education 2020 College Rankings list, but these lists do not seem to matter to students.

For one, Columbia can point to its other rankings, which put more emphasis on its creative chops. Columbia’s film and comedy programs have received accolades in the past two months, landing spots on The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 American Film Schools list and College Magazine’s Top 10 Colleges for Aspiring Comedians list.

Interviews with the Columbia student body, high school students, potential transfers and academic counselors revealed that rankings such as The Wall Street Journal’s, released earlier this month, are only one consideration— if at all —when choosing a college.

Still, in The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranking, Columbia did not make the Top 500, despite 27 other Illinois schools making the cut, including some Chicagoland colleges such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education’s methodology for the rankings primarily explores four key pillars, according to THE’s website: resources, or how much capacity a college has to effectively educate its students; engagement, or how effectively colleges engage students; outcomes, which includes graduation rates and post-graduation salaries; and environment, which examines the diversity of the student and faculty populations at a college.

While Columbia scored higher than some other Illinois schools within the top 500 on all pillars

4 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

other than outcomes, its overall ranking fell somewhere above the 600 mark, though where it specifically ranked is unclear as schools were lumped together by the hundreds past the 400th ranking.

The outcomes pillar, which is weighed as 40% of the overall ranking, looks at graduation rates, the value added to a student’s salary earning potential by their education, debt after graduation and academic reputation, which is based on an annual Academic Reputation Survey of leading scholars.

» WESLEY ENRIQUEZ/CHRONICLE

» MIRANDA MANIER MANAGING EDITOR

“The college has decided to be more proactive when it comes to college rankings,” said Chief of Staff Laurent Pernot in a Sept.

12 email to the Chronicle. “While we are paying closer attention to rankings than we did in the past, we continue to think such rankings play only a small role in any strategy to increase enrollment. We believe our renewed emphasis on personal interaction with potential students, our revamped financial aid strategy and our stepped-up marketing efforts are what is moving our enrollment upward, combined with the tireless work of faculty and staff to sustain the quality of our academic offerings and to serve as everyday advocates for Columbia.”

Many students do not factor college rankings into their higher education enrollment decisions.

Emily Biggs, a senior at Jones College Prep, 700 S. State St., said she does not care about rankings.

However, she does know students so concerned about prestige that they are only applying to Ivy League institutions.

“The most important thing for me is the academics and how I would succeed there, instead of how the nation perceives it as a school,” Biggs said.

Keith Maurice Harris, a freshman at Harper College—a twoyear college in the northwest suburb of Palatine—is looking to transfer to a four-year school, but he is also unconcerned with

rankings. Instead, he prefers to look at firsthand forum reviews of schools because he does not trust rankings to always be accurate.

According to John Baima, a college counselor at Fremd High School in Palatine, higher achieving students are typically more aware of college rankings. However, Baima thinks a high ranking is less relevant than the fit for an individual student.

“I’m more concerned about the fit outside of the major,” he said.

“I want students to be happy and secure where they’re at because that usually equals success.”

Baima has also seen a shift in why students care about these rankings in the 20 years he has worked as a counselor, as it has changed from parent-child pressure to peer-motivated pressure.

“Everything is posted now on social media. When they get into certain places, everyone knows,” Baima said. “So, I think it has to do with prestige; it has to do with how they’re viewed.”

Prestige did not matter to freshman audio design and production major Marcus Gualandri, who did not look at college ranking lists when applying to schools.

“What matters is the community and environment you’re in,” he said. “As long as you know the school [offers] a good education while sustaining good relationships and building connections, that’s what matters.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.com

campus

Sword fighting and dancing: Student Center opens FOLLOWING A BUILDUP over years, the Student Center officially welcomed students and the South Loop community into its sleek, modern, glass-walled arms during a Grand Opening Ceremony.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for such a long time, personally,” said President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim. Beginning Sept. 18 at 4 p.m., the ceremony included performances by musicians, dancers, sword fighters and speeches. Vice President of Student Affairs Sharon Wilson-Taylor; Student Goverment Association President Kierah King; a representative from Gensler, the firm that designed the Center; Columbia’s Board Chairman Bill Wolf; Ald. Sophia King (4th Ward); and Kim spoke to the packed house.

Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David said the cer-

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

» CAMILLA FORTE PHOTOJOURNALIST

emony highlighted the diversity present within the college.

“We went from sword-fighting to African dance and back again in a span of 20 minutes,” David said. “It was pretty incredible, and somewhat unique to Columbia.”

Highlights included live performances from the Dance Department, live “mannequins” modeling designs from the Fashion Studies Department, a live broadcast by WCRX-FM and interactive set-ups by the Cinema and Television Arts Department.

Kim was excited to see the building come to life.

“I’ve been walking through almost every day, and just seeing the ways that our students are now taking over spaces,” Kim said. “That’s, of course, what I was dreaming about.”

Additional reporting by Ignacio Calderón. cforte@columbiachronicle.com

President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim (left of center) has long awaited the opening of the Student Center, which was commemorated with artistic diversity throughout the event as each of the Center’s five floors had a specific theme to showcase Columbia’s different departments and student communities.

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SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 5

Chronicle staff chat about representation » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia » COURTESY FULL SPECTRUM FEATURES

arts culture

Molly Hewitt’s film, “Holy Trinity,” produced by Full Spectrum Features, will be screened at The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on Sept. 27 at 9:45 p.m.

Local production company explores ‘full spectrum’ of identity » MIRANDA MANIER MANAGING EDITOR MOLLY HEWITT DOESN’T intend to make movies that look so gay, it just happens.

In their recent film, “Holy Trinity,” which focuses on a dominatrix who huffs an aerosol can and develops the ability to speak to the dead, Hewitt’s aesthetic of bold, glamorous imagery is equal parts incidentally and intentionally queer, they said.

“It’s one of those weird things where it’s self-fulfilling,” Hewitt said. “It’s intentional but at the same time that’s just the aesthetic that I enjoy, and it’s like, do I enjoy that aesthetic because I’m queer? I think the answer is yes.”

Hewitt wrote, directed, produced and starred in “Holy Trinity,” which will be screened at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on Sept. 27 at 9:45 p.m. The film was also produced by Full Spectrum Features, a nonprofit production company that is “committed to increasing diversity in the independent film industry by producing, exhibiting and supporting the work of women, LGBTQ and minority filmmakers,” according to its website.

Eugene Park, the founder and executive

director of Full Spectrum Features, said there was not a lot of deliberation on whether or not to produce “Holy Trinity” when Hewitt first came to him with the idea. After working with Hewitt since they were an intern at Full Spectrum, Park was encouraged by their growth as an artist and their unique voice.

“There was no money on the table, there was no prospect of bringing in big name actors,” he said. “I just responded

6 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

immediately to Molly’s vision of the script, and, based on their body of work, I knew they’d do an excellent job.”

Park founded Full Spectrum in 2015 when he noticed the lack of nonprofits in Chicago that focused on diversity and inclusion in narrative filmmaking. As an Asian American, he also wanted to create an organization that supported stories about the multiplicity, complexity and intersectionality of identity—a “full spectrum” of work rather than a singular demographic.

A question Full Spectrum often asks itself, Park said, is: Who has the right to tell whose story? According to Park, storytellers with certain experiences or identities are not immune from perpetuating stereotypes, and it is not impossible for someone without those experiences and identities to authentically capture them either. However, Park said people from within a community are usually able to bring the most nuanced perspective and insight to a film about that community—whether they are behind or in front of the camera.

For this reason, Hewitt was mindful in their hiring for “Holy Trinity,”

ensuring the cast and crew was diverse and inclusive.

“If you’re looking for women, or if you’re looking for queer people, or [assignedfemale-at-birth] people, or people of color and those people are not on the list, you just have be like, ‘No,’ and be persistent and not just take the first people that pop up,” Hewitt said. “Because those people do exist, you just, unfortunately, have to try a lot harder to find them.”

This kind of behind-the-scenes representation is important to Hewitt because of the nuance Park said inclusion can bring— for instance, their queer aesthetic.

“That aesthetic of loud, bright, colorful, shiny, over-the-top, it comes from the same place of drag,” Park said, “[of] identifying with beauty and glamor and almost taking things that come from a place that we don’t belong, and reclaiming that. It is this sort of queer uniform that you see. Everything is this bright, loud, celebratory thing, and I don’t think that’s incidental. It’s kind of a feeling that transcends through queer culture.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.com

Columbia theatre community honored in 25th annual Black Theatre Alliance Awards » MATEUSZ JANIK STAFF REPORTER

EDITOR’S NOTE: Breanne Jacobs is a Media Sales Representative at The Columbia Chronicle.

AnJi White, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf” White was nominated for The Ethel Waters Award for Best Actress in an Ensemble for her role in “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf,” which is also nominated separately for a Target Community Relations Award for Best Ensemble. “[‘For Colored Girls’] deserves recognition because the eight of us

really put ourselves in vulnerable situations,” White said. Produced

by Court Theatre at the University of Chicago, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., the show follows seven women who experience the challenges of being women of color through movement, music and poetry.

Mich a el Pog ue, “ T he Recommendation” Pogue is nominated for The Sidney Poitier Award for Best Leading Actor for his role in “The Recommendation,” produced by Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Road.

Pogue said Columbia’s networking helped him to receive more roles and nominations.

“As soon as I started auditioning and doing a few understudying roles on a professional level while attending school ... I started hearing about the BTAAs and other actors getting nominations,” Pogue said.

Breanne Jacobs, “Caroline, or she couldn’t think of anyone more Change” deserving than Jacobs.

Jacobs is nominated for The Phylicia Rashad Award for Most Therese Ritchie, “No Child...”

Promising Actress for her role in For recent graduate Ritchie— “Caroline, or Change,” produced nominated for the Ed Burbidge

by Firebrand Theatre, 1331 N. Award in “No Child…,” produced Milwaukee Ave., and TimeLine by Definition Theatre Company— Theatre Company.

Columbia provided hands-on “[Jacobs] came [to] Chicago experience in theatre design. with no connections ... and she has done so much within the Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for four years that she has been additional reporting. here,” said Caitlin Dobbins, senior musical theatre major and Jacobs’ former roommate. She said mjanik@columbiachronicle.com » COURTESY MICHAEL BROSILOW

ANJI WHITE WAS not aware of the Black Theatre Alliance Awards until she was a first-time nominee in 2016 for the Ruby Dee Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.

“I don’t tend to really focus on that. I just focus on the work, and if that happens, that’s nice,” White said.

This year’s nominees for the 25th annual awards include: AnJi White, former acting major; Michael Pogue, 2006 acting alumnus; Therese Ritchie, 2018 theatre design alumna; Breanne Jacobs, senior musical theatre major; and Jacqueline Penrod, associate chair and associate professor in the Theatre Department.

The awards ceremony will

be hosted by Columbia in the Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., Monday, Oct. 14.

Founded in 1995 by Vincent Williams, a 2003 performing arts management alumnus, the Black Theatre Alliance Awards honor excellence in theatre, dance and technical arts by African American and Chicago performers.

arts & culture

AnJi White is nominated for The Ethel Waters Award for Best Actress in an Ensemble for her role in “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide.”

Alumni awaken audiences with immersive theatre productions MET WITH K AR AOKE sign-up sheets, Hawaiian snacks, live ukulele music, a stage tour and characters smoking joints on-set, audiences quickly realize “Pakalolo Sweet” is not going to be like other plays.

In immersive theatre performances—such as “Southern Gothic” at Windy City Playhouse, “Pakalolo Sweet” at Nothing Without A Company and “The Silence in Harrow House: An Immersive Puppet Haunted House” at Rough House Theater—audiences leave their seats and interact with the characters on stage, experiencing sights, smells and sensations up close.

“The benefit of immersive theatre is it puts the agency back in their hands; patrons have the chance to choose how they’re going to experience the story that’s on stage,” said Evelyn Jacoby, managing director

of Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Road.

David Gordezky, 2015 acting alumnus, said the most recent immersive theatre trend in America started with “Sleep No More,” a site-specific work created by the British theatre company Punchdrunk in 2011 in which audiences don masks and take part in promenade-style performances.

“It redefines that relationship between the audience and the performer,” Gordezky said. “And it’s something a lot more engaging.”

Gordezky, who works as a macabre puppeteer for Rough House Theater’s “The Silence in Hill House,” said for immersive roles, “You have to know your character a lot more because... you will be caught in a moment that is unrehearsed.

Anna Rose Ii-Epstein, 2007 theatre alumna and producer of “Pakalolo Sweet,” said she realized her passion for immersive plays while forming the theatre group

Nothing Without A Company with friends from local colleges.

“I’d been doing traditional theatre since the third grade; I got a little tired of the whole black box or audience just sitting there in the dark and not really being involved or put in the space,” Ii-Epstein said.

Director Tonika Todorova, 2002 theatre alumna, said she started the Silent Theatre Company in 2005 with 13 friends, 12 of whom also graduated from Columbia.

While the nonprofit theatre organization has since branched out to perform more immersive and verbal shows, it was originally created to produce a single blackand-white silent play.

“We really wanted to go out there with this little play to speak to everybody,” Todorova said. “To get rid of barriers for people who were either not English speakers, or even deaf people, to have an experience that was the same across the board.”

Jacoby said when Windy City

» COURTESY MICHAEL BROSILOW

» MARI DEVEREAUX STAFF REPORTER

Victor Holstein, Columbia alumnus and lead in the play “Southern Gothic,” smokes on-set as his character Charles Lyon.

Playhouse introduced “Southern Gothic,” its first fully-immersive show, there were a lot of risks to overcome including affordability, experimental error and a higher standard of physical production.

According to Jacoby, the play’s success can be credited to the actors, the directing, the initial buzz of excitement surrounding the play’s novelty and the patrons’ nostalgia for the 1960s—the period when the show takes place.

“The dichotomy, the idea that people can have such wildly different experiences in exactly the same room ... is such a wonderful setting for immersive theater,” Jacoby said.

In an age of disconnection and desensitization, immersive theatre creates experiences that can revive a person aesthetically Todorova said. mdevereaux@columbiachronicle.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 7

feature

Professors face racism, sexism i

» ALEXANDRA YETTER CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WHEN STUDENTS FILL out evaluations of professors at the end of each semester, their feedback weighs into decisions affecting that professor’s employment status and financial earnings. Often, though, evaluations are biased against female instructors and instructors of color.

One former Columbia instructor in the Cinema and Television Arts Department is suing the college because he alleges biased student evaluations played a key role in his termination.

Professors on the tenure track are evaluated multiple times, and then again when the department decides whether they will receive tenure. When deciding their employment status, Faculty Senate President Sean Johnson Andrews, an associate professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department, said instructors are evaluated based on teaching, scholarship and service, with student evaluations playing a critical role in the teaching category.

Vaun Monroe, a black, former tenure-track professor in the then-Film and Video Department, now titled the Cinema and Television Arts Department, taught a handful of classes on the intersection of performance and race during his time at Columbia from 2007 to 2014.

Currently, Monroe is the executive director of the Nate Parker Film and Theatre Conservatory and caucus chair of Diversity and Inclusion for the University Film and Video Association at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Monroe is suing Columbia and Bruce Sheridan, a professor in the Cinema and Television Arts Department, for racial discrimination against him which ultimately resulted in his 2014 termination, the suit alleges, as reported by the Chronicle Oct. 23, 2017.

In 2008, Monroe discovered a student created a website, “Black Supremacy (Now with a Photo of the Beast!),” that featured a photo of Monroe with “vile racist screeds” aimed at him. The suit alleges no action on Sheridan or Columbia’s part was taken against

the student, who was ultimately permitted to fill out an evaluation of Monroe at the end of the semester.

Additionally, some students in Monroe’s “Adaptation” film course disliked extensively discussing race in the classroom.

One student wrote in their evaluation, “We spent far too long nearly every week talking about issues of race,” while another student wrote, “If I wanted to take a class about African Americans and Film, I will (sic) sign up for it,” the lawsuit alleges.

Those evaluations were then used during Monroe’s evaluation meeting after his first year teaching at Columbia with Sheridan, who was the department chair at the time.

Monroe alleges Sheridan “belittled and dismissed” his explanation of biased evaluations during the meeting, and that Sheridan said he was “not assuming responsibility for [his] classroom” and “playing the race card,” according to Monroe’s lawsuit.

After a failed first attempt at recommending Monroe’s termination in 2010 during his first tenure hearing, Sheridan again recommended Monroe’s termination in 2013, this time successfully, the suit alleges.

Sheridan declined to comment.

“The college is aware that Mr. Monroe was displeased with the outcome of his employment at Columbia but there is no evidence to support his allegations of discrimination,” said Lambrini Lukidis, assistant vice president of Strategic Communications and External Relations, in an Aug. 5 email statement to the Chronicle.

“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission conducted an investigation and concluded there was no reasonable cause to support his allegations of discrimination.”

Filed Aug. 10, 2017, the lawsuit is currently awaiting a judge’s ruling on Columbia’s motion for summary

8 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

judgement before potentially going to trial examines disparities at the college, no earlier than fall 2019, Monroe’s attorney Johnson Andrews said.

Tom Rosenwein said.

“In my experience ... quite a few women The American Association of University and people of color ... just get fed up with Professors sent a letter to President and the environment and the problems, and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim in 2014 concerning they just go away. But I believe the current Monroe’s tenure case, according to AAUP’s provost is trying to address this,” Johnson Associate Secretary Anita Levy. It rec- Andrews said. ommended Columbia amend its Faculty Monroe’s experiences are not unique at Manual to include a policy allowing faculty Columbia. members to appeal employment decisions Elio Leturia, associate professor in the based on discrimination, and urged the col- Communication Department, has always lege to reevaluate Monroe’s case through thrived in the service and scholarship cata hearing in front of a faculty committee. egories, but has never managed to flourish Levy said the “impermissible inconsider- in the teaching category because of poor ations” Monroe faced in the tenure decision evaluations, which may be because of his caused the AAUP to reach out.

Peruvian accent, he said.

To Levy’s knowledge, neither an amendAround five years ago, Leturia had a stument nor reevaluation occurred. dent tell him in an evaluation to get a speech Student evaluations play an important therapist. Since then, he asks students to role post-tenure, as well. ask him for clarification if his accent makes When considering raises for faculty, anything seem unclear.

Johnson Andrews said the college uses a “It is very unfair because no matter how merit-based point system, where raises are hard I work, how much effort I make, how given to the “best” faculty using student available I am … [I] always get poor evalevaluations. uations in terms of teaching,” Leturia Because “inherently flawed” student said. “I just want that disadvantage to be evaluations are used in making tenure acknowledged. I know I have to work harder and raise decisions, Johnson Andrews than my colleagues.” said it is possible the evaluations have Leturia said he received better teaching also contributed to a pay parity issue at evaluations in an online course because the college, although this cannot be said students are not biased by in-person definitively as data on professorial salaries aspects of teaching. are not public knowledge, as Columbia is a Although Leturia said DEI initiatives do private institution. a good job addressing bias at faculty and In response to this issue, the Faculty administrator levels, it also needs to recSenate is creating a task force to rec- ognize bias at the student level. ommend teaching evaluation “I do the best that I can, but I know I changes by the end of the academic year to Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David as she

feature

in student evaluations have no control,” Leturia said. “I like teaching. … The greatest pleasure is when you see one of your students succeeding and seeing whatever you were part of [in] that experience, you contributed a little. That is the best satisfaction you can have. That’s why I stay.”

The Communications of the A ssociation of Computing Machinery, the Public Library of Science peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Higher Education, the Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education and Higher Learning Research Communications have all published a ca dem ic resea rch conclud i n g there is at least some bias based on race and gender in student evaluations.

Robert Hanserd, assistant professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department, said it is the evaluation approach itself that is biased, “problematic” and “lopsided,” as students who do not participate at all in class are still able to evaluate professors.

Hanserd said evaluations should play a factor in hiring and raise decisions but should be weighed equivalently with other components.

“The DEI initiatives that [are] really trying to get folks to think better about curriculum, part of that process ... should encourage faculty to start to develop their own evaluations around what they’re teaching, evaluations that encourage students to be more honest about participation,or lack thereof, in the

classroom,” Hanserd said.

Kathie Bergquist, adjunct professor in the English and Creative Writing Department, has experienced biased student interactions. Bergquist said oftentimes students enter the classroom with presumptions of an instructor based on their gender, sexuality or race, and when those stereotypes are not met, they may take it out on the professor.

Early in her professorial career, she noticed a comment on Rate My Professor, a public evaluation website, from an anonymous student that personally attacked her for her physical appearance.

She strongly suspected it was a student whom she would not allow to eat a Subway sandwich during class. She had to request the comments be taken down, as they did not evaluate her teaching.

Still, student evaluations have an important role for instructors looking for feedback on how to become a better teacher and for weeding out problematic professors, she said. However, Bergquist added, professors should have an opportunity to defend themselves against discriminatory student eva luations before they affect their employment.

Johnson Andrews added that Monroe’s ongoing lawsuit can also encourage the college and inspire faculty to take action against biased evaluations.

As the national conversation on recognizing bias ramps up, Raquel Monroe— director of the Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office and associate professor in the Dance Department—said evaluations are beginning to lose weight in some tenure decisions.

When she first became a graduate student instructor, Raquel Monroe said

evaluations from her students would say they were “intimidated” and “afraid” of her, but later discovered she was “cool.” These comments tend to continue today for her, despite a majority of positive feedback.

However, students also criticize the academic discussion on the intersection of racism, sexism and homophobia in her course curriculum by challenging the academic research she presents as “opinionated” and suggest separating black artistry into a different course. “[Students say] that the course should be renamed … ‘Black Dance History’ as opposed to ‘Dance History’ because I’ve included more African American choreographers and choreographers of color … whereas when I taught a course without that information, no one ever thought it should be referred to as ‘White Dance History,’” Raquel Monroe said.

Biased evaluations can weigh on an instructor’s psyche because it criticizes them based on predispositions, not on their teaching style, which is what the evaluations are meant for, Raquel Monroe said. Knowing she should include more visuals for visual learners is far more helpful than knowing she is intimidating upon first meeting, she said.

R aquel Monroe added that some female faculty members of color will have their colleagues read through evaluations and then select the most useful ones for them to view.

Student Government Association President Kierah King, a senior da nce major, sa id ma ny st udents do not know how important evaluations are for professors, which is why students need to take more time and consideration when filling them out and why evaluations should not be used in tenure and raise decisions.

“Growing with faculty and hearing how much evaluations truly do affect what they do, their work and how they evaluate their classes, and even change and shift their classes going to the next year, I’ve come to realize how much evaluations really do affect and change a faculty professor’s classes,” King said. “Telling students how important [evaluations are], we’re affecting our curriculum, our community, as well as generations to come.”

Jackie Spinner, an associate professor in the Communication Department, said even from a student’s perspective, the evaluation process is flawed as they occur at the end of the semester when students have already endured a professor.

“We shouldn’t wait until the end of the semester when students have already spent all their money and invested all that time in a course to figure out there’s a problem [with a professor],” Spinner said. “We should be monitoring throughout the semester. We should be giving students an avenue for feedback before the end of the semester, so we’re able to pivot.”

Spinner said teaching critiques are based off cultural stigmas. She knows she would be perceived differently as a male instructor without having to change her teaching style because of the “b---h” cultural stigma surrounding assertive, “demanding” women, she said.

As the college attempts to be a leader in DEI initiatives and under the helm of a new provost, Spinner said the college needs to look for solutions to the evaluation process and take the weight of them out from tenure and raise decisions.

“It shouldn’t matter if I’ve been directly impacted by the bias, I still feel a responsibility to my colleagues to stand up against this,” Spinner said. “It’s horrible, they’re racist, they’re sexist. The evidence shows that, and the college won’t confront that. … We’re spending so much energy trying to get rid of the bias in our institution, and we have not had the courage yet to just reject student evaluations ... [as biased].” ayetter@columbiachronicle.com » MADDY ASMA GRAPHIC DESIGNER

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 9

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Privilege dictates what ‘better’ education means

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she was found guilty of grand theft and tampering with evidence. Williams-Bolar was then sentenced to 10 days in jail, three years of probation and a $70,000 fine.

Huffman is an affluent white actress and Williams-Bolar, at the time, was a black public school teacher’s aide and attending college herself. Both women say they wanted a better education for their children. But what does “better” mean to a middle-class woman versus a celebrity?

For Huffman, a better education for her daughter is acceptance into an Ivy League university. “Better,” for the Huffman family, means being affiliated with universities that exude privilege— even if it means fraud and cheating.

“Better” cost Huffman a short trip to prison and a fine of $30,000—arguably, a drop in the ocean for a Hollywood family. However, a $70,000 fine for a woman who does not possess the same funds and resources as the Huffman family is not equal justice.

Faculty deserve space for honest debate, even behind closed doors

F

or years, the Faculty Senate has been a key part in successful communication between faculty and members of the administration. With meetings open to the public, students can actively listen in on conversations regarding policies and academic changes.

However, at the Sept. 13 Faculty Senate meeting, faculty senators said they want to consider whether at least portions of these meetings should be “closed door,” as reported Sept. 14 by the Chronicle.

Partially- or fully-closed meetings would exclude non-members from attending, which would bar a number of groups on campus, from the administration to the Chronicle itself.

But faculty are not trying to box out students and other voices around campus; they are not even trying to box out the Chronicle. They simply want to divulge their opinions without pressure or consequences from non-members, specifically the administration.

Though this concept recently came to the forefront, it has always been written in the Senate’s bylaws, meaning it would not be difficult to implement.

“It’s not a conversation about ‘How do we close a meeting?’ It’s a conversation about ‘Should certain parts of meetings or some meetings be closed so that we can have more open, frank conversations,’” said Jennifer Sadler,

chronicle@colum.edu » AP/ELISE AMENDOLA

ur criminal justice system delivers a financial slap on the wrist of $30,000 to a successful Hollywood mother who buys her daughter’s way into an elite college, while it severely punishes a working-class mother with a $70,000 fine for dodging school boundaries to get a better public education for her children.

“Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison on fraud charges after paying to have her daughter’s SAT test taken for her. Additionally, she will have to pay a $30,000 fine and be subjected to supervised release for a year.

As news of Huffman’s lenient sentencing hit headlines Sept. 13, people began to compare it to other cases where minor crimes were treated more harshly, specifically in the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar.

In 2009, Williams-Bolar listed her father’s address as her children’s residence in order for them to attend school in a better district with higher test scores. In 2011,

Privilege can be used for the greater good, but too often it is used to uphold an image and to secure even more privilege.

Williams-Bolar, who is now an advocate for social justice, sidestepped legality to give her children a chance at a better education— not to hoist them into an elitist institution.

At the heart of this issue is access within the education system. Something needs to be done internally so celebrities

EDITORIAL stop abusing their power to push their children into underserved positions of prestige. The educational system itself needs to change so mothers like WilliamsBolar are able to send their kids to any school and know they are receiving a high quality education, regardless of ZIP code and without a $70,000 penalty.

“Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Hyffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison for fraud Sept. 13.

an assistant professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department and chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, in the Chronicle article.

The Faculty Senate weighing the idea of closed-door meetings is more of a comment on the observational eyes of the administration than on the faculty.

“The fact that we are having this conversation should make the administration aware that there are some faculty who are feeling ... their vulnerability,” said Hilary Sarat-St. Peter, associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department and former member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

This vulnerability is most present among non-tenured professors, who fear they may face retribution from the administration for speaking their minds.

Underrepresented groups are the ones who should be protected by tenured faculty. Non-tenure professors,

EDITORIAL women, LGBTQ+ faculty and faculty of color need to be represented and heard from in a space free of intimidation.

It is hard to imagine the Faculty Senate is attempting to hide anything. It is a recommending body and does not hold enough power to make structural changes on its own. If the Faculty Senate needs a conference room-sized water cooler to discuss the happenings of the college, there may be no harm in letting them have that.

Columbia is always striving for transparency and communication across campus. If this is achievable at the Faculty Senate by Senators closing themselves off from the public, maybe that is worth the experiment. Campuswide communication is crucial. Even more crucial, however, is ensuring every voice on campus is heard. chronicle@colum.edu

Editorial Board Members Paige Barnes Staff Reporter Dyana Daniels Staff Reporter Mari Devereaux Staff Reporter Camilla Forte Photojournalist Knox Keranen Staff Reporter Lauren Leazenby Staff Reporter

Blaise Mesa Co-Editor-in-Chief Katherine Savage News Editor Margaret Smith Copy Chief Kaci Watt Copy Editor

10 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Did you catch a mistake, think we could have covered a story better or have strong beliefs about an issue that faces all of us here at Columbia?

Why not write a letter to the editor? At the bottom of Page 2, you’ll find a set of guidelines on how to do this. Let us hear from you. —The Columbia Chronicle Editorial Board

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COMMENTARY

Biromanticism, a delve into nonsexual attraction » SUMMER HOAGLAND-ABERNATHY COPY EDITOR

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» MADDY ASMA /CHRONICLE

he year is 2014. You, a teenage girl, and your gal pals are crowded around your favorite table at Starbucks, each clutching a variation of a pumpkin spice latte. You say Winston is your favorite male “New Girl” character.

Anaya says she really likes Schmidt for some reason you cannot fathom. But Julia pipes up next, “Have you guys ever heard of a ‘girl crush’? It’s this thing I saw on Tumblr. I like Cece the best, but, like, as a ‘girl crush,’ not like an actual crush.”

No, at that age you had not heard of a “girl crush,” but you did know that you really liked Jess, a female, more than any of the men on the show.

Fast forward to 2016 and you’re inches away from your best friend’s face in a game of Twizzler chicken—a “Lady and the Tramp” style competition where you either kiss your opponent or break away and lose. You close in. You’re not giving up. But neither is your best friend.

Your lips brush, everyone “oohs,” you bite off the Twizzler and back away laughing. But here’s the thing—you didn’t hate what just happened.

When people tell me stories like this, I always have the same, simple, three-word answer: “Maybe you’re biromantic.”

“But I’m not gay,” is often the response. And despite what many may think, not all attraction is defined by sexual orientation.

Biromanticism is romantic attraction to two or more genders and does not concern sexuality, hence the term “romantic” rather than “sexual.”

Medium, an online publishing platform, explains, “How romantic attraction is defined remains relatively amorphous, yet clearly strays from sexual attraction, and is frequently entwined with a desire to be in a romantic relationship with another person(s). Romantic attraction does not have to be in congruence with sexual attraction.”

The Conversation, a self-proclaimed global network of newsrooms, stated in a 2014 article, “A ‘girl crush’ presents a form of ‘lesbian-lite’ that is stripped of its sexual or emotional meaning. It’s as if all heterosexual women can participate in a ‘girl crush’

without the stigma of genuine lesbian desire.” The article goes on to infer that the “girl crush” label actually can be a “form of veiled homophobia,” similar to the “no-homo” label used by some men wanting to distance themselves from being seen as gay.

Some may view this as only seeing attraction through a sexual lens.

To me, this sounds more like: “You can only have a crush on this person if you want to have sex with them.”

Bringing asexuality and demisexuality into this conversation adds another reason why this is an illogical argument.

As a demisexual person, I exist in a gray area of the sexuality spectrum between asexual and sexual that says that I am generally not attracted to someone without first forming some sort of bond. For me, this is a romantic bond, so I am certain that romantic attraction outside of sexual attraction is possible.

And the same goes for sexual attraction without romantic attraction.

Just think of all those husbands in sitcoms who hate their wives’ personalities, yet pine after them anyway.

The question remains: “How common can biromanticism really be?”

Though there are few statistics, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation states approximately half of the people who are gay or lesbian also identify as bisexual—and with the close link to biromanticism, a safe assumption may be that biromantic statistics do not stray far from this number.

So, maybe you’re biromantic. Maybe you don’t break away during a game of chicken on purpose. This does not have to change your dating life unless you want it to. Your biromanticism is yours, and no one else can define it for you.

Hey, if you’re biromantic, that just means you have all the more love to give. shoaglandabernathy@columbiachronicle.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In response to: Sept. 9 ‘Rushed’ affiliation vote worries some CFAC members

With short notice and very little information, the union rolled union bylaw and constitutional changes into the affiliation vote, and members who asked for more information about these changes were given the runaround.

Members were only told that these changes were necessary to bring the bylaws into compliance with national labor laws. Which bylaws, previously, were out of compliance? Members have hank you for your balanced a right to know. As a former member reporting about union memwho was expelled from the union under bers and fee-payers’ concerns the guise of the ad-hoc “Integrity about the rushed vote to affiliate with Committee,” I have a right to know. the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

A further example of the current Although I am sure that many members union leadership’s cloak-and-dagger thought affiliation was a good idea approach is the lack of information because it would provide more overand transparency about upcoming sight to our union management, what union elections. To the best of anyconcerned members and fee-payers one’s knowledge, the nomination was the cloak-and-dagger manner process for elections—including in which the vote to affiliate was for the badly-needed department held. Contrary to what Ms. Susan rep positions—begins Oct. 1. Yet Van Veen states, there were not many members’ requests for an election meetings, but, rather, one phone timeline or information about the conference which took place while nomination process have been rouCFAC members were still off-contract. tinely not responded to or ignored.

Also contrary to what she asserts, Why all this cloak-and-dagger? not all members were contacted by What are they afraid of ? What do their department union reps; in fact, they have to hide? The members almost every department in the school and fee-payers want to know. is woefully underrepresented. For example, there are no union reps at all Sincerely, in the English and Creative Writing Kathie Bergquist Department, which has approximately Adjunct Faculty 60 part-time faculty members.

English and Creative Writing

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SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 11

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View the full photo gallery for the climate strike » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia

‘Just the beginning’: Youth strike for climate justice

Participants in the Sept. 20 climate strike gather near Columbus Drive and Roosevelt Road before marching through the South Loop to Federal Plaza.

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

» STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

» ALEXANDRA YETTER CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

Student leaders from the Chicago Sunrise Movement lead the march with organized chants Sept. 20, calling for action against the climate crisis.

FROM KINDERGARTNERS TO college students, youth were at the helm of Chicago’s Sept. 20 march in the global climate strike to demand climate justice from leaders.

“This isn’t a one day event ... this is just the beginning,” said Kyrsten Jovita Bilkey, a Sunrise Movement Chicago member and campaign coordinator for environmental advocacy group Greenpeace USA. Around 150 countries participated in the global strike, with another strike planned for Sept. 27. The climate strike was inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who began skipping school every Friday since August 2018 to strike outside the Swedish Parliament in an attempt to inspire political action against the crisis.

Thunberg is currently in Washington, D.C., where she has addressed the U.S. Congress and participated in strikes outside the White House, after sailing to New York on a zero-emissions sailboat.

Many Chicago businesses and groups participated in the Friday strike that spanned from Grant Park to Federal Plaza, including Lush Cosmetics and the Field Museum.

Staff and volunteers for the Field Museum were on the frontlines of the strike to advocate for science and climate solutions; inspired

by Thunberg, Lush Cosmetics shut down all U.S. and Canadian stores to participate in the strike for global action.

“Everyone needs to be doing this,” Bilkey said. “People should be supporting these companies and places that are really standing with the youth, taking our side of this crisis that we’re in.”

A group of roughly 50 Columbia students also assembled to strike.

Violet Gomez, junior music major and environmental studies minor, organized the Columbia group—noticing no one else on campus was—by distributing flyers and posting about the strike on the Columbia app.

In New York City, the New York Public Schools system announced

it would allow more than 1 million students to skip classes to participate in the strike.

“People of our generation now are more and more about trying to be more sustainable,” Gomez said.

“It’s the coolest thing in the entire world that [New York City] has decided that this is an issue that deserves attention, so we’re going to go ahead and excuse these students. … It’s really cool that these people who are the next generation of voters to get to participate ... in voicing their opinions.”

In Chicago, the Sunrise Movement sent letters requesting Chicago Public Schools do the same for Chicago students to participate in the strike, Bilkey said.

However, CPS sent out an announcement to CPS principals saying students will not receive excused absences for the strike as allowed in New York City.

in downtown doing their everyday lives, will be so inspired by these children out here on the streets that they finally wake up to the climate crisis and be adults and take action.”

It was not just youth taking to the streets, either. Robert Lamont, an 83-year-old member of Veterans for Peace, was one of many supporting the climate strike.

“Believe the science, not the politics,” Lamont said.

Bonnie Petersen, a 72-year-old longtime environmentalist and member of Indivisible Chicago, an anti-Trump community group, was part of the security team to keep students participating in the strike safe.

“Adults haven’t done enough,” Peterson said. “I have children and grandchildren that I want to see [have] clean water, clean air,

We are going to keep [striking] until we reach the goal that we need, until we have a climate leader.

KYRSTEN JOVITA BILKEY

“At CPS, we respect and support our students’ desire to voice their opinions and participate in the wider conversations taking place about important social issues,” said CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade in the announcement.

“However, providing a high-quality education and ensuring your child’s safety is our top priority, and we must ensure students do not miss out on valuable instruction time.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not participate in the strike, although she did host a Thursday town hall at George Washington High School in the 10th Ward, one of the most polluted wards in the city, where she promised to create an office of the environment to address pollution and environmental issues.

“These kids are courageous enough to be putting their education on the line. … Institutions should be accommodating and, if not, then it really questions which side [they’re] on,” Bilkey said. “I’m hoping adults, being so complacent

uncontaminated foods and parks to go to, so that’s why I’m here.”

With the 2020 election on the horizon, Bilkey and Gomez said the climate strike is instrumental in bringing awareness to the climate plans of presidential candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), as well as informing state and federal legislative climate action with Congress’ Green New Deal and Illinois’ Clean Energy Jobs Act. “We need this magic number—3.5% of the population needed to strike and have mass non-cooperation like a strike to achieve social change … and disturb the masses of society to shut down and cause the government to pay attention to the people,” Bilkey said. “We are going to keep [striking] until we reach the goal that we need, until we have a climate leader.”

Additional reporting by Camilla Forte. ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 13

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» MARI DEVEREAUX STAFF REPORTER WHEN NIA EASLEY leads tours through the Avondale community on the city’s Northwest Side, she does more than point out the best shops and restaurants. Easley takes everyone on a trip through history leading back to the 1800s.

Passing by dog walkers, castiron fences and food trucks blasting lively boléro music in the area just north of Logan Square, she points out a little-known fact: Avondale was one of the early homes for black Americans in Chicago—a characteristic more often associated with neighborhoods like Bronzeville on the South Side.

“Often the most compelling explanations for the present lie in the past,” Easley said. “One might still be surprised to learn that one of the pioneer groups

to dwell in Avondale were free black Americans.”

Through her tours, writing and advocacy, Easley is challenging people’s preconceived notions about the history of racial segregation in the city.

Easley, who moved to Avondale when she enrolled as a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, said she became curious about the neighborhood’s early black settlers while researching omissions in travel guides used by black citizens during the mid-1900s.

By studying public records, old maps and gathering information from history experts, Easley compiled proof that pioneering black families were among the first to officially reside in the area.

Easley held her first public tour Saturday, Sept. 7 as a part of It’s Just Ok, an artistic project that examines stories missing from

11:01

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1101 S. Wabash | 312-488-0820 | meisasian.com

14 THE CHRONICLE SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

Avondale tours reveal the rich history and untold stories of Chicago segregation

Researcher Nia Easley points out streets and landmarks on antiquated maps of Avondale that she combined for her historical tour of the neighborhood.

Chicago’s narrative, as well as attitudes toward segregation.

The tour, which began at Small Bar, 2956 N. Albany Ave., spanned from Kedzie Avenue to Wellington and Troy avenues and included landmarks and historical figures that were vital pillars of Avondale’s formative years. Avondale is roughly bounded by Addison Street to the north, West Diversey

Avenue to the south, the Chicago River to the east and Pulaski Road to the west.

One of Avondale’s early settlers, the Rev. John Brown Dawson, who was a minister ordained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, contributed to the founding of Avondale’s first house of worship, the AME Allen Chapel in 1876.

In 1880, there were 71 black residents on Dawson’s 7-acre development, and they accounted for two-thirds of Jefferson township’s black population.

“This was a true community of homeowners who built a church, who intended to stay,” Easley said during the tour.

Easley said she has no research to prove why so many black residents left Avondale, although some theories point toward patterns, restrictions and opportunities related to The Great Migration.

Avond a le n at ive D a n Pogorzelski, author of “Avondale and Chicago’s Polish Village” and writer for the blog Forgotten Chicago, said through learning about the loss of historical legacies he has come to appreciate the importance in reviving memories.

Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting. mdevereaux@columbiachronicle.com

Multiple armed robberies near Student Center » KNOX KERANEN STAFF REPORTER

according to a news release from CPD. On Sept. 16, the offender was identified on surveillance video in possession of the victims’ property and was then arrested and charged.

Ronald Sodini, associate vice president of campus safety and security, said campus security provided footage from an on-campus security camera near the Student Center to the CPD, which led to the arrest of the offender of the Wabash robbery.

It is unclear whether the arrested offender is connected to any of the other incidents, but as of press time, no additional arrests have been made in connection to those cases, Brown reiterated in a Sept. 20 email statement.

Raven Palmer, senior public relations major, said she received many crime alerts throughout the 2018-2019 academic year, but, now that guns are involved, these robberies are more frightening.

“It sucks because you know this might happen because you live in the heart of the city,” Palmer said. “It could be anybody and

anywhere. You just have to be an after-hours security escort cautious.” program, which is available to Sophomore public relations students seven days a week from major Diego Ochoa said there 6 p.m.-1 a.m. during the fall and should be training for students to spring semesters. make them aware of what they can do in a robbery situation, and what Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting resources are available before, during and after an emergency kkeranen@columbiachronicle.com situation occurs.

Columbia offers “Kick @$$ SelfDefense” workshops, a two-hour class designed to help students navigate Chicago with confidence while learning self-defense techniques. The next workshop will be held Sept. 24 from 2-4 p.m. at Dwight Lofts, 642 S. Clark St. Workshops are open to all students, faculty and staff.

Additiona l ly, Armed robberies have been reported recently at the the college offers locations noted above.

» SHANE TOLENTINO/ CHRONICLE

A STRING OF at least six robberies near the new Student Center have students and local shopkeepers on high alert.

Pandit Pahtak, store manager at the 7-Eleven, 801 S. State St., said he was cleaning up the store around 4 a.m. Sept. 15 when a man thought to be between 30 and 40 years old came into the store wearing a hoodie and a mask, demanding cash from the register.

“He had a big gun. He came to the counter, showed me the gun and took $340 [or] $360, then he got away,” said Pahtak while ringing up customers at the store on Sept. 17.

Pahtak said he has experienced plenty of robberies while working at 7-Eleven, with the Sept. 15 incident being the second armed robbery he has witnessed in his career.

Despite the robberies, Pahtak said he is not afraid when he is working at night, but if an offender has a gun, he is going to give them what they want.

As of press time, no one is in custody for the Sept. 15 7-Eleven robbery. However, the investigation is ongoing, according to a Sept. 19 email statement from Sally Bown, public information officer for the Chicago Police Department.

In addition to this incident, five other armed robberies have occurred near the Student Center since Aug. 17, according to a Sept.

13 crime advisory from the CPD. Later, on Sept. 15, a separate incident occurred involving an offender who approached three women around 8:30 p.m. near the 800 block of Wabash Avenue.

The offender demanded their personal property while displaying a handgun. The victims gave up their property willingly and fled,

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