Panel Reflects on Impacts of Russia-Ukraine War

By adiTya rao Heights Staff

Gerald Easter, chair of Boston College’s political science department, said that after thousands of deaths in Ukraine, a question arises surrounding how the country will rebuild itself.

“Here we are, a year later, where the numbers in terms of casualties and fatalities are in the hundreds and thousands,” Easter said. “And one wonders how difficult it will be for a coherent, substantive Ukraine nation to exist again on these lands.”

Professors from the political science, history, and the Eastern, Slavic, and German studies departments gathered on Thursday night, exactly one year after Russia first invaded Ukraine, to reflect on the impacts of the war.

Easter said the Russia-Ukraine war was caused by multiple factors, including a conflict over Ukraine’s identity

“It is a confluence of factors which have brought us to this point,” Easter said. “The first one is internal to Ukraine: this is a war over the identity of the nation.”

Maxim Shrayer, a professor of Russian, English, and Jewish studies and the director of BC’s Eastern European studies minor, spoke about the role that religion plays in the war.

“You have this sentiment where religious leaders in Ukraine are coming behind the war, and speaking about the war not only as a patriotic war … but also as a religiously justified war,” Shrayer said.

Ukraine is also fighting against lasting Soviet nationalist policies, according to Shrayer.

“This is not a war of Ukraine’s patriotic liberation against Putin’s Russia and the Russian invasion,” Shrayer said. “It is also a war in which spirits of the Soviet’s, and specifically Stalin’s, nationalist policies are continuing to find a final balance.”

Easter said Ukraine’s desire to involve other nations in the war, combined with Russia’s power, could result in a stalemate situation, similar to North and South Korea.

“At this point, maybe Koreanization is the more likely outcome,” Easter said. “On the Russian side, they’re just going to stand there and pound. And Ukraine’s hope is to expand the war into a wider conflict and bring in other nations.”

Devin Pendas, a history professor, explained that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine broke many international laws, as the state used illegal forms of violence.

Interdisciplinary panel discusses the implications of the ongoing war in Ukraine on Thursday night.

By Lucy Freeman Asst. News Editor

Christie Louis, this year’s recipient of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship, said she first encountered King’s work in her fifth-grade history class, but she did not begin to understand the meaning of his words until later in life.

“It wasn’t until I found myself deeply troubled and conflicted with the racial climate in the United States during the summer of 2015, that I began my personal journey to understanding the radical words of MLK that have too many times been pacified to fit the white perception of him,” Louis said.

Louis, MCAS ’24, was announced as the winner of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee’s 41st annual scholarship on Tuesday night.

The scholarship is awarded to junior students who have demonstrated academic excellence, community service, leadership in extracurricular activities, and involvement in the African American community and issues surrounding African Americans both on and off campus, according to the committee’s website.

As the recipient of the full schol- arship, Louis will receive up to $19,000 toward her senior year tuition. The other four scholarship finalists—Kaylee

Arzu, Srina Lacet, and Ashley-Rae

Stewart, all MCAS ’24, and Osasenaga Owens, CSOM ’24—will receive a $3,000 scholarship. Additionally, all finalists won a $1,000 gift certificate to the Boston College Bookstore.

When she considers the major challenges the United States continues to face regarding race and social justice, Louis said one issue she hopes to address is maternal health, particularly among Black mothers.

“Although I believe it is my personal mission to give back to the community that has given me so much in all areas of social justice and racial equality, I feel a deep-rooted call to maternal health as it pertains to Black mothers in the United States and Haiti,” Louis said.

Louis said she is a first-generation college student who is originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She spoke about the unequal treatment Black mothers receive during childbirth, particularly in the United States and Haiti.

“In the United States alone, Black mothers are four times more likely to die during childbirth compared to their white counterparts, due to overt racism and inadequate health care in urban communities,” Louis said.

Today, one in 80 women in Haiti today die from childbirth- or pregnancy-related issues, according to Louis. She shared that her grandmother was forced to give birth at home because the nearest clinic in Haiti was a oneday walk by foot.

“Subsequently, Haiti’s maternal mortality rate remains the highest of any country in the western hemisphere,” Louis said.

Louis said her cousin was denied pain medication in the United States during childbirth because she did not speak English. So, she hopes to create change through volunteer work and her future career.

“I intend to be the one who does everything in my power to change the system,” Louis said. “I’ve dedicated all my service work and my career aspirations towards achieving this vision.” Louis is a volunteer at Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter in Boston that provides food and shelter to women. Louis also serves as the events coordinator for the Haitian Association, the AHANA+ caucus coordinator, and co-leader of the Black Women Matter Retreat.

She also plans to work at a non- profit organization this summer to help analyze and put an end to racial bias in the delivery room.

“I’ve accepted a position at TeamBirth, a nonprofit organization spearheaded by public health officials in clinical positions to analyze birth plans at 10 hospitals throughout the state of Massachusetts to ensure the elimination of racial bias during a Black mother’s delivery experience,” Louis said.

In the future, Louis hopes to become an obstetrician so she can support mothers in underserved communities.

“It does seem to be remarkably widespread in occupied territories, which suggests at least some level of tolerance on the part of the military hierarchy, if not making it an actual policy,” Pendas said.

According to Pendas, it is unlikely Russian military officers will be held accountable legally, which could affect peace negotiations.

“International indictments can be harmful to peace negotiations, because they give perpetrators—especially elite-level government officials—incentives to keep fighting, if peace means prison,” Pendas said. “On the other hand, if you use that as a negotiating chip, it has the potential to be useful.”

Even though Russian military officers are not currently on trial for their war crimes, Pendas predicts that justice could come decades in the future.

“There is likely to be large-scale and ongoing projects of international justice that will play out over decades for these mid to low-level perpetrators,” Pendas said. “We see this ongoing with perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide … who end up on trial for crimes back in the ’90s.” n