BURLINGTON, VT
VTCYNIC.COM
VOL. 133
ISSUE 25
APRIL 5, 2017
ARTS PGs. 12-13: local bands perform at burlington showcase
UVM hosts feminist leaders Izzy Siedman Assistant Life Editor
for mental health consultations, Petrillo said. “Mental health is something that is incredibly serious and something that you want
Students and community members filled the Ira Allen Chapel on Wednesday night to hear the organizers of the Women’s March on Washington speak. Tamika Mallory and Bob Bland visited college campuses during March, which is Women’s History Month, encouraging students to become actively involved in political justice and intersectionality. “Being at a college campus is probably the most important work we can do because we know that students are the next generation of leaders,” Mallory said. “To get to this group of people is how we move the social justice efforts we’re fighting for forward.” Mallory is a longtime activist in the fight for social rights, but Bland worked full-time in fashion and was not engaged in activism until the organization of the Women’s March. “They were a really good duo,” junior Annie McAneny said. “One of them was very clearly a super powerful person who was willing to teach someone who was previously so ignorant. I think it was a really important thing for a bunch of white kids at UVM to see that balance.” Sharing personal stories with the audience, Mallory talked about her son’s father, a black man, who was killed and how she fears her son may have the same fate. Bland was pregnant when they started planning the march and continued working even when she went into labor, Bland said. She emphasized how she would never have to worry about her white daughter for the same reasons Mallory did for her son. Using these stories to emphasize the importance of involvement, Mallory and Bland answered a question many eager young people have: how to get involved. “I know a lot of people showed up for the Muslim community when the Muslim ban came out,” Bland said. “That should be an everyday practice until all of us are free, because until all of us are receiving justice, none of us are.”
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Women Continues on pg. 16
MAX MCCURDY/The Vermont Cynic The Phi Gamma Delta “FIJI” house is pictured. FIJI has been suspended by the University for four years.
FIJI and AGR sanctioned by UVM John Riedel Senior Staff Writer The University has punished two UVM chapter fraternities. After an investigation into incidents that occurred in the fall, the conduct office stated that Phi Gamma Delta, “FIJI,” and Alpha Gamma Rho, “AGR,” violated University policy, according to a March 30 Uni-
versity communications press release. FIJI was suspended for four years after the conduct office stated they were found responsible for leading pledges in drinking games at a party in September 2016, the press release stated. Suspended fraternities are not recognized by the University during the time of their suspension, but fraternities on
probation remain recognized, said Kim Monteaux-De Freitas, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life. FIJI will be unable to hold meetings, host social gatherings or recruit and initiate new members, according to the release. AGR was put on probation after the conduct office found them responsible for serving alcohol to minors at a ticketed
party October 2016, according to the press release. AGR will be under social probation for two years. During this time, they will be unable to serve any alcohol at official events they hosted. This will overlap with a five-year general probation where the fraternity will be watched closely to ensure
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A new president marks beginning of era Lauren Schnepf Senior Staff Writer
Junior Chris Petrillo took off his a baseball cap and pushed up the sleeves of the longsleeve shirt bearing the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity logo as he sat down. Petrillo leaned forward on the couch located in the back corner of the SGA office, placing his elbows on his knees, avoiding looking at the camera with apparent discomfort. “If I had known there was going to be a photographer, I would have dressed up,” Petrillo said with a laugh. Petrillo, a Williston native, wore shorts and sunglasses on a 30 degree day in March. UVM is part of his family: both Petrillo’s father and sister attended the University, and his mother is a professor, he said. Last week, Petrillo was
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elected president of the UVM student body. “I distinctly remember being a kid in some of my mom’s classes and all her students would look at me funny because I was a five year old playing with legos in the corner,” he said with a smile. Petrillo left Vermont after graduating high school for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, he said. Two years later, Petrillo transferred to UVM. Since then, he has been working as an EMT at the Williston Fire Department and said his time there has helped him understand the state of mind and feelings of people at their worst. “You don’t call 911 on a bad day,” Petrillo said. “You call 911 on your worst day.” The position had also taught him to be patient, to communicate effectively and
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AUTUMN LEE/The Vermont Cynic SGA President-elect, senior Chris Petrillo, discusses his plans for student government and the UVM community cultivated an aptitude for empathy within him, all of which are skills that will come in handy as president. Improving student health services is his first priority once he gets into office and he aims to shorten wait periods instagram.com/ vermontcynic
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