NOTING ONGOING ISSUES, ADMIN TO AUDIT GRAD STUDENT PAY
MAY 15, 2019 SEVENTH WEEK VOL. 131, ISSUE 39
PAGE 2
New Grocer to Occupy Treasure Island Space
PAGE 2
Scav 2019: Breck and Snitchcock Tie
Trader Joe’s.
jeremy lindenfeld
PAGE 1 1 Students competed over the weekend at the University’s annual scavenger hunt.
ARTS: To Resist a Fascist: Lost Voices Found in Translation
OP-ED: South Dorm Needs a Gym
GREY CITY: Duck, Duck, Dollar Bill: At UChicago, Financial Diversity Goes Deeper Than Expensive Clothes
PAGE 20
PAGE 16
PAGE 8
Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/chicagomaroon and follow @chicagomaroon on Instagram and Twitter to get the latest updates on campus news.
alexandra nisenoff
chicagomaroon.com
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
2
Admin to Audit Problems with Grad Student Compensation By MATTHEW LEE Senior News Reporter Responding to the ongoing issue of irregularities in graduate compensation, Provost Daniel Diermeier announced a complete internal audit of graduate student payments this summer in an e-mail sent to graduate students on Tuesday. The Report by the Committee on Graduate Education, released in early April, formally acknowledged the existence of “irregularities” in graduate student compensation, including “late or incorrect payments.” Diermeier wrote that these irregularities stemmed from “the complexity of our current system.” “Students receive payments from different sources of funds, distributed through different systems, and governed by different processes,” he said. Diermeier stated that much of this work is “conducted
manually and [is] subject to error.” Graduate Students United (GSU) published a series of anecdotes on their official Twitter last Wednesday afternoon about the adverse effects of these irregularities. In Twitter posts, GSU noted multiple cases where graduate students were told they would be paid in a set number of installments over the course of a quarter. On payday, however, those graduate students realized that the number of installments had risen without notice—and the amount paid per paycheck had decreased proportionately. In another case, a graduate student reported receiving an incorrect sum in their first paycheck of the quarter. Despite writing to the administration to alert them of the mistake, the second paycheck of the quarter reflected the same error. When asked to clarify the nature and goals of the upcoming audit, Universi-
ty spokesman Jeremy Manier told The Maroon that “the goal of the audit is to identify both additional short-term solutions and general improvements.” In the same message, Manier wrote that the audit “will be a detailed assessment conducted in close collaboration with the University’s academic and administrative units.” Members of GSU took a less optimistic view of Diermeier’s audit plans. In a written statement to The Maroon, GSU objected to the phrasing of the provost’s Tuesday e-mail, accusing him of understating the severity of ongoing graduate student pay issues. “We’re concerned that in the same message where he acknowledges the issue, the Provost pretends that it is largely solved, writing that in the ‘few’ remaining cases, the administration is taking ‘proactive’ steps,” GSU representatives wrote. The GSU also noted that it had been re-
porting ongoing issues with incorrect or delayed graduate student compensation long before the Committee on Graduate Education’s report. GSU representatives wrote that contrary to the administration’s plans to address payment irregularities with an audit and its resulting policy, it is graduate students themselves that currently “are doing the proactive (and often prolonged) work of identifying and trying to correct pay errors.” GSU continued, stating that “we believe that recognition of our union and a contract that guarantees us the same pay protections as other workers is a better solution than hollow assurances or a report from a committee of auditors.” Diermeier noted that any graduate students facing payment irregularities should “continue to reach out to gradhelp@uchicago.edu.”
Trader Joe’s to Open in Former Treasure Island Building By OREN OPPENHEIM Deputy News Editor A Trader Joe’s will open in the building that was formerly occupied by shuttered grocer Treasure Island at Lake Park Avenue and 54th Place, the University of Chicago and Trader Joe’s announced on Monday. Trader Joe’s plans to open the store this coming fall. This will be the first Trader Joe’s on the South Side of Chicago, and the chain’s sixth location in the city. Currently, its southernmost store in Chicago is in South Loop. In the statement announcing the opening, associate vice president of the University’s real estate operations Angie Marks said that the University—which owns the Hyde Park Shopping Center property where Treasure Island was located—chose Trader Joe’s based on various factors, including input from the community. The University put out a survey in November asking residents of the area what they might want to see in a new grocer, after Treasure Island abruptly closed all of its branches at the beginning of October. According to the survey results shared in the statement, 628 people asked for a Trader Joe’s, three times more than any other
grocery store requested and more than all the other grocery stores combined. Fifth Ward alderman Leslie Hairston, who was reelected in April in a hotly contested runoff election, praised the announcement, saying in the statement, “The need to attract another quality, affordable grocery store is something I have heard consistently from my 5th ward constituents since last fall.” A Trader Joe’s spokesperson added that the chain will share more information, including information on hiring efforts, as more details become final. According to the statement, the grocer anticipates that most of its employees will be hired from the area. The new store will only take up part of the space that Treasure Island used to occupy; the University said that it is still marketing the remaining parts of the building to possible tenants. The University had initially planned to announce the grocer replacing Treasure Island by the end of the first quarter of 2019, but said in a statement on April 5 that it had missed this deadline because of “continuing negotiations with the prospective tenant.” The announcement comes around two months after full-service grocer Jewel-Os-
co opened in nearby Woodlawn, although the Jewel had been in the works since 2017, well before Treasure Island announced its closure. Some University of Chicago students had been advocating for Trader Joe’s, which is known for its specialty products and relative affordability, to come to the Treasure Island space. Last fall, two thirdyear students posted in the UChicago Class of 2020 group asking others to use Trader
Joe’s “Location Request” form to ask for the grocer to come to Hyde Park. Third-year Sam Joyce, one of the students who posted, told The Maroon after the Trader Joe’s announcement was reported, “I think a Trader Joe’s in this location fills an important need and I’m glad I won’t have to go all the way to the South Loop for the mandarin orange chicken and those dark chocolate peanut butter cups.”
Treasure Island during its closing sales. jeremy lindenfeld
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
3
University Rejects Faculty Forward’s Quantrell Award Grievance By ELAINE CHEN Deputy Editor-in-Chief In early May, the University denied a grievance filed by Faculty Forward, which claims that the University has violated its contract by denying its union members, non-tenure-track faculty, eligibility for the prestigious Quantrell teaching award. The Quantrell is a student-nominated award granted to three to six faculty members each year. One of the country’s oldest undergraduate teaching awards, it has often gone to faculty nationally renowned in their fields. The union filed its grievance in early April, after one of its members found out from a student who nominated him that the nomination was rejected because he was not deemed eligible. The nomination rejection came as a surprise to union members who thought that they had secured eligibility after repeatedly pushing for eligibility to be specified in their contract, which was ratified around a year ago. The University’s denial of the grievance marks another obstacle in the union’s efforts to obtain eligibility. The union continues to believe that because non-tenuretrack faculty teach a substantial number of undergraduate courses—40 percent according to union estimates—they should be treated equally with tenured and tenure-track faculty members in the area of
undergraduate teaching. The University maintains that the teaching prize is intended to reward faculty members who, outside of teaching, also contribute to the University in other ways such as research. The language in the union’s contract about Quantrell reads, “Nothing in this Agreement precludes a [non-tenure-track] Lecturer from being nominated for and receiving any teaching awards for which they are eligible, including the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award, as those awards exist from time to time.” Despite the union’s belief that this language secures eligibility for their members, the University maintains that only “long-term, full-time UChicago faculty members who are tenured, on the tenure-track, or serve as Senior Lecturers” are eligible. “The collective bargaining agreement did not change eligibility standards for this or any other award,” University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said in a written statement to The Maroon following the grievance denial. The dispute hinges on disparate understandings of the original intent and purpose of the award, which was established in 1938 by a donation from University trustee Ernest Quantrell. Public information about the original intent is sparse. In a quotation posted on the University’s webpage about the Quantrell
Award, Quantrell describes the motivation behind his donation in broad terms: “The success of a university depends on its product, and its product consists of students trained to lead happy, proficient, useful and unselfish lives. To obtain this product, a good faculty is essential and constitutes the most important part of a university. We have had, and still have, great teachers, but we will have still greater ones.” The University’s statement to The Maroon says that the award is intended to honor faculty who contribute to the University beyond teaching. “The list of recipients of the award reflects that the faculty committee has long sought to recognize distinguished faculty and senior lecturers who have played an outstanding role in the formation of a curriculum, in addition to the other important ways they contribute to the University, including research in the case of faculty,” the statement read. When the award was established in 1938, there were no distinctions between non-tenure-track and tenure-track faculty members, and most faculty members engaged in both research and teaching. Job titles and teaching responsibilities have shifted since then. In the 1970s, a need for more faculty members to teach undergraduate courses led the University to hire faculty members, categorized as non-tenure-track faculty, to exclusive-
ly teach. Geoffrey Rees, the union member whose student nominated him and was rejected, told The Maroon shortly after the grievance filing that the change in job titles since the establishment of the award shows that “the present exclusive criteria for eligibility are contingent and as such open to revision.” “I am disappointed the administration is pursuing a policy of division and exclusion in place of a policy of unity and inclusion,” Rees said following the grievance denial. “It is a disrespect, most of all, of students’ freedom of expression,” referring to students’ roles in nominating teachers for the award. The steering committee of Faculty Forward said in a written statement to The Maroon following the grievance denial, “We have always contended that expanding eligibility for the Quantrell benefits everyone: both students and faculty. We still hope that the University will do the right thing by honoring the contract and recognizing excellence in undergraduate teaching, no matter who the teacher may be.” The union is moving ahead with putting the grievance up for arbitration, which would take at least several months to complete. If the union and the University reach an agreement before the official arbitration hearing, the two parties may settle the grievance without arbitration.
Explainer: What, Exactly, Does Student Government Do? By JADE YAN News Reporter The new Student Government (SG) slate elected this week will go into office in fall quarter. The Community, Amplify, Respect, Empower (CARE) slate, consisting of third-years Jahne Brown, Kosi Achife, and Brittney Dorton, will comprise the new Executive Slate. The run-up to this year’s SG elections saw fiery discourse among the student body surrounding the platforms and individual members of the two groups that ran for the Executive Slate, CARE and Reform. While a number of students showed
their political engagement by commenting on the recently-revived UChicago Secrets Facebook page, or changing their profile pictures to red or pink frames representing each platform, many wondered what exactly SG does, and how the new slate’s policies might affect them. The CARE slate’s primary focuses are on “transparency, inclusivity, and community.” Their aim for transparency includes improving UCPD accountability, increasing the transparency of University administration and student government, and working on emergency guides to provide information for students facing crises, such as financial or mental health emergencies. For “inclusivity,” they aim
to improve support systems for marginalized communities such as students of color, LGBTQ+ students, survivors, those with disabilities, and first-generation/ low-income students. These planned improvements include better access to resources such as mental health services, as well as financial support. But what CARE can achieve in the coming year will depend on the powers and constraints of the office. Here is a brief explainer on the role and structure of SG, and how the Executive Slate fits in. The SG Constitution states that the purpose of SG is “to further the interests and promote the welfare of the students at the University of Chicago; to foster a
University community; [and] to represent the body more effectively before University authorities and the community at large.” Broadly speaking, SG works to represent students, both undergraduate and graduate, to the Board of Trustees. It passes budgets for student organizations and initiatives such as campus sustainability, along with bills—an example being the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the student body to view all SG executive and legislative records—as well as resolutions. Resolutions are appeals to the UChicago administration to take action on specific issues; resolutions CONTINUED ON PG. 4
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
4
After Elections, Here’s What You Need to Know about SG CONTINUED FROM PG. 3
have included urging the administration to establish cultural centers for minority students and reforming student leave policies by making conditions less financially and logistically strenuous on those returning from a leave of absence. Additionally, SG organizes various supports for the student body, such as the Emergency Fund and shuttles to the Midway and O’Hare airports. SG is organized into four areas: the Executive Committee, Graduate and College Councils, and a number of committees—including the Community Service Fund, the Finance Committee (SGFC), and the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Committee, among others. The Executive Committee is the primary leadership body for SG. It primarily works to prepare and execute policy, including policy proposed by other SG branches, and also oversees all funding bodies within SG (for example, the SGFC and Annual Allocations). It also places students on University committees, rep-
resents the Student Association to the Board of Trustees, and responds to areas of student concern if and when they arise. Within the Executive Committee, there is the Executive Slate, the Cabinet, the Liaisons (who are the primary point of contact between the student body and the Board of Trustees, as well as Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and the South Side), the Council Chairs (of the Graduate and College Councils), and the Parliamentarian. All the members are elected by popular vote, apart from the Cabinet and the Chairs, who organize meeting schedules and coordinate outside speakers who want to address the assembly. The Graduate and College Chairs are chosen by the Graduate and College Councils, respectively. The outgoing Executive Slate consists of president Satyen Gupta, and Natalie Jusko and Malay Trivedi as Vice Presidents for Administration and for Student Affairs, respectively. The Cabinet includes students with other roles in SG, and members are ap-
pointed by the president. While their role varies from year to year, members of the Cabinet generally handle SG’s communication and outreach strategy and have secretarial tasks, such as minute-taking. The Graduate Council represents graduate students at the University, while the College Council is made up of four members of each of the four undergraduate classes. The Graduate Council represents graduate students to the UChicago administration, and also organizes events for grad students on campus, with an emphasis on encouraging interaction across divisions and schools. Similarly, the College Council plans events for undergraduates, but also approves budget requests and passes resolutions, such as the Security and Response resolution, addressing UChicago’s response to the incident on February 11, involving armed subjects on campus. The Council is made up of four members of each graduating class, but anyone can attend its weekly Wednesday meeting. SG’s various standing committees
allow SG to handle student needs and provide funding to specific areas of interest. These committees can be applied to through an online application process. Each committee is specific to a type of social or campus initiative, ranging from CORSO (Committee on Recognized Student Organizations) to SAAP (Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Committee). One of the committees, the Program Coordinating Council, oversees college media programming. It consists of representatives from the six PCC groups: the Council on University Programming (COUP), Doc Films, Fire Escape Films, the Major Activities Board (MAB), University Theater (UT), and WHPK Radio Station. In addition to its standing committees, SG also creates subcommittees to work on specific short-term projects. There are also external committees, to advise Campus Dining, Student Health, and Transportation and Security.
CARE Executive Slate Wins SG Election By MATTHEW LEE Senior News Reporter After three days of voting, the Community, Amplify, Represent, Empower (CARE) slate was announced the winner of Student Government’s executive slate elections, triumphing over the rival Reform slate in a two-way election. The CARE slate won with 1,820 to 906 votes. Jahne Brown will be the first female Student Government (SG) president, as well as the first Black female SG president, in at least two decades. In a decision by Student Government Election and Rules Committee on Tuesday, one percent of CARE’s votes were deducted following a rule violation, making the final margin 1,801.8 to 906. The CARE slate, made up of presidential candidate Jahne Brown, Vice President for Student Affairs candidate Kosi Achife, and Vice President for Administration candidate Brittney Dorton, all third-years, will head the student council in the upcoming 2019–
From left: Kosi Achife, Jahne Brown, and Brittney Dorton, the members of the CARE Slate. jeremy lindenfeld 2020 school year. The slate campaigned on a platform of increasing transparency at the school’s administrative level.
The slate outlined specific plans to increase student input in administrative decisions, including a vow to field
student questions prior to each meeting with school administration and a CONTINUED ON PG. 5
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
5
Referendum to Further Separate College and Grad Councils Passes CONTINUED FROM PG. 4
promise to release detailed briefings of the contents of those meetings. Also central to their campaign was the issue of University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) reform, which they hope to facilitate through “know your rights” training for students and community members and a push for greater transparency within the UCPD itself. Among the student body, CARE promised to aid students of color, sexual assault survivors, and LGBTQ+ students by fighting for Campus Cultural Centers, prioritizing resources like the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Committee, and pledging to create a fund that supports at-risk LGBTQ+ students.
CARE also lent their voice to the ever-contentious issue of Greek life. During Thursday’s SG debates, Brown said that although “fraternities and Greek life have never been a big part of our platform, the CARE slate would support [that] Greek life be recognized by the University.” Also on the ballot was a referendum that proposed eliminating Student Government’s Finance Committee as a permanent standing committee between College Council and Graduate Council, a move that would further separate the College and Graduate Councils. The referendum passed with 1,355 “yes” to 327 “no,” with 1,416 abstentions.
Kosi Achife, the CARE slate’s Vice President for Student Affairs candidate, reacts to her slate’s win. jeremy lindenfeld
Ridgley Knapp, Natalie Wang Secure Liaison Seats By MATTHEW LEE Senior News Reporter Next year’s Student Government (SG) liaisons were revealed Wednesday afternoon, following tightly contested elections. For Community and Government Liaison, first-year Natalie Wang was declared a winner in a two-way race between her and third-year Rachel Abrams. In the race for Undergraduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees, thirdyear Ridgley Knapp won in a field of three declared candidates: Knapp, firstyear Dinesh Das Gupta, and first-year CJ Jones. During his campaign, Knapp, the Undergraduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees–elect, said he hopes to leverage his experience as president of UChicago College Democrats to serve as a facilitator for dialogue between the student body and the Board of Trustees. As part of his push for more dialogue between the Board and the student body, Knapp will host public forums with both trustees and students. Additionally, Knapp promised he will push the Board of Trustees to create a fund that would directly benefit clubs and RSOs. Incoming community and covernment liaison Wang campaigned to, in her own words, “form a more positive
relationship between the University and the Hyde Park community.” To that end, she seeks to host events where UChicago students can interact directly with local communities and promote the work of local South Side artists. Wang also expressed concern for campus sustainability, citing her concern that “the new dorm [Woodlawn Residential Commons] is not going to be LEED-certified,” which, according to the LEED website, means it will not be constructed to maximize occupant health and productivity, reduce waste and negative environmental impacts, and decrease building life cycle costs. Down the ballot, each undergraduate class also selected their College Council members for the upcoming year. The Class of 2022 will be represented by Zebeeb Nuguse, Dinesh Das Gupta, Aazer Siddiqui, and either John Kunzo or Harry Gardner—both earned exactly 181 votes. The Class of 2021 will be represented by Myles Hudson, Tucker Rivera, Gage Bayless, and Alex Levi. The Class of 2020 selected Sam Joyce, Matthew Petrak, Eugene Miravete, and Mayuri Sharma. The Class of 2023 will elect their College Council for the upcoming year once they arrive on campus next fall. To break the tie between Kunzo and
Gardner, outgoing College Council representatives will vote this week on who will win.
Ridgley Knapp. courtesy of ridgley knapp
The newly-elected members of Student Government will begin their terms in the fall quarter.
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
6
Hairston To Be Sworn in; Calloway Amends Recount Complaint By DIMITRIY LEKSANOV Senior News Reporter At a hearing last Thursday, Fifth Ward aldermanic candidate William Calloway unveiled plans to lodge a new complaint against incumbent and winner Leslie Hairston, who will be seated with the rest of the incoming aldermen on May 20, according to reporting by the Hyde Park Herald. His plan comes three weeks after formally filing a petition for a discovery recount that has now been completed. Calloway’s initial complaint called for recounts in 10 precincts throughout the Fifth Ward over alleged voting machine malfunctions, ballots cast by ineligible voters, and fewer judges present at polling places than required. Following the first hearing on April 18, Calloway’s attorney at the time, Elizabeth Homsy, spoke about possible inconsistencies in the number of judges present on site, saying, “It makes it difficult to moni-
tor these elections without sufficient staff.” The amended complaint, however, will ask circuit court judge LaGuina Clay-Herron to order a recount of the entire Fifth Ward. According to the Herald, this new petition will focus on election code violations during the April 2 runoff election. Calloway’s new attorney, Frank Avila, told the Herald that the certificates for voting results in some precincts “were not completed or not completed fully and correctly.” After a meeting between Hairston and Calloway’s attorneys on April 29, Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen said that the discovery recount had not yet found any “substantial deviations” in voting. At a following hearing on May 2, Allen said that “there’s nothing to suggest that there’s any discrepancies large enough to overturn this election result.” In response, Calloway told a group of supporters, “I beat Leslie Hairston on election night, but in this world, it’s not about what you know.
It’s about what you can prove, and we have to prove that.” Calloway and Avila are now slated to appear before Clay-Herron on May 23 for a status hearing regarding the updated petition. However, according to the Herald, at a May 9 hearing Allen said that the board will file a motion beforehand to have the new complaint dismissed. This is only the most recent development in what has been the closest and longest race since Hairston first took office. Hairston has served on the City Council for two decades, helping to oversee numerous local development efforts, including a reconstruction of South Lake Shore Drive. However, some constituents, including Calloway, have claimed Hairston has not done enough for the residents of the southern parts of the ward, instead focusing her attention on Hyde Park in the north. Calloway is a community organizer who came to prominence for his role in the release of a police video of the murder
of Laquan McDonald. Leading up to the election, Hairston and Calloway disagreed most prominently on a potential Community Benefits Agreement for the incoming Obama Presidential Center. The Fifth Ward is not the only aldermanic race that has come down to post-runoff petitions and recounts. The 33rd Ward race, between incumbent Deb Mell and challenger Rossana Rodríguez-Sanchez, saw Mell seek a partial recount after losing the runoff by just 13 votes. Mell conceded on April 27. Similarly, in the race for 46th Ward alderman, incumbent James Cappleman defeated challenger Marianne Lalonde by just 25 votes in the runoff. This slim margin led to another recount, which increased the disparity to 30 votes. Hairston will be sworn in with the rest of the City Council on May 20.
M.B.A. Student Startup Aims to Tackle Food Insecurity By PEYTON JEFFERSON Senior News Reporter Nine months ago, Booth M.B.A. students Ashray Reddy, Connor Blankenship, and Rebekah Krikke were working on a case study that dealt with food insecurity—the state of not having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food—and hunger. Soon after collecting statistics for the case, the group realized the severity of this epidemic: 40 million Americans deal with food insecurity every year, including one in seven residents in Chicago, and one in five U.S. children are at risk of hunger. To tackle these issues, the students founded the startup MeaningFull Meals, which aims to eliminate food insecurity by inspiring consumers to give back to their community through small everyday purchases at local restaurants. “Right off of that case study we went to a room, and were like, ‘Hey, we have all these skill sets—how do we utilize our diverse range to do something good for the community, and figure out how to solve this problem?’” Reddy said.
The startup focuses on partnering with local restaurants and food-related establishments. When a consumer goes to one of these establishments and purchases a MeaningFull Meal (which is labeled on the menu with the startup’s logo), MeaningFull Meals donates a dollar to local food pantries and nonprofits chosen by that restaurant. “Our goal is curing food insecurity and hunger, and we do that by connecting local non-profits with local restaurants, allowing diners to give back to their community through those restaurants,” Reddy said. “So, you come to Russian Tea Time, order a couple of items, and then that dollar is split between those organizations, and it goes to that restaurant’s local community.” The organizations chosen by Russian Tea Time, for example, include the Greater Chicago Food Depository (a Chicago food bank), Inspiration Corporation (an organization that trains low-income and homeless Chicagoans for careers in the food industry while providing them with housing and meals), and Pilot Light (a classroom-based program that helps kids make healthier food choices in their every-
day lives). Russian Tea Time, a restaurant in the Loop, is currently MeaningFull Meals’s only business partner. However, the startup is talking to a number of other restaurants in the area, and intends to sign its next partner this week: Crave Natural, a food product company based around an oatmeal-like commodity from China. According to a case study that Reddy shared with The Maroon, after MeaningFull Meals’s launch with Russian Tea Time in late February, the restaurant saw “a 92.14% overall increase in sales of
MeaningFull Meals items in the 38-day pilot period compared to the previous 50 days [when those items were not branded on the menu with the MeaningFull Meals logo].” “It’s just crazy to think that between us and Russian Tea Time, we basically raised close to 2,000 dollars to help the Chicago community,” Reddy said. “Now that we’ve proven this concept works…we can start making a serious impact on this problem, and help the people down the street, help out neighbors, help our community rise up.”
The founders of MeaningFull Meals. courtesy of meaningfull meals
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
7
Dean of Students Talks Megadorm, Two-Year Housing Requirement, and Student Health at IHC By GUSTAVO DELGADO Senior News Reporter In a rare public appearance with students, Dean of Students Michele Rasmussen visited an Inter-House Council meeting on May 7. Rasmussen discussed various aspects of campus life—including Woodlawn Residential Commons, the two-year housing requirement, and student health facilities—and heard from house representatives. Rasmussen opened by stating that the construction of the new Woodlawn Residential Commons, which the University plans to open in September 2020, is a priority for her office. The facility will house roughly 1,300 students and include its own dining hall, which will also be the new location for International House house tables. “South of the Midway, you’ll see that there is a pretty enormous building going
up. Every time I go by there, I’m stunned at how much it looks like a real dormitory.” Rasmussen said. “This is part of a multiyear project that demonstrates the University’s commitment to a particular type of housing model. I recognize not everyone is onboard with it, but it is the one that we are moving forward with and [we are] committed to ensuring it is a model for other institutions.” Rasmussen said that administrators from Princeton, Dartmouth, John Hopkins, and Northwestern have conducted site visits to learn more about UChicago on-campus housing. Rasmussen also commented on concerns about the two-year housing requirement starting this fall. “I think it’s a great development. I am in favor of students being able to live off campus at some point, but I think the first two years are really important for students to get their feet underneath them, to get
familiar with all our campus has to offer and to feel connected to the community. Although not a universally held opinion…I will tell you that all the parents I’ve spoken to are ecstatic.” Rasmussen announced plans for the new student health and wellness center that will open in 2020. All aspects of counseling, health, and health promotion will be housed in this facility. As to short-term resolutions, Dean Rasmussen discussed the hiring of a physician who will lead a deep-dive investigation into health and wellness and the challenges that may be faced when accessing such services. This audit will lead to practice changes that will improve student health and wellness overall. “His job is to understand the patient experience, the student experience of going to Student Health, [and] going to Student Counseling from the time you
try to make an appointment.” Dean Rasmussen also commented on the issue of overcrowding at athletics facilities like Ratner and Crown. She said that with class sizes growing, there are ongoing conversations about building a new athletic facility. A house representative expressed concern about students living in Woodlawn Residential Commons lacking recreational space until a third gymnasium is built. The house representative suggested that workout spaces in various residences should be improved to compensate. “It would certainly work as a stop-gap measure till we have the plans for a new facility. But there is a real bed crunch right now as we simply cannot accommodate the number of students who want to move on campus. Thus, taking rooms offline to serve that purpose isn’t feasible.” Rasmussen said.
UChicago United Holds Rally Outside of Administration Building By MILES BURTON News Editor UChicago United hosted a rally outside Levi Hall on Monday to raise awareness of its #CareNotCops and #ReleaseTheBudget campaigns. The rally was the latest in a series of actions the group has organized themed around making the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) more transparent. The #CareNotCops campaign began last spring after the shooting of a UChicago student by a UCPD officer. This past January, UChicago United co-hosted a teach-in on the history of the UCPD with Students Working Against Prisons, another activist organization that sponsors #CareNotCops. In April, #CareNotCops held a rally outside Levi Hall to demand that the University release budgetary information about the UCPD. Organizers argued that students should have access to information about the UCPD budget,
#CareNotCops protestors gathered to make protest signs and chalk the pavement in front of Levi Hall, an administration building, as part of a “Release the Budget Quad Art Party” aimed at getting the UCPD budget publicly released. sophia corning since a portion of the University’s budget comes from students’ tuition payments.
Activists at Monday’s rally painted banners and chalked the pavement outside Levi Hall, the office building which
hosts much of the University administration, with messages about the UCPD budget.
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
8
Duck, Duck, Dollar Bill At UChicago, Financial Diversity Goes Deeper Than Expensive Clothes By ALEX DALTON Grey City Reporter
University of Chicago students love Canada Goose jackets. A brief stroll across the quad during winter quarter will reveal as much. You’ll probably be able to pick out at least a half dozen of the brand’s red and blue logos on the arms of passersby. We also love to ridicule them. This past winter, NBC Chicago reported that armed robbers were targeting pedestrians wearing the coats (which can retail for more than $1,000), prompting a University student to post the link in the campus meme group with the caption “Glad I’m poor.” Students make plenty of jokes at the expense of people who have had their coats stolen from frat parties. Some of the criticism adopts a more serious tone. Last month, first-year Brinda Rao wrote a column in the maroon (“The Flight of the Canada Goose” 4/19/19), decrying what she views as a shift in campus culture toward a “new era of fashion elitism,” which she connected to the prevalence of Canada Goose coats and other expensive clothing items. “Displays of wealth are not benign,” she wrote, adding that the trend “feeds a growing divide in our student body based on the value we place on socioeconomic status.” Rao herself owns a bright red Canada Goose coat, and the irony is not lost on her. “I was walking out with everyone around me, contributing to this privilege,” she told me. While Rao was unequivocal about the harmful effect the Canada Goose proliferation has on campus, she was unsure about how to address it. When I asked Rao what effect she hoped her words would have on the student body, she wasn’t to-
tally sure. “I don’t necessarily know if this piece should have a call to action,” she said. “It’s important to be aware and conscious of privilege,” she told me, “and that doesn’t mean you have to apologize for it or feel the need to make up for it.” Though the coats may be gone for the year, the financial situations for first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students remain constant. Canada Goose jackets are not representative of their experiences. The hypervisibility of the jackets, it appears, eclipses the comparatively less flashy circumstances of those who cannot afford them—and UChicago talks about extreme wealth, but not necessarily the lack of it. According to US News and World Report, 42 percent of University of Chicago students receive some form of financial aid, meaning that a majority of students pay full price—more than $75,000 in some cases. In third-year Thomas Zheng’s experience, the student body’s different socioeconomic strata tend to self-segregate. Zheng came from a public high school that was very socioeconomically diverse. He said it was able to bring the student body together and provide an educational experience that was inclusive and provided him with “a greater sense of empathy as to what certain students who are different from me might face.” He doesn’t think the same is true at the University of Chicago. “One thing [the University] doesn’t do well is it doesn’t really give incentive for students to engage with students from different backgrounds,” he said. Many University of Chicago students, in his view, “feel that they can get by through this University talking to their own and hanging out with their own,
whatever ‘[their] own’ might be.” The University of Chicago has made a number of steps toward increasing the number of FGLI students on campus, including guaranteeing free tuition to students with family incomes below $125,000 and introducing the UChicago Empower Initiative, which is meant to reduce administrative barriers like standardized testing in applications. For example, the University partners with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit based in Palo Alto, which connects high-achieving low-income students with colleges and universities across the country and coordinates financial aid assistance up through the level of full scholarships. On campus, the University of Chicago QuestBridge chapter hosts informational and social events, connects admitted QuestBridge scholars, or “Questies,” with current students through a pen pal program, and collaborates with the University’s Center for College Student Success (CCSS) and the student-run Socioeconomic Diversity Alliance (SDA). There is also significant overlap between the QuestBridge program and the University’s internal Odyssey Scholarship program. Initially funded by an anonymous donor named “Homer,” the program provides academic, social, and career support to low-income and first-generation students. Each Odyssey Scholar is guaranteed University funding if they secure a summer internship following their first year, provided they participate in programs prepared by Career Advancement and attend regular meetings with a career adviser. Second-year Naa Asheley Ashitey, a QuestBridge and Odyssey scholar, told me that the University’s financial aid policies were incredibly enticing when she was
applying through QuestBridge. Once she got here, she found a campus environment that was less welcoming of her identity than the brochures had promised. “You bring in a lot of these first[-generation] students,” Ashitey said. “But then what is happening on campus? How are they feeling on campus?” Claire Moore, who graduated last year, expressed a similar sentiment. “Oh, I’m Black. I’m a woman and I’m low-income. Three boxes you can check,” she said, “Now that I’m here...how are you going to support me knowing that there are some limitations that I have—that I’m low-income? What are you going to do when your professors and when your students and when your administrators are notably racist? What are you going to do in incidents like that?” Last May, a group of 14 Odyssey Scholars published an op-ed in the maroon urging members of the Class of 2018 to boycott the senior class gift (“Seniors, Don’t Donate to the Class Gift” 5/14/18). The authors claimed that the University exploits Odyssey Scholars, “capitaliz[ing] on our talents and labors as scholars and advocates while providing us little support,” and using them to attract donors. “For years,” they wrote, “students have been asking for greater food security, a welcoming housing culture, reliable and adequate financial aid, and enhanced bias reporting mechanisms with little substantive support or acknowledgment from the University.” According to Moore, the FGLI population was far from united in support of the boycott campaign. “Some people just didn’t care,” she told me, “some people were all for it, and some people were just like, ‘This is absolutely CONTINUED ON PG. 9
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
9
“They don’t have to think...about having to send money back to their parents.”
First-year Brinda Rao (left), who wrote a column decrying the rise of Canada Goose jackets, poses in her own Canada Goose with a friend. courtesy of brinda rao CONTINUED FROM PG. 8
ridiculous. How dare you even think this?’ There was not a consensus at all.” Moore’s support for the campaign got her into a fight with a close friend and fellow Odyssey Scholar. Moore said the split was at least in part due to a “difference in experience” among FGLI students. She told me that people like her, who had to cope with obstacles associated with being female and a person of color on top of those associated with FGLI status, were more likely to be fed up with the administration. First-year Michael Tuvshinsaikhan provided a different rationale for why some FGLI students hesitate to make more demands of the University, saying that it has already given them so much that such a request seems ungrateful. “To me, personally, I can’t really ask for more,” he said. “To me it just feels kind of weird, kind of uncomfortable to just to say, ‘Okay, you paid for my entire scholarship. Now you’re gonna pay for my entire summer internship. But also, I need this.’” Tuvshinsaikhan’s outlook has its roots in part in his experience as an immigrant from Mongolia. “You’ve come to the most powerful, most wealthy country in the world,” he said. “This is perceived to be the most amazing option or opportunity you’re ever going to get. So, you know, don’t screw it up.” He feels the same way about the University. In his view, it’s up to students,
FGLI or otherwise, to make the most of the opportunity. “So once you’re here, you’re at the University of Chicago,” he told me. “This is one of the top universities in the world. You don’t mess it up.” It’s a mentality that he acknowledged can be detrimental to students in some circumstances “where a person may need actually more.” For his own part, though, Tuvshinsaikhan is satisfied with the services he has received from the University through the CCSS and through Career Advancement. “Sometimes,” he told me, “you can kind of get lost in how many opportunities there are.” Last quarter, the maroon published a leaked e-mail chain allegedly containing instructions from the deputy director of Career Advancement to prioritize students connected to Career Advancement donors and employers when publicizing information about an opportunity for internship funding (“UChicago Allegedly Favored Donors’ Children for Internship Funding As Students in Need Were Turned Away” 3/15/19). The source, a Career Advancement staff member, told the maroon that the ongoing FBI investigation into bribery in college admissions across the country was part of their motivation to share the e-mails. In response to a request for comment for that piece, the University said that it regularly contacts students about oppor-
tunities for funding, but didn’t answer questions about whether it prioritized so-called “special interest cases.” “When first-gen, low-income students hear about this,” Ashitey told me, “we’re not surprised about it.” She finds it frustrating that the most privileged students on campus would be given special treatment while FGLI students are the ones who face criticism for perceived special treatment. Tuvshinsaikhan said that the e-mails raise ethical questions, but he remains somewhat ambivalent. “I don’t necessarily have a problem with that if it can give larger positive externalities,” he told me. As he sees it, shoring up relationships with donors can benefit everyone at the University in the long run, including FGLI students. He said the University is inevitably going to have to perform a “balancing act” with its commitments to students and its goals of long-term growth. Ashitey told me that she has repeatedly felt the need to broadcast her identity and background to the University in order to be treated with compassion. “My chem professor asked me if I had went to high school,” she said, “because I didn’t know how to use calculus in chemistry, because I guess I was supposed to know how to do that.” After a midterm in another class went poorly, Ashitey sought help from her professor, but eventually stopped going to office hours because the experience made her uncomfortable. “He would get annoyed if I’m asking questions,” she said.
Instead, she sought out a graduate student friend and the two met two or three times a week to go over the material. On the next midterm, Ashitey’s grade still didn’t improve. The class average also dipped substantially. Concerned about her grade, she approached her professor to ask what she could do to improve. He told her she “shouldn’t have waited until the last minute.” She replied that she had been working hard to learn the concepts. “Well, maybe you should have just been smarter,” he replied. After hearing that, she withdrew from the class. “I no longer felt like I was welcomed,” she said. “I no longer felt like I was learning.” It’s not just professors. Ashitey told me about a phone call she had with the University bursar’s office about her financial aid. She asked the employee to walk her through her financial aid documents, but still had difficulty with the unfamiliar terminology. Eventually it reached a point where Ashitey said, “Look, I understand that this may seem really basic and annoying that you have to explain all this, but I am a first-gen, low-income, minority student who doesn’t really have much background on what financial aid looks like, and I’m simply trying to understand the costs.” “It was from there,” Ashitey went on, “that she finally decided to explain things I had been asking about for 20 minutes.” Afterward, she called her mother in tears. CONTINUED ON PG. 10
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
10
“To me, personally, I can’t really ask for more.” CONTINUED FROM PG. 9
Ashitey said that as a result of her experiences, she’s started e-mailing her professors ahead of time to say, “I am a first-generation, low-income, minority student, and I don’t have the necessary background or all the backgrounds you may require. So if I seem annoying if I’m asking things in class, I apologize.” That strategy has helped, but she’s frustrated she’s found herself in this position at all. “There’s no reason I should have to send that e-mail,” she said, “but it’s a reality that you have to express your background before people are willing to listen and people are willing to hear.” Students, she said, should feel comfortable talking about where they come from, “but it shouldn’t be the reason that now people realize that they’re going to treat you fairly or they’re now going to actually listen to you.” She likened her classroom experience to living with a physical or mental disability. Professors “should be teaching in a style that caters to all in the best way possible and be receptive to students,” she said. In Moore’s experience, even being upfront about her situation wasn’t always enough to ensure that her interactions with the University went smoothly. She told me that during her first year, she had to spend so many hours working to help fund her education that she became physically sick. Her illness affected her performance in class. After receiving a C on a writing assignment, she tried to explain her situation to her professor. “She was like, ‘What I asked for was an essay, and you didn’t give me an essay,’” Moore said. Moore offered to provide a doctor’s note, but the professor still wasn’t willing to accommodate. “She’s like, ‘I don’t care, you shouldn’t even come to class if you’re going to be like this.’”
Moore was shocked. “And it’s just like, why do you feel comfortable saying that?” Most of her interactions with professors were more positive, but it was experiences like that one that caused her to drift away from the broader University community. “I guess I kind of created a bubble for myself,” she told me. When not at home, at work, or in class, she spent almost all of her time at the Center for Identity and Inclusion. “They made me feel comfortable,” she said. “They gave me the home I was expecting from my house.” One of the Socioeconomic Diversity Alliance’s recent campaigns has been an attempt to increase the amount of money, currently $4,000, that comes with the University’s summer Metcalf internships. Students in support of the change say that the funding does not meet the cost of living in many of the locations where the internships are available. Students whose families can provide cars or who live in internship hotspots like Washington, D.C., or New York City may find that $4,000 goes further than it does for their lower-income peers. The campaign is an effort to prevent situations like that of third-year Kimika Padilla. Padilla spent the summer after her first year at a Metcalf internship in San Francisco, an experience that she “really valued.” “But obviously, housing is really expensive in San Francisco,” she said, “and I ended up sharing a bedroom and a bed in an Airbnb with a fellow QuestBridge scholar.” She told me the arrangement “ended up working great,” but she can easily imagine situations in which students are not able to manage the burden so easily. The University has so far not agreed to the $2,000 increase they were hoping for, said
third-year Adrian Morquecho. Morquecho serves as communications chair for SDA. He said that a lot of FGLI students he knows feel like “they have to pimp out their struggles and their lack of resources, and the administration has this poverty fetish.” Morquecho added that the SDA’s relationship with the administration is “very tenuous at best.” The University had not responded to a request for comment regarding its relationship with SDA at the time of publication. While at the University of Chicago, Moore was active in an SDA push for better food security on campus. She thought it was “completely ridiculous” that the dining halls weren’t open on Saturday nights. The University’s implementation of Saturday night meal swipes at Hutchinson Commons in the fall of 2017 came in response to SDA’s efforts to make the administration aware of the burdens faced by FGLI students struggling to pay for food. From the perspective of Morquecho, who got involved with SDA after the change was made, awareness of the Saturday meal swipe’s origin among the student body is relatively low. “If I were to ask a student, ‘Who do you think made this Saturday night meal swipe happen?’ I don’t think they necessarily would have known that it was us even though we were the ones behind all of the advocacy work for it.” Morquecho said that there was some truth to the idea that outward displays of wealth, like the aforementioned Canada Goose jackets, can have a chilling effect on FGLI students. To him, it’s a sign of a likely lack of understanding. “It’s just a turnoff because it immediately signals to me that if I have a conversation
it’s going to be difficult.” He finds it irritating when he shows up 10 minutes early to a CCSS event aimed at FGLI students, only to see a line of expensively dressed students snaking out the door. “When an office finally decides to allocate some resources to us, the University finally makes the Center for College Student Success, and suddenly they’re like, ‘free food!’” These kinds of interactions are symptomatic of what Morquecho sees as a “general obliviousness” among the non– FGLI student body to the experiences of their lower-income classmates. He told me that he has friends who wear Canada Goose jackets, but class has proven to be an obstacle that needs to be overcome. The other students I spoke to didn’t express any serious antipathy towards the campus Canada Goose phenomenon. In Moore’s experience, class on campus is frequently more complicated than clothing, and a student’s outward presentation can mask the reality of their situation. “One of my friends—I didn’t even know that she was part of the [FGLI] community because she worked really hard to make it look like she had no problems,” she said. “She spent all of her money on clothes, and sometimes I wouldn’t see her eat.” Tuvshinsaikhan chuckled when I mentioned Rao’s article; he also owns a Canada Goose jacket. His father needed a warm coat for a trip back to Mongolia—“You know when we had the polar vortex? That kind of weather is there for maybe four or five months”—and, not needing it when he got back to Virginia, traded it in for one in a smaller size so Tuvshinsaikhan could take it to Chicago. “So I personally don’t have a problem,” he said.
Padilla, for her part, told me that she doesn’t particularly care what her peers wear. “But I think that there are definitely other ways where wealth stands out,” she said, “things like who’s able to go home for three days on Thanksgiving and who’s staying on campus because they can’t afford it, and who’s able to afford frequent trips downtown.” She said there are “degrees of awareness” of FGLI students’ experiences on campus. When she has had to skip nights out with friends because she can’t afford it, the subject of money inevitably comes up. “For some people it’s really easy to explain that that’s what’s going on and they understand,” she said. “for others, that can be a really uncomfortable conversation.” For Ashitey, Canada Goose jackets do mark those who wear them as different from her. “You know that they don’t have to think a lot about having to send money back to their parents,” she said. She added, however, that she doesn’t let clothing dictate her feelings about the people around her. “Some people have the jacket and we automatically assume that they’re not going to listen to us,” she said, “when it’s not always like that.” Far more important for Ashitey is whether or not her more affluent peers are willing to listen and understand when she talks about her experiences. “I have a lot of friends who are much more well-off than me,” she said, adding, “When I’m having a conversation and talking about what it means to be [FGLI], they’re completely understanding.” Owning a Canada Goose coat, it appears, does not preclude that kind of understanding.
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
Scav’s 33rd Year
11
Scavvies prepare for and compete in scav olympics . alexandra nisenoff
12
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
Snell-Hitchcock Tied with Breckinridge in 33rd Year of University of Chicago’s Cherished Scav Tradition
Scav teams eagerly await the release of the 2019 scav item list. alexandra nisenoff
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
13
SPORTS Men’s Tennis Secures NCAA Division III Regional Title By MATTHEW LEE Sports Reporter
The 2019 season is sure to be a memorable one for the University of Chicago’s men’s tennis teams. Over the weekend, the Maroon men captured a NCAA Division III Regional Title to secure their fourth appearance at the NCAA DIII Championships in a row. First to fall at this weekend’s contests was Augustana, which was routed 5–0. Fresh from their first-round bye, men’s doubles squads led the Saturday afternoon onslaught. The duo of third-years Erik Kerrigan and Ninan Kumar and the pair of third-year Tyler Raclin and second-year Jeremy Yuan each won their bouts 8–2. Later, fourthyear Charlie Pei and his partner first-year Joshua Xu won their own matchup 8–5. In singles, second-year Alejandro Rodriguez and first-year Alex Guzhva both brought home dominant
wins, 6–0, 6–0 and 6–1, 6–0 respectively. Sunday’s opponent, Gustavus Adolphus College, suffered a similar fate. Though the Maroons lost two singles matches, victories by fourth-year Charlie Pei (6–1, 6–2), and first-year Joshua Xu (7–5, 6–2) meant the Maroons and their Gustavus Adolphus foes were tied 2–2 heading into doubles. There, the Maroons proved dominant, sweeping all three matches. Kerrigan and Kumar (8–4), Pei and Xu (8–7 (8–6)), and Raclin and Yuan (8–6) ensured that the Maroons seized victory against their Gustavus Adolphus foes by a final tally of 5–2. Having qualified for the NCAA DIII Championships, the Maroons face powerhouse Amherst College at the quarterfinals on May 20. The upcoming championship matches are sure to have special significance for Maroon tennis’ graduating fourth-years, Li, Liu, and Pei.
Entering the last games of his collegiate career, Li recorded a cumulative singles record of 11–3 and a doubles record of 2–1. Li has qualified for UAA All-Academic team for three consecutive years. In addition, during the 2017–18 season, Li was honored as an ITA Scholar-Athlete. Max Liu finished 22–4 in singles and 3–2 in doubles. Also a UAA All-Academic team member since his second year, Max’s first-year season was one to remember: He finished 19–4 in singles and 3–2 in doubles, an achievement that would bring him to the singles final of the 2015 ITA Central Region Championships. With a record of 56–22 in singles and 48–20 in doubles, Charlie Pei has proven to be an indispensable member of Maroon men’s tennis for four years straight. As a first-year, Charlie Pei was 22–9 in singles and 20–9 in doubles. In recognition of his performance, the UAA named
him Athlete of the Week—not once, but twice. In his second year, Charlie recorded a 17–8 singles record and a 21–5 doubles record and was named UAA athlete of the week. And in his third year, with a record of 17–5 in singles and 7–6 in doubles, Pei was named Second Team AllUAA, UAA All-Academic, and ITA Scholar-Athlete. Pei was also
awarded an invitation to the UAA All-Tournament Team. This season, Pei, along with his first-year partner Joshua Xu, qualified for the ITA Central Region doubles finals. In addition, Pei was named UAA Athlete of the Week on April 1, 2019. As he prepares to face Amherst in the quarterfinals, Pei can only add to his already storied season and strong career.
Alejandro Rodriguez. courtesy of uchicago athletics
Weekend Games Conclude Baseball’s 2019 Season By SHANYU HOU Sports Reporter
The UChicago baseball team had an exciting weekend playing three games at the Midwest Conference Tournament. The Maroons dominated the game with Cornell College on Friday, beating them 2–0. However, they failed to build a winning streak as they played and lost against Ripon in their second game of the day by a score of 5–4. This left them playing Cornell College again in the elimination game on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Maroons were unable to push past the Rams and lost the game 6–5. The Maroons opened the
tournament with a win by scoring a run against Cornell in the first inning and adding another in the fifth inning. The team put up a great defensive effort, stopping Cornell from scoring any runs. The game ended with a score of 2–0. The Maroons’ all-team runs leader, fourth-year Connor Hickey, scored both runs. Fourth-year Joe Liberman also had a great performance, pitching eight of the nine innings and striking out six players. Unfortunately, the Maroons were unable to defeat Ripon College in their second match of the day, preparing them for a rematch with Cornell College. A sacrifice fly from fourth-year Ian Bohn led to
a run by Hickey, putting the Maroons in a good position. However, Ripon battled back and responded with two runs, putting them on top, 2–1. The game slowed down as no runs were scored in the next four innings. Second-year Brian Lyle singled in the sixth inning, putting third-year Payton Jancsy on third with an opportunity for another run. The Maroons took their chances and were back in the lead, 3–2. However, Ripon once again plated two more runs in the same inning, taking back the lead. They plated another run in the seventh inning against the Maroons, who tried to reclaim the lead but were only able to score once more in the eighth inning.
The game ended with the score of 5–4. Cornell College opened the Saturday game with a run, but the Maroons quickly struck back and plated two runs in the second inning. First-year Carson Weekley made his run while fourth-year Josh Parks advanced to second and was later able to score on a passing ball. Jancsy and Lyle extended the lead when they scored in the third and fourth inning respectively, bringing the score up to 4–1. However, Cornell gained momentum and fought back. They scored twice in the fifth inning and plated three runs in the sixth inning, outscoring the Maroons and putting them in the lead. The Ma-
roons were unable to score another run, ending the game—and their season—with a 6–5 loss. The Midwest Conference Tournament wrapped up a successful 2019 season for the baseball team. A total of 24 wins were achieved in the 36 games played and the 251 runs made. Nine fourth-years on the team have concluded their collegiate careers—Josh Parks, Ian Bohn, Connor Hickey, Max Brzostowski, Brady Sarkon, Joe Liberman, Brenton Villasenor, Jacob Petersen, and Ravi Bakhai. This group broke the record of most wins by a senior class with a total of 90 wins.
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
14
Track Continues Season of Individual Triumphs By DANIEL ZEA Sports Reporter
Making a short trip to nearby Naperville, Illinois this past week, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the North Central Dr. Keeler Invitational. Continuing to build upon their already successful résumés, both teams enjoyed a number of strong individual performances, many of which came among an extensive number of competitors. With the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships approaching, the Maroons sought to build on their previous achievements; however, the athletes’ internal drive did not take away from team unity. According to second-year Chase Gardner, “Even though most of us were competing to improve our personal records, everyone was invested in each other’s success. At the end of the day, I think that helped produce a lot of PRs
(and we had a lot).” For the men, a number of athletes enjoyed impressive finishes in various events. In sprints, second-year Nike Reid managed two top-25 performances, capturing 13th place in the 200-meter and excelling in the 100-meter as well. Meanwhile, first-year Henry Myers outran much of the competition in the 1,500-meters, placing 10th in a crowded field of 96 runners. Fellow first-year Sam Craig also enjoyed a top-30 finish in the event. As for long-distance events, both Chase Gardner and fourth-year teammate Ansel Richards earned top-30 finishes amongst 101 runners in the 5,000-meter. To round off a successful meet, the 4x400-meter relay team, composed of first-year Dillon O’Loughlin, fourth-year Ben Chaimberg, and third-years Tyson Miller and Elliott Paintsil, took fifth place, while third-year Alexander Scott took home sixth in the shot put.
As for the women, the Maroons excelled in a variety of events. In the 400-meter, two Chicago runners earned top-10 finishes, with first-year Meg Fitzpatrick and fourth-year Tali Naibryf taking seventh and ninth respectively. Meanwhile, fourth-year Nicole VacaGuzman added to her already dominant season, capturing third in the 800-meter. Firstyear Kaitlyn Van Baalen also earned a top-20 finish in the event. However, Chicago’s long-distance runners refused to be outdone, as three athletes finished among the top 15 of their events. In the 5,000-meter, third-year Claire Brockway took home seventh while third-year Maggie Boudreau and second-year Maggie Habib earned fourth and 13th respectively in the 10,000-meter. Also contributing to a successful team showing, the 4x400 meter relay team, composed of VacaGuzman, Fitzpatrick, Naibryf, and third-year Mary Martin, captured an impressive sec-
ond-place finish. Finally, in field events, fourth-year Alexandra Thompson took fifth in the high jump while first-year Isabel Maletich narrowly missed a firstplace finish in the long jump, placing second with a final distance of 5.79 meters. This past week’s meet marks the penultimate regular season outdoor competition for the Maroons. Reflecting on the trip, Chase Gardner remarked, “End of the season meets like this are always a blast…. I thought the energy the team brought was superb.” Very pleased with the high number of personal achievements, Gardner added, “Watching a teammate elevate to a new level is (almost) as exciting as doing it yourself.” Gardner and the rest of the Maroons will look to continue improving their performances this week as the teams seek to finish the regular season on a high note with a return to North Central College for the Gregory Invitational.
How do Athletes Walk onto Teams? By BRINDA RAO Sports Editor
At UChicago, continuing an athletic career derives from a love of the sport. UChicago’s DIII program makes it so that many students can pursue beloved sports. While a majority of these athletes are recruited, some members of our varsity teams started off like the majority of students at UChicago—as just students. These students walk onto varsity teams, joining recruited athletes as representatives of the University. While the process of walking on is pretty uniform, many athletes who walk on have unique stories.
For many students, going through formal athletic recruitment was never a consideration in high school. The process requires opening dialogues with coaches of programs at a slew of universities and putting in extensive additional work on top of the process of applying to the university. Many students do not imagine being qualified to continue their athletic career in college, leading them to leave their sport in the past. However, UChicago presents a unique opportunity for students to reconsider that decision. All of its teams are NCAA DIII sports, giving a chance for some students to try walking onto teams. Although some teams fill their
SCOREBOARD SPORT
W/L
OPPONENT
Baseball
L
Track and Field
N/A
Dr. Keeler
Women’s Tennis
W
Lake Forest
Ripon
SCORE 5–4 N/A 5–0
rosters with recruited athletes, others have space due to athletes quitting or not recruiting a complete roster. This gives students the opportunity to try walking onto the team. First-year Adriana Shutler walked on to UChicago’s women’s varsity lacrosse team. Shutler is also a recruited athlete for UChicago’s women’s varsity soccer team. Having played lacrosse since her childhood, Shutler wanted to find a way to continue playing in college. With this being the first year of UChicago’s varsity lacrosse program, the roster of the team was not filled. Shutler explains, “I talked to the coach last year and she was really accommodating about it. I had a week trial period to get integrated into the team that was like a tryout period.” Walking onto a team does not necessarily require previous years of experience mastering the sport. Third-year Roberto Rabines walked onto UChicago’s varsity football team his first year. Having played both soccer and volleyball in high school, he had never played football before. He reflects, “I’d dreamed of playing football growing up, and reached out to coach Wilkerson to
see if it was even a possibility for me. He gave me the opportunity to practice with the team, and the coaches and my teammates demonstrated a lot of patience helping me up the learning curve. I will always be thankful to the coaching staff and players for letting me be a part of this program.” With a dynamic and welcoming varsity program, UChicago enables students to consider taking athletic careers to the college level. Student-athletes who’ve walked on have noted the commitment and intensity of the athletics program but still have found support from teammates and coaches. UChicago’s athletics department creates no excessive barriers to joining their teams, fostering an informal walking-on process that is largely controlled by coaches. In doing so, UChicago creates circumstances for students to continue beloved athletic lives. Reflecting on her experience walking onto the women’s lacrosse team, Shutler comments, “It was so much fun. The team was so close and welcoming. It is a lot of work, but you become a better person through it.”
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
15
Weekend Wins for Women’s Tennis By DIESTEFANO LOMA Sports Editor
In winning its fourth straight regional title, the University of Chicago women’s tennis team once again secured its ticket to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. This past weekend, the Maroons defeated both Lake Forest College and Carleton College in convincing fashion, with their second straight 5–0 sweep to maintain a 16–5 record and their two-game winning streak. To start off their postseason run against Lake Forest, first-years Lauren Park and Nicole Semenov cruised past the Foresters 8–1. They were followed by second-year Catherine Xu and first-year Eugenia Lee, who came out with the 8–4 victory. To conclude the doubles sweep, third-year
Marjorie Antohi and second-year Daryn Ellison won 8–5. In singles competition, the shutout was made possible thanks to Antohi defeating Forester Julie Lord 6–1, and first-year Annika Pandey defeating Katie Wegrecki 6–0. Up against a Carleton side looking to upset UChicago and with the goal of winning it all, the Maroons reminded the Knights who they were. Singles competition saw Antohi and Xu both secure 6–0 victories against their opponents. In doubles competition, Xu and Lee complemented each other’s skills to take an 8–3 victory. Antohi and Ellison continued by dominating the Knights’ duo of Jeanny Zhang and Faith Yim 8–2. In an important No. 3 doubles match, Park and Semenov broke the tiebreaker and won 7–5 to send the Maroons to Kalamazoo, MichiAcross 1. PC “brain” 4. Better suited 9. Damon or Nathanson 13. Egg layer 14. Soft skin? 15. ___ for life
ET TU, BRUTE By GABI FRIEDMAN
Et Tu, Brute? 1
2
3
4
13
14
16
17
19
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
23
24
25
46
47
15 18
20
21
22 27
26 31
32
28
29
33
30 34
35
36 37
38
39
40
41
43
44
48
49 53
57
Down
58
45 51
50 54
42
55
52
56 60
59
61
62
63
64
65
66
18. Oft-recycled household
40. Stamp of approval
gan to compete in the NCAA Quarterfinals. This victory sets up another showdown between UChicago and UAA champion Emory University. The previous match between them on April 27 was a grueling battle that went until the very end. Ultimately, the Eagles came out on top with a 5–4 victory. The No. 12 Maroons have a chance to redeem that loss and complete one of the biggest upsets in UAA history against the No. 1 Emory. When asked about the significance of making it this far in the tournament, Xu said, “I think what’s really been keeping the team motivated is our willingness to fight and compete for each other. The game really changes when you are playing not just for yourself, but also your team. We constantly push each other to reach new highs and we 16. Partner of outs 17. Truman, to Eisenhower 19. *Some classic appetizers served with anchovies 21. Anne and Calvin, in fashion 22. Sounded 26. A source of much reflection 27. A restraining order, in short 30. Colorful surroundings? 31. *Pizza chain 36. Wooed 37. *Vegas casino between Bellagio and The Mirage 43. ___51: subject of many conspiracy theories 44. ___-been 45. Subway occupants 48. Pairs with human or spiritual 51. Sacker of Rome 53. *Historic encryption method (and the key to 19A, 31A, 37A) 57. Played with, as in a song 60. Suffix for lemon or lime 61. Daughter’s cousin,
are always hungry for more. Last year’s Elite Eight match was a great experience and a huge motivator for me to push the team to work even harder. As one of the three members on the current team who played that match last year, I think we were given a great opportunity. Even though the outcome wasn’t what we had hoped for, we took only positive messages from that match and feel more than ready to go out and compete this year. In terms of nerves, I think playing on the big stage will always cause some nervousness, especially with such a young team. However, I think we have proven to many that we have the capability to compete very well regardless of where we play or who’s on the other side of the net.” The Maroons will take on Emory University on Monday, May 20.
maybe 62. Intro econ course 63. Jewish bakery bread 64. Goal 65. Teenage boys, steretypically 66. Pins in a strike Down 1. Offspring of 13A 2. Possible implant variety 3. Release from a curse 4. Good place for a ski trip 5. Barn noises 6. They’re needed for batting practice 7. Foundational texts in Norse mythology that might inspire Pete Buttigieg to learn Icelandic 8. Stagger 9. Jesus, some think 10. Reason to dump ice water on your head 11. Chinese way 12. Seen on many a swim cap 15. Try again 18. Oft-recycled household object 20. Audiophile’s relic 23. Start a court battle 24. Fail 25. Nickname for fathers
27. Webkinz or Beanie Baby 28. Fed’l law protecting student records 29. Play the part of 32. Solvent in orgo lab 33. The Blue Jays, on score boards 34. Add-on for Nathan or Dan 35. Party scene pet peeve, in brief 37. Uber alternative 38. Anger 39. Can 40. Stamp of approval 41. “Dang!” 42. Flighty woman? 46. Craft project requiring many rubber baands 47. Kids’ addiction, some say 49. Catan or Pandemic 50. Fall mo. 51. Bitter 52. Best decks on the ship 54. ___ Club 55. Uptight 56. Mob-busting law, briefly 57. Fire ___ 58. American Mossad 59. These: Fr.
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
16
VIEWPOINTS South Dorm Needs a Gym
Residents of RGGRC Ask for an Exercise Facility in the Dorm The University of Chicago may not typically be considered a mecca for jocks, but exercise is nevertheless an important part of many students’ lives. While UChicago bills itself as an intellectual paradise for the mind, brains can’t operate without support. A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that one hour of exercise a week can reduce the likelihood of depression. A healthy body allows the mind to thrive, and at a notoriously stressful school, exercise is a great way for students to blow off steam. The University must prioritize creating an exercise room for Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons, the dorm known as
“South,” and, more broadly, must invest in exercise options south of the Midway. The hundreds of students living in on-campus housing south of the Midway lack exercise options. Especially in the winter (think this year’s polar vortex), students find that South is too far from campus exercise facilities. The members of Inter-House Council (IHC) from South surveyed 137 residents of the dorm through a Google Form shared by e-mail and in-house Facebook groups, and the results were clear. Students need exercise. Students made their opinions obvious in the open-response section of the survey. One wrote,
Lee Harris, Editor-in-Chief Elaine Chen, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Deepti Sailappan, Managing Editor Peng-Peng Liu, Chief Production Officer The Maroon Editorial Board consists of the editors-in-chief and editors of The Maroon.
NEWS
Tony Brooks, editor Miles Burton, editor Daksh Chauhan, editor Camille Kirsch, editor Caroline Kubzansky, editor Madeleine Zhou, editor GREY CITY
Caroline Kubzansky, editor Anant Matai, deputy editor VIEWPOINTS
Meera Santhanam, editor ARTS
Zoe Bean, editor Brooke Nagler, editor Perri Wilson, editor SPORTS
Alison Gill, editor Brinda Rao, editor DESIGN
Jessica Xia, head designer Francesca Chu, design associate Areeha Khalid, design associate
COPY
Mohammed Bashier, copy chief Kuba Sokolowski, copy chief Olivia Shao, copy chief BUSINESS
Michael Vetter, chief financial officer Brian Dong, director of strategy Gianni LaVecchia and Kelsey Yang, directors of marketing Alex Chung, director of development James Kon, director of operations Editor-in-Chief: Editor@ChicagoMaroon.com Newsroom Phone: (312) 918-8023 Business Phone: (408) 806-8381 For advertising inquiries, please contact Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com or (408) 806-8381. Circulation: 2,500. © 2019 The Chicago Maroon Ida Noyes Hall / 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
“During the winters, it is very difficult to make the trek all the way to Ratner in the cold weather. This promotes an unhealthy living situation both physically and emotionally, as many students depend on exercise for [their] physical and mental well-being. The implementation of even a few machines in the basement of GGRC would make a substantial difference in the health of students.” When asked if they wish they had exercise options closer to South than Ratner and Crown, 94.9 percent of residents said yes. Almost half of the respondents rated the importance of the issue of exercise accessibility as 10 out of 10. It’s clear: The two campus gyms, both at least a 13-minute walk away, are not accessible enough to residents of South. In failing to act on the need for exercise options, the University is letting down its students. You might be thinking to yourself, “An exercise room sounds all well and good in practice, but how does it work in theory?” It turns out that a growing body of evi-
dence supports the idea that exercise bolsters mental health. As mentioned above, just one hour of exercise a week helps reduce the incidence of depression. Research has also shown that regular exercise improves memory and thinking skills. The University of Chicago is no stranger to mental health concerns, as some students feel the University has not done enough to address these issues. The idea of providing exercise equipment to South Campus residents is not new. There are still signs in the basement of South marking the path from the elevators to the “exercise room.” Following these signs, however, is a fruitless endeavor. Some time ago, the University removed the cardio equipment housed there and replaced it with storage. This decision, however, can be easily reversed. IHC representatives from South met with Housing and Residential Life in April. The answers we received were not satisfactory. Housing said it planned to observe the new exercise room in I-House
for two years before addressing the lack of exercise options in South. In that time, the new Woodlawn Residential Commons will be completed. If the University can build a megadorm (which, it should be noted, won’t contain a gym), why can’t it put some exercise equipment in South’s basement? Students can’t wait. Optimally, the University would also prioritize building a new gym south of the Midway to suit the needs of residents of South, Burton-Judson, and Woodlawn. We applaud Dean Michele Rasmussen for expressing support for this idea at a recent Inter-House Council meeting. That said, this idea raises challenging questions regarding neighborhood relations, construction, maintenance, staffing, and environmental impact. There is a simpler and more immediate solution: placing a few treadmills in South’s basement. —Renee Granville Grossman Residential Commons Inter-House Council Representatives
The Racist Side of Imposter Syndrome Imposter Syndrome Is Even More Pernicious in the Lives of Minority Students By JAY GIBBS He was walking through the University of Chicago campus on a sunny day. Tour guides offered well-rehearsed one-liners as the excitable crowd around him moved across campus. He gazed around, looking at every building, every student, every interaction. Each moment was a portrait of life
at the University of Chicago; each student another character living that life. He could see everyone around him living; but when he imagined himself in their shoes, that picture suddenly fizzled out of existence. What replaced it was not another image, but the lingering question that buzzed in his ears. “Do I deserve to be here?” it persistently asked. But unlike
many others having a similarly worded thought, his question was not one of test scores, nor even GPA. Days prior, a classmate at his high school had snidely implied he was only admitted because he was Black. The buzzing got louder. I still hear it sometimes. Imposter syndrome is by no means a unique experience at CONTINUED ON PG. 17
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
17
“Chances are, most people have felt that telltale nervouseness...” CONTINUED FROM PG. 16
the University of Chicago. Chances are, most people have felt that telltale nervousness as they naturally begin comparing themselves to those around them. In an era where college admissions are fraught with abuse, intentionally vague admissions standards, and fruitless attempts to define someone’s value, this makes sense. For people who are academically competitive enough to gain admission to an elite school, life was a competition for a long time. Even those few who scored perfectly on standardized tests (and probably bragged about it during O-Week) have likely doubted their fit at this university at least once. Success and earned achievements begin to feel like lucky coincidences and great opportunities sour. Race takes that feeling and inflames it to levels we often fail to properly understand or acknowl-
edge. Unlike tests scores, GPAs, or even résumé lines, it isn’t an admission factor that one can easily conceptualize. If your SAT score was slightly below average, you can still safely say you were in a reasonable range for admission. If your GPA was low, you can look at your extracurriculars and attribute “fit” to that. But race isn’t some number or written essay that you can point to and evaluate. It is a factor that you know is seen. But, it is also a factor you cannot know how admissions staff really perceive. Whether or not it even came up for consideration is a mystery. Last week, I spoke to a prospective student. Her parents pulled me aside to ask where near campus she could get her locks retwisted. I gave them the name of my usual place and luckily had a business card in my wallet. She played sports and debated
in high school and was enjoying the campus. When she asked me what life was like for Black students at UChicago, the look in her eyes was familiar to me because it was one I had had for years and occasionally still have. Eventually, I asked if people had reacted to her admissions poorly—they had. What should have been one of the happiest moments of her life was ruined by a lingering insinuation from someone she called a friend. She asked that her name not be referenced in this, and that’s entirely understandable. For a while, I, too, felt strange calling my friends out on their behavior. Somehow, even acknowledging the struggle hurt, because thinking about it invites that malignant doubt back into your mind. When so many people express an opinion, you can feel undeserving even when you know, deep inside, that you deserve what you have.
So, to the many underrepresented minority students connecting with others on social media, touring the campus, and trying to coalesce into the culture of this school, just know one thing: You rightfully earned the opportunities you currently have. It is not the case that your skin gives you a vaulting leap over the heads of your classmates. It is not the case that if not for your ethnicity, you would have been denied to all but your safest of safety schools. All of you are high-performing. All of you are high-achieving. All of you had a path toward success very different from that of your classmates. Despite barriers that oftentimes aren’t even visible, you made it. Many of you are first-generation or from families where going to college at all is cause for celebration. So, celebrate that. High school students are under enormous stress, and the
identities of students interact with that stress. One can experience college admissions from many different standpoints. Universities and high schools need to better address these discomposures early on for students. But, the biggest impact comes from peers. As students, we must get better at keeping our peers from falling into dark feelings of disbelief about their deserved admissions. The wealthy are paying millions to get their kids into school illegally. Hell, plenty more are doing it totally within the confines of the law. Don’t ignore the ridiculously corrupt practices undergirding legacy and donation-based admissions while guilt-tripping people of color to the point of anxiety and depression. Be better. Don’t let those with legitimate successes feel like imposters.
ARTS Vampire Weekend Grew Up and Moved to California By LUCAS DU Arts Reporter
When Vampire Weekend emerged in 2008, fresh out of Columbia University, dressed in Polo and popped collars, the quartet cut a striking, starched profile. It was a strange concoction of elements, an intoxicating fusion of college rock and African rhythms, tongue-in-cheek Ivy League sensibilities, and a swirling undercurrent of existential dread, that made Vampire Weekend the poster child for late-aughts indie rock. In 2013, after releasing the brooding and beautiful Modern Vampires of the City, the last of a now-classic trilogy of albums, Vampire Weekend seemed to fall off the map. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam
Batmanglij left the group in 2016 and, while the band continued to drop hints that a fourth album was on the way, nothing substantial materialized for six years. Some feared that perhaps, in the wake of an exhausting five-year run of touring and song-writing, Vampire Weekend was done. But now, after their extended hiatus, Vampire Weekend is back with a new double album called Father of the Bride. If the band’s first three albums channeled the spirit of stuffy, bustling, painfully self-aware Upper West Side New York, this new album is pure California, twanging guitars, open seaside vistas, jam bands and all. The uptight energy that once characterized the band has given way to a practiced ease. Frontman Ezra Koenig, secure in his
mid-30s, having just welcomed a baby boy with longtime partner Rashida Jones, is letting it all hang loose. The album opens with “Hold You Now,” one of three country-inspired duets with Danielle Haim scattered throughout the album. Driven by a languid guitar progression and scaffolded by a pair of haunting choral samples from Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack to The Thin Red Line, the album’s uncharacteristically happy and loose sound is still underpinned by the thematic heaviness and existential unease that has defined the band’s career. Father of the Bride also seems to find Vampire Weekend at its most politically conscious. The band resurfaced in 2016 to support Senator Bernie Sanders’s bid
for presidency and, while Koenig has said that many of the lyrics in the album were written before the turmoil of the 2016 presidential election, it is tempting to read politics into tracks like the record’s
lead single, “Harmony Hall.” At first, “Harmony Hall” seems to be a simple lyrical continuation of “Hold You Now.” The opening lyrics, “We took a vow in CONTINUED ON PG. 18
Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. courtesy monika mogi
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
18
“Behind all stories of undeserved privilege, the inevitable passage of time, love found, and love lost, there is a world that is crumbling,” CONTINUED FROM PG. 17
summertime. / Now we find ourselves in late December,” alludes to a June wedding that looms over the characters in the album’s opener. Above the bubbly guitar riff and bouncy piano chords, Koenig spins a tale of marital discontent and betrayal that leaves the narrator confused and overwhelmed: “I thought I was free from all that questionin’/ but every time a problem ends, another one begins.” But it is also easy to interpret the lyrics as a pointed political commentary. “Anger wants a voice, voices wanna sing./ Singers harmonize ’til they can’t hear anything,” Koenig lilts in the pre-chorus, suggesting that as we revel in a communal sense of anger or indignation, we’ve lost the ability to look outside our own particular worldview
and listen to others. In the chorus, the lyrics, “Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight/ of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified,” take aim at our nation’s politicians. And in a later verse, the lyrics, “Within the halls of power lies a nervous heart that beats/ like a Young Pretender’s” seem like an obvious jab at the nation’s president. “The Young Pretender” was also a nickname for Charles Edward Stuart, a Scottish nobleman who once claimed the British throne, but was forced to flee before a year was up. It is not a stretch to imagine that with these lines, Koenig was trying to speak a particular future into existence. Of course, there are lighter songs on the album too, such as the incandescent ode-to-love “Stranger,” the offbeat Steve
Lacy collaboration “Sunflower,” and the silly country ditty “We Belong Together.” In “Stranger,” as Koenig’s love-struck voice croons, “You and Kidada/ Ooh, the lights get low, low, low,” over a sultry saxophone melody, there is a moment of soul-jerking emotional openness that would never have found a place in the Vampire Weekend songs of old. Father of the Bride feels like a series of vignettes, a loose compilation of songs, each of which pushes the boundaries of Vampire Weekend’s sound in new directions. But there is a common thread holding it all together. Behind all these stories of undeserved privilege, the inevitable passage of time, love found, and love lost, there is a world that is crumbling. Buried in lyrics like “No time to discuss it./ Can’t speak when
the waves/ reach our house upon the dunes” in “Bambina” and “But here comes the sun,/ those toxic old rays” in “Spring Snow,” there is an urgent environmentalist message that, much like in society today, recedes into the background as soon as other personal and political crises emerge. While it’s messier and less focused than the band’s first three albums, Father of the Bride brims with a collection of extraordinarily well-written, beautifully crafted songs. There’s an added maturity, as if the members of Vampire Weekend have emerged from the existential storms of their 20s a little less anxious about their places in the universe. Draped in sliding guitars and sunny Californian spirit, this new era of Vampire Weekend sounds brighter, happier, and more in love than ever before.
Across the Pond and Its Extravagant Minimalism By JESSICA CHOE Arts Reporter
It’s difficult to stand out in the ballet world, but Across the Pond elegantly manages this feat in a three-act medley of distinctly styled performances. Rather than following a general plot-driven structure, Across the Pond steps away from a focus on storyline to exclusively shine a spotlight on the music and dance. With this unique approach, the performance feels like a breath of fresh air that marks the definitive advent of the breezy Chicago spring. Act I, called “Yonder Blue,” opened on a gentle blue box. With softly shining blue light, the simple set waited for dancers to bring it to life. Graceful arms and legs clothed in baby blue swayed to the music. The music came straight from the pit and serenaded the dancers. It was a symphony of soul as multiple intricate instrumental solos pierced the air and perfectly accompanied the dancers’ intricate movements. With such a minimalist set, all eyes focused on the ballerinas. In their seemingly effortless movements, the performance didn’t betray the hours and hours of practice they must have put in to be so synchronized. The harmony of this teamwork was especially poignant because the full effect of the dance relied on perfect synchroni-
zation from the dancers. The ballerinas’ chemistry was most apparent during a striking pas de deux. The couple radiated sexual tension, and this tension being so strongly suggested, but never brought to conclusion, was delicious. Act II, “Vespertine,” placed more emphasis on costumes and set, with distinctive purple dresses and chandeliers. The waves of the dresses took part in the choreography as ballerinas flung their outfits’ folds up and down to hide and uncover their faces. The mystery in this purple game of hide-and-seek also made its presence known in the music. The haunting music’s strong presence set the audience up for surprise at a suddenly muted section of the act. The silence was deafening as everyone in the audience collectively held their breath, anticipating the return of the music. For several minutes, all we could hear was the tip-tap of pointe shoes landing on the wooden stage. Perhaps this lack of music contributed to the emotional impact of the section because it continued to stick out in my mind long after the performance had concluded. There was something eerily calming about being denied access to an entire sense and having to rely only on my eyes to appreciate the performance. The third act, “Home,” was extremely divorced from the tropes of traditional
ballet, which is associated with classical music, traditional costumes, and graceful leaps. To start, the music was closer to electronic dance music. This caught me off guard and even stirred me to tap my feet along to the music’s defined beat. Ballerinas dressed in jeans and sneakers marched across the stage in synchrony, giving off a cult-like essence. Lights flashed across the stage in wild, disorienting patterns. Overall, the performance reminded me more of modern hip-hop and B-boying than traditional ballet. There was also no hint of the subtle suggestion and implication of the previous acts; rather, the message
was clear and pronounced. I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed having a blatant thematic idea thrust at me, although this bluntness still marked a clear divide between the piece and classical ballet stories. Overall, Across the Pond was a beautiful, well-choreographed ballet that invited its audience to find meaning in simplicity. It wowed in its lack of complex sets and subtle allure. It is difficult to walk away without feeling like you’ve had a rare flash of insight regarding the beauty of the human form through the complex emotions present throughout this striking performance.
April Daly, Fabrice Calmels and ensemble in Across the Pond. courtesy of cheryl mann
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
19
With Their New Project, The National Shows That Optimism Is Easy To Find By WAHID AL MAMUN Associate Arts Editor
A film director meets a band. The band gives the director a cache of B-sides to work with. An actress visits the director. They shoot a short film together. After watching the film, the band writes a record. Such are the unique circumstances that pervade The National’s eighth studio album, I Am Easy to Find, accompanied by a film of the same title directed by Mike Mills, both of which were played at Doc Films last Tuesday. The Grammy-winning alt-rockers are not in uncharted territory in releasing a film with their record—the Beatles did it, Kanye did it, and Beyoncé arguably perfected it in grandiose fashion with 2016’s Lemonade. However, no one has done it quite like this. Indeed, Mills is quick to dismiss the classification of visual album in the vein of Beyoncé, asserting that the record and film are “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other.” Despite this—or perhaps because of it—the end-product is a giddying, pleasant surprise, an understated reaffirmation of life and love from a band often known for plumbing the darkest recesses of human neurosis in their music. The film presents 164 captioned vignettes of a girl’s (Alicia Vikander) life, from infancy to death. Under Mike Mills’s directorial eye, the enormous venture of life—that bizarre, squirming thing—is dissected and flattened out. Subsequently, the project is marked throughout by a paradoxical yet successful impulse to provide a neat, orderly structure to something as wildly chaotic and unpredictable as human life. The poignant is forced to share the screen with the banal—fond memories of the protagonist’s first childhood friend are accorded the same importance as the submerged calamity of her parents slowly drifting apart from each other. Mills resists the temptation to present life through a nostalgic lens. In particular, the film’s characters represent the chaos and instability of life—in the space of a few beats, they fall in and out of love, they move to new homes while reminiscing about old ones, they pine, and they have affairs. In short, they come across as entirely, believ-
The National performs at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. courtesy datebook ably human. Perhaps what is most striking about the film is how Mills suggests that everyone is doomed to repeat their parents’ mistakes. The film unfurls this quiet, generational tragedy to great effect—moments fold into patterns which mirror other patterns where you least expect them to. One of the most arresting scenes in the entire film is when the protagonist, approaching old age, sits alone on her couch, with a caption reading, “She wonders how she became this person, not others.” Yet, this daunting inevitability is inflected with moments of subtle beauty. The protagonist dances in an empty room at the start of the film. Toward its end, her mother does the same. I also found it particularly moving that the protagonist is always able to forge strong female friendships no matter what stage of life she is in. The film ultimately provides an optimistic take on life’s relentless tedium, suggesting that it is only through the cultivation of routine that one can make sense of the world around them. Vikander plays the role of the protagonist from infancy to old age without
makeup. It is a compelling directorial decision on Mills’s part—it almost seems as though Vikander is arrested in time and space while the world around her expires. It evokes one of The National’s most enduring thematic concerns: that of remaining in stasis amid the tumult of constant change. It is a risky stylistic choice, but Vikander pulls it off with verve. There is something thoroughly convincing about Vikander’s metamorphic performance, whether she is toddling around like an infant learning how to walk, or a world-weary woman weighed down by old age. All of this is supported by beautiful cinematography, rendered in soft black-and-white. It is this curious lens that forges a sense of intimacy, as though we are intruding into the characters’ personal space as we glimpse them at their most private and vulnerable. Whereas the film is remarkable in its control and economy, the record comes across as a loose, sprawling endeavor. Given the record’s experimental genesis, perhaps this was to be expected. Indeed, I Am Easy to Find is probably all the better for it—The National is allowed to breathe
throughout the record, riffing off on ideas and sounds that it has been toying around with for years. The glitchy, electronic soundscapes that were so successful in 2017’s Sleep Well Beast get extended runs in numerous instrumental tracks on the new record. Perhaps the record’s most significant production decision is how lead singer Matt Berninger, whose melancholy baritone anchors much of The National’s music, takes a side-step in many of the tracks. Berninger’s vocals are reduced to a murmur at points, moving in contrapuntal fashion with a litany of (predominantly) female collaborators, whose vocals are allowed to soar triumphantly in the mix. In particular, long-time David Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey adds a soulful, beautiful dimension to “You Had Your Soul with You”. It is also clear that Carin Besser—former fiction editor for The New Yorker and Berninger’s wife—shoulders a great deal of the record’s songwriting responsibility. Many of the new songs invite more empathy and optimism for the tortured genius persona Berninger has occuCONTINUED ON PG. 20
THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 15, 2019
20
“Many of the new songs invite more empathy and optimism for the tortured genius persona Berninger has occupied in previous records” CONTINUED FROM PG. 19
pied in previous records. In that vein, my favorite line in the record is a Besser gem that comes from its titular track and is per-
haps also the simplest: “I’m still standing in the same place where you left me standing./ I am easy to find.” The record, as with everything else
about this ambitious project, ultimately reflects an upward trajectory for The National on every account. This band has been around for 20 years and finally seems
to be reaching a place where it can be absolutely comfortable with who it is and what it puts out.
To Resist a Fascist: Lost Voices Found in Translation By ZOE BEAN Arts Editor
What happens when fascism wins? This is the title and overarching concern of the Regenstein Library exhibit created by collegiate assistant professor Miguel Caballero Vázquez and second-year Maya Osman-Krinsky. Exactly 80 years after the end of the Spanish Civil War, the duo (a native Spaniard and a poet of American origins, respectively) curated and translated a selection of Spanish poems written during the war. The authors of the selected works were either exiled or assassinated for opposing general Francisco Franco’s regime. The original texts, their masterful translations, and several historical paraphernalia are on display on the third floor of the Reg until the end of spring quarter. Many of these poems were translated for the first time for this project. I sat down with Osman-Krinsky and Caballero to discuss their groundbreaking project. Chicago Maroon: Can you explain the concept behind the exhibit? Miguel Caballero Vázquez: The idea of the exhibit was to commemorate the end of the war in Spain that happened exactly 80 years ago, in the spring of 1939. I also wanted to work with a student and do a project together and I knew that [Osman-Krinsky] was a poet. I think a nice way of commemorating and celebrating poets who were either killed or went into exile was to translate them into English. Maya Osman-Krinsky: A way that I approached the translation project was to think about what does happen when fascism wins…. A lot of the headspace that I was in at the moment was to really think about the implications of a fascist ruler being in charge, and how that affects the art and thought that’s produced at the time. CM: How did you select the poems? MCV: I was looking at anthologies, because many of these poets, they pub-
lished books, but their books were not very famous…. Also, we wanted to have a good representation of the different languages spoken in Spain. We have one poet in Catalan, and the others in Spanish. MOK: We definitely felt, especially towards the end as things were more coming together, that we wanted to have geographical diversity as well. MCV: Because one of the purposes of fascism at the time was to make one unified Spain, like all of regions of the country being the same and speaking the same language. That’s not the reality of the country. So it was also to make a point that this country is linguistically diverse and culturally diverse. CM: What is the significance of Spanish Civil War? MCV: I’m writing a book about the Spanish Civil War. It was also, as Maya mentioned before, the fact that fascism is being discussed again, and the definition of fascism is kind of blurry. Even in Spain it’s blurry—for the kids of Spain, it was also blurry. CM: Maya, how did you connect to that? MOK: Initially, approaching the theme and the historical period, I didn’t have a lot of background. I was excited, but there wasn’t a lot that I could connect to aside from the fact that it was poetry and in Spanish…. We separated the poems into three distinct themes, and reading into those themes helped shape a conception of what fascism was at the time. MCV: Our idea was not to impose our topics on the poem— MOK: But to let them emerge. So we translated one piece of prose by María Teresa León that was just a lot of specific lines that didn’t feel like they were particular to that time and place. They just felt very atemporal and universal. CM: Did these poems feel relevant today? MOK: I’m definitely lucky enough not
to be in a position where if things really change for the worse in this country, I will have to leave…. But there were a lot of narratives that talked about: What does it mean to not be in your home anymore? What does it mean to then return, and it not being the same place that you left? MCV: There is definitely a difference between exile and migration, but I don’t live in my home country, and this exhibition is about my home country, so I connect through that…. Should you return or not? That’s a question that is always in my mind, and I think in everyone’s that is living in another country. It made me reflect on the relationship between migration and exile. Those decisions of whether to return or not were very complicated. You can’t return simply because the dictator has died and now we have democracy in Spain. You have been out of your country for 40 years, and it’s a different country, and it’s hard to move back when you are 60 or 70. CM: What made translation difficult? MCV: I have a totally different relationship with poetry, depending on if it is in my mother tongue or not. If I am reading in my mother tongue I am feeling the poetry; if I am reading it in another language, I’m thinking the poetry. The beautiful thing is that I do have an intimate relationship with Spanish and [Maya] does have an intimate relationship with English. It was an ongoing conversation about connotations, about idioms. MOK: With one poem in particular, we were sitting with it for a very long time and trying to, for lack of a better word, ram the English into the Spanish meter and rhyme, which was really hard and it wasn’t working. MCV: This historical period in Spain at that time, you either had poems with totally free rhyme, or internal rhymes, and other kinds of poems with very strict, consistent, systematic rhymes. If you want to mimic that in English, it’s so tricky.
CM: What were your goals when you went into this project? MOK: I think an overarching goal was to preserve as much of the meaning of the poem as possible while preserving the literal translation as well. But beyond that, when it came to things with more firm structure I wanted to try to stick to that as honestly as possible. MCV: Something I learned from seeing Maya do it is that to preserve the original you have to actually—it sounds paradoxical—give yourself a lot of liberty. If you want to convey the same message, it’s going to be said in a very different way in English. So you have to allow yourself to play with language and just make sure that the final translation conveys the same meaning. But going word-by-word, line-by-line sometimes doesn’t work. ZB: What did you each take away from this project? MOK: I came away from the project with a lot more knowledge about the Spanish Civil War. I was definitely eager to see and read how Spaniards experienced it. The experience of translation was something special that I think I’m going to hold onto for a really long time. MCV: I think I learned a lot about translation, and that’s probably something that I’m going to incorporate to my class, in the future, because you really learn a lot about the poem by translating it. And I also learned how to commemorate in different ways. I always, always want to commemorate people, not with a focus on their death, which is also part of the story of course, but particularly with their works, with their life, with their passions, with whatever they produce. Download the latest Maroon podcast to hear a reading in both Spanish and English, as well as an extended interview. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and cut for space.