K_\ ?\`^_kj n`cc i\klie fe J\gk\dY\i (# )'(-% THE COMMON TONES
GRADUATION GUIDE
ICE QUEENS
SCENE
METRO
SPORTS
The a cappella group’s co-founders discuss the new ensemble’s mission statement, B3
Four Boston sites you can’t miss this summer, A4
Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa highlight our 2015-16 Athlete of the Year Awards, B8
www.bcheights.com
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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Vol. XCVII, No. 26
established
Thursday, May 5, 2016
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Race issues became a leading subject on Boston College’s campus, as well as other universities’ campuses, throughout the 2015-16 academic year. During this time, Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) worked to facilitate conversation between students and the administration on how to make BC a more inclusive campus, but failed to accomplish many tangible policy changes. Entering into her role as vice president of diversity and inclusion of UGBC last fall, Afua Laast, LSOE ’16, said that she had a few goals—to make BC more inclusive, to get the administration to take more notice of their cause, to have more investment in the AHANA community at BC, and to have a bigger presence on campus. As other universities across the nation began to protest for racial equality, Laast said she began to study these movements and try to figure out how to best contextualize them at BC. The student group Eradicate Boston College Racism began to host protests without the administration’s approval. The group protested following the Ta-Nehisi Coates, 30 members of Eradicate stood up in the crowd with signs that said “Eradicate #BostonCollegeRacism” and duct tape over their mouths in protest of the institutional racism at BC. One of the members also took the stage, talking for 10 minutes about the inherent racial hypocrisy at BC. It also hosted a protest during which members of the group began outside of the doors of a Board of Trustees meeting in Gasson Hall and then walked across campus, singing Christmas carols with altered lyrics, including “Leahy Baby” and “Walking in a White Man’s Wonderland.” This event was part of the group’s “12 Days of BC Racism” campaign, which was held over the 12 days before Winter Break last winter. In addition to caroling, the
group raised money from BC alumni, gave gifts to supportive faculty members, and distributed fliers that compared BC’s responses to racism to other universities’ responses. Working within the administration can be difficult, Laast said, because of its hierarchical nature. For example, at the University of Missouri, the entire football team stood with the movement, something Laast does not believe a BC team would do. The University, she said, also requires students to register protests, which not all other universities do. UGBC hosted a rally in November to express its solidarity with the University of Missouri in response to recent online death threats directed at the university’s black students. “The movements this year on campus were certainly not isolated to the Undergraduate Government of Boston College or the AHANA Leadership Council,” Thomas Napoli, the president of UGBC said in an email. “There was an understanding among groups such as Faces, the culture clubs, Eradicate, and UGBC that while we all may have had different tactics and roles to play, we all ultimately had a common vision.” Later that month, UGBC released “Towards a More Inclusive Community,” a document that called for more AHANA faculty and staff. Whenever UGBC needs a faculty member to speak about race, Laast said, it turns to the same few professors. This, she said, is not fair to the faculty who have busy schedules. In response, vice president of student affairs Barb Jones released a letter to UGBC acknowledging the dialogue surrounding the issue of inclusion, though not by the Jan. 19 deadline UGBC executives requested. In the letter, she noted that BC is committed to retaining and increasing the number of diverse students, faculty and staff. She also said that the University will not add a vice president for institutional diversity, one of the positions requested in UGBC’s proposal. Instead, BC will focus on existing committees. Later, the Office of Student Affairs more specifically addressed
See Race, A3
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Boston College baseball does not hand out honors halfheartedly. In the history of the program, Birdball has only retired one jersey: No. 13, belonging to BC’s winningest coach and its field’s namesake, Eddie Pellagrini. But that will change on Saturday, when head coach Mike Gambino and the Eagles will immortalize Pete Frates’ No. 3 jersey on Shea Field’s temporary outfield fence during a pregame ceremony before their fifth annual ALS Awareness Game on Saturday afternoon. The event will begin at 1:10 DREW HOO / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
See Frates, A8
AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
?8@C KF K?< :?@<=J Ilj\cc J`dfej# D\i\[`k_ DZ:X]]i\p# Xe[ k_\ i\jk f] k_\ e\n L>9: ZXY`e\k n\i\ `e[lZk\[ N\[e\j[Xp e`^_k%
9: :`k\[ 9p JkXk\ 8^\eZp ]fi ;`jXY`c`kp ;`jZi`d`eXk`fe Jkfb\j 8dg_`k_\Xk\i m`fcXk\j jkXk\ XZZ\jj i\hl`i\d\ekj This article was produced by members of the Advanced Journalism class taught by Jon Marcus: Perrine Ausseil, Meaghan Healy, Sophie Krieger, Ryan Panny and Melissa Sorkin.
Two years after state and federal agencies opened investigations into disability discrimination on campus, Boston College has been cited in one case, and two new complaints have been filed, according to a state official.
Thomas Hopkins, executive director of the state Architectural Access Board, said Stokes Amphitheater violates access requirements because it lacks handrails on its upper stairs and a ramp for the disabled would be too steep. The University has until June 16 to respond by either submitting a plan to correct the problems or asking for a variance from the regulations, Hopkins said. He said two new disability access complaints have also been filed, including one involving the John Courtney Murray, S.J. Graduate Student Center. The state and federal governments have been investigating disability discrimination and issues of access at the University since January and May 2014, respectively.
The federal investigation is ongoing, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. Some disabled students have expressed frustration over the difficulty they say they face getting around the campus. They say the University has not responded to their concerns. Amanda Melvin, MCAS ’17, who has a condition that causes her joints to dislocate and who has difficulty getting up and down stairs, said she often waits an hour for the Eagle Escort van, and had to navigate slippery walkways in the winter. The University “does not acknowledge my disability,” known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she said. “I have an invisible disability,” Melvin
said. “I don’t use mobility aids and look able-bodied to those who don’t know me.” Other disabled students are angry that new stairs between McGuinn and Carney halls, which lead to University Health Services in Cushing Hall, don’t have wheelchair ramps. Still others say it’s hard to get into and around some buildings, including the library. “I knew this campus had tons of stairs,” said Melvin. “But I am from Texas, where the terrain is very flat, and we don’t have snow and ice. I underestimated the difficulties these things would create and that they would actually exacerbate my condition.” Hopkins said it isn’t always easy for the
University to comply with disability access standards, especially if the cost is excessive without creating substantial benefits, or in older buildings. “It is not always a cake walk to make them 100 percent accessible,” Hopkins said. He said BC had been “extremely responsive.” The University offers support to any students who register as disabled, said Paulette Durrette, assistant dean for students with disabilities. There are 668 students registered with the Disability Services Office, the University said, including 428 undergraduates.
See Disability, A8