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APRIL 13, 2022 THIRD WEEK VOL. 134, ISSUE 20

At IOP Disinformation Conference, Obama Warns of “Anger, Resentment, Conflict, Division” Monetized Online

Obama sat down with The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg during a keynote conversation at the Disinformation Conference held at the David Rubenstein Forum. eric fang

By NOAH GLASGOW and ANUSHREE VASHIST | Senior News Reporters Former President Barack Obama visited the University of Chicago on Wednesday, April 6, to speak about Internet misinformation and its impact on global democracy at Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy, a conference from April 6–8 cohosted by The Atlantic and the University of Chicago Institute

VIEWPOINTS: The NineWeek Quarter Hurts Quality of Instruction on Top of Burnout PAGE 5

of Politics (IOP).

The conference, hosted in person at the Rubenstein Forum and livestreamed for virtual viewing, focused on the threat of online disinformation campaigns enabled by social media and weaponized by antidemocratic forces.

Obama’s talk was preceded by conver-

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sations with Nobel Prize–winning journalist Maria Ressa and Pulitzer Prize– winning journalist Anne Applebaum.

“We get facts wrong, we say stuff wrong, and we’re not going to solve that problem anytime soon,” Obama said in a conversation with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, acknowledging that politics is an imperfect art and mistakes are inevitable. Obama defined disinformation as “a systematic

ARTS: Authentic Transcript of the Emmett Till Murder Was Brought to Stage

effort to either promote false information [or] suppress true information for the purpose of political gain, financial gain, enhancing power, suppressing others, targeting those you don’t like.”

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” Obama said. “You have to fight to provide people [with] the information they need to be free and self-governing.”

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ARTS: Killswitch Engage Brought Audience to Life With a Roar and Bang

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“Obama sees the fight against disinformation as one front in the fight between democracy and authoritarianism.”

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enced the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. He called Putin’s actions “a bracing reminder for democracies that have gotten flabby and confused and feckless around the stakes of things that we tended to take for granted.”

Among what Americans have taken for granted: a free press, particularly at the “local” level. Obama warned that small-town newspapers struggle with “the nationalization of a sort of grievance- [and] anger-based journalism” as well as with “social media and technology whose product design monetizes anger, resentment, conflict, division.”

Media disinformation “combined with ethno-nationalism or misogyny or racism can be fatal,” Obama said. In a sobering moment, he told the audience: “If you are a woman, if you are a person of color, if you are a trans person right now in certain parts of this country, what’s said matters.”

Yet despite the threat of online disinformation, Obama described himself as “close to a First Amendment absolutist.”

He said he is concerned with particular efforts to overregulate speech in the digital landscape, including the removal of Section 230­—a clause of the Commu-

nications Decency Act that prevents social media companies from liability for speech on their platforms. “We don’t want to be policing everything that’s said on the Internet,” Obama said. He noted that regardless of how corporations are regulated, there will always be “a demand for crazy on the Internet.”

Obama sees the fight against disinformation as one front in the fight between democracy and authoritarianism.

“It is difficult for me to see how we win the contest if we are not able to agree on this baseline of facts that allows the marketplace of ideas to work,” he said, recalling a past in which news was distributed by a few key, dependable sources relied upon by all Americans.

According to Obama, the Internet needs change from the ground up. “I think young people are going to have to help us reinvent, for a primarily virtual social media space, the same kinds of rules, norms, practices, processes that existed before [social media]. And I think that’s going to take a while.”

Obama’s keynote conversation concluded Wednesday’s discussions on disinformation led by journalists, among them Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa in conversation with Atlantic

executive editor Adrienne LaFrance.

Ressa discussed her efforts to combat misinformation as a journalist in the Philippines through Rappler, a digital media company she leads; the harassment female journalists face; and the inability to hold constructive debates on most social media platforms. In the age of social media and technology, Ressa said, journalists have lost the power to moderate content, with emerging artificial intelligence–driven algorithms instead controlling the spread of content: “The tech platforms that now distribute the news are actually biased against facts, and they’re biased against journalists.”

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Anne Applebaum then spoke in conversation with Axelrod. Reflecting on the evolution of propaganda in Russia, Applebaum said that Russian propagandists can now spread conspiracy theories in as little as 10 minutes.

“You can have a network of fake or semi-fake websites [that] will echo each other, [and] people will then see that there are several sources repeating the story,” she said. “You can create a botnet of trolls or even real people…[and] give the impression that there’s a conversa-

tion and discussion on something.”

University president Paul Alivisatos invoked the values coined by University founder William Rainey Harper in his welcome speech at the event’s kickoff.

“Academic freedom and freedom of expression are the essential values that enable our university to thrive,” Alivisatos said. “It is very special that this event is held here today.”

On April 7 and 8, the conference featured speakers like Frances Haugen, Adam Kinzinger, Amy Klobuchar, Kara Swisher, and Lauren Underwood.

UChicago history professor Kathleen Belew, who spoke Friday morning, told The Maroon before her appearance that she was looking forward to discussing the real-life ramifications of disinformation, including the January 6 insurrection. “Events like [the conference] are really exciting because they’re bringing together people who don’t usually talk to each other across tech, journalism, and policy,” Belew said. “A lot of these issues are located at the intersection between all of those groups, and none of us can deal with this on our own.”

University Officials Highlight Accomplishments, Aspirations in Spring Quarter Update

By KAYLA RUBENSTEIN | Senior News Reporter University administrators convened over Zoom on Wednesday, April 6 for the Spring Quarter Update. Moderated

by Vice President of Communications Paul M. Rand, the talk covered topics ranging from incoming faculty to South Side–University partnerships for gun violence prevention.

President Paul Alivisatos kicked off the webinar by sharing reflections from his first seven months in office. Then, Rand proceeded to mention recent accomplishments like the reopening of the

Booth School of Business’s London campus and U.S. News & World Report’s listing the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; Harris School of Public Policy; University of Chicago Law School; and Booth School of Business among the top three best graduate schools in their respective fields.

“Those rankings reflect what we know internally to be the amazing reality of this university, and so I’m glad to see it recognized in those ways,” Alivisatos said. “But we also have our internal

compass, and we’re constantly making every part of the University stronger.”

Alivisatos noted that one of these improvements is the introduction of the University of Chicago Medical Center’s plan for a new comprehensive cancer center. In addition to cancer treatment, the center will tackle larger concerns like health-care disparities in Chicago.

“It will be an anchor point for us in addressing health inequity issues on the South Side of Chicago, and it will be a place where our biological discovery and work in biotechnology fields will advance

the quality of care,” Alivisatos said.

Rand then introduced Provost Ka Yee Lee, who discussed the ways the University is supporting those impacted by the war in Ukraine. Lee detailed the resources available on campus, such as the assistance and scholarships offered to students directly impacted by the conflict, UChicago Student Wellness’s appointment options, and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel’s quiet reflection and meditation space.

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“Investment is needed in a bidirectional, mutually beneficial way.”

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independent council dedicated to analyzing UChicago’s historical, contemporary, and future community relations.

After months of discussion, the group met in person for the first time this week, with Alivisatos and Lee in attendance.

Among other University initiatives, Lee shared how a collaboration among UChicagoGR AD, Graduate Council, and the Office of International Affairs resulted in the creation of the International Graduate Student Advisory Board, which focuses on the personal, professional, and academic experiences of international graduate students. After recommendations from the Graduate Grievance Policies and Process Committee, UChicagoGRAD created a role dedicated to analyzing grievance policies, emphasizing education and training.

Associate Vice President for Safety and Security Eric Heath spoke on the recent developments in, and goals of, the department. Lieutenant Colonel Kyle Bowman assumed the position of chief of police of the University of Chicago Police Department April 4.

“In considering leadership, we were all impressed by his ability to build policing strategies around community needs and his interest in engaging with diverse perspectives on issues of public safety,” Heath said, adding that there will be opportunities to meet Bowman in the future.

Heath touched on the safety ambassador program’s expansion, including the increased hours and locations of security officers on campus. The Univer-

sity has increased the service hours of the UGo NightRide shuttle service and improved wait times on the South route.

He also mentioned the expansion of the Lyft Ride Smart program before inviting Derek Douglas, vice president of the Office of Civic Engagement, to speak.

Douglas built on Heath’s discussion of safety. “One side of the equation is the things we just heard from Eric Heath, with the number of the public safety measures being implemented,” Douglas said. “But the other side of the equation is equally important, and that’s getting at the root causes, seeing what we can be doing as an institution, working with our partners to try and address the issues so violence doesn’t occur in the first place.”

Douglas referenced the virtual roundtable discussion in January that underscored the existing University and community partnerships and examined how the University could do more. One idea that arose was a violence prevention fund, which would expand the scale of the University’s work to root out causes of gun violence. Douglas shared topics that came up when administrators and South Side stakeholders were discussing the fund.

“As a collective community, we were reminded about the pain [gun violence] causes. It was made clear to us that additional investment is needed in a bidirectional, mutually beneficial way to create partnerships between university and community that build trust and that try to address this challenge,” Douglas said. “It was also clear this issue is incredibly complex, and to make progress,

it’s going to take a coordinated effort of many partners coming together.”

Alivisatos narrowed in on the University’s diversity and inclusion efforts, noting newly hired administrators who will prioritize them. Waldo Johnson Jr.— former associate professor and former deputy dean for curriculum at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice—joined the UChicago administration as vice provost in the winter and transitioned to a full-time role at the beginning of spring quarter. MaryFrances McCourt will assume the role of chief financial officer on April 18; she advocated equity, inclusion, and belonging in her most recent position as treasurer and vice president for finance at the University of Pennsylvania.

Joining the new administrators is Torsten Reimer, who will become the new University librarian and dean of the University library on April 22, having last worked at the British Library. “It’s just really invigorating to see the range of the scholarship represented by them,” Lee said about the newly tenured faculty.

Executive Vice President for Science, Innovation, National Laboratories, and Global Initiatives Juan de Pablo underscored the ways in which his department values business and entrepreneurship and its efforts in developing start-ups, nonprofit organizations, and companies that “really bring our discoveries to practice.”

De Pablo presented a new partnership with the Clean Tech Economy Coalition, joining 18 other groups of governmental agencies, companies, and

universities focused on developing clean energy technologies. Regarding the laboratories under his department, De Pablo announced that Fermilab will have its first female director: Lia Merminga, who begins her tenure April 18.

On an international scale, De Pablo shared two workshops, one in Paris and one in London, that will bring together national labs, corporate innovation and research, and innovation.

Entrepreneurs from North Africa and Europe—especially those with a focus on quantum information science, data science, material forces sustainability, and artificial intelligence—will convene to “identify areas for collaboration, create opportunities for the students to do internships, and attract start-up companies in Hyde Park,” De Pablo explained.

The talk concluded with a Q&A during which the panelists discussed the importance of the University’s global presence and study abroad, Alivisatos’s experience engaging with the UChicago community, safety features such as increased security cars with bright green lights, and the updated masking policy.

“I just hope that all those who are listening are feeling that we’re off to a wonderful start to the spring quarter, that it’s a period when the University is opening back up again, as we were just discussing,” Alivisatos said. “[It’s] very special because it’s coming together after two years and very special because there are so many new beginnings that are going on that speak to a wonderful future.”

Fairgrounds Hyde Park Holds Grand Opening

By ERIC FANG | Senior News Reporter Fairgrounds Craft Coffee & Tea opened its new Hyde Park location on Tuesday, March 29. Located on the first floor of Campus North Residential Commons, Fairgrounds boasts ample study space and a wide range of refreshments.

The Hyde Park location, which opened five years after Fairgrounds’s first location in Bucktown, is Fairgrounds’s 10th location in the United

States. The coffeehouse serves a wide variety of beverages, including more than a dozen craft coffee roasts, specialty teas, seasonal and year-round elixirs, and kombucha on tap. Fairgrounds also offers chef-made sandwiches, allday breakfast plates, salads, and a kids menu.

The interior includes giant swing seats along a counter, several armchairs,

plants, an assortment of mirrors, and a decorative fireplace.

Second-year Jeffrey Cheng visited Fairgrounds on the morning of its grand opening to order breakfast and a coffee.

“The coffee shop is great,” Cheng said. “I love the aesthetics and the design of the entire space. Also, since I live in North, the location is very convenient.

I will definitely be coming back.”

Michael Schultz is the owner and founder of both Fairgrounds & its par-

ent company, Infuse Hospitality. Infuse Hospitality provides consulting and management services to food and beverage companies across the United States. Schultz was inspired to start Fairgrounds after seeing a lack of diversity in the beverages offered by major suppliers like Starbucks and Blue Bottle.

Fairgrounds showcases coffee and tea brands from across the globe.

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“Fairgrounds Craft Coffee & Tea opened its new Hyde Park location on Tuesday, March 29.”

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sity,” Schultz told The Maroon. “You see it in our seating and design. You hear it in our music, and you’ve seen it in our beverages, and then also being able to get chef-crafted food at the same place that you get great beverages.”

Fairgrounds’s Hyde Park location was previously home to Dollop Coffee for four years before it closed its doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairgrounds will join a cohort of businesses in Campus North that currently includes Nella Pizza e Pasta, Te’amo Boba

Bar, and Insomnia Cookies.

“We’re super thrilled to be here at the University of Chicago, which is such an awesome institution,” Schultz said.

“We think that it’s really the perfect pairing for the students, the faculty, and the folks who live in Hyde Park.”

Fairgrounds is open from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The coffeehouse is currently working on implementing Maroon Dollars as one of its payment options.

Case Numbers, Positivity Rates Rise on Campus as Classroom Mask Mandate Lifted

By ANUSHREE VASHIST | Senior News Reporter In an email update sent Friday, April 8, UChicago Forward reported 180 new cases of COVID-19 and 607 close contacts for the period from April 1 to April 7. These data mark an increase in COVID-19 cases from last week, when there were 108 new cases and 176 close contacts from March 25 to March 31.

UChicago Forward also reported 43 positive cases through surveillance test-

ing conducted from March 31 to April 6. The positivity rate from surveillance testing was 6.56 percent for the same period, making it the highest rate since the January 7 update. 26 students are currently isolating on campus, and 86 off-campus students are in isolation.

The increase in case numbers and positivity rate comes as the University lifted its classroom mask mandate on

Monday, April 4. Though masks remain optional in most campus buildings, UChicago Forward recommended “getting a PCR test and masking vigilantly when in doubt” in addition to staying home when sick. “Please remember that we are still in a dynamic COVID-19 environment,” the email read.

The email also suggested that upticks in COVID-19 cases across campus and the city are due to individuals with cold-like symptoms attending work or

school. The city of Chicago’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 1.8 percent from 1.5 percent last week.

UChicago Forward announced that it was discontinuing its weekly email updates, instead opting to send two more updates in the remainder of spring quarter unless additional communication is necessary. The next update is scheduled for Friday, May 6, but the University’s COVID-19 dashboard, which will be updated weekly, remains accessible online.

Two New Business Economics Electives Added for Spring 2022

By CASEY KIM | Senior News Reporter This spring quarter, there are two new classes for the economics major’s business economics specialization: Gender and Policy (ECON 14530, PBPL 24520, GNSE 20109), taught by Yana Gallen, and Business Ethics (BUSN 20940), taught by Brian Barry.

The Gender and Policy course, which is cross-listed with the public policy and gender and sexuality studies departments, will examine gender differences in career outcomes and family life as well as the effectiveness of policy interventions targeting gender inequality. It will fulfill the economics elective requirement of the business economics specialization.

“There are a bunch of issues we’re going to talk about related to that: what is the role of norms, what is the role of policy, what is the role of potential preferences, and how you separate societal norms versus individual differences in what you want to do,” Gallen said. “There have been some good studies based on what we talk about in the course, but all of those programs also have a lot of unintended consequences, and we’ll talk about those. Policy around the gender pay gap is not straightforward.”

Gallen, who is an assistant professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, said this will be her first time teaching an undergraduate class. She said she en-

couraged students who are interested in policy making or “the economic forces at play” to take it.

“I have been teaching a course that was tangentially related to my research interest for M.P.P.s [Masters in Public Policy students], and I thought that the parts that were good were when I talked about gender-related topics,” Gallen said. “It was kind of clear that it would be nice for me and students to have a course on that topic, so I created the course.”

The Business Ethics course will be taught at the Booth School of Business by Barry. Business Ethics will be offered to undergraduate students for the first time under the “Strategy and the Business Environment” bundle of

the business economics specialization.

Students will discuss the ethics and role of business as well as the various difficult choices the business environment creates.

The course will focus on “Chicago’s spirit of inquiry and curiosity into messy problems in the business world,” Barry said. “It turns out that there are always differences in the room that we can think critically about.”

Barry, clinical professor of economics and executive director of Chicago Booth’s Initiative on Global Markets, said he is looking forward to teaching a course aimed at UChicago undergraduates for the first time.

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Lieutenant Colonel Kyle Bowman Appointed UCPD Police Chief

By ERIC FANG | Senior News Reporter Lieutenant Colonel Kyle Bowman of the Michigan State Police succeeded Mike Kwiatkowski as the chief of police for the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) on April 4.

Bowman’s appointment was announced in a February 25 email from Associate Vice President for Safety and Security Eric Heath to members of the University community.

In this role, Bowman will oversee the UCPD’s law enforcement around the University campus, medical school campus, and neighboring South Side

communities. The UCPD’s patrol area is bounded by 37th Street to the north, 64th Street to the south, Lake Shore Drive to the east, and Cottage Grove Avenue to the west. Bowman will work alongside both University and community leaders to refine crime prevention and community engagement policies.

Before coming to the University of Chicago, Bowman most recently served as the deputy director and commander of Michigan State’s Field Operations Bureau, for which he oversaw the field posts and task forces across multiple lo-

cal and county jurisdictions. As a police officer, Bowman worked with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to promote the training and resources necessary for officers to focus more on proactive policing according to Heath’s email.

Bowman also served as an adjunct instructor at Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, where he taught courses on homeland security. Bowman graduated from Siena Heights University with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and a master’s degree in homeland security leadership. He is certified by the International Association of Chiefs of

Police as an instructor in police leadership.

Kwiatkowski will remain the executive director for campus safety, a role which oversees the University of Chicago Charter School Security, the University of Chicago Laboratory School Security, the Allied Universal security services contract, and Security and Law Enforcement Systems. He was appointed UCPD’s interim chief of police after his predecessor, Kenton Rainey, retired on June 30, 2021.

VIEWPOINTS

Deadlines and Dead Ends in a Nine-Week Quarter Reducing the length of the academic quarter has reduced the quality of inperson instruction and increased students’ academic workload.

By EMMA WEBER Over the past two days, I had taken two finals, written a paper, and—despite the quarter’s having technically been over—pulled an all-nighter in order to finish my last assignment. This wasn’t a case of bad time management: I spent the last week trying to catch up on material that, despite being rushed through during the quarter, I was still expected to know. I had no time to celebrate the end of finals or the quarter with the friends that I wasn’t going to see for a month. I was exhausted.

From consistently having to teach myself content that wasn’t covered in class to burning out during (and because of)

the nonexistent reading period, last quarter was the most overwhelming one I’ve had at the College so far. Everything felt rushed; between classwork and RSOs and wanting to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in years, it felt as though I hardly had any time to breathe. While I initially attributed much of this to readjusting to the in-person college experience, as the quarter wore on, it became impossible to ignore the fact I had more work—and less time to complete it—than ever.

I hadn’t felt this way since the start of my first year, and I can only imagine how much harder the quarter must’ve been for entering first-years, who’ve known nothing but constant pressure and deadlines. Un-

derclassmen should know that while keeping af loat at the school has never been easy, it hasn’t always been this hard either. Last quarter was the first nine-week quarter we’ve experienced in person given that changes to the academic calendar were enacted at the start of the pandemic. Cutting just a week off each quarter might seem pretty innocuous, but it has simultaneously reduced the quality of in-person instruction and noticeably increased the academic workload for students already struggling to balance social, personal, and class obligations as we transition back to normalcy. We should all—firstand second-years especially—be advocating a return to a college experience that strikes

a balance between challenging and rewarding rather than just being the former.

The feeling of being hopelessly behind in a class, or not being able to digest material properly during lectures, is all too familiar for most students at UChicago. Much of the remote learning experience for me was a constant game of catch-up, and it was easy to blame this solely on Zoom fatigue and the nature of remote learning. It was even more jarring, then, to return to in-person learning and find this feeling exacerbated as my classes were structured to squeeze an absurd amount of information into what is typically about 24 hours of instruction per quarter. It’s a phenomenon that

seems to be especially egregious in STEM classes, which tend to have more rigid syllabi.

This was my experience with statistics last quarter; given that there was no time for questions in lecture and major concepts were rushed through at a ridiculous pace (we covered the last third of the syllabus in two lectures), the onus was placed on students to stay afloat. The already limited free time I had was being cut into by additional mandatory lectures I had to watch, alongside extra time I had to spend parsing through my barely intelligible lecture notes.

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“It feels that we have come to a point at which enjoying your time here and doing well often feels like a tradeoff.”

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tion over actual understanding.

In all my classes last quarter, I found myself in a rush to complete problem sets and discussion posts in order to secure a portion of my grade, rather than taking a little extra time to digest material, which was largely because that extra time didn’t exist. This mode of learning, if you can call it that at all, is counter to the approach of “rigorous inquiry” that UChicago preaches. The College, with its Core, is set up so students can make connections across disciplines; what each student has learned at the end of college should be more than the sum of what is learned in each class. Not having time to build a deeper understanding of course material doesn’t just undermine a student’s experience

in any given class, but further robs them of the opportunity to make meaningful interdisciplinary connections—not to mention that, within majors and minors, lacking a solid understanding of foundational concepts makes engaging with complex material a lot more difficult and a lot less enjoyable.

It feels that we have come to a point at which enjoying your time here and doing well often feels like a trade-off—it’s no wonder we’ve developed a reputation for being the school “where fun goes to die.” Students want to stay on top of their classes, but they also want to compensate for the lack of social opportunities available over the past two years. Upperclassmen should have the time to reconnect with old

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JANICE CHO friends and underclassmen to fully embrace the college experience. Yet less time during the quarter means less time available to deepen connections with others on campus, many of which have already been weakened due to a lack of in-person interaction. It’s easy to coast through college without really pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, but it’s also a lot less enjoyable. Knowing that most of your year will be spent either in the Reg or on break encourages students to isolate themselves and focus

on nothing but work.

The benefits the University conjectured in its report proposing the calendar changes, even if they were fully realized, pale in comparison to the negative consequences felt over the past quarter. One benefit stressed was that the extended breaks would “allow for stronger recovery” for students. Did the University at all consider that by making quarters less intensive in the first place, students might not need months to “recover?” The longer summer break was also meant to cater to

students with internships, but it doesn’t make sense to overhaul an age-old calendar system before visiting less radical solutions first. Most students managed fine under the traditional system, but for those with earlier start dates, the University should look to enforce departmental accommodations more effectively—the main issue was, and has always been, certain departments being inflexible with their calendars. It feels very much as though the University rushed this decision and CONTINUED ON PG. 7

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“It doesn’t make sense to overhaul an age-old calendar system before visiting less radical solutions first.”

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is refusing to look at the actual impact it is having on students.

When I joined UChicago,

I was most excited about the opportunity to make new connections—between different concepts and modes of think-

ing within the classroom and through meeting new people and friends. It feels as though the University is limiting stu-

dents’ potential to make these connections by reducing not only the amount of time but also the mental capacity that

students have to form them.

Emma Weber is a third-year in the College.

A Love Letter to Cathey Dining Commons The time we dedicate to savoring our meals can serve as a peaceful pause in the bustle of our daily lives.

By IRENE QI There’s a seemingly innocuous photo album in my phone’s camera roll that holds a special place in my heart. Simply titled “CATHEY,” the album contains a conglomeration of photographed meals from Cathey Dining Commons: White ceramic plates laden with grilled chicken, roasted chicken, fried chicken—always chicken—sit against the warm yellow of the wooden tables. Bowls piled with honeydew, green grapes, and strawberries (and when Cathey has strawberries, it’s truly a day of celebration) accent the main course, and small plates of raspberry cheesecake or a simple sugar cookie polish off the meal. I take the photo using the 0.5x zoom on my phone’s camera lens so that I can encapsulate the entire satisfaction of a Cathey dining experience.

For me, “quick bites” at the dining hall don’t exist. Except for the occasional and forced scarfing down of lunch in between lectures and lab sections, my time spent at Cathey isn’t complete until at least the oneand-a-half–hour mark. It would do well for all of us to take inspiration from the French: Instead of treating meals as a rushed necessity, we should try carving

out the time to fully enjoy them as a meaningful pause from the frantic rush of school and life.

I’ll admit that we’ve heard this sentiment a million times: Life is busy, work is stressful, find time for breaks, it’s good to take breaks, it’s necessary to take breaks, or whatever. I’ve scoffed at my parents for giving me this same advice (seriously, Dad, weekly yoga classes sound nice and all, but downward dog hurts my hands). And yet these incessant suggestions do carry some sort of wisdom. Amid overloaded Google Calendars, I’ve found my meals at Cathey to be bubbles of peace.

On days I have early classes, I savor the quiet breakfast in solitude with headphones plugged in and soft Taylor Swift filtering out background chatter. During late lunches in an almost-empty dining area, soft sunlight radiates through the wall-to-wall glass windows and bathes the room in a calming gold. Or sometimes, flurries of snow blanket the sidewalk while I, sated with warmth, press my phone camera against the glass—like an inverted snow globe. Dinners are an affair: Even when the plates accumulate and subsequently empty and the crumbs are wiped clean, my friends and I will sit—

ISABELLA LIU as the sun sets in visions of pink and orange through the glass of the fishbowl and as strangers, acquaintances, and the microcelebrities of our campus lives set their plates down only to get up again 15 minutes later— chatting about nothing and everything. Bright laughter rings and excited conversation rises and falls in waves of sound as everyone catches everyone else up with their days. When con-

versations run dry, comfortable silence stretches as we, unwilling to face the heaping realities of RSO meetings or tedious workloads left at our desks, revel in a moment free of responsibility.

Meals have always run the schedule of my day. When I’m home, I know I will sit down with my family to have dinner every night, whether it’s my mother’s home-cooked Chi-

nese dishes or takeout from our local pho joint. I remember evenings that I grumbled and complained, knowing that dragging myself downstairs for dinner would interrupt my nap or homework or whatever melodramatics a high school student liked going through. But, like clockwork, every evening, I’d find myself seated next to my little brother at the dining taCONTINUED ON PG. 8

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“Cathey exists as a center to gather with friends and community at the end of the day.”

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ble, watching him cram food down his throat in a way only a pubescent boy could.

On campus, Cathey’s proximity to Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons— where I reside—transforms it from a regular college dining hall to a sanctuary, a place for

unwinding and tranquility.

Besides just looking homey (far more than Baker’s sterile white, Woodlawn’s industrial openfloor plan, and Bartlett’s remnants of the old gym), Cathey exists as a center to gather with friends and community at the end of the day. It’s an opportunity to shed the stresses

of whatever problem set you don’t know how to complete or the upcoming essay you haven’t bothered to write. Always rushing to the next and the next and the next is exhausting. Instead of treating dinner as a maybe, as an only if I squeeze out the time, take advantage of the “free” meals and dedicate a duration

solely to yourself, your friends, and your contentment.

Perhaps not everyone romanticizes a dining hall the way I like to, or maybe you just don’t feel like finding peace over dry chicken and mushy grapes. Regardless, meals can act as a deliberate pause in our hectic scramble to do better,

accomplish more. And if I can find contentment in sitting for hours at Cathey with plates of curly fries, pretending that my responsibilities don’t exist— well, who can blame me?

Irene Qi is a first-year in the College.

ARTS Authentic Transcript of Emmett Till Murder Trial Brought to The Stage in Heart-Wrenching Adaptation Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till was an immersive reenactment of the court proceedings in Mississippi in 1955 based on the real trial transcript that had been buried for 50 years.

By SABRINA CHANG | Arts Reporter The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 is a story usually glossed over in high school history classes, summarized as an act of racial violence that sparked an upsurge of activism and resistance during the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement.

While this holds true, the outrage and heartbreak intertwined with the crime are often largely overlooked. Collaboraction Theatre Company and the DuSable Museum of African American History sought to change this through Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, the first-ever stage adaptation of the authentic, recently discovered transcript of the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, the two men found not guilty of murdering Emmett Till.

The docudrama-style show was designed to be an immersive experience attempting to recreate the 1955 Mississippi courtroom in which the trial of Emmett Till’s murderers took place. During the show, the audience co-mingled with witnesses for the defense, prosecution, and

other family members in the courtroom setting. The stage was set up with a walkway for witnesses to move directly back and forth between the audience and the podium as the court proceedings were reenacted.

All of the actors and actresses were phenomenal. They approached a very difficult topic with professionalism while staying in character before, during, and after the show. They each portrayed their character to a tee, even down to the way they sat in their chairs on stage. Before the show even started, Tyler Burke (who played Roy Bryant) sat back in his chair, stretching his arms and yawning to show his nonchalant attitude towards the trial at hand. Small actions like this really came together to bring the courtroom to life.

Though all the actors and actresses deserve a shoutout, Adia Alli as Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother, delivered a standout performance. You could CONTINUED ON PG. 9

Adia Alli (left) portrayed Mamie Till-Mobley in Collaboraction’s Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till. courtesy of joel maisonet

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“The adaptation of the trial’s transcript shed light on a heinous act of racial violence and injustice that holds even greater implications in today’s context.”

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see the pain that engulfed her entire body throughout the trial from start to finish.

From the moment I walked into the theater, I was immediately drawn toward her figure, sitting alone on one corner of the stage, hands wringing nervously as she stared into space and seemed to occasionally whisper to herself. Her testimony was especially powerful—a single Black woman identifying her son’s body in front of an all-white panel. She stood her ground and did not allow the aggressive questioning of defense attorney J.J. Breland, played by Steve Silver, to affect her. Grief-stricken but poised, Alli’s performance was truly heart-wrenching, and the way that she touched the entire audience was unmistakable.

Darren Jones, who played Emmett Till’s great-uncle Mose Wright, also gave a standout performance. One of the most monumental parts of the show, and the history of the Till trial, was when Wright was asked to point out Emmett Till’s murderers, Roy Bryant and JW Milam, during the trial. Eyes wide with fear, he slowly raised his trembling finger and held it, suspended in the air, pointing straight at the two men seated almost directly in front of him. His anguish and terror were palpable through

his facial expressions and body language, captivating the audience as he testified in front of a stage full of white men. The courage it must have taken for Wright to defy all odds and stand up there was evident; as he descended from the stage and walked right past me to his seat in the audience, you could almost see the beads of sweat on his face. I continued to glance at Jones every once in a while throughout the performance, and he maintained a tense look of painful concern the entire time. Wright’s testimony will continue to be cemented in history as one of the bravest moments of the Civil Rights Movement, and I think Jones truly did it justice.

What also really struck me were the little details that contributed to the overall accuracy of the reenactment. For instance, the courtroom had two separate bibles used to swear in the white and Black witnesses during the trial. There was also a particular emphasis on the Black and white members not touching each other; at one point, one of the Black witnesses stood next to the walkway waiting for the white witness to pass before proceeding onto the stage. These details made the atmosphere of a courtroom set in 1955 much more vivid.

The most compelling part of the en-

tire performance had to be the ending: Alli stepped out into the spotlight with the rest of the cast behind her as the lighting turned a deep blue color. Then, voice slightly quavering with emotion, she read out the names of Black Americans murdered after Emmett Till. The theater was completely silent for several moments, then everyone rose in a standing ovation.

An audience member near me said, “How many more?”

How many more? That is the question we were left with after watching Trial in the Delta. The adaptation of the trial’s transcript shed light on a heinous act of racial violence and injustice that holds even greater implications in today’s context and that, frankly, not enough people are aware of or care enough about.

After the performance, the audience members continued to explore these issues through a “Crucial Conversation” hosted

by Marcus Robinson, co-director of Enrich Chicago, a collaborative organization committed to ending systemic racism in the arts sector. I found this part of the event particularly insightful. The audience was extremely diverse; there were people from all over the country, of all ages and races.

Yet when each volunteer shared their reflections on the performance and overall

experience, the snaps, murmurs, shouts, and even tears of agreement that followed created a unique sense of unity and community. People talked about how the experience impacted them personally; one audience member described how it felt being alive and living in Mississippi at the time of Emmett Till’s murder. Another even had ties to someone who had attended his funeral. Young students discussed how they had never heard of Emmett Till’s murder, and others talked about how we are still living in the same world of injustices today.

I have truly never felt more shocked and heavy-hearted, but also more empowered, than during that open conversation.

The creative team, including co-directors Anthony Moseley and Dana N. Anderson, and co-adaptors G. Riley Mills and Willie Round, did an amazing job of portraying an accurate account of one of the most significant failures of the U.S. legal system in the 20th century. This whole event was extremely eye-opening, and I hope that Collaboraction Theater Company and the DuSable Museum of African American History continue to present and host powerful theater productions that seek to explore critical issues and promote change.

Burning Loud and Bright, Killswitch Engage Screams About Living and Dying Technically skilled, bold, and inspiring, famed metalcore band Killswitch Engage headlined a March 7 concert at Radius Chicago.

By ZACHARY LEITER | Arts Reporter To go from the bitter, wintry outdoors into Radius Chicago’s sweat-filled coliseum was to enter another world. The air smelled of beer and smoke. Thousands of earring-clad, bearded men jostled, shouted, and hoisted each other in the air, pushing towards the stage. Metal music

superfans yelled their affection for each other, embracing as sound thundered through the hall. Killswitch Engage lit up the night with screeching guitars, wailing voices, and a barrage of strobe lights and spotlights.

Formed in 1999, Killswitch Engage has

been at the forefront of metalcore—a blend of hardcore punk and extreme metal—for almost two decades. They’ve been nominated for Grammy Awards and in 2016, they reached 17th on the Billboard Artist 100. Now in their forties, Killswitch Engage’s musicians remain fiery and fervent.

With zeal and enthusiasm that have endeared them to many, the band combines

singing, screaming, and blaring guitars.

They’re not all doom and gloom, however; front man Jesse Leach once said the band’s music contains “unity, positivity, and love.” The mood in Radius was certainly exuberant.

Los Angeles band Light the Torch opened the March 7 show, led by powerful CONTINUED ON PG. 10

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vocalist Howard Jones, who left Killswitch Engage in 2012. Light the Torch’s set was a fanfare of melodic drumming and deafening screeches. Fans thrust devil horns into the air and crowd surfers surged above the sea of bobbing heads. Jones was the star of Light the Torch’s set as he prowled and death growled; Drummer Alex Rüdinger was also excellent. The band closed with their 2018 hit “Die Alone,” and the crowd wailed alongside them.

Following Light the Torch, August Burns Red played a blazing set, featuring songs from across their 19-year history, including a bold metal cover of the Legend of Zelda theme. Lead singer Jake Luhrs was magnetic, swinging his mic through the air before pulling it back towards himself; the crowd was drawn in too. Laser beams, smoke cannons, and spotlights framed the four-man band throughout their fif-

ty-minute set.

And finally, to screams and cries, Killswitch Engage emerged. Opening with songs off their 2019 album Atonement, they belted out lyrics as the crowd swayed, arms to the sky. Lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, rhythm guitarist Joel Stroetzel, and bass guitarist Mike D’Antonio stormed across the stage. Their thrashing, flailing, and dancing felt natural, especially for a touring show. Wearing an “I’m With Stupid” shirt, Dutkiewicz was particularly expressive; bouncing up and down, at times contorting his mouth and at times grinning stupidly, he had presence and poise rare to find in hardcore metal music. He displayed his gruff but stellar vocals, and along with them an impressive ability to match mood to music.

That combination is where Killswitch Engage excels. All of their music is bold, thrilling, and offensively loud. However,

Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D’Antonio’s hair flies as he plays.

zachary leiter

they use changes in body language and vocal quality to draw distinctions between their songs. The lighting changes frequently as well; the show was as much a special effects spectacle as a rock concert. Whether backlit, spotlit, or standing in waves of moving colors, the band was impossible to look away from.

Killswitch Engage understands the people they reach, in all senses. When speaking to the crowd between songs, they are frequently crass. Dutkiewicz and Leach have strong chemistry on stage, which at times betrays them as they play off each other in childish exchanges. Generally, though, their explicitness is on message with their brand. Their lyrics are frequently uplifting—“When the fear and panic takes a hold / You must take control”—and their speeches are similar. “Be present in the moment, and be grateful for all you have,” said Leach toward the end of

the show. A few songs later, Howard Jones rejoined his former bandmates on stage.

Leach and Jones embraced, and the crowd erupted.

Jumping, yelling, and full-on rocking, Jones sang alongside Leach for the band’s final two songs. On the floor, fans ceased their mosh pit, and screamed alongside the duo, who delivered powerful renditions of “The End of Heartache” and “The Signal Fire.”

Metalcore is decidedly not for everyone. It’s brash, overwhelming, and loud.

Like, really loud. But for both lovers of metalcore and the uninitiated alike, Killswitch Engage presents an inspiring, well-produced, and technically-skilled version of the genre. And for two hours on a cold Monday, they brought thousands of Chicagoans to life with a roar and bang.

“You’re alive! This is beautiful!” exclaimed Leach.

August Burns Red lead vocalist Jake Luhrs commands the stage. zachary leiter

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A Lesson in Mayday Parade In a review of Mayday Parade’s recent concert, Arts reporter Veronica Chang explores the changes that have occurred in the pop-punk genre.

By VERONICA CHANG | Arts Reporter Pop-punk concerts are at a crossroads. There’s the celebration: the return to live music after the COVIDcaused hiatuses, the ability to jam out and foster that connection between artist and audience that works so well with a live band. Then there’s the melancholy: the realization that the poppunk sound is one of the past, a relic of radio airwaves in the late 2000s before the emergence and dominance of EDM. Most pop-punk concerts now rely on the nostalgia generated by these crossroads, acting as reunions or looking back on eras gone by.

Florida-based band Mayday Parade, with their pop-punk/emo-pop/rock sound, is no exception. Like the bands that opened their most recent tour, Real

Friends and Magnolia Park, Mayday Parade is still regularly releasing new music and performing. This particular tour was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mayday Parade’s eponymous third album. The second night of their two shows in Chicago went back even further. The band changed up their regular setlist by focusing on songs from their 15-year-old debut album, A Lesson in Romantics.

However, that’s not to say the show wasn’t fun—the band’s return to older material worked well with the crowd, who cheered, danced, and scream-sang along to the lyrics of every song. As Mayday Parade tore through hits like “Jamie All Over” and “Jersey,” the crowd responded with exuberant mosh-pitting

and crowd-surfing. The latter was occasionally over-exuberant, resulting in the concert being paused midway through due to an injury; to Mayday Parade’s credit, the pause happened the instant lead singer Derek Sanders realized someone had been hurt, and the music did not resume until the injured party had been taken care of, and the band was assured of everyone else’s wellbeing.

Concerts are a place to let go, to lose both your hearing and your voice.

Chicago’s House of Blues was packed for Mayday Parade, a maskless sea of flannel that might’ve first listened to A Lesson in Romantics in middle school or high school, when that nascent combination of angst and guitar just hits right because your parents Just Don’t Get It. And the audience’s enthusiasm contributed to the excitement of the show—the

atmosphere never waned, even for slower songs like “Miserable at Best,” which featured Sanders alone on vocals and piano, as the audience became a sea of waving phone flashlights.

Bands like Real Friends and Magnolia Park show that pop-punk isn’t dead and that there are still new acts innovating and creating. It’s not like the atmosphere created at pop-punk concerts is completely irrelevant, either, being more reflective than purely nostalgic.

But the genre is past its heyday, turning concerts like this one into nights of reminiscence. Ultimately, Mayday Parade’s concert can be best summed up as the after-party of a high school reunion.

People get drunk, celebrate things that were once near and dear to them, and try not to think about everything that’s changed.

SPORTS A Cornerstone of UChicago Football The UChicago athletic community and alumni network have raised thousands to support defensive line coach John Kropke’s road to recovery.

By EVA McCORD | Sports Reporter When he was asked to recall the date of the phone call, assistant football coach and defensive coordinator Luke Cutkomp’s brow furrowed slightly. He hesitated—rare for a coach praised by his players for being confident and decisive. His eyes searched the air in front of him, as if he was trying to skim through his own memory—the dates had been “kind of running together” lately, he admitted.

Then, he placed it: March 23. A Wednesday evening.

“Coach Kropke’s brother called me and

said, ‘Hey, I got some bad news,’” Cutkomp said. “‘John had a major stroke and is in intensive care at the University of Chicago.”

Defensive line coach John Kropke entered his 10th season with the Maroons in 2021; since the stroke, he has been unable to speak or use the right side of his body.

Kropke has been surrounded by his family and loved ones as he begins to navigate the road to recovery.

Since his injury, Kropke’s absence has left a void within the athletic and greater University communities alike; Cutkomp

describes Kropke as a “mainstay” of the UChicago football program.

“For eight years, for every one of our meetings, Coach Kropke has sat in the back right corner of the VVR [Video Viewing Room],” Cutkomp said. “Each team has its own identity and makeup, which is understandable, as kids come and go, but Coach Kropke has always been a cornerstone of my time here.”

Arriving at the University just one year before Cutkomp, Kropke took a distinctly unconventional path to the world of coaching. A successful player in high school, Kropke’s talents led him to a foot-

ball scholarship at Illinois State University and nine seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Ottawa Rough Riders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. Following his “cup of coffee in the CFL,” as Cutkomp put it, the defensive coordinator praised Kropke for his profound influence not just the on trajectory and success of the Maroons, but on Cutkomp’s own coaching career.

“Everyone around you makes you better in coaching, and as a coach, you want to take advantage of the experiences other fellow coaches have had,” Cutkomp said.

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“Since his injury, Kropke’s absence has left a void within the athletic and greater University communities alike; Cutkomp describes Kropke as a ‘mainstay’ of the UChicago football program.”

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“Coach [Kropke] has had a great impact on me professionally, in terms of understanding the game, how I teach and prepare….

I have really enjoyed our time together.”

The pair have worked alongside one another for the past nine years. Cutkomp underscored how Kropke’s contributions to the program and University extend beyond his prowess as a leader—he has also been a day-to-day role model.

“During the season, you’re with your fellow coaches more than your own family.

You get to know them as people, and so it was very hard,” Cutkomp said, emphasizing his next few words. “Because John is such a good person. A good human being.”

Left with the almost insurmountable task of navigating spring quarter without a beloved member of their team, the Maroons immediately began making their own phone calls.

“When we heard about the news, it was obviously really shocking, and a lot of us just started calling each other to support one another,” said recent graduate and linebacker Oliver Morton.

Morton, alongside defensive lineman and fellow recent graduate Davis Govrik, quickly organized a GoFundMe fundraiser that has now raised almost $60,000 from over 350 donors. The fundraiser hopes to aid in Kropke’s rehabilitation expenses, as well as to generally reciprocate the dedication and support Kropke has extended to his players throughout his entire career.

“Our goal was [to raise] $25,000 when we first made the fundraiser—we raised $25,000 on the first day.” Morton said.

“It’s amazing to see how many people he touched, and how many lives he has positively impacted.”

Morton and Govrik, while grateful for the chance to support their coach, rejected any praise of their initiative or quick action with smiles on their faces.

“This is not something that’s just been us two—this has been the result of an entire network of support, composed of the team, along with a lot of other communities coach Krop has impacted.” Morton

said. “The fundraiser was a quick mobilization of everybody sharing the same mindset of ‘this guy has done so much for us—how can we possibly do anything?’

And, for all he’s done for us, this is really the least we can do.”

Govrik echoed Morton’s words. “We’ve had a lot of successes as a team, especially this past year, and we had a really good team both on and off the field,” Govrik said.

“We were basically all brothers. And seeing the outpouring of support now, it all comes full circle. It’s just about the community.”

Govrik said his own relationship with Kropke was formative in his time on and off the field; the defensive lineman saw the coach as a defining figure in his personal and professional development during his time at UChicago.

“When I was recruited, I didn’t really know who coach Krop was. But right away, he took me under his wing,” Govrik said.

“He’s always been there for me.”

“Just this past year, during the first game of the season against Wash U, I had to go to the ER for some full-body cramps.

While everybody was celebrating, I was there for four or five hours. Finally, I needed somebody to pick me up,” Govrik said.

“And on his Saturday night, coach Krop came in his car to the hospital and drove me back to my place. That’s who Krop is— he’s a caregiver.”

Morton went on to share his own fond memories of Kropke, laughing as he recalled how he and Kropke, both passionate fans of Boston and Chicago sports, would chat about the highs and lows of “both Sox—not just the White Sox.” People gave countless examples of the ease with which Kropke was able to form deep, lasting connections with his players—even through the smallest acts of kindness. “Us linebackers bring the equipment in at the end of the day,” Morton said. “And as we’re walking out from the field, he’d always give you a fist bump on the way out and tell you to have a great day. Always putting a smile on someone else’s face, that’s what I always think of.”

“It’s been certainly great to see our kids

come together for coach Krop because it’s so obviously apparent what he means to the program,” Cutkomp said. “He’s appreciated by both his current players and former players for what he did for them.”

Alongside his honesty and humility, Kropke’s dedication to the stability, longevity, and success of the team shone through all that he did, according to Cutkomp, which is a spirit that has transcended both his roles as professional player and coach. “In either ’91 or ’92, when [Kropke] played for the Ottawa Rough Riders, he came in while the team was just getting started,” Cutkomp said. “And while John was certainly establishing himself, he was willing to renegotiate a contract to get more players available to the team to make the entire team better. The GM [General Manager] said that stuck with him for years…and that is just Coach, to a T.” And while Morton and Govrik will soon be saying goodbye to Hyde Park, Morton expressed that, despite the tragic circumstances, he felt blessed for the chance to repay Kropke for his support before leaving campus.

“I would just say it’s remarkable,” Morton said. “‘It’s a horrible situation that has brought about a way to reconnect with my experience here, and the people who really mattered to me—coach Kropke being one

of them.”

“We’ve had a lot of great memories together. And I can’t think of just one defining moment, one certain win or practice that stands out,” Cutkomp said. “But we always seem to be laughing.”

In terms of his hopes for the future, Cutkomp stressed that the awe-inspiring community response is a reflection of, fundamentally, who Kropke is and will continue to be upon his return to the Maroons.

“We hope this moment captures what coach Kropke means to his players and the program,” Cutkomp said. “We want it loud and clear to everyone just what type of a human being he is and how much of a valued member he is to our athletic and University communities.”

Govrik shared Cutkomp’s sentiments, summarizing it plainly: The foundation of Kropke’s legacy and career is his commitment to others. “Kropke didn’t have to do this,” Govrik said. “This guy was a CFL Northern All-Star. He could have gone for a ‘higher up’ job, not Division III. But he decided to settle down in the middle of Hyde Park, Illinois, and to be a part of the community. And he loves it here.”

The fundraiser to help support coach John Kropke’s medical expenses can be found here.

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