Thursday, February 8th, 2024

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLIX, ISSUE 3

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

WHAT’S INSIDE

METRO

What happened to Rhode Island’s winter?

SEE WINTER PAGE 4

METRO

Registration campaign aims to increase RI voting SEE VOTING PAGE 4

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

A group of protestors plans to return to the Campus Center on Thursday morning to commence a “solidarity fast” that will last 36 hours. During that time, the protestors plan to remain in the Campus Center, according to Wednesday’s statement.

Hunger strike day six: Students hold campus sit-in, rally after striker drops out Students plan to participate in 36-hour “solidarity fast” starting Thursday

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP AND SAMANTHA CHAMBERS UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS On Wednesday, 18 student protesters started the sixth day of their hunger strike — now the “largest and longest hunger strike for Palestine in the U.S.,” according to a statement by the strikers shared with The Herald. The Herald was unable to identify a larger hunger

strike for Palestine since Oct. 7 in the United States.

Participation in the strike has decreased from 19 students after one participant dropped out of the strike on Tuesday due to a positive COVID-19 test, according to strike spokesperson Sam Stewart ’24. The striker is in good health, Steward said.

What happened Wednesday?

On Wednesday, the Graduate Labor Organization — which adopted divestment as the group’s “spring campaign” — held a rally with roughly 300 attendees on

STUDENT LABOR

the Main Green, where organizers encouraged students to walk out of classes in solidarity with the strike.

Following the rally, protest organizers led attendees into the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, where students plan to hold a sit-in until 12:00 a.m. Feb. 8 — the start date of the Corporation’s meetings, where protesting students demand the University hear a divestment resolution.

A group of protestors plans to return to the Campus Center on Thursday morning to commence a “solidarity fast” that will last 36 hours. During that

time, the protestors plan to remain in the Campus Center, according to Wednesday’s statement.

“Brown staff members continue to communicate with the students conducting the hunger strike and others in the Campus Center,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. “In particular, they are sharing guidance on Brown policies and protocols related to protest and demonstrations, and ensuring that students know that Brown has a range

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP AND ETHAN SCHENKER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND SENIOR STAFF WRITER Student workers at the Brown Center for Students of Color announced plans to unionize as the Third World Labor Organization Wednesday afternoon.

Organizers delivered a letter requesting voluntary recognition to the office of President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 during a Labor for Palestine rally hosted by the Graduate Labor Organization.

A 73% supermajority of the BCSC’s roughly 50 student workers voted in favor of forming TWLO, organizers

SEE AWARDEE PAGE 5

SPORTS

Margot Norehad ’27 scores fabled ‘Michigan’ goal

SEE MICHIGAN PAGE 6

POSTMAGAZINE

SEE STRIKE PAGE 3

CAMPUS ACTIVISM

BCSC student workers Meet hunger strikers plan to unionize calling on divestment 73% of student-employees have voted in favor of unionizing effort

U. professor wins Leukocyte Biology society award

said at the rally.

“With a group of students in roles at the Brown Center for Students of Color having notified the University of plans to seek unionization, we will review their request, determine the best next steps and respond directly to the student organizers,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.

The BCSC “serves as a gathering place for communities of color,” according to the Center’s website. It employs five professional staff and runs Brown’s Third World Transition Program, minority peer counseling program and hosts regular programming. The BCSC did not respond to requests for comment at press time.

In a post shared by the group on

SEE UNION PAGE 3

Four strikers share personal motivations for joining demonstration

BY DANA RICHIE SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Friday, 19 students stood behind a hand-painted banner that read “Hunger Strike for Palestine” on the balcony in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, kicking off an indefinite hunger strike that they say will last until the Brown Corporation “hears and considers a divestment resolution” in its February meeting starting Feb. 8.

The strike, announced earlier that day during a rally attended by around 350 students, calls on the Corporation to hear a resolution mirroring the 2020 report by the University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Re-

sponsibility in Investment Practices, which recommended divestment from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.” In a letter to the demonstrators, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 declined to meet the students’ demands, instead referring them to the ACCRIP’s successor, the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management.

Amid the buzz of organizers and attendees in the Leung Family Gallery during the following days, The Herald spoke with four strikers about their motivations for joining the hunger strike.

“Growing up in Palestine living under the occupation, I’ve known people who have been on hunger strikes for months out of Israeli prisons in which they were unlawfully detained,” said Aboud, an

SEE STRIKERS PAGE 16

SEE POST- PAGE 8

ARTS & CULTURE

SEE EXHIBIT PAGE 13

PAGE 2

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

TODAY WEEK IN PHOTOS:

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

On Feb. 2 19 students started an indefinite hunger strike until the University’s Corporation considers a divestment resolution related to the Israel-Palestine war. The students continue to strike despite President Christina Paxson’s refusal to meet their demands.

THIS WEEKEND Implementation Science Bootcamp Feb. 9 - 10th 8:30am - 4:30pm South Street Landing

Ballet RI “Up Close On Hope: Intimacy and Art, RI Style” Feb. 11 4:30pm - 6:30pm Ballet RI Studio

Color, Shape and Thought Feb. 9 12:00pm Watson Center for Information Technology (CIT)

Discussion with Dr. Amra SabicEl-Rayess ’00 Feb. 11 11:00am -12:00pm Watson Institute

NEXT WEEK A Conversation with Providence Mayor Smiley by The Brown Political Union Feb. 12th 8:30 p.m.

Sayles Hall Audiortorium

Film-Thinking, Dariush Mehrjui, “The Cow” Feb. 13 6:00 p.m.

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts

Love Remix: Growing Together: Queering Notions of Love and Connection Feb. 12. 6:00 p.m.

Stonewall House

Romantic Ragas: South Asian Music Workshop Feb. 14 6:00pm Grant Recital Hall

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNION from PAGE 1

ordinators, Heritage Series Programmers, Student Initiative Coordinators, Media Specialists and Front Desk Assistants, according to the letter.

If recognized by the University, TWLO will become the fifth student labor organization to form on campus since 2018, joining the Teaching Assistant Labor Organization, Graduate Labor Organization, Labor Organization of Community Coordinators and the Brown University Postdoc Labor Organization.

If TWLO fails to secure voluntary recognition from the University, organizers wrote that they will ask the National Labor Relations Board to facilitate an election. TWLO must win votes from a majority of BCSC

student workers to require recognition, according to NLRB rules. But organizers argue that an election would cause unnecessary delays to “a process that could instead be a productive relationship between BCSC student-employees and the University,” according to the letter.

At the rally, student organizers cited the “depoliticization” of the BCSC and alleged censorship of student workers’ programming as reasons for forming TWLO. TWLO student organizers also invoked the history of the Center’s founding as a response to student protests at the rally, citing it as a roadmap for the labor organization’s path forward. The BCSC opened as the Third World Center in the ’70s

after a series of protests in which students called for an increase in the proportion of incoming Black students and an increase in financial aid for students of color, according to the Center’s website. Organizers characterized the Center as a hotbed for student activism since then.

In 2014, the Center’s strategic planning committee recommended that the Center adopt a new mission statement and change its name from the Third World to the Brown Center for Students of Color.

“We’ve been noticing the Center for Students of Color hasn’t been as vocal in supporting students and students’ activism,” Ouyang said.

According to the Center’s website, “The BCSC makes concerted efforts

to engage the Center’s legacy of activism.”

At the rally, organizers also said that they feel “exploited” and demanded fair compensation for the Center’s student employees.

“Brown uses the BCSC to project its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion claims, but it doesn’t support its student works enough to pay them adequately and fairly,” Ouyang told The Herald.

In addition to improving working conditions and wages for BCSC employees, Gabi Venegas-Ramirez ’26 said that TWLO aims to secure a “legal safety net” that protects students and the Center’s professional staff from retaliation relating to their political advocacy.

STRIKE from PAGE 1

cannot be tolerated.”

The protest also featured the announcement of the Third World Labor Organization — a newly formed union for student employees in the Brown Center for Students of Color. Read additional Herald coverage of the announcement here.

The presence of pro-Palestinian chalk designs on sidewalks around campus has increased. On Wednesday afternoon, members of the University’s Facilities Management began removing them via powerwashing. Later that day, student activists re-chalked their designs.

Facilities Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brown Divest Coalition announced in an Instagram post that they would no longer publicize a daily “strikers’ schedule” as they had in past days due to instructions from SAO that the advertisements could be interpreted as “promoting ‘unregistered events’ that may lead to student conduct violations for our strikers.”

SAO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What health safeguards do the strikers have in place?

As the strike continues, worries for the health of the strikers have grown. One striker left the strike on the fifth day after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Prior to the strike, physicians advised that “in the event of a COVID-19 infection, the striker should drop out due to the unknown long-term effects of COVID-19 on a fasted body,” Stewart told The Herald.

The protestors were also cleared to participate in the strike by individual consultation with physicians prior to the demonstration, The Herald previously reported.

“All strikers have been testing for COVID daily and constantly wearing high quality masks, as has anyone who has interacted with them — everyone else continues to test negative and no one is symptomatic,” Stewart added.

According to Stewart, “there are thorough contingency plans in place in case of an emergency” as they continue “monitoring vitals regularly to ensure we are up to date on striker health.”

In a Friday letter to the protestors, Paxson encouraged the students to

“safeguard (their) health and well-being” while exercising their “right to protest.” She also highlighted University mental health and well-being resources.

She added that “protest is also unacceptable if it creates a substantial threat to personal safety of any member of the community.”

The University previously disenrolled four students participating in a hunger strike protesting the University’s partial divestment policy of South African apartheid in the 1980s.

The then-administration cited health and liability concerns for the disenrollment, according to a 1986 article

by The Herald.

Instagram explaining their motivations for forming the union, they expressed intentions to “protect the Center from censorship,” protect freedom of expression, “ensure Brown values the work of students of color” and “uphold the political legacy of the Third World Center.”

“We want to make sure that in our jobs, we have security and safety in voicing our political opinions, but also are paid adequately and have a say in our working conditions,” said TWLO organizer Jo Ouyang ’26, a BCSC minority peer counselor, in an interview with The Herald.

Student employees fill a range of roles at the BCSC, working as Minority Peer Counselors and Co-

of resources to provide care related to physical and emotional health, should those be needed.”

Stewart told The Herald that the strikers “have been and will continue to work closely with (the Student Activities Office), as we have since the start of the strike, to ensure that we are in compliance with the University’s Code of Conduct regulations.”

In December, 41 students were arrested after conducting a sit-in at University Hall to demand that the University divest from “Israeli military occupation.” The students were arrested under trespassing charges for remaining in a “secure, non-residential building after operating hours,” according to Clark.

The Campus Center, the location of Wednesday’s sit-in and Thursday’s solidarity fast, is open for student access with Brown ID for 24 hours, according to Campus Center Hours of Operation.

The University’s protest policy states that any demonstrations that will “interfere with the rights of others to make use of or enjoy the facilities or attend the functions of the University

What comes next?

The Corporation will begin its meetings on Thursday — the same day that over 200 students plan to occupy the Campus Center as part of a “solidarity fast.”

The agendas of Corporation meetings are not disclosed to the public, according to Senior Vice President for Communications Cass Cliatt.

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

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PAGE 4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

METRO

ENVIRONMENT

Punxsutawney Phil predicted early spring, but what happened to Rhode Island’s winter?

Meteorologists, climate researchers, residents discuss warming temperatures

BY TOM LI METRO EDITOR On Feb. 2, attention turned briefly to the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where the shadow of a chubby-cheeked 11-pound rodent serves as the ultimate weather forecast one day a year.

On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil — an alleged expert meteorologist — emerged from his burrow to a crowd of onlookers, all itching to see whether the woodchuck would see his shadow.

This year, Phil surfaced from his dwelling without spotting his shadow, which — according to tradition — indicated an early spring for the first time in three years. Over the course of his tenure since 1887, Phil has predicted 108 long winters and 21 early springs, with an accuracy rate of under 40%.

But as some celebrate an early spring, some on The Herald cannot help but wonder if Rhode Island even saw a winter season, which is more typically characterized by snow-capped trees, icy roads and New England Nor’easters. On Dec. 11, the temperature high in Providence was a comfortable 62 degrees – that’s sweater-and-shorts weather!

Where did winter go?

The “gold standard” of meteorological data in the state comes from the

Automated Surface Observing Station at the Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, according to Joseph Poccia, a senior air quality specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

Since 1933, there has been a slight rise in snowfall in the state, with 1945, 2015 and 2005 seeing the most snowfall at 82.3 inches, 74.3 inches and 71.3 inches, respectively.

This trend, “which is a bit surprising,” is “likely due to average winter temperatures over that 90-year span also increasing,” Poccia said.

While it might seem that warmer temperatures decrease snowfall, warmer winters are “giving the atmosphere an opportunity to hold more water vapor and possibly snow,” he added. “Average winter temperatures have been increasing, (but) they’ve still been cold enough to support an increase in snow near the surface.”

Blockbuster snowstorms have also contributed to the slight increase in average snowfall, Poccia added. He highlighted major “benchmark” storms, like the Blizzard of ’78 that brought nearly three feet of snow to Providence. Poccia also noted the prevalence of large storms in the past decade, including the 19.1inch blizzard in 2015.

But “this is likely beginning to change,” he said. Despite a few dramatic episodes of snowfall in recent decades, snowfall over the last 30 years “has been steadily starting to decrease” due to “a definitive rise in average winter tem-

perature.”

Over the last 30 years, rising temperatures have emerged as a consistent trend across the state.

Providence’s three warmest winters on record have all occurred since 2000 — 2015 to 2016, 2001 to 2002 and 2011 to 2012, with averages of 37.3 degrees Fahrenheit, 36.7 degrees Fahrenheit and 36.4 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.

Conversely, the three coldest winters all occurred prior to 1980.

The grinch stole Christmas — but who stole winter?

Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow may predict an early spring, but a human-to-groundhog language barrier prevents us from understanding just why he thinks winter is fading away.

It seems that “the most straightforward answer is climate change,” Poccia said.

“Since the start of the Industrial Revolution,” the earth’s population has “burned most of the fossil fuel that we’ve dug out of the ground,” he said. “Oil, petroleum, natural gas, coal — we’ve started to push the gas pedal … on the greenhouse effect, to a point where we’re net warming the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Rhode Island, along with greater Southern New England, is particularly susceptible to the changes driving warmer winter temperatures and decreased snowfall. “New England’s winters, on average, are warming faster than the rest of the U.S.,” Poccia added, citing the United STates Government’s Fifth

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

National Climate Assessment.

“It’s a product of living near the ocean,” he explained. “Since the oceans occupy such a large surface area over the planet, they absorb a lot of heat from the atmosphere, and they can hold on to that heat too.”

It’s likely that rising winter temperatures are a symptom of multiple factors. Poccia especially highlighted the jet stream weather patterns, as well as “weather coming down from Canada (and) up from the Atlantic Ocean, including tropical hurricanes.” Poccia also noted potential effects from El Nino and La Nina.

Human and environmental impact “When things change rapidly, as our climate is now, both humans and other living things struggle to keep up with the pace of change,” Stephen Porder, associate provost for sustainability and

professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology and environment and society, wrote in an email to The Herald.

“When I moved here in 2007, I could still teach my daughter to ski in R.I. — that’s not something she will be able to do with her children,” he added.

Alexandra Coia ’26 grew up in Cranston, R.I. and “vividly (remembers) there being multiple snowstorms a winter, and often a more intense blizzard mixed in,” she wrote in a message to The Herald.

“We got more than one snow day each winter and it really created great childhood memories of playing in the snow,” she added. “It barely snowed last year though — a couple of inches here and there — which takes a lot of fun out of the winter.”

Read more at browndailyherald.com This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 5, 2024.

METRO

Same-Day Voter Registration campaign seeks to increase voting access in R.I. R.I. Voting Access Coalition hopes to amend constitutional voting deadlines

BY MEGAN CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER Last month, the Rhode Island Voting Access Coalition held a rally for its Let RI Vote for Same-Day Voter Registration campaign. Over 33 community groups and several state officials were in attendance, including Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D), Sen. Alana DiMario (D-North Kingstown,​Narragansett, New Shoreham) and Rep. Karen Alzate (D-Pawtucket, Central Falls), according to a press release from Common Cause Rhode Island.

The campaign, led by Common Cause, is a part of broader efforts to increase voting access in Rhode Island. The state is one of 15 with a voter registration policy requiring residents to register to vote 30 days before an election. In R.I. same-day voter registration is only available for presidential elections.

According to John Marion, executive director of Common Cause, Rhode Island is also one of few states to codify their registration deadline in the state constitution.

“We see it as one of the last remaining large, structural barriers to increased (voter) participation,” Marion said. “We’re trying to position this as the most important democracy issue in (the state) right now.”

The campaign “is trying to get a

The campaign is a part of the broader efforts to increase voting access in Rhode Island. constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would allow for same-day voter registration,” he added.

The Voting Access Coalition is also led by a steering committee that includes community groups like Service Employees International Union and Planned Parenthood.

In their own fight for reproductive health, the organization recognizes that their goals can only be achieved “with the complete participation of everyone,” said Vimala Phongsavanh, a senior director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, in an interview with The Herald.

According to Alex Moore, political director of SEIU District 1199 New England, barriers to voting disproportionately affect renters and people experiencing housing instability, which

tend to be younger, of color and from low-income backgrounds.

“The neighborhood I grew up in was largely (Laotian), and a lot of folks were getting their citizenship but not registering to vote,” Phongsavanh said.

“Refugee communities like mine are harder (to register in) because most of them don’t speak English and … people don’t think it’s worth the investment” to register, as it’s a very small community.”

University organizations like Brown Votes have also highlighted the importance of same-day voter registration, specifically for students. Brown Votes member Logan Tullai ’25 said that “the 30-day restriction is very narrow, especially for first-year students arriving on campus” in an interview with The Herald.

“It’s also important for US citizens

COURTESY OF COMMON CAUSE

living abroad who are now going to school in Rhode Island … as well as the veteran population on campus” to have access to same-day voter registration, Tullai added. Brown Votes testified at the Rhode Island State House last spring for an earlier iteration of the campaign, The Herald previously reported.

According to a poll commissioned by partners of the Let RI Vote campaign, 61% of Rhode Islanders support same-day voter registration. A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst also found that Black and Latinx voter turnout increased by 2-17 percentage points in states with sameday registration.

Although there is no organized opposition to the campaign at the moment, the Republican caucus feels “that this is a completely unnecessary

move,” said House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale (R-Coventry, Foster, Glocester) in an interview with The Herald.

Chippendale added that because information about elections and voter registration is available well in advance, prospective voters should also be prepared and informed before election day. “All rights come with responsibilities,” he said.

But Phongsavanh believes that navigating the voting process can be difficult given different cultural backgrounds. When she ran for Woonsocket’s school committee in 2009, she and her father managed to register over 100 new voters, she shared. “People were excited (to vote), but this voting thing was new to them … and (some people) couldn’t because of this deadline we had,” she explained.

For the time being, addressing the amendment is not a priority for the Republican caucus. “Same-day voter registration is not even on our map,” said Chippendale. “We will not be discussing it until the day the vote comes.”

According to Marion, there’s still a long road ahead of the campaign. Once the change is introduced, the coalition will prepare for a hearing and lobby with legislative committees. If all goes according to plan, the constitutional amendment will appear on the ballot come November.

“Everybody’s optimistic that their bill is going to pass in January,” said Marion. “It’s when you get to June that you really find out what the obstacles are.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

PAGE 5

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Brown geoscientists named American Geophysical Union fellows Kim Cobb, Alberto Saal commended with ‘highest of honors’

BY JAANU RAMESH SENIOR STAFF WRITER Brown researchers Alberto Saal, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences, and Kim Cobb, director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, were both named to the 2023 class of fellows by the American Geophysical Union, a scientific organization.

Fellows are nominated yearly for scientific efforts that have “transformed our understanding of the world, impacted our everyday lives, improved our communities and contributed to solutions for a sustainable future,” according to the description of the award on AGU’s website.

For Saal, the journey began long before the award, when he began studying volcanoes from the Ordovician Period, which occurred about 450 million years ago. As a PhD student in Argentina, he began satisfying his love of the outdoors — particularly “mountains, lakes and oceans” — by studying lava. “Research evolves depending on the opportunities that appear to you,” said Saal.

Since 1998, Saal has been working to identify the chemical composition of the interior of the earth using lava collected from Samoa, the Andes, the middle of the ocean and Antarctica. When he began at Brown in 2003, he began to wonder: “Why

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NICK DENTAMARO / BROWN UNIVERSITY (LEFT) AND ALBERTO SAAL (RIGHT)

Fellows are nominated yearly for scientific efforts that have “transformed our understanding of the world, impacted our everyday lives, improved our communities and contributed to solutions for a sustainable future.” don’t I do the same thing for the Moon?”

Saal made a breakthrough in 2007, while working with samples from the Apollo missions. After identifying on the Moon concentrations of hydrogen and carbon similar to those on Earth, Saal and his team found evidence of water in the Moon’s interior. The findings suggested that “something that was very hot suddenly got quenched,” he said.

The discovery “​​undermined the bedrock conclusions of the Apollo missions that the Moon is much drier than the Earth and demanded rethinking of much of what we thought we knew about lunar petrology and geochemistry,” said Greg Hirth, chair of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.

New answers left room for many more questions, and Saal continues to

conduct lunar studies as missions from the United States, India, China, Japan and the European Union attempt to collect more data from the Moon. “There’s a sense of awe, but more a desire to answer more questions,” Saal said. “There’s not much time for contemplation, since you’re trying to solve as best you can. But when you stop and think, and look at the Moon at night, you feel the ‘wow’ factor.”

Saal is “an exceptionally straight-forward person who approaches science with a strong moral compass,” Hirth wrote in an email to The Herald. Hirth said he was struck by the humble and welcoming nature Saal fostered in his lab, and he shared fond memories of a field trip to see Argentina’s geological wonders together.

To be named an AGU fellow is a “nice

recognition from the community,” Saal said, adding that it gave him energy to do and learn more.

of K-12 students, among other efforts,” said Cobb. Those efforts, while deeply meaningful to Cobb, are often less valued

For Cobb, the award is the result of decades of work bridging climate science and community. As a college student in the 1990s, climate change struck Cobb as a “defining and enduring challenge of our species,” spurring her to pursue climate science as a career. Her work has involved building climate science toolkits at the local level, addressing the challenges of urban heat in Atlanta and transcending “traditional scholarship in building relationships with policymakers and deep investments in public engagement,” she said.

For partnerships in addressing the climate crisis to be “scalable and durable,” Cobb seeks to foster an understanding of shared goals of “safeguarding life, property (and) a thriving economy and keeping our nation secure.” She believes work connecting all levels of society and policy will engender change and has already achieved reductions in fossil fuel emissions and “massive public health wins.”

Cobb’s recent work at IBES has involved launching the Equitable Climate Futures initiative, which will “advance climate solutions to real-world stakeholders, whether they be elected officials (or) municipal leaders,” to combat “problems that arise from or (are) related to climate challenges in the climate crisis.”

“Stretching the margins of traditional scholarship, as I did, included public engagement and social media engagement

on the traditional physical science CV. For “my professional society (to) lift me up for this highest of honors gives me hope that all of the people that are out there trying to stretch the definitions of scholarship in this moment will find their work recognized and supported across academia,” she said.

As a woman in science, her accolades act as inspiration for more young girls wishing to succeed in STEM. Increasing the “vanishingly small” numbers of women recognized in the field is an important step to a more equitable landscape for women in the geosciences, she said, adding, “I think I’m the only mother of four daughters ever awarded an AGU fellow.”

This was a record year for women AGU Fellows, Cobb said.

James Marshall Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society and associate dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia, considers Cobb’s tremendous scientific achievements only a small part of her legacy.

“She has revolutionized student engagement and the art of broader communication to the public, media and stakeholders,” Marshall wrote in an email to The Herald. “She represents the epitome of how a 21st-century scientist should engage.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 4, 2024.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Brown professor named 2024 legacy awardee by Society for Leukocyte Biology Alfred Ayala to give keynote lecture on sepsis treatment at society’s meeting in October

BY LILIANA CUNHA STAFF WRITER Professor of Surgery Alfred Ayala received the Society for Leukocyte Biology’s 2024 Legacy Keynote Lecture Award, the highest recognition from the society, according to a Jan. 9 University press release.

The SLB is a community of researchers and clinicians focused on the field of immunology.

Ayala received the award, which is given annually, last October for his contributions to the field of immunology through his work in traumatic shock, injury and sepsis — a life-threatening response to infection — as well as their effects on the immune system.

“It’s always a bit of a surprise when I receive these things,” Ayala said in an interview with The Herald. “I’m often the face of the lab, but the reality is it’s the contributions of so many different people over the years. I’m kind of the creator of the general idea and the mission and provide the ideas, and they bring life to them.”

The 2024 SLB meeting, titled “Not Lost in Translation: Innate and Adaptive Immunity,” will convene Oct. 22 to Oct. 25 in Lansing, Michigan. There, Ayala will present the keynote lecture, “Mechanisms of Immune Dysfunction in Sepsis/Shock: Some Unique Roles for Checkpoint Proteins.”

Ayala began his training at Michigan State University, located in East Lansing.

“It’s ironic that this meeting is being held in East Lansing, where I started my postdoctoral training … which took me down this road in the first place,” he told The Herald. “For me, it closes the circle a little bit.”

With hundreds of manuscripts and review articles, Ayala has been a prominent figure in efforts to understand the effect of sepsis on immune cell function, and his lab has helped uncover the roles of various checkpoint proteins — which are responsible for detecting damaged DNA — and their respective surface ligand interactions in sepsis pathology.

Ayala “has pitched in more than his fair share to the scientific society,” said Professor of Surgery Craig Lefort. “For them to recognize his accomplishments both in science and also his service to the scientific community through this society is a great honor.”

Lefort, who has a close relationship with Ayala, has been in an adjacent field of research at Brown for almost 11 years. He referred to Ayala as a leader in identifying pathophysiological mechanisms of sepsis and a great colleague to collaborate with.

Lefort said Ayala’s research had informed work in his own lab. “We share technical expertise. We share equipment,” Lefort said. “I’m a frequent visitor to his office when there’s questions — not just about science, but also career development.”

Ayala held positions in the Department of Surgery at MSU before being recruited to

RI Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School, where servers as director of the Division of Surgical Research. In his interview with The Herald, Ayala emphasized the importance of mentorship throughout his lengthy academic career.

“I came from a small state university and didn’t have a great record for research, but I had a good mentor, and that was the trick,” Ayala said. “I’ve been lucky to have the kind of mentors that made a difference in how I ended up working in this area in the first place.”

During his tenure at Brown, Ayala has mentored students ranging from undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows and surgical residents, he said.

Ayala “definitely is a unique type of mentor in the sense that he’s given me a lot of room to grow as an independent scientist,” said Chyna Gray PhD’23, a current post-doctoral research fellow who has worked with Ayala since her undergraduate years. “I’ve really had ownership of my project.”

Gray got her PhD in Ayala’s lab, where she’s been studying the role of a cell surface protein called VISTA and its role in sepsis.

In Ayala’s presentation at the SLB meeting later this year, he will outline his lab’s work and how it has led him to his present understanding of the need for a more personalized approach in future therapeutic treatment.

“The biggest challenge is that a lot of drugs have come to the floor that modify immune post-responsiveness and, because we have this general diagnostic for what

COURTESY OF ALFRED AYALA

Alfred Ayala emphasized the importance of mentorship in the career development of young scientists. a septic individual is, for someone with multiple organ failure, it’s not specific enough,” Ayala said.

In efforts to diversify treatment, Ayala’s lab has been working to understand the role of a number of different immune checkpoint proteins in sepsis pathology.

“We’re not all focusing on the same protein; we’re not all focusing on the same cell type,” Gray said. “We’re each contributing to this big picture to hopefully inform the choices that clinicians make in creating that individualized treatment plan for patients.”

Further down the line, the researchers

hope to have more standardized methods of diagnosing and stratifying patients in order to explore new drugs that are based on an individual’s biological expression.

“There has been a recognition that sepsis is not one thing, similar to what the cancer field went through decades ago,” Lefort said. “A lot of future treatments and clinical approaches will depend on identifying what patient is going to respond to which treatment, rather than a single magic bullet that treats all of sepsis.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 6, 2024.

PAGE 6

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

SPORTS WOMEN’S WATER POLO

Women’s water polo wins three of six games at Bruno Classic Offensive play from Palmer ’26, Suong ’25 leads Bears through tournament

underdog performance and dropped both games to end the weekend with an even 3-3 record.

weekend, but I think the most important one is that we are nowhere near where we need to be to be our best, and that is exciting,” Mercado wrote. “This is a great group of young women who believe in each other. That will be our driving force to get to the top of the mountain.”

This weekend, the women’s water polo team (4-4) hosted the Bruno Classic at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center. Bruno came away with three victories and three losses after some challenging matches against ranked opponents.

“This weekend was highly anticipated as many of our key players are injured and currently unable to play. I think a lot of us, including me, were nervous about how we were going to be able to perform so early in the season and without many of our teammates,” Emily Suong ’25 wrote in a message to The Herald.

Head Coach Felix Mercado praised the team for persevering “in difficult situations where folding looked like the only option.”

“Falling behind to three quality opponents was not the situation we wanted to put ourselves in, but it did show us how we can be resilient and fight to get back in the game,” he added.

Bruno came out hot in their first match of the weekend, taking on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-4) and grabbing themselves an 18-14 victory to kick the weekend off. The Bears won the game after an eight-goal third period to take the lead.

The victory was led by Suong, who notched a team-high six goals.

“Especially for myself, I felt it was time for me to step up as a new upper-

fensively than I have in the past,” Suong wrote in a message to The Herald. “This past weekend, I felt a lot more confident and aware of my role on this team.”

Utility players Ella Palmer ’26 and Claire Poissonnier ’25 both managed to find the back of the net three times to complement Suong’s performance.

Later that day, the Bears took on Salem (2-10) and handed them a resounding 14-7 defeat. Bruno dominated the Tigers, leading them through the entire match.

Palme managed to score four more times, bringing her daily total to seven.

The Bears opened their Saturday with a match against No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer (3-3) in a nail-biting 13-12 loss.

“We understand (that) while no one wants to lose tough games, no one wins championships in February. With this mindset, I feel good that this will only make us hungrier if we truly want to not be comfortable with losing,” Mercado wrote in an email to The Herald.

Despite it being their first loss of the weekend, the match featured impressive solo performances from Palmer and Suong. Suong assisted on two goals and

direct approach to the offense, scoring on six different occasions with no assists for half of Brown’s points.

On the defensive side, goalkeeper Roxanne Hazuka ’26 made 13 saves during the match but was unable to keep out the winning shot.

“Being in a dog fight is always super intense and stress-inducing, especially when facing a team we know we can beat,” Suong wrote. “Making sure all of us are calm and collected is a huge part of beating a team out, but it really comes down to who wants it more — who is willing to look past their exhaustion to go the extra mile.”

The Bears looked to go the extra mile in their match against Austin College (0-4) that afternoon. They succeeded in shredding the Kangaroos in a 17-4 rout.

Gaby Montalvo ’27 made her first appearance on the scoresheet, crushing with five goals to lead the Bears to the win.

Heading into Sunday, the Bears looked to face No. 15 Indiana (8-0) and No. 20 Wagner (6-2), their toughest two match-ups of the weekend. Despite the positive conclusion to Saturday, the Bears

“I don’t think it was fatigue as much as it was playing better teams,” Mercado wrote of the team’s Sunday performance.

“Our team trains and conditions for these particular moments. I have never shied away from pushing them to their limits early on so we can build a certain mindset when it matters in April.”

Mercado noted that the team has replaced “five starters from last year’s team.” “We needed this weekend to get better,” he said.

In their match against Indiana, Hazuka had another 13-save game, but despite her defensive stand, a stagnant offense crushed the Bears. Suong and Hanna Tidrenczel ’27 scored two each — the only bright spots on the offense in the 11-6 loss.

After an impressive comeback in the second quarter against Wagner, Bruno entered halftime level with the Seahawks at 7-7. Coming out into the second half, however, the Bears couldn’t hold the lead for the rest of the match, and despite good team-play — with three players scoring more than one goal — the Bears dropped the game 13-10.

“Considering we were down quite a few key players, I think we did an amazing job keeping up with the other competitive teams,” Suong wrote. “We were exhausted but still put an immense amount of effort in and fought until the end, regardless of the score. I am extremely proud of this team and excited about what else we have in store.”

The Bears hit the road the weekend of Feb. 17 for the Santa Clara tournament to continue their season.

classman and contribute a lot more of-

scored twice herself. Palmer took a more

were unable to put together a convincing

“We have a lot of lessons from this

BY DENNIS CAREY SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The Bears hit the road the weekend of Feb. 17 for the Santa Clara tournament to continue their season.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 6, 2024.

SPORTS

BY THE NUMBERS

10 Brown women’s hockey won 4-2 against Union on Friday night for the team’s 10th win of the year and first double-digit win season since 2006-07.

5 Of the eight goals scored in the 4-4 tie between Union and Brown men’s hockey on Saturday night, five were scored in the offense-heavy third period, with two goals by Brown.

42 Brown men’s hockey goaltender Lawton Zacher ’27 had 42 saves, including a highlightreel glove save five minutes into the second period against Union on Saturday night.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Margot Norehad ’27 scores fabled ‘Michigan’ goal Norehad scores historic goal to propel Bears to a 4-1 win over No. 5 Quinnipiac

WOMEN’S

WATER POLO VS. CLAREMONT VS. SALEM VS. POMONA-PITZER BASKETBALL VS. PENN VS. PRINCETON

BY DENNIS CAREY SPORTS EDITOR On Jan. 27, the women’s hockey team (10-13-2, 6-10-2 ECAC) achieved a dominant home win against No. 5 Quinnipiac (22-7-1, 11-7-0 ECAC) in a game that will go down in the history books — but not for the win.

The fabled “Michigan” goal was scored in a NCAA game by Mike Legg for the University of Michigan in the 1996 NCAA tournament. The stick he used to score that goal now sits in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

A “Michigan” goal occurs when “a skater will scoop the puck onto the blade of their stick, and then with the puck still on the blade, whip the stick around the net and try to tuck the puck in a top corner over a goalie’s shoulder,” according to Sporting News.

According to a University news release, fewer than ten NHL players have completed the perfect “Michigan” since that fateful 1996 day.

Until Jan. 27, there had only been one recorded “Michigan” goal by a women’s ice hockey player. Now there are two.

With the game tied 1-1 against the

SCORES RECAP

TENNIS VS. PORTLAND VS. VILLANOVA VS. HOLY CROSS

W 18-14 W 14-7 L 12-13 L 56-77 L 63-76 W 4-3 W 6-1 W 7-0

MEN’S

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

First-year Margot Norehad ’27 scored the “Michigan” goal in a match against Quinnipiac to become the second women’s hockey player in history to do so.

Bobcats, forward Margot Norehad ’27 circled behind the net, carefully lifted the puck onto her stick and flicked it into the uppermost corner of the goal to take the lead and cement her place in history.

When Cameron Sikich ’25 passed Norehad the puck in the neutral zone, Norehad immediately thought of the “Michigan,” she wrote in a message to The Herald. “When I was skating around (the defender), instead of trying to force myself through the middle of the ice I decided to go behind the net. I thought to myself if (the de-

fender) doesn’t follow me behind the net I am going to do ‘The Michigan.’”

The news of this incredible feat spread quickly around the world of sports. The goal appeared as the day’s No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter.

“The reaction and support from everyone has been unreal and I am so blessed and thankful to have the ability to make history,” Norehad wrote.

“It was a very surreal moment seeing my goal on SportsCenter and it’s an honor I don’t take lightly.”

The complex “Michigan” maneuver is something Norehad had only ever

attempted on her own time, outside of official Brown practice. She never imagined actually having the chance to use it.

“I would visualize myself successfully doing the ‘Michigan’ during a game but didn’t focus much on it. I just figured it would be a good skill to have if the time ever presented itself during a game,” Norehad wrote.

Despite Norehad’s historic goal, she still credits the underdog win to good team synergy and a group effort.

“The ECAC is a very competitive and talented league where 90% of the

TENNIS VS. FARFIELD VS. OLD DOMINION

W 7-0 L 0-7

ICE HOCKEY VS. RENSSELAER VS. UNION

L 1-3 T 4-4

WRESTLING VS. PENN VS. PRINCETON

L 0-39 L 12-34

players in the league could pull off the ‘Michigan,’” Norehad wrote. “All around, that win was a total team effort; everyone played outstanding.”

Norehad has already established herself as a regular player in her firstyear with Bruno. She is fourth overall on the team in points, third in goals scored and first in “SportsCenter” appearances.

“This is only just the beginning for me,” Norehad wrote. “I have a long way to go and a lot to do and learn in order to be the player I want to be. With discipline and consistency, I will reach my full potential, and I’m looking forward to what the future has in store for me.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 7

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Men’s basketball defeats Penn 70-61, falls 70-60 against Princeton in weekend contests Home crowd powers Bears to Friday night win over Quakers

BY LYDELL DYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER “We have to take it one day at a time,” star forward Nana Owusu-Anane ’25 said in an interview with The Herald.

“One day at a time, win the day” was the mantra of the Bears as they entered a weekend double-header of Ivy League play. On Friday night, with over 1,000 fans in the audience for Brown’s whiteout game, the men’s basketball team (6-15, 2-4 Ivy) hosted the Penn Quakers (9-12, 1-5 Ivy) at the Pizzitola Sports Center, ending with the Bears taking a 70-61 victory over their divisional rivals.

Coming into the contest tied for fourth place, both teams looked to secure their second Ivy League victory of the season. The key to the Bears’ success was a collage of dominant performances. Two players posted double-doubles — with Owusu-Anane scoring 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Kalu Anya ’26 collecting 13 rebounds to match his 13 points. Kino Lilly Jr. ’25 matched his Ivy-Leagueleading points-per-game margin after a scoreless first half, knocking down 19 points in the second.

“We had some stretches of really terrific offensive execution,” Head Coach Mike Martin ’04 said following the win. “We think we can win every

game we play, but you’ve got to start with one first.”

Facing a lethal offensive opponent

a Quaker defender. The Bears led for most of the second, and after outscoring Penn by 12 points in the half,

— with Penn entering the game leading the Ivy League in both three-point percentage and offensive rebounding — the Bears’ defense had their work cut out for them. But stellar efforts kept Penn to a mere 3-21 from beyond the arc, and Brown outrebounded the Quakers 44-39.

Down by one point halfway through the first, the Bears looked to their most productive player, Owusu-Anane, who went 6-8 from the field for a total of 13 points in the first half alone. Hitting a floater from the key, he invigorated the offense, initiating a 9-0 run that featured a driving layup

by Anya and a three-point play by Aaron Cooley ’25. Even after a Penn score, Brown’s offense stayed in rhythm, and following a back-to-back triple and layup by Owusu-Anane, Bruno claimed a 30-19 lead.

But the Bears were unable to keep that advantage heading into halftime.

“Our offense didn’t help our defense,” Martin said after the Bears gave up a 14-point run. “We turned (the ball) over too much. (Penn is) a good basketball team, (but) we can’t allow them to make the run they made.”

Entering the second half down 3532, the Bears fired on all cylinders.

Lilly Jr., who went scoreless throughout the first, came alive, going 7-17 from the field and 4-4 from the stripe.

The play of the game came with four minutes left, when Anya posterized

the team coasted to a 70-61 victory.

“We wanted to protect our home court,” Owusu-Anane said after the game. “We wanted to bounce back (from last week’s loss). We executed well. I’m just happy we got the win.”

However, the team was not afforded the luxury of celebrating the win for long. Less than 24 hours later, they faced a difficult defeat against the Princeton Tigers.

“One of the great but also frustrating things about this league is that you (always) have to bring it,” Martin said in a press conference Saturday night. “You have one good win on Friday, but you can’t rest on your win.

You’ve got to bring it the next night.”

“Bringing it” is exactly what the Bears did in the first half, raining down an avalanche of triples. Facing an aggressive Princeton defense, the Bears pushed hard in transition, pressured the paint and then looked for open opportunities from beyond the arc. Over the course of the first half, the Bears knocked down five triples, four of which came within the first nine minutes.

The three-point game “was definitely something we tried to attack,” said Kimo Ferrari ’24 — who hit three triples and totaled 11 points — in an interview with The Herald following the game. “When you have guys like Kino and Nana on your team” — both of whom draw a lot of attention and

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Over 1,000 fans attended Friday evening’s whiteout game against the Penn Quakers, where the Bears emerged victorious with a 70-61 final box score. are consistently double covered — “there’s a lot of space on the other side for some threes for me, Cooley and Felix.”

Despite their efficient distance game, the Bears trailed by two coming into the second half. Offensively, Brown hit more field goals and three pointers than the Tigers in the second, but still, they were unable to overcome Princeton’s lead for more than a few seconds at a time.

The game came to a head with eight minutes left, after Lilly’s seventh straight point for the Bears brought Princeton’s lead down to a two-point margin. But at this make-or-break point, Brown couldn’t capitalize and after several missed shots, Princeton pulled away.

“We had the ball,” Martin said, contemplating the moment, “and a wide open three on the wing with a

guy that we love shooting that shot, (but) it just didn’t go down.”

“They’re a good team,” Owusu-Anane said after the loss. “They presented a bunch of challenges. I feel like we have to be honest: we had a lot of shots that didn’t fall — wide open shots. I think that was really the key to the story: they hit their shots, we didn’t hit ours.”

The Bears will next face Columbia on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

“We have to protect our home court,” Martin said at the press conference. “Columbia’s playing really good basketball … They’re really good offensively, play at a fast pace (and) have a lot of guys that can shoot it …

They’re going to be a great challenge.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 6, 2024.

MEN’S HOCKEY

Men’s hockey draws even with Union after physical overtime battle Injury-ridden Bears arrive at tie with Union at Meehan Auditorium

BY COOPER HERMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER In a lengthy game beset by injuries, the men’s hockey team (8-12-2, 6-8-1 ECAC) hosted Union (12-12-2, 6-6-2 ECAC) at Meehan Auditorium on Saturday night. Though the Bears defeated Union on Jan. 5, the Garnet Chargers gave the Bears a tougher challenge this time around.

Saturday’s duel between the Bears and Garnet Chargers was immediately physical, with both teams playing tough throughout the game. From slashing and cross-checking to brutal hits against the boards, both teams came out of the gates ready to go. The game turned into a defensive battle in the first period, with both teams firing shot after shot but failing to find a scoring play.

The Bears found their offensive mojo first, going on a series of runs that included three shots in the span of just 30 seconds in the middle of the first period. Not long after, the Chargers responded with an offensive stint of their own, firing two shots at Bruno goaltender Lawton Zacher ’27. Zacher shielded both shots and left the game scoreless.

But at the 14:23 mark, the Bears led an offensive push that paid off. Ryan Botrill ’26 made a savvy move that allowed him to get a direct shot at Union

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Nick Traggio ’26 knocked the Bears’ first goal into the net. goaltender Kyle Chauvette. Chauvette deflected Botrill’s shot in the direction of Nick Traggio ’26, who quickly rebounded the puck and knocked it past the Union defense to end the game’s scoring drought, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead after the first period.

“It actually went off my chin, then my shoulder and (into the goal). More of a lucky goal than anything but the guys made a good play and (I’m) happy it ended up in the back of the net,” Trag-

gio wrote in a statement to The Herald.

Unlike the first period, the second period highlighted both teams’ offensive firepower. At the 10:54 mark, a Union forward was penalized for hitting from behind, giving the Bears a promising power-play opportunity.

Roughly a minute later, Bruno forward Mike Cataldo ’27 capitalized on the advantage, launching the puck past the Union defense to secure the Bears a 2-0 lead. But just as the Bears

appeared to be pulling away, Union forward Caden Villegas ended the second period by launching the puck past Zacher, which stifled the Meehan crowd’s excitement and cut the Garnet Chargers’ deficit to one.

Brown stood resilient, coming out of the game’s second intermission with an immediate response. Just 30 seconds into the third period, Botrill made another swift move to the goal and finished the play himself, firing the puck into the net to extend the Bruno lead to 3-1.

For the next nine minutes, both teams fought relentlessly on defense and things were looking up for Brown.

But at the 10:18 mark, Union’s Nate Hanley threatened the Bruno lead by scoring a goal that brought the Chargers back within one. Just three minutes later, Brown forward Tyler Kopff ’27 scored a goal that provided the Bears with some extra cushion as the clock wound down.

But just as the game seemed to be in the hands of Bruno, the Garnet Chargers found a last burst of momentum.

With an empty net, Union managed to score two goals in the period’s final five minutes to bring the game to an even 4-4, sending it to overtime.

Following a five-minute overtime period, the Garnet Chargers won the shootout, offering them an extra ECAC point.

The Bears’ biggest challenge on Saturday, according to Traggio, “was being able to increase our lead to three.”

“Being able to score that next one

to put the game away is a hard thing to do, especially in our league where games are usually low-scoring,” Traggio wrote in a statement to The Herald.

After the game, Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94 said he would have liked to see more “energy,” “grit” and “hunger.” “I’d like to see us get back to our identity,” he added.

Despite the game’s displeasing finish, Whittet is hopeful.

“We’re dealing with a lot of injuries — like, a lot, and to guys that play a lot of minutes for us. I think we’re right on the cusp of something special,” he said.

The Bears are strikingly young.

With sixteen underclassmen — including eight freshmen — the team’s identity has been shaped by its youth.

“The future’s really bright … We have some very, very talented young kids. Having a young team provides an energy, a spark. They want to win, they want Brown to win and they want to be guys that hold up the ECAC trophy,” Whittet said in a statement to The Herald.

“Tribute to my staff, it’s an outstanding class,” he added.

The Bears will have to shake off Saturday’s struggles and prepare for their next opponent, Yale (9-13-1, 6-91 ECAC), whom they will play on Friday in New Haven at 7 p.m. Friday’s game will be a shot at redemption for the Bears, who lost to the Bulldogs back in October at the Meehan Auditorium.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 4, 2024.

post-

APR 14 — VOL 31 — ISSUE 9

See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH

FEB 8 — VOL 33 — ISSUE 1

Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, I felt a lot scurrying up the stairs to prod tonight: the singe of cigarettes in the air, the two-day-after (overmorrow) tinge of pain in my lower quads, the anticipated Trader Joe’s Chocolatey Coated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dunkers binge as we snack and work. I also felt scared; though I’d had a testrun last semester, this is the first time I’m “running the show,” so to speak. Despite calling this little backroom of 88 Benevolent my Wednesday (previously Thursday) home for as long as I’ve been at Brown, it definitely felt a little weird having to start the chitter-chatter instead of being able to revel in the amusing crossfire of it all. However, as the night is winding down, I must say that as scary as it was to walk up those stairs a couple hours ago, this group has a true knack for calming all the butterflies (or should I say moths?).

This week, our writers are facing their own fears. In Feature, the writer discusses how they use walking to deal with the weight of the world bearing down on them. In Narrative, one writer explores the fear and nostalgic beauty of first experiences while the other writer shares the kind of fears that were previously only shared with their diary. Meanwhile, one writer in Arts & Culture confronts the distress of separation explored in Past Lives, and the other one works on making the unease of silence a little more easy. Finally, in Lifestyle, we’ve got a Valentine’s themed crossword to help everyone get ready for the festivities (which can be scary, I suppose), and another writer hypothesizes about the best ways to make money based on your astrological sign—okay, I guess that’s not so scary :) As shopping period comes to a close and we all need to face the fears of this impending semester (spring is always better, I swear!), I can think of no better way to escape than with our first edition. So take a moment today and get in the habit of spending your Thursdays with post-! I promise we’ve got an amazing, wonderful, fantabulous suite of issues coming this semester! Can’t wait to share them with you!

Kicking my feet for the next year of post-,

Joe Maffa

See Full Issue:

Editor-in-Chief

ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH

Treasure Under Our Feet Sydney Pearson

My Memories Keep 2

Anonymous

Resonating with Silence Eleanor Dushin

6

6

3

The Delicacy of Firsts Gabi Yuan 4

Astrology for Hustlers Olivia Cohen 7

Heart-to-Heart AJ Wu

9

Do You Remember Me? Sofie Zeruto 5

“We’re sitting there watching football.

I sit criss-cross applesauce and my balls fall out.”

“Now, kindergarteners are where the real money is at.”

1

Nuts 3

2

4

1. Cashews 2. Donuts 3. Deez.

4. Dark Chocolate–covered Almonds 5. Me when I’m nuts for you 6. Roasted pecans 7. ;) 8. the Egyptian sky goddess 9. & bolts 10. post-... clarity

Heart-to-Heart

by AJ Wu

Across 5

1 Hugs and kisses 3 ____ cute :)

6

Sherlock Holmes Refers to her as "the woman" Like someone who says, 7 "Erm, actually..." actress 8 Broadway Phillipa who played Eliza Schuyler

5 7

Down 8

1

Heart in Chinese pinyin

2

Metals in their raw form

3

Uh-oh...backspace, backspace, backspace Kylo Ren's love interest

4

6 The Greek counterpart to Cupid

“I’m glad someone decided to save those notebooks and glad that, at least, this kind of purposelessness will remain. If anything, we’ve become more compulsive about documenting and compiling our things with no promise that we will ever return to them.”

—Alissa Simon, “Christmas Adventures in OpenAI” 2.17.23

“Despite it all, though, a 60 degree day unlocks the part of my brain that usually slumbers the winter away. My shoulders get a well-earned rest from scrunching up against the cold, my room gets some fresh air rolling in through the window.”

—Kyoko Leaman, “Letter from the Editor” 2.18.22

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joe Maffa

Section Editors Emily Tom Ananya Mukerji

FEATURE Managing Editor Klara Davidson-Schmich

LIFESTYLE Managing Editor Tabitha Lynn

Section Editors Addie Marin Elaina Bayard

Section Editors Jack Cobey Daniella Coyle

ARTS & CULTURE Managing Editor Elijah Puente

HEAD ILLUSTRATORS Stella Tsogtjargal Junyue Ma

Section Editors Christine Tsu Emilie Guan

COPY CHIEF Eleanor Peters

NARRATIVE Managing Editor Katheryne Gonzalez

Copy Editors Indigo Mudhbary AJ Wu Gabi Yuan

SOCIAL MEDIA HEAD EDITORS Kelsey Cooper Tabitha Grandolfo LAYOUT CHIEF Gray Martens Layout Designers Amber Zhao Alexa Gay Romilly Thomson STAFF WRITERS Dorrit Corwin Liza Kolbasov Gabi Yuan Elena Jiang Sofie Zeruto Sarah Kim Samiha Kazi

Aalia Jagwani AJ Wu Olivia Cohen Ellie Jurmann Sean Toomey Sarah Frank Emily Tom Evan Gardner Audrey Wijono Jeanine Kim Sydney Pearson Samira Lakhiani Cat Gao Indigo Mudhbary Will Hassett Ayoola Fadahunsi Joyce Gao Eleanor Dushin Malena Colon Alaire Kanes

Want to be involved?

Email: joseph_maffa@brown.edu!

post–

Want to be involved?

Email: joseph_maffa@brown.edu!

February 8, 2024

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

COMMENTARY

Azoulay, Goldman ScM’19, Karp, Murphy, Schapira MFA’06: Faculty and staff should join hunger striking students in calling for divestment Editor’s Note: The authors are faculty and staff members of Brown Academics for Justice in Palestine, a coalition of faculty and staff across various Brown departments.

As members of Brown Academics for Justice in Palestine, we stand in solidarity with the students hunger striking to demand that Brown divest its endowment from companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza and the broader Israeli occupation. We support students’ demands for President Paxson and Chancellor Mencoff to include a divestment resolution on the agenda of the Brown Corporation’s Feb. 8-9 meeting and to permit representatives chosen by the strikers to present the case for divestment to the corporation.

Moreover, upon the fulfillment of those demands, we call for the corporation to publicly commit to conduct a formal vote on this resolution as a full body in the presence of these student representatives.

As we continue to build on and contribute to these students’ efforts to hold Brown accountable for its material complicity in these acts, we call on our colleagues and co-workers to do the same.

The students’ demonstration of nonviolent

protest is consistent with both First Amendment rights and academic freedom and we share their desire for and commitment to an immediate ceasefire and a lasting peace. As

for the leadership of students who have woven historical context, critical engagement with the Brown community and their deep empathy for the people of Palestine. As fellow members

“

We express our highest gratitude for the leadership of students who have woven historical context, critical engagement with the Brown community and their deep empathy for the people of Palestine.”

members of the Brown community, standing in solidarity with students, we firmly condemn any use of invested funds to materially support genocide and war crimes against the people of Palestine. We express our highest gratitude

of the Brown community, we must match their courage and leadership and identify ways to build and contribute to student efforts, while acknowledging the varying barriers of university, employment and student policy we face in

our actions.

We continue to repudiate retaliatory actions from outside the university (such as doxxing, harassment, attacks by non-community members and calls to dismiss faculty, staff or administrators without cause) that are hostile to its mission. However, we maintain that the striking Brown students’ actions are consistent with the university’s values and with the critical thinking, informed principles and ethical action with which we wish our students to meet the world; we owe it not just to them but to the people of Palestine to be guided by their example. The destruction of Palestinian life, safety and basic human rights horrifies us to the core.

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Jackie Goldman ScM’19, Aaron Karp, Connor Murphy and Kate Schapira MFA’06 can be reached at ariella_azoulay@brown.edu, jacqueline_ goldman1@brown.edu, aaron_karp@brown. edu, connor_murphy@brown.edu and kate_schapira@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Ouyang P’26, Rojas P’25, Garo P’24: Brown must drop charges against 41 student demonstrators Editor’s note: this op-ed was signed by 17 parents of protestors arrested during a Dec. 11 sit-in at University Hall. The full list of signatories appears at the bottom of this op-ed.

We are concerned parents of Brown undergraduates who were among the 41 students arrested while holding a peaceful political demonstration in University Hall on Dec. 11, 2023. Brown has declined to drop charges against them. While we express no position on the issues underlying the protest, we respectfully request that the University address the students’ actions in a way that is consistent with Brown’s ethos of civic engagement by dropping the criminal charges and taking no severe disciplinary measures against them.

On Dec. 11 our children — Brown students — participated in peaceful, collective action that they believe reflects the University’s proud history of non-violent activism.

They exercised their freedom of expression while avoiding property damage, discrimination or harassment. Their action was consistent with the request in President Christina Paxson’s P’19 P’MD’20 all-community letter, as it was “grounded in (Brown’s) mission of advancing knowledge and understanding within a caring and inclusive environment.” As parents, we feel let down by the University’s decision to pursue criminal charges against them for peacefully voicing their concerns.

The University encourages young people to think critically and to challenge conventional ideas. This diverse group of students decided to attend Brown — and we supported their decision — largely because of this reputation. Furthermore, Brown promotes its history of student protest as a signifi-

cant part of its identity. The University Library website hosts an extensive virtual exhibit on the history of student protest on campus. Its introductory page presents the case for dropping criminal charges perfect-

but also by actively assisting the unhoused, advocating for racial and environmental justice and participating in research, the arts and peer advising. They are the kind of students and community members both

“ We respectfully request that the University address the students’ actions in a way that is consistent with Brown’s ethos of civic engagement by dropping the criminal charges and taking no severe disciplinary measures against them.

ly: “The smart and gifted leaders of tomorrow make efforts to change Brown and the world while they are here. … (A) reputation for activism sets Brown students and alumni apart.”

As members of the Brown community, we agree. These students are “the smart and gifted leaders of tomorrow.” They foster positive change at Brown, in Providence, and worldwide, not only by peaceful protest,

the University and we as parents encourage them to be. We are dismayed by the University’s overly punitive response that may hinder their future contributions to society.

For example, many of the students aspire to become school teachers. In many states, an applicant for a teaching license must disclose a criminal record even if it has been expunged.

Finally, we are deeply concerned that

our children face disparate treatment compared to the earlier group of twenty student protesters whose charges were dropped for a comparable protest by President Paxson, who cited “tensions on campus” as a motivating factor for dropping the charges. As parents who have put our trust in the University, we expect the consistent application of standards for our children — who represent diverse racial, ethnic, religious, gender and socioeconomic backgrounds — in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act referenced in President Paxson’s all-community letter. We encourage her to similarly drop the charges against the 41 students who participated in the peaceful sit-in on Dec. 11.

We urge Brown to address internal dissent through dialogue rather than criminal prosecution. President Paxson’s position grants her significant influence over the University’s response. We look to her leadership to ensure that our students’ protest is addressed in a manner consistent with Brown University’s legacy of justice, its dedication to fostering a caring and inclusive environment, and its recent decisions related to similar protests on campus.

We request a response and open dialogue from University administrators on this matter. We appreciate the consideration of our concerns and we eagerly await President Paxson’s response.

Additional signatories: Julia Bentley P’24, Desi Bradley P’25, Vince Bradley P’25, Li Cai P’24, Graciela Ensenat P’24, Kristina Garo P’24, Jun Hu P’24, Wan Ji P’24, Diana Ramirez-Baron P’26,P’27, Thomas Schaller P’24, George Theoharis P’24, Maribel Tineo P’25, Xiaojun Xu P’26, Sarah Zhou P’25

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 11

COMMENTARY

Editorial: Need-blind international admissions is an important step on a long road to educational equity The University announced Jan. 25 that it will shift to a need-blind admissions process for international students, beginning with the class of 2029. The decision comes just over 20 years after Brown adopted a need-blind policy for domestic applicants in 2003, which barred financial background or ability to pay tuition from affecting chances of admission. The decision to extend this policy to international applicants is a welcome and necessary step to make a Brown education affordable for a greater number of students — but much work remains to equalize the admissions process.

The expansion of need-blind policy comes amid a wider reckoning with class privilege in higher education. Studies show that wealthy students are admitted to elite private universities at significantly higher rates than similarly qualified low and middle-income applicants.

This is especially true for Brown, which ranks 230th out of the 286 most selective colleges in

international students on aid, this can contribute to a harmful assumption that international students are a homogeneously wealthy group.

The new policy of need-blind admissions will hopefully begin to reverse this stereotype.

As more schools adopt a need-blind approach to domestic admissions, international students are consistently excluded. Universities often rely on the assurance of full-tuition payments from a certain number of international students to generate their revenue. The fact that Brown is only the eighth college to extend need-blind admissions to international applicants shows the breadth of this financial challenge. The fundraising and administrative efforts that made need-blind international admissions (and other initiatives like the Brown Promise) possible are admirable and show a sustained commitment to dissolving economic barriers for all students.

That being said, access to financial aid does not remedy all of the inequities in college admis-

inherent in attending better-funded high schools or having connections to university alums all mean that simply getting financial aid does not level the playing field entirely. This is especially true for international students. Schools outside of the United States tend not to be oriented toward the American application system. In order to get crucial aid for this relatively complicated and specific process, international students either have to pay for external help or already have connections to people who understand the system. When you include the disparities caused by steep exchange rates, this external aid — often priced in dollars — becomes even more expensive for students from countries with weaker currencies.

Whether international or domestic, the University must offer more support for potential applicants. There are already multiple resources available to support current international students, including the student-run international

low-income international applicants, whether through free-to-access aid online or direct outreach programs, could prove transformative. The University should also consider changing the application process itself so that it is more fair for students who can’t access external aid for the process, such as devaluing the importance of SAT scores over international school grades.

We commend Brown for committing to such an important step toward a more equitable admissions process — knowing that it is the first down a much longer path.

America, according to a New York Times analysis.

This lack of diversity is especially apparent in the international student population. For current

sions. The ability of more-resourced students to pay for application assistance — such as essay editors or SAT tutors — as well as the advantages

mentorship program and a series of new initiatives led by the international advising team.

Providing support and resources tailored to

written by the editorial page board’s editors Kate Waisel ’24 and Devan Paul ’24, as well as its members Alissa Simon ’25 and Yael Wellisch ’26.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board and aim to contribute informed opinions to campus debates while remaining mindful of the group’s past stances. The editorial page board and its views are separate from The Herald’s newsroom and the 133rd Editorial Board, which leads the paper. This editorial was

Cohen Jr. ’68, Cohen ’13: President Paxson, let the hunger strikers’ demand be heard We, alumni from three generations of Brown students going back to the 1960s, are writing to express our support for the 19 courageous students — including Jews and Palestinians — who are on a hunger strike. The request of the hunger strikers is simple and reasonable: for President Paxson to include a proposal for divestment from 10 manufacturers of military weapons, supplies and telecommunications on the agenda of the Corporation meeting taking place on Feb. 8 and 9, and to allow undergraduate representatives to present to the Corporation the report of the Brown University Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices and its addenda.

The administration of President Paxson refuses to permit the students to present the divestment proposal to the Corporation. At the least, the refusal to allow students to present their divestment proposal — at a time of tragic international upheaval which has come home to Brown in the form of a Palestinian student, Hisham Awartani, suffering life-altering injuries as the result of a violent attack — represents a lack of respect for students who are acting in a principled and nonviolent manner.

The administration of Brown University is acting in a uniquely draconian manner. Those of us who protested University complicity in the Vietnam War in the 1960s dealt with an administration which — although largely disagreeing with what we were requesting — treated us with respect. Brown’s treatment of student protesters in those days contrasted with other universities such as Columbia, which treated its students with contempt.

Those of us who participated in student protests at Brown in later generations were not blocked from simple acts such as presenting our proposals to the Corporation. Indeed, as recently as May 23, 2013, when some of us mounted a campaign seeking the divestment of Brown University investments from fossil fuels, we were permitted to present our proposal to the Corporation.

The request of students to present their proposal for divestment at the Corporation meeting does not arise in a vacuum. In 2020, the Advisory Committee of Corporate Responsibility on Investment Policies, which had been

appointed by President Paxson, issued a report which recommended withdrawal of University investments from companies identified as facilitating human rights violations in Palestine.

This report, as well as its subsequent modifications, was rejected by President Paxson for the reason that it failed to explain “how financial divestment from the entities would address social harm as defined in the committee charge.”

The students in the hunger strike and their supporters have written a document which addresses President Paxson’s position on divestment. The Corporation should at least be given the opportunity to consider it.

In our view, President Paxon’s articulation of the basis for rejection of ACCRIP’s recom-

and Sudan in 2006, as well as the functional divestment from fossil fuels in 2020. President Paxson has failed to articulate any distinction between these four instances of divestment and the present request of students.

Other recent actions by President Paxson similarly illustrate her rejection of Brown’s traditions and precedents. In December she called onto the Brown campus the Providence Police to arrest 41 students for the “crime” of peacefully sitting in at University Hall past the normal closing time of 5 p.m. Yet she now bars from the Brown campus journalists who wish to speak with the hunger strikers.

The Brown University we know and love stands for dialogue and the free exchange of

“ President Paxson’s actions in

refusing to allow students to present their divestment proposal to the Corporation represents a stifling of dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.

mendation represents bureaucratic obfuscation, at best. The “social harm” addressed by the Committee in 2020 pales beside the immediate situation of the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the wholesale destruction of Gaza. Is President Paxson contending that the destruction of Gazan hospitals and schools, and the interference with aid reaching starving Palestinians, does not represent “social harm”?

As for whether divestment from the identified companies would “address” the social harm, Brown has a rich history of divestment precedents including from investments directly related to South Africa in 1986, tobacco in 2003

ideas. President Paxson’s actions in refusing to allow students to present their divestment proposal to the Corporation represents a stifling of dialogue and the free exchange of ideas. The Corporation may reject the divestment proposal, but it should be allowed the opportunity to hear from these students and consider what they have to say. d

Robert F Cohen Jr. ’68 George Koulomzin ’67 Eva Hanhardt ’68 Wing Tek Lum ’68 Jim Dickson ’68 Ken Galdston ’68 Mimsy (Marie) Baker (Spaulding) ’68 Jane Beckett ’68 Martha Bassett DuHamel ’68 Thomas R DuHamel ’65

Elizabeth (Beth) Liao ’70 Larry Gordon ’70 Dorothea M. Mulsbary ’70 Jessica Straus ’76 Kent Greenfield ’84 Natalie Kabasakalian ’87 Maggie Zellner ’87 Inji Z Islam ’88 Rinku Sen ’88 Christina Hanhardt ’94 Adam Roberts ’06 Laura Vitale ’07 Elisabeth Stelson ’08 Will Emmons ’09 Lindsay Joseph ’09 Amy Littlefield ’09 Nikolas Logan ’09 Adria Orr ’09 Aaron Weiser-Woodward ’09 Gail Emilia Rosewood, Brown ’09, ScM ’10 Alex Campbell ’10 Susan Beaty ’10 Katie Glerum ’10 Rosi Greenberg ’10 Jennifer Grover ’10 Alejandra Danielle Martinez ’10 Alexander Mazerov ’10 Ruhan Nagra ’10 Naomi Oberman-Breindel ’10 Shruti Parekh ’10 Lana Robinson-Sum ’10 C. Marisa Rodriguez ’10 Jesse Strecker ’10 Emily Taylor ’10 Francesca Contreras ’11 Ana Fox-Hodess ’11 Susannah Kroeber ’11 Annalisa Wilde ’11 Alysha Aziz ’12 Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn ’12 Sam Adler-Bell ’12.5 Rachel Adler Bishop ’13 Lucy bates ’13 Michael Becker ’13 Lucy Boltz ’13 Kathryn Cohen ’13 Keally Cieslik ’13 Emily Kirkland ’13 Jessica Mitter ’13 Emily Oglesby ’13 Kurt Ostrow ’13 John Qua ’13 Becca Rast ’13 Gabriel Schwartz ’13 Maya Sikand ’13 Luke Taylor ’13 Lewis Pollis ’14 Daniel Patterson ’14 Haley Kossek ’14.5 Austin Cole ’15 Trevor Culhane ’15 Aasha Jackson ’15 Abby Muller, ’16 Max Schindler ’16.5 Benjamin Weedon, ’16 Sophia Gluskin-Braun ’17 Taylor Michael ’17 Abe Peterkin ’17 Liam Greenwell ’20 Jane Freiman ’22 Hannah Gelman ’22 Ronan Fitzgerald ’23 Maya Lehrer ’23 Thomas Reid ’23

PAGE 12

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

ARTS & CULTURE FASHION

Student fashion brand IRONWIRE presents collection at first show Ava Eisendrath ’25.5 showcases upcycled designs at Brown-RISD Hillel

so well together. I genuinely love her design and would own every single one of her pieces.”

BY BENICIO BEATTY STAFF WRITER On Thursday, student designer Ava Eisendrath ’25.5 unveiled her first collection of garments to a packed house at Brown-RISD Hillel. Her fashion brand, IRONWIRE, presents a sophisticated take on upcycled clothing.

Models showcasing 32 unique looks crossed the square stage, their faces sharply illuminated by three rustic spotlights. Behind them, 10-foot canvas banners hung from the ceiling, printed with black and white images of Eisendrath’s design process.

The show displayed a process of its own — at the start of the show, models walked rigidly, abruptly turning as electronic instrumental music pulsed through the room. After a few minutes, the staccato beat gave way to a more fluid sound, and the models shifted to a relaxed gait. At the curtain call, the models lined up to display a vibrant continuum of colors — oranges and greens, then blues and whites.

The name IRONWIRE comes from the English translation of Eisendrath’s last name. “The founder of our family decided to name us ‘Eisendrath’ because they had 20 children. Iron wire, strong family, bound together,” Eisendrath

COURTESY OF MANUELA SEPULVEDA

Eisendrath’s fashion brand, IRONWIRE, presents a sophisticated take on upcycled clothing. said.

Strong ties to friends and family are essential to the ethos of IRONWIRE, Eisendrath explained. Clothing from friends and family provides much of the starting material for her creative process. According to Eisendrath, she has been designing on and off since she was 11 but became more serious about her craft in college. “I got to Brown, and I started really getting technical with my work, learning how to make patterns properly (and) … how to use the correct seams for the correct piece,” she said.

Each garment in the show was made from several materials, and most pieces

sported IRONWIRE’s signature circle cutout. Otherwise, formless hoodies were embellished by eight-inch linen circles or intricate seams.

“I’m obsessed with cutting out shapes and using this hole motif,” Eisendrath said. “All of these looks are very simple, structured garments that I add a fun twist to.” From hand-medown jackets and jeans to old towels and tablecloths, she blends sustainability with a high-end aesthetic.

RISD student Manuela Sepulveda is a photographer and producer who helped launch IRONWIRE and bring the show to life. “I started working with

Ava in October,” Sepulveda said. “She originally reached out to me with the intention of creating this event … (and) we started doing photoshoots to get the ball rolling.”

Over the last three months, the two worked together to kickstart IRONWIRE’s social media presence, posting newly made pieces to Instagram and laying the groundwork for a runway show.

“The most important part of working creatively with another person is genuinely enjoying and admiring each other’s work,” Sepulveda said. “I think that’s what’s kept Ava and I working

IRONWIRE’s runway models echoed this sentiment. Nadia Heller ’24, former post- writer, was dressed in an ivory corset top and one-of-one skirt, just two of the nearly 60 garments that Eisendrath hand-stitched over the last year.

“Something that is so special about Ava’s clothes is the detail,” Heller said.

“It’s very unique clothing already, but the second you look closer, there are a lot of special little designs.”

The robust collection impressed attendees Angie Osei-Ampadu ’25 and Ellie Leibner ’24. “I think it’s really cool that I recognized a lot of the style in the collection as Ava’s personal style, yet (there were) also some pieces that I can’t imagine her wearing,” Leibner said.

“She has so much to show for all of her work and passion,” Osei-Ampadu added.

Eisendrath hopes to build on the success of her show with a sale of select pieces in an open-to-all display where interested customers are able to purchase items from the collection.

“I’m still figuring out how to scale,” Eisendrath said when asked about future plans for IRONWIRE. “I’m ready for the next thing, (and) I’m really excited to wake up and make something new.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 4, 2024.

REVIEW

Holocaust film “The Zone of Interest” showcases the evils of indifference Oscar-nominated film explores concealed brutality in the mundane

BY ISABEL HAHN ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Holocaust cinema has always grappled with the seemingly impossible question of whether historical atrocities can be rightfully represented on screen. And, is it even worth trying to artistically recreate such a crime against humanity? Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 film “The Zone of Interest,” loosely based on Martin Amis’ 2014 book of the same name, seems to do away with the emotional storytelling that its predecessors have been defined by. Uniquely committed to offering a passive view of the evils of the Holocaust, the film delivers a perspective of the time period that, in its deliberate ignorance, takes its genre to a new level of sinister.

“The Zone of Interest” is made horrific by what it doesn’t show. The film opens with an empty black screen stretched out through several minutes while the audience is flooded by auditory cues without any visual material. An ominous score soon elusively blends into a lush soundscape of chirping birds and flowing water.

When the film’s first scene properly appears on screen — a family enjoying an idyllic picnic by the riverside — the feeling is akin to waking up from a disorienting dream. Despite this return to “normalcy,” the film never lets go of its introduction’s unsettling aura.

The film soon turns its focus to a picturesque villa where Rudolf and Hedwig Höss (Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller) have built their dream home — fit with five children, a large vegetable garden and a swimming pool. Pastel colors and intricate set pieces, combined with long shots that show off the household, present the characters like dolls wandering around a well-constructed utopia.

Instead of exploring the characters’ personal motivations or desires, the film keeps its distance, using an unbiased lens to follow their actions within a bubble of banality.

However, cracks in this fantasy slowly reveal themselves, some more subtly than others. A long shot of a man wheeling a cart through the yard appears ordinary at first, until one notices the barbed wire strung across the tall garden wall and the decrepit brick chimneys and roofs just outside it. A scene where Hedwig tries on a new coat is momentarily interrupted by what sounds like two gunshots in the distance. Pairing these moments with details like the Nazi insignia on Rudolf’s military uniform and shortlived conversations mentioning crematoriums, it soon becomes clear that Rudolf is a commandant of Auschwitz, and that his family resides in close proximity to the infamous site.

Once these key facts settle in, the film seems to respond by amplifying the degree to which it toes around the periphery of blatant violence. With almost the entirety of its scenes set in the confined Höss household, “The Zone of Interest” relies heavily on

Jonathan Glazer relies heavily on sound design and framing to allude to ongoing brutality. sound design and framing to allude to the ongoing brutality. Flames and smoke are often present in the distant background, alluding to the burning of corpses without ever showing the carnage. Ordinary conversations and clatter are mixed with gunshots and the screams of prisoners in the distance; meticulous sound design causes the noises from the hellish site next door to be treated as a background hum that can be easily tuned out.

In a more extreme technical move, Glazer notably makes use of a black and white thermal-imaging camera to show several scenes where a young girl leaves behind food for the Jews imprisoned in the camp to find. A threatening score accompanies these moments, shocking viewers out of the indifferent haze that the film has set

as its “status quo.” These scenes are jarring in both a visual and auditory sense, emphasizing how any instances that occur outside of the Nazis’ manufactured obliviousness are literally obscured from clear view.

Focused on exploring stylistic devices to refer to an evil that never fully shows itself, “The Zone of Interest” has a significant lack of plot. The biggest, and possibly only, narrative event in the film is Rudolf’s promotion to deputy inspector and relocation to Oranienburg, leaving his family behind in Auschwitz. Even so, this plot point is also treated with a disturbing tone of nonchalance, only serving to emphasize how natural Hedwig finds the life she enjoys next to a concentration camp. At times the film is disadvantaged by its decision to merely observe

COURTESY OF A24

rather than incite action — one could even argue that its message may have been more powerful as a short film. But it is moments like these that showcase how in being a bystander to its own narrative, “The Zone of Interest” allows the evils within its characters to fester and reveal themselves.

Despite being a narrative set on a period so saturated with death and suffering, Glazer’s Holocaust film is characterized by its hollowness.

Memorable in what it refrains from showing rather than what it actually depicts, “The Zone of Interest” draws out the ghostly outlines of the everyday lives that lay dormant behind some of the worst crimes in history.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 6, 2024.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 13

ARTS & CULTURE

EXHIBITION

Staff artists shine in annual ‘After Hours’ exhibition

Annual exhibition aims to give viewers ‘new understanding’ of 49 staff members

BY CAMPBELL LOI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Recent visitors to the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts may have noticed a broad variety of new artwork in the Atrium Gallery. While visual arts displays are certainly not uncommon in the building, the “After Hours’’ exhibition is unique: all pieces on display were created by University staff.

The exhibit, which opened on Jan. 24, has been an annual event for more than a decade, according to Sophia LaCava-Bohanan, associate director for partnerships and engagement at Brown Arts Institute and the organizer of “After Hours” this year.

“The broad intention is to honor and value the work and artistic practices of as many staff members as we can,” LaCava-Bohanan said. “The opportunity to showcase these works is really magical.”

This year, the display includes work from 49 artists, all of whom are staff members working within various departments across the University.

‘Contrast and beauty’: Geoff Williams’s ‘November Light in Look Park’ As the manager of the Leduc Bioimaging Facility, Geoff Williams’s work falls at a unique intersection between art and science. Both fields, he says, are integral parts of his life.

“I discovered as an undergrad that there was a photographic component to science, and that led me down the path of electron microscopes,” he said, adding that his work, although housed in the Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, is a creative outlet.

While Williams has been a longtime contributor to this exhibition, participating for over a decade, this is the first year

CLAIRE DIEPENBROCK / HERALD

“The broad intention is to honor and value the work and artistic practices of as many staff members as we can,” said Sophia LaCava-Bohanan, associate director for partnerships and engagement at Brown Arts Institute. that he has not submitted an image from a scanning electron microscope. Instead, he opted for a digital monochrome photograph.

“The image I submitted this year is a bit different, but it still hits all the contrast functions and features that I usually have from the (scanning electron microscope),” he said. He added that shooting an image in monochrome, whether with a camera or a microscope, means paying special attention to light.

Williams partially credits the bioimaging class that he teaches, BIOL 1040: “Ultrastructure/Bioimaging,” with having inspired his return to more conventional photography last spring. Students in BIOL 1040 are required to submit a blackand-white photo every week with the purpose of practicing the same aesthetic techniques necessary for microscopic imaging. Creating this assignment for his students ultimately led Williams to pick up a 35-millimeter film camera again.

“November Light in Look Park,” his art piece, captures what Williams described as a “fleeting moment” of calm within chaos during a cyclo-cross race in Northampton,

Massachusetts.

“Just to the right of the frame is the racecourse, and to the left of the frame are rows of (parked) cars and people getting ready to race,” he said. “The contrast and beauty in this little section of the park at this giant event, it really stopped me for a minute.”

Williams says he hopes that this year’s piece will give viewers a new appreciation for monochrome imagery, reminding them that “even in black and white, there’s an endless amount of beauty around us.”

‘A landscape of time’: Luis Gonzalez III’s ‘The Time Keeper’ Luis Gonzalez III, assistant operations manager at the Brown Bookstore, has been making art for as long as he can remember.

His love for painting, though, is a more recent development.

“I’ve been drawing my entire life,” he said, “and then probably 15 or 16 years ago I was like, ‘let me see if I can put some color behind this.’”

Since then, painting has become Gonzalez’s favorite medium to work with. “It felt good to add some color to my life, to my artwork, to my walls and then eventu-

ally to my friends’ lives,” he said, adding that he often gives his paintings away as gifts.

This year, with his piece “The Time Keeper,” Gonzalez sought to illustrate a “landscape of time” filled with memories from his childhood as well as a scenic mountain view inspired by his love of nature and the natural world.

“It’s kind of a scenery of my artwork over time, and how it’s changed and developed,” he said. “The many layers highlight moments in my upbringing.”

The piece is painted over a page of newsprint that Gonzalez collected during a trip to Mexico City with his wife. He explained that he had chosen to paint on this page in particular because the large wristwatch and photo of Cantinflas, a Mexican comedian and actor, both caught his eye.

“My father was always telling me about Cantinflas. I grew up watching him,” he said. “If you look at the painting, you can kind of see him in one of the little open spaces in the sky.”

Gonzalez added that the title of the piece refers to the power of time, which “can foster so much change in our lives (and) can shape us in so many ways,” he said. “Being able to look back and create something from all the stories and experiences gives me so much to look forward to.”

‘Tiny moments’: Stéphanie Larrieux’s ‘Harvest’ As the associate director at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, much of Stéphanie Larrieux’s PhD’08 experiences in the arts have been showcased in her scholarly work.

Larrieux studies representations of race in science fiction films and what she calls “Hollywood’s representations of the future.”

But what her students may not know is that her lifelong history with art has extended across a variety of mediums.

She loves making pottery and painting, and has been submitting her photography to “After Hours” for six years.

Larrieux told The Herald that she tries to temper the “harshness” of the world in her yearly submissions, instead showcasing the breadth of wonder and beauty around her.

“I try (to) capture these tiny moments that might be otherwise overlooked,” she added. “I think there can be something really soul-nurturing or heartwarming about them.”

Her latest piece “Harvest” seeks to display this simplistic beauty. “Your eyes are drawn through the lines up the fence to the pumpkins on them, and then the corn stalks in the grasses are aligned as well, which kind of brings you to an apex to notice the tractor,” she said. “And there’s a bunch of little pumpkins that you might not have noticed initially there as well.”

Larrieux hopes her piece will inspire viewers to “look a little more closely at our lives and our experiences” and notice the beauty in small moments.

“I could have passed something a gazillion times on my morning commute or on my walk across campus and never noticed it before,” she said. “You can experience ‘experiencing’ in a different way every day, and I think that’s really such an enriching part of just being alive.”

The “After Hours” exhibition is open for students and staff free of charge until Feb. 15.

“The staff exhibition is an opportunity for us to all remember that while so much of our lives take place on campus and in a university environment, we’re also humans in the world,” LaCava-Bohanan said. “I really hope it brings people a new understanding of some of the staff that we interact with day in and day out.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 7, 2024.

REVIEW

Queer, Jewish story ‘City of Laughter’ doesn’t live up to its promising themes Novel’s intense language is flattened by its lack of meaningful developments

Temim Fruchter’s debut novel “City of Laughter” introduces concepts of radical queerness into folkloric, intergenerational

her mother says to her in the midst of this argument, as if to a larger audience. “And you’ve always had a pretty wild imagination, and I know you’re hoping our family has some sexy secret hidden history …

Sometimes, when something is closed, you’re not meant to open it.”

Littered with cliché, this conversation — a microcosmic example of the intergenerational communications this narrative offers — is meant to heighten the stakes

and forth through the youthful experiences of generations of Shiva’s family. Least banal and most pleasant are those situated furthest in the past — particularly the two stories about the historical shtetl of Ropshitz, which (literally) bookend the novel.

These chapters tell of the citizens’ inability to control their laughter, lending the book its title. “He lay there on the ground, sky crowding with eager stars and a fine dust that resembled baking flour,

Jewish histories. Despite its promising concept, the story, from narrative to syntax, feels unoriginal and flat.

The novel’s protagonist, 32-year-old Shiva Margolin — who shares racial, sexual, academic and aesthetic identifiers with Fruchter herself — is propelled by an excessively described emotional intensity that never translates into readers’ experiences.

Following her father’s death and an unexpected breakup with her first girlfriend, Shiva finds herself entranced by her matrilineal history. Or rather, she becomes obsessed with that history — in an early, energetic scene, she argues with her newly widowed mother due to the mother’s refusal to share details of their ancestry.

Unfortunately, the intensity of Shiva’s passion is contradicted by dialogue that falls consistently flat. “We’re grieving,”

and awaken in readers a desire for hidden knowledge. Instead, Fruchter’s sentences disarm her narrative setup: her comparisons are clunky, her syntax unrealistic.

Fruchter-through-Shiva returns ad nauseam to a heightened register, narrating large swaths of time and profound emotional responses with rough, broad strokes. Explaining Shiva’s mother’s response to her own superstitious upbringing, Fruchter writes: “Mostly, she understood to sleep with the windows shut, to not investigate anything too deeply, and to listen for the kinds of warnings she knew to heed. Beyond that, nothing was certain.” Yet, certainty pervades the tone of these sentences in a totalizing voice. In this passage — like so many others — one can’t help but be reminded of the instructional proverb ‘show, don’t tell.’

The chapters of this novel skip back

sounds coming from his chest that felt so new, he almost didn’t recognize them as laughter,” Fruchter writes beautifully in the prologue. But this theme never returns or echoes.

Neither do those of the additional historical narratives. The letters from the voiceless great-grandmother Mara are imaginative, grandmother Syl’s fascination with birds is whimsical and mother Hannah’s obsession with death intriguing.

Unfortunately, these topics don’t recur past their introductions. In the distant past, the novel’s fabulist structure and tone have more space to shine.

On the other hand, the chapters set in the modern day are characterized by inexplicable events. Though Shiva seems to live in a recognizable modern-day New York, her experiences emerge as if they were mythic, like a folktale, written

BY LILIANA GREYF SENIOR STAFF WRITER

RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD

without abstraction and imbued with a purposefully fantastical logic. She sets her heart on a trip to Poland and is granted a ticket despite a lack of credentials; she craves to learn about her grandmother, and all original barriers to doing so cave for no apparent reason. Her queerness is somehow described exclusively through cliché — there is no nuance to her desire or her realization of it. The ends tie too neatly; they are not ends at all, but random stopping points.

Ultimately, this novel oscillates between excessive intensity and a lack of meaningful developments. It tantalizingly hints at anticipation but fails to construct genuine build-up, resulting in resolutions that inadequately address the preceding suspense. Despite the promising convergence of queer and Jewish narratives, this book misses the mark.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 6, 2024.

PAGE 14

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

HUNGER STRIKE CAMPUS ACTIVISM

DAY ONE: Nineteen students announce indefinite hunger strike for divestment proposal ahead of Brown Corporation meeting

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP AND SAMANTHA CHAMBERS UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS On Friday, 19 students began an indefinite hunger strike in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center that they say will last until the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, “hears and considers a divestment resolution,” during their meetings that begin next week, according to a statement shared with The Herald.

Students announced the hunger strike during a Friday afternoon “rally for divestment” organized by the Palestine Solidarity Caucus and Jews for Ceasefire Now on the Main Green, at which approximately 350 were in attendance. Rally attend-

February 2, 2024

ees flooded the campus center shortly after the

to a request for comment. Press representatives

plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the current state

announcement. Protestors also called on Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to support a ceasefire in Gaza.

The divestment resolution, the strikers say, should mirror the 2020 report released by the University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices that recommended divestment from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.” The committee has since been renamed the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management.

This comes as the Corporation will begin several days of meetings on Feb. 8. The students will not be attending class during the duration of the strike.

The University did not immediately respond

from the offices of Whitehouse and Reed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hunger strike — led by “students from several allied affinity and organizing (campus) groups” — is set to be the United States’ largest since Oct. 7, according to the strikers. Upon review of previous hunger strikes related to the Israel-Palestine war, The Herald corroborated this claim.

Students are also calling for the University to promote an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza” and fully divest its endowment “from specified companies enabling and profiting from Israel’s genocide.” But they will only refuse to accept food until the Corporation hears their resolution.

The strike comes amid an ongoing United Nations International Court of Justice Case, where South Africa has alleged that Israel is enacting “acts and omissions” that are “genocidal in character … (against) the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group,” the BBC previously reported.

The current protesting students were screened by doctors prior to their participation in the hunger strike, according to strike spokesperson Sam Stewart ’24.

The protestors’ statement also drew a connection between their refusal to accept food and the starvation that a quarter of Gazans currently face, according to the United Nations. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 26,900 Palestinians have died in Israel’s retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage.

After a series of speakers who discussed the

of their divestment campaign, their announcement of the hunger strike was met with cheers.

University Spokesperson Brian Clark confirmed that “students representing the group provided a letter to leaders from Brown’s Division of Campus Life” shortly thereafter.

During a November UCS town hall, Chief Investment Officer Jane Dietze said the University does not “directly invest in any weapons manufacturers, arms manufacturers or defense contractors,” but does not publicly disclose what third-party investment manufacturers the endowment is affiliated with.

The Office is contractually obligated not to disclose the content of the managers’ portfolios, but assured that none have a specific focus on defense manufacturing.

The University divested from tobacco in 2003, from six companies involved in “genocidal actions and human rights violations in Darfur” in 2006 and partially divested from South African apartheid in the 1980s.

After the strike began, students gathered in the Leung Family Gallery to sing songs of solidarity.

Brown Divest Coalition, Jews for Ceasefire Now and Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere released a joint Instagram post detailing a Friday programming schedule following the announcement of the strike. Programs included an eyewash training, Shabbat prayer, and a “HOPE x SJP Divest 101” session.

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

DAY TWO & THREE: President Paxson refuses demands, strike continues On Sunday, 19 student protestors entered the third day of their hunger strike, despite the refusal of President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 to meet their demand that the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, “hears and considers a divestment resolution,” during its meetings that begin this week.

The protestors demand that any divestment resolution be consistent with the 2020 report compiled by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies, which recommended the University divest its endowment from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.”

Paxson previously refused to adhere to the report, saying that “the recommendation did not adequately address the requirements for rigorous analysis and research as laid out in ACCRIP’s charge, nor was there the requisite level of specificity in regard to divestment.”

In her recent letter to the protestors, Paxson wrote that the first step toward requesting divestment “is not a Corporation resolution, but rather to submit a proposal to the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management” — the successor to ACCRIP. Paxson also wrote that she will “not commit to bring a resolution to the February 2024 Corporation meeting or any future meeting of the Corporation.”

In a statement shared with The Herald responding to Paxson’s letter, the strike organizers argued that the ACURM proposal consideration process would take too long, writing that it could “take months — an untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza.”

The strikers have not submitted a proposal to ACURM, nor do they plan to do so, according to strike spokesperson Sam Stewart ’24.

The protesting students also wrote that they

.

Read more online at browndailyherald.com

“will continue (the) hunger strike as long as President Paxson refuses to engage with our demands.”

In response to the students’ continuation of the strike, University Spokesperson Brian Clark reiterated that the 2020 proposal will not be brought forward for a vote, but that student protesters can submit a divestment proposal through ACURM. This is not the first time student protestors have been referred to ACURM. In a December sit-in, Paxson refused to revisit her decision not to adhere to a 2020 report compiled by ACCRIP. During this demonstration, 41 students demanded full divestment from “Israeli military occupation” and were subsequently arrested on trespassing charges and referred to ACURM. In Friday’s letter, Paxson encouraged the protestors to look after their mental and physical well-being throughout the duration of the strike and shared University health resources available to students. She added that “protest is also unacceptable if it creates a substantial threat to personal safety of any member of the community.”

The University previously disenrolled four students participating in a hunger strike protesting the University’s partial divestment policy of South African apartheid in the 1980s. The then-administration cited health and liability concerns for the disenrollment, according to a 1986 article by The Herald.

In Saturday’s response statement, the protesting students wrote that the University’s “continued material support of companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza” creates such a “substantial threat.”

The University is not directly invested in any weapons manufacturing companies, but a substantial portion of its endowment is invested through manager portfolios, The Herald previously reported. The University is contractually obligated

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

February 3-4, 2024

not to disclose the companies in these portfolios, but told students that none have a focus in the defense industry.

“We are confident that our external managers have the highest level of ethics and share the values of the Brown community,” Clark wrote in a Sunday email to The Herald, “including the rejection of violence.”

A Saturday morning Instagram post detailed the strikers’ schedule for the day: Plans included morning announcements at the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center — where students flooded on Friday immediately after the hunger strike announcement — as well as related arts and literature events.

On Sunday, the protestors released a similar itinerary, detailing plans to create art, host educational events and write letters to the Corporation.

At Saturday’s Campus Center morning announcements, the strike organizers sent out an interest form to attending students for potential upcoming events. These included an additional rally on the Main Green, a day-long Campus Center occupation and a “short-term solidarity fast.”

Late Sunday evening, student activist groups shared a joint Instagram post which announced

another rally slated for on Monday afternoon.

At this time, no official announcements have been made regarding the solidarity fast or Campus Center occupation.

Throughout the weekend, protestors also displayed banners in dining halls around campus and distributed fliers to student diners.

Protestors affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Caucus and Brown Divest Coalition have also distributed written materials to prospective students embarking on campus tours. These fliers, obtained by The Herald, detail the current hunger strike and demands for divestment, as well as discuss recent arrests of student protestors.

The University has restricted campus access for external media attempting to cover the hunger strike, according to an email from Clark to Amy Russo, a reporter at the Providence Journal. Clark cited the University’s Access to Campus for News Media policy, which requires news media to “consult with the Office of University Communications before entering campus,” as part of its reasoning.

He clarified that public spaces, such as sidewalks, are available for third-party journalists.

Read more online at browndailyherald.com

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

On Monday, 19 student protesters entered the fourth day of their hunger strike despite a letter shared by President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wherein she refused to meet their demand that the University’s Corporation “hears and considers a divestment resolution” in its upcoming meetings starting Thursday. Paxson redirected the students to file a proposal via the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management.

Over the weekend, the protesting students shared with The Herald that they would officially continue the strike until their demands were met.

They added that they would not file a proposal with ACURM, saying that the time it would take for the committee to consider such a request is “an untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza.”

At noon on Monday, Palestine Solidarity Caucus and Brown Divest Coalition held a second rally on the Main Green. Students, faculty and local political figures — including City Councilor Miguel Sanchez and State Senator Tiara Mack ’16

PAGE 15

— attended the fourth-day events. Read additional Herald coverage of the rally here.

During the rally, representatives for the striking students delivered Paxson a 50-page “critical edition” of the 2020 report by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies — now known as ACURM. The 2020 ACCRIP report recommended that the Corporation divest “from companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.” In March 2021, Paxson released a letter stating that the ACCRIP recommendation “did not meet established standards” for divestment.

The critical report, authored by the BDC, “responds to President Paxson’s claim that the Brown community is not ready to present its case for divestment to the corporation” and refuses to propose a new resolution to ACURM, according to the document.

The University does not directly invest in “any defense stocks or large munitions manufacturers,” according to University Spokesperson Brian Clark.

HUNGER STRIKE

Large portions of the endowment are invested via third-party managers with portfolios that are confidential, The Herald previously reported.

“We are confident that our external managers have the highest level of ethics and share the values of the Brown community, including the rejection of violence,” Clark wrote in a Feb. 4 email to The Herald.

Hours after the protest, Paxson sent an email letter addressed to University community members entitled “Strengthening our community amid conflict.” In the letter, Paxson wrote that the University community “has experienced tensions and division on campus as a result of the terrible violence in the Middle East” in recent months.

In the letter, Paxson also announced a new website launched Monday. The website, titled “Strengthening Our Community Amid Conflict,” shares details of University initiatives to address “racism, discrimination and harassment,” campus safety and freedom of expression.

Paxson’s email made no reference to the

hunger strike or earlier student protests on the conflict — including the Dec. 11 sit-in where all 41 participants were arrested and will face arraignment next week.

Both the website and initiatives mentioned in Paxson’s message were “not a result of the hunger strike,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. The initiatives outlined have been developed “for multiple weeks,” he added.

The initiatives include plans to host workshops, lectures and panel discussions in the coming months regarding Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-Arab, anti-Israeli and anti-Palestinian experiences on campus. The University also plans to distribute educational resources and augment the campus climate survey to reflect and provide guidance on these issues. In her email, Paxson also emphasized her commitment to safeguarding academic freedom and freedom of speech Read more online at browndailyherald.com

DAY FOUR: Students stage second rally, University releases resources website

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

February 6, 2024

February 5, 2024

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

DAY FIVE: PSC rally, peace procession, strike ongoing Student protestors entered the fifth day of their hunger strike on Tuesday, with both the protestors and the University’s administration unflinching in their stances on divestment.

What happened Tuesday?

The Palestine Solidarity Caucus hosted a rally on the Main Green in support of the hunger strike. About 150 students attended the event, which featured speeches from the current strikers, as well as Jackie Goldman ScM’19, an organizer for Jewish Voice for Peace.

This rally succeeded one hosted just 24 hours before during which protestors delivered a “critical edition” of the 2020 Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies report that recommended endowment divestment “from companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Pal-

estinian territory” to the office of President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20.

At the Tuesday rally, Sherena Razek GS claimed that the protestors have received no response from the University following the delivery of their critical edition report.

Paxson has received the document, Senior Vice President for Communications Cass Cliatt confirmed in an email to The Herald.

Razek also criticized a new website announced via a Monday email from Paxson.

The website, entitled “Strengthening Our Community Amid Conflict,” shares details of University initiatives to address “racism, discrimination and harassment,” as well as campus safety and freedom of expression.

Razek also announced on Tuesday that the Graduate Labor Organization has adopted divestment as their “spring campaign.”

That evening, student activists affiliated with the strike hosted a “peace procession

with puppets” on the Main Green featuring a large white bird puppet and figures representing the sun and moon. Songs of worship and prayer from attendees overlaid the performance.

Before the show, 6,000 white flags were placed on cardboard sheets in front of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center. According to strike spokesperson Sam Stewart ’24, each of the flags represent five Palestinians who have been killed in Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’s attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis and took an additional 250 hostage, the Associated Press reported.

Other events during the day included Indigenous beadwork, a reading of Palestinian children’s literature and a Quran reading.

The demands The 19 student protestors are still refusing food until the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — “hears and considers a divestment proposal” during its meetings that begin Thursday. The proposal, the strikers say, should be consistent with the 2020 ACCRIP report.

Paxson previously refused to bring ACCRIP’s recommendations to the Corporation for consideration, saying that the report “did not meet established standards” for divestment. On Friday, she maintained this position and refused to revisit her decision.

She also denied the protestors’ request for a Corporation divestment resolution.

Instead, she encouraged the protestors to submit a divestment proposal to the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management — the successor to ACCRIP — instead of demanding a Corporation resolution.

The protestors have refused this referral to ACURM, saying that the length of time required to consider this proposal in the committee is “an untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza,” according to a statement from strike organizers to The Herald.

Past demonstrators, including the 41 students who were arrested during a December sit-in on trespassing charges, were previously referred to ACURM when they demanded divestment from “Israeli military occupation.

What investments does the University hold?

At a November public meeting, representatives from the University’s Investment Office told attendees that Brown’s direct investments do not include weapons manufacturing or those with direct ties to Israel.

Read more online at browndailyherald.com

PAGE 16

UNIVERSITY NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024

STRIKERS from PAGE 1

undergraduate at Brown from Palestine.

The Herald spoke to Aboud on the condition his last name is not published. Aboud cited the potential for political retribution against family members living in Palestine.

While fiddling with the dark-beaded bracelet on his right wrist, Aboud recounted stories from his town, Ramallah, and extended relatives participating in such strikes.

“I’m learning from them (and) learning from a long line of people who have been resistant to occupation,” Aboud added. “While we are not physically occupied here, we’re learning that it is a fight, and you do have to resist to get your voice heard, especially with divestment.”

For him, striking “was an easy decision.”

Aboud grew up in the West Bank, and his parents and siblings still live there. He said that while they are “fine” physically, their lives have changed since October.

When he visited his family during winter break, he observed heavy restrictions on movement and nightly curfews. To travel from city to city, there was often only one road, and those roads had several checkpoints, Aboud recounted.

“Things have gotten worse,” he added. “The occupation has become normalized and legitimized. This was (happening) since before I was born.

Palestinians and Arabs have been dehumanized to catastrophic levels.”

Living as a student in America, Aboud said he feels “very helpless and kind of sad.”

“I miss my home more than ever,” he said. “I do know that as long as I am here, I will use my privilege and my studies to speak up and to defend Palestine.”

He said that reactions to his activism — like hateful comments on social media — have changed his perception of Brown “for the worse.”

“There are people who don’t think Palestinians are legitimate people deserving of humanity,” Aboud said. “I’m going against an endless uphill battle

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 declined to meet the students’ demands, instead referring them to the ACCRIP’s successor, the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management. because I have to prove my humani- nous students and communities. They worried about her health, but they were Felora Bellamy ’26 entered the room ty over and over and over again, and served as co-coordinator of Natives@ aware of and supported the power of a with their laptop in tow. every time I decide to speak out, I am Brown and organized for Hawaiians at hunger strike.

Like other strikers, they wore a kefficriticized.”

Brown, publicizing the politics, cul“My mom was like ‘if they can do yeh. Unlike other strikers, they donned For Aboud, the 18 other strikers are ture and sovereignty of the Hawaiian it, you can do it, too’” Cline recalled. “I a blue sweater with a smiling black cat “family.” nation. sent the ‘I’m in’ text right after that.” on the front.

Throughout the hunger strike, he Kalāhiki said they originally joined Cline has experience advocating for “As a Black person living in this has returned to the concept of sumud, the Students for Justice in Palestine this cause. In high school, she orga- world for 19 years and having my idenor steadfastness. For him, the word network when planning a teach-in nized with her Jewish youth group — tity politicized in very violent and racist describes “how I felt with everyone at about global indigenous solidarity for she proudly shared that her synagogue ways, I felt like it was incredibly natural Brown coming to support us.” native students, noting that their ac- back home in Berkeley, California, was to align my solidarity with Palestinians Kalikoonāmaukūpuna Kalāhiki ’24, tivism draws upon a history of Hawai- one of the few that called for a ceasefire. who have also been given that burden draped in a black-and-white keffiyeh, ian-Palestinian solidarity.

She largely credited her conviction of having their identity politicized,” settled into the corner of a quiet room “I know it is my responsibility to to her upbringing, reciting a memory Bellamy said. filled with lockers on the balcony level stand in this moment because Palestin- of a Yom Kippur service she attended They said that they chose to parof the Campus Center. Sitting by the ians have stood steadfast with natives when she was fourteen years old. ticipate in the hunger strike as a conwindow, they pulled a knee close to through all our issues from Standing She wanted to leave two hours into tinuation of their work with Brown SJP, their chest.

Rock to supporting the American Indian the service, but her mother said that adding that “Palestinian liberation is Kalāhiki is Kānaka, or native Hawai- Movement to Mauna Kea,” they said. they needed to stay. Cline recalled that very intertwined with Black liberation.” ian, and they believe that it is important “It’s very much solidarity.” her favorite rabbi used the service as Bellamy grew up around many Arab that the native identity is represented Kalāhiki said they view the protes- an opportunity to discuss her own and Muslim families, so they first saw in the strike. tors as “all one organism.” experience in the West Bank and the Palestinians “as family friends and For Kalāhiki, the strike aligned with “We’re all essential to this move- notion that Jewish “existence is tied loved ones and people I can trust.” their belief in “global Indigenous sol- ment, and it feels very unified,” they to Palestinian existence.”

Throughout their continuous learnidarity.” said. “We’re all essential organs in this “We as Jews have a responsibility ing, they said that they saw parallels “As a colonized people existing un- larger being.” to do something,” Cline said. “We have between the “militarization” of Amerder a settler colonial state back home, I Kalāhiki is starting to feel the im- the autonomy to be able to oppose the ican police departments and the Israeli can deeply empathize with the erasure pact of not eating. They said they don’t state of Israel and be able to say that military. of nature culture and the displacement feel as strong as they usually do, and antisemitism is not the same as anBellamy views the hunger strike of natives,” they said. in order to ground themself, they have ti-Zionism.” as a continuation of past protests on Throughout their time at Brown, turned to meditation.

At Brown, she continued and ex- campus with higher stakes, and they Kalāhiki has advocated for Indige“I’ve been doing prayers in Hawai- panded her involvement in this work. hope it will compel the university to ian that are calling on my ancestors to She joined J Street upon arriving at take action. stand with me because I know that my Brown, discovering community with Before they committed to the hunbody is literally the culmination of their other organizers. ger strike, Bellamy researched historical existences, and I am now using my body After the attacks and aftermath of instances when this method was emas a tool for liberation,” they added. “I’m Oct. 7, Cline felt a need to do more. ployed. They referenced those protestonly able to do that because of them.”

Last semester, she participated in ing apartheid in South Africa, detainees Within these moments of reflection, programming by the then-new stu- at Guantanamo Bay and Palestinian Kalāhiki has considered the privilege dent group Jews For Ceasefire Now. prisoners. “Hunger strikes are usually of undergoing a hunger strike with the She served as a legal observer for the a point of desperation,” they added. support of a medical team. group’s Nov. 8 sit-in at University Hall. “But for me, I feel highly privileged by “The fact that we have a choice in “It’s become urgent for me,” she my access to medical care and loving this is forcing me to really grapple with added. “I understood that this was a people within arm’s reach that I want how so many people in Palestine are necessary part of my Jewish identity, to use that privilege to center back to literally being starved and not receiving but it’s become an urgent part of my the people in Gaza.” the humanitarian aid that they need,” Jewish identity now. I cannot feel at Throughout the strike, they have they added. peace with the way that I practice my been “staying in touch with the news,” Maize Cline ’26 slid slowly down Judaism until I feel at peace with the using this moment as an opportunity the row of brown lockers upstairs in way that the nation of Israel interacts to learn and read more about Palestine. the Campus Center. With a smile in her with the world.”

Bellamy also referenced the daily proeyes, she shared that she opted to take In order to prepare for the intensity gramming offered in the Campus Center the stairs to reach the room, though and uncertainty of a hunger strike, Cline for students who are not participating she’s been told to preserve her caloric planned meticulous contingency plans. in the hunger strike but want to show output.

She feels supported by the medical team their solidarity.

“If I have the physical capability to and all of the “concentric circles of care” “It has actually been so overwhelmdo this and if I have the mental capa- that have shown up for her and the oth- ingly beautiful to see them show up,” bility to do this, I have to do this for the er strikers. they said. “Knowing that this action is people of Palestine and the people of As of now, she said it “feels like Yom teaching people about Palestine and Gaza who are seeing so much violence Kippur,” but she’s trying to mentally teaching people (about) the history, the and destruction every day,” Cline said, prepare herself for the physical effects people, the culture — I feel incredibly describing her motivations to join the to set in. proud to help do that.” hunger strike.

“I can make it through to the next While deliberating joining, she day,” she said. “And tomorrow, I can This article originally appeared online at called her parents. Both of them were make it through to the next one.” browndailyherald.com on Feb. 4, 2024.

DANA RICHIE / HERALD