NEWS: Maroons for Israel Banner Stolen
DECEMBER 5, 2024
2 ARTS: Alice Phoebe
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NEWS: Microbiome Research Facilities at Duchossois Family Institute Set to Begin Drug Testing by January PAGE 2
NINTH WEEK VOL. 137, ISSUE 6 NEWS: Harper Memorial Library Adopts New Look, Policies, and Projects PAGE 5
GREY CITY: Grassroots Legal Aid Clinic for Asylum Seekers Receiving “Constant Influx of New Cases”
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Us to Her Garden
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By EVGENIA ANASTASAKOS | Senior News Reporter
Maroons for Israel (MFI) stated they are “deeply concerned” with the theft of an authorized banner hung outside of Kent Chemical Laboratory in a statement shared with the Maroon on Wednesday, November 20.
The banner, which was put up on Monday, November 18, referenced events including attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam this month, an attack on two Jewish students at DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus, the shooting of a Jewish man in Rogers Park, and the recent arrest of two pro-Palestine protesters at the Chicago Loop Synagogue. Student Centers approved the banner in accordance with the mandate that outdoor signs receive advance written approval from the Director of Student Centers or someone designated by the director.
In the statement, MFI called the banner’s removal a “direct response to our efforts to raise awareness about rising antisemitism in our community.”
According to MFI, the banner was stolen within twelve hours of installation. A University of Chicago Police Department report filed at 10:20 p.m. that night states that “an approved banner was taken from the quad by unknown person(s).” MFI says the banner was found in a nearby dumpster and re-installed.
“We are troubled by the implications of this vandalism, which not only violates University regulations but also infringes upon principles of free expression. This action suggests an attempt to suppress dialogue about antisemitism on our campus,” MFI said in their statement.
By KYLE LIN | News Reporter
Hospitalized patients can lose anywhere from 90 percent to 95 percent of all the bacteria existing in their gut, particularly those patients suffering from severe medical conditions requiring a range of antibiotics, such as cancer therapy or transplant surgery. Researchers are unsure how adults in particular would rebuild their gut microbiome after having it reduced. In some adults, the lost bacterial strains never return.
The Duchossois Family Institute (DFI), a microbiome research facility at UChicago, completed construction of a new facility in 2023 that allows it to manufacture live biotherapeutic products. Now, it is preparing to start clinical trials in January using strains of bacteria manufactured at the new facility. These trials will allow it to address questions surrounding loss of gut bacteria.
DFI opened on March 24, 2017, and was founded with a $100 million gift from Janet and Craig Duchossois and The Duchos-
sois Family Foundation. According to its website, the institution “aims to maximize good health and the economic, social, and personal benefits it delivers.” Its researchers test bacterial strains that they hope can consistently support the rebuilding of the gut microbiome and reduce the longterm negative effects of its destruction. Through clinical trials, researchers at the DFI hope to measure the impact of pills containing bacterial strains on gut microbiomes and their retention in the gut.
Working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), DFI staff secured approval in April 2024 to begin the first phase of the clinical trials. Since then, the in-house Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facilities have produced eight strains of bacteria. As of now, three out of those eight strains have been prepared and encapsulated for clinical trials. The bulk of the manufacturing is projected to take place in December.
Each of the eight strains will be given
to patients in separate pills to measure their individual and group impact. In an interview with the Maroon, DFI’s inhouse infectious disease specialist Christopher Lehmann likened the strains to a “varsity team.”
“If it turns out that one component of that varsity team—let’s say the carbohydrate degradation or the bile acid processing arm of the varsity team—doesn’t work, we can swap it out with another set of members that should perform that function,” Lehmann said. “And that’s how we get the other consortia for the other stages of the clinical study.”
At the moment, researchers have found 17 bacterial strains that promote gut health globally despite widely varying microbiomes.
“We recognize [these strains] as being common to microbiomes that are health-promoting around the world,” DFI Director Eric Pamer said. “These are basic metabolites, like butyrate and secondary bile acids and other metabolites that are produced, that we suspect may be foun-
dational to having a healthy microbiome.” Pamer said these strains could be critical to the recovery of patients after medical interventions.
“[The trial is] step one of any FDA study, but also a chance to ask some more interesting scientific questions,” Matthew Odenwald, the in-house hepatologist, told the Maroon. “Ultimately, our goal is to take the findings from these and the findings from our observational study where we found that microbiome derangements are associated with poor outcomes and hopefully do studies with these microbiome reconstitutions and hopefully improve patient outcomes.”
Enrollment of participants in the trial will begin shortly. The first phase of the clinical trial will consist of eight individuals. Initial clinical trials won’t be public, with individuals being selected from consenting patients within the UChicago Medicine hospital system. These restrictions will help control the study population and fit within the initial safety guidelines
“These types of facilities are only seen typically in Big
By ANUSHKA BANSAL | News Reporter
The South Asian Students Association (SASA) hosted its annual Diwali celebration in Reynolds Club on Friday, November 15. Featuring a range of cultural performances, South Asian delicacies, and sparklers, the event brought together students from diverse backgrounds to celebrate one of South Asia’s most significant festivals, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.
This year’s celebration by SASA took place two weeks after the official Diwali date of October 31, due to scheduling conflicts, but the event’s popularity remained strong.
“With limited capacity in Hutch, we sold out quickly, 300 tickets over just four days,” Zarrin Ali, SASA’s membership committee director, said in an in-
terview with the Maroon.
According to SASA Co-president Srichi Dalai, the event required significant preparation and day-of management given its scale. “It’s non-stop work for the board, especially during the event, including serving food and handing out sparklers,” Dalai said.
The celebration also included cultural performances from SASA’s sister RSOs: fusion a cappella team Aag, classical dance group Apsara, folk dance teams Raas and Bhangra, and South Asian classical music RSO Classical. And, earlier in the week, SASA hosted a mehendi (henna) night to build excitement for the celebration. Proceeds from the event were donated to flood relief CONTINUED ON PG. 4
set by the FDA. Clinical trial outcomes will be determined using a fecal matter sample, a technique pioneered at the University of Chicago, according to Pamer. A number of specialists in different scientific and medical practice fields will be analyzing the results of the clinical trials.
The DFI’s nonprofit status due to funding from the Duchossois family and its unique ability to manufacture drugs in-house at the GMP facility has allowed researchers more time to focus on their research.
“These types of facilities are only seen typically in Big Pharma, you know, Pfizer, Baxter,” DFI Director of Manufacturing Joseph Spyridakis said in an interview with the Maroon. “So for the University to be able to produce the highest quality biotherapeutics puts us ahead of other academic institutions.”
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“Our biggest goal this year is to ensure we’re incorporating all of South Asia and not just the eccentric focus.”
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efforts in Bangladesh, adding a philanthropic element to the festivities.
SASA aimed to incorporate a diverse range of cultures at the event. “Our big-
gest goal this year is to ensure we’re incorporating all of South Asia and not just the eccentric focus,” Dalai said.
For many, the event held personal significance. “It was beautiful to see all
the different South Asian dance and musical organizations come together to perform and showcase the vibrancy of our culture,” fourth-year Amulya Agrawal, who attended the celebration, said. “Cel-
ebrations like these help me feel a sense of community in college. I am sad that this was my last Diwali celebration on campus, but it was my most enjoyable one for sure.”
By SIDARTH BHATIA | News Reporter
This past year, a variety of changes have been implemented in the Main Reading Room of the Arley D. Cathey Learning Center at Harper Memorial Library. Preparations for new interior renovations of the Reading Room began on July 24, 2024, and were eventually completed before the start of the autumn quarter. In addition, the Phoenix Sustainability Initiative (PSI) came up with a way to sustainably stock the empty shelves of the Reading Room. The updates were funded by the Arley D. Cathey Memorial Fund to maintain the Reading Room and included
both aesthetic and functional updates.
The old taupe carpet that covered the floor of the Reading Room was replaced with a red, black, and white tartan pattern adorned with the University seal. Long, LED bar lamps spanning the full length of each long table replaced the previous lamps in the Reading Room. The tables were refinished to accompany this restoration.
In an email to the Maroon, Katelyn Yoshimoto, a spokesperson for the College, said that the old carpet was “threadbare in places,” making the renovations
necessary. “Well-worn tables were refinished and lamps, which in some cases did not work, were updated to energy-efficient LED lighting. In the coming months, the College plans to refinish the chairs as well.”
According to Yoshimoto, this project took place this past summer, when there would be less student traffic. Most of the renovations finished on time for the start of autumn quarter.
New measures that aim to preserve the carpeting and tables include restrictions on food, drinks, and water bottles inside the Reading Room. According to signage posted outside the Reading Room,
library patrons are required to enjoy their food and drinks in designated areas such as Harper Café. Water bottles must be sealed and placed in personal belongings and bags, with library staff regularly patrolling the room ensuring that no bottles are placed on the furniture or floors.
The Harper Library Working Group, a part of the student-run PSI, also started a new project to bring books to the Reading Room. The group drew inspiration from projects they had seen around campus to stock the shelves of Harper in a sustainable manner.
“We’d sort of done a lending library
“We wanted to bring something bigger together that could reach everyone both on campus and off campus.”
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type thing in the past… and we know that there’s a few houses that have libraries, but not everyone does, so we’re trying to combine it all,” said third-year Seri Welsh, who started the working group. “We wanted to bring something bigger together that could reach everyone both on campus and off campus. Books are expensive, and
there are so many people that will have a book once for their class and won’t want to read them again, so we’re able to help them get rid of something without wasting it and help other people be able to afford having books.”
The group has already begun stocking books in the corners of the Main Reading Room, including required reading for
Core classes and other donations that the working group has acquired.
“We started with a few donations the professors had that they wanted to get rid of and we organized those and left them. Around O-Week we started putting them up from the summer and then started reaching out to some other professors recently to see what they have and what
they want to give,” Welsh said. “We have about 30,000 books from the Reg library that they’re getting rid of, either because they’re duplicates or because they weren’t super popular, so we’re going to bring all of those into Harper.”
As the donations come in, the group is hoping that their project will become a self-sustaining library, with students free
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By NATHANIEL RODWELL-SIMON Head Photo Editor
The University saw its first snowfall of the 2024–25 school year begin overnight on November 21 and continue until late in the day. By midmorning, the quad was blanketed in snow, which turned to slush as the day warmed and students walked to class. Maroon Photo Editor Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon captured black-andwhite scenes from the snow-covered campus.
Top: Individuals seen from under the Levi Hall breezeway walk across the snow-covered quad.
Left: An individual walks through the courtyard between the Smart Museum and the Cochrane-Woods Art Center.
Right: The American flag amid a flurry of snowflakes.
nathaniel rodwell-simon .
“Constant
A grassroots effort is providing legal aid to migrants struggling to complete their asylum applications, with some about to reach a one-year deadline.
By CELESTE ALCALAY | Deputy Grey City Editor
Long-time special education lawyer Maureen Graves has expanded an immigration legal aid clinic she began at the Hyde Park Art Center to operate parttime out of her home.
The past few weeks have been “crazy,” said volunteer Mike McPherson, a recent law school graduate from the University of Illinois Chicago. “Just a constant influx of new cases.”
Graves has over 500 people registered in her case management system. According to city data, 51,000 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, have arrived in Chicago since August 2022.
Migrants communicate with Graves through WhatsApp. “They are polite. They like to be chatty before they do anything. They like to be human,” Graves said with a wry smile.
Graves and mutual aid volunteers have filed many “emergency cases” for asylum seekers who have resided in the U.S. for almost a year, though the clinic takes cases regardless of a migrant’s timeline and also helps file work permit applications.
Once the one-year deadline passes, U.S. immigration law will consider overdue cases only if applicants demonstrate “changed or extraordinary circumstances” relating to the delay.
“One year sounds like a long time until you’re a migrant struggling with survival issues,” Graves said.
Asylum status—“granted to people
persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion”—prevents removal from the country and provides a pathway for obtaining permanent residence and legal work in the U.S.
McPherson conducts interviews in Spanish, then transcribes testimonies
been from Colombia and Chile. “We’re talking about helping people that are coming from situations so bad they can’t possibly go back to them,” he said. The testimonies include descriptions of torture by the armed “colectivos” deployed by the Maduro government to brutalize civilians. Venezuela’s unprecedented humanitarian crisis has led 7.7 million people to flee the country since 2015.
Trump’s reelection has brought on
used to assess whether migrants have demonstrated “credible fear” of persecution upon return to their home country.
The majority of migrants he’s seen are from Venezuela, while others have
new anxiety for migrants, McPherson said. “There’s a fear that the U.S. government will change its policy so much on asylum that people who should never be returned to Venezuela, or other countries,
will be returned.” Venezuela’s current migration policy does not accept deportees from the U.S.
Where Is the Nonprofit Legal Community? Need for Volunteers
Financial services lawyer Laura Carroll DeBolt runs a weekly legal aid clinic at a South Side Baptist church. DeBolt and Graves are frustrated that large law firms aren’t leading legal efforts.
“The needs of Venezuelan new arrivals are overwhelming. They just came in very large numbers,” DeBolt said.
A 2016 study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse showed that less than 10 percent of asylum seekers succeeded in filing the correct paperwork themselves, “despite efforts by a variety of initiatives to try to provide various forms of advice to these families short of formal representation.” WBEZ reported that fewer than a quarter of the asylum cases processed in Chicago were granted from October 2023 to August 2024.
DeBolt guessed that a pivot could be difficult for firms directing resources toward the “established immigrant community” made up of Central Americans and Mexicans, now 70 percent of Chicago’s Latino population. “[Established law firms] are won by people who have been here a long time. They are serving the needs of that community, which are fundamentally different from the needs of Venezuelan new arrivals,” she said.
Regarding the lack of legal expertise among volunteers, Graves added in an email, “It is very unfortunate that so
“We’re talking about helping people that are coming from situations so bad they can’t possibly go back to them.”
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much of the work is being done by people who aren’t immigration law specialists, but for people whose alternative is almost certainly receiving an order of removal [from the U.S.], it’s way better than nothing.”
Another challenge is helping new volunteers overcome the learning curve. “Right now I’m the only person who knows how to do lots of things,” Graves said.
The nucleus of the volunteer staff is about five regulars. Many students come for one or two hours.
It was the first day at the clinic for UChicago master’s student in the humanities Mauricio Cano. “I’m trying to coordinate volunteers from UChicago to
A
encourage people who I feel learn quickly and have strong language skills to get over here.”
He brought his partner Selina Martinez, a veterinary technician. “This is my first time doing work like this,” she said. “My only downfall would be that I’m not a bilingual speaker.”
Migrants have also been arriving at Graves’s doorstep with stories of a common low-level scam.
Volunteer Maria Moreno sat at Graves’s dining room table with two Venezuelan women who were defrauded while staying at the Lake Shore Hotel migrant shelter. “They both said someone came to the hotel and offered to fill out
their asylum application. They had to pay for it,” Moreno said.
“Migrants just refer to the scammers as ‘muchachos,’” or “guys,” DeBolt said.
Scammers file asylum petitions online for a fee, sometimes in Spanish. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) only accepts petitions in English and “the instructions require that you do your petition on paper and you mail it,” DeBolt said.
When the application has been filed online incorrectly, an automatic receipt is generated. The receipt can be used to register biometrics (fingerprints) with the Department of Homeland Security, the next step to receiving a work permit. Since fraudsters help the migrants obtain work permits, “they just trust these peo -
ple,” Graves said.
Once USCIS locates the incorrect application, the case is dismissed, and the applicant must begin the filing process again.
“Some people discover their case has been thrown out after their one year has already passed, which is especially sad,” Graves added.
The doorbell rang, and another family walked in. The Thanksgiving break “was supposed to be my catch-up week,” Graves said, turning back to her computer.
The legal clinic will return part-time to the Hyde Park Art Center next week. It will be open from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Those interested in volunteering should reach out to tiffany.yanagawa@gmail.com.
By NATALIE EARL | Staff Photographer
Our beloved Botany Pond has been part of the UChicago landscape and student experience for 121 years. First opened to the public in 1903, it was the result of professor John Merle Coulter’s vision of an outdoor research laboratory for students. The pond was designed in collaboration with the Olmsted brothers, whom the University commissioned to design a master plan for the campus landscape.
Year after year, Botany Pond’s beauty has drawn students, faculty, and community members away from their work, off their determined march to Regenstein Library or across Hull Court to their next class, to cross the bridge, stare into the reflecting pool, watch squirrels scurry up the trees, or greet new mallard ducklings in the spring. It is not just an important historical landmark on our campus but integral to our community: it invites us in and reminds us to take breaks, to sit down on its inviting benches and drink in some nature in a largely concrete world. Restoration of Botany Pond began during autumn quarter 2022, after the
University discovered that it was losing 30,000 gallons of water monthly and that water quality issues were impacting its ability to support the plants and animals that inhabited the pond.
There was a two-part plan for the restoration: phase one included removing wildlife (the turtles were kept at a turtle spa), draining the pond to assess the structure, and developing restoration recommendations; phase two was the actual restoration work. The work was set to be completed, and the pond reopened, in summer 2023. However, in stage one of the restoration, construction was delayed due to the “unforeseen scope” of the necessary restoration work.
While it is no secret that the University community was frustrated and disappointed by the delays, they were necessary to fulfill the University’s commitment to prioritizing self-sustainability and longevity. The careful consideration of the restoration plans ensured that Botany Pond would best serve the flora and fauna that call it home.
Botany Pond officially reopened to the public October 14. Six feet of mud were re-
moved from the bottom of the pond, the concrete foundations of the bridge were redone, and the leaks were fixed. The redesign, including a natural filtration system that uses varying sizes of rocks and microorganisms to keep sediment buildup to a minimum, is more efficient and requires less maintenance. The new Botany Pond has “spaces designed for ducks, turtles and other wildlife… a ramp for access in and out of the water, which is particularly important for ducklings; and fish habitat and terrestrial areas strategically located with specific plantings.”
As the University community may have noticed, more will be done. Reestablishing the ecosystem will happen in stages. Professor emeritus Michael LaBarbera, one of several faculty members who advised the restoration, reported to UChicago News on October 17 that “the next steps will include adding mud and zooplankton—free-swimming, microscopic animals like rotifers, water fleas and copepods.” Next year we can expect the native fish and turtles to be reintroduced. The two female mallards who have called Botany Pond home since 2017— adorably named Honey and Dorothy—will hopefully return to raise their ducklings
this coming spring.
When I visited to take these photographs, I met Renate Fernandez. A longtime University associate and community member, Fernandez has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and is married to professor emeritus James Fernandez. I found her strolling across the bridge, examining the deep purple geraniums still in bloom. She took a seat on the concrete memorial bench and enjoyed the silence. When I asked her what she loved most about the Botany Pond, she told me, “Well, that it’s a place of contemplation, don’t you think?”
For the Class of 2025, who got to experience Botany Pond during our first year before it closed for restoration, the reopening of Botany Pond feels like the perfect bookend to our undergraduate careers. Classes of 2026–28, I encourage you to visit the pond on all those walks to and from Regenstein and the quad. Take a look at our historic ginkgo tree and rare azaleas. Watch the leaves flutter down from the trees and the water ripple across the reflecting pool.
Take some time away from the college hustle and bustle. Take some time to contemplate.
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Invoking the title of Rogers’s song, her “Don’t Forget Me” tour emphasized her drive to leave an impact on the community through her music and her fear of getting lost to history.
By LAINEY GREGORY | Head Arts Editor and SOFIA HRYCYSZYN | Senior Arts Reporter
In a dizzying cloud of smoke and a shimmering sequined shawl, rising indie pop star Maggie Rogers debuted at Chicago’s United Center. While most artists at United rely on flashy sets to fill the space, Rogers kept the concert intimate with her wholesome chatter and genuine smile. She was in awe of performing in what she joked was the “Space Jam arena” and gushed over fans that had seen her at Lincoln Hall years prior, leaning into the crowd to hear their names.
Rogers has touched fame with what are mostly love songs that sail through her incredible vocal range, but she main-
tained a humble stage presence. Her dancing, well-choreographed but simple, gave the impression of movement for oneself when no one else is watching. For many fans, Rogers’s albums are a go-to for living room performances: belting while sweeping the floor and dancing with the broom. To see her perform that same way with her microphone stand onstage was heartwarming and relatable, making the United Center feel a little bit more like home.
Rogers’s 2024 tour is named after her third studio album, Don’t Forget Me. Written from start to finish in five days, the
album is organic and, following a woman through the emotional swings of a broken heart, it is also her most cohesive piece. The album’s last track, “Don’t Forget Me,” is about the need to leave a lasting mark on a lover. Invoking that title for her tour emphasized Rogers’s drive to leave an impact on the community through her music. In Chicago, she succeeded in making a mark by welcoming a special guest: Mavis Staples of The Staple Singers. Staples is a legendary blues singer and civil rights activist, and at 85, she still has the brassy pipes of her youth. Rogers remarked that, despite her impact on the music industry and the civil rights movement, this was Staples’s first time performing at the United Center. She lamented the lack of
older women in music, and in her tone, there was a tinge of fear.
Holding hands, Rogers and Staples stood face to face for “I’ll Take You There.” With Rogers as the backup vocals in conversation with and standing a head taller than Staples, there was a powerful juxtaposition of rising youth and established age in the music industry. Rogers’s indie pop is starkly different from Staples’s soul, but seeing Rogers in the presence of one of her influences transforms the listener’s understanding of how Rogers conceptualizes music and her own work. Rogers is aiming for something more than coffee shop indie music; it seemed she was begging the audience: “Don’t forget me.”
Alice Phoebe Lou, an image of whimsy in a sea of subtlety, charmed as the opening act for Clairo on October 16 at the Salt Shed.
By HARMONIE RAMSDEN | Senior Arts Reporter
Alice Phoebe Lou danced across the stage, an image of whimsy in a sea of subtlety. Swaying around the Salt Shed stage, accompanied by bossa nova instrumentals, she slowly but surely charmed the audience at Clairo’s tour on October 16. Phoebe Lou stripped out the bulk of the costuming, background, and instrumentation in her opening performance. Instead, her raw musicality shone. The band, which included drums, bass, electric guitar, and keys, laid a pleasing groundwork that she vocally adorned. Enveloped by a black divider and illuminated by soft pastel lighting, she was a standout both visually and sonically.
In a dalmatian-and-butterfly-adorned tee and a sunflower cap, Phoebe Lou sowed a garden of images and sounds. The clear fan favorites were “Only When I” and “Witches.” Regardless of whether they knew the artist’s songs or not, at Phoebe Lou’s urging, everyone danced. During “Lover / / Over the Moon,” she asked the audience to hold hands with those around them, close their eyes, and sway. The dim background noise came to a hush as she sang, “I’m a lover / So let me love you.” And with Phoebe Lou’s luminous energy, it was hard not to. United by her charming effervescence and collective movement, a rapport between artist
and audience bloomed. Phoebe Lou’s register spans a dreamy falsetto and a full-throated tenor. Though
she tended to use her upper range, the lower one emerged in resonant, soulful
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moments. This performance’s lack of other elements to distract invited audiences to wholly take in Phoebe Lou’s vocal spectacle. The band ran chords and arpeggios in the breaks between songs, making the performance feel more like an outdoor jam session than an opening act for a crowd of 3,600. Phoebe Lou is embarking on her own European tour in
April, with venues at and above that size. Her set seemed to be a wholly successful test of how to charm an audience of this level.
Using her two nights at a sold-out Salt Shed to the fullest, Phoebe Lou introduced herself to Clairo’s audience not with a peal, but a crescendo. With many parallels to Clairo—a jazzy sound, a playful whimsy, and a musical career span-
ning over a decade—Phoebe Lou was easily identifiable in Clairo’s orbit. The opener’s oeuvre transitioned perfectly to the songs off Clairo’s album Charm. The two artists played off each other’s talents in a cohesive concert experience. Phoebe Lou’s success in encouraging the audience toward dance, touch, or song reflects her effortless charm.
With raucous cheers heralding her
finale, Phoebe Lou blew a kiss and exclaimed, “Keep in touch!” As she walked off stage, an audience member handed her a rose—another addition to her garden. The artist’s opener performance was a whimsical, bossa nova-inspired bouquet, sure to resonate with fans who flock to Clairo.
By EVY WYMAN | Senior Arts Reporter
Fans have been waiting to hear him. For the past two hours, fans have been lined up down the street, getting checked by security, grabbing a drink, and feeling mounting excitement.
Then—with a building sweep of violins—Kishi Bashi is finally here, and he’s not going to disappoint. Bashi gets front and center with the song “Violin Akai” from his most recent album, Kantos. “I have feelings,” he sings, and the audience is ready to share them with him.
His performance is joyous and golden, punctuated by confetti streaming from the ceiling and lively interactions between Bashi and his backing band members. He’s joined by the members of Sweet Loretta and “pioneer of psychedelic banjo music” Mike Savino, who add energy on top of backing music to his performance—each one with a presence of their own and interacting like old friends with each other.
The performance is a self-declared celebration of joy and life, but that doesn’t keep the poignant nature of Bashi’s music and his embrace of the complex range of emotions from coming through. Bashi explores heartbreak, romantic and otherwise, throughout the concert. The spectrum of human experience is felt not only through the music but also when Savino takes a few moments to talk about his
hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, which has been devastated by Hurricane Helene. He points the audience to BeLoved Asheville for donations to help rebuild.
As the entire band is assembled, Bashi starts “Chiba Funk,” in which he sings in both Japanese and English. Through this, he blends his American upbringing with his Japanese heritage, a dual background which he references throughout his music.
If you were worried any of the ethereal nature of Kishi Bashi’s music would be lost in live performance, you don’t have to worry any longer. Through the next few songs, Bashi sings above the loud cacophony of instruments; his voice remains bright and clear. He also finds moments of quiet: moments when all the sound falls away and it’s just him left singing or playing the violin. This lets the complex emotions he expresses become the center of focus; the lyrics are almost emphasized by the moments of quiet, and his incredible voice gets to shine even brighter. The difference between the louder and quieter moments creates a full representation of his music, which is in itself full of complements.
In some songs, like “Can’t Let Go, Juno,” the sound comes out rockier, the mood is upbeat, and it’s an overall loud
sound. Kishi Bashi at times uses looping to create layers upon himself and beat-boxes, creating percussion that can be felt reverberating through the audience. Then the other performers leave, and it is just Bashi. Here is where he busts out some of his beloved, softer songs: “I Am the Antichrist to You,” his cover of “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads, and “Summer of ‘42.” Again, the joy, but also precarious humanity, comes through, captured in the lyrics of “Summer of ’42,” which is about falling in love during difficult times: the setting is a Japanese internment camp in the U.S. While the references in the song are vague, touching on love and loss, he’s spoken on the setting, adding a potential hidden element to the song.
When Bashi is joined again, it looks like a whole new host of characters: in order to perform the Greek-mythology inspired “Icarus IV” from Kantos, the performers have donned extravagant costumes and march back on one by one to show them off. There are Greek soldiers, and, most notably, one is dressed up with large golden wings. During the performance, the “Icarus” runs around the stage, beating his wings and highlighting certain moments of impressive singing or instrumentation.
The over-the-top nature of the performance doesn’t end there: for the next few songs, Mr. Steak—someone dressed
in a steak costume—joins the show. This is perfect timing for the next song, “The Ballad of Mr. Steak.” The energy at this point in the show has only been raised by a beautiful, lively, and entertaining performance; here, the audience can laugh and enjoy the silliness of music, after the moments of deeper themes and sadder lyrics.
While almost every moment feels like the crowning moment of the show, the finale is the most unexpected and unusual. While Bashi had been upfront about the encore, he has one more surprise up his sleeve: he informs the audience that the rest of the show will be performed outside, with a Volkswagen functioning as a stage for him, Savino, and Sweet Loretta. The audience floods outside and gathers around on picnic tables in an act that feels like sitting around a campfire with your friends. Bashi and his band play a few songs, including fan-favorite and madefor-acoustic “Manchester.” They nod to the bright moon in the clear sky when they reference the moon, and it achieves the most intimate performance a crowd of this size could hope for.
Bashi will win you over and then some. And if you don’t have the chance to see him perform, listen to Kantos. It’s a work of art.
By ANUSHKA
For student-athletes interested in pursuing sports at the collegiate level, recruitment begins months in advance and can be far more intensive than the standard admissions process. It involves connecting with coaches, visiting college sports programs, attending camps and maintaining online profiles, all in addition to a traditional college application. Many students, however, might not want to undergo the recruitment process, despite their interest in a sport. Some may be unable to commit to training at the college level. Others don’t meet the necessary athletic standards. Regardless of the reason, UChicago provides an avenue for these students to pursue their passion for sports as walk-on athletes.
Typically, a student interested in joining a college varsity sports team as a walkon reaches out to coaches to see if they have space on their roster and can participate, once they have committed to the University. Students are also expected to meet a certain performance level for their
| Sports Reporter
sport of interest and attend a few practices to evaluate their fit on the team before they can formally join. Despite the initial procedural differences, once on the team, the experiences of recruited athletes and walk-ons are quite similar.
Second-year Alec Stein walked onto the cross country and track and field teams in his first year. In high school, he knew he wanted to continue running in college, but it wasn’t until the latter half of his senior year—after he committed to UChicago and saw significant improvements in his race times—that he made the decision to try to walk on. “This is what I wanted to do, and [I] really wanted to try and make the student-athlete lifestyle work,” Stein told the Maroon.
Reflecting on his experiences, Stein found that despite being a walk-on, he was still held to the same bar as a recruited athlete, from workout intensity to practice schedules. “I don’t think it’s a distinction that matters once you get past the first couple weeks of training
because the team just made me feel at home,” Stein shared.
While most varsity teams at UChicago welcome walk-ons, the track and field teams have the most opportunities due to the variety of individual events they offer, especially in comparison to more teambased sports like soccer or football.
First-year Sophie Menon walked onto UChicago’s pole vault team. Having competed in the pole vault event in high school, Menon said she “wasn’t quite ready to give [the sport] up,” especially considering that “the balance of academics and athletics actually makes [her] more productive.”
Fueled by her passion and love for the sport, Menon reached out to the coach asking to join the team following her admission to UChicago. Having met the pole-vaulting recruitment standard for walk-ons with her then-current personal record, she had a two-week trial period to gauge her fit for the team at the beginning of the school year when pre-season began.
Now in the regular swing of training and practices with the rest of the team,
Menon noted that although a walk-on may be less likely to compete in travel tournaments, her overall experience as a walk-on has been very similar to that of a recruited athlete, much like Stein. “The track and field team is super welcoming, and everything from practice schedules to competing seems exactly identical.”
While UChicago may not boast a particularly strong name in college athletics, the opportunities it presents for students to further their sports journeys at the NCAA level provides a valuable experience for students who want to balance academics and athletics. The University’s welcoming environment for walk-on athletes promotes a space for them to grow and learn alongside their teammates while fostering a strong sense of camaraderie and belonging.
“The way that [my coach] treated me as a walk-on was just great; he made me feel like a part of the team. I [didn’t] get treated any differently in a team setting; they did a really great job of integrating me, so once you’re on the team, [being a walk-on] doesn’t matter,” Stein said.
By PRAVAN CHAKRAVARTHY | Head Crossword Editor
Actress Davis
21 1991 Pearl Jam album that, paradoxically, has 11 songs 22 Tears apart 23 Cleopatra’s woes
25 What only shooting stars break, per “All Star”
26 Bro or sis
28 Star of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” 32 Character’s development over a TV series 35 Egg cells
36 Flag carrier headquartered at Mehrabad International Airport
37 T, to Thales 38 Premier Chicago opera company, for short 40 Pimple
41 ___ Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician and developer of Pan-Africanism
43 VHS tapes and DVDs
46 Name hidden in “There’s a rat in my soup!”
49 NBA game locale
50 Iridescent gem
54 Word before GPT
55 Cheese ___ (notable Jimmy’s offering)
56 Art ___ (architecture style)
57 “The ___ of the Ancient Mariner” (Coleridge poem)
58 Org. that’s the largest consumer of power in Maryland
59 Spanish for “crazy”
44 Landlord for many a UChicago student
45 Marx’s “___ Kapital”
Leftovers 47 “Makes sense to me now” 48 Marriott competitor
Central Illinois hub
52 A Southern one is characterized by non-rhoticity and the pen-pin merger
53 Undoes a fastener
61 Word often changed to “ahh” after an adjective, in contemporary slang
Common food additive