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NOVEMBER 30, 2018

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

Student Expelled for Assault Sues

Uncommon Interview: Actor, Student Sophie Hoyt

By BRADLEY TIAN arts reporter

euirim choi

By ELAINE CHEN news editor

A male student expelled a week before graduation last year for sexually assaulting a female student is now suing the University of Chicago and the female student.

In attempts to substantiate the male former student’s case, the lawsuit shows information likely sourced from UChicago’s confidential Title IX investigation into the sexual assault case.

Disclosure of this kind of infor-

mation could prompt legal action from UChicago.

The lawsuit, filed in early November, argues that UChicago discriminated against the plaintiff on the basis of gender and denied him a fair investigation. It also sues the female student, who brought the case of sexual assault to the school, claiming she spread false information about him and intended to inflict emotional distress on him.

This is the second lawsuit in recent years that sues UChicago under Title IX for discriminating

against males. The first one, filed in 2016 by a male student facing a sexual assault complaint at the time, was settled in early 2018.

It’s one of the latest of numerous lawsuits nationwide in which a male college student has sued his school after being suspended or expelled for committing sexual misconduct. The suits also often sue the female student who brought the case to the school administration.

The wave of lawsuits comes at a point of high tension between accontinued on pg.

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University Surveying for TI Replacement

For the busy UChicago student, carving out time to participate in campus theater and attend weekly rehearsals can be challenging, if not impossible. Fourth-year Sophie Hoyt, however, has not let the pressures of her impending graduation or her A.B. thesis deadlines deter her from joining the cast of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, currently being staged by the Redtwist Theatre located in northern Chicago. The play centers around Helen Alving, a widow who struggles to protect her son Oswald and her beloved maid Regina—played by Hoyt—from her late husband’s dark secrets. Directed by Erin Murray, this adaptation chooses to portray Regina and her father as Black, complicating the onstage power dynamics and adding a welcome critique of white feminism for a modern audience. Hoyt’s portrayal of the tragic-yet-dignified victim— from her nervous energy addressing her mistress to her quivering anger upon being betrayed—delivers the

news reporter

news reporter

Since Treasure Island Foods closed its Hyde Park location this past October, the University’s Office of Civic Engagement (OCE) and Real Estate Operations (REO) team have been meeting with several grocery store operators in search of a new tenant for the University-owned property.

Earlier this month, the 53rd Street Blog posted a survey asking for the preferences of local residents regarding the replacement of the Treasure Island grocery store in the Hyde Park Shopping Center.

The blog is run by Amy Srodon, marketing communications manager for the University. The survey’s results were shared publicly online last week.

More than 3,400 people completed the community input survey.

Over 95 percent of the participants live in Hyde Park or the surrounding areas, and over 50 percent also work in the neighborhood. Almost

U of C PanAsia Solidarity Coalition Denounces Prof Suing Harvard page 5

Treasure Island closed permanently on October 7. half of the respondents answered that they had shopped at Treasure Island for over 7 years.

The sur vey also identified Treasure Island’s proximity to home or work for customers as its greatest attraction. Local residents said they have been forced to seek

alexandra nisenoff

alternative sources for produce and many are shopping at Whole Foods, Walgreens, and Hyde Park Produce, while some are going outside of the neighborhood.

According to the survey, residents ranked the produce departcontinued on pg.

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emotional force the performance needs.

The Maroon spoke with her about her experience working on Ghosts and other productions at UChicago and beyond.

Chicago Maroon: The time commitment of working for a professional theater company on top of being a student must be huge! How much work goes into a production like this?

Sophie Hoyt: It’s definitely a lot of work. Shows like Ghosts require a lot of planning and p r e p a r a t i on , especially because it’s the world premiere of this adapCourtesy Tyler Holt t at ion. T hey offered me the role of Regina back in June, so that’s when the process started for me. We didn’t actually start work as a full team until September, but once we got started we were in rehearsal up to five days a continued on pg.

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20th Ward Aldermanic Candidates Unanimously Support CBA at Forum

By DIMITRIY LEKSANOV

By KIERA YU

VOL. 130, ISSUE 18

Nine of 15 candidates in the heated 20th Wa rd a lder ma nic race gathered in a forum at a church near campus last week.

Pastor Torrey Barrett, the founder of the nonprofit KLEO Community Family Life Center, hosted the forum at the Apostolic Church of God on 63rd Street and Dorchester Avenue.

Candidates shared opinions about a potentia l Communit y Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) and detailed other ideas to improve the 20th Ward community.

A lt houg h c a nd id at e s h ad been divided on the topic of the proposed CBA at a previous 20th Ward forum, at this meeting, the opinions of the candidates were unanimous. T wo candidates— Kevin Bailey, a former civil engineer for former president Barack Obama’s high-speed rail project, and Maya Hodari, a project man-

Maroons Pumped to Return to Final Four

By DIESTEFANO LOMA 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.

ager for Chicago Housing Authority—both previously stated that they would not pass a CBA ordinance, but said they would in this forum.

Jea net te Taylor, a for mer chairperson for the Mollison Elementary Local School Council, grew emotional while speaking on the topic of resident displacement earlier during the forum.

She discussed her own experience of being displaced a f ter property taxes rose, going on to say, “I’m tired of being pushed out by people who don’t represent me.” “ We need to br ing a ll resources together to make sure this ordinance passes,” added Ca ssius Rudolph, a relig ious leader and graduate of Columbia University’s Union Theological Seminary.

Bailey, meanwhile, called for a provision in the CBA to freeze property ta xes for native residents.

Later, the candidates were continued on pg.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Events 11/30-12/2

Friday

RSO Raising 150,000 Bees at Harper Court

By SARAH LEWIS news reporter

Chicago Elections Opportunities Fair Ida Noyes Hall, 1—2:30 p.m.

The Institute of Politics is holding a networking event with staff members from campaigns across the city of Chicago. Learn how you can get involved in local elections.

Saturday Men in Drag Presents: Yule Ball Bond Chapel, 7:30— 9 p.m.

This year, the theme of Men in Drag’s annual Fall Concert is Harry Potter’s Yule Ball. Be ready to be stupefied by the bewitching tones of the historically female a cappella group.

Student band Blue Maroon will open. Tickets are $7 at the door.

University Symphony Orchestra: The Power of Prokofiev Mandel Hall, 8—10 p.m.

25-year-old violinist William Hagen joins the USO for a performance of Prokofiev’s poignant Violin Concerto No. in D Major (Op. 19). To complement his distinctive concerto, the University Symphony performs Prokofiev’s compelling Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor (Op. 111), unquestionably the composer’s pinnacle achievement in the genre. Donations of $5 for students are requested.

Sunday Middle East Music Ensemble: The Turkish Concert Logan Center for the Arts, 6—7 p.m.

Join the 45-piece Middle East Music Ensemble for a musical tour of Turkey, featuring guest vocalists and instrumentalists. Donations for $5 for students are requested.

Phoenix Farms is one of UChicago’s newest RSOs, dedicated to promoting urban farming and beekeeping on the South Side. A Clinton Global Initiative University Commitment, the RSO hopes to widen education and outreach programs for bee conservation, and to increase student research on the matter.

Created by cousins Nick Lyon, a current student at UChicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine, and John Havlik, a fourthyear biology and neuroscience major, the RSO runs a farm in Jackson Park, beehives located on the 14th-f loor rooftop of the Harper Court building, where it keeps over 150,000 bees, and works closely with UChicago coffee shop Grounds of Being, which has purchsed much of Phoenix Farms’ honey. Under the leadership of Lyon and Havlik, Phoenix Farms has grown to educate students and the community on the importance of gardening and growing fresh crops.

Phoenix Farms recently won a community engagement grant from the Mansueto Initiative, which supports research and programs geared towards civic involvement in the local Chicago community.

The grant is worth $5,000, and Phoenix Farms plans to use the funding for school

Phoenix Farms booth at a recent garden fair on 55th Street. courtesy of phoenix farms visits, winter supplies for preserving the bees, hive metric costs, and other travel expenses.

Specifically, the RSO hopes to create an interactive set of programs with Splash!

Chicago, a student-run group which organizes educational programming outside of school hours for Chicago area high school students. Funding will also be allocated towards hive winterization supplies such as hive wraps, hive temperature monitors, and wax moth preventatives. Another expense is BroodMinder beehive scales, tools which accurately estimate honey production based on hive weight. Finally, the grant will support travel to Detroit Hives,

CBA Ordinance Coming to Ballots in February

Monday Rewriting the American Narrative with Bryan Stevenson Ida Noyes, 5:30—6:45 p.m.

Stevenson is the author of Just Mercy and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which recently opened the National Memorial to Peace and Justice. A criminal defense lawyer, he also won the U.S. Supreme Court case that declared mandatory life-without-parole sentences for minors unconstitutional.

Devondrick Jeffers, a CBA Coalition activist, submits the petition. courtesy of cba coalition

By ELLIE CITRON news reporter

Correction A photo caption in last issue’s Phi Delt article on page three said that Andrew Norrie was pictured.

However, it was a different expansion consultant that was in the photo alongside Justin Holmes.

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the leading beekeeping initiative in Detroit.

Going forward, Phoenix Farms hopes to extend and deepen their relationships with local beekeepers and the RTW Veteran Center Garden—an Illinois nonprofit dedicated to serving veterans and their families—as well as further their education and outreach efforts.

“We believe that bringing access to the hives will educate and inspire students and community members, and posit the hives as a fixture in the community within the broader goal of continued sustainability,” said fourth-year Director of Publicity Sophia Zaller.

The Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition, the activist group that has long demanded a CBA ordinance for the OPC, submitted a petition on Monday to put the ordinance to a nonbinding referendum vote on the ballot for city elections. Residents of the Fifth Precinct of the Fifth Ward and First, 22nd, and 23rd Precincts of the 20th Ward will be voting on the referendum.

The CBA ordinance would bind the OPC’s developers—the City, the Obama Foundation, and the University of Chicago—to certain requirements such as employment opportunities, affordable housing, and transportation initiatives intended to prevent local residents from displacement.

Although the referendum is nonbinding (even if it gets passed in the February elections, City Council is not required to pass the ordinance) it reflects a continued effort by many residents near the OPC to ensure that they are not displaced from their communities.

In recent weeks, many residents of Jackson Park, where the OPC will be located, have persistently shown their support for the ordinance’s passage. Most recently, activists participated in a rally organized

by the Obama CBA Coalition, in which two protesters were arrested.

Activists argue that the OPC poses a great risk to local residents by inflating rents and raising taxes, by potentially erasing significant components of the culture of the South Side, and by causing emergent issues accompanying gentrification.

“I’ve lived here 38 years,” wrote Sharon Payne, a long-term resident of Woodlawn, in a post on the Coalition’s Twitter page. “We can’t afford to lose our places to live because people get greedy.”

The ordinance—written by South Side residents, NGOs, and student groups at the University—is not the Coalition’s first attempt to work with City Council and the Obama Foundation to implement its list of requests. They’ve protested in front of aldermen’s offices and at City Council meetings.

Former president Barack Obama said last year that the Obama Foundation would not sign the CBA, because he thinks it could not be inclusive enough to represent all the interests of the community.

He additionally suggested that, since the Obama Foundation is a nonprofit, the CBA as a private legal document between the OPC and the Coalition would be the in-

correct form to pursue the issues raised, as benefits agreements are geared to private, for-profit organizations.

This pushback, and refusal to sign the CBA, by the Foundation has forced the Coalition to pursue change publicly, seeking implementation of the CBA ordinance via referendum.

Alex Goldenberg, executive director of Coalition member group Southside Together Organizing for Power, expressed this imperative: “Short of an aggressive intervention in housing policy today, the neighborhood is facing the displacement of nearly half of its current residents. So we feel the urgency of now to do something,” he said. “We hope that the ordinance will contribute to ensure that long term residents can stay and benefit from the development happening in the community.”

Second-year Claudia Yanos, a co-leader of UChicago for a CBA, said a referendum vote is important, because, if voters are in favor of the ordinance, “it’s a way to tangibly show that people in the community want the ordinance implemented. It says much more clearly that the city’s residents supports and is much more behind [the CBA]. This also helps to get more people talking about it.”

Clifford Helm, a lawyer for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said that, although the referendum is nonbinding, it can still “be used as a tool moving forward for implementation.” The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee is an ally member of the Coalition, meaning they participate in Coalition meetings and offer legal advice as necessary. They similarly offer expertise on issues of Chicago policy and processes.

Aside from the ordinance, the Coalition is taking other significant measures to raise awareness on the issue, Goldenberg said. Members of the CBA are planning a forum for candidates for the 20th Ward and are working with the urban planning department at the University of Illinois at Chicago on a study regarding displacement in Chicago.

“That’s the kind of organizing that we do: to build the leadership of local people so they can stay in the neighborhood and thrive,” Goldenberg said.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Student Lawsuit Potentially Breaches UChicago Confidentiality Policy continued from front

tivists in support of sexual abuse survivors and opponents of Title IX reforms that add more protections for survivors. As nationwide movements for survivors have grown larger, the Department of Education (ED) under President Donald Trump has in effect energized the movements’ opponents, through attempts to bolster the legal privileges of college students accused of sexual misconduct.

The plaintiff’s lawyer declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying, “We believe the complaint sets forth the plaintiff’s claims in a fairly straightforward manner and prefer to litigate in court rather than the press.”

Representatives of the defendants, the University and the female student, declined requests for comment, citing the pending status of the lawsuit.

Potential Breach of a Confidentiality Policy Last spring, UChicago expelled the plaintiff after the Student Disciplinary Committee found that he verbally and physically abused the female student—his former girlfriend—during their relationship and sexually assaulted her after their relationship ended. UChicago rarely expels students found responsible for sexual misconduct, which suggests that the Committee found evidence against him that was stronger than in most cases.

The plaintiff’s lawsuit, in attempts to disprove the claim of sexual assault, shows select pieces of information—text messages between the female student and her friend, as well as oral testimony from the female student and witnesses—that are likely from UChicago’s confidential Title IX investigation. The lawsuit uses these to try to show that the female student had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with the plaintiff.

For example, the lawsuit cites testimony from various witnesses that saw the female student the night she said the sexual assault occurred. In one instance, it quotes a witness’s claim that the female student “was not incapacitated,” in an attempt to refute the female student’s testimony that she was too intoxicated to give consent that night.

The plaintiff was allowed to view the confidential file during the investigation and was not allowed to view or access it after the investigation. This suggests he took a record of the text messages and testimony when viewing them during the investigation or accessed the file at some point through covert means.

The plaintiff’s lawyer declined to confirm how the plaintiff obtained the pieces

of information.

Public disclosure of these messages, even in a lawsuit, appears likely to be in violation of UChicago’s student manual. The manual states that students involved in a sexual assault investigation “may disclose to others the core allegations, the outcome, and the sanction imposed, if any, but not the identity of the parties, witnesses to the proceeding, or any information learned during the investigation or hearing that [they] did not already know.”

“Unnecessary or indiscreet disclosures may be viewed as retaliatory and may constitute grounds for University disciplinary action or...a lawsuit,” it goes on to state.

Because the plaintiff was expelled, he may have felt that he had nothing to lose by violating UChicago’s confidentiality policies. The University declined to confirm whether the plaintiff did violate University policies and declined to comment whether the University could and would pursue legal action against the plaintiff if he did violate University policies, again referring to the lawsuit’s pending status.

If the plaintiff did violate UChicago’s policy by publishing the text messages and oral testimony, the information isn’t necessarily barred from consideration in court.

Christine Evans, the legal director of Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), told The Maroon that “it would be up to the judge to determine if a violation of a university confidentiality policy or using underhanded means to obtain evidence is enough to make [the information] inadmissible.” She said the University could bring attention to the confidentiality violation, if it occurred, by raising an objection in court.

CAASE is a nonprofit organization that provides legal services for survivors of sexual harm and advocates for policy reform.

Evans added that, in general, “Judges tend to scrutinize admissibility of documents like text messages.” This is because the male student’s lawyers would have to prove that the messages are actually from the people they purport they are from and that the messages are accurate representations of people’s words.

Claiming Gender Discrimination and Denial of a Fair Investigation The lawsuit argues that the Student Disciplinary Committee was biased against the plaintiff due to his gender. It faults the Committee for only considering testimony in favor of the female student, and for using a preponderance of the evidence—more than 50 percent likely—standard of proof instructed by the Obama administration

instead of following instructions made by the Trump administration.

In 2011, the Obama administration sent out the “Dear Colleague” letter, a set of recommendations for addressing sexual assault, to colleges across the country. Illinois adopted many of the recommendations, including the preponderance of evidence standard, in its 2015 Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act (PSVHEA), which UChicago is mandated to follow.

In 2017, the ED under the Trump administration rescinded the “Dear Colleague” letter and published a new set of recommendations that said that schools have the option of raising the standard of proof to a clear and convincing standard. Illinois has not amended PSVHEA in accordance with the new recommendations, and UChicago has not changed its policies either.

The ED under the Trump administration has so far found UChicago’s Title IX policy to be in compliance with federal standards. The ED has closed all four Title IX investigations into UChicago that were open or have opened since Trump came into office. The investigations were prompted by complaints that UChicago did not fulfill its obligations to look into claims of sexual misconduct.

The male student’s lawsuit also argues that the Committee conducted an unfair investigation, violating UChicago’s student manual and the male student’s “right to basic fairness”—in particular, by denying him the opportunity to have legal representation, to call witnesses, and to cross-examine the female student during the disciplinary hearing These three legal privileges are by law only required to be granted to parties in a criminal court case. As a private institution conducting an internal investigation and hearing, UChicago was not required by law to grant either student these legal privileges.

UChicago’s student manual states that both the student who brings forward a case of sexual misconduct and the accused student are “entitled to bring a person of their choice to the proceedings, whose role is limited to providing support, not acting as an advocate, participant, or witness.” This person can be a lawyer, but the lawyer will not be able to speak for the students during the hearing. The students are also not allowed to call witnesses during the hearing.

Under PSVHEA, students are not allowed to cross-examine each other. The intention is to protect survivors of sexual misconduct who may find the experience traumatic. However, students may submit questions to University members investi-

gating the case, who can choose to ask the questions during the hearing.

The ED revealed new regulations about two weeks ago that give schools the option of allowing students to cross-examine each other through advisers in a live hearing.

These regulations, unlike the recommendations published previously, are meant to become federal law. The Federal Register published the regulations on Thursday, and they now face a 60-day public comment period before being finalized.

National Trend Lawsuits nationwide have used similar arguments to sue schools. A lawsuit filed in early 2017 by a Purdue University student suspended for sexual assault also claims that Purdue was biased in following Obamaera guidelines and denying him the opportunity to cross-examine the female student.

Evans, the legal director of CAASE, said she’s seen this type of lawsuit arise more frequently in recent years.

She said the lawsuits appear to be part of a backlash against nationwide movements in support of survivors of sexual assault, such as the #MeToo movement. Most recently, many advocates of survivors have rallied behind Christine Blasey Ford when she claimed, during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination process, that he sexually assaulted her decades ago.

“Any time survivors step up and say, ‘We’re here and you should listen to us,’ there is at least an equal if not a much greater backlash,” Evans said.

She added that efforts by the ED to repeal Obama-era guidelines have seemed to “embolden” the male students who bring forward these lawsuits and the lawyers who represent them, because the ED is reinforcing their arguments that Obama-era guidelines are not fair to students accused of sexual misconduct.

The male students and their lawyers “can point to [the Trump-era guidance] and say, ‘If the Obama-era guidance was so appropriate, then why are we rolling it back now?’” Evans said.

The case has been assigned to judge Virginia Kendall. The initial hearing has been scheduled for January 25, 2019, in which the parties will discuss whether they want to settle or proceed with a trial. The parties may also choose to settle before the initial hearing.

Nine Aldermanic Candidates Convened at Church Near Campus continued from front

asked what their Plan B would be for a CBA, since most of City Council and the Obama Foundation have already stated that they will not sign an agreement.

Real estate attorney Quandra Speights suggested that there needs to be a transition process for local residents to work at the OPC. The Foundation has voiced support for local hiring initiatives, and recently hired a diversity consultant to help recruit local companies for the OPC’s construction.

Taylor, meanwhile, held firm in her original stance, saying, “There should not be a Plan B.” In response to this, Barrett, the moderator, said that the next alderman will have to start thinking about a Plan B, because an agreement does not appear imminent. Barrett ’s statement drew both approval and condemnation from the crowd.

In the upcoming election on February 26, residents of 5th and 20th Wards will

vote on a referendum to instruct their aldermen to support a CBA ordinance. The ordinance would include a property tax freeze.

Overwhelmingly, the candidates emphasized that whatever change happens in the 20th Ward must involve input by its citizens.

“I believe that change has to happen, but it has to happen with us, not to us,” Taylor said. Speights echoed that sentiment, while also suggesting a need for more open dialogue between residents and those in power.

Toward the end of the audience participation section, a nother spectator challenged Bailey on a potential conf lict of interest: He currently serves as Democratic Committeeman while his mother, Maria Bailey, is the Ward’s Republican committeeman. “There’s some political dissonance going on,” the audience member observed.

A lthough Maria Bailey was elected

20th Ward Committeeman in 2016, she ran unopposed, garnering 99 of 103 votes.

Furthermore, according to the conservative publication Illinois Review, Bailey’s views may not align with those of a typical Republican: “She had a Pritzker sign in her front yard,” the article reads.

Maria Bailey, who was in the audience, took the microphone to confirm that this belief is shared by fellow committee members, saying, “They don’t pay attention to me because they say I’m not Republican.”

Kevin Bailey initially seemed to attempt to skirt the inquiry by answering an earlier audience question about public health. When directed back to the question about his mother, Bailey said, “She is a Republican, but she serves our community.”

Several of the candidates also pinpointed root problems that continue to plag ue the communit y. Driver, for instance, spoke at length about the high

levels of lead in Chicago’s water, mentioning a direct correlation between large amounts of lead and violent behavior.

Earlier this year, Driver pushed and canvassed for a referendum that would raise revenue for the city to replace lead pipes. However, the referendum has not been included as part of the upcoming ballot.

With the February 26 election looming, the candidates repeatedly asserted a need to rekindle trust between the 20th Ward community and its representative.

The previous alderman, Willie Cochran, was indicted in 2016 for taking bribes and embezzling ward money for personal use, while two of the three aldermen before Cochran had also been charged with various crimes.

“The 20th Ward has not been represented for a while,” said candidate and nightclub owner Clifton Pierce.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Booth School Namesake Awarded University of Chicago Medal By Board of Trustees

By OREN OPPENHEIM senior news reporter

David Booth, M.B.A. ’71, who studied under 2013 Nobel laureate Eugene Fama at UChicago and gave the University the largest donation in its history, received the University of Chicago Medal from the Board of Trustees on November 7 in a ceremony in Hutchinson Commons.

Booth, also a member of the Board of Trustees, is a chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors, an investment firm he founded in 1981.

He served as the firm’s co-CEO until February 2017.

Before going into investing, he earned his bachelor’s in economics and master’s degree in business at the University of Kansas, and he earned his M.B.A. at what was then known as the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

While at the school, he studied under Fama, who has been called “the father of modern finance” for his research in investment management.

In November 2008, Booth donated $300 million to the University’s business school, which was then renamed in his honor. He previously donated $10 million to help fund the school’s Harper Center in 1999.

According to Booth’s profile on Forbes, his current net worth

Booth shakes hands with President Zimmer after receiving the medal from Board of Trustees chair Joseph Neubauer. courtesy of uchicago news

is nearly $2 billion, and he pledged this past May to give more than half of his fortune to charity.

Booth is only the 23rd individual to receive the University of Chicago Medal, which was introduced by then-University president John Wilson in 1967 as a way to honor high-level service to UChicago.

Past recipients include economic historian John Ulric Nef and civic leader Florence Lowden Miller.

In a press release put out by

Dimensional, Booth credited the business school for giving him the necessary training to create the investing fund. “Chicago’s focus on groundbreaking research and theory has had a tremendous impact on real-world finance and has helped to change the way the world invests for the better,” he said.

“David had a transformative experience as a student at the University, and his remarkable career has demonstrated the power of rig-

orous methodological thinking and its practical applications,” University President Robert Zimmer said in a news release from the University. “His philanthropy and dedication to Chicago Booth enables a range of important outcomes from field-defining scholarship to ensuring many more students have transformative educational experiences.”

TI’s Replacement continued from front

ment of a future grocer tenant as the most important attribute, followed by the price and value of the goods.

Srodon’s follow-up post on the 53rd Street Blog states that the University is reaching out to all the grocery operators participants mentioned in the survey. These potential grocery operators will be conducting “independent analysis to understand if the specific space and the overall market meets their development and operating criteria.”

No date was given for when communications will conclude and when the next phase of replacement will commence. “Because the lease term with a new tenant will be a minimum of 10 years, there is a great deal of due diligence on both the part of the tenant and the landlord that must be completed,” the post reads.

When asked to elaborate upon the timeline and plans for replacing Treasure Island, University of Chicago Director of Public Affairs Marielle Sainvilus referred back to the blog post.

“We are grateful for the input from everyone who participated in this survey,” Sainvilus said.

“Talks with potential commercial tenants typically are confidential.

As the blog post noted, there is a great deal of due diligence on the part of potential tenants as well as the landlord that must be completed. The potential operators are all working on their own timelines, as expeditiously as possible.”

VIEWPOINTS When Do We Listen to the Kalven Report?

Obama Library Support Undercuts the University’s Commitment to Institutional Neutrality

By SAM JOYCE Euirim Choi, Editor-in-Chief Pete Grieve, Editor-in-Chief Katie Akin, Managing Editor Kay Yang, Managing Editor The Maroon Editorial Board consists of the editors-in-chief and editors of The Maroon.

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© 2018 The Chicago Maroon Ida Noyes Hall / 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637

In 1967, following widespread protests against the Vietnam War, the University of Chicago commissioned a faculty committee to draft a policy on the University’s “role in political and social action.” The Kalven Report, named after committee chair and law professor Harry Kalven, discusses the University’s ability to take political stances and how this may conflict with the University’s commitment to free inquiry.

It concludes that there is a “heavy presumption against the university... modifying its corporate activities to foster social or political values, however compelling and appealing they may be.”

Universit y administrators have often relied on this report to avoid taking action on politically contentious issues. The University was one of only a handful of universities to refuse to divest its endowment from companies doing business with apartheid South Africa. More recently, the University has cited the Kalven Report to justify its refusal to divest from the world’s largest

fossil fuel companies. In one particularly extreme instance, the University even refused to divest from companies doing business in Darfur during the genocide in that region, over the objections of professor John Hope Franklin, one of the original authors of the report. He called the situation “so tragic that it qualifies as the exceptional instance where...divestment is consistent with the core values of our report.” Despite Franklin’s commentary, the University determined that the genocide in Darfur did not constitute an occasion where the “corporate activities of the university… appear incompatible with paramount social values.”

One contemporary issue that has sparked surprisingly little discussion of the Kalven Report is the debate over the Obama Presidential Center, slated to be built in Jackson Park. The University, along with the City of Chicago and the Obama Foundation, is one of the three leading partners on the Center’s construction. Specifically, the University has been involved in “community engagement, planning and development,

individual and institutional collaborations, and programming.”

Given the reputational and financial incentives the University has to associate itself with this new landmark, it is convenient that the University’s affiliation with this deeply political institution does not seem to violate the Kalven Report in the eyes of administrators.

On its face, this partnership does not seem particularly objectionable, at least on Kalven Report grounds. W hile former President Barack Obama is a Democrat, a repository for his papers and a museum about his time in office isn’t necessarily in conflict with the University’s commitment to free inquir y.

The University has also pledged that any academic collaborations arising from the Center “would be independent of politics or ideology.” Legitimate concerns exist regarding rising rents in the area surrounding Jackson Park, especially given the Foundation and the University’s refusal to sign a community benefits agreement, but these concerns have little recontinued on pg.

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“If the Kalven Report is to be more than a get-out-of-jail-free card...an update...is long overdue.” continued from pg.

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to the Kalven Report.

Obama’s vision for his library, however, is far more expansive than the University’s vision of civic partnership and academic

collaboration. In the Foundation’s Request for Proposal (RFP), a planned academic institute would act to “enhance the pursuit of the President ’s initiatives beyond 2017 and have local, regional and global impacts.”

It remains unclear what form, if any, this institute will ultimately assume. Regardless, this language was used in the city ordinance authorizing the Center, in the specific Request for Proposal (RFP) to which the University re-

Alvin Shi

sponded, and in a lawsuit from the advocacy group Protect Our Parks objecting to the Obama Presidential Center on First Amendment grounds. General concerns about the University’s relationship to the Obama Center on Kalven Report grounds have previously been raised in the pages of The Maroon, as well as in comments

by University professor Charles Lipson, but the language of the ordinance magnifies these objections and demands a response.

It is impossible to disentangle this institute’s goals and the former president’s distinctly progressive legacy. Obama has spent his post-presidency raising money for the Democratic Party, endorsing hundreds of Democratic candidates, and criticizing Donald Trump. None of these activities differ from the usual initiatives pursued by other former presidents. They do, however, clearly constitute what the Kalven Report calls “political fashions, passions, and pressures.” If the University is serious about avoiding such fashions, this language in the RFP and the ordinance should have sent them running.

I do not mean to argue against the University’s decision to bring

the library to Hyde Park. I take issue with the University ’s inconsistent interpretation of the Kalven Report. Depending on the whims of the administration, the University veers wildly between strict adherence and active disregard.

W hen faced with demands that may inconvenience its financial operations, such as divestment from fossil fuel companies, the University has relied on the Kalven Report to justify its inaction. Presented with the opportunity to bring a prestigious presidential library to Hyde Park, however, the possibility that the University’s activities may support Obama’s politics does not appear to have posed any significant concern. If the Kalven Report is to be more than a get-out-of-jailfree card for administrators faced with difficult decisions, an update defining how and when the report guides University decision-making is long overdue.

—Sam Joyce is a third-year in the College.

U of C PanAsia Denounces Lecturer Suing Harvard The PanAsia Solidarity Coalition Urges UChicago to Support Race-Conscious Admissions in Light of the Harvard Admissions Case As Asian and Asian Americans with an understanding of histories of racism and oppression in the U.S., we write in response to Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and UChicago Law School lecturer Adam Mortara’s role as lead trial counsel on that case. SFFA is a nonprofit headed by the conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, who has made a career out of undoing civil rights laws, and SFFA v. Harvard is just Blum’s newest attempt to dismantle affirmative action, except this time using Asian Americans to do so. Though SFFA v. Harvard specifically targets Harvard, its implications extend across the nation.

As such, we as PanAsia Solidarity Coalition at UChicago denounce Mortara’s participation in the case and dispute his claim to be an ally for Asian Americans. In support of race-conscious admissions policies, we call on the University of Chicago to: 1. Make a statement in support of race-based admissions policies like affirmative action.

2. Increase recruitment of students from low-income, currently underrepresented minority groups, specifically Black and Latinx communities from the South and West Sides of Chicago.

3. Disaggregate data of Asian students by ethnic background and increase transparency in how UChicago recruits minority students.

4. Make UChicago’s educational programs and services more accessible to those in the surrounding communities.

Affirmative action was created in 1961 to increase access to education and employment opportunities for marginalized groups to ensure racial and gender diversity. Although affirmative action has been challenged on multiple occasions, the Supreme Court repeatedly ruled that race could be part of a university’s holistic admissions process. The current anti–affirmative action lawsuit accuses Harvard of limiting the number of Asian Americans based on higher test score requirements and lower personal score evaluations when compared to white applicants.

Asian Americans are so suited to serve as the cover for this particular attack on affirmative action because the model minority myth provides a narrative basis for the prosecution.

The myth was conceived as a way to pit Asian Americans against other people of color, to justify the criminalization of Black and Brown people by promoting Asian Americans as the good minorities. While it may be easy for Asian Americans to lean into this role to accept, and even demand, the privilege that the myth offers, in doing so they support ideologies that suppress other people of color. Ultimately, this obstructs any real progress towards racial justice.

Asian Americans are not caught in the middle, but actually benefit from affirmative action. Asian Americans currently make up 5.8 percent of the U.S. population and 22.9 percent of Harvard’s current freshman class, a 27-percent increase from 2010. Meanwhile, Black and Latinx subpopulations respectively make up 12.3 percent and 18.1 percent of the U.S. population, but only comprise 10.7 percent and 12.3

Theodore Zelmo

percent of Harvard’s 2022 class. Of UChicago’s Class of 2021, 23 percent are Asian, 14 percent are Latinx, and 9 percent are Black. To exclude race would marginalize the complex and intersectional disadvantages that people of color are subject to.

S F FA m i s c h a r a c t e r i z e s race-conscious admissions reviews as “unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.” Affirmative action is fair and necessary because it levels the playing field in college admissions so students from under-resourced, marginalized communities have the same opportunity to attend university. Furthermore, it is con-

stitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

It is not a racial quota system, and instead a policy that is cognizant that some communities have less advantages than others because of histories of marginalization.

It is true that affirmative action is not the perfect solution to systemic racism, but it is one step.

Rather than focusing on whether or not affirmative action disadvantages Asian Americans, it is more crucial to question ideas of meritocracy, the valuing of test scores and college acceptances over students’ wellbeing and growth, and whether

affirmative action is doing enough to help low-income, Black, Latinx, and Native students. We as Asians and Asian Americans refuse to be used as a prop to demolish a policy that addresses the way systemic racism affects access to education. We refuse to accept advancement at the expense of others.

—UChicago PanAsia Solidarity Coalition A full list of signatories can be viewed on The Maroon’s website.

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ARTS “Make sure people know who you are...At the same time know your worth.” continued from pg. 1

CM: You’ve been in a lot of other productions before; what do you think makes Ghosts special?

SH: As a person of color, I rarely envision myself playing classic roles as…most of these parts were written to capture the white experience.

To have the opportunity to re-envision these stories in an inclusive and contemporary context speaks to their staying power. I rarely get to play biracial characters, so Regina is a kind of landmark for me.

CM: Tell me a bit about your theater background before coming to UChicago. How did you first get into acting?

SH: Before coming to UChicago, I went to an arts high school in New York called LaGuardia where I studied acting. It’s a conservatory-style training program that allowed me to foster my love for acting at an early age in a really structured and disciplined way.

CM: What drew you to theater?

SH: I think theater allows us to become more compassionate and empathetic people. If we can sit and listen to another person’s story and try to understand them, maybe we can take that and bring it into our everyday lives.

CM: What other projects have you been involved with on campus?

SH: I’ve done a lot of UT [University Theater] shows and a few Fire Escape projects over the last four years. The great thing about working with on-campus groups is that it gives you the opportunity to experiment with various creative roles. Some of my favorite experiences with UT have been in design capacities, doing costume and directorial assistant work. And next quarter I’ll be working as a dramaturg for Machinal, which I love because it’s such a female-heavy team!

CM: In your opinion, what is the difference between working in a storefront theater company like Redtwist and working in a school production with other students?

SH: For me, the biggest difference between the storefront world and school productions is that in a professional production we have a longer performance timeline. In UT you get four performances, but at Redtwist we’re getting about 18 performances. In my experience, Ghosts has taken on a totally different life because of our audiences and the show has continued to grow beyond the rehearsal room.

CM: Do you prefer one over the other?

SH: They’re totally different experiences and have their own sets of benefits. At this point in my work, if I’m performing, I prefer to do

storefront because of the exposure it can offer me. Storefront theaters offer young theater-makers the opportunity to reach a network of peers and allow us to make important creative connections.

CM: Tell me a bit about your method of acting.

How do you come to inhabit a character?

SH: It sounds simple, but the most important thing for my character work is understanding what a character wants, why they want it now, and what is at stake if they don’t get what they want. I think a lot of actors approach the work that way, but it’s because it’s effective.

I love working with directors to get into the headspace and the conditions of a character because it’s crucial to understand the director’s perspective on a project. Once I learn my lines, the process becomes about listening to what the other characters are actually saying and letting that motivate my actions.

CM: Have you done any acting beyond the stage, for films, television, or commercials?

What was that like?

SH: Because of the time commitment with theater and school, I mostly do film work when I can. I’ve done an episode of Chicago Med, some small parts in a few indie films, and a handful of commercials, including a spot for DePaul, which I think is hilarious. Film sets feel more like a “job” to me, in a good way though. A lot of moving parts go into making theater from a technical standpoint, but as an actor I rarely get to see that process. Film, though, is a really condensed experience when compared to theater, in terms of the timeline, but it’s fascinating to see how the various departments come together once filming starts.

CM: What are your plans for after graduation?

SH: I’m going to be staying in Chicago postgrad. For now, all of my work is here. I have a representation team that I work with and my professional connections are all Chicago-based. Chicago has such a special theater community and I hope to take on my theater projects once I graduate.

CM: What advice would you give to people just starting out in theater?

SH: My parents always told me “yes triumphs over no.” Just be open to opportunities and just say yes, no job is too small if the right people are working on a project. It’s important to put yourself in the room and to make sure people know who you are. But at the same time know your worth. The arts are still a business and you should always set personal (and attainable!) goals for yourself to mark your success.

Think about who you want to work with and where you want to work, and it can help you stay on track and keep moving forward in what can feel like a really temperamental business.

Sophie Hoyt, a UChicago fourth-year, plays the complex character of a black maid in Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. Taking part in the production, which is currently running at the Redtwist Theatre in northern Chicago, is a drastically different experience than an on-campus production. She speaks in this interview about balancing the workload of a full-time student while taking part in a production at a storefront theater company with a longer performance timeline. courtesy of tyler core

TwoSet Violin Perfects Their Practice

By ALINA KIM arts reporter

W hen I wa s i n element a r y school, my mother signed me up for piano lessons. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed every minute of it; sometimes, it was an absolute nightmare play ing a measure over and over again to get the techniques right. Other times, I’d sit at the piano for hours on end, striking the keys until my fingers cramped, yet relishing every note.

For me, musicianship is a love-hate relationship between the instrument and the musician.

Established in 2014, Australian comedy musician duo TwoSet Violin accurately—and sometimes painful—captures the life of classical violinists through YouTube videos. Formerly members of professional symphony orchestras in Austra lia, v iolinists Bret t Ya ng a nd Eddy Chen founded TwoSet Violin to pursue their goals of becoming comedians while

keeping music close to their work. Their YouT ub e c h a n nel c u r r ent ly h a s over 650,000 subscr ibers a nd over 90 million v iews. Their v ideos include “How to Fake in Orchestra,” “Every Audition Ever,” “21 Types of Orchestral Players,” “The Debussy Conspiracy,” among many others. They make playful jabs at violists, demonstrate rigorous classica l knowledge, a nd sha re a ll-too-relatable content on the life of violin players. In 2017, they left their jobs to begin a Kickstarter

campaign and become history’s first-ever crowdfunded classical concert world tour.

In just five days, the duo raised $50,000 to pursue their world tour. They have since collaborated with esteemed musicians such as pianist Lang Lang and violinist Janine Jansen.

This tour became a reality for both TwoSet and its thousands of fans on Sunday at a sold-out evening recital in Evanston; tickets went so quickly that an addicontinued on pg.

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tional matinee show was added. Despite the blizzard warnings that loomed over northern Illinois, fans braved the cold and lined up all the way around the block outside Nichols Concert Hall.

“I didn’t ca re if it snowed, sleeted, or f looded. Rain or shine, I would have sw um here if I had to!” declared an attendee from the University of Chicago.

“I’ve watched TwoSet ever since I was in high school, and as a pianist, I relate to so many things they had to suffer through as orchestral musicians. I love them.”

Piano accompanist Jenny Li opened the recital with her interpretation of a Debussy piece, gracefully performing the glissandos juxtaposed with the staccatos.

The acoustics of the hall were to her disadvantage, resulting in her playing forte throughout a piece meant to stay mezzo piano and piano. However, her skills were strikingly apparent as she glided her fingers past the keys and did her best to soft-

en the tone of the Steinway.

When Yang and Chen “stumbled” onto the stage after Li’s performance, the audience broke into thunderous applause as the musicians immediately drew their bows and began tuning for an excessively long time, a running gag on their YouTube channel. Chen began to hilariously express one of the most common anxieties of a beginner violinist; as the duo attempted to perform Bach’s double violin concerto, his bow began to shake violently, resulting in a shrieking noise from his violin.

As he bolted off the stage in a panic, earning laughter from the audience, Yang expressed his “dream” of being a solo instrumentalist and brazenly performed his part of the violin duet. “Inspired” by Yang ’s performance, Chen rushed back onto the stage a nd stole the spotlight, performing at fortissimo and sliding his partner off the stage. Yang fought back playfully, yawning at Chen’s performance and plucking his violin strings in Chen’s

face. The competition escalated to a pushup contest amidst a piano solo by Li. The vibe was reminiscent of Victor Borge, a famous pianist-comedian who pokes fun at the light-hearted side of musicianship by spilling jokes and physica l mishaps during his performances.

The concert proceeded with TwoSet Violin’s interpretations of the double violin concerto in different genres. Using a n imag ina r y “automatic composition converter,” the duo transformed a traditionally-Baroque piece into a swingin’ jazz solo, a cacophony of dubstep, and an audience-trolling Romantic interpretation that was, in reality, a wistful rendition of “Careless Whisper” accompanied by some on-stage twerking. (“Wrong type of Romantic,” joked Yang.)

The crowd favorites were the “Diplomatic International Violin Competition” and the “Ling-Ling Workout ” sketches.

These included “Flight of the Bumblebee” played under one minute by Chen,

a nd Ya ng ’s tr y ing to play Tcha ikovsk y w ith one finger and Mendelssohn w ith his hands in reverse-position—spectacular attempts that showed off their musicianship and creativity. This aspect of the recital was a tribute to an ongoing joke in their videos: the necessity of practicing music “40 hours ever y day ” to sur pass “five-year-old violin prodigies.”

The duo concluded with “Jingle Bells” remixed in the st yle of Paganini, complete w ith separate movements and an energetic combination of 16th notes and trills that poked fun at the simplicity of the original piece. They earned a well-deser ved sta nding ovation, concluding a classical concert unlike any other. TwoSet Violin truly combined comedy with the brilliance of orchestral pieces, living up to their title of professional musicians with “down-to-earth” personalities.

A Familiar Tale of Family and Love

By KENJIRO LEE arts reporter

Not ever yone comes f rom “one big happy fa mily.” Ever y fa mily ha s their ow n bag gage a nd their ow n burden to ba re. T h is imper fectness is per fectly por trayed in Da na i Gurira’s Familiar, now playing at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

A Zimbabwea n-A mer ica n fa m i ly gathers at their comfor table suburban home in Minneapolis to prepare for the ma rriage of Tendikay i a nd Chris. The m at r i a r c h of t he f a m i ly, M a r velou s , seems intent on keeping signs of their Zimbabwean heritage out of the household, surrounding her children, Tendi and Nyasha, with American culture.

But the family is thrown for a loop by the sudden arrival of Anne, Marvelous’s sister, who insists on performing a traditional Zimbabwean wedding ceremony that involves the groom bartering for the bride. Hilarity and drama ensue as tensions rise and family secrets come to light.

Best known for her roles as Michonne on The Walking Dead and General Okoye in Black Panther, Gurira is also an accomplished playwright. Her play Eclipsed was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 2016. In her latest play Familiar, Gurira crafts a domestic drama that addresses complex questions of both familial and cultural identity.

T her e i s s omet h i n g r e c o g n i z a ble about every member of the Chinyaramw ira fa mily, from the pa rent who desperately tries to assimilate into American culture, to the tipsy aunt who won’t take sides in family conflicts. Though the script is filled with petty squabbles and daily routines, the subtle, humorous tensions take a while before they boil over into legitimate drama: most notably, the constant back-and-forth of swapping a wreath for a giant map of Zimbabwe when Mar velous isn’t looking. Gurira does a good job of capturing universal family themes while keeping it very specific to Zimbabwean-American families, offering insight into traditions with which most audiences presumably aren’t familiar.

Realistic set design and astute costuming complement the acting and direction. The stage is set with a very much lived-in house, complete with pictures lining the staircase; a messy but mostly hidden kitchen; and a partially obscured dining room with food for the wedding

(From left to right) Marvelous Chinyaramwira (Ora Jones), Margaret Munyewa (Jacqueline Williams), and Tendikayi (Lanise Antoine Shelley). courtesy of michael brasilow

ready to be picked up at any second. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the set is a clearly visible second-story window lead ing i nto Ma r velous a nd Dona ld’s bedroom, through which we can occasionally see Mar velous having her own moments. Much like in a real house, we are given a sense of space such that when the family members leave the room, they are never really far away. Costumes by Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene capture the personalities and attitudes of the characters, most significantly Anne’s loud and colorful dress that take cues from traditional Zimbabwean fashion.

Celeste M. Cooper a nd La nise A ntoine Shelley as Nyasha and Tendikayi give subtle yet effective performances; they artfully present their characters’ inner conf lict between their Christian upbringing and their Zimbabwean herit age. Ch r i s i s more of a backg rou nd character who a lmost acts as an audience surrogate a long for the ride, but Erik Hellman gives us a sympathetic— and a bit in over his head—man who is truly happy to join the family. As Chris’s well-meaning but “a little brash” brother

Brad, Luigi Sottile pulls off some of the f unniest moments in the entire show.

Sottile perfectly portrays the over-thetop younger brother who tries his best without always succeeding, but he is also g iven a cha nce for more subdued mo ments.

But the most powerful performances come from the three adult sisters and the husband of the family. As the fiercely traditional Anne, Cheryl Lynn Bruce has the challenge of making the case for following family tradition. Her sometimes-frivolous attention to detail in the ceremony is a lways enter ta ining , but her loss of touch with culture is heartbreaking. Ora Jones captures a stern but loving immigrant, Marvelous, who has spent her life trying to assimilate in order to avoid the heartbreak she associates with her homeland. Donald, played by Cedric Young, is the ty pical father-figure who seems almost uninvolved in the drama as it ramps up, befriending Chris and Brad and comforting his daughters when called for. The audience may be surprised when he gives an impassioned monologue towards the play’s closing that captures his own inner

tensions with the family’s loss of identity.

Under the careful direction of Danya Taymor, this production succeeds in giving the audience a voyeuristic view of a family in the middle of a major event. As a domestic drama, it would be very easy for the play to become a bunch of people in a room talking to each other. Under Taymor’s direction complemented by keen design elements and careful casting, not a single moment in this play drags as the audience ponders if the fa mily w ill be able to resolve their drama.

The story at the heart of Familiar is uniquely Zimbabwea n-A mer ica n, a nd any audience member will benefit from learning about the culture. At the same time, the play’s Zimbabwean family could very much be any immigrant family living in America, going about their day-to-day lives while coming to terms w ith their ow n identit y. We a re g iven the unique position of watching a ver y impor ta nt day, where tensions f lare and conf licts are unearthed and not everything wraps up neatly. But in the end, everyone comes together for the sake of the family.

Now, doesn’t that sound familiar?

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SPORTS UChicago Pumped to Return to Final Four MEN’S SOCCER

By DIESTEFANO LOMA sports reporter

Playing a Final Four game is a familiar feeling for the University of Chicago men’s soccer team, having qualified for the second year in a row. Last year, they were just a game away from competing in the championship game. After a hardfought battle against North Park University that went 110 minutes, they were defeated in penalties by a 7–6 margin. On Friday, the Maroons have the opportunity to rectify that loss as they take on Calvin College.

C a l v i n C ol lege h a s h ad a n exc ellent season, amounting to 21 wins and one loss. As the season progressed, the Knights have gone on a 14-game winning streak and are looking to extend it. The Maroons (18–2–1) faced the Knights earlier in the season, handing them their only loss. Although UChicago came out with the 1–0 victory, it was one of their toughest opponents. With fourth-year Matthew Koh providing the only goal, the defense had to buckle down in order to outlast the offensive plays of the Knights. The Maroons were outshot by a 19–9 margin.

The Knights have outscored their opponents by a 91–11 margin. For the most part, they have not faced much opposition, with many of their victories being blow-

outs, including 13 games in which they prevented their opponents from scoring at all. They appear to have a sound attacking lineup, with four of their players having scored 10 or more goals this season. They are led by fourth-year Bobby McCaw, who has scored 20 goals and provided 12 assists.

While the Maroons haven’t amassed as many goals (47) and don’t have a better record, they do carry the advantage. They have the experience of having previously played under the bright lights. Having felt the feeling of defeat last season, they will be motivated to come out on top this time. Not to mention the fact that they have already beaten Calvin. This shows that, while the task is daunting, it isn’t impossible. The Maroons are prepared to play as long as it takes. They have already played two overtime games—including their last one, which was against Luther College. When it comes time to deliver, fourth-year Max Lopez doesn’t shy away.

He currently has 16 goals and six assists, but most importantly, his goal in overtime was what sent the Maroons to the NCAA Semifinals. The Maroons are able to rely on anyone in their squad to step up when necessary, and have made it a habit to score just as a match is about to end, so the Knights need to play hard all the time, or one mistake could cost them

Maroons Bounce Forward

Fourth-year Max Lopez steals the ball, despite imposing defenders. courtesy of uchicago athletics a shot at the title.

When asked about what it meant to be back in the Final Four and what support they have, head coach Mike Babst said, “There’s been so much communication with the seniors from last year, who all sent videos leading in to this weekend, talking about how special this is, and how much they want to see this group do it.

Pinning Down Competition

BASKETBALL

By CAMILLE AGUILAR sports reporter

This Saturday, Maroon basketball fans are gearing up for an eventful doubleheader away from home. The men’s basketball team will be playing Kalamazoo College and the women’s team will be playing at Elmhurst. While the men’s team is currently wielding a 3–2 record, the women’s team holds a fateful 5–0.

As the Maroon men head to Kalamazoo, they are to be greeted with a team known for their high-scoring games. In the past six games played, the Hornets averaged around 85 points per game and 40 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, the Maroons hold matching statistics of 71 points per game and 40 rebounds per game. Still, the Maroons beat the Hornets where it counts. The men hold more impressive statistics for assists per game and efficiency rank. Moreover, the Hornets are coming off a four-game losing streak. Hopefully the Maroons will step up during the game and bet them to the boards for rebounds and cut down their field goal attempts.

The Maroon ladies will face the Elmhurst College Bluejays on their home court in Elmhurst, Illinois. In the Bluejays’ first home game of the season, they hope to

WRESTLING

bring down our Maroons. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, the Maroons top their statistics in most aspects of the game. While the Maroons are undefeated in all five of their games, Elmhurst is 3–2 overall. While the Maroons average around 81 points per game, the Bluejays average 58. Moreover, while the Bluejays are said to average 58, their opponents are stated to average 59 points per game. Next, their field goal percentage is around 35 percent while their opponents average 43 percent. Luckily, our Maroons play a strong perimeter game, with sharp shooters like fourth-year Jamie Kockenmeister and third-year Taylor Lake placed all around the three-point line.

Second-year guard Meaghan O’Hara commented on their packed week preparing for the game. “We have a tough week with three big games that we are taking one at a time,” she said. Looking toward Elmhurst on Saturday, O’Hara said, “We just had a big win against Wheaton on Wednesday and are ready to start preparing for Elmhurst at practice today and Friday.”

The men’s team will play Kalamazoo this Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, while the women’s team will play Elmhurst at 2 p.m. Tune in to see how these statistics will play out in real time on the courts.

UPCOMING GAMES SPORT

DAY

Men’s Soccer

Friday

Wrestling

Saturday

M Basketball

Saturday

W Basketball

Saturday

These guys are representing all the guys that were so close to do it before. I think we’re going to have a pretty good turnout out there. It’s going to feel like we’re all a part of something really special.”

A victory over Calvin College on Friday would take the Maroons to the NCAA Finals, which will be played in Greensboro, NC, on December 1 at 2:30 p.m.

OPPONENT

TIME

Calvin

11 a.m.

MSOE Invite

9 a.m.

Kalamazoo

1 p.m.

Elmhurst

2 p.m.

By BRINDA RAO sports reporter

Following their success at the Concord i a Un iver sit y O p en, UCh ic a go’s w r e s t l i n g t e a m lo o k s t o t h i s w e e kend’s Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Inv itational w ith high hopes.

The team placed sixth at the Concordia University Open and six members had podium placements. Veterans and firstyears will be competing this weekend.

Last year the team placed fifth overall at the MSOE Invitational, and they plan to return with more energy than ever. The players have their eyes set on more podium finishes and securing more rankings.

The wrestling team has started off t he s e a s on w it h s t r on g moment u m .

W h i le a lot of le a der sh ip f r om l a s t yea r ’s sea son g raduated, the cur rent fou r th- a nd third-yea rs on the tea m have stepped up to lead and set an example for the underclassmen. Fourth-year Nick Ferraro and third-year Kyle Peisker set the highest win records on the team at the Concordia University Open. Second-yea r Rya n Bonca mper sa id, “ We started off pretty strong with a lot of tough guys in the room. I’m happy with the way my friends are competing and love seeing my teammates doing well.

I’m proud of the work we’re keeping in.

It ’s all coming in right now and we’re excited to see how it’s going to continue.”

The example set by the upperclassmen ha s not gone u n not iced by new members of the team. The first-years actively perform with talent and depth while giving to the program. First-years have secured some of the rankings and podium finishes on the team. First-year Ben Sarasin said, “ We’ve been a fierce

pack thus far, placing highly at our first two tournaments. Also, there are some hung r y competitors returning to our lineup this weekend, so our performance w ill only improve. My ex pectation is that we will claw our way to an MSOE team title on Saturday.”

The past few practices have prepared the team for their upcoming meet. Wrestlers are working on new techniques and front headlocks, trying to improve as a team before their upcoming meet. They have started practices with egoscue, a form of stretching and meditation, and found that it is helping team members avoid injury. Head coach Kocher is focused on getting a ll members tournament experience early on in their season. Wrestlers are performing intensely during this week’s practices.

Sarasin said, “I am focused on putting in maximum effort in practice and adjusting my technique to better match the style of college wrestling. My overall goal is to see palpable improvement in my wrestling. Wins on the mat will follow that.”

The atmosphere is filled with energy as team members are excited after rankings. Numerous wrestlers have already placed in tournaments, with their eyes on NCA A tournaments. Boncamper said, “We go in with a predator mentality like wolves. We want to dominate.”

UChicago’s wrestling team will compete on Saturday, December 1 at the MSOE Invitational tournament.