Friday, January 31, 2025

THE BROWN DAILY HER ALD

Officers leave DPS over allegations of sexual harassment and toxic work environment

BY MAYA NELSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“Toxic.” “Vindictive.” “Dangerous.” “A shitshow.” This is how seven people described the culture of Brown University’s law enforcement agency, the Department of Public Safety. Over the past few years, several employees have left DPS citing concerns about a toxic work environment and sexual harassment.

A Herald investigation found a depart ment where some officers say they faced harassment by colleagues based on their gender and sexual orientation. Officers also told The Herald that they feared retaliation from supervisors when raising concerns about the department.

The Herald reviewed text messages, pho tos and internal documents and interviewed seven people who have direct knowledge of DPS’s operations. The sources were granted anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“Brown takes any reports of harassment and discrim ination very seriously,” University Spokesper son Brian Clark told The Herald.

“Maintaining a safe, professional and re spectful workplace is an expectation of leaders of all departments at Brown, including the Department of Public Safety,” Clark wrote in an email. He said the University will investigate and “hold individuals ac countable in circumstances where Brown policies are violated.”

continue to take those seriously and to address those reports in compliance with law and policy,” he added.

Some male employees regularly gathered in the department’s parking lot, using rhetoric that some sources described as sexist, misogynistic and homophobic. According to those who heard these remarks, officers often disparaged female employees’ skills, commented on their appearance and questioned the masculinity of at least one gay male officer.

about Pepere’s behavior to several officers, including Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management Rodney Chatman, who oversees DPS. She did not alert the University’s Human Resources department. “I didn’t want to get anybody in trouble because I just started working there,” she said.

During online meetings where Chatman and Pepere were both in attendance, Chatman asked the employee to turn her camera on, saying “we want to see your face” even though she had informed Chatman she was

did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Chatman declined to comment, deferring any official comment to Clark.

Sources predominantly attributed their broader concerns over the department’s negative culture to Deputy Chief of DPS John Vinson, calling him “vindictive” and a “micromanager.”

Two sources added that Vinson would repeatedly threaten to fire officers when they voiced concerns to him.

Vinson declined to comment, also defer

The report added that Vinson’s leadership style “likely deprived decisions of critical information from people close to the issue or problem.”

Several UW police officers reported they were the target of racial disparagement and harassment under Vinson’s administration.

A lawsuit filed by five Black employees alleging racism within UWPD also claimed that the independent report commissioned by the UW failed to “solicit or report on the views UWPD employees have regard

The University previously conducted an investigation into DPS that found no violations under Brown’s discrimination and anti-harassment policy, Clark said.

But he declined to say whether the investigation addressed the instances detailed in The Herald’s reporting or if these individuals were the target of the University’s investigation or were witnesses for it. He also did not detail when the investigation was conducted.

“Should the University receive any further reports about behaviors alleging violations of law or University policy, we’ll

ing at Brown,” she said. “But then everything kind of fell apart once I got a weird text message from one of the police officers.”

In text messages reviewed by The Herald, Pepere repeatedly suggested inappropriate behavior — making flirtatious comments about her appearance and ignoring the employee’s repeated attempts to redirect the conversation. After being told that she was married and not looking for any type of “fun,”

Pepere again made an advance.

“I do have a wife too,” he wrote, “but I do get a FUN vibe from you.” In later text conversations, Pepere also wrote, “I like that we can talk ‘fun’ together.”

The former employee raised concerns

tion — an action against University policy — which she claimed she was instructed to do by a colleague.

The employee was asked to sign a separation agreement, reviewed by The Herald, that prevented her from bringing legal action against the department except under very limited circumstances.

After discussions with her lawyer, the employee decided not to take legal action against the department. She told The Herald that her lawyer informed her that she had a case to sue, but she enjoyed working at Brown and did not want to jeopardize any future opportunities.

Pepere is still employed by DPS. He

a few months after a letter of concern was sent to the UW Board of Regents regarding his use of intimidation tactics, according to an article by the UW’s student newspaper The Daily.

An external review commissioned by the UW that included interviews with 68 former and current employees of the UW Police Department raised concerns about the working environment. Staff said that Vinson fostered a culture of fear and retaliation with some describing him as a micromanager.

Under Vinson, UWPD employees feared retaliation, resulting in “a chilling impact on the willingness of employees to openly participate in decision-making,” the report reads.

sparked in part by complaints that Vinson “hired too many officers they believed to be unqualified” following his effort to hire more Black officers.

A jury awarded the Black employees $16 million in 2023 after a six-week trial.

The UW declined to comment. Change Integration Consulting, the firm who conducted the review, did not respond to a request for comment.

The initial lawsuit was filed in 2021. Brown announced Vinson’s appointment to deputy chief of DPS in April 2022. Clark did not say whether the University considered the report when it hired Vinson.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

ADMISSIONS

Students criticize legacy admissions at University digital forum

All eight students who spoke at the forum expressed opposition

BY TEDDY FISHER AND CIARA MEYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

The University invited students to voice their opinions on legacy admissions in a Zoom forum Tuesday evening.

All eight students who spoke at the forum expressed opposition to legacy admissions, citing concerns about nepotism and equity, as well as racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity.

Provost Francis Doyle wrote in an email to The Herald that the University “hosted a similar forum for faculty and staff last week.” Between both forums, they expected approximately 125 attendees, Doyle added.

Tuesday’s forum was led by Doyle and members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions Policies, which was created to examine the University’s admissions protocols following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to outlaw race-based affirmative action in college admissions.

Last spring, the committee determined that further consideration was needed before making a recommendation regarding preferential admissions for students with familial connections. Brown offers legacy preference to students with at least one parent who obtained an undergraduate degree from the University.

A poll conducted by The Herald last

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The forum was led by Provost Francis Doyle and members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions Policies, which was created to examine the University’s admissions protocols following the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw race-based affirmative action.

fall found that nearly three in five students opposed legacy admissions.

While the event was characterized as a listening session in public communications, Nick Lee ’26, Students for Educational Equity co-president, said that there were points where it felt like committee members were “trying to argue against us.”

On several occasions, committee members interrupted students’ comments with follow-up questions or remarks. “At one point, I was cut off. I know other students were cut off in the middle of speaking,” Lee said. “If it’s a listening session, we shouldn’t feel like we’re trying to fight.”

Doyle did not respond to a request for comment about the committee members’ interactions with the student attendees.

Multiple committee members declined

to comment on the forum.

While Lee appreciated the opportunity to voice his perspectives, he felt the forum should have been “advertised more readily with more advanced notice.” Doyle wrote to The Herald that the event was advertised through one priority message in Today@Brown.

In comments during the forum, Isaac Slevin ’25 identified himself as a legacy student and said that because of his “parents’ financial status, social status and connections,” he would have been successful wherever he attended college and did not need preferential treatment in admissions.

“I recognize that I benefited from legacy admissions, that I might not be here without it,” Slevin said. But the potential

of rejecting individual applicants “is a very small social cost to pay” to make Brown more “equitable,” he added.

Anaya Kaul ’25, the co-lead of SEE’s Admissions and Access committee, described legacy admissions as “affirmative action for the white and wealthy.” Several participants referenced data showing that familial preferences in admissions at institutions across the country disproportionately benefit rich, white individuals.

Kaul said that achieving the University’s goal of diversity is impossible in “an admissions system that systematically keeps out students who would most contribute to this diversity.”

The committee’s March 2024 report acknowledged that “removing legacy preferences could lead to somewhat more diversity in the group of admitted students,” but wrote that the effect would be “modest.”

During the forum, committee members also said that Brown’s alumni population is slowly increasing in diversity, meaning that legacy admissions could benefit some students of color whose parents attended Brown. Eliana Rivas Marte ’27 said that did not remedy her concerns about familial preferences.

“At least to me as a Black student, as a first-generation student, it (would feel) like I’m still benefiting from something that is unfair because I would be taking away the spot for another Black student that was not a legacy,” she said.

Lee said he doesn’t believe that legacy admissions are the best strategy to promote diversity. “There are so many other diverse identities that could and should

be considered” during the admissions process, he noted.

“I don’t think that my blood relationship to any school should be part of that consideration when they have so many other factors that are more meaningful,” Lee added.

Jay Philbrick ’25 brought up issues of socioeconomic and geographic diversity when expressing his opposition to legacy admissions.

Addressing the argument that legacy admissions cultivate a sense of school loyalty — which was acknowledged in the committee’s report last spring — Philbrick said that he wanted to expand the community of Brown alumni to include more diverse families across different geographic and socioeconomic statuses.

Even if eliminating legacy preferences at the University would not have a substantial impact on campus diversity, Philbrick emphasized that the influence of such a decision would have impacts beyond Brown.

“Brown is a role model” for other schools, he said. If the University decides to get rid of legacy admissions, other schools will likely follow, he added.

Doyle said that input from students and community members “will be one important consideration in informing the development of a recommendation on whether to sustain family preferences in Brown’s admissions processes.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

Inside BrownTogether: Unpacking Brown’s most ambitious fundraising campaign

Funds will support financial aid, campus facilities and other initiatives

BY ROMA SHAH SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Over the past decade, Brown has received donations from over 76,800 alums, parents, faculty and friends in a campaign called BrownTogether — the largest fundraising campaign in University history.

The campaign raised over $4.4 billion

to support financial aid, new professorships, campus facilities and student support centers, among other projects, The Herald previously reported.

In the three years leading up to the campaign’s launch, the University averaged around $180 million annually in gifts and pledges, Senior Vice President for Advancement Sergio Gonzalez told The Herald.

Under the BrownTogether campaign, the University averaged $440 million a year. The campaign hit an all time high of $503 million last year, Gonzalez said.

The campaign’s success came even as

a surprise to top administrators.

“I don’t think — rolling back the clock 10 years ago — anybody could have imagined that Brown's alumni and friends and supporters would have been so generous as to help us complete a more than four-billion-dollar campaign,” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 said in an interview with The Herald.

But “the most important thing is not the dollars but what they’re doing for the University,” she added.

Priorities for the gifts were established before BrownTogether launched and were laid out in the campaign’s operating plan, based on the University’s 2013 strategic plan.

Throughout the campaign, they tracked whether the funds being raised were “fulfilling the priorities that we laid out in the beginning,” Paxson said.

Paxson said gifts from BrownTogether were not directly raised to address the University’s $46 million budget deficit, as it “is not inspiring.”

“It’s very important that people know that we’re managing our resources well and our gifts have impact,” she added.

Funds from the campaign will be used to support some of the University’s biggest expenses, such as financial aid. Paxson hopes that using endowed funds to finance major functions of the University will help reduce Brown’s budget deficit.

Gifts raised from the Brown Annual Fund were included in the total revenue of the BrownTogether campaign.

Donations given to the Annual Fund help support “student experience and student needs,” Gonzalez said. This

includes immediate-use funds that support a variety of programs, including athletics, professional schools and efforts to increase student diversity.

The University adjusted donor outreach methods depending on the types of gifts being given, Gonzalez explained.

Gifts given to the Annual Fund were solicited through mail, student phone calls and direct conversations with donors.

Major gifts, on the other hand, typically required outreach over a longer period of time and involved understanding donor interests in addition to explaining University priorities.

“Larger gifts, and especially endowed gifts or capital gifts, are given for very specific purposes,” Paxson said. That

involves a “much more tailored campaign where we’re identifying specific people or foundations sometimes who we think have the capacity and inclination to support Brown,” she said.

There are currently no plans for a new formal fundraising campaign, but the University will continue to fundraise for “a number of priorities,” Gonzalez said.

“It’s very important that we continue to fundraise at the levels we’ve been fundraising because the opportunities for our donors to invest are very significant and very consequential,” he added.

SUMMER SHI / HERALD

FACULTY

Singer, unicycler and computer scientist: Brown’s new associate provost for AI

BY SAMAH HAMID SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Michael Littman PhD ’96 occupies many roles in his day-to-day life. In addition to being an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, a renowned professor and author, he is also a singer, TurboTax ad star and occasional standup mime.

In July, he will add another title to his laundry list of roles. Littman is set to be the University’s inaugural associate provost for AI.

Littman has been a computer science professor at Brown since 2012, but his interest in artificial intelligence dates back to 1979 when he first got a computer. Playing a 20-questions-style game that asked questions depending on user responses helped cement his interest in the field.

Now, he will serve as Brown’s administrative leader on artificial intelligence.

The role will cover five main areas of AI — research, teaching, operations, policy and communication — but beyond that outline, Littman expressed some uncertainty about what the job entails.

“There really aren’t any other schools like Brown that have a role like this,” Littman said. “So I can’t even look over and see another person and say, ‘I’ll probably be doing what that person’s doing.’”

Littman emphasized that Brown’s vision for AI initiatives has a very broad scope and will examine ways to integrate AI that align with the University’s mission.

He pointed to collaboration across the University regarding AI use, outlining plans to ensure interdepartmental awareness of methods already being used to leverage AI. In this way, he said, departments can draw inspiration from each other.

Littman added that AI should not be an imposition on anyone and hopes for campus-wide involvement when implementing new initiatives.

“We don’t have to reinvent the AI wheel over and over and over again if we work together as a community,” Littman said.

George Konidaris, an associate professor of computer science, wrote in an email to The Herald that he “cannot imagine a better choice” for the position, describing Littman as “warm and funny and not at all aware of his godlike status.”

Norm Meyrowitz ’81, an adjunct pro-

fessor of the practice of computer science, also described Littman as “a perfect choice” due to his experience both as a faculty member and an expert in his field.

“you need somebody who is not just tied to a particular department, but is looking at the University as a whole and is not just tied to faculty research,” Meyrowitz said. “Michael can fill all of those roles.”

Littman is also the division director for Information and Intelligence Systems at the National Science Foundation, which oversees many computing-related fields,

including AI. Andy van Dam, a professor of computer science, explained that Littman has “a global look” on the development of AI due to his time at the NSF and “has all the right skills and the right personality to boot.”

Van Dam emphasized his belief that the increased integration of AI initiatives on campus is necessary because of its inevitable presence in every discipline but expressed concerns about potential drawbacks like overreliance. He added that having someone like Littman to deal with

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both the advantages and disadvantages of AI is vital.

“I rejoice in having (this) office created,” van Dam said. “I rejoice in Michael being the person who will take the job.”

Van Dam also noted Littman’s many talents, one of which is riding an electric unicycle: “He rides to work — I was astonished when I saw this — one of these motorized wheels with a balancing platform. He wears a helmet and some protective gear and he manages to balance and steer.”

In his free time, Littman loves to sing.

He is part of a pops choir with his wife, in addition to performing multiple times at a talent show fundraiser for the NSF. One year, he performed “a standup routine, interspersed with little mime bits,” and this past holiday season he helped form “NSF’s premier Beatles cover band” to perform at the talent show, Littman told The Herald.

Littman’s youTube channel features many of his musical ventures — including clips of the Littman Family Quartet and machine learning music videos.

He also wrote a book called “Code to Joy: Why Everyone Should Learn a Little Programming,” with the intention of empowering people to code software that enables them to express themselves, rather than relying on industries to do so. He plans to carry his wide-ranging background into his new position.

“I’m really excited and honored to get to do this new role,” Littman said. “I’m really open to hearing what people are thinking.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 28, 2025.

Clarification: Last week's editors' note stated that President Christina Paxson P'19 P'MD'20 planned to leave the University in 2026. Her contract ends in 2026.

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Commentary:

Littman PhD ’96 hopes to champion the integration of AI across Brown

COURTESy OF MICHAEL LITTMAN

Littman’s role covers five main areas: research, teaching, operations, policy and communication.

PROVIDENCE

ART

Broad Street Stories to honor neighborhood history through art installations

The construction of the three art installations will begin in the coming weeks

BY ALLYSON CHEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Broad Street Stories, a placemaking project commissioned by Providence, has announced plans to install three art installations on Broad Street in South Providence this June. The installations will aim to honor Broad Street’s long history and represent community perspectives, according to the website.

Fabrication is expected to begin in the coming weeks, and the installations are slated to remain on Broad Street for five years.

“As the Creative Capital, Providence has long embraced art as a core compo-

nent of its unique identity,” wrote Michaela Antunes, a spokesperson for the City of Providence, in an email to The Herald.

“The Smiley Administration is especially

invested in public art as a driver for community connection and place-keeping, civic pride and economic development.”

Broad Street Stories is centered on participatory planning, which aims to include community input in decisions related to local development. The three installations are a part of the city’s Broad Street Initiatives: a set of public meetings to foster a “community-led vision for the future of Broad Street,” according to the website. “Broad Street has always been an important corridor for neighborhood and civic life,” Antunes wrote. “This is an opportunity to honor the neighborhood’s dynamic history and celebrate its community pride.”

The project began in winter 2023 when the city partnered with local nonprofit DownCity Design, and later with Rhode Island Latino Arts. The city “piloted public engagement” through a poster project to

ensure that three art installations would represent community members’ input, Antunes wrote.

For the pilot project, posters illustrating the neighborhood’s history were hung on light posts lining Broad Street between Trinity Square and Roger Williams Park, according to the website.

Following the pilot project, the organization “reached out to businesses and individuals who either live or work or own businesses on Broad Street and asked them what they would want to see there,” said Marta Martínez, a community connector for Broad Street Stories and the executive director and founder of Rhode Island Latino Arts.

After consulting community members, three “historically significant” sites were selected to host the installations,

Antunes wrote.

The first site used to house the state’s first bodega, Fefa’s Market, which has since been demolished. The two other sites — the Broad Street Synagogue and the Grace Church Cemetery — hold religious significance for many community members. The temple, now vacant, was once a cultural hub for the Jewish community. The cemetery holds the graves of people who used to live in the neighborhood, dating back to the 1800s.

The design team is due to visit the sites in the coming weeks and draft their initial concepts in accordance with the data gathered by Martínez.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 26, 2025.

Mayor Smiley discusses economic impact of ‘life at night’ in Providence

A report highlights night-life spaces that add vibrance to the city

BY LILY SELTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Monday evening, Mayor Brett Smiley spoke at the Crib, an event space in Providence, to discuss the city’s nightlife and its impact on Providence’s economy and culture.

Earlier that day, the mayor and the city’s Department of Art, Culture and Tourism released a “Life at Night in the Creative Capital” report which found that the city’s “nighttime economy” — a category including restaurants, theaters, and performance venues, in addition to bars and clubs — supports close to $1 billion in economic activity each year.

Economic consulting firm Jon Stover & Associate conducted the study, pulling data from nightlife industry surveys, stakeholder interviews, employment and business statistics.

The report also found that Providence is home to over 630 nightlife businesses, supporting over 9,900 jobs in total in the city. Over 30% of the state’s bars and clubs are located in the city, making Providence a hub for the state’s nighttime activity.

At the event, Smiley announced a series of initiatives building on the report’s findings, including a new 50% discount on Spin bike and scooter trips for late-shift workers. Uber is also investing $5,000 to

“This is a billion dollar industry. If it were a billion dollar industry in any other sector, we would be throwing resources out there,” Mayor

pilot a similar program for nightlife employees, and plan to expand the program in collaboration with the city.

Smiley also spoke about supporting public installations such as the Lumina Festival, increasing light and safety infrastructures downtown and providing additional aid to nighttime businesses.

Smiley, who has attempted to address noise violations throughout his time as mayor, stressed the importance of reconciling “the conflict between residential neighborhoods and thriving nightlife businesses,” ensuring nighttime businesses comply with the city’s noise ordinances while hosting their events.

Shiloh Cabot-Miller and Atlas Kidbhai founded Planeta, a “gathering” for queer residents and people of color in Providence. Kidbhai said they hoped the city

said.

would adjust its noise ordinances.

“I’m from Guatemala,” Kidbhai said. “We’re always blasting music on the streets, and that’s how we create community.”

Anthony Santurri is the owner of the Free Play Bar and Arcade and the Colosseum Nightclub. He also founded the Providence Responsible Nightclub Organization.“I have to be a good neighbor,” he said. Otherwise, he said, dealing with noise ordinances was “an unwinnable fight.”

Smiley also spoke about the need to dispel the “stigma” around life at night in Providence. “It’s a sector that has faced some challenges,” he said.

The mayor discussed several events that occurred recently, including an incident outside of the club led to seven arrests and a 72-hour closure of the club

by the Providence Board of Licenses.

The mayor also mentioned similar incidents that occurred last fall. Mezzo Lounge, for example, temporarily closed after reports of gunshots in a nearby parking lot. Saje Kitchen, a restaurant in Federal Hill, also faced a temporary closure after its owner was arrested for intervening in a stabbing in a way that a member of the Board of Licenses deemed “atypical.”

Still, Smiley remained optimistic about the city’s nighttime sector, which he called Providence’s “other nine to five.”

“This is a billion dollar industry. If it were a billion dollar industry in any other sector, we would be throwing resources out there,” Smiley said.

Santurri said Smiley’s support for Providence life at night was “refreshing.”

He also echoed the Mayor’s assurance that Providence was a safe place to go out. “The perception of nightlife in Providence is a bigger deterrent to our success than the actual reality,” he said. Santurri collaborates with the University each spring to hold Senior Week. “They wouldn’t be coming to our place if it was unsafe,” he said.

Jenn Harris is the deputy director of the Avenue Concept, an organization that supports public art in Providence, such as the downtown murals and the winter festival “Three Nights of Lights.” Harris collaborates with the city to “use public art… to bring energy into businesses.”

She said that the mayor has been very supportive of the Avenue Concept’s work.

In response to the Life at Night report, the city is also developing new lighting and design plans for “key downtown areas.”

Harris said that it is important for people in Providence to feel safe moving around the city at night to engage with its offerings. “If you’re walking through the city and you hit a dark street, it becomes a barrier to (wanting) to go explore and move throughout the city,” she said.

Cabot-Miller also said the permitting process for their events, fundraisers and parties was “very expensive.” Planeta offers sliding-scale admission to its events where attendees pay what they can. The group is “always looking for ways to create our spaces, but… at a limited cost.”

The Life at Night report included recommendations for streamlining event space permitting, but did not suggest offering reduced-price permits to organizations like Planeta, as Cabot-Miller and Kidbhai had hoped.

Smiley also mentioned that he and Joe Wilson Jr., the director of the department of Art, Culture and Tourism, found “(their) people” through Providence’s nighttime community, especially in gay clubs. “Whether it’s the LGBT community, the Latino community or the hip hop community, there’s a place for everyone in our great city,” he said. “There’s a space where they can find their people and … celebrate and embrace who they are.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 28, 2025.

SOPHIA LENG / HERALD

Brett Smiley

COURTESy OF RHODE ISLAND LATINO ARTS

Art will be installed at Fefa’s Market, Broad Street Synagogue and Grace Church Cemetery.

COURTESy OF RHODE ISLAND LATINO

The Grace Church Cemetery

COURTESy OF RHODE ISLAND LATINO ARTS

The Broad Street Synagogue

HEALTHCARE

Prospect Medical bankruptcy may threaten the future of two RI hospitals

The filing jeopardizes Prospect’s attempt to sell its two local hospitals

BY ZACH ROBEL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

California-based healthcare company Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, raising uncertainty about the future of its two Rhode Island hospitals.

According to a court filing reviewed by The Herald, Prospect attributed their financial struggles to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in inflation and an August 2023 ransomware attack that compromised sensitive data.

Prospect is the parent company of CharterCARE Health Partners, a care network that operates the Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence. The healthcare company has been attempting to sell both its hospitals since 2021.

In a press release, Prospect Co-Chief Executive Officer Von Crockett described the recent filing as “an important step forward in our longstanding commitment to best serve the interests of our patients, physicians, employees and communities.”

Last June, Prospect formed a tentative agreement to sell the two hospitals to the Centurion Foundation — a Georgia-based non-profit — according to a press release from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Centurion had planned to “return CharterCARE to not-for-profit status and retain local management, with oversight

from a new board with a majority of local representation,” wrote Otis Brown, a spokesperson for CharterCARE and Centurion, in an email to The Herald.

But these plans may come to a halt amid Prospect’s bankruptcy filing. A decision from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas — the district in which Prospect filed for the bankruptcy — may choose to approve the sale of the hospitals to Centurion or designate the hospitals as assets to be returned to creditors.

A Jan. 22 open letter by the Hospital Association of Rhode Island and other regional healthcare leaders urged the judge presiding over the case to “look favorably and act expeditiously on the petition to approve the private sale of CharterCARE Health Partners to The Centurion Foundation.”

The hospitals managed by CharterCARE provide vital care to patients across the state. The facilities “operate two busy emergency departments, are one of the largest behavioral health providers and offer an array of essential services from cancer care to digestive diseases, serving a disproportionate share of underserved and underinsured patients,” the letter continued.

“Rhode Island’s healthcare system has faced years of chronic underinvestment, low reimbursement rates and significant workforce shortages,” HARI Senior Vice President Lisa Tomasso wrote in an email to The Herald.

If the sale falls through, “the state’s hospitals and healthcare infrastructure are simply not equipped to absorb the patient volume, services and workforce from these

KAITLyN STANTON / HERALD

Last June, Prospect formed a tentative agreement to sell CharterCARE Health Partners to Georgia-based non-profit The Centurion Foundation. But these plans may come to a halt amid Prospect’s bankruptcy filing.

hospitals,” Tomasso added.

But operational issues existed before the bankruptcy filing: In 2023, RIDOH issued a compliance order following an extensive review detailing a pattern of underfunding at the two hospitals. In the same investigation, they found that 19 surgeries at CharterCARE facilities were delayed that October due to an insufficient supply of proper medical equipment.

“Prospect has been a bad actor from day one,” said Brad Dufault, a spokesperson for the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, a union representing employees at both of Prospect’s Rhode Island hospitals.

Brad Dufault, a spokesperson for the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, claimed that Prospect Medical has a history of mismanaging and underfunding the CharterCARE hospitals. UNAP is a regional union representing employees at both of Prospect’s Rhode Island hospitals.

“They’ve cut supplies and medical equipment and our members have had to do more with less for years,” Dufault wrote in an email to The Herald.

Prospect did not provide additional comment regarding the claims of underfunding, mismanagement and decreases in medical supplies.

Dufault also noted that two surgeries at Fatima Hospital were cancelled within the week of the bankruptcy filing.

“Though we recently rescheduled a few surgeries, that was due to an administrative issue and had no impact on patient care,” wrote Jeffrey Liebman, chief executive officer of CharterCARE Health, in an email to The Herald.

Otis Brown claimed that “there have been no other rescheduled surgeries at either hospital,” in a statement shared with The Herald.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Bud-

get Committee, chaired by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), released a bipartisan staff report detailing the “questionable” leadership of hospitals managed by private equity firms. Between 2010 to 2021, Prospect was majority-owned by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners.

The report found that meetings between executives at Prospect and LGP “centered around profits, cost cutting, acquisitions, managing labor expense and increasing patient volume — with little to no discussion of patient outcomes or quality of care.” Consequently, this led to “labor cuts, decreased patient capacity, inadequate and unsafe building maintenance and financial distress,” the report reads.

Amid the underfunding issues, LGP offered stock incentives to employees at Prospect who were able to reach earning goals, according to the report. Dividends and preferred stock worth $424 million were paid out to Leonard Green shareholders over this period.

“It’s fiscally and morally wrong, and something our union has been sounding the alarm on for years,” Dufault said.

Prospect and Leonard Green did not respond to these claims.

Prospect is currently operating 16 hospitals with $3.4 million in cash, Prospect Chief Restructuring Officer Paul Rundell wrote in a Jan. 13 testimony.

The court authorized Prospect to secure an $100 million loan with $29 million available immediately, according to a Jan. 15 Prospect press release.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 30, 2025.

RIDOT releases final bidding window for the Washington Bridge

The department hopes to award final contract by early June

BY SANAI RASHID METRO EDITOR

Last week, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation posted the final request for proposal for the I-95 Washington Bridge Replacement Project.

The RFP, a document created to solicit proposals from potential contractors, details the technical changes developers need to address when rebuilding the westbound side of the Washington Bridge. The state hopes to award the final contract by June 6, and will reveal the timeline and cost for the bridge after this date, according to a RIDOT press release.

The two developers competing for the state’s contract are a joint venture between American Bridge Co. and MLJ Contracting Corporation, and Walsh Construction Company. Both were selected as finalists last month.

RIDOT initially shut down the westbound side of the bridge in December 2023 due to structural and safety concerns flagged by engineers working on the bridge. Three months later, the department announced the westbound side would need to be demolished and entirely rebuilt, The Herald previously reported.

While the eastbound side of the bridge is still in operation, residents are feeling the impact of the bridge’s partial

closure, largely due to increased commute times and heavy traffic congestion.

In July, RIDOT received no bids to replace the westbound side of the bridge, as some developers questioned the practicality of completing construction by the department’s initial August 2026 deadline. RIDOT released a new request for qualifications in mid-October.

The two finalists met with RIDOT before the state issued an initial RFP on Dec. 18. The department then gave the two finalists until Jan. 3 to provide feedback on what they wanted to see in the final bidding document.

With the final RFP, both companies

will have the opportunity to have three confidential meetings with RIDOT about their construction plans before they release the award in June.

The final RFP “includes changes that were mostly incidences of clarified language and better articulation” of the contractor’s reconstruction job tasks, according to the RIDOT press release.

The contractors will follow the RFP’s guidelines “when crafting their responses over the next few months” Charles St. Martin III, RIDOT’s chief of public affairs, wrote in an email to The Herald.

The RFP lists major details that the winning contractor will have to imple-

CHLOE JOHNSON / HERALD

ment when reconstructing the bridge, including safety and construction concerns.

The contractor will need to completely replace the substructure and superstructure of the westbound side of the bridge, with no reuse of the existing foundation elements, according to the document. Additionally, the company must rebuild one on-ramp bridge that leads onto westbound I-195, and one off-ramp bridge that leads into East Providence.

The proposal also emphasizes the safety and environmental concerns the contractor must factor into their construction efforts. The contractors need to upgrade the existing guardrails and bar-

riers of the bridge as well as update any signage, lights or traffic infrastructure that might be impacted in the process. New drainage structures will also need to be built for the bridge to properly manage any waste disposal.

RIDOT also mandates that the winning contractor collaborate with the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority to prevent the construction process from interfering with bus routes in the area.

Cristy Raposo Perry, the director of communications and public outreach of RIPTA, emphasized the organization’s commitment to “working collaboratively” with RIDOT to ensure “public transit is considered as part of the design and construction phases of the bridge project.”

Perry mentioned RIPTA’s recent rerouting of Routes 35 and 78 that aim to direct traffic away from the bridge and toward the East Side Tunnel. RIPTA will continue their goal “to better serve riders during and after construction,” adjusting service when necessary.

“We look forward to working closely with RIDOT and the selected vendor to maintain reliable service for our riders during construction,” said RIPTA Chief Executive Officer Christopher Durand in an email statement sent to The Herald. So far, the state has received $220.98 million in federal funding to replace the bridge, but the Trump administration’s recent federal funding freeze raises uncertainty about the state’s future access to this funding.

ICE HOCKEY

‘It takes all of us’: Women’s hockey extends undefeated streak to five

The Bears notched backto-back draws against Princeton, Quinnipiac

BY DENNIS CAREY SPORTS EDITOR

This weekend, women’s ice hockey (11-9-3, 6-7-3 ECAC) notched back-to-back draws against No. 13 Princeton and No. 10 Quinnipiac on the road. These two impressive results stretched Bruno’s undefeated streak to five games — facing top-25 opposition in the last four.

While there were a number of standout performances this weekend, no athlete shone as brightly as goalkeeper Rory Edwards ’27. The sophomore was a stalwart between the sticks, amassing a titanic 80 saves across both games.

Edwards noted that, though the goalkeeper “is always in the spotlight,” the rest of the team is equally instrumental in a strong defense.

“When I do my job well, there is always a lot of noise, but it is the shots that never get on net and the big plays to clear the zone that prevent just as many goals as I do,” Edwards wrote in an email to The Herald. Edwards was selected as the ECAC goalkeeper of the week for her performances.

For the first time under Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi, the Bears have gone undefeated in four consecutive games against ranked opponents. After a rough start, Bruno hopes to turn a corner heading into the

TRACK & FIELD

home stretch of the season.

“Coach Mel is always telling us to go out there and enjoy it and that’s when we are playing our best,” Edwards wrote. “Coming to the bench during a media timeout and seeing smiles and getting bumps (from) the team, that’s what it’s all about. That’s what is going to fuel us the rest of the season.”

Bruno started the weekend off in a tough position. After only three minutes of play, the Bears were down 1-0 in Princeton’s backyard. Bruno’s win streak looked to be in deep jeopardy.

Despite the shaky start, Bruno was not going to let this game slip through their fingers. They fired 14 shots on Princeton’s net in the first period— their highest total of any period that night — compared to the Tigers’ eight. Though none of those shots found their way to the back of the net, the Bears went

into the break with renewed momentum.

Though the Tigers matched Bruno with 10 shots taken on either side in the second period, the scoreboard told a different story. Both teams came out trading blows, but it was Bruno who found the breakthrough. Ava DeCoste ’27 scored her 10th goal of the season only five minutes into the second period, drawing the Bears level.

In the 14th minute of the period, disaster struck. Ella Muralt ’28 was called for a hooking penalty, and Bruno was stuck at a one-woman disadvantage. But in a moment of need, Margot Norehad ’27 arrived. Stealing the puck, Norehad found herself through on goal with the whole Princeton team behind her. Beating the goalkeeper and clinically slotting the puck into the net, Norehad put her team up 2-1 with four minutes left in the period.

Entering the third period, facing a frustrated and desperate Princeton team, there was only one woman to clinch the job: Rory Edwards. Edwards was a brick wall in front of the net, saving 14 shots to hold Bruno’s thin lead.

But she could only do so much. After 14 minutes of Brown brilliantly soaking up Princeton’s pressure, the Tigers found the back of the net and forced overtime.

Despite going on the power play early in extra time, the Bears were unable to score. The game ended in a tie, and the teams split the points, sending the game to a penalty shootout. Pride was still on the line.

Edwards and Princeton’s Jennifer Olnowich went toe-to-toe in a goalkeeping battle for the ages. Both managed to save all five penalties they faced and forced it to a sudden death shootout. Muralt snuck one between the legs of Olnowich and put the Bears up. Edwards followed up with a clutch save, and Bruno took home the bragging rights.

“It takes all of us, from our goal scorers to our shot blockers and even our staff; everybody on this team played a role in our success,” Edwards wrote. “We are really a six person unit out there doing whatever it takes to get points.”

In the wake of such an exhilarating battle against Princeton, the 0-0 scoreline against Quinnipiac may paint a boring picture. But this game saw Edwards give her most inspired performance. Notching 45 stops against the Bobcats — including 34 in the second and third periods alone — she was crucial in helping Bruno earn the point.

Bruno shines in field events at Penn 10 Elite

first and second years at Brown, she could not “even imagine this happening,” she added.

BY LYDELL DYER SPORTS EDITOR

With the sun cascading through skylights above, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Penn 10 Elite at the Ott Center in Philadelphia this Saturday. Earning three medals on the women’s side and one on the men’s, Brown showed out in the field events.

In their sixth meet of the season, Bruno saw strong individual performances in the triple jump, women’s weight throw and women’s long jump.

“The meet was a great opportunity for us to gauge where we are as a team coming out of the break,” Head Coach Ken Hunt wrote in a message to The Herald. “Our goals today were to compete with intensity, execute well and support each other, and I believe we achieved those.”

Battling for podium positions alongside the Bears were four other Ivy League teams: Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton. UConn, Howard, Penn State, Villanova and Virginia traveled from other East Coast states to compete in the meet as well.

In the women’s weight throw — the first event of the day — Chidinma Agbasi ’25 excelled. With a massive 18.85 meter throw, she vaulted herself to the top of the podium.

“It made me very happy to hear my name announced” as first place, Agbasi wrote in a message to The Herald. In her

Despite winning the gold — Brown’s only first-place finish of the day — Agbasi did not set a personal record, which was one of her goals for the meet.

But beating her current personal best of 19.54 meters, set last season, would not have come easy. In fact, a throw of this distance at last year’s Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships would’ve secured her the gold.

As it stands, Agbasi’s 18.85-meter throw on Saturday was still enough to best the reigning champ, Harvard’s Emilia Kolokotroni.

Beating Kolokotroni on Saturday “gave me hope for our Ivy League championship in the future,” Agbasi wrote. “Hopefully by the end of the season, it will all come together. I really want to win (Heps) and be able to stand on the podium with my teammates.”

Agbasi wasn’t the only Bear on top of their game at the Penn 10 Elite. Jada Joseph ’25 — one of the Bears’ most successful track athletes last season — finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump.

Last year, her 12.53-meter effort in the triple jump at the NCAA National Championships earned her Honorable Mention All-America honors, and within the Ivy League, she was named an Academic All-Ivy honoree.

Entering Saturday’s competition, “I wanted to make sure I was intentional with everything I did,” Joseph wrote in a message to The Herald. “As a senior, every meet is a key opportunity to exemplify

Bruno only managed 24 shots to the Bobcats’ 45. The Bears were forced to kill off two power plays. Though it may not have been a vintage Bruno performance, their disciplined and intelligent defending was key to getting them to the point.

In the third period, it looked like Bruno had stolen the game. Cameron Sikich ’25 fired a long range effort which came off the post and was initially ruled a goal. But after a careful review, the goal was scratched off.

The score remained even down the stretch, and Bruno held on to preserve their fifth unbeaten match in a row. Because Bruno took down Quinnipiac 2-1 on Oct. 25, this is the first time since 2009 that they have defeated the Bobcats in the season series.

As they near the end of the season, Bruno must carry their momentum forward into the upcoming matches.

“There are no nights off in the ECAC. We are a team that has stolen some points and we know that anybody can beat anybody in our league,” Edwards wrote. “This upcoming weekend is critical as (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and Union are both very close to us in the standings. We are all excited to be playing back at Meehan and are carrying a lot of momentum from these past two weekends.”

See the Bears compete this weekend at Meehan or stream the two games on ESPN+.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

my hard work.”

And exemplify her hard work, she did. Her 6.12-meter leap in the long jump not only secured her a new personal record, but it also temporarily vaulted her into the 40th overall spot in 2025 NCAA Division I College Indoor Top 100 Rankings for the event. In the triple jump, Joseph bounded 12 meters even, landing her the bronze.

Despite her individual prowess, Joseph emphasized the importance of team spirit as a whole.

“Having teammates who push you to be your best self is essential to the team’s success, as well as our accolades as individual track athletes,” she wrote. Alongside Joseph, Delaney Seligmann

’25 set a new personal record of 5.99 meters in the long jump, finishing in fourth place. Rounding out the field events for the women, Nene Mokonchu ’26 claimed the fourth overall spot in the high jump with a 1.66-meter effort.

“This group of athletes is truly special,” Head Coach Ken Hunt wrote. “Each season brings a new blend of talent, personality and determination, and this year is no different. What stands out most is the team’s cohesiveness and drive to push each other to new heights.”

On the men’s side, Joseph Oduro ’26 led the charge. Putting up an incredible 14.99-meter leap in the triple jump, Oduro clinched a bronze medal. Barely missing the podium, Trevor Wilder ’28 set a new

personal record in the 200-meter race with a 21.49-second finish. He now ranks third in school history.

“I’m proud of the way our team competed and the resilience they showed,” Hunt wrote. “That said, we’re always looking for ways to improve, whether it’s refining technique, sharpening race strategies or simply staying consistent in our execution. The team is eager to put in the work to get better every day.”

The Bears will compete at the Harvard Invitational this weekend in Cambridge, Massachusetts.+.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

COURTESy OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Rory Edwards '27 was a brick wall in front of the goal, saving 14 shots to hold Bruno’s thin lead.

The Bears won four medals in weight throw, long jump and triple jump

COURTESy OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Jada Joseph ’25 (pictured above at a December 2024 invitational) finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump.

SPORTS

IVY LEAGUE

How student-athletes helped overturn an almost 80-year-old Ivy League rule

The proposal allows Ivy League football teams to play in the postseason

BY MAYA DAVIS STAFF WRITER

Historically, the Ivy League has operated differently from other Division I athletics conferences.

These differences range from not offering athletic scholarships to prohibiting graduate students from playing, to barring standard redshirting — a process through which athletes sit out a season in order to extend their college athletic career by an extra year.

Until last month, postseason play was also banned for Ivy League football players, preventing them from competing in NCAA playoffs. In December 2024, the Ivy League’s Council of Presidents passed a student-organized proposal to overturn the almost 80-year-old postseason ban. The decision allows Ivy League teams to enter the NCAA D1 Football Championship Subdivision, beginning in the 2025 season.

The proposal came from the conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, composed of student-athlete representatives from each of the eight Ivy League schools. Ivy League D1 SAAC Representative Leah Carey ’25, a softball player at Brown, spearheaded the proposal in 2023.

This was the first time that a student-led committee’s proposals led to a rule change, according to Carey.

“What makes this a story, beyond the headline, (is) how it started,” said Mason Shipp, a yale football player and SAAC member who led the proposal alongside Carey and Cornell lacrosse player Chloe

BASKETBALL

This is the first time that a student-led committee’s proposals led to a rule change, according to Leah Carey ’25.

“Change happens every single day,” Shipp said. “But change like this doesn’t happen often.”

What it takes to change a rule

Momentum for the ban’s reversal has “been brewing from a student perspective for a while now,” said former kicker Austin Alley ’24.5, who served on the Ivy League Football Committee that advised SAAC’s proposal. Alley previously served as one of Brown’s SAAC representatives.

Reversing a league role requires proposals to win votes in each of the three upper divisions of the league’s governing body, according to former Ivy League D1 SAAC Chair Morgan Chall, who served in the position from 2019 to 2020, and as a student representative from 2017 to 2020.

These upper divisions were established at the same time as the ban, almost 80 years ago. They include committees of the eight university presidents, senior non-athletic administrators from each school and a committee of all eight Ivy

athletic directors.

While the proposal passed unanimously through SAAC and near-unanimously through the committee of Ivy League athletic directors, it stalled in the Policy Committee, where non-athletic administrators cited academic and injury prevention concerns, according to Alley.

Competing in the FCS tournament could extend football’s season — which typically ends in November — through early January, increasing conflicts with class attendance and overlapping with final exams, Shipp said. More games also increase the chance of player injury, he added. Convincing academic administrators and presidents that extended play would not compromise the league’s commitment to academics and player safety was crucial to the SAAC’s argument, Carey and Shipp said.

Brown football alum and Head Coach James Perry ’00 said the team is excited to deal with the challenges of a longer season “because the trade-off is definitely worth it.”

Perry was a member of the 1999 Ivy League championship-winning team at Brown, which would have advanced to the FCS playoffs had the ban been lifted. He added that playing in the postseason was also a goal the team pushed for back when he was a player.

Student-athletes call for change

The drive from student-athletes is what made this effort different from previous ones, according to both Carey and Shipp.

The proposal focused on remedying equity concerns by extending football teams the same postseason opportunities as other sports, he said. The student-athletes also argued that lifting the ban could improve the Ivy League’s recruiting and competitiveness, he added.

“It has a very, very real effect in our recruiting efforts,” said Perry. “It’s a sense of fairness and support the kids can tap into.”

Carey said that she believes SAAC’s success will inspire future efforts to improve programs for student-athletes in the Ivy League.

In recent years, the NCAA has introduced name, image and likeness rights, seen signature conferences reshuffled and revised longstanding transfer portal rules.

Just this month, women’s wrestling was added as a championship sport and equal pay structures were approved for women’s basketball teams in March Madness.

According to Harris, the Ivy League is “extremely well-situated” as the NCAA undergoes rapid transformation.

“There have been incredible changes over the past six years that we have weathered, and been successful, so we expect that to continue,” she added.

Chall added that the December decision is demonstrative of the power that

Ivy League student-athletes have to make change.

“There’s definitely inherent pushback,” she said. “Traditional values of the Ivy League are what make the conference so special. … It has hindered, in some ways, competitiveness as other conferences advance.”

But it’s also part of what makes the conference unique, she added.

What’s next for SAAC

SAAC members are still deliberating multiple changes for the future of the league, according to the executive board.

SAAC plans to pursue more student visibility in the league’s leadership, like short presentations from a SAAC member at athletic director meetings and more frequent conversations with every level of Ivy League governance, according to Carey and Shipp.

Administrators are “making a lot of decisions on our behalf — and doing great work for us — but they don’t necessarily always hear from us,” Shipp said.

Harris said the office is already discussing ways to improve engagement between SAAC members and athletic directors, contingent on athletes’ class schedules.

Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun ’92 P’26 did not respond to requests for comment.

“I hope student-athletes are able to continue this push,” said Carey, a graduating senior.

“We may not have a formal vote” in the process, “but we can really have our voice be heard,” she added.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

Women’s basketball launches comeback victory against Dartmouth

the free throw line, where Bruno attempted 31 free throws — more than double Dartmouth’s 15 — proving their willingness to draw contact.

BY GUS BAILEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Saturday, the women’s basketball team (9-9, 3-2 Ivy) took down Dartmouth (8-10, 2-3 Ivy) 64-56 in Hanover, New Hampshire. Mounting a second-half surge, Bruno scored 28 points in the fourth quarter.

The comeback win was sweet revenge for Brown after the Big Green defeated them 64-48 in their Ivy League home opener on Jan. 4. Alyssa Moreland ’26 excelled in the victory, scoring 21 points and snatching 16 rebounds, both career highs.

Moreland attributed her standout performance to the team’s energy. “I felt good going into the game and super confident in the team,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “Everyone brought a ton of energy, making the game easy and encouraging me to keep going.”

Her dominant performance on the glass came from a deliberate shift in Brown’s strategy emphasizing physicality beneath the rim.

In their first matchup against Dartmouth, the Bears struggled shooting from beyond the arc, connecting on just five of 29 attempts. But on Saturday, Brown recalibrated its attack and dominated the inside. Only 15 of their 44 shots came from three as they outscored the Big Green 26-12 in the paint. Their aggressive plan paid dividends at

Brown’s victory was far from obvious early on. The Bears scored just five points in the first quarter as Dartmouth built an eight-point lead. But as the game continued, Bruno displayed its grit on the defensive end and held their opponent to single-digits in the second quarter. By halftime, the gap had narrowed to two points.

“We tried to keep the emphasis on getting stops defensively, and letting that fuel our offense,” Head Coach Monique LeBlanc wrote in a message to The Herald. “When we did make a big play on offense, the focus was to back it up with our defense.”

Dartmouth clung to a slim one-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter — but it would be their last lead of the game. Early in the fourth, Moreland secured an offensive rebound, scoring a putback layup while drawing a foul on Dartmouth. Following her successful free throw, the Bears claimed a two-point lead.

“Alyssa played with great energy,” LeBlanc wrote. “She is a big spark for our team — when she plays with that edge, our team really responds to it.”

After Dartmouth evened the score at 45 with just 5:31 to play, Gia Powell ’28 drained a three-pointer to put Bruno back on top for good. Brown went a perfect eight-foreight from the free throw line in the final 90 seconds to close out the game.

“Every game is so big in Ivy play,” LeBlanc wrote. “Our team really wanted this

win — they were very focused and played with great intensity.”

Alongside Moreland’s stellar performance, Grace Arnolie ’26 filled up the stat sheet, scoring 18 points in addition to six assists and six rebounds. Much like the team as a whole, Arnolie turned it on after halftime, scoring 15 of her 18 points while making all seven of her free throws.

Arnolie credited LeBlanc for pushing her to shift her mindset in the second half.

“At halftime, Coach Mo called me out and said that the team needed more from me,” she explained. “I used that as motivation to come out really aggressively and assert myself in the second half.”

Brown’s defense was especially impressive on Saturday, as they held Dartmouth’s Victoria Page, who scored a game-high 14 points in the team’s first Ivy League matchup, to 2-for-16 shooting.

“We came into the game really focused on our defense and getting stops,” Moreland wrote. “We knew that if we could lock into the defensive end and shut down their best player that our offense would take care of itself.”

After starting 2-5, the Bears have won seven of their last 11 games and currently sit in fourth place in the Ivy League standings.

With Ivy Madness coming to Providence this year, the team is as focused as ever on

securing a spot in the playoffs.

“The team is hungry for a spot in Ivy Madness, and we are working really hard each and every game to show that we deserve to be there,” Arnolie wrote. “Every practice is loud and competitive, and we all want to push each other to get better. It’s an awesome feeling that every player is willing to do anything for this team.”

The Bears open a three-game homestand on Friday, when they will host sixth-place Penn (10-8, 1-4 Ivy).

Maister.

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

A 21-point effort from Alyssa Moreland ’26 led the Bears to a win

COURTESy OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Alyssa Moreland '26 scored 21 points in victory against Dartmouth.

FINANCIAL AID

How the FAFSA could become a new tool for immigration enforcement

Students from mixed-status families faced with potential deportation

BY TEDDY FISHER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As prospective and current Brown students approach the Feb. 1 financial aid application deadline, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid could pose potential risks for students with parents who are lacking permanent legal status.

While President Trump has begun carrying out his campaign promise this week to increase immigration enforcement, students with undocumented parents are still figuring out how his decisions will affect their families’ status and their ability to afford college.

Undocumented students, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, are not eligible to apply for federal aid, but students with undocumented parents can apply. These students in “mixed-status” families are still required to disclose certain information that could hint at a parent’s undocumented status.

For parents, “there’s a box you check that says ‘I don’t have a social security number,’” said Jill Desjean, a senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

The Biden administration’s policy was “not to share FAFSA data” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but whether Trump chooses to continue this policy remains to be seen, Desjean said. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, Desjean said another agency could require the Department of Education to share information for immigration enforcement.

The Department of Education and the White House did not respond to The Herald’s requests for comment.

“We’re telling families it’s a personal decision” whether to fill out the FAFSA, Desjean said.

In an email to The Herald, Dean of Financial Aid Sean Ferns wrote that his office has “recently heard from some mixed-status families who have concerns with completing the FAFSA,” but that “it is important to note that the FAFSA is required to determine eligibility and to process federal aid.”

If students don’t fill out the FAFSA, they cannot receive federal aid but can potentially receive aid directly from Brown, he added.

If a student has filled out a FAFSA in years past, “your data is already at the Department of Education,” Desjean said. Regardless of whether a student resubmits the FAFSA this year, the information they previously provided is already on file.

Three students who are members of Dream Team, Brown’s “undocumented+” organization, spoke with The Herald about the issues that FAFSA applications raise for students in mixed-status families. Two of the three students elected to remain anonymous to protect the immigration status of their undocumented or non-citizen family members.

The first student, a U.S. citizen whose parents are undocumented, said Brown was their “dream school” when they were growing up.

Students filling out the FAFSA for the first time may be scared of exposing their parents, the student said — leading to fewer opportunities for federal aid.

They added that the process of completing the FAFSA can also be extremely difficult for applicants from mixed-status families. Noting that many mixed-status families may not have had access to college educations, they said there is a lack of knowledge about the financial aid process among undocumented parents.

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The student’s mother did not have an email address before they filled out their FAFSA, so they were required to create one for the FAFSA application. To answer many of their questions about completing the FAFSA, the student consulted youTube channels and TikTok accounts.

Students mentioned difficulties such as long FAFSA wait times, insufficient knowledge about

process from parents and a lack of cooperation from Brown’s

Amid changing policies and regulations, the student described a general sense of uncertainty among Brown’s undocumented and mixed-status community. Some students have discussed claiming dual citizenship in their parents’ home countries just in case their parents get deported, the student said.

“If my parents get deported, I’m talking with my brother, like, ‘what can we do?’” the student added.

Paola Chapilliquen ’27, a member of the Dream Team who was born and raised in South Florida, said she has no immediate family members who are undocumented. But she said there is a mood of “fear, uncertainty around what is to come” within the undocumented community.

Nick Lee ’26, the co-president of activist organization Students for Educational Equity, called Trump’s new policies regarding deportations “a movement away from equitable practices within the federal government.”

Ferns also expressed concerns that increased deportations could affect the support systems mixed-status students have, which could “result in a reluctance to apply to Brown or any other institution.”

Another member of the Dream Team was the first in their family to be born in the United States and has two older sib-

lings who were born in Mexico. Both are currently protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump rescinded DACA in his first term. Due to recent litigation, new DACA requests will not be considered, but renewals will continue to be processed.

The source’s mother, who now has a green card, overstayed her visa and remained in the United States. Their father was deported to Mexico in 2016.

The student said that as a child, they would frequently travel back and forth over the United States-Mexico border. “After the cartel violence got bad, we moved to the U.S.,” she said.

The student filled out the FAFSA and the CSS Profile, another financial aid application that Brown accepts, but faced difficulties due to their father’s unwillingness to provide certain financial documents required in the applications.

They were required to fill out a noncustodial form to confirm the absence of their father and his inability to fund their education. Brown eventually rejected the form, which meant the student had to track down their father’s tax documents. The University required them to translate those documents from Spanish to English, the student said.

Ferns did not respond to an inquiry

about why a noncustodial form would be rejected or if students are required to translate financial documents.

Brown included their father’s estimated contribution in their annual bill, which he has never paid, the student said. They now work four on-campus jobs to shoulder the bill.

“Do I want to be working four jobs? Like, no. But I have to,” they said. The student praised Brown’s Undocumented, First-Generation and Low-Income Students Center for helping them, saying they did a “much better” job than the financial aid office to help them receive the resources they needed to attend college.

Chapilliquen also expressed gratitude for the U-Fli Center, noting “the fact that we have the ‘U’ in front of it” — which stands for “undocumented” — tells mixed-status students “you’re welcome here.”

Julio Reyes, the director of the U-FLi Center, declined to comment.

Ferns recommended that students with concerns about their financial aid and documentation contact the Office of Financial Aid and “make an appointment with a financial aid counselor who can speak to them about their options.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

Brown leadership reaffirms U. commitment to research, academic freedom

BY CLAIRE SONG UNIVERSITY NEWS AND SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Following a sweeping White House directive pausing nearly all federal aid, including research grants provided to Brown, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle reaffirmed the University’s commitment to free inquiry and research on Tuesday. They also announced a working group, led by Doyle, tasked with assessing “the orders coming out of Washington, D.C.” They stated Brown will remain steadfast in fulfilling “our purpose of teaching and conducting research” and vowed to “communicate the implications of the orders for affected communities and operations at Brown” in a letter to the University community.

U. prepared to exercise “legal right” to challenge executive orders DANA RICHIE / HERALD

inclusion initiatives. A federal judge has since temporarily blocked the freeze until Monday. It is unclear how this ruling impacts the University’s communication.

“We always follow the law,” Paxson and Doyle wrote. “But we are also prepared to exercise our legal right to advocate against laws, regulations or other actions that compromise Brown's mission.”

Paxson and Doyle advised researchers to heed forthcoming guidance from the Division of Research, slated to be distributed “later today with instructions for principal investigators for research who are receiving notices from the federal government related to their grants.”

As the landscape of federal funding remains uncertain, the letter said “we are communicating directly with affected communities as information becomes available.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

and students

The two senior Brown administrators affirmed Brown’s core mission of “advancing knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry,” adding the University believes

— from a number of government agencies. Trump has also signed executive orders rolling back diversity,

MAyA WADHWANI / HERALD

the college application

financial aid office.

DIVERSITY

Trump’s DEI executive order leaves Brown administrators uncertain

U. says administrators are prepared to exercise legal rights

BY CATE LATIMER AND SOPHIA WOTMAN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS

Last Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, sparking concerns about the future of DEI initiatives at institutions of higher education.

The implementation and impacts of this executive order at Brown and other universities remain to be seen.

MAX ROBINSON / HERALD

The Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity is meeting regularly to assess policy changes associated with the order.

executive agency to include a term in any grant award that its recipient “does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”

“We always follow the law,” Paxson and Doyle said in the statement. “But we are also prepared to exercise our legal right to advocate against laws, regulations or other actions that compromise Brown’s mission.”

education law research.

He said that “differently situated colleges and universities” will respond with varying degrees of change to existing policies.

“The University remains committed to cultivating a community that fosters diversity of thought, experiences and perspectives as essential to excellence in teaching and research and complying with the law,” Poitevien wrote.

DISTRICT COURT

Following a recent flood of orders from the White House, President Christina Paxson P’19

“Understanding their ultimate impact on Brown is an ongoing process which requires input from several members of leadership,” Interim Vice President for University Equity and Diversity Patricia Poitevien wrote in an email to The Herald. Poitevien added that the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity is “meeting regularly to assess policy changes.”

P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle released a statement addressing various impacts on the University, including DEI. Trump has not signed an executive order specifically directed at DEI in higher education but has cut Bidenera White House programs that aimed to further educational equity for minority students.

The order also instructs the head of each

Several universities have been altering their programming or policies in response to the order. Last week, Rutgers University canceled a DEI conference following Trump’s executive orders.

“It is difficult to make a prediction here, in part because higher education is a pretty diverse sector,” said Jonathan Glater, a law professor at University of California at Berkeley School of Law with experience in higher

Doyle is also leading a working group assessing the orders. The team includes members of the Brown community in Government Relations, the Division of Research, Office of General Counsel and Finance and Administration, according to the statement.

“The University should know much more in the coming weeks and months as federal guidance related to the orders becomes available,” Paxson and Doyle’s statement read.

RI judge signals openness to blocking Trump federal funding freeze

Decision follows White House’s rescission of funding freeze memo

BY AVANI GHOSH AND ANIYAH NELSON METRO EDITOR AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

On Wednesday afternoon, Rhode Island Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. ’80 signaled an openness to blocking the implementation of President Trump’s sweeping pause on federal funds.

He asked the attorneys arguing against the freeze to submit proposed language for a potential restraining order, to which Trump’s Department of Justice will have 24 hours to respond.

The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of 22 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday, argued that the directive from the White House “violates the (Administrative Procedure Act) and is unconstitution-

al,” and that withholding funding would “result in immediate and devastating harm to Plaintiff States.”

A federal judge in a separate case temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s implementation of the funding freeze on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the White House rescinded the Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum authorizing the freeze. In a post on X, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt undercut the notion that the freeze had been canceled, writing that “this is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”

She added that the executive orders “on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

The White House budget office initially ordered the freeze on Jan. 27, with Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Matthew Vaeth publishing a memo ordering federal agencies to “temporarily

pause” the distribution of significant federal funds.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Sarah Rice, an attorney in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, argued that the states’ request for the temporary restraining order aims to prevent the government from “pausing, impeding, blocking, cancelling or terminating their compliance with awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance.”

The temporary restraining order targets the OMB memorandum specifically, which initially authorized the freeze. But since the government rescinded the memo, Daniel Schwei, an attorney at the Department of Justice, argued that the order no longer applies and should be considered moot.

Schwei argued that the plaintiffs are asking to “broaden their lawsuit” beyond the memo and “are now effectively seeking relief against all of the Executive Orders that were listed” in the memo.

Rice argued that although the govern-

ment rescinded the memo, “the scope of the policy that was articulated in the memo has not been changed.”

McConnell agreed with Rice and her colleagues, finding that “while the piece of paper may not exist, there’s sufficient evidence that the defendants are acting consistent with that directive.”

“The arguments that (states) have about

needing a temporary restraining order for the various legal rights exist,” he added. The White House did not immediately respond to The Herald’s request for comment.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

RI Attorney General co-leads lawsuit against Trump’s federal funding freeze

Lawsuit came after federal judge temporarily blocked the order

BY AVANI GHOSH AND ETHAN SCHENKER METRO EDITOR AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Moments after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s federal funding freeze, the attorneys general of Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and 21 other states filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the order.

On Jan. 27, the White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal assistance including grants and loans by 5 p.m. Tuesday. In a memorandum sent to government agencies on Monday, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Matthew Vaeth wrote that federal agencies will be required to review all federal financial assistance programs and support “activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements.”

According to the memo, federal agencies will “temporarily pause” the distribution of federal assistance towards “foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal” among others, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and economic policies

COURTESy OF CAROL HIGHSMITH VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The order was temporarily blocked within the hour before it was set to take effect Tuesday afternoon.

aimed to address climate change.

“Political appointees in the executive branch have a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through presidential priorities,” Vaeth added in the memo.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Herald’s request for comment on the memo.

Judge Loren AliKhan, a D.C. federal judge, temporarily blocked the order within the hour before it was set to take effect on Tuesday afternoon, siding with a group of nonprofit organizations, public health officials and small businesses who brought a separate suit earlier Tuesday. The temporary stay will last

through Feb. 3.

It is unclear whether the attorneys general were aware of the block prior to the lawsuit’s filing, or how the block may impact the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

In the suit — filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island — the attorneys general argued that the “OMB Directive violates the (Administrative Procedure Act) and is unconstitutional,” and that withholding funding would “result in immediate and devastating harm to Plaintiff States.”

In a 2 p.m. press conference prior to the official suit, New york Attorney General Letitia

James said that “this policy will disrupt the lives of millions of Americans … nationwide.”

The freeze “would result in financial chaos for everyday programs on which people rely to survive,” Neronha said in the press release obtained by The Herald. “If this funding pause is allowed, its devastating impact will be widespread and dangerous.”

The coalition of attorneys general expressed concerns over the pause’s potential impact on key health services including community health centers, disability services, addiction programs and mental health services.

The memo states that the pause would not impact Medicare and Social Security benefits.

A clarification sent Tuesday states that “any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process,” including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

But several state legislators noted that state Medicaid programs have since lost access to funding portals to withdraw federal assistance. At the press conference, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said that state officials “tried to draw almost $40 million from Medicaid, and haven’t received the payment yet.”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, posted on X Tuesday afternoon writing that “the White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” confirming

that “no payments have been affected.”

The coalition of attorneys general argued that the order would stall funding for “the U.S. Department of Justice’s initiatives to combat hate crimes and violence against women, support community policing and provide services to victims of crimes,” the press release reads.

The coalition also expressed concern over funding for infrastructure projects, including the revitalization of the I-95 Washington Bridge. The project received federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has linked to the Green New Deal.

“Our states are relying on this money to serve our residents and so this action was necessary and it needed to happen quickly,” Neronha said. “Every American, every Rhode Islander, is impacted by this.”

James described President Trump’s directive as “reckless, dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional.”

“When Congress dedicates funding for a program, the president cannot pull that funding on a whim,” she said. “The president does not get to decide which laws to enforce and for whom.”

The White House did not respond to The Herald’s request for comment on the lawsuit.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

COURTESy OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS McConnell requested that the states’ attorneys general draft an order to protect individuals and institutions that rely on federal funding. The Trump administration will then have 24 hours to respond.

Lair ’28: Trump’s executive orders require a collective response in higher education

In a Tuesday email, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle described the current state of higher education as “a moment of tremendous uncertainty.”

The administrators echoed the feelings of many Americans nationwide following the release of the Trump administration’s jarring memo that halted nearly all federal grants and loans. The Monday memo has since been rescinded, but Trump’s reckless executive orders are far from over.

The hasty reversal of this policy reaffirms the chaotic nature of the 47th president’s plans for his second term. Trump has made it clear that he intends to undermine institutions of higher education beyond what is historically permissible, and U.S. universities must be prepared to respond quickly. We need a Brown-led higher education defense coalition that is equipped to fight ongoing attacks against American college campuses.

At the 2021 National Conservatism Conference, Vice President JD Vance delivered a speech entitled “The Universities are the Enemy.” Vance described colleges and universities as “hostile institutions,” and claims that the conservative movement has to “honestly and aggressively attack the universities” in order to materialize their agenda.

The Trump administration has readily embraced Vance’s anti-education agenda, as its directives seek to threaten the removal of federal financial assistance and grants in an effort to

Ricks ’27:

A

control universities. Trump has also continued his crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, especially those in higher education. The exact enforcement and implementation of these orders have not yet materialized, but it is certain that the White House is committed to restricting the autonomy of higher education through financial manipulation.

well-endowed private universities — Brown included — must initiate a collective defense of educational rights that goes beyond sending lobbyists to Capitol Hill. The Ivy League and other well-resourced institutions should assemble a team of attorneys, scholars and administrators ready to take action against the White House

team of representatives from an array of universities will be better prepared to act quickly and effectively than institutions individually fighting President Trump’s executive policies.

Universities across the nation are gearing up to counter Trump’s attacks, many building a presence in Washington, D.C. or employing lobbyists to discourage proposed endowment taxes, research defunding and other impediments on university operations. To champion themselves as true defenders of education for all Americans,

We need to focus on

On Jan. 15, former President Biden issued an uncharacteristically cogent warning in his farewell address: Americans should beware of an impending oligarchy composed of the wealthiest and most influential billionaires. Implicated in this warning are the tech titans who have cozied up to Donald Trump amid his recent election victory. Although Biden’s warning has been critiqued, social media consumption in 2025 is undeniably political and the race to monopolize our attention is well underway. Now more than ever, we must limit our consumption of short-form content in an act of resistance to a political regime that is banking on our inability to pay attention.

Saying that new technology will ruin our society may seem like the trite grumblings of an outof-touch baby boomer, but it is a fact that shortform content like TikTok videos and Instagram reels have detrimental effects on our attention spans. Users of the former have coined the term “TikTok brain rot” to describe the combination of symptoms –– anxiety, impaired focus, and a general decrease in cognition –– that accompanies frequent TikTok usage.

Social media companies are well aware that TikTok brain rot isn’t just a tongue-in-cheek phrase. In 2023, Meta was sued by 33 states for deliberately designing an algorithm that lured chil -

dren into compulsive social media usage despite the dangers it had on their mental health and well-being. To add insult to injury, these companies surveil all users at an unprecedented rate, tracking minute behaviors such as how long we stay on a video and monetizing people’s private data.

This is especially concerning when the CEOs of these very companies are standing on the dais at the inauguration of Donald Trump. Trump has made it clear that he will reward companies that aid his vision of a DEI-free, “anti-woke” America and he will punish dissenters. And CEOs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg were the first to take heed. Earlier this month, Facebook ended its longstanding fact-checking feature, a program that has been criticized by Trump and his supporters. The men who are controlling our algorithms have bent the knee to Donald Trump, and now the content we consume is at the mercy of his ego.

The first few weeks of the Trump presidency have already tested our ability to pay attention. Within the first 48 hours, a flurry of unconstitutional and unethical executive orders was signed, Elon Musk threw up a gesture that bore an uncanny resemblance to a Nazi salute on live television and a lawmaker proposed an amendment that would give Trump a third term. These stories

The men who are controlling our algorithms have bent the knee to Donald Trump, and now the content we consume is at the mercy of his ego. “

“

should the administration continue to threaten U.S. education.

A group of nonprofit organizations and small businesses launched a joint suit against President Trump’s federal funding pause, leading to a temporary halt in its enforcement. The attorneys general of 22 states and Washington D.C. also leaped to oppose the memo. The White House cited these

court battles as cause for the memo’s repeal, showing that collective legal action is not only viable, but effective.

Simply put, there is power in numbers, especially when those “numbers” already have a wide scope of influence and extensive access to legal resources. A team of representatives from an array of universities will be better prepared to act quickly and effectively than institutions individually fighting President Trump’s executive policies.

In their email to the Brown community, President Paxson and Provost Doyle asserted that administrators “are also prepared to exercise (their) legal right to advocate against laws, regulations or other actions that compromise Brown's mission.” To materialize this commitment, Brown should emulate the successful strategy of group advocacy used to thwart Trump’s most harmful agenda goals. To pragmatically “advocate” against regulations, the University should launch collaborative and immediate lawsuits that defend the integrity of higher education and the liberties of students across the nation. Saying you’re prepared to “advocate against laws” is a nice gesture, but leading a collaborative effort among peer institutions to bring effective legal action truly demonstrates your commitment to the University’s values.

CJ Lair ’28 can be reached at craig_lair@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

the politics of attention

“

Now more than ever, we must limit our consumption of short-form content in an act of resistance to a political regime that is banking on our inability to pay attention.

might have dominated your feed for a few days before eventually being replaced with the next hot topic. you might have felt like an informed citizen because you were consuming video after video of hot takes and discourse. Or maybe you got overwhelmed and latched onto content that was more comforting like makeup tutorials and “get ready with me” videos.

The latter instance suits the motives of our government by diverting attention away from critical issues to content that pacifies and comforts. However, it is the user who is convinced they are fully informed that is in the gravest danger. We assume that watching various short videos for a few days or weeks is the same as keeping our finger on the pulse and staying educated. Short-form content is fleeting, and while the threat of these executive orders and policies will continue to grow, the algorithms of these platforms will have already moved our eyes toward hotter content.

While it is true that social media can be an educational tool, short-form content is not enough to understand a political or social issue thoroughly. Education requires reading, following stories as they progress and individual or communal contemplation. It is a sustained effort of

“

intellectual engagement, a practice that is being eroded by our use of this type of content. Instead of spending hours scrolling, we should reclaim our attention and channel it towards other sources. Consuming long-form media like podcasts, nuanced articles and broadcast journalism forces people to sit down and stay with an issue for longer than 60 seconds. Even more, when we discuss these issues with our friends and family, we build a stronger community, which is the bedrock of political mobilization.

During the Trump-era, social media companies have two aims: keep you watching and keep him happy. Every hour spent scrolling is an hour spent in complacency. It is imperative that Americans, and especially young people (the most likely to engage with this content frequently), limit or eliminate their use of short-form media. Doing so will allow us to reclaim our attention span and increase our ability to stay interested for longer. Paying attention is political.

Kendall Ricks’27 can be reached at kendall_ricks @ brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Barth Wu ’26: A response to Benjamin Aizenberg ’26

Dearest reader, over winter break I anticipated welcoming you back into the somewhat sticky embrace of the Sharpe Refectory and alleviating any apprehension you might have towards our largest dining hall. I was surprised, then, to discover that my work had already been done for me last week by Ben Aizenberg, who argued that the Ratty is actually too good.

Aizenberg makes two points. First, he writes that the excessive gourmet-ification of college dining risks inflating our sense of what we consider normal. He goes on to say that as undergraduate students, we miss out on the collegiate rite of passage associated with mediocre food and subpar living accommodations. (I’d argue that there are other college rites of passage, and bad food and drafty dorms seem the least important.)

While he leads with this point, Aizenberg is really using the attention-grabbing idea — that the Ratty is too good — to talk about a much larger trend in higher education: Academic institutions are becoming brands and businesses. He explains that colleges are increasingly offering resort-style living and charging obscene prices for amenities that either select for a wealthy student body or put students and their families into debt.

It is certainly diabolical for universities to jack up the price of a bachelor’s degree, but I want to set the record straight on the history of dining at Brown. Aizenberg suggests that the marketing of gourmet

dining experiences at the University is new, having appeared concurrently with the inflation of tuition and with the intention of attracting and appealing to genteel students. Really, this branding has been around far longer.

Consider two dinner menus. The first: baked ham with champagne sauce, cheese lasagna with meatless or meat sauce, Lyonnaise potatoes, Italian bread and ice cream sundaes. The second: crispy skin salmon, roasted fingerling potatoes with herbs, vegan Mapo tofu, coconut ginger rice, snow peas with ginger and scallions, raspberry crumble bar and vegan chocolate cake.

I think you could guess which menu was from 1982 and which was from 2025. There are two major differences: Today the Ratty serves more cuisines and caters to more dietary restrictions than in the past. In fact, the Ratty offers a lot more food than it used to. The dinner menu from today includes only a fraction of all the dishes actually being served. For an increasingly diverse student body, it’s a good thing that more cuisines and diets are represented.

At the same time, the two menus are both wordy, which has the effect of making the food seem fancier. you can do this to any dish. Describe it by breaking it into its constituent parts, and it comes across as fancier. A poptart? No, that’s a strawberry compote layered between a tender shortcrust pastry with a vanilla bean glaze. This is what memes are made of.

Aizenberg’s critique of schools becoming businesses is one that I can get behind, but the philosophy of the Ratty — serving a variety of dishes some in vogue and some down right flavorless — remains the same as it did forty years ago.

“ “

It’s a branding tactic meant to reinforce the University’s status and also for that portion of the student body well-versed in cultured butter and flaky salt. The fact that both menus are similarly descriptive suggests that Brown has always been interested in presenting itself as epicurean to appeal to a bourgeois student body.

Advertising its culinary arts isn’t new to Brown Dining either. A 1959 issue of the Pembroke Record includes a feature on the school’s newest chef who in addition to being a cook worked also a subsistence farmer with his wife and seven children. It’s emphasized that the chef, Mr. Kerensky, viewed cooking as an art and, as the author cleverly put it, really cared about food “from the ground up.”

That said, the Ratty can also be down to earth. Despite the occasional high-brow menu items, there were and are plenty of options for what Aizenberg might call simple food. Consider the baked chicken and a fish sandwich from these 1998 menus or the fact that you can always find a humble soup and a sandwich at the Ratty.

On the subject of taste, the food I eat from the

Guan ’27: Young men seek refuge in Trump

The past few weeks have been nothing short of momentous. Within days of President Trump’s second inauguration, the United States government has withdrawn from the World Health Organization, reconsidered birthright citizenship and threatened Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs across the board.

These seemingly radical ideas would have once been unthinkable, but the past decade has seen a major realignment in American politics. Never before has a president been elected on a platform so heavily laced with authoritarian and near-fascist overtones, but President Trump and the Republican Party still made significant gains among almost all demographics to win 312 electoral votes. Of these demographic changes, the most interesting to me is that of young men. Though the rightward shift of young men has been noted since at least 2016, this demographic swung a whopping 15 percentage points towards Trump in 2024 compared to four years previous.

Razor-thin margins in swing states often determine the outcome of national elections. Thus, even a minor shift could cost one party the presidency — a fact that has led scholars to intensely analyze the ever-increasing gap in political ideology between young men and women. Political scientists have proposed countless theories to explain this development, from backlash against the feminist movement to social disillusionment pushing men towards traditionalism. However, I believe the primary driver of this transformation stems from feelings of neglect.

Across the country, young men have increasingly felt ignored and unvalued by the left-wing movement. This resentment of perceived left-wing hypocrisy, extremism and blindness has played a major role in their rightward shift. Perhaps their rationale for supporting

President Trump is poor and puts their intelligence up for debate, but such decisions are only natural in a two-party system.

I also understand that many would disagree with their claims, but I would like to remind us that our persistent stereotyping of conservative youth as white, ignorant and close-minded does nothing to help broaden our coalition. We are preconditioned to speak out against prejudice and social injustice, but now it is time to consider the consequences of our own internal biases.

As individuals, we represent the political ideolo-

or not it is time for us to moderate our public stances on the perceived leftmost aspects of mainstream Democratic platforms, such as affirmative action and LGBTQ+ rights. This is by no means an easy thought to digest, but I would argue that we cannot afford to bear the cost of alienating social moderates by focusing on the culture war if that cost is losing the presidency. Within a week of assuming office, President Trump has suspended recognition of non-binary identities and forced federal diversity, equity and inclusion employees to take leave. Amid the global far-right surge, I am concerned that we face political extinction

Young men are victims of the same issues affecting all American youth today, from inflation to mental health, and we must remember that instead of scoffing at their complaints. “

gies we belong to. We must therefore continuously seek to understand how our actions and words affect the general public’s perceptions of our ideologies. It is our collective duty to reflect on where we fell short in welcoming the average straight man or anyone outside the progressive base into our movement.

The more painful question to ponder is whether

if we don’t adjust our narrative to better appeal to our increasingly conservative audience. Finally, I urge us to reconsider our public rhetoric about privilege. I worry that branding men as inherently privileged has become an excuse to ignore their issues, and invalidating people’s difficulties because they don’t belong to a certain demographic is a reci-

Ratty is generally quite good, though occasionally bland. In the spirit of proving the Sharpe Refectory’s periodic mediocrity, here’s something unexceptional I ate last week. Excited to see something brothy at the Halal Station, I waddled back to my table cupping a bowl of steamy noodles, soy mushrooms and vegetables. I was disappointed, then, to discover that everything tasted of nothing. Some lime juice, chili oil or funk would have been desperately welcome. I’ll stop here. After all, badmouthing the Ratty is already a favorite pastime of many Brown students, and it has been for a while. A letter to the editor in a 1967 edition of the Pembroke Record lamented a new austere dining plan. It’s charmingly written, convincing and funny: The whipped potatoes were “not forthcoming” and they reference a hyperbolic potato famine that was “too blatant to escape notice.” It was signed by eleven students.

Aizenberg’s critique of schools becoming businesses is one that I can get behind, but the philosophy of the Ratty — serving a variety of dishes, some in vogue and some downright flavorless — remains the same as it did forty years ago.

pe for political disaster. young men are victims of the same issues affecting all American youth today, from inflation to mental health, and we must remember that instead of scoffing at their complaints.

American history is defined by compromise and slow but steady progress. This country has never been the first to institute liberal policies like abortion, women’s suffrage or same-sex marriage, but we have always managed through a combination of activism, debate and trade-offs. yet this often painfully slow process has also kept policy regression a rarity, and I encourage us to remember this as we forward our support for contemporary social justice movements.

Despite the defeats of the past election cycle, it shouldn’t be all doom and gloom for the political left. It is notable that not all of President Trump’s voters believe in everything he stands for. What this means is that the solution to the left’s current woes might be right under our noses. The Democratic Party cannot afford to continue losing members of the “privileged” class. I encourage us to instead focus on the many wide-reaching economic positives of left-wing platforms, from job creation to investment in small businesses, that benefit all Americans. young men in particular are not so different from us; many contemporary problems affect all American youth. In the end, all it might take is a slight change in advertising strategy to make the Democratic Party the rational choice for this country once again.

Lucas Guan’27 can be reached at lucas_guan @brown. edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.

ISABELA GUILLEN / HERALD

ARTS & CULTURE

Jon Batiste dazzles in Saturday night concert at Brown

The award-winning performer delivered a magical, awe-inspiring show

BY TALIA LEVINE AND MANAV MUSUNURU ARTS & CULTURE EDITORS

A lucky few hundred community members who secured tickets to “Jon Batiste in Concert” at the Lindemann Performing Arts Center on Saturday night were treated to an ethereal 90-minute performance. Within the first few minutes, it was evident that the five time Grammy-award-winning artist deserved every single accolade he has received.

Batiste’s performance was part of “Brown 2026” — an initiative created to celebrate 250 years of American democracy and education’s role in it.

Bathed in orange light, Batiste told the audience, “I love you even if I don’t know you” as he entered the stage. Batiste — along with his band — echoed this sentiment throughout the entire show, repeatedly signing “I love you” in American Sign Language. Congregated at the

OF

In an ode to Brown 2026, Batiste delivered arguably the best rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” that has ever graced this campus.

front of the stage, Batiste and his band started their performance with a mashup of his song “Master Power” and the track “AMERIICAN REQUIEM” off of Beyoncé’s latest album, “Cowboy Carter.” Later in the show, Batiste’s passion for his artistry was on display when he and his drummer improvised a set on the drums. His joy was palpable.

Interspersed throughout the concert were

solos by different band members, highlighting the collaborative nature of music making. Batiste himself ensured that these members received recognition by introducing them individually and encouraging them to play a tune of their choice.

The vocals of the band’s lead backup singer, Desiree “Desz” Washington, were particularly captivating. At one moment during the

performance, Washington effortlessly belted ad-libs as she twisted her hair into a bun. Washington’s skill and stage presence were essential to the soul of the show.

The performance felt intimate, with a component of interaction between the artist and audience that is often lost in modern-day concerts. During one part of their performance, Batiste and his band stepped off the stage and into the audience, allowing those seated farther back to have a front-row view. During this escapade, Batiste played the melodica — a curious piano-flute contraption.

Batiste frequently encouraged concertgoers to get on their feet, clap, dance and sing throughout the show, drawing from his childhood upbringings in the New Orleans church. By the end of the show, attendees were so enmeshed in the music that some started to dance in the aisles, including Brown’s very own President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20. It felt like Batiste was performing not to the audience, but with them.

In an ode to Brown 2026, Batiste delivered arguably the best rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” that has ever graced this campus.

The number began with “Moonlight Sonata

Blues” — Batiste’s blues-inspired iteration of Beethoven’s famous piece — which slowly morphed into a piano interpretation of the country’s national anthem. Batiste sang the final few verses of the anthem ritardando — gradually decreasing in speed — before transitioning into covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” that brought some in the audience to tears.

The superb use of lighting in Lindemann enhanced Batiste’s performance. Audiences were transported into the world of Jon Batiste through swirling lights and kaleidoscopes of color. A spotlight distinguished Batiste from a sea of others dancing and singing alongside him during his audience interlude.

Batiste continued his weekend at Brown with a musical masterclass for students and a conversation with his wife, Suleika Jaouad, followed by a screening of their documentary “American Symphony.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 26, 2025.

Jon Batiste advises aspiring artists during masterclass, conversation

bers, Batiste addressed topics ranging from institutional funding of the arts to the intersection between acting and music. He also reflected on his time working on Pixar’s “Soul.”

BY CAVAN AGATONE AND AYANA AHUJA STAFF WRITER AND SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After a Saturday evening concert, Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste held a masterclass for students and faculty in the Lindemann Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

Following the masterclass, Batiste participated in a conversation at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts alongside his wife, Emmy Award-winning writer Suleika Jaouad. The event preceded a screening of “American Symphony,” a 2023 documentary chronicling Batiste’s efforts to compose a symphony while Jaouad underwent treatment for leukemia.

In the masterclass, which was attended by a few dozen students and faculty mem-

For all artists, Batiste stressed the importance of self-care: “your whole life, you’re going to be giving — giving on stage, giving to audiences, giving to your craft,” he said. “you’ve got to figure out how to get replenished.”

Batiste also advised the attendees on where to find creative inspiration. “Steal from everybody that you can,” he said. “It showed me a lot of things were possible.”

When asked how to navigate the balance between creating for oneself versus for financial success, Batiste told attendees that they “can make anything (they) want to make.”

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that people forget failure and success,” he added, telling students to create “based on what’s ‘true north’ for you.”

In a moment of collaboration and spontaneity, Batiste invited all the musicians and singers in attendance to join him on stage at the end of the class to perform songs togeth-

er. While some students sang, one student shared the piano with Batiste himself. Each student was given a chance to shine.

After the masterclass, Batiste and Jaouad engaged in a conversation moderated by Lisa Biggs, assistant professor of arts and Africana studies. Biggs began the discussion by recalling a question students asked Batiste during the masterclass: How do you make a life after college?

In response, Jaouad recalled her own anxiety in facing life after college. She said that instead of searching for purpose, students should embrace curiosity.

Batiste echoed this sentiment, adding that the coming-of-age that college students experience is both “singular and universal” — while each student takes their own unique journey post-graduation, they all experience similar struggles simultaneously, he said.

In lieu of specific advice, he quoted from Joni Mitchell’s “Down to you”: “‘It all comes down to you,’” he said.

But shortly after Jaouad graduated from college, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her world changed overnight, she said.

Although Jaouad and Batiste met as teenagers at band camp, upon hearing of Jaouad’s diagnosis, Batiste and his band played a concert in her hospital room — something she cited as an example of “the power of music and the creative arts to heal and gather.”

Filming commenced for “American Symphony” in 2022, shortly after Jaouad learned that her cancer had returned. Jaouad noted that it was difficult for both of them

Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program celebrates student

Exhibit highlights the students’ talents and interdisciplinary interests

BY ANN GRAY GOLPIRA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For the next few weeks, those walking the halls of the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts may notice something different. From textiles to sculptures, the talents of students enrolled in the BrownRISD Dual Degree Program are now on full display.

The program’s 17th annual exhibition, titled “—ing,” launched on Jan. 21 and will be open to the public until Feb. 16. The display celebrates the multifaceted talents of BRDD artists and exemplifies the hard work required to create a student-led art exhibit, explained Brown-RISD Program Manager Hanna Exel.

Preparation for the exhibit began in

early October, when the curatorial committee — the team responsible for reviewing the exhibition’s final pieces — decided on this year’s theme, said Alyssa Gorman ’28, a member of the curatorial committee.

The theme “—ing” highlights the time-intensive process of producing masterful artworks and invites viewers to ponder “how artworks can be about the process” rather than just the final product, Gorman added.

Once the theme was solidified, the committee sent out a call for artwork and began anonymously reviewing this year’s 77 submissions. After multiple hours of deliberation, the committee finalized pieces on Nov. 16 — or, what they called “Jury Day.”

Jury Day “is when the exhibition suddenly shifts from something that feels abstract to something that feels very real,” Exel wrote in an email to The Herald.

to be vulnerable on camera.

During Sunday’s conversation, Batiste described the film as “an assessment of America” and “a celebration of culture.” “American Symphony” has received two nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards, airing this Sunday.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 27, 2025.

art through annual exhibition

From writing artist statements to professionally installing pieces around the building, to printing the vinyl letters at the entrance of the Cohen Gallery, the showcase represented an opportunity for students to experience the various moving pieces involved in curating an art exhibit.

The display also honors the interdisciplinary nature of the program, Exel added. “BRDD students are practicing visual art and design and other areas of study, simultaneously and intensively,” Exel wrote. “These explorations often overlap and inform each other.”

Though the event offers a chance for artists to collaborate with their peers, Anay Agarwal ’28 emphasized the showcase’s impact on the greater Brown-RISD community.

As a BRDD student, Agarwal said that many Brown students rarely see the other side of his college career. He jokingly recalled rushing from the RISD woodshop in order to attend a Brown a cappella meeting,

only to be met by confused faces once people noticed sawdust covering his clothes.

“This is an opportunity for them to actually come and see what I’ve been talking about for months,” Agarwal said.

Gorman echoed similar sentiments, discussing the divide between the two campuses. While RISD holds various showcases for student work, she views the “—ing” exhibit as particularly important, as it allows Brown students to gather and appreciate the artistic works of their classmates.

“People don’t always get the chance to see the impact of the program,” Gorman said. “It’s amazing to have the Brown community get together to see what we’re producing as students. It allows us to feel like our work is culminating into something awesome.”

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NICK DENTAMARO

27, 2025.

Batiste discussed facing hardship and finding inspiration

KAIA yALAMANCHILI / HERALD

COURTESy OF NICK DENTAMARO

According to Alyssa Gorman ’28, a member of the curatorial committee, the theme invites viewers to ponder “how artworks can be about the process” and not just the final product.

Batiste and Jaouad engaged in a conversation moderated by Lisa Biggs, assistant professor of arts and Africana studies.

ARTS & CULTURE

REVIEW

‘Kneecap’

is a hilarious and subversive take on musical biopics

The film is uninhibited in its portrayal of a new generation of the Irish

BY ALYSSIA OUHOCINE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“Kneecap,” based on the story of the eponymous Northern Ireland hip-hop trio, recently received an impressive six nominations at the upcoming British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. The film is a fictionalization of the trio’s rise to notoriety and a masterpiece of Irish cinema that explores the preservation of language rights in the modern age.

“Kneecap” takes place at the forefront of the battle to establish Irish as an official language of Northern Ireland through the Irish Language Act of 2022 — which later passed as the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act. Directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film marks the acting debut of Kneecap members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí as themselves.

The film opens with Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, best friends who were influenced by Móglaí Bap’s father — a former Irish Republican paramilitary officer — to become fluent in Irish. Known as “ceasefire babies” for growing up around the end of the Troubles — the violent political struggle in Northern Ireland that sought to separate from the United Kingdom and join the Republic of Ireland — the young men lead aimless lives as low-level drug dealers. Mo Chara’s chance encounter with DJ Próvaí, a teacher at an Irish language school, sparks the creation of their hiphop trio. In the ensuing musical journey, the trio gains public attention for their provocative and political lyrics.

Despite having no previous acting experience, the members of Kneecap provide a stellar performance that is immersive and imbued with excellent comedic timing.

Michael Fassbender plays Móglaí Bap’s father Arlo, who fakes his own death when he is found responsible for multiple bombings. Fassbender’s screen time is minimal, yet provocative — his dedication to Irish Republican ideology clashes with his familial obligations, leading to an emotional exploration of abandonment that pervades the film’s narrative.

“Kneecap” does not shy away from the vulgarity of the trio’s music. Scenes of the three men recording, writing and perform-

ing their music captures the drug-fueled haze in which they often operated. The film’s cinematography brilliantly chronicles these moments — bright colors abound, moving shots illustrate the trio’s disorientation and stylistic shifts represent the mental effects of their frequent drug use. Creative graphics superimposed on live-action scenes appear throughout the movie’s 105-minute run time, reproducing the essence of Kneecap’s music.

Just like the trio, the film is raw and makes no attempt to grandstand. Instead, it leans into the controversial elements that have made Kneecap and their music so contentious to global audiences.

Lyrics like “And when the revolution comes / I’m first out to loot” from the song “Guilty Conscience” encapsulate the motivations behind the trio’s expletive-filled music. In a Northern Ireland still troubled by sectarianism and cultural erasure, the trio’s music — and the biopic — uses hiphop as a vehicle for political messaging.

The group’s name is political in nature, referencing the torture method of “kneecapping,” in which victims are shot in the back of the knees. The film explores an alternative perspective of the country’s history that is distinctly anti-British. The film’s use of foul language, explicit scenes and rampant depictions of drug usage pro-

vide a comedic front for a film that appears to reflect Irish nationalism among young people. For example, at some points in the film, characters referred to Northern Ireland as “The North of Ireland” instead.

The trio raps in both English and Irish, and translations are not provided for portions of their Irish lyrics. This choice cleverly reproduces the multilingualism of Northern Ireland, in which even some of those indigenous to the area are unable to fully comprehend the group’s music.

The film’s dialogue also oscillates between English and Irish. Viewers of the film are fully immersed in the cultural push-and-pull of a still-divided country of “ceasefire babies.”

With a plot rich in action and dialogue that pulls no punches, “Kneecap” is an experimental and astounding addition to a long line of musical biopics. While some biopics attempt to convey the personal journey of artists on their road to fame, “Kneecap” diverges from this route. The exaggerated obstacles faced by the trio reveal the absurdity of being unable to create art in a language enshrined in their history.

Ultimately, “Kneecap” is a story of overcoming the difficult journey to stardom. The film is rife with class commentary, critiques of the music industry and an inextinguishable desire for self-determination.

The film’s constant refrain comes from Móglaí Bap’s father, Arlo: “Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom.” The film asserts that in the digital age, it is music, art and conversations that bring about justice.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

‘One of Them Days’ brings true comedy and chemistry back to the big screen

The film mixes outlandish circumstances with heartfelt emotion

BY GABRIELLA WRIGHTEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In an era of sequels, big-budget blockbusters and celebrity star takeovers, “One of Them Days” stands out from its competitors. While its leads — Keke Palmer and SZA — are by no means underground artists, they stray from the big names often at the heart of Hollywood productions. It is this departure from the mainstream that makes “One of Them Days” such a refreshing and charming watch.

The energizing comedy follows polar opposite roommates Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) as they scramble to pull together $1,500 to pay their first month’s rent. A simple plot line is quickly flavored with a hilarious series of events. Over the course of 12 hours, almost everything seems to go wrong. Dreux donates nearly a body’s worth of blood, Alyssa gets electrocuted and a gangster tries to kill them both, just to name a few.

Watching any plot this wild would be entertaining on its own, but it’s Palmer and SZA’s chemistry that makes “One of Them Days” memorable. As always,

Palmer is funny, bold and intensely believable. It’s not hard to love any performance she gives.

In her debut movie role, SZA rises to the occasion, giving a sweet and earnestly humorous performance as Alyssa — a spiritual aspiring painter who keeps falling for her boyfriend’s schemes. Together, the pair resembles any chaotic best friendship. Even when you know what’s coming, it’s hard to look away from the duo. It is hard to imagine actors who could’ve executed these roles better.

Apart from the leads, “One of Them Days” has a cast and crew consisting of some of Hollywood’s funniest Black stars. The film was produced by Issa Rae, an award-winning actress, writer and producer. In addition, comedian-actors Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James and Katt Williams all make small but memorable appearances throughout the film.

Even with its focus on comedy and hijinks, writer Syreeta Singleton’s script is incredibly raw and honest. The jokes and lighter moments feel genuine and true to the characters, and the more tense, climactic moments build naturally from the film’s beginning. There’s even a bit of a romance — which is skillfully played for both comedy and drama — that brings the film’s outlandish events back down to earth.

The high-drama, low-stakes comedy plot is a film staple, and even had

a resurgence in the late 2010s (“Tag” and “Good Boys” come to mind). These films are often glossed over, subject to straight-to-streaming releases and the depths of Netflix’s endless backlog. But “One of Them Days” breaks from this trend and deserves more credit than it has received.

As much as major studios may ignore it, the film is a love letter to the unwritten, misrepresented parts — and people — of Los Angeles. Director Lawrence Lamont depicts South LA with a kindness and honesty that is not usually portrayed in film. While the lives of Dreux and Alyssa are unrealistically hectic, the film’s insistence on community brings a broad sense of hopefulness and realism that

buddy comedies often struggle to achieve. Combine that with its charmingly witty cast and extravagant plot, and it’s easy to see why “One of Them Days” is worth the watch.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

COURTESy OF SONy PICTURES CLASSICS

The difficult journey to stardom for the trio, as captured in the film, is rife with class commentary, critiques of the music industry and an inextinguishable desire for self-determination.

COURTESy OF SONy

Watching any plot this wild would be entertaining, but it’s Palmer and SZA’s chemistry that makes “One of Them Days” memorable.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

ENVIRONMENT

The race against pollution: Air quality impacts marathon times, Brown study finds

Pollutant particles can cause adverse effects in healthy athletes

BY LEAH KORITZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The next time you’re planning on going for a run, check more than just the weather — the air quality might affect your performance too.

At least, this is the advice given in a recently published study by Brown researchers, which aimed to determine whether air quality impacts marathon finish times, according to first author Elvira Fleury ’22 MPH ’23.

“There were some studies out there on (air quality) done in marathons in shorter races, but there had been nothing really comprehensively done,” said Joseph Braun, a professor of epidemiology. A marathon and triathlon enthusiast, Braun originated the idea for the study.

Fleury and the rest of the researchers discovered that a higher concentration of minuscule pollutant particles — less than two-millionths of a meter wide — is associated with an increase in marathon finish times.

“ you have to be pretty dang healthy to be able to run (across) a marathon finish line,” Braun said. “If air pollution is having an effect on (marathon runners), it shows that really, there's no limit to who is susceptible to the effects of air pollution.”

According to Allan Just, an associ -

MEDICINE

ate professor of epidemiology and environment and society who worked on the study, any amount of air pollution negatively impacts human health, even within limits deemed safe.

“There’s a really robust body of literature showing that air pollution is associated with increased mortality (and) readmissions to hospitals,” Fleury said.

Fleury and the rest of the researchers studied nine United States marathons between 2003 and 2019, analyzing over one and a half million male and one million

female finish times. The researchers then compared air quality monitor data, when it was available, with the runners’ times.

The researchers found the data through web scraping — creating a code to download data — a task they were not familiar with until Fleury found Gray Bittker ’27, the paper’s second author, on Sidechat.

“I was on Sidechat, actually, and someone needed help with web scraping … and I messaged them,” Bittker said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I know this stuff.’”

After Bittker answered some of Fleury’s questions about web scraping, she asked him if he would like to help with the project.

But sometimes air quality monitor data was not always available to pair with the run time data found by Bittker. So Just created a “spatiotemporal machine learning model” for reconstructing air pollution numbers.

To produce a “best estimate” of air pollution concentrations on a given day, Just entered mile-by-mile markers of

marathon routes, looking at longitude, latitude, date, time and weather, he said.

The model reconstructs the air pollution levels using satellite aerosol optical depth — a photo taken from space that measures the density of pollutants by determining how much sunlight does not reach Earth’s surface, according to Fleury.

While Just was creating the model, he compared predicted pollution levels with measured values where he did have the data to ensure accuracy.

While the study focused on a narrow subset of people, it has implications for the broader population, Braun said.

“We often think about air pollution as impacting people who already have a chronic condition,” Just said. “We don’t think about how air pollution impacts people who are not experiencing bad health. This (study) is novel in that sense.”

He noted that the last few decades have seen a decrease in air pollution in the United States, largely due to the Clean Air Act, a 1970 law that regulates U.S. air pollution.

“Our model goes back to 2003, and air pollution has been improving since then, which is a success story,” Just said.

While air quality has been improving, global temperatures are projected to rise, Braun pointed out. Going forward, he hopes to study how temperature increase will impact marathon race times.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 26, 2025.

Brown-led study finds increased spinal fractures in aging population

Authors propose earlier osteoporosis screening as a preventative measure

BY FRANCESCA GROSSBERG STAFF WRITER

Using data from 638,999 patients, a new study by a research team at the Warren Alpert Medical School found that the incidence of cervical and thoracic spinal fractures has increased since 2003.

The data came from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which collects information on all emergency room consultations and admissions in the US, according to Alan Daniels, a professor of orthopedics and the spine division chief.

In recent years, spine specialists noticed that more and more patients were coming to the emergency room with fractures, Daniels said.

But “there wasn’t a lot of data out there to say what the incidence of spine trauma was,” medical student and first author Mariah Balmaceno-Criss MD’25 pointed out.

To remedy this gap in literature, the team looked at data from emergency department visits reported to the NEISS between 2003 and 2021. They then grouped the data by type of fracture and the patients’ demographic information, Balmaceno-Criss explained.

The study focused on vertebral fractures of the cervical and thoracic spine — the two upper-most regions of the spine. A vertebral fracture is a break

in one of the “bony units” of the spine, which can cause neurological deficits ranging from loss of motor function to full paralysis, according to Bassel Diebo, an assistant professor of orthopaedics.

According to Diebo, these fractures can be classified into high- or low-energy fractures based on the mechanism of injury. While high-energy fractures are caused by forceful collisions in events like motor vehicle accidents or high-impact sports, low-energy fractures can occur from minor incidents at home, such as a fall from standing height.

Daniels noted that the incidence of low-energy spinal fractures is “generally” increasing, while that of high energy fractures are not. Because low-energy fractures often occur in the aging population, especially those with osteoporosis — a disease classified by weakening of bones — Daniels said “it’s really just an increase for the elderly population.”

As people age, their bones weaken. Daniels suggested, then, that incidence of spinal fractures may be increasing because “people are living longer and staying more active.” Physicians also now have better technology to diagnose even minor fractures.

Given this result, the study proposed more efficient osteoporosis screening as a next step for clinicians to minimize the risk of low-impact fractures.

Daniels labeled osteoporosis as “one of the most poorly-managed chronic diseases of the elderly,” encouraging screening and treatment for affected patients.

Currently, only women 65 and old -

er are screened for osteoporosis, but screening younger patients could lead to protective and preventive care, according to Diebo. Keeping the elderly population active — such as through physical therapy — could also “help prevent falls and help them stay steady on their feet,” Daniels said. Since the team found that many fracture-causing falls happened at home, Daniels also suggested an increase

in “social support and safety” for the elderly population.

Bryce Basques, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery, who was not involved with the study, said the researchers used “the perfect data set.”

“It’s a very well done study,” Basques said. “ you want a broad, representative sample of all the fractures across the entire country, and then you want to essentially describe what’s happening with these fractures.”

Using funding from the Brown-endowed Chirico Family Grant, the team is now “trying to determine the safest and least invasive, but most optimal treatment possible to optimize their spinal alignment and function,” Daniels said.

ROSA ZHA / HERALD

MAGGIE RUAN / HERALD

ACLU of RI calls on Brown to reinstate SJP chapter

Letter claimed the suspension violates free speech, expression rights

BY SOPHIA WOTMAN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

On Wednesday morning, the ACLU of Rhode Island sent a letter to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and other University administrators demanding the University immediately lift the temporary suspension of Brown’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Brown temporarily suspended SJP, pending an external investigation into conduct violations, following an Oct. 18 protest of the University’s decision not to divest from companies affiliated with Israel. The University previously cited “alleged threatening, intimidating and harassing actions” as rationale for the conduct review.

ADMISSIONS

According to the ACLU letter, the University’s suspension of SJP and disciplinary letter “lack even the most rudimentary ideals of fairness” and “severely undermine” the University’s mission of “upholding the principles of freedom of expression for all views and perspectives.”

“This suspension and a purported commitment to free speech on campus cannot co-exist,” the letter reads.

The letter also claimed that the notice of suspension did not sufficiently explain why the misconduct is “being attributed at this stage to SJP as opposed to particular individuals.”

When asked to respond to the letter, University Spokesperson Brian Clark said “we do not work through the news media to address community concerns or questions.”

“We value direct engagement, and our response will come directly to the ACLU representatives,” he said.

The letter was signed by leaders of

Brown’s student ACLU chapter and Steven Brown, the executive director of ACLU R.I.

The ACLU R.I. is not currently planning to pursue a legal suit against the University, Steven Brown wrote in an email to The Herald. He added that the letter was sent at the directive of the ACLU student chapter at Brown, and not by SJP.

In a statement to The Herald, an SJP spokesperson called for the University to reinstate the student group, calling the suspension “a deeply unjust political ploy by the administration in line with the intense repression of anti-genocide protestors around the country.” The spokesperson was granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation in the ongoing investigation into SJP.

Clark did not respond to an inquiry about the ongoing investigation.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 30, 2025.

Following a new Trump executive order that could lead to the deportation of pro-Palestinian protestors, “this prolonged investigation only puts SJP members at more risk for surveillance and prosecution,” the letter reads.

Brown, Trinity indefinitely pause admissions to MFA program

Joint program offered since 2002, paused admissions in 2023

BY IAN RITTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Brown/Trinity Rep Master of Fine Arts Programs in Acting and Directing will indefinitely pause its new student admissions, program leadership and University officials announced last Thursday.

Run in partnership with Trinity Repertory Company — a Rhode Island regional theater — the program “combines technical training from Brown University with real-world experience,” according to the program’s website.

The University paused admissions to the program following analysis and discussion among Brown and Trinity leaders, as well as an external expert review. The indefinite pause comes after a temporary one that began in 2023.

The University is convening a committee of Brown Arts Institute, Trinity and professional leaders to evaluate the program’s future.

through a program that is trying to imagine what its foundational principles are.”

The University will continue to offer courses for current admitted students until the most recently admitted class graduates in June 2026.

While MFA students thought the indefinite pause was sudden, they were not surprised.

“I personally thought that we were never coming back when they (first) paused admissions,” said Nicholas Byers GS, an MFA acting student.

In 2022, graduate students in the MFA program attempted to unionize, seeking recognition as employees of the University. Their petition and subsequent appeals were ultimately rejected by the National Labor Relations Board.

to participate in.

Layan Elwazani GS, an acting student, claimed that the University moved to halt admissions for both “ease and university profit.” The University has made efforts to reposition itself as a research institution from its traditional liberal arts model.

Doyle denied that profit or the unionization effort had any affect on the decision to halt admissions.

According to the Today@Brown announcement, the University plans to create a working group with representatives from Trinity Rep, the Brown Arts Institute and professionals in the field to evaluate the future of the program.

“The review highlighted the need for the programs ... to adapt to the changing landscape of the arts, emphasizing flexibility and responsiveness to the evolving needs of the industry,” Provost Francis Doyle wrote in an email to The Herald.

gram, attributed the closure to a changing performing arts landscape faced with lingering pandemic woes.

Professor of the Practice Curt Columbus, who is the artistic director of Trinity Rep and the interim head of the MFA pro-

“Audiences have not returned in the way that they were before the pandemic,” leading leadership to reconsider the goals of a performing arts institution, Columbus said.

“It’s irresponsible to have students moving

Tara Moses MFA’24.5 felt that her “education was secondary to the needs of Trinity Rep,” alleging that students were pulled away from roles in her productions to act in Trinity shows.

Columbus said that MFA acting students had the “agency” to pick which productions

“With the establishment of the Brown Arts Institute and opening of the Lindemann Performing Arts Center, there are exciting opportunities to offer students broader access to innovative resources and interdisciplinary learning,” Doyle concluded.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 29, 2025.

The University is looking for its next dean of the College

Dean of the College

Rashid Zia ’01 to step down after seven years

BY HADLEY CARR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

This fall, Dean of the College Rashid Zia ’01 shared plans to step down from the position at the end of the spring semester. Now, the University is looking for someone to fill his role.

From Jan. 13 to Jan. 27, individuals in the community were able to nominate Brown faculty members to be considered for the position. Deputy Provost for Academic Affairs Elizabeth Doherty confirmed that there is “a lot of interest” in the position.

These nominations will now be reviewed by a selection committee composed of University administrators, faculty members and between two to

three undergraduate students. After interviewing a select group of finalists, the committee will then provide recommendations to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 — who will make the final decision.

“We seek a dynamic and strong leader for the College who can build on Brown’s long tradition of excellence and innovation in undergraduate education,” the position description reads.

The search process is still in its “early stages,” Provost Francis Doyle said. The committee plans to announce the new dean this spring.

Jay Philbrick ’25, the academic affairs chair of the Undergraduate Council of Students, is one of the three students who will serve on the search committee. He will be joined by either one or two other undergraduates selected by UCS.

Applications for the undergraduate positions close on Jan. 28. The candidates will be reviewed by UCS Appoint-

ments Director Isaac Slevin ’25, and the council will select the final undergraduate representative or representatives based on Slevin’s recommendations, Philbrick said.

When reviewing nominations for the role, Philbrick says he is “less focused on a particular background, and more focused on someone who’s had a wide range of experiences across a really large portfolio.”

Philbrick added that he has worked with Zia to implement many UCS initiatives, highlighting Zia’s commitment to listening to student input.

“That’s definitely something that I will be looking for in the next dean of the College,” Philbrick said, adding that the new dean must be committed to supporting the undergraduate experience. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Jan. 27, 2025.

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MAX ROBINSON / HERALD

Providence will not ‘proactively collaborate’ with ICE deportations, inquiries

City will not release information about any undocumented residents

BY LEV KOTLER-BERKOWITZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Amid President Trump’s newly enacted policies targeting undocumented residents across the country, several Providence and Rhode Island officials affirmed their commitment to limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“The City has not and will not proactively collaborate with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to provide information and will not change this policy,” Providence City Spokesperson Josh Estrella wrote in an email to The Herald.

The Providence Police Department will also not proactively collaborate with federal immigration authorities, PPD Spokesperson Lindsay Lague wrote in an email to The Herald.

The day of his inauguration, Trump

signed an executive order to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to unauthorized immigrants. He also later shared plans for mass deportations and increased expedited removals of undocumented individuals.

On Jan. 21, 22 states sued to prevent the executive order from taking effect, and a federal judge temporarily blocked the order last week.

Trump also authorized ICE to enter “sensitive” locations such as churches and schools — places the Biden administration designated as “protected areas” for undocumented immigrants.

Following President Trump’s inauguration, the Providence City Council introduced an ordinance to prohibit Providence police from sharing information about residents with federal immigration authorities.

The ordinance would ensure that Providence schools, places of worship, health facilities and courts will not grant federal immigration authorities access to their premises. It would also prohibit federal officers from entering any property with-

out an arrest warrant, probable cause and the name of a specific person of interest.

The ordinance was referred to the Committee of Ordinances, where it is currently pending.

The Council is also exploring legislative options, including a proposed ordinance by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, wrote City Council Press Secretary Roxie Richner in an email to The Herald.

The ACLU proposal includes rejecting a Department of Homeland Security program that authorizes ICE to delegate specific immigration enforcement duties to local and state police.

“My city, right now, looks like a ghost town,” R.I. State Senator Jonathon Acosta ’11 MA’16 MA’19 PhD’24.5 (D-Central Falls, Pawtucket) said in an interview with The Herald. “People are on high alert, people are afraid.”

The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office recently circulated guidelines to protect undocumented students in schools.

Some R.I. officials are responding to federal immigration policies by proposing protections for undocumented residents, limiting cooperation with ICE and emphasizing community awareness.

“Unless there is a real public safety exigency, immigration enforcement does not belong on school grounds,” the press release reads.

But not all state leaders oppose the new federal immigration policies.

“I could not agree more with targeting criminal illegal aliens for deportation,” R.I. State Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-Burrillville, Glocester, North Smithfield) wrote in an email to The Herald. “Vigorous enforcement will prevent threats to national security.”

ICE and the White House did not respond to The Herald’s requests for comment.

How student organizations are responding to Trump administration immigration

Organizers at Brown discuss community safety, institutional support

BY LILY SELTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Since the second inauguration of President Trump earlier this month, organizations at Brown that support the “undocumented+” community — a group that includes people who are undocumented, people with undocumented relatives, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and others — have reoriented their work to accommodate a changing political environment.

In interviews with The Herald, organizers stressed the importance of community to protect the well-being of undocumented+ students. They also urged Brown to continue — and scale up — its support.

On Jan. 21, the Trump administration revoked long-standing guidance that prevented federal immigration agencies from arresting people in “sensitive locations,” like churches, hospitals and schools. Students on the Brown Dream Team — an organization supporting undocumented+ students at Brown — say they now have to consider the possibility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might conduct raids on campus.

what could happen.”

Brown recognizes “that uncertainty about federal actions or statements on immigration issues, visas and international travel is creating anxiety for many DACA, undocumented and international students,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.

The University “continues to offer multiple sources of support available to all students and to communicate directly with affected community members,” he added.

Clark did not clarify what the University’s plans are in the event that a student is entered into deportation proceedings or if ICE or Customs and Border Protection come to campus.

Brown’s Office of Global Engagement hosts a webpage clarifying its protocols regarding government requests for information related to an individual’s citizenship status. The webpage states that Brown “will only share information with law enforcement regarding the immigration status of community members under a valid subpoena.”

The University’s Department of Public Safety “does not inquire about or act on information related to immigration status, and does not partner with federal or state agencies to do so,” the webpage reads.

Dream Team member Cyntia Roig

’27 said that after Trump took office, the student organization held conversations where they asked each other: “Where do we stand? Are we still comfortable still being in the club? What does it mean for our families?”

Axel Martinez ’26, who co-founded the organization in spring 2023, emphasized that Trump’s policies affect more students on Brown’s campus than some might realize.

While the number of fully undocumented students at Brown is likely small — about 10 or 20, Martinez estimated — many more students come from “mixed-status” families, meaning they have parents or other relatives who are undocumented.

Martinez expressed worry that students

from mixed-status families would face obstacles when applying for federal financial

parent’s immigrant status, raising concerns that the administration could share this information with ICE, The Herald previously reported.

“Much of what we’ve seen from the White House is what we expected,” said Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, which trains students at Brown and other nearby universities to advocate for immigrant justice and provide legal support to those seeking asylum.

SCIJ and the Dream Team are both prioritizing safety and community as they look toward the coming weeks and months.

Josue Morales ’26, a member of the Dream Team, noted that students can support their undocumented friends simply by accompanying them in public spaces.

Morales said that the Dream Team will continue its long-standing practice of not advertising the location of its events in emails and will exercise discretion when speaking with the media.

aid under the Trump administration. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid asks for information that could point to a

For Martinez, despite the prevailing sadness and uncertainty in his community, the current moment is “in a weird way … rejuvenating.”

He added he’s excited to leverage his privilege — as a proficient English speaker and student at an elite university — to help undocumented people.

Martinez said the Dream Team is in the process of joining the Brown Activist Coalition, which includes Students for Educational Equity, Sunrise Brown and others.

Chapilliquen hopes that the move will make it clear that the Dream Team’s work “is not just a specific group’s issue” and is relevant to students of many backgrounds, she said.

ANISHA KUMAR / HERALD

“School isn’t a safe space anymore,” said Paola Chapilliquen ’27, a member of the Brown Dream Team. “you never know

MAX ROBINSON / HERALD

Cynthia Roig ’27, Axel Martinez ’26 and Paola Chapilliquen ’27.