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UNIVERSITY SUSPENDS SPRING QUARTER STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

MARCH 11, 2020 TENTH WEEK VOL. 132, ISSUE 19

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“Joe was wrong; I was right,” Bernie Sanders (A.B. ‘64) Declares at Grant Park Rally

JEREMY LINDENFELD

Inside: March 17 Illinois Primary Voting Guide ARTS: The Other 80 Percent

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NEWS: Lift the Ban Coalition Blocks 53rd Street

VIEWPOINTS: Readers weigh in on IOP Whiteboard Controversy

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Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/chicagomaroon and follow @chicagomaroon on Instagram and Twitter to get the latest updates on campus news.

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Voter Guide: Registration/Voting

By NICK TARR News Reporter On March 17, the Illinois primaries will allow eligible voters to nominate candidates for positions like state senator, Cook County circuit judge, and president. Information on candidates and positions in the 2020 Illinois elections can be found here.

Can I Vote?

To register to vote in the March 17 Illinois primaries, you must • be a U.S.citizen; • be 18 by the general election on November 3,2020; • live in your precinct for 30 days prior to the election • not be in jail or prison How Do I Register?

From March 2 to March 16, early registration and voting will take place at these additional locations. Polls in the Fourth, Fifth, and 20th wards, those closest to campus, are as follows: • King Community Center, 4314 South Cottage Grove Avenue; • Jackson Park, 6401 South Stony

Island Avenue; • Bessie Coleman Library, 731 East 63rd Street.

On-campus early registration and voting will take place at the Reynolds Club from March 11–13, from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m.

Same-Day Registration Illinois allows voters to register at polling facilities on election day. If you have not voted in Illinois before, or you registered by mail without identification, you must bring two forms of identification, like a UChicago I.D.or driver’s license, to your polling location. One of these must show proof of your Illinois address. First-class mail from the University, like a bill, transcript, or report card, is acceptable proof of address. Find a complete list of acceptable identification here.

Where Do I Vote?

On March 17, polling will take place at the following locations based on your residence. Polls will be open from 6 a.m.to 7 p.m.: • Campus North/Max Palevsky/ Snell-Hitchcock: Ray School, 5631 SouthKimbark Avenue; • International House: The Clois-

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ters, 5801 South Dorchester Avenue; Stony Island: 1700 East 56th Street Condo Association; Renee Granville-Grossman/Burton-Judson: Cornerstone Baptist

Church, 1210 East 62nd Street; If you live off-campus, find your polling location on the Chicago Board of Elections website.

Voter Guide: March 17 Illinois Primaries This article is by: Pranathi Posa, Alex Dalton, Laura Gersony, and Jack Cruz-Alvarez Most people have a general understanding of what their representatives do once they’re elected to state and national legislatures; they listen to constituents, draft bills, and then vote on these bills to determine whether or not they can become laws.

While Hyde Park residents will get to decide on March 17 who they want representing them in the Illinois State Senate and Congress, they will also have a say in who fills a variety of other important but less understood positions in local and state government. Here is The Maroon’s guide to understanding those offices and the powers people who hold them have: Cook County State’s Attorney The Cook County state’s attorney leads the second-largest prosecutor’s office in the nation in Illinois’s most populous county.

Their office is divided into seven bureaus: the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, the Juvenile Justice Bureau, the Civil Actions Bureau, the Narcotics Bureau, the Special Prosecutions Bureau, the Administrative Services Bureau, the Investigations Bureau.

A state’s attorney presides over all criminal and civil legal matters within the county.

Most of their power is exercised in the form of setting policies and precedents for the various cases that are dealt with by the office. As state’s attorney, they are expected to represent the Cook County government in legal proceedings, either prosecuting on the County’s behalf or by defending the County in matters that have been brought against it.

During her tenure, current State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has handled several high profile cases, such as that of Jussie Smollett.

Foxx has also recently agreed to meet with the family of Charles Thomas, a UChicago student who was shot in April 2018 by the University of Chicago Police Department

during a mental health crisis. Thomas is currently awaiting trial in Cook County Jail and has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault among other felony charges. #CareNotCops, an activist student group on campus, has urged Foxx to drop the charges against Thomas.

Illinois Supreme Court: First District The Illinois Supreme Court is composed of seven justices who represent the five appellate judicial districts of the state: three from Cook County and one from each of the four remaining districts. Each justice is elected for a 10-year term, and the chief justice is elected by the court to serve a three-year term. On Election Day in the First District, candidates will compete for one seat, currently held by Justice P. Scott Neville.

As the state’s highest judicial body, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction, or the power to review lower courts’ deci-

sions, as well as limited original jurisdiction, meaning that they are the first court to hear certain cases. The court is required to hear cases involving capital punishment and cases in which the constitutionality of laws is called into question.

In addition to its judicial powers, the court may temporarily appoint judges to the Appellate Court to fill any vacated seats. It also has general supervisory and administrative authority over all state courts.

Some high-profile cases that have demanded action from the Illinois Supreme Court in recent years involved defendants Jussie Smollett, Jason Van Dyke, and Drew Peterson. The court will provide decisions in the near future on cases involving a proposed constitutional amendment to Illinois’s redistricting process, issues stemming from the state’s recent legalization of marijuana, life imprisonment for intellectually disabled adults, and other subjects.

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Hyde Park residents will get to decide on March 17 who they want representing them.

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Cook County Circuit Court Clerk The clerk of the Circuit Court is an elected position, but it is an administrative office rather than a policy-making one. The clerk’s discretion over policy issues is limited, and they act primarily in a supportive role, assisting the Circuit Court judge with their judicial responsibilities. This fact has led some to call for the position to be appointed rather than elected, as it is in many other jurisdictions.

With a $124 million budget and a staff of approximately 1,480, the clerk is responsible for recording court proceedings and maintaining files for the Circuit Court of Cook

County. As the largest of Illinois’s 24 judicial circuits, the Cook County Circuit Court sees around a million new cases filed every year.

The office has frequently faced criticism for opacity, inefficiency patronage (the exchange of government jobs for political favors), and an antiquated approach to record keeping that still relies heavily on paper documents. The slow pace at which Cook County has adopted a digitized record-keeping system has been a particular point of frustration for lawyers, litigants, and activists.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board The Metropolitan Water Reclama-

tion District (MWRD) Board is a group of nine commissioners that make decisions on wastewater treatment and stormwater management in the greater Chicago area.

Commissioners are elected at large in the district, “which encompasses 882.1 square miles and includes Chicago and 128 suburban communities throughout Cook County,” according to the MWRD website.

On election day, voters will elect commissioners to three of the board’s seats, currently held by commissioners Cameron Davis and Kimberly Neely Dubuclet, as well as Frank Avila, the board’s current chairman of finance. Ten Democrats and three Green Party members are vying for the positions.

The MWRD handles various projects

involving water management in Cook County. One of their biggest projects was completed in the early 20th century, when they reversed the flow of the Chicago River so water flowed in from Lake Michigan and sewage and waste from Chicago wouldn’t accumulate in the lake, the city’s source of clean water.

Currently, the MWRD is in the second phase of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), also known as Deep Tunnel, which began in 1972 as a system of large tunnels and reservoirs designed to capture and relocate stormwater and sewage overflow during periods of heavy rain.

Voter Guide: Illinois’s First Congressional District

By DIMITRIY LEKSANOV Senior News Reporter The Democratic primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in Illinois’s first congressional district will take place on March 17. The incumbent, Bobby Rush, 73, has held the position since 1993, and previously served as alderman of Chicago’s Second Ward.

His three challengers are Sarah Gad, a third-year student at the UChicago Law School and the founder of the nonprofit organization Addiction 2 Action, Robert Emmons Jr., a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a former community leader for the Obama Foundation, and Ameena Matthews, a community activist who was featured in the 2009 documentary, The Interrupters.

The first congressional district includes Hyde Park and much of Chicago’s South Side, as well as towns like Riverdale, Manhattan, and Joliet. Overall, the district covers parts of Cook County, which includes Chicago, as well as the adjacent Will County.

The district is primarily comprised of Black voters (50.1 percent), with white voters comprising another 43.0 percent of the population. The district has been represented by a Black man since Oscar Stanton De Priest assumed the office in 1929, and by a Democrat since Arthur Mitchell (1935).

As a member of the House, the first district Representative would have a number of legislative responsibilities, including introducing and voting on legislation, as well as any articles of impeachment. Specifically, the representative of Illinois’s first district would look to address issues concerning the district, including residential displacement and gun violence, the latter of which Rush addressed at a House Health Subcommittee hearing in 2019.

Bobby Rush Rush, 73, has served as the representative for Illinois’s first congressional district since 1993. During his tenure, Rush served primarily on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is currently the chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. In 2017, Rush introduced H.R. 338, a bill that intended to facilitate employment in the energy sector by “awarding grants…to prioritize training and education for energy and manufacturing jobs.” However, that bill never passed the Senate.

Rush has also done work regarding race relations and gun violence. In 2012, following the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, Rush addressed the House while symbolically wearing a gray hoodie, which is what Martin wore when he was shot, saying, “Too often, this violent act that resulted in the murder of Trayvon Martin is repeated in the streets

of our nation.” In 2019, Rush led a House Health Subcommittee hearing regarding gun violence in the United States, referring to it as “a national epidemic.”

Prior to being elected to Congress, Rush cofounded the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968 and served as alderman for Chicago’s Second Ward between 1983 and 1993. During his time as alderman, Rush pushed for environmental reforms, including “toxic waste legislation and heating cost disclosure laws for incoming tenants.” While in Congress, Rush has continued to promote environmentally-focused policies, such as by introducing H.R. 5545 (“NO EXHAUST”) in January, which would allocate “more than $6 billion per year…over the next ten years for states to implement electric vehicle networks.”

During his tenure in the House, Rush missed votes at an above-average rate, which challenger Sarah Gad criticized during a January forum. Between 2007 and 2015, Rush missed 22.4 percent of votes, the most of any House member during that period. However, a ProPublica study found that a majority of absences for which an explanation was provided were due to a “medical matter.” In 2008, Rush received treatment for salivary gland cancer, while, in 2013 and 2014, his wife, Carolyn, underwent several heart procedures, which caused him to miss time.

Sarah Gad Gad, 32, is a third-year student at the UChicago Law School. Prior to coming to UChicago, Gad was a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, but was forced to drop out after suffering severe injuries in a car accident, which led to an opioid addiction and a stint of incarceration at Cook County Jail for drug-related offenses.

Since then, Gad has focused heavily on prison reform and addiction treatment. In 2015, Gad took a research assistantship under civil rights attorney Kathleen Zellner, and in 2018, while at UChicago, Gad founded Addiction 2 Action, a nonprofit organization focused on treating opioid addiction, particularly in jails and prisons.

Gad has also spoken favorably about other types of healthcare reform. At a January candidate forum, Gad said that she supports “moving towards a single-payer health care system,” but also mentioned a need to prioritize other measures first, such as expanding primary care.

At the same forum, Gad addressed race relations in the United States and their connection to law enforcement. “We have a system of law enforcement that unfairly targets people of color [and] stamps them with [criminal] records,” Gad said. She also expressed support for reparations for descendants of slaves, particularly on the South Side.

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“The first congressional district includes Hyde Park and much of Chicago’s South Side.”

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Gad also supports education reform, including for incarcerated persons. The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act prevented all currently incarcerated people from obtaining Pell Grants for higher education, but Gad supports restoring the accessibility of these grants. She also supports tuition-free public universities and trade schools, as well as student debt cancellation.

Robert Emmons, Jr. Emmons, 27, is a community activist and graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After his graduation, Emmons worked for OneGoal, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the opportunity for underprivileged youth to obtain higher education.

He has also served as a community leader at the Obama Foundation, helping other activists design projects and initiatives.

At a January candidate forum, Emmons characterized gun violence prevention as his primary concern, and supports

several measures to address the issue. Emmons supports repealing the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which indirectly restricts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from doing research related to gun violence. Emmons also supports passing universal background checks and implementing “extreme risk protection order laws,” which allow families and law enforcement to temporarily restrict “access to guns for individuals at an elevated risk of harming themselves or others.”

The issue of gun violence is personal to Emmons. While at UIUC, he lost his “best friend and roommate to gun violence,” according to Emmons.

Emmons also supports various forms of environmental reform. He supports passing a Green New Deal, which would focus on achieving “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions” nationwide. Emmons has also mentioned “the possibility of wind farms in the southern end” of the congressional district, as well as the need to clear lead from Chicago’s drinking water.

He also supports various types of crim-

inal justice reform, including restoring voting rights to incarcerated persons and abolishing capital punishment.

Emmons has received endorsements from national and local Sunrise Movements, youth-led political movements focused on environmentalism and climate change, as well as former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.

Ameena Matthews Matthews is a community activist focused primarily on violence prevention.

She was raised by her single grandmother in Chicago.

Matthews began her career as a political activist in 2006 when she joined Cure Violence (previously known as CeaseFire), an organization founded by epidemiologist Gary Slutkin that looks to reduce rates of violent crime through “disease control and behavior change methods.”

Later, Matthews founded Pause 4 Peace, another nonprofit anti-violence organization that specifically looks to work with public school students.

In 2009, Matthews was featured in The Interrupters, a documentary about herself, CeaseFire, and other violence prevention activists in Chicago. The Interrupters won Best Documentary Feature at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards, and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Currently, Matthews works for the Youth Safety and Violence Prevention program within the YMCA, which is partnered with Pause 4 Peace and focuses on developing life skills.

Politically, Matthews said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times that she supports the Affordable Care Act and Medicare for All, saying that “the lack of access to the necessary prescriptions can affect quality of life of individuals on a daily basis.” She also mentioned that “Congress should take actions to reduce gun violence,” including universal background checks and psychological evaluations.

Voter Guide: 13th District State Senate

By ALEXIS FLORENCE Senior News Reporter Less than a month from the Illinois March 17 primary date, two candidates are hoping to be tapped by Democratic voters to represent the party in the 2020 general election in November. No candidate is running in the Republican primary for this race, so the winner of this primary will be the next Illinois state senator for the 13th District.

The 13th District of the Illinois State Senate covers all of Hyde Park and stretches across most of Chicago’s lake coast, from the Gold Coast neighborhood on the North Side to the Indiana border.

The seat, previously occupied by former U.S. president Barack Obama, became a point of contention when the 13th Democratic Legislative District Committee appointed State Senator Robert Peters at the beginning of last year as the replacement for Kwame Raoul, who was elected Illinois attorney general. Due to requirements in Illinois law, the vacant seat was

required to be filled by appointment even though some residents called for a special election to fill the seat. Incumbent Peters is now running against challenger Ken Thomas for the seat.

Recently Peters and Thomas participated in a candidates forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Chicago. Both candidates discussed specific policy positions and fielded questions from audience members.

Robert Peters Peters was appointed to his seat at the start of 2019 after working most recently as a political organizer at Reclaim Chicago, a progressive political advocacy firm.

The Hyde Park native is running for the 13th District for the first time after a year in the legislature.

During his time in Springfield last year, Peters cosponsored 13 successful bills that went into effect earlier this year. These bills included legislation preventing the Department of Corrections from suing recently released inmates for

the cost of their incarceration, a process known as “pay-to-stay,” and a bill that allows minors at least 12 years of age to receive preventative treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent.

In his campaign, Peters is focused on passing a bill to end the cash bail system.

He also wants to ban for-profit detention centers and reduce mass incarceration in the state of Illinois. He supports a $15 per hour minimum wage and elected school boards. He is currently a cosponsor of the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act, an energy bill that would greatly expand clean energy throughout the state, and says he wants to “protect our people and our planet.”

Ken Thomas Thomas is a lawyer by trade who worked as an associate in litigation and corporate restructuring for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. Outside of his work, he has volunteered for the Lawyers’ Committee for

Better Housing, a group that advocates for tenant rights in court, and has served as a board member for Chicago Survivors, an organization that aids families of gun violence victims, and he was a member of Lawyers for Choice, an organization that advocates supporting women’s right to choose.

As a self-described political outsider, Thomas is focused on rooting out what he sees as corruption in Illinois politics.

Thomas has called into question the ethics of Peters’s appointment last year, calling it a “backroom deal” and stating on his campaign website that “questions still exist as to whether the incumbent met the legal requirements to be appointed.”

He is also focused on housing justice, also saying on his campaign website that he plans to create legislation that advocates for the rights of tenants in eviction court rooms and increasing affordable housing options. Thomas is also focused on criminal justice reform, advocating for the end of the cash bail system, and pledging to fight against for-profit prisons.

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Voter Guide: Cook County State’s Attorney

By AVI WALDMAN Grey City Editor On March 17, Chicago residents will vote in the primary election to choose their top law enforcement official, the Cook County state’s attorney. The state’s attorney represents the government in criminal and civil prosecutions; in Cook County, the official oversees more than 700 attorneys in the second-largest prosecutorial office in the country. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020.

Democratic Primary Candidates Kim Foxx Incumbent State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has held the office since she was elected in 2016. Before taking this position she worked as an assistant state’s attorney and chief of staff for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Foxx was elected on a platform of reform similar to other progressive prosecutors nationwide. Since taking office, she has worked to reform cash bail and expunge thousands of marijuana convictions following statewide legalization.

According to a report from the Marshall Project, Foxx’s office has charged fewer cases than her predecessor in every major category except for gun crime, for which prosecutions have increased.

During a town hall at the Institute of Politics at UChicago, Foxx pointed to the decline in prosecutions for felony shoplifting and driving on a suspended license as examples of how her office has reallocated resources from nonviolent to violent crime. She also emphasized the work the Conviction Integrity Unit has done during her tenure to exonerate people who were wrongfully convicted, often

because of police misconduct.

Much of the media attention surrounding Foxx has focused on her handling of the highly publicized Jussie Smollett case. A Chicago Police Department investigation claimed Smollett had falsely reported a hate crime against him in January 2019. Foxx’s office later dropped the charges of disorderly conduct against him, and she was accused of being inappropriately influenced by contact with Smollett’s family. Irregularities in the Smollett case have been used by Foxx’s primary opponents Bill Conway and Donna More to critique Foxx’s time in office.

Foxx has picked up several high-profile endorsements, including U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (A.B. ’64) and Kamala Harris, as well as from local politicians like Governor J. B. Pritzker, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot (J.D. ’89).

Bill Conway Democratic challenger Bill Conway (M.B.A. ’13) has had a nontraditional career path: After working as a prosecutor in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office from 2006 to 2012, he moved on to become an investment banker at J.P. Morgan, a Navy intelligence officer, and later a professor of business at DePaul University. As a prosecutor, Conway worked on financial crimes and public corruption.

He has made fighting corruption in Cook County central to his campaign platform, promising to restore trust in the State Attorney’s office and increase prosecutions of white-collar corporate crime. Despite being a relative political unknown, Conway has managed to raise more money than Foxx, largely due to millions in contributions from his father, who cofounded the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.

Donna More Democratic challenger Donna More has worked as a U.S. attorney, an assistant state’s attorney, and a general counsel to the Illinois Gaming Board, where she was involved in the process of legalizing and regulating gambling in Illinois. More came third in the 2016 race to then-incumbent Anita Alvarez and Foxx. She maintains a similar platform to her 2016 campaign, including promises to reduce gun violence and political corruption. In an interview with the Daily Herald, More criticized Foxx for declining to charge retail theft and drug trafficking cases, calling her policy “catch and release.”

More has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune.

Bob Fioretti Former Second Ward alderman Bob Fioretti is an experienced candidate, having run for mayor twice as well as for Cook County Board President. As an alderman, he focused on improving Chicago Public Schools and eliminating food deserts on the West Side. Fioretti lost his position in a 2011 redistricting that moved his entire ward: Months of negotiations within City Council following publication of the 2010 census data culminated in the entire Second Ward being moved north and Fioretti’s home ending up in the 28th Ward.

Fioretti supports raising the maximum sentence for using illegal guns in violent crime, reopening mental health clinics, and creating Chicago’s own crime lab to resolve unsolved cases. He also promises to crack down on corruption in property tax deals, and to look at rolling back what he called “dangerous flaws” in Foxx’s bail reforms. The Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Fioretti in the primary race.

Republican Primary Candidates Pat O’Brien Republican challenger Pat O’Brien, like many of the candidates in the field, worked as an assistant state’s attorney in the Felony Review Unit before being elected as a judge to the Cook County Circuit Court in 2006 and serving for eight years.

O’Brien has represented private clients as well, including the Chicago Police Board.

His platform focuses on gang-related violence, and proposes establishing a new unit, dubbed the “Rackets Unit,” to investigate all gang-related crimes and use grand juries to prosecute them. O’Brien has also called for increased monitoring of defendants awaiting trial. He has been endorsed by the Chicago Sun-Times in the Republican primary.

Christopher Pfannkuche Republican candidate Christopher Pfannkuche won his party’s nomination in the 2016 state’s attorney’s race but lost to Foxx in the general election with 28 percent of the vote to Foxx’s 72 percent. He is a self-described “career criminal prosecutor,” and has worked for the state’s attorney’s office in both Cook and Macon Counties, in addition to advising the Metropolitan Crime Commission and training police officers. His experience in government is one of the key talking points of his campaign. Pfannkuche’s platform advocates using the state’s attorney’s office to address the opioid epidemic. Pfannkuche has also proposed a community outreach program that would send prosecutors into neighborhoods to meet with residents as well as various youth ambassadorship and internship programs within the criminal justice system. Pfannkuche has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Voter Guide: Cook County Circuit Court

By ALEX DALTON Senior News Reporter

two decades and has opted to not seek reelection.

In the November general election, Cook County will elect a new Circuit Court clerk for the first time in two decades. Dorothy Brown, the current clerk, has held the office for the past

Republican Primary Candidate Barbara Bellar The winner of the primary will face off against Republican candidate Barbara Bellar, an attorney and physician,

who is running unopposed in her party’s primary.

Bellar told the news station WTTW that if elected, she plans to “streamline technology, reduce duplication of personnel positions and functions [and] stress cross-training, build pride and team spirit.”

She has not yet established a campaign website or fundraising committee. Bellar has previously made unsuccessful bids for both the Illinois Senate and Illinois House of Representatives.

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Cook County will elect a new Circuit Court clerk for the first time in two decades.

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Democratic Primary Candidates Iris Martinez State Senator Iris Martinez has represented Illinois’s 20th district since 2003 and was the first Latina woman to be elected to the Illinois State Senate. Her time in that office has included legislation aimed at securing women’s access to contraceptive coverage, for which she received the Profile in Courage Award from Planned Parenthood.

In her bid for Cook County clerk, she has promised to end the mismanagement of the office by firing at-will employees in top administrative roles in the clerk’s office, who she believes have been responsible for bureaucratic dysfunction in the past. If elected, she also plans to conduct an audit of each of the funds that support the clerk’s office, in order to determine whether they are operating efficiently.

Jacob Meister Meister is a lawyer and the founder and chairman of the Civil Rights Agenda, a statewide civil rights nonprofit. He previously ran for the office in 2016.

Meister has proposed a new “access to justice” program for parties representing themselves in court, who frequently lack access to a computer or have difficulty navigating the court’s electronic systems. This will involve installing electronic filing kiosks in public libraries and other government buildings, and holding e-filing training seminars for reference librarians and government employees aimed at ensuring that self-representing litigants can file court documents without having to go to a courthouse during business hours.

Richard Boykin Former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, who represented the

First District from 2014 to 2018, previously made waves as a vocal opponent of the county’s sweetened beverage tax, which was repealed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2017 following widespread backlash from residents.

He was later defeated in a reelection bid

by Chicago Teachers Union organizer Brandon Johnson.

Boykin has said that if elected, he will prioritize improving the clerk’s website, enabling smartphone access to Circuit Court access, and working with the Chief Judge to make the court fully paperless by 2030. He also plans to move towards making the state-mandated e-filing system less cost- and labor-intensive for Cook County residents.

Michael Cabonargi Cabonargi has served on the Cook County Board of Review, a three-member body tasked with reviewing as-

sessments of Cook County properties and lowering property taxes where it deems necessary, since 2011. Recently, the Board has substantially decreased the assessed values of numerous commercial properties, despite Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s initial decision to raise them. In his bid for County clerk, he received the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party.

He has said that if he’s elected, he will take steps to eliminate cash bail, and will reduce the amount the office takes from each cash bail payment from as much as $100 to just $5, the minimum allowed.

Cabonargi has also promised to reduce the fees required to file a lawsuit and to make the structure of legal fees more transparent.

Voter Guide: Illinois Supreme Court

By LAURA GERSONY Senior News Reporter On Tuesday, March 17, Cook County residents will be voting in the Democratic primary for one of the seats representing the First Judicial District on the Illinois Supreme Court.

The seat is currently held by P. Scott Neville, Jr., who was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles E. Freeman’s retirement in 2018. Seven candidates, including Neville, are running in the Democratic primary for the seat. There are no candidates seeking the Republican nomination at this time.

P. Scott Neville, Jr. (Incumbent) Neville is seeking to retain his position on the Illinois Supreme Court. He is the second Black man to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court in its 202-year-long history.

Neville’s 45 years of legal and judicial experience includes service as an attorney, a circuit court judge, and an appellate court judge. He was also the president of

the Cook County Bar Association from 1997 to 1999.

As a sitting justice on the Illinois Supreme Court in March 2019, Neville dissented with the Court’s decision not to stiffen the sentence of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who fatally shot teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. Neville was the only justice to fully disagree with the decision in his dissenting opinion.

His reelection campaign saw a slight hiccup in late 2019, when NBC 5 Investigates reported that he was receiving tax exemptions for a home that he owned but did not live in. He was required to pay back four years of the exemption.

Neville has received the endorsements of the Cook County Democrats, Representatives Danny Davis (D–IL7) and Bobby Rush (D–IL1), the Chicago Federation of Labor, and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Neville was issued a rating of “Highly Qualified” by the Chicago Bar Association.

Cynthia Y. Cobbs Cobbs was appointed to the Illinois

Appellate Court in January 2015, where she continues to serve. She has also served as a circuit court Judge and a senior judicial law clerk to Freeman. Before becoming an attorney, Cobbs was a clinical social worker.

She has emphasized her experience with the administrative operations of the Supreme Court that she gained while managing the its budget and administrative office as Director of the Illinois Courts.

Cobbs is the only woman of color in the race, and, if elected, she would be the first African-American woman to hold the position.

Cobbs received a rating of “Qualified” from the Chicago Bar Association.

Daniel Epstein Epstein, an attorney and alumnus of the University of Chicago Law School (J.D. ’15), is running a progressive campaign which he describes as “affirmatively anti-racist and anti-sexist” and which advocates for “systemic reform” to prevent corruption and wrongful convictions. He is the only candidate in the race with no judicial experience.

Epstein has spoken of the power of the courts to shape the justice system.

His platform advocates for restorative justice, an end to cash bail and mass incarceration, an independent body to determine judges’ conflicts of interest, and an increased use of mobile technology in courtrooms.

Prior to his campaign bid, Epstein cofounded ZEYO, a legal tech company that allows users to handle small claim suits online via video conference.

He has been endorsed by several progressive organizations, including Our Revolution, a political action committee that advocates for the policies of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (A.B. ’64), and Run for Something, an organization devoted to supporting young progressive candidates running for down-ballot offices.

Epstein, a practicing attorney, is the only candidate in the race to receive a rating of “Not Recommended” from the Chicago Bar Association.

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Seven candidates, including Neville, are running in the Democratic primary for the seat.

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trial attorney for 30 years and then as a circuit court trial judge for 10 years.

Harris’s campaign emphasizes his “common sense” decisions on the appellate bench, such as denying arms to individuals based on allegations contained in police reports and cracking down on wrongful insurance denials and injury compensation.

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Harris faced criticism during an exchange with other Cook County Democrats in August when he stated that a candidate’s race should not factor into voters’ decision making process. Harris’s apparent unfamiliarity with the term “white privilege” elicited frustration from 28th Ward Alderman Jason Ervin and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Harris received a rating of “Qualified” from the Chicago Bar Association.

Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse, Jr. Howse was appointed as an appellate court judge in 2009, where he was retained in 2012. He also served as a circuit court judge from 1998 to 2004. Howse worked in election law prior to becoming a judge, serving as lead attorney for the high-profile Harold Washington Party, a splinter group of the Democratic Party founded in the late 1980s to represent the interests of Chicago’s African-American population.

Howse emphasizes his 43 years of experience as an attorney and judge, along with his unique perspective as an African-American man growing up in a racially segregated Tennessee. If his campaign bid is successful, Howse would be the second Black man elected to the Illinois Supreme Court and the third to serve.

Howse has received the endorsements of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Representative Jan Schakowsky (D–

IL9), and he was issued a rating of “Qualified” by the Chicago Bar Association.

Margaret Stanton McBride McBride boasts over 32 years of experience as a judge: She was elected a circuit court judge in 1990 and an appellate court judge in 1998, where she has been retained ever since.

Before her election to the bench, McBride served for 10 years as an assistant state’s attorney. McBride was also a judicial law clerk to Freeman during his time on the Illinois Appellate Court and Supreme Court.

McBride’s main pitch to voters rests on her qualifications. She also emphasizes her impartiality as a jurist, in contrast to the progressive Epstein campaign.

McBride received a rating of “Highly Qualified” from the Chicago Bar Association.

Jesse G. Reyes Reyes has served as an appellate court judge since 2012, having previously been an associate judge and elected judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Upon his election, Reyes became the first Latino judge elected to the Illinois Appellate Court and, if elected, would be the first Latino justice to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court.

As the first person in his family to graduate from college, Reyes emphasizes the unique perspective that he brings as a member of the Latino community. He has proposed initiatives to encourage a diverse pool of young people to enter the law profession, such as the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, which he founded.

Reyes has been endorsed by the Daily Herald and the political action committee American Middle East Voters. He received a rating of “Highly Qualified” from the Chicago Bar Association.

Hyde Park Community Members Volunteer Pets to Help Students Destress

By JUSTIN SMITH News Editor Last Sunday from 2–4 p.m., multiple Hyde Park community members allowed students to play with their dogs on the main quad as a part of an informal event nicknamed “It’s Probably Similar to Pet Love.” The event is intended to help students destress prior to finals, replacing the University’s Pet Love event, which was cancelled for the second consecutive quarter.

Alumna Liz Ziegler (S.M. ’18) announced the event on UChicago Memes for Theoretical Midwest Teens, a meme group of over 26,000 students, alumni, and other University-affiliated individuals. When not working in research technology, Ziegler is a veterinary assistant, and will be going to veterinary school in the fall. Ziegler brought her dog Harvey to the event.

“I saw on the meme page that the Official Pet love event was canceled - and CONTINUED ON PG. 8

Students and a Hyde Park dog.

ISAAC KRAKOWKA

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

8

“As non-judgmental, fountains of love and loyalty, animals are natural vehicles for providing support and companionship to you.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

how disappointing that was to students.

I believe that animals can have a positive impact on people’s mental health.

As a dog owner and member of the wider Hyde Park dog owning community, I had the ability to pull together an event, so why not?” Ziegler said in a statement to The Maroon.

The event included several dogs and owners from the local Hyde Park dog community, a group of dog owners who often can be found walking their dogs in Stout Florence Park. According to Ziegler, the group has held events in the past organized primarily by Stephanie Larson, who brought her dog to the

event Sunday. Among the Hyde Park dog in attendance were Harvey, a reddish Chi Chi mix; Professor Proton, a schnauzer mix; Mary Shelly, a German Shepherd mix; Jane Goodall, a Borzoi; and Dash, a dachshund mix. Ziegler worked to coordinate with dog owners who expressed interest in bringing their dogs to the event.

In prior quarters, the University has hosted an official event called Pet Love, where students could play with dogs in Reynolds Club. The event, which would have been held this past Saturday, was canceled for the second quarter in a row, leading Hyde Park members to step up to the occasion.

The purpose of Pet Love, according to the Facebook event page, was to bring certified therapy dogs to UChicago for students to engage with. “As non-judgmental, fountains of love and loyalty, animals are natural vehicles for providing support and companionship to you.”

This fall quarter, Pet Love was cancelled due to the unfortunate death of three of the dogs meant to attend. The University did not give any rationale for the cancellation of winter quarter’s Pet Love event, but mentioned that they are working with the pet therapy organization providing the therapy dogs to reschedule the event.

There have been multiple efforts in the UChicago meme group to make up for the University’s cancellations, including an effort by third-year Oren Oppenheim to host a virtual Pet Love, resulting in hundreds of students and alumni sharing photos of their pets.

Like Ziegler, Oppenheim’s event was intended to help fill Pet Love’s gap on campus. “I love posting things in the meme group that might cheer people up or make their day a bit brighter, and after hearing that the in-person Pet Love was cancelled, I thought that creating a ‘virtual’ Pet Love through a meme format might help everyone out, myself included,” Oppenheim said.

Ten Days Before Illinois Face-Off With Biden, Sanders and Surrogates Rally in Grant Park

By ALEXIS FLORENCE and CAROLINE KUBZANSKY Senior News Reporter and Managing Editor–elect About 10,000 Chicagoans turned out to see Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (A.B. ’64) speak at a rally in Grant Park on Saturday afternoon. The event took place just ten days ahead of his face-off with former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in Illinois.

Sanders and Biden are the last two candidates with a viable path to the Democratic nomination. Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has not formally dropped out, but has garnered less than two percent of support.

Sanders spent the first part of his stump speech drawing a contrast between himself and Biden. Sanders supporters frequently cite his consistency on issues throughout his career as a main reason for backing him, and Sanders hearkened back to his history in making a case to Chicagoans.

“I think now that the primary nomination process is coming down to two people, it is important for the people of Illinois to understand the differences between us in

terms of our records,” Sanders said.

He specifically stressed his and Biden’s divergences on foreign policy and Wall Street.

“One of us voted for [the Iraq] war. That was Joe Biden. One of us led the opposition to that war. When the crooks on Wall Street nearly destroyed our economy, one of us voted for that outrageous bailout; that was Joe Biden; one of us led the opposition to that bailout,” he said.

Sanders also called the free trade agreements of the 1990s “a disaster.”

“It was unfair to ask the working people of this country to compete against countries whose workers are making starvation wages. Joe was wrong; I was right,” he said.

However, he added, Democrats need to unite behind whoever the nominee is in November.

“Out of all 18 candidates, we all understand we are going to get behind the winner because together we know that our differences are far, far less than our differences with this dangerous president.”

Sanders invited local politicians and organizers to speak on his behalf at the rally. District 13 State Senator Robert Peters, who endorsed Sanders this past summer, proclaimed that Democrats need to dream

of big policy changes when casting their ballots in March and November to beat Donald Trump, not default to moderation for the sake of electability.

This is not a time for us to think small,” Peters said. “When we think small, Donald Trump wins. We must be tough, and follow our dreams.”

Sanders appealed to Chicago’s strong history of unionization and invited union representatives from National Nurses United and National and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America to the podium. Stacy Davis Gates, Vice President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) spoke to the crowd, advocating against choosing a more moderate candidate. She and Jesse Sharkey, President of CTU, announced personal endorsements of Sanders this past Wednesday.

“See, moderation is a dream killer,” Davis Gates said. “This movement is about making America a place for everyone who needs healthcare, who needs education, who needs a safety net.”

Laura Colaneri, a member of the UChicago Graduate Students Union (GSU) attended the rally and said her support of Sanders was strengthened by her organizing on campus and Sanders expressing his

support for GSU in 2017.

“I still supported Bernie in 2016 but this [working in GSU] has really strengthened my support for him a lot, ‘’ Colaneri told The Maroon. “There’s support for grassroots organizing, for workers on a day-to-day level.”

First years Selma Chab, James Soh, and Carissa Greene were asked to stand onstage behind Sanders for his speech.

Carissa Greene attended the rally in her UChicago shirt, and said that she was excited to represent the University onstage, especially because she sees a connection between her path to UChicago and the policies that Sanders would enact as president.

“I want people at this University to see that we showed up.... I’m proud to represent our school and students who are struggling and fighting, as a low-income student,” Greene said. “As someone who has fought a lot of adversity getting here, someone from the deep south, a queer black woman, it means a lot to be here and represent my school at the stage.”

Greene also cited the University’s commitment to free speech as a reason why she felt it was important to represent the University onstage.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

Sanders Supporters Rally in Grant Park

ALL PHOTOS BY JEREMY LINDENFELD

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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Study Abroad Canceled Due to COVID-19

By MAROON STAFF The University of Chicago is suspending spring quarter study abroad programs in response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), enrolled students were told this morning by email.

The University is also cancelling all non-essential travel, an email sent later this morning by Provost Ka Yee Lee said.

Study abroad program participants will not be charged the study abroad program fee, and students’ $675 Study Abroad administrative fee will be refunded, the emails said.

Students who had planned to be abroad will be able to pre-register for spring quarter classes. Pre-registration for those students began at noon on March 10, and will last until noon on March 11.

Students who had planned to study

abroad this spring who currently live in University housing will be able to remain in their current housing assignments, unless they decide to take a leave of absence in response to the cancellation of study abroad.

Students living off campus who find themselves in need of housing were told to contact housing@uchicago.edu.

“Contracts will be extended on a firstcome, first-served basis and placements will be made according to space available, though please know that space is not guaranteed,” emails to program participants said.

The emails also said that MAC Properties has agreed to rent to students in need of spring quarter housing with “pricing comparable to market rates” and flexible lengthof-stay leases.

The University is also cancelling all events with more than 100 people through April 15, and asking departments to cancel

or postpone all campus visits for prospective students to a later date.

However, the University is not requiring classes to meet virtually as of now, although Lee said that the institution was prepared to do so.

“Should it become necessary, the University has access to virtual platforms that can accommodate many needs, including online classes, virtual events, and telework.

We will be in touch with schools, divisions, faculty, and staff managers with further information on related preparations,” the email said.

The provost advised students traveling during spring break that “public health measures could make it difficult to return to campus in a timely way,” and they should bring along any items they may need “if your return to campus is delayed.”

There are no confirmed cases of coro-

navirus on campus, Lee said in the email. A patient at the University of Chicago Medicine suspected of having coronavirus tested negative last week.

Illinois has had 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, according to local officials. Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker issued a “disaster proclamation” Monday to “to unlock additional federal resources and help the state prepare for the potential of further spread,” a news release from the state said.

As the virus continues to spread, some schools in regions containing the greatest numbers of confirmed cases in the U.S., including the University of Washington and Stanford University, have cancelled in-person classes. Harvard University announced Tuesday it would move all classes online after spring break.

Protestors in Rent Control Debate Block Street to Advocate for Illinois HB 255

By ALEXIS FLORENCE Senior News Reporter On Friday, protestors with the Lift the Ban Coalition unloaded a mattress, chairs, rugs and a lamp from a U-Haul truck in front of Illinois 25th District State Representative Curtis Tarver’s Hyde Park office. They blocked traffic on 53rd Street for over two hours in protest of Tarver’s perceived change in stance on HB 255 and the overall issue of rent control in Illinois.

HB 255 was introduced in Springfield at the start of last year by 39th District State Representative Will Guzzardi. If passed, HB 255 would repeal the 1997 Rent Control Preemption Act, which prohibits local governments from controlling rent prices. The bill hit a roadblock when it was voted down by the Commercial Law Subcommittee in March of last year. Tarver, a member of the subcommittee, voted against advancing the bill in the legislature.

The Lift the Ban Coalition includes groups who advocate for affordable housing across the city. Helena Duncan, a 25th district constituent and member of the Coalition, explained her disappointment with

Tarver and believes that voting against HB 255 is in direct conflict with the desires of his constituency.

In the 2018 primary elections, members of Tarver’s state district in the Fourth and Fifth Wards of Chicago overwhelmingly supported lifting the ban on rent control.

“We’re just asking him to actually represent the will of the people in his district who are suffering from really high rates of eviction and rent burden and to do this very simple step of repealing this law that should have never been passed in the first place,” Duncan said.

Bobby Brown, a member of the Lift the Ban Coalition who is also a member of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), has been a resident of Englewood for 30 years. She feels that Tarver has “sold out” his constituents on the issue of rent control. Brown referred to a 2018 town hall during Tarver’s initial election to Springfield in which Tarver was reported supporting rent control measures. “He was wishy-washy all the time so we really see him for who he really is,” Brown said.

Tarver was not in his office during the protest and did not immediately respond to

ADRIAN MANDEVILLE

The Maroon’s request for comment. Last year, Tarver was quoted saying, “I don’t want to support something that’s ultimately not

sustainable. [Rent control] might be marginally helpful in the short-term but ultimately CONTINUED ON PG. 11

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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Phoenix Survivors Alliance Hosts Symposium on Interpersonal Violence

By KATE MABUS Contributor Social workers and activists discussed interpersonal violence at the Phoenix Survivors Alliance’s (PSA) second symposium of the year. The symposium, held in Mandel Hall, aimed to spread awareness of activism around sexual assault happening in Chicago universities.

Saturday’s theme was interpersonal violence, which speakers defined as sexual, physical, and emotional violence enacted by a romantic partner, family member, or other intimate relation. PSA invited Danielle Boachie and Emma Gonzalez, both Chicago social workers, and Fabiana Diaz, an activist.

Boachie argued that patriarchy and capitalist profit have led to the development of a relationship between government, capitalism, and social organizations that control and derail anti-establishment, grassroots activist movements which she called the “nonprofit industrial complex.”

As a social worker themself, Boachie has experienced the disconnect between services provided by industrial nonprofits and the needs of marginalized victims of interpersonal violence.

“I think most importantly for me is [the nonprofit industrial complex’s] redirect of

activist energies into career-based modes of organizing, instead of mass-based modes of organizing capable of actually transforming society. So, how does this look in practice? In Chicago, we have agencies that appropriate activist sentiments while relying on carcel practices to address gender-based violence,” Boachie said.

Since interpersonal violence is often waged through manipulation and coercion, it is uniquely perpetuated by these systems which uphold harmful power dynamics, Boachie said. They outlined the ways in which the police and district attorney institutionalize interpersonal violence by criminalizing victims who acted in their own self-defense. Furthermore, they identified a pipeline for marginalized groups between surviving violence and being incarcerated.

Patrick Johnson and Tewkunzi Green are two examples of this pipeline. Johnson was convicted under the state’s accountability theory law because he was present when his abusive boyfriend committed murder. Green is a mother who killed her partner in an act of self-defense, when he threatened her life while she was holding their child. Activists from grassroots organization Love & Protect are raising awareness of these cases at the state level.

Boachie used Love & Protect as an exam-

ple of productive, anti-institutional activism.

“Approaches taken on the social justice level, as opposed to through the institutions, are collective, action-oriented, coordinated, holistic, transformative, restorative, and centers [on] those most impacted by social violence,” Boachie said.

Emma Gonzalez, whose work focuses on prison abolition and decriminalization of victims, echoed Boachie’s message. “Obstruction can be as little as not laughing at a joke that is at the expense of survivors, or as grand as bystander intervention and protests on your local college campus,” Gonzalez said.

She stressed the importance of education and storytelling to work against the marginalizing forces that silence victims’ stories and fostering understanding and solidarity within and outside the movement. Amplifying survivor stories, like those of Johnson and Green, can also prevent further criminalization of victims, she said. “A survivor does not fit the image of a perfect victim, but instead of a woman or girl that shatters this nonexistent reality by surviving their abuse and interpersonal violence,” Gonzalez said.

Speaker Fabiana Diaz became an activist in college after being raped. She extended her activism to politics, sharing her story as a survivor since then and using it to empower herself and other survivors.

Because she was raped on her second day of college, Diaz never got to experience college without the backdrop of her assault. She recalled herself in the hospital afterwards.

“I could see my poor immigrant parents’ hearts breaking. My mom just kept saying, ‘How could this happen?’ But what she meant was, How could this happen here, in the U.S., in a country that was supposed to provide her daughters opportunities?” Diaz said.

Diaz remembers feeling like she was constantly losing—institutional forces made it so that she had to alter her life to avoid her rapist: She was the one who had to rearrange her class schedule and move dorms when placed in environments with her rapist.

In protest, Diaz completed her first act of activism. Inspired by a student who carried her mattress with her through campus until her rapist was held accountable by their university, Diaz did the same.

“That was the first time I fully embraced the identity of a survivor, something that took me many years to unpack and fully understand: how does it fit with all my other identities; how at times it felt like my only identity,” Diaz said. “I became a survivor publicly. I didn’t realize it then, but my activism started to save me. The more I shared my story, the more survivors I met, the more power I reclaimed, the more agency I felt.”

“We’re just asking him to actually represent the will of the people in his district.”

Protesters occupy 53rd Street.

CONTINUED FROM PG. 10

causes more damage than it does good.”

Other groups, such as the Chicagoland Apartment Association (CAA), are working

ADRIAN MANDEVILLE

to oppose HB 255 with their SHAPE (Support Housing Affordability, Progress and Equality) Illinois campaign, which they say “take[s] a stand against harmful legislation

that would enact devastating rent control measures now working their way through the General Assembly.”

Representatives with the UChicago Graduate Student Union (GSU) and the UChicago Chapter of Common Cause Illinois participated in the protest.

Laura Colaneri of GSU spoke to the audience of the protest about what she feels is “UChicago’s complicity in raising rents in Hyde Park,” through decreasing subsidize housing units for graduate students.

Colaneri proclaimed solidarity with the Lift the Ban Coalition and condemned the University for decreasing the amount of subsidized housing for students, pointing to rent costs as a major concern for GSU members according to their 2018 bargaining survey results.

“We [GSU] are part of this community

and we are here with you,” Colaneri said to the crowd. “And we won’t let what affects people in our community and what drives people out of our community go unchallenged.”

AK Alilonu, a fourth-year with the UChicago Chapter of Common Cause Illinois, spoke to *The Maroon* about the need for UChicago students to pay attention to rent control legislation and act in support of the Lift the Ban Coalition.

“Our being here has a very real effect on the community surrounding us,” Alilonu told The Maroon. “From people you see in the dining halls to people who own the businesses where you get lunch, our being here every day makes it more and more difficult for people who are not affiliated with this university and who live in the neighborhood to survive.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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VIEWPOINTS

I Am the IOP Whiteboard Girl The Backlash Faced by Conservative Students on Campus Runs Counter to the Chicago Principles

By EVITA DUFFY Last week I was asked by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics (IOP) to participate in a digital initiative, called “I vote because…,” where students pose with a small white board stating their personal reasons for voting.

Some examples included “Medicare for All,” “Universal health care shouldn’t be considered a radical idea,” and “Children shouldn’t be kept in cages.” I wrote, “I vote because the coronavirus won’t de-

stroy America, but socialism will.”

As a conservative Hispanic woman, I am accustomed to being in the minority opinion, especially on a liberal college campus. I am a proponent of free speech, and I hoped my white board message might even encourage a lively and robust debate on economics. However, I was naïvely unprepared for the onslaught of online hate and threats of violence I received.

Fellow students attacked my character, my intellect, my family, my appearance, and even threat-

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ened me with physical violence, using foul and offensive language. I was called a racist and a xenophobe.

Some compared me to animals.

Others declared that they would personally stop me from voting, and many defended the personal attacks, saying I deserved to be bullied and that I don’t belong at the University of Chicago on account of my beliefs. I was told by many that I was the most hated person on campus. It was frightening. It was also hurtful, since some of the attacks came from people I considered friends.

The fact is, as awful as the coronavirus is, killing a total of 12 people nationwide and over 3,000 globally, its number of victims pales in comparison to the tens of millions of people who have died at the hands of socialism and communism. If our education system was more honest, the online trolls would know that. I do, however, give them credit for knowing the tactics of the ideology they espouse and hope to introduce to America via Bernie Sanders’s presidential candidacy. One UChicago Crushes commenter declared that I was entitled “to a brick wall,” demanding I “support a movement [socialism] that eliminates violence on a systemic level or face the consequences. No sympathy. Sorry.” In other words, I deserve to be executed for fearing socialism more than the coronavirus.

As of writing this opinion, the administration and the IOP have not come to my defense, nor have they condemned the intolerance and violence students have directed toward me. It is not hard to imagine what sort of actions they would

ALVIN SHI be taking if an LGBTQ+ or Muslim student faced similar threats or experienced this sort of intolerance on campus. When a young Hispanic woman joins a fun “get out and vote” initiative and receives this level of social shaming, deeply personal attacks, and threats of violence, conservative students get the message: There is a price to pay for daring to speak your mind or questioning the liberal orthodoxy on campus. This University-endorsed intolerance is why so many students self-censor and some, sadly, simply give up questioning and thinking for themselves. The path of least resistance is to join the campus groupthink. I believe our university is poorer for this. When I applied to the University of Chicago, I knew it was a liberal place, but I honestly believed our University president, Robert Zimmer, when he said our school was committed to the Chicago Principles, which protect free speech and encourage

open debate. Right now, that claim feels like false advertising.

If faculty and fellow students disagree with any of my opinions, I am happy to hear it. In fact, I encourage it. My hope is that this sad episode leads to serious reflection on the value of civility when we do debate and disagree. I hope it will also draw attention to the importance of intellectual and political diversity on campus and in classrooms. Hiding behind accusations of “xenophobia” and “racism” to silence a discussion on the virtues of capitalism vs. socialism is unproductive and intellectually dishonest. Shaming or socially ostracizing people who have sincere but different points of view is the opposite of tolerance. Our country and our politics are already so polarized. The University of Chicago needs to live up to its own standards and set an example of civility, diversity, and tolerance during these hyper-partisan times.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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Hey IOP Whiteboard Girl, Stop Using Other’s Trauma to Weaponize Your Political Opinion The IOP Whiteboard Girl’s Comments Trivialized the Sufferings of Those Affected by Coronavirus and Insulted Chinese and Asian-American Communities

By DARCY KUANG Dear Evita, Here is why your whiteboard message was insensitive, offensive, and racist: You treated an extremely traumatic event for Chinese people around the world as nothing but a way to weaponize your own political opinion, which you could have sufficiently expressed without any mentions of the outbreak.

You see, my grandparents live in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

Both of them are almost 80 years old and have underlying health conditions like high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, which make them both very susceptible to the coronavirus and more likely to die if infected.

Since virtually all modes of transportation in and out of Wuhan have been shut down in the last month, if anything happens to them, their daughter who lives in a nearby province has no way of reaching them.

When asked about why you would vote by the Institute of Politics (IOP), you could have easily expressed your concern about socialism without mentioning the coronavirus. You could have said, “I vote because socialism would destroy America.” Yet you didn’t. You chose to add that “coronavirus won’t destroy America,” but for what purpose?

In your op-ed, you defended your message by saying, “The fact is, as awful as the coronavirus is…its number of victims pales in comparison to the tens of millions of people who have died at the hands of socialism and communism.”

Your statement is factually true, and judging by the comments under your op-ed, many agree with you. But the question is, regardless of what ideologies you do and don’t believe in, why do you feel the need to compare the casualties of the coronavirus to those of socialism and communism? Why is this comparison relevant or necessary?

My guess is that you find pointing out how small the casualty of a health crisis is to be a convenient way to strengthen your argument against electing Bernie Sanders, whose signature policy is universal health care. In doing so, you have reduced the coronavirus outbreak to nothing but a tool that validates your political opinion and makes your whiteboard message catchy.

And that is what’s wrong with your message. You did not respond to an ongoing public health crisis, a tragedy that has killed over 3,000, and a collective trauma for Chinese people, with sympathy, empathy, or concern. Instead, you thought: Aha, what a great opportunity for me to express my dislike for Bernie Sanders.

I do not condone any of the threats that you have received or the cyberbullying you have experienced. You don’t deserve it, and I am very sorry about what you have been through. But I find it concerning that you seem to think that people who criticized you were all college libtards “hiding behind accusations of ‘xenophobia’ and ‘racism.’” Since you are so quick to harp on your identity as a Hispanic woman, I am sure you don’t need me to explain to you why it is racist to treat the sufferings of marginalized communities as trivial, especially when that suffering is ongoing.

As for why your message was xenophobic, it’s even more obvious: You made Chinese students feel like our trauma is unrecognized and unimportant at this school. Your message suggests that our trauma is only worthy of being the backdrop of “important” discussions like capitalism vs. socialism.

Chinese students at this school don’t have to have any personal connections to Wuhan like I do to feel the pain. We see the death toll rising. We see how this virus has torn apart families. We witness the fear of our family members and friends, not knowing how much longer their lives will be put on hold.

Even though we don’t currently live in China, we are not shielded from the influence of

the outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak has amplified racism toward Asians around the globe.

Singaporean Jonathan Mok was attacked in London by a group of men who yelled “I don’t want your virus in my country,” sustaining bruises and serious injuries on February 24. A couple of days ago, Jiye Seong-Yu, a Korean woman, was nearly punched off of her bike.

We are still mourning our dead and figuring out how to process our trauma. Just two weeks ago, Chinese students at this school hosted a vigil for Dr. Li Wenliang, a whistleblower for the coronavirus outbreak who passed away due to complications of the virus. Instead of being met with support, we open Facebook and see one of our peers smiling at the camera while holding a sign that belittles our experience.

What you did was not standing up for your beliefs. What you did was dismissing and hijacking our trauma for your personal benefit. But 3,000 people did not die so you could make some provocative comment and launch yourself into a segment on Fox News. In China, we have a saying that the pain of losing our fellow citizens is the same as sustaining physical injuries ourselves (吾人闻同胞之死所感 之痛 苦与自身之创伤所感之痛 苦，于其种类故无差别). We feel the pain, and you should learn to

respect it.

So the next time someone asks you about why you vote, just answer it directly. Say you are concerned about the impact of socialism on the American economy and culture. Your point will get across just fine.

And better yet, exercise your right to vote at the upcoming election and choose a leader who won’t destroy America. But stop using other people’s trauma as a vehicle to express your political opinions. Trivializing a global health crisis that has heavily impacted not only China but also Japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran, the U.S. and many others will do nothing to help your case against socialism. Treat the coronavirus outbreak as what it is: a tragedy that deserves recognition and respect.

P.S. Since the IOP came to your defense, here is a brief message for Mr. David Axelrod as well. You contend that people’s sharp responses are mainly aimed at the second half of Evita’s message about socialism, and maybe that is true for some people. But the statement that the minimization of coronavirus alone isn’t sufficient to elicit sharp responses from the student body is dismissive in itself.

So if you can’t fathom that anyone is more outraged by the first part rather than the second part of her message, you are hearing one right now. Feel my anger.

吾人闻同胞之死所感之痛苦与自身之创伤所感之痛苦，于其种类故无差别 “The pain of losing our fellow citizens is the same as sustaining physical injuries ourselves.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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IOP Controversy Shows Free Speech Is Thriving at UChicago Conservatives on Campus Must Realize That Free Speech Includes Facing Backlash for Your Words

By JACK VOTAVA Last week, the University of Chicago’s long-running, infamous debate over free speech rights on campus flared again as the community expressed outrage over the Institute of Politics (IOP)’s tweet depicting a student holding a whiteboard reading, “I vote because the coronavirus won’t destroy America, but socialism will.” To no one’s surprise, conservatives on and off campus condemned the backlash as bullying, argued that it violated the student’s freedom of speech, and called for swift University intervention.

In a statement on her official Facebook page, Fox News television host Rachel Campos-Duffy, the student’s mother, denounced the University, saying “shame on the University of Chicago & the Institute of Politics for letting the radicals run wild & not setting standards for how to disagree & debate with

civility & respect.” The student herself was even more pointed, writing in a Maroon op-ed: “As of writing this opinion, the administration and the IOP have not come to my defense, nor have they condemned the intolerance and violence students have directed toward me. It is not hard to imagine what sort of actions they would be taking if an LGBTQ+ or Muslim student faced similar threats or experienced this sort of intolerance on campus.”

This disturbing false equivalence—between the harassment faced by minority students and the backlash caused by conservative trolling—exposes the heart of the conservative argument and how vapid it really is. In his seminal The Politics of Recognition, Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor summarized the risks of discriminatory discourse towards vulnerable individuals, writing that “our identity is partly shaped by recognition or its absence, often by

the misrecognition of others, and so a person or group of people can suffer real damage, real distortion, if the people or society around them mirror back to them a confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves.”

The University is rightly obligated to take action against racist or homophobic speech when it affects its students, for such discourse degrades these students’ humanity and demeans fundamental aspects of their identity. But what about the denial of recognition to conservative students, or the kinds of belittling recognition they receive in response to their real beliefs?

First, we see that demand for recognition made by conservative students is in fact a demand for the recognition of the legitimacy of their beliefs. Campos-Duffy’s statement makes clear that what she wants is University action to force students into treating conservative opin-

ions with “civility & respect.” Of course, this is absurd: No one has an a priori right to have their arguments taken seriously, nor are one’s political beliefs entitled to universal respect. Derision, mockery, and satire—the discursive denial of recognition and contention that one’s arguments do not merit serious rebuttal—are fundamental to free speech.

Second, casually asserting that “socialism will destroy America” in a nonpartisan IOP series showcasing many students’ heartfelt experiences or specific policy advocacy was obviously and intentionally provocative, even if it was sincere. It is highly disingenuous to feign surprise and horror at popular backlash to obviously controversial trolling. More alarmingly, the idea that anger at such trolling is equivalent to prejudice against racial and sexual minorities is itself degrading toward minority students. Our core identities are nothing like

the experience of writing inflammatory political opinions on an IOP whiteboard. These demands for recognition are not the same and should not be treated as such.

More than anything, what this episode showcases is that political discourse at this University is alive and well. The IOP permits prejudiced conservatives to air their opinions—to considerable support, judging by social media reactions—and the community consciously chooses to deny such views legitimacy and recognition. This is not “groupthink” but an active discursive culture which minimizes comments that are inflammatory and unproductive, thereby protecting and elevating real, more nuanced discussion. Yet again, it seems that many campus conservatives need a reminder: Real free speech often involves bruised egos and well-deserved backlash—and this should not make you a victim.

Calendar Shortened and Sped Up Without Student Involvement In line with a broader pattern of sidelining students, administrators failed to meaningfully involve undergraduates in the recently announced major changes to the academic calendar.

By MAROON EDITORIAL BOARD

Two weeks ago, Provost Ka Yee Lee announced several changes to the University’s academic calendar. The adjustments include shorter quarters with instructional periods cut to nine weeks, a week-long Thanks-

giving break, shortened reading periods, a three-week September term, and an earlier end to spring quarter. These are among other suggestions outlined in a report by the Committee to Review the Academic Calendar, which was composed of select faculty, academic staff, and students.

Students were consulted re-

markably little leading up to Lee’s announcement.

For one, the report includes “a request for a defined period of public comments and conversations with deans, faculty members, lecturers, students, and academic staff during the Autumn quarter of 2019.”

This call was egregiously ig-

nored: No public comment process ever occurred. Furthermore, as a University spokesperson confirmed to The Maroon, only various faculty groups—and not students—were formally consulted in meetings last quarter.

Additionally, the committee included only two undergraduate students and one graduate

student, all of whom graduated in 2019. The committee’s report does not say why these individuals were selected as the only student voices on the topic.

Students must be given substantive say in decisions that so drastically impact student well-being. Had the administraCONTINUED ON PG. 15

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“As campus activism has repeatedly shown, there is no shortage of student desire to be more involved in administrative decisions.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 14

tion consulted more than two undergraduates, the proposed changes—which drew a flurry of instant student critique—might have better addressed College students’ needs.

As campus activism has repeatedly shown, there is no shortage of student desire to be more involved in administrative decisions. There was also certainly

enough time, in the drafting of this report, to consult students: The committee was formed in January 2019.

When the committee began meeting with University stakeholders, they held meetings with only one undergraduate group, the Maroon Key Society. The society, which consists of third- and fourth-years handpicked by faculty and administrators, does not

by itself adequately represent the broader student body, however.

Notably, the committee did not meet with elected student representatives from the College during the report’s drafting.

When asked by The Maroon, a University spokesperson said only that the Graduate Council, the elected group for graduate students, was consulted in spring 2019.

To solicit more representative feedback from students, the committee could have held a town hall, or hosted a few meetings per quarter open to all students at the University. Higher-ups on the committee could have also held open office hours for students to give input on the proposed changes to the academic calendar. Better yet, administrators could have solicited applications

for students to join the committee itself.

The lack of undergraduate input on these recommendations made itself clear within hours of Lee’s announcement.

The provost’s email did not offer any forum for University members to raise questions or concerns, leaving students to voice their feedback on informal, independent platforms.

JESSICA XIA

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“The University has established a pattern of ignoring student voices in matters that directly concern students.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 15

UChicago Memes for Theoretical Midwest Teens and UChicago Secrets, two Facebook groups commonly used by students, flooded with posts critiquing the new calendar. In a recent Maroon column, a student called for the Office of the Provost to devote time toward addressing student feedback before the new calendar is implemented in autumn 2021.

The University has established a pattern of ignoring student voices in matters that directly concern students. This trend is reflected in the 2018 announcement of Woodlawn Residential Commons, for instance, as well as the more recent addition of Latin honors—made with no public notice.

Several problems with the old calendar could have been

addressed more effectively had students been better included in its revision.

Chief among the issues with the new calendar is the reduced instructional time. This shortening of the quarter will disproportionately affect STEM students, who will either be forced to cram content into a shorter time frame or leave foundational courses with gaping holes in their technical knowledge. The fact that the report does not mention a decrease in tuition, since the academic year will be substantially reduced, is puzzling—particularly given UChicago’s soaring tuition rate and cost of attendance which is the highest in the country.

The report’s attempt to brand the new reading period as three days is also misleading: The

University isn’t expanding the current Thursday and Friday reading period. Instead, it is including Saturday and Sunday in the new three-day count, from Saturday to Monday, to disguise the fact that it is shaving off a crucial study day.

Meanwhile, the addition of a three-week September term comes with significant, and as yet unaddressed, financial considerations. Since the report doesn’t specify whether or not the September term will be included in autumn tuition or require an additional expense, it is unclear to what extent this additional term will be a viable option for all students.

Finally, the new calendar’s proposed week-long Thanksgiving break has its own sets of pros and cons. The longer break

may give students more time to recharge and prepare for finals, but it poses a challenge to international students and others who may not be able to return home during the week. Especially given that the committee’s report does not specify whether all dorms, dining halls, and other facilities will be open for students during this time, it is unclear what portion of UChicago students will benefit from the lengthened holiday.

This is not to say that all of the changes to the academic calendar are bad. Some recommendations are admirable, like the intent to end the academic year by June 1 so that students can pursue more varied internships and other summer opportunities. The report’s mention of potentially reviving part-time status is also

commendable, although it’s unclear whether this discussion will actually lead to a change in policy.

The University should, however, have displayed more transparency throughout the process.

Several of the new calendar’s problems flow directly from a lack of meaningful student consultation. Moreover, student engagement is worth striving for in its own right. In the future, when making large-scale administrative changes, the University must include students—not just through one-off, semi-private meetings and symbolic collaborations, but through serious attempts to seek out and heed student feedback.

Senior News reporter Adyant Kanakamedala recused himself from this editorial due to his involvement in related reporting.

THE CHILD

By JULIA BYRNE Across 1. Silicon Valley company 6. Filibusterending vote 8. Youngster’s organic baked good 12. Rating for a movie with frequent strong language 13. Irish city 18. Speaking like a politician 21. Objects found on the forest floor 22. Subject of a Walt Whitman poem 23. Guinness and Budweiser 24. Big component of

students days 26. Housed 28. Dramatic neckwear 29. Word before sauce or milk 31. Née Clay 32. Chicago brand with “Donut” 35. Macanese penny 36. Forbid 37. 50, for the subject of this puzzle 38. Hyde Park staple, for short 39. Jr. and sr.

40. Hitmaker?

41. Big time Down 1. Easy to wipe down 2. Moon of

Jupiter 3. Most demanding about rules 4. “___ l8r!”

5. Political field worker, in London 6. Kind of duty 7. Devoured 8. 1000, to Caesar 9. Pixar movie inspired by Angel Falls 10. Person in the OR 11.

Enthusiasm 14. Fleur-de-___ 15. Southwest Airlines IATA abbr.

16. Element with atomic no. 47 17. Yttrium, on the periodic table 19. Undo, in

1

Congress 20. Roughtextured 24. What the workers of the world have to lose 25. Tahini base 26. Kind of eclipse 27. Capital of Delaware 28. With 30Down, the cutest character of 2019 30. See 28-Down 32. The Mandalorian, to the subject of this puzzle 33. “Four score and seven years ___” 34. Perfect score for a gymnast

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — MARCH 11, 2020

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ARTS The Other 80 Percent

By CHARLIE EWELL Arts Reporter

Seeing a band live can be a transcendent, euphoric experience impressed upon one’s mind for a long time to come, and some concerts, either due to a preexisting affinity for the band performing or a sheer awe-inspiring stage performance, imprint themselves more prominently upon the viewer and disrupt the humdrum experience of watching people fiddle with instruments.

This is what I was expecting when I went to see Ceremony Friday, February 21, at Thalia Hall. Unfortunately for me, the Ceremony concert, while not entirely terrible, was a disappointing experience.

I’ve seen Ceremony once before at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles. They were awesome. Punk concerts, when done right, are the best concerts one can hope to experience. And Ceremony is right as right, and authentic as authentic, can be. Coming in, I saw all the grungy, overly pierced types of fans I always want to see at punk concerts (unlike Parquet Courts, whose fans were noticeably more buttoned-up, as if merely imitating punks). The crowd was wild, never letting up until the end, granting only short breaks of moshing activity during the slower, newer songs. There was much stage diving at this first Ceremony concert too, some of it perpetrated by yours truly: I almost ran into the guitarist. In other words, it was a great time.

Notice how few of my comments revolve around the music; as good as a punk band can be, the music ideally makes up

about 20 percent of the enjoyment. The other 80 percent is the mosh pits that the music enables. And this 80 percent is what was missing from Ceremony’s Chicago concert. Punks are always late, of course, but it seemed that for this concert they had gone a step further and decided to not come at all. The venue was, at best, a third full. The mosh pit was feebly attempted, but soon the collective realized that it would be impossible to sustain with so much space between people. Everyone resorted to standing pathetically with crossed arms; it was a truly sad sight. What I realized at this concert was

that there’s no real middle ground for audience expression of energy. If not violently moshing, one cannot simply mosh lightly.

So, rather than sadly imitate what could have been, one must take on the dull handin-pocket stance of someone enjoying a concert merely out of obligation. Some concerts are meant to be enjoyed like this; if I were standing in the crowd at a jam band show I could marvel at the way the band played such beautiful tangents without ever having to move a muscle—assuming anyone comes to a jam band show sober, I guess. However, this was not a jam band show, nor any kind

of show like that at all; you come to a concert like this for the crowd energy, and you know immediately when you’re not getting your money’s worth.

Ceremony came to Thalia Hall and played a good set, and they performed admirably to a crowd, who in their absence failed to complete the show. I feel sad for Ceremony because they hit all the right notes—set list, performance, stage presence, were all executed very well—but they had a mediocre show nonetheless for reasons out of their control. A concert, after all, is a collaborative affair.

Ceremony brought 20 percent of the show to Thalia Hall­—what about the other 80 percent? courtesy rick rodney

Eric Nam Comes Through the Vic—Don’t Run Away

By JESSICA CHOE Arts Reporter

Eric Nam’s Before We Begin world tour was a rollercoaster of music genres, languages, and, in his characteristic witty fashion, rambling speeches from the artist.

A Korean-American artist expanding into the global scene, Nam attempted to touch a new audience through his debut English

album Before We Begin.

Nam’s audience in Chicago’s Vic Theatre on February 28 was definitely diverse, which he immediately recognized and made a point of addressing during the show. Ranging from displeased, grumbling significant others dragged along by their partners, to passionate fans who’ve followed Nam’s career ever since his viral YouTube cover in 2011, Nam’s audience encompassed people

from all walks of life, each and every one of which Nam attempted to address. To the grumpy significant others, he gave a flirty bow and apologized ever so sweetly. To his long-term fans, he expressed humble gratitude for their dedication. To all the other members, Nam warned them of his tendency to talk in tangents, treating them like old friends. His enthusiasm to speak to everyone, regardless of who they were, translated

to his ability to communicate through his music, regardless of the language in which he sang or the genre he tackled. And this comfortable and inclusive approach immediately demonstrated his versatility as an artist.

He started the night with the crowd pleaser “Come Through,” the chill, fun opening song of Before We Begin. AccomCONTINUED ON PG. 18

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“The real star of the show was Nam’s hope and enthusiasm...”

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panied by choreographed jumping from his backup dancers, the exciting number put his boyish charm on center stage. His crinkly smile and energetic voice served as a charismatic introduction to all his new fans, charming them with his infectious enthusiasm.

Next, he performed “Runaway,” which is notably the second-most streamed song on his Spotify. This naively hopeful pop song is exemplary of Nam’s image as a lovestruck boy. Singing the new English lyrics to this

previously Korean song, Nam traversed cultural borders to show that a carefree love can touch the hearts of fans worldwide.

Then, in characteristic Eric Nam fashion, the sociable and talkative performer stopped his show to gush about his identity as a Korean-American performer and his approach toward an all-English debut. It wasn’t about the language or the genre of music he was performing. The real star of the show was Nam’s hope and enthusiasm that have not faded in the 10 years from his rookie days till now, despite one language

change and a couple of experiments with genre.

For the rest of the concert, Nam performed his Before We Begin album, which he intertwined with his classic soft Korean ballad hits. A standout song was “Wonder,” which showed off Nam’s vocal range and ad libs, while addressing the bleak realities of a doomed relationship. Crooning high notes effortlessly, Nam got the crowd to swoon in sympathy at the experience of lingering curiosity over a lost partner and what could have gone differently. A notable

nostalgic track he brought back was his 2016 hit “Good For You,” a smooth song to listen to after a long day. Hearing Nam’s original K-pop ballad style evoked a strong emotional response, bringing tears to the eyes of some of his long-term fans.

Ultimately, Nam’s concert successfully demonstrated his musical versatility and served as an effective introduction of his charms to the new audience. I look forward to his return to Chicago to see his refreshing enthusiasm, rambling wit, and sweet charismatic vocals.

America the Beautiful and Violent Rethinks Communal Trauma Dexter Voisin’s new book examines structural violence in Chicago and beyond

By LAURA GERSONY Grey City Reporter

National headlines about gun violence in Chicago paint a bleak picture of life in the city.

“America’s Mass-Shooting Capital.”

“Chicago’s Crime Wave.”

“Carnage.”

Explanations for Chicago’s high rates of violence are wide-ranging. President Donald Trump has repeatedly chalked it up the city’s strict gun-control laws or its status as a sanctuary city; the notion of “Black-onBlack crime” has played a prominent role in national discourse in recent years; and, in 2018, former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel attributed the 75 shootings in one weekend to a “shortage of values.”

Former professor at UChicago’s School of Social Service Administration (SSA) Dexter Voisin problematizes these explanations in his new book America the Beautiful and Violent, approaching the issue through a lens of structural violence in underserved neighborhoods.

The production of research and knowledge on the issue, Voisin writes, has been

restricted to a select few voices, a fact that his body of research seeks to counteract.

The book’s epigraph summarizes this motivation, quoting an African proverb: “Until lions write their own history, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

“In Chicago and many other large American cities, the narratives around violence are primarily crafted and owned by law enforcement officers,” he writes.

“Those suffering from oppression and neighborhood violence are often barred from participating in the production of knowledge about it.”

Throughout the book, Voisin combines big-picture data about gun violence with ground-level views from his experience as a social worker and researcher in urban settings.

He begins by reviewing the nature of gun violence in the U.S., highlighting its racial disproportionality. He cites, for example, the fact that 27.6 victimizations take place of every 100,000 Black men, as opposed to 2.8 among white men and 0.9 among white women. He later explains the historical conditions that gave rise to

Chicago’s stark racial segregation, such as the Great Migrations in the Reconstruction and post–World War I periods and patterns of white flight.

Voisin recounts overlooked chapters in the history of gun control, such as the origin of gun-control laws in California: When a group of activists from the militant Black Panther Party organized an armed open-carry demonstration, California’s lawmakers passed one of the first gun-control laws in the United States with support from the National Rifle Association. Then–Governor of California Ronald Reagan said at the time that there is “no reason” why a citizen should need to carry a gun on the street.

Voisin also emphasizes media coverage and public conversations about gun violence throughout the book. Despite the fact that mass shootings only account for 2 percent of national gun deaths, Voisin writes, coverage of mass shootings dominates the media conversation; the “steady drumbeat of Black deaths,” however, is relegated to the footnotes of news articles.

America the Beautiful and Violent, then, is a work of reframing: Voisin seeks to cen-

tralize these neighborhood realities, to amplify voices that he believes have been left out of the conversation, and to view neighborhood violence not through a lens of anger, but through one of trauma caused by structural inequality.

In an interview with The Maroon, Voisin recounted his experience first joining the faculty of the SSA in 1999. Despite the prevalence of HIV just beyond the campus borders, Voisin said, he was struck by the lack of research into the issue.

“When you look at the epicenters of HIV in Chicago, several of them are in the South Side,” Voisin said. “Of 2,000-plus tenure-track faculty, I was the only faculty member at that time doing work in the area of HIV prevention and intervention.”

“That tells you a little bit about the relationship—or the lack of the relationship— that the University had with the community that surrounded it,” he said.

Voisin also cited the recent controversy over the University’s trauma center as reflective of their sense of social responsibility. The University agreed to build the center after over five years of community CONTINUED ON PG. 19

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“Whether we belong to the privileged or the subjugated groups, we are all traumatized in different ways by structural inequality.”

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activism, and it remains the lone adult trauma center on Chicago’s South Side.

To Voisin, the University’s reluctance to establish the center was just another example of a common pattern in communities with universities: While schools claim a social responsibility to the community, he said, whether they follow through on this claim is far less consistent.

“All universities, both private and public, say that they have a mission statement: They improve the lives of college residents and the people within the city,” Voisin said.

“But the extent to which they move beyond the mission statement to actual operationalization [has] a lot of variability.”

In his book, Voisin describes “two Americas” experienced by the privileged and underserved populations of the country. As a person of color in academia and an alumnus of Columbia University and the University of Michigan—both wealthy schools and neighbors to the majority Black communities of Harlem and Detroit—the stark difference between these two settings has always been clear to Voisin.

“Throughout my educational experience, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend well-resourced schools,” he said, but “I come from those [underserved] communities.”

“I’ve always navigated those two worlds as a Black academic…. It’s not a difference that has ever evaded me,” he said. “I have to situate myself, my identity, within the context of the University and within the context of the communities in which I study and serve.”

Voisin found that UChicago’s wealthy environment initially felt alien to him due to his experience working and identifying with underserved communities.

“I think coming into the University of Chicago in many ways was more foreign to me because it had very few Black academics. So, the world of privilege is probably a bit more foreign to me than the world of the abandoned, because some of my identities are rooted in the abandonment and the historical legacy of the Black male.”

The feeling of otherness that he experienced as one of few Black academics in the University community, Voisin said, is another example of the structural violence

which he details in America the Beautiful and Violent. Ironically, he was the first ever person of color to become a full professor in the 120-year history of UChicago’s SSA—a department whose values suggest to him that it should be among the most diverse.

“Coming into a privileged space with whiteness where I see very few people that look like me…is one way in which structural violence is embedded and plays out,” Voisin said.

“In a field that is based on social equality and inclusion...I’m the first non-white person who broke through that glass ceiling,” he said. “That, in itself, mirrors through an academic lens what many of these individuals [in underserved neighborhoods] deal with in the community setting.”

Voisin witnessed the racial homogeneity of social service take shape during his time as a professor at SSA. While some of his students were drawn into the field out of personal experience, he said, many entered the field for another reason: guilt.

“On the first day of class, when I ask students, ‘What brought you into the profession?’ you have students crying, saying, ‘I realized that my experience of America is very different from the experience of a young Black male.’”

Voisin believes that this guilt contributes in part to the racial makeup of the profession.

“That inequality drives a lot of white women to social work, because they want to make a difference,” he said.

Over the course of Voisin’s career, these observations and more led him to a conclusion about the nature of inequality: that structural violence takes a toll on everyone, regardless of their identity.

“Whether we belong to the privileged or the subjugated groups, we are all traumatized in different ways by structural inequality.”

Voisin believes that, as with “white guilt,” this trauma underlies the impulse of many white individuals to deny the significance of race as a social issue. This, he said, is an example of “psychological numbing” that many white people employ to cope with their realization that their skin color has afforded them advantages in life not given to people of color.

The rationale of a white person, Voisin said, is often, “I have to block that out and become race-blind, because it takes a lot of psychological and psychic energy to keep pushing [the acceptance of white privilege] down.”

The constant urge to suppress this realization takes a psychological toll, Voisin said, and is another example of trauma due to racial inequality.

Voisin believes that this speaks to a broader pattern in the issue of race relations: the misdiagnosis of trauma as anger. He describes in the book how teachers often dismiss students facing trauma as “problematic” or “misbehaving,” or how community violence is dismissed as expressions of anger or hatred within a community.

“It’s not just anger; people are traumatized. As a society, we’ve now become traumatized by this whole racial divide and by the consequences of social inequality,” Voisin said.

“Again, we all pay that price, whether you’re white or you’re Black, whether you live in a high-income community or not,” he said. “We are all drinking the same air; and the air is toxic. We all inhale it, and we’re all impacted by it.”

One of Voisin’s stated goals of the book is to “decolonize thought”: to be mindful of terms which carry “settler colonialist” undertones in discourse about neighborhood violence and poverty.

One example of this can be found in the use of the term “at risk” to describe communities suffering from the structural violence which Voisin describes. While he used the word as a budding academic, Voisin said, he no longer uses it because it creates a racialized narrative which he described as “colonial,” “negative,” and “Black.”

“I refuse to use that word, because that word has a very colonial interpretation.…

Kids who are ‘at risk’ need to be corrected and need to be taught the right way,” he said. “Very often you think about remediation in terms of juvenile justice, in terms of special ed, which is another type of colonizing narrative.”

Voisin seeks to reframe the plight of children in these communities.

“I say: these are not at-risk youth; these

are youth who are living in low-resourced communities,” he said.

Rather than use the term “at risk,” Voisin now opts for the phrase “opportunity youth,” which he thinks promotes positive investment in under-resourced communities rather than advancing a “colonizing” narrative.

“If you think of these kids as opportunity youth, then you invest in them,” he said.

Voisin perceives a double standard across racial lines in the language used to discuss social issues. The terminology used to refer to single-parent homes, he said, became much more sympathetic when its rates began to rise in white communities.

“Kids coming from ‘broken homes’… were typically kids who were coming from Black families,” he said. “When the single-female head-of-household phenomenon started affecting primarily white women, the term was changed from ‘broken home’ to ‘single mother-household.’”

At the end of the day, Voisin said, the experience of Chicago as a city differs based on aspects of one’s identity, such as race, socioeconomic status, gender, and more.

“You can live in Chicago as a privileged person and live in a totally different Chicago than someone who’s coming from another environment,” Voisin said. “You could arrange your life in such a way that your world doesn’t intersect outside of the bubble with people that are different than you.”

Voisin encouraged UChicago students to confront the biases they may hold towards underserved communities by exposing themselves to places outside the “bubble” of campus.

“Chicago is a rich, diverse community of 77 neighborhoods. Spend some time immersing yourself in the beauty of difference,” he said. “That, very often, helps to debunk the stereotypes.”

The city’s diversity, he said, presents students with a fact that they should embrace and seek to more intimately understand: that Chicago is not one, but many.

“We don’t have one Chicago; we have multiple Chicagos,” he said. “Give yourself the beauty and the gift of exposure and exploring difference.”

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SPORTS Wrestling Trio Advances to Nationals

By ALISON GILL Sports Editor

The NCAA Division III National Championships will take place over the upcoming weekend, and the University of Chicago Maroons will be well represented. The standout trio of first-year Cole Fibranz, second-year Ben Sarasin, and fourth-year Steve Bonsall all secured a spot in a competitive field with top-three finishes at the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional.

Fibranz will make his debut at the NCAA Championship match after a narrow victory in the 285-pound third-place match.

The rookie lost a close match in overtime to Noah Carter of UW– Eau Claire in the semifinals but rebounded with a 3–2 victory over UW–Platteville’s Lucius Rinehart. This victory vaulted Fibranz into nationals, where he will seek to add more accolades to a stellar freshman campaign.

Fibranz holds a 24–3 record, as well as the UAA title and designation of UAA Rookie of the Year.

The rookie has a strong chance to

contend for the title and add yet another trophy to his mantle in his young career.

Sarasin qualified for his second straight nationals with a runner-up finish. Competing in the 184-pound division—up from 174-pound weight class last year—Sarasin reached the title match with a decisive 8–3 decision in the semifinals against Dan Squires from UW–Stevens Point.

Facing off against host Augsburg’s own Tannar Vassar for the title, UChicago took a medical forfeit.

Sarasin has somehow improved after finishing seventh nationally last year in his weight class and garnering All-American honors.

He captured his second consecutive UAA title and has posted a 26–1 record, while picking up several conference and national weekly honors. Sarasin enters nationals as a favorite to nab the top spot on the podium.

Bonsall will travel to nationals for the second time in his four years. The fourth-year dropped a 9–0 decision in the semifinals of the 157-pound division but fought back to a third-place finish and a

spot at nationals. He defeated Jerod Novak, from Saint John’s, 5–2 in overtime and handled UW–Eau Claire’s Tristan Massie, 10–2. With the wins, he moved his season record to 31–8. Bonsall will seek to bookend his career with All-American honors after earning them in his first year.

Several other wrestlers had strong showings at the tournament. First-year Ryan Fleck and third-year Will Britain finished sixth in the 141-pound and 165-pound divisions, respectively. Fellow rookie Griffin Seyfried placed seventh in the 133-pound division with a nail-biting victory in the final seconds. At the Regional, the Maroons were missing fourth-year Kyle Peisker, an All-American last season in the 184-pound class.

“Three of our guys were seeded [to qualify for the DIII Nationals field] and each of them did. We did also have some notable moments from other team members. Will Britain took the eventual 165-pound champion into overtime before losing 9–7. Unseeded first-year Griffin

Ben Sarasin, Steve Bonsall, and Cole Fibranz all placed in the top three. courtesy of uchicago athletics.

Seyfried lost 3–2 to a two-time NCAA All-American in the quarterfinals and eventually placed seventh.… It was a strong team performance,” said long-time head coach Leo Kocher.

Just ahead of finals week,

the Maroons will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the NCAA Championship. All three, considered among the top-ranked wrestlers in the country, will have their sights set on bringing home gold.