Freshman David Sipos runs for Brookline Town Meeting
EDITORIAL PAGE 8
Young people cope with the threat of climate change
SPORTS PAGE 12
Men’s basketball picks up 8th straight home win
BY CHINANUEKPELE OKOLI
Contributing Writer
Walking up the stairs is difficult for Boston University junior Caine Murcia. With a disability that makes half of their body go numb, they have to use an elevator to access other floors.
When the sole elevator in the College of General Studies was broken for a month, Murcia struggled to go up and down the stairs.
“I’m leaning against the wall, trying not to fall and lose my balance,” they said. “It’s really hard to navigate around that when you have to send an email being like, ‘I just don’t know when I’ll be able to attend classes again.’”
Murcia added inaccessibility in classroom buildings impedes their ability to learn. They are not alone in their challenges.
Around one in four –– or 61 million –– Americans report living with at least one disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
IN ACCESSIBLE
Nearly 21% of college students reported having a disability in 2020, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Anna Lim, Deaf Studies lecturer in Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, experiences inaccessibility daily as a Deaf person.
“I’ll go to work and then sometimes, in Boston, the bus
Ibram X. Kendi leaves BU, CAR to close
BY NICOLE ABRAMS Senior Writer
Ibram X. Kendi, author, activist and founder of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, is leaving BU after five years, and CAR will close June 30 when its charter with the University expires, according to a Jan. 30 announcement.
Kendi will be joining Howard University in Washington, D.C. as the director of the newly established Howard University Institute for Advanced Study.
Current CAR staff will remain employed by BU through June 30 and receive resources and support from the University to help with their transition and job searches, according to a University statement.
“We thank Dr. Kendi and the Center’s staff and affiliated faculty for their contributions in advancing scholarship, teaching, and policymaking,” the statement says. “The University wishes Dr.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
will break down and I’ll have no idea what’s happening,” Lim said through a sign language interpreter.
At BU, Lim has struggled to receive dental treatment, access sporting events and attend meetings. Personally, she’s had trouble finding mental health therapy.
“That uncertainty is the most challenging aspect in my personal life,” Lim said. “It’s not
just the school. It can be work and then personal life as well.”
Leela Munsiff, former president of the BU Disability Collective and a College of Arts and Sciences alumni, understands that feeling of uncertainty.
“We’re the last group that people think of accommodating or making spaces inclusive for,” Munsiff said. “There’s this idea
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
City of Boston launches Family Overdose Support Fund
BY LAUREN ALBANO Campus Co-Editor
When Brendan Little worked as policy director for the City of Boston’s Office of Recovery Services, he often received requests from constituents to help pay for their loved ones’ funerals, but the office did not have the dedicated funds to support them. Little, who is in long-term recovery from a substance abuse disorder, dropped out of high
school and later earned his GED. He recalled mailing his college application, only to realize he couldn’t afford the $200 processing fee.
“I remember just feeling really ashamed and sad and stressed,” Little said. “That $200, at that point, wasn’t just an amount of money I needed. It was my selfworth.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
AND MADYLINE SWEARING Campus Co-Editor
EMMA CLEMENT | GRAPHICS EDITOR
‘Behind closed doors’: Ibram X. Kendi departs BU, Center for Antiracist Research to close after 5 years
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Kendi well on his next chapter.”
CAR was founded by Kendi in June 2020 with a mission of convening experts from different disciplines to develop innovative ways to understand and explain “seemingly intractable problems of racial inequity and injustice.” The Center’s ultimate goal is “to build an antiracist society that ensures racial equity and social justice.”
Senior Bermina Chery said when she first heard about the CAR’s launch as a freshman, she “was intrigued to see what would come out of it.”
“I feel as though particularly [predominantly white institutions] need a consistent racial awakening and need to be pushed towards racial progress,” Chery said. “I thought it was a good initiative, something that could help propel the University forward.”
Senior Nathan Duong, president of the Asian Student Union, said the Center and its initiatives sounded “really positive.”
“I remember being really inspired by the Center,” Duong said. “It was one of the reasons that I applied to BU and one of the factors that drew me here.”
Duong said BU “needs to continue to maintain its commitments to antiracism and its practices and research” even
after CAR closes. “It needs to figure out alternative routes to maintain those commitments and be public about how it is maintaining those antiracism commitments as well,” Duong said.
In 2023, three years after the Center was founded, allegations of the mismanaged funds, mass layoffs and toxicity in the workplace came to light.
When Chery first learned of the allegations, she was “shocked” and “disgusted.”
She said it felt like the Center was “very behind closed doors” to students.
“You never heard anything or knew much about what they were doing, at least I didn’t,” Chery said. “I became very suspicious of the leadership, but also what exactly the Center was meant to accomplish and its goals.”
In a Q&A with The Daily Free Press following the allegations, published Oct. 2, 2023, Kendi said a large part of his job is to ensure the organization’s longterm success.
Nevertheless, the Center will close in June after its charter with the University expires.
Freshman Mariaelena Suazo Rosario said she was unaware of CAR but does not think it is “fair to just get rid of something that is needed on campus.” She said the University “is already struggling to accommodate people of color’s needs.”
Rosario said CAR closing “doesn’t make the school look good” given the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action and the Trump administration’s rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education institutions.
She also said she felt it was unfair the Center was not advertised widely to students.
“What if one of the things that I wanted to research was antiracism, anything that was less biased, especially towards race?” Rosario said. “For me not to know about that, I don’t think that’s fair.”
She said there was a “barrier” between CAR and the BU community.
“I don’t even know where the Antiracist Research Center is,” Chery said. “How do I get there? How do I get involved?”
Chery added she feels Kendi didn’t extend his work beyond the Center and “bridge the gap” with Black students.
“I don’t think that he integrated himself enough into the Black community, make connections with Black students on campus and Black organizations on campus, enough to propel racial equity on BU campus outside of CAR,” Chery said.
Chery said she did not wish to “intentionally disparage a person of color,” only “critique” Kendi, especially because she understands it’s difficult for Black
people to get into predominantly white spaces.
“It just felt like there was him on this side, and then there was us on the other side,” Chery said. “He was supposedly advocating
for us and doing research on our behalf, but never really got to connect with us, and I think that might have played a part in why exactly things had to end up this way.”
BU named in inaugural ‘Mental Health Services Honor Roll,’ students advocate for representation in mental health services
BY AVERY FOX Contributing Writer
Boston University was one of 16 universities listed in the Princeton Review’s inaugural “2025 Mental Health Services Honor Roll,” leaving students appreciative yet critical.
The list, released Oct. 28 following a yearlong project in partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, was created to benefit enrolled and soon-tobe college students by naming universities the Princeton Review determined to have a strong commitment to students’ mental health and wellbeing.
BU Executive Director of
Student Wellbeing Carrie Landa said she feels a “sense of pride” for BU’s position on the list. She said she recognizes the time and collaboration it took to get BU’s mental health resources where they are now.
“It was years of really important, collaborative work and commitment to recognizing that student mental health and well being are integral to the success of our students, not just in their academics, but in their social engagement [and] in post graduation satisfaction,” Landa said.
The 16 schools selected had to display three features: overall administrative support
for campus wellbeing, healthy quality of life on campus and a capacity to empower students to address their own mental health.
The Princeton Review cites BU’s more than 180 wellbeing programs, services, events and learning opportunities as evidence for its commitment to providing mental health services. Director of Health Promotion & Prevention Katharine Mooney said “cultivating a culture of care” through mental health resources on campus requires focus and attention.
“We are living through a chaotic time in history that is posing new challenges to students’ mental
health and our community mental health nearly every day,” Mooney said. “This requires us to be focused and intentional with our time and our resources.”
Landa said Student Wellbeing aims to support students’ “holistic wellbeing” through education and experiential learning. She said she thinks the University has done a “great job” in responding to increased demand for mental health services.
“BU is a really great drive in enhancing the suite of services that are offered for students, from expanding access by changing our model, by increasing capacity, by hiring more staff and then by increasing the offerings through roots and prevention programming as well,” Landa said.
Students are expressing appreciation for the University’s mental health services, but are also wishing for more.
Senior Mimi Brown said she isn’t the most familiar with mental health resources on campus, but appreciates how the University provides contact information to mental health resources, such as Sexual Assault Response & Prevention and the Behavioral Medicine Clinic, on the back of students’ Terrier Cards.
Brown is on the e-board of multiple clubs, and said the University has asked them to promote mental health resources as well.
“That’s also really helpful, that they know who the clubs are, and they want us to share those resources with our membership
as well,” Brown said. “They obviously do really care about us.”
BU also houses student groups that work to promote mental health services. For example, the BIPOC Mental Health Collective serves as a communal space for students of color to take care of their mental health.
Junior Cavelle Simpson, president of BIPOC Mental Health Collective, said she still sees room for improvement on BU’s mental health services, especially when it comes to representation.
“Not everybody’s able to get in contact with a Black therapist or a Black female therapist,” Simpson said. “I know of a Black female therapist that is there, but that limits the amount of people or types of people that can access care on the University’s campus.”
Landa said she doesn’t think the University is “too busy to take on students,” but she understands if students feel the demand for services is so high that there is no room for them.
“What students want versus what can be offered are sometimes two different things,” Landa said.
While BU provides many mental health services, Simpsons said it needs a focus on diversity and representation within mental health.
“At a university that claims to have all of these resources, then you really should try to hire more people that can provide all those resources for the diverse population that we have here,” Simpson said.
COURTESY OF FUZHEADO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Ibram X. Kendi at South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas on March 8. The Center for Antiracist Research will be closing when its university charter expires on June 30.
CITY
President Trump’s DEI, gender ideology executive orders spark divided responses among Bostonians
BY TAVISHI CHATTOPADHYAY Associate City Editor
President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders limiting gender recognition and dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs cause mixed reactions from students, Boston schools and advocacy groups.
Trump signed an executive order Jan. 20 dictating that the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — and said the sexes are determined by whether someone has egg or sperm cells at birth.
Per the executive order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants will be segregated by this definition of gender. Taxpayer money will not be used to fund transition services for transgender inmates. The order also repeals protections for transgender individuals in the workforce.
A day later, Trump signed another executive order targeting DEI programs. The order halted all federal DEI programs and directed that strong action be taken to “end private sector DEI discrimination.”
In response to Trump’s executive order, Northeastern University redirected the link to its DEI office to a website entitled “Belonging at Northeastern.” The new site does not explain where the university’s past office went, nor does it provide any reasoning for the relabelling effort.
“While internal structures
and approaches may need to be adjusted, the university’s core values don’t change,”
Renata Nyul, vice president for communications at Northeastern University, wrote in an email to the Daily Free Press. “We believe that embracing our differences— and building a community of belonging—makes Northeastern stronger.”
The Boston University administration is still determining how to deal with the executive order.
“We are reviewing and assessing all recent Executive Orders,” BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press.
Among students at BU, reactions to the termination of federal DEI programs are split along party lines.
Nina Gulbransen, a senior at Boston University and president of the BU Democrats Club, said DEI executive orders would harm women, people of color and people in the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I think they’re incredibly harmful,” Gulbransen said. “They’re rolling back a lot of progress we’ve made to redress the fact that in the workplace, especially, only a certain demographic is treated equally.”
Grace Price, vice president of the BU College Republicans, said distrust in these executive orders is misplaced.
“Trump taking away even the term DEI has been scary for a lot of people,” Price said. “But what people aren’t realizing is this is not meaning that companies are
not going to be able to hire people from different backgrounds.”
Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press that the executive orders are a “deliberate, calculated attempt to erase marginalized communities from government.”
“We have to call this out for what it is,” Pressley wrote. “Trump’s onslaught against DEI is resegregation and a wholesale attack on our civil rights.”
For Nicholas McCaskill, president of Trans Resistance Massachusetts, an advocacy group based in Boston, the executive orders felt personal.
“I told my partner the other day, it’s almost like we’re living in a Jim Crow Era,” McCaskill said. “I’m just really worried about what that means living in America going forward.”
Tre’Andre Valentine, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, said he was concerned that Trump’s executive actions would not stop with trans people.
“The administration is putting people through emotional trauma, and that is on purpose,” said Valentine. “It’s meant to tire us out.”
While Democrats and transgender advocacy groups in Boston are troubled by the transgender executive order, conservatives at BU are supportive.
“I think it’s actually a mistake to accommodate these people’s identity if you believe that their identity is not congruent with
reality and that it’s steeped in falsehood,” said Colin Sharpe, BU freshman and member of the BU College Republicans.
“When you’re accommodating a false identity like that, all you’re really doing is hurting a person in the long run.”
Valentine said he wants to see a statewide implementation of already existing Massachusetts’ laws protecting transgender people.
McCaskill said they were afraid these executive orders would cause Massachusetts to “regress.”
“I have already seen certain school institutions… rolling back their DEI programs,” they said. “We’ve seen some regression happening already.”
In response to criticism of
Trump’s executive orders, Price predicted they wouldn’t be as far reaching as detractors expect. .
“Just because DEI isn’t federally mandated does not mean that really any of it’s going to go away,” said Price. “It might be a little harder for some people to get hired or to get into college.”
Both Valentine and McCaskill told transgender people to continue to support each other. Valentine advised that transgender allies “show up for their friends, for their neighbors, and family members.”
“It’s okay to be scared,” Valentine said. “Regardless of what they try to do, what they can not take away from you is your authenticity, it’s your joy, and it’s your heart’s dream.”
Boston launches Family Overdose Support Fund to support families affected by opioid overdoses
Now, Little is the co-founder and co-director of Healing After Loss to Overdose Initiatives, which officially launched in January, with the help of CoFounder Elsa Gomes Bondlow.
HALO debuted its first fund with the City Jan. 29 — the Family Overdose Support Fund.
The fund will provide up to $5,000 to Boston families who lost an immediate family member to opioid overdose within the last two years. The funds can support expenses like funerals, behavioral health, child wellness and legal costs related to the death of loved ones, Little said.
“Nobody’s ever done this
before in the country. It’s the first of its kind, using opioid dollars in this way,” Little said. “If other cities or towns or other states are interested in partnering with us, we’re eager to do that.”
Granted $250,000 from the City for the first year, HALO Initiatives hopes to serve at least 50 families in 2025, Little said.
“It’s not just money we’re talking about, but it’s money that is a testament of somebody’s worth, and the money is a testament that somebody is worthy of health and worthy of survival and worthy of healing,” Little said.
The fund was created following a report by the City that revealed a significant decline in opioid overdose deaths from May to August 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This decrease was most prominent in Black and Latino residents, who saw a 56% and 28% decline, respectively.
Big Cities Health Coalition, a group consisting of leaders from
the largest city health departments in the U.S., works on overdose response and health equity.
BCHC Communications
Director Elizabeth Green said many cities across the country have also seen a decline in overdose deaths. Still, most areas still have a disproportionate impact on Latino and Black communities.
This imbalance traces back to overprescription of opioids in mainly rural, white communities that shifted into the cities in the last few years, according to a September 2024 study by Johns Hopkins University.
When overprescription was shut down, Green said those who were already addicted needed another drug to stimulate them, so the opioid market developed and soon spread into Black and Latino communities — further aggravated by the introduction of fentanyl.
Green said health officials often suggest being “cautiously optimistic about the numbers,” as factors, such as new drugs in the market, could cause another spike in overdose deaths.
“There are constantly new drugs entering the market. Some of them [are] lethal, even in small doses like fentanyl,” Green said. “I don’t think anybody’s sanguine about, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve definitely conquered this,
and we’re going to knock this out entirely in a year or two.’”
District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn said it is important to note older Black men in Boston have been disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic. Between 2017 to 2023, fatal overdoses among Black men over 55 surged by 242%, even as overdose rates among men of all races declined, according to the Boston Globe.
“Many Black men in addiction recovery programs in Boston said they feel unwelcome in programs that are largely designed by others and are not all that inclusive,” Flynn said.
Flynn said the citywide opioid crisis is “significant and dramatic,” and he has seen open drug use and drug dealing in his neighborhood near Andrew Square.
“We need to provide people with drug treatment programs, but we also need to address the open drug dealing and drug use happening throughout the city,” Flynn said.
Green said the BCHC applauds Boston for the Family Overdose Support Fund, calling it an innovative strategy for intervening in the city’s opioid crisis. She also said she appreciates that the fund’s approach addresses overdose death as a health issue and not a law enforcement issue.
Investing only in treatment and law enforcement is dealing with the problem “at its end point” and not at its root, Green said.
“I really appreciate their both data-driven and compassionate effort to really try to make those families as whole as possible,” Green said.
Flynn said he thinks the fund is “a first start,” but getting people into drug treatment and detox programs should be the City’s priority.
“We have to support those with substance abuse challenges, and detox is the first step,” Flynn said. “We must ensure those beds are open and available for people willing to seek treatment.”
Little said he hopes the fund starts by relieving stress for families of overdose victims, but that in the long term it “disrupts the cycle of trauma” and its effects when someone dies from an overdose.
He said his experience with substance abuse informs the work he does.
“It’s integral to who I am, and when we’re helping people with these financial burdens, that’s stuff that I’ve struggled with,” Little said. “I’ve struggled to figure out how to pay for school. I’ve struggled with how to figure out how to pay for somebody’s funeral that I love that died, so it’s really personal to me.”
LAUREN ALBANO | CAMPUS CO-EDITOR
The front desk at the Boston University Diversity and Inclusion Office. President Trump signed an order Jan. 20 dictating that the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — causing worry and fear among transgender advocacy groups in Boston.
ARTS
Sarah
Nemtsov hopes to ‘give something to the younger generation’ during time as composer in residence at BU
BY BRONTË MASSUCCO Contributing Writer
Staccato piano strikes, rapid violin strokes and resounding clarinet notes answer each others’ calls in a whirlwind of sound that reverberated through the Boston University College of Fine Arts’ Concert Hall.
Sarah Nemtsov’s piece titled “Keter” was one of two compositions from her catalog performed during the CFA’s concert on Jan. 31.
Nemtsov, an applauded German composer, was selected to be the CFA’s composer in residence this semester. From Jan. 23 to Feb. 1, she spoke on panels about her work and met with students for individual lessons to advise their practice and provide a different perspective.
“I was nervous like, ‘could I tell them anything?’ but it’s also good to see that even if we aesthetically composed completely different music, we have topics to talk about,” Nemtsov said.
Before becoming a composer, Nemtsov had a background as a musician, which she said aided her perspective as a composer and lecturer.
“It’s very helpful to know how it feels, what difficulties are also in chamber music,” Nemtsov said.
“Having the real, actual sounds around you helps the imagination.”
Nemtsov was an active oboist for most of her childhood and into her young adult life, but she stopped playing in 2007 to pursue composing.
“I miss it, but I just love musicians so much. I feel like I fill the gap a little bit by working with musicians,” Nemtsov said.
Spanning multiple different genres of music, Nemtsov said her work has moved more in an electronic direction in recent years, a shift due to her appreciation of electronic music’s role in the modern world.
“I like to combine it with the classical instruments in a way where it’s not always clear who’s what, or what is what, and creating something hybrid, in between, something that is ambiguous,” Nemtsov said.
Both pieces performed during the concert involved utilizing this hybrid style, which Julia Crosson, composer and senior in the CFA’s College of Music, found to be inspiring. She said the selection made her want to explore electronics in music.
Crosson said that she got to perform directly for Nemtsov, showing her two different versions of a piano étude that Crosson was
From dorm to
working on with her composition professor.
“I really enjoyed studying with her,” Crosson said. “I thought she had some good insights.”
Nemtsov said she’s “happy to share” her experience with students.
“I feel now it’s time to give something to the younger generation,” Nemtsov said. “It also feeds my own composition … and I didn’t expect that to happen, but I feel that I’m learning a lot while teaching.”
Her openness contributed to why she was a great fit for the composer in residence program, said Joshua Fineberg, a music professor and the director of BU’s Center for New Music.
“She models a really dynamic, engaged life as a composer in the world today,” Fineberg said.
Nemtsov said she encourages introspection in students through the music they play.
“I’m happy if some of my students reveal their own voice, and are courageous to take a risk and put it out there into the world,” Nemtsov said.
Nemtsov’s experience as a woman in composition provides a unique perspective to her teaching. A Science Direct analysis of composers from the entire
history of Western classical music found that only 6% of the 17,000 composers in the database were women.
As a teenager entering in composition courses or workshops, Nemtsov was often the only female composer present in the room. Nemtsov said having role models in the industry was important in pursuing the profession.
“I can say as a female composer myself, there is sometimes a lack of confidence for applying in competitions,” Nemtsov said.
“Very often there are still many more male applications, white
male applications for workshops, competitions.”
While acknowledging that the music industry is moving in a better direction, Nemtsov said “there is still a lot to do.”
She said that younger musicians tend to be “really open-minded” and “very diverse” and that her experience during her residence has already given her more hope that things are changing for the better.
“It’s good to see that sometimes in this gloomy, dark world, to see young people and see there’s maybe some hope,” Nemtsov said.
COMMUNITY
town hall: BU freshman David Sipos runs for Brookline Town Meeting to increase youth representation
BY SANA MUNEER Managing Co-Editor
Boston University freshman David Sipos sat in the audience as Brookline Town Meeting deliberated Article 9 on Nov. 19. The proposal would allow threefamily homes in neighborhoods zoned for two.
Sipos listened as some Town Meeting members dismissed calls for action on the town’s affordable housing crisis made by other members of his precinct.
“These people don’t really represent me, and that’s disappointing,” he said.
After watching Article 9 fail — which he called a “minor solution, but an important
one” — Sipos, who is studying political science and sociology and living in Brookline, launched his campaign to run for Brookline Town Meeting Precinct 1, seeking one of five available seats.
The election will take place May 6.
Along with running for Town Meeting, Sipos is a member of BU Urbanism Club and BU Democrats. He is collaborating with a pro-housing grassroots group, Brookline for Everyone, for his campaign.
Sipos’ campaign focuses on affordable housing, transit accessibility and climate action.
“For towns like Brookline, the most important thing we can do is build a better urban
space,” Sipos said. “In the current national political climate, action on climate change is not going very far. I think it’s up to towns and localities to do something about it.”
Sipos also said he hopes to represent students living in Brookline who struggle with the cost of living.
“There’s a lot of BU students [and] Northeastern students who live in Brookline who share apartments and would like to live here afterwards but can’t, because rent is super expensive,” Sipos said. “I’m hoping to bring perspective of students and renters.”
Originally from Washington, D.C., Sipos established his residency in Brookline through BU Housing, living within Precinct 1 — the northernmost end of Brookline.
“We have three buildings that are in Brookline, and I got stuck in one of them,” Sipos said. “I’m not originally from there, but I’ve changed my residence. I pay taxes here. I vote here.”
Maxwell Palmer, a BU associate professor of political science and a town meeting member of Arlington, said Town Meeting members may be significantly older than its residents.
The median age of members in the current Brookline Town Meeting is about 61 years old, while Brookline residents age median is 42, according to the 2020 census.
Palmer also said homeowners
are “way overrepresented” in Town Meeting —“an even bigger disparity than age” — and the size of a large town like Brookline’s may be challenging to have individual voices heard.
“You’re not going to have a voice at everything, but if you pick your place as well and make a compelling argument, you can have influence there,” Palmer said.
Town Meeting is responsible for ratifying the town budget, which Sipos sees as crucial to tackling housing and transit challenges.
“I hope that I would be able to vote for things that are going to make a difference,” Sipos said, referring to measures such as increasing the availability of housing in Brookline and improving transit accessibility.
Sipos said he believes when young people run for office, even if defeated, elected officials are forced to take them more seriously — tackling a “gerontocracy” requires more than just voting, he said.
“I think we need to get involved directly, and that’s something I want to prove as possible,” Sipos said. “I hope I could … be a vote in the direction that Town Meeting hasn’t been going in lately.”
Alexander Miller, a BU student helping with Sipos’ campaign, said Sipos’ status as a student will “definitely” help his campaign.
“David, being a student, and David, being on that kind of level, will be able to really get
[students] more interested and more involved,” he said.
Miller said he admires Sipos running for Town Meeting and supports Sipos’ stances on zoning laws and housing affordability.
“If the housing prices stay as high as they are, [students] won’t be able to buy a home after college,” Miller said.
Sipos is currently gathering signatures from Precinct 1 residents to secure a spot on the ballot for May’s election. Candidates must collect 10 signatures from residents of their precinct and return their nomination papers by March 18, according to the Town Meeting’s website.
Though Sipos has previously canvassed for presidential campaigns and interned with congressional campaigns, he said running for office himself was “unexpected.”
“I’ve kind of known for a while that I want to get involved in politics, but I didn’t really think I’m going to show up to a random community meeting and decide that I’m running for office the next day,” Sipos said.
Sipos said he has two main goals in running for Town Meeting: winning to push for housing policy changes and inspiring others to get involved.
“If I can do it, you can do it, too,” Sipos said. “If you see that your government doesn’t look like you, isn’t listening to you, doesn’t reflect your needs, I think you should run. I think you should get involved.”
SARAH CRUZ | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
David Sipos poses in front of the Brookline Arts Center. Sipos, a freshman at Boston University, is running for a seat on Brookline Town Meeting Precinct 1 after feeling unrepresented at a Brookline Town Meeting.
COURTESY OF DAVID SIPOS
Sarah Nemtsov gestures to her orchestra during a performance on Jan. 31. Nemtsov is currently the College of Fine Arts’ composer in residence.
SCIENCE
National Geographic collaborates with BU’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Center for upcoming speaker-series tour
BY JACK SCHWED Associate Science Editor
The human brain is an enigma with remarkable capabilities, many of which remain a mystery. One brain function is currently being investigated at Boston University: the ability to artificially manipulate memories.
This research, led by Steve Ramirez, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, will be a focal point of Nat Geo Live, a live speaker-series experience that will begin touring across the country in March.
Nat Geo and Ramirez have been working together since 2015, and the organization reached out to him last year with the idea of hosting a live show on tour.
This show will begin by discussing how the brain functions when one recalls a memory, he said.
During the week of Nov. 11, a camera crew from National Geographic came to BU’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Center — a Magnetic Resonance Image center used by researchers to conduct experiments on undergraduate students and nonpatient populations to study topics like memory and vision — to capture footage for this segment.
This isn’t the center’s first time in front of a camera.
Shruthi Chakrapani, assistant director of operations and safety, said the center has hosted multiple movie and tv show shoots.
At the forefront of the crew’s visits is safety. Chakrapani ensured the crew followed all of the safety protocols before filming began.
“Safety is our main concern at the center,” she said. “So, once those were all clear, they were
approved to come in.”
Stephanie McMains, associate director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Center, was present for the entire shoot, and assisted the crew in utilizing the equipment.
“We took some structural images of [Ramirez’s] brain so that he can show them the areas of the brain he’s going to be talking about, like the hippocampus,”
McMains said. “And then we did some functional scans on him, because we wanted to see if we could get some hippocampal activation.”
These functional scans, she said, were done using what is known as a “real time fMRI,” a simplified version of a regular fMRI that displays “blobs” of brain activity whenever someone in the machine completes a simple task.
BU’s imaging center is designed to allow larger groups to come in for tours, which allowed film crews to get more interesting shots than they would in other facilities, McMains said.
After this portion, the show will then follow a showcase of research being done by the lab. This research, he said, builds off of work he had developed as a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology alongside his colleagues.
“The idea is that we can find cells in the brain that hold on to particular memories, and there [are] ways of genetically tricking those brain cells to turn on or off whenever we want them to,” he said.
This paved the way for future inquiries he would later explore in his own lab. Ramirez said one question that is currently of particular interest to him is
BUSINESS
whether memory manipulation can be viewed as an antidote.
Ramirez said he is curious as to whether it is possible to undo the effects of stress associated with psychiatric disorders, such as depression or anxiety, by amplifying a positive memory or inhibiting a negative memory.
He said his lab’s experiments are conducted by observing mice brains.
“I think of the mouse brain as a tricycle and the human brain like a lamborghini,” Ramirez said.
“If we ask questions about gears, turning and motion, we can learn a lot from a tricycle and how that translates over into a Lamborghini and vice versa,” he said. “But, if I were to ask questions about engines and carburetors in a tricycle, it wouldn’t make sense.”
Despite this limitation, he said, the research demonstrates how the “tricycle” works, so when the “Lamborghini” breaks down, one can get closer to a solution by seeing whether the issue resembles something similar they have observed in the “tricycle.”
“It provides a kind of framework for how this work could look like in people,” Ramirez said. “It may not have to look that way, but at least we’re providing some testable frameworks so that the field can progress.”
PopUp Bagels brings the hype to Boston’s bagel scene
BY PAISLEY HUANG Contributing Writer
While Boston is known for many things, bagels have never been one of them.
Hailing from Connecticut — and now with more than ten shops nationwide, — PopUp Bagels has gone viral on social media with over 2,000 food review videos on TikTok.
Since its grand opening in Boston’s Seaport District Jan. 10, their new location has attracted customers from across New England who line up to try their viral bagels.
Their business model has been hugely successful.
“We’ve had lines around the corner, down the block,” said Alexander Rivero, general manager and bagel chef of PopUp Bagels Boston.
Rivero said from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., PopUp Bagels strives to make it the “best five minutes of your day.”
“We never serve a cold bagel,” Rivero said. “They’re always piping hot.”
As its window slogan reads, PopUp serves “Bagels. Not Sandwiches.” PopUp doesn’t slice their bagels. Instead, Rivero said the best way to enjoy these bagels is to “rip them and dip them” into one of their weekly-rotating flavors of schmear — which he said is an experience everyone should have at least once in their life.
PopUp sticks to the basics with only five flavors of bagels, to ensure the quality of the bagels and meet the expectations of every customer, Rivero said.
Compared to the simplicity of bagel options, the choices of schmear are always changing. The marketing team of PopUp Bagels collaborates with different brands to introduce new flavors.
In their opening week, PopUp Bagels collaborated with Grillo’s Pickles, a local pickle brand. A week later, they switched to cacio e pepe butter, which features freshly ground black pepper and Granino cheese, in collaboration with Sistersnacking, a group of
four sisters who have taken to the internet to share their love of food and culture, according to their website.
“It’s worth the hype,” Scott Hilinski, a customer at PopUp, said. The shop lived up to his standards of a “good bagel.” “Crisp outside without being dry,” he said.
Hilinski said he’ll be back weekly.
Despite its popularity, PopUp Bagels faces the challenge of persuading some bagel lovers to
embrace their unsliced bagels.
“The one thing I am disappointed in this spot is because they don’t make sandwiches,” Tony Baylen said, who bought bagels for his family on his way home. “The bagels in New York are completely different.”
For some customers, not slicing their bagels has turned people away. “They’re just trying to be different,” Grace Ortiz, a senior at Boston University said.
“I think the bagel scene in Boston
is just bad,” Ortiz said. “Why are you having to rip up a bagel? That’s so much work.”
Ortiz believes that the right way to eat a bagel is cut in half with cream cheese.
“I don’t have high standards for my bagels,” Bella Chiarieri, a BU junior, said.
Chiareri has co-run a bagelreviewing Instagram account since her freshman year of college. However, she said she does not have an issue with PopUp Bagels’ unsliced philosophy.
“I think a good bagel is just whatever you want it to be,” she said.
But even without sandwiches, PopUp Bagels has mastered the art of social media and visual appeal.
“90% of our bagels are going to end up on Instagram,” Rivero said, pointing out that the PopUp Bagels team tries to make everything “picture perfect” because of the social media buzz.
PopUp’s buzz has brought in new customers, including BU freshman Mason Sanford, who visited the store after seeing videos on TikTok.
“I would just highly encourage people to go there,” Sanford said. “I think it has popularity for a reason.” Sanford and his friends waited 45 minutes in line on a Saturday morning, but said it was worth the wait.
“It’s still really great to see the outpouring of support from the Boston community,” Rivero said. “Just being able to make sure that everyone’s taken care of.”
Charlie Dippolito contributed reporting.
COURTESY OF STEVE RAMIREZ
The menu at PopUp Bagels in Seaport. The bagel chain is known for selling uncut bagels that are meant to be ripped apart and dipped into cream cheese.
PHOTO BY PAISLEY HUANG
Steve Ramirez, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. Ramirez will be hosting a live show with National Geographic called Nat Geo Live that will be touring across the country in March.
Cynthia Erivo honored as Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year
BY HOLLY GUSTAVSEN
Photo Co-Editor
Cynthia Erivo proved she is “that girl” at Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year parade on Wednesday. The parade featured members of the Harvard University Band, Blue Man Group and BU on Tap.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
Parade honoree Cynthia Erivo is driven through Harvard Square with Cathy Stanton and Bernardo Sequeria.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR Fans crowd the street for a glimpse of Cynthia Erivo.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR Cynthia Erivo blows a kiss to a parade attendee.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER BU on Tap dances on the street during the parade.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
A man throws rice from a “Just Married” themed parade car.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
A parade attendee takes a video of Cynthia Erivo as she passes by.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR The Harvard University Band performs at the parade.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
Harvard Contemporary Collective performs at the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year parade on Wednesday.
AND TALIA LISSAUER DFP Photographer
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
Cynthia Erivo waves to a parade attendee.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
Cynthia Erivo participates in a kick line with members of Hasty Pudding Theatricals at the end of the parade.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
Cynthia Erivo waves to the crowd at the end of the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Parade.
HOLLY GUSTAVSEN | PHOTO CO-EDITOR
A parade attendee takes a photo with a member of the Blue Man Group.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
A member of SambaViva poses following the parade on Wednesday.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
Cynthia Erivo speaks at a press conference following the celebratory roast.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
Cynthia Erivo poses with the Pudding Pot during a press conference.
TALIA LISSAUER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER A person holds a sign for Cynthia Erivo at the parade on Wednesday
COLUMNS
Keeping DEI in games means finding authenticity in our narratives | Full Inventory
BY CHLOE CRAMUTOLA Investigative Editor
“DEI kills art,” Elon Musk posted on X in May.
His comment was in response to an X post about “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” a new Ubisoft game with two protagonists: a Black samurai named Yasuke, and a Japanese shinobi, or ninja, named Naoe.
Ubisoft launched the first official cinematic trailer for “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” eight months ago. Although its release date is set for March, the game already sits under scorching fire.
Few defended it. More criticize it, condemning Yasuke’s character for being historically inaccurate, culturally offensive and “so thoroughly woke,” to quote journalist Ian Miles Cheong.
Initially, I too raised an eyebrow at Ubisoft.
A quick Google search informed me that Yasuke is actually based on a historical figure of the same name — an African man who came to Japan in the late 16th century.
Still, about a month after the game’s announcement, a petition to cancel “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” surfaced on change.org.
Toru Shomizu, a Japanese psychology professor and associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of South Florida, started this petition. He wrote in Japanese, “Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role
of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history, and may also be linked to Asian racism.”
In the comments, several petition signers blame DEI for the “imposition of diversity.”
Many link the issue back to the controversy surrounding Sweet Baby Inc., a team of writers and narrative designers, and its “woke agendas.”
SBI strives to help game developers and their writing teams “make stories better,” according to its website. Specifically, SBI fleshes out narratives focused on marginalized groups, including the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.
The group worked on AAA games, or high-budget, highprofile games, like “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” “Spider-Man 2” and “God of War Ragnarök.”
“God of War” fell into a controversy reminiscent of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” — though not to the same extent.
One of the game’s core characters, Angrboda, is Black. Many fans denounced this choice, arguing she would not have existed in Norse or Greek mythology.
But Kratos’ games never truly followed mythologies to a tee in the first place.
“God of War” story lead Matt Sophos and game director Bruno Velazquez both confirmed on X that “all mythologies exist all at once,” and “all creation stories are
valid” in Kratos’ world. So, there is a real possibility that Angrboda can be connected to Egyptian mythology or some other realm.
Yasuke and Angrboda face two similar problems: Both characters represent preexisting figures, and both carry vague backstories.
Even though Ubisoft wanted players to experience Japan from an outsider’s perspective, I can agree with some online complaints –– the company could have executed this far more gracefully.
One Japanese American gamer expressed discomfort in seeing a French company pushing for a non-Japanese protagonist in Japan and noted that Yasuke is also much taller and stronger than other Asian characters.
As a half-Filipino American myself, I’ve searched for my face
in the games I played. I haven’t had much luck.
But recently, there has been much more Asian American representation with characters like Emily Davis from “Until Dawn” and Alex Chen from “Life is Strange: True Colors.”
Would I love to see a Filipino or half-Asian character leading a AAA video game? Yes. But I am not going to pine for it. I do not want forced representation –– the very thing that has pushed political tensions to the mainstage.
Game companies do their audiences a disservice when they focus on a character’s skin or eyes instead of their motives. It’s harmful to feign authenticity to make a point — when the hero checks a box instead of stepping outside the box.
EDITORIAL
I want the gaming industry to not just feature diverse characters –– I want it to craft narratives wholly and entirely around these characters. Embed queerness and culture into the storyline –– they are not an accent or a complement. They can be as integral to the character as skin is to bone.
The problem, however, is not DEI itself. It is not about Yasuke or Angrboda as characters.
It is the politics surrounding DEI.
What I hear from Musk and other opponents sounds like: “Diversity hinders films. Equity crushes books. Inclusion decimates games.”
Attacking DEI does not bring more representation, and it certainly does not fix the problem of insincerity.
Entertainment got so political we forgot why we love games so much in the first place. It’s the scene-setting and the soundtracks. The characters. The journeys we are taken on.
The issue lies in the stories we are trying to tell. It lies in the deceit –– the dishonesty of a token Black character, or the gay best friend, or that one smart Asian kid. We instead must find authenticity in our narratives, instead of scraping for diversity that never even existed. Maybe then — finally — we can believe equality is more than a political agenda.
DEI does not kill art. Deceit does.
Our future shouldn’t be prevented by our own indifference
Within hours of his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 international treaty on climate change mitigation, mirroring a similar executive order issued during his first term in 2017.
Trump said the move was in the interest of keeping taxpayer dollars away from countries who don’t deserve American assistance.
Young people say otherwise.
Younger generations have consistently shown they are not only more proactive in addressing climate change, but also more willing to take the necessary steps to prevent it. We’ve inherited a dying planet, and now we have to foot the bill for those who can turn a blind eye to its demise.
For those concerned with the climate crisis, Trump’s immediate withdrawal from the agreement represents an increasingly dangerous partisanship in climate initiatives that fuels further environmental indifference.
In his efforts to eliminate DEI and slash federal funding, Trump has, in turn, scrapped environmental justice initiatives. Because the effects of environmental degradation are not indiscriminate — the brunt of these disasters often fall on low-income communities of color — Trump has successfully
folded his withdrawal from climate initiatives into a broader anti-DEI framework, wiping climate justice references from government websites.
These executive orders echo an ethos all too familiar to those concerned with the climate crisis — when leaders can’t see the disaster in front of their faces, they might as well pretend it isn’t there.
But while climate change might not be an equalizer now, the scale of impending disaster is global. The climate is intertwined with every other sociopolitical issue on earth — labor, racial justice, prison policy, education, housing justice — and the longer we wait to address it, the more apparent the crisis will become. By rolling back regulations
and politicizing climate action, Trump’s executive orders shave more time off of the planet’s health and delay intervention in this acceleration towards catastrophe.
The alarming pace of deregulation leaves a sliver of hope.
Widespread climate activism experienced a schism under President Joe Biden — with some groups, like policy advocates Evergreen Action, pressing him for harsher regulation and others worried a strong stance might fracture his constituency — and the movement lost the momentum it had gained during Trump’s first presidency.
While Biden’s climate action, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, spurred hope among some
young activists, disincentivizing a need to march in the streets, the same cannot be said for our new administration’s policies. There’s no ambiguity in the environmental policy of a man who promised to massively expand fossil fuel production and “drill, baby, drill” in his inauguration speech.
Maybe Trump’s uncompromising apathy to poisoning the planet will be the driving force to a revival of the climate activism we saw during his first term.
But there’s a chance that Trump’s environmental deregulation won’t spur action — it might also further indifference amongst younger generations.
In a year already marked by one of the largest wildfires in American history — which California Governor Gavin Newsom met with cutting regulatory corners to rebuild and generate profit as fast as possible — it is increasingly challenging to be motivated to take individual actions to curb your environmental footprint when executive and corporate bodies act with an opposite interest.
With massive climate initiatives being overruled every day, small personal changes like saving water or reusable straws feel futile. Some might start to abandon them entirely, feeding a vicious cycle — massive policy rollback prompts disillusionment
and divestment from communal actions, further contributing to the degradation already kickstarted by environmental deregulation.
Then it really starts to feel like there’s no way out.
In a media climate that focuses on the extremes of climate disaster, it’s even easier to feel helpless, to get caught up in anxiety when looking at daunting statistics. There’s a delicate line between creating a sense of urgency and overwhelming us to the point of inaction, and the scale of climate change has forced many of us into the latter position.
But while many young people have started to give in to the fears that the planet’s remaining lifespan might be shorter than their own, our Earth still turns. This reality may be debilitating, but the fact of the matter is that our planet is far from gone.
We deserve a future that isn’t prevented by our own indifference. Our planet is still living, and if we don’t take action to mobilize on large and small scales, we’re resigning ourselves to a doomed future that isn’t guaranteed.
We can either turn a blind eye and plan for a future that won’t exist —or we can ensure that we won’t pay the price of inaction with our livelihood.
This Editorial was written by Opinion Co-Editor Ada Sussman.
EMMA CLEMENT | GRAPHICS EDITOR
LIZA BERDYKULOVA GRAPHIC ARTIST
Editorial Board
Brendan Galvin, Editor-in-Chief
Kayla Baltazar, Managing Co-Editor Sana Muneer, Managing Co-Editor
Lauren Albano, Campus Co-Editor
Madyline Swearing, Campus Co-Editor
Truman Dickerson, City Co-Editor
Samantha Genzer, City Co-Editor
Chloe Cramutola, Investigative Editor
Gabby Church, Sports Editor Anna Albrecht, Arts &
Charlie Dippolito, Science &
Ada Sussman, Opinion Co-Editor Ruby Voge, Opinion Co-Editor Gabriella Di Dea, Lifestyle Editor Sarah Cruz, Photo Co-Editor Holly Gustavsen, Photo Co-Editor Gracie Rohde,
Alexis Safranko, Multimedia
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Party of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, whose district includes BU and Harvard
4. “Don’t ___ on the 8-Across!”
8. See 4-Across 12. Heal
13. Mikhail Gorbachev’s dominion, for short 14. Jonas Salk’s vaccine’s target
16. Shopping ___ (Pre-Registration selection on Student Link)
17. ____ My Professor
18. The ___, Satirical news site
19. Brian __, ambient musician
20. Acronym for multiculturalism and belonging 21. Sch. for future physical therapists
23. Like Boston in relation to Worcester, for short
24. “___ Girls,” Netflix Sitcom
26. COM major for future screenwriters
28. Fit___
30. Sch. whose motto is “Creating Value for the World”
32. Returned to Boston at Logan (in)
36. Postings at a T Stop, for short
39. Water in Spanish
41. Walk into the Charles, say
42. Something on display in the 808 or Stone Galleries
43. Smile conceitedly
45. Scores for the Patriots, for short
46. Stud. who might march across Marsh?
48. Swiss peaks
49. WTBU, the ___ of Boston University
50. Action for a CFA major
51. Verizon alt.
52. Museum in Boston’s Seaport District, for short
54. Pronoun from LF111, say
56. Non-pardoned Hunter?
60. See 76-Across
63. With 65- Across, Thai restaurant on campus
65. See 63- Across
67. Attempt
68. African antelope
70. Abbreviation in an essay’s citation, say
72. Beyoncé’s role in the 2019 Lion King
73. Pocketed pants
74. Vibe
75. North Carolina University
76. With 60-Across, a temporary cancellation for Terriers’ studies
77. Takes home
78. Chinese cooking vessel
DOWN
1. ___ Reade
2. Mistake
3. BU Coll. with an Evergreen program
4. Confident
5. ___ Performing Arts Center
6. Current time zone for Boston
7. Title for M. Gilliam
8. Good or old one
9. Long stretch of time
10. “That’s __!”
11. Detroit footballer
12. Included in an email, for short
15. George Washington’s bill
20. Color
22. Rear of a ship
25. AMTK and MBTX, as examples
27. Org. for former soldiers
29. Largest sch. at BU
30. Patchwork blanket
31. Org. which provides advocacy and counseling for Terriers
33. ___ Nite Cafe
34. Norse epic
35. ___ Campus
36. Kind things to lend?
37. Deanna ___
38. Message on a memo, for short
40. LSAT: Law School, ___: MBA
44. “Thick of It” singer
47. Sch. whose students begin this semester
49. Fuller’s Pub, for example
51. Sun devils: ___, Terriers: BU
53. Corn on the __
55. Donate a lot of money to BU
57. Romantic pre fix?
58. Count ___, Nosferatu protagonist
59. ___ Cat, poptart-bodied feline
60. Jan. predecessor
61. “Oh no!”
62. Material for BU Knitting Club, say
64. Stan Sclaroff, Mariette DiChristina, or Susan Fournier
65. You might have to act or dress this
66. Hellos in Lisbon
69. Heifer Int’l, or the Red Cross
71. Proxy for a Mon., but only at BU
72. “____ year, ___ me!”
LIFESTYLE
It’s a Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy winter!
BY CHLOE SAINT MARD DFP Writer
It’s 9 a.m. on a freezing February morning in Boston. Before class, I quickly style my hair with my tortoise hairbrush, put on a matching tortoise headband and grab my tortoise sunglasses before throwing on an oversized wool coat.
These pieces, now flooding my closet with that
signature marbled pattern, have accumulated almost subconsciously after pinning countless photos of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s outfits to my Pinterest boards. It wasn’t until a few days ago that I discovered she was a Boston University alum. Decades after she walked down Commonwealth Avenue, I had been following in her stylish footsteps — quite literally.
Now that “brat summer” has had its time, I declare Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy season officially open.
Her style — effortless and undeniably chic — is a timeless blueprint for the colder weather, with a sort of elegance that speaks quietly but powerfully. In fact, Bessette-Kennedy never gave an interview — she always let her clothes do the talking.
Her wardrobe centered around a few key pieces and styles, many of which have become essential in my own collection.
Bessette-Kennedy’s first staple: Tortoiseshell everything
From sunglasses to hair clips and headbands, I’ve found myself drawn to this warm, marbled pattern. It’s subtle, but makes a statement. Her signature tortoiseshell frames added an air of mystery to her outfits, and now, I can’t leave the house without mine—regardless of whether the sun is out or not.
The perfect outer layer: Oversized wool coats
These were another key item of Bessette-Kennedy’s winter uniform. She always made her outerwear the star of the show, and I’m all in. When it comes to coats, I say the bigger, the better. Whether in a neutral shade or a fun hint of leopard print, these coats are the perfect balance of cozy and chic. She’d pair it with a delicate necklace or a sleek handbag — never overdone, always just right. Sometimes less is more: opting for simpler pieces
Regarding the core of her outfits, Bessette-Kennedy gravitated toward classic, understated pieces. Black, white, beige and navy made her outfits timeless and versatile. I’ve adopted this palette myself, and this has made it so easy to mix and match pieces without feeling repetitive. She kept jewelry to a minimum, but when she did wear something, it was always a classic pearl necklace. She was a woman of taste, I may say, as I also never leave my dorm without my cherished pearls.
Classic blue jeans were her go-to for casual days, and she nailed the laid-back, yet polished vibe every time. It is said that she spent countless hours thrifting for the best pair of jeans. She always had a New England charm to her looks, seemingly reminiscing on
her Boston days. I easily picture her heading to class down Commonwealth Avenue, her vintage jeans paired with leather boots, looking effortlessly chic as she picks up coffee on the way. Carrying on Caroline BessetteKennedy’s legacy
What I love most about BessetteKennedy’s style is how effortlessly classy it was. She proved simplicity doesn’t have to be boring. Every piece in her wardrobe served a purpose, and the way she put them together felt intentional yet approachable. But there’s a catch: everyone can dress like Carolyn BessetteKennedy, but not everyone can be Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Her “it girl energy” went far beyond the clothes. It was in the way she carried herself, with quiet confidence and a graceful presence.
By embracing her minimalistic
staples, we not only honor her impeccable taste but also carry forward the legacy of a woman who proved that style is just as much about how you carry yourself as it is about what you wear. Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s influence lives on, and this winter, I’m more than happy to carry her legacy forward right where she shaped her iconic style!
‘A Complete Unknown’ keeps Bob Dylan a mystery
BY RUBY VOGE
Opinion Co-Editor
It feels a bit strange to describe Bob Dylan — of all people — as someone who is “trending.”
After all, he is one of the most important and influential musicians of all time — not only among Americans, but worldwide. His more than 60-year-old catalog features 40 studio albums and 12 live albums, with songs that have been covered by everyone from Nina Simone to Adele, and musicians from John Lennon onward have cited his songwriting as inspiration.
Dylan’s stature as a cultural figure is eternal — there’s no question about it. But James Mangold’s 2024 biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” has pushed him back into the spotlight, introducing his music and persona to a new generation of young people by way of an expert casting decision.
Gen Z darling Timothée Chalamet has had an all-timer of a press tour in promotion of “A Complete Unknown” — odd, unpredictable and never notentertaining.
He made a grand entrance — via Lime electric bike — to the film’s UK premiere. He had a thoroughly-memed interview with a Canadian journalist, singing the praises of Milk Duds. And most recently, he made an appearance on SNL where he both hosted and performed as the musical guest — choosing three deep cuts that proved his Dylan scholarship has been more than skin-deep.
Chalamet has been campaigning hard for his Oscar — cozying up to the press far more than the real Dylan ever did
— and it seems to be working.
After racking up eight Academy Awards nominations — including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Chalamet — “A Complete Unknown” may be poised to win big at the Oscars on March 2, especially considering the swath of controversies that have surrounded many other heavilynominated films, notably “Emilia Perez” and “The Brutalist.”
Despite a runtime of 2 hours and 21 minutes, “A Complete Unknown” is more of an extended music video than a movie — keeping the pace quick and the length almost undetectable. The songs are the real set pieces, while the drama often takes a backseat.
Instead of the traditional “cradle-to-grave” format that many traditional music biopics take — including Mangold’s own Oscar-winning “Walk the Line” — “A Complete Unknown” opts for a condensed timeline. The movie covers four years in Dylan’s life, from his arrival to New York City in 1961 to his infamous electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965.
By way of its shortened structure, it manages to avoid several painful clichés of the genre — like the regrettable descent into drug addiction or the saccharine childhood flashback, just to name a few.
Sometimes, the emphasis on Dylan’s musical achievements led to weak dialogue and cheesy moments that ultimately feel superficial. The film’s script, co-written by Mangold with screenwriter Jay Cocks, is certainly not an achievement in subtlety.
Mangold is seemingly
uninterested in deeply examining Dylan’s interiority or explicating the lyrics of his songs through events in his personal life. He is similarly uninterested in Dylan’s exteriority, rarely referencing the tumultuous political upheaval of the 1960s which influenced the rousing protest songs that first brought him wide acclaim.
But Dylan’s early work is, nonetheless, undeniably remarkable.
“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “It Ain’t Me Babe,” along with over a dozen other of his early masterpieces, are given their time to shine. The camera frequently sweeps over scenes of enraptured fans and admirers, whose eyes take in Chalamet’s Dylan like a Steven Spielberg character gazing at a shooting star.
Chalamet — although unable to fully capture Dylan’s unique phrasing and intonation — gives a performance that is both wholly transformative and never flashy or imitative. His self-assured interpretation of the film’s undefinable subject is impressive.
Equally undeniable are the supporting performances by Elle Fanning, Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro as Sylvie Russo — a fictionalized version of Dylan’s early girlfriend Suze Rotolo — Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, respectively.
Again, those hoping for a deep exploration of Bob Dylan will likely be disappointed.
The film’s title, “A Complete Unknown,” serves as a guide for how it approaches its subject material. Mangold’s script works to uphold the mythology of Dylan as an unknowable artist — who, from the beginning, was reluctant to be defined by others and by himself.
Dylan has long been viewed as an enigma — a shapeshifter if you will. Todd Haynes’ experimental 2007 biopic “I’m Not There” literalized this concept on the silver screen, dividing the musician into six separate characters performed by six different actors.
Ultimately, unlike “I’m Not There,” “A Complete Unknown” is a slick and fairly formulaic Hollywood biopic, expertly manufactured to receive awards and please nostalgic Baby Boomer fans.
But that’s not to say it should be lumped in with recent embarrassments like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Back to Black.” And those itching to compare the film to the 2007 parody “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” should think twice before doing so. If anything, “A Complete Unknown” is simply a great time at the movies — just seeing Chalamet’s closing performance of the film’s namesake, “Like a Rolling Stone,” might be worth the price of admission alone.
IRIS REN | SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST
GIANNA HORCHER | GRAPHIC ARTIST
‘It starts by listening’: Accessibility has a long way to go at BU
that disability is a worse fate than death. People are so afraid of being disabled that they not only don’t care to make things accessible for us, but they don’t want to because they don’t want to be faced with disability.”
During her time at BU, Munsiff recalled struggling to find accessible entrances, and said they were often “segregated” from standard entrances. Once, Munsiff tried to get her COVID vaccine on campus in a building near Student Health Services.
“I couldn’t get into that building to get my shot because there were a whole bunch of stairs there,” Munsiff said. “There was no other entrance, and there was nobody around there to talk to about finding an alternate entrance.”
Munsiff said when she called SHS to ask about alternate entrances, “they had absolutely no idea” and scheduled the vaccine on a different day in the SHS building.
“Why can’t you just make this clinic accessible in the first place?” Munsiff asked.
Winter months only escalate these issues, with Boston’s irregular and harsh weather presenting unique challenges.
“The way that [BU shovels] the snow is just insane. They put the snow from one crosswalk onto the other crosswalk, and they don’t shovel all of the curb cuts,” Munsiff said. “It’s so hard to get around if you can’t jump over a 2-foot pile of snow.”
When BU anticipates snowfall, BU Facilities is scheduled to clear entrances and access points of campus buildings, BU Spokesperson Colin Riley said in December.
BU clears the city sidewalks, while the city clears the roadways
and MBTA platforms.
BU has maps that highlight certain accessibility features ––for example, the approximate 73 wheelchair-accessible entrances and four audible crosswalks on the Charles River Campus.
However, Munsiff said a lack of documented automatic doors, elevators and bathrooms leaves many people with disabilities feeling like they are “on [their] own” –– revealing the disconnect between those who are disabled and those who are not.
“People are one accident or one illness, or one something, away from becoming disabled,” Munsiff said. “That is always an option for everybody.”
Pavi, a 2025 CAS graduate who requested The Daily Free Press use only a nickname for privacy, started experiencing temporary mobility issues in 2023, she said.
“I currently live in a Bay State brownstone, which [doesn’t] have elevators, and I’m on the highest floor,” Pavi said in a May phone call. “Climbing up the stairs was extremely hard for me.”
Pavi reached out to BU Housing over the 2023-24 winter break for accommodation changes, hoping to be placed anywhere with an elevator. Instead, she said she was told over the phone that the University was “overbooked,” and there was nothing the University could do to help.
“That just bothered me so much because this is something I’m sure would have happened to many students over time,” Pavi said. “What if you get a fracture or something?”
Demands for on-campus housing are often high during spring semesters due to the retention of incoming students living on campus, with the exact number of available beds unclear until after the University reopens at the beginning of each calendar
year.
Students have been placed in hotels, like the Hotel Commonwealth and the Hyatt Regency to help with the full occupancy. Pavi said for those with accommodations, the uncertainty is “a lot of stress.”
“It affected my motivation because I was always like, ‘Oh, if I get out of the room, I have to get back in,’” she said. “Housing is supposed to be your safe space.”
Aside from housing, BU students must go through a complex process to obtain certain accommodations.
First, they must fill out an intake form, according to the Disability and Access Services website. Then, a student must provide documentation of their disability via email, fax or physical copy, and schedule an intake appointment by phone with a DAS staff member. Approval for accommodations is not guaranteed, and some students’ requests are denied.
The Daily Free Press. “There is no cure for celiac disease and the only ‘treatment’ is a gluten-free diet, a medical necessity.”
An estimated 4% of students require a gluten-free diet, according to BU Dining Services. Before the West Campus dining hall renovation in 2023 –– which created a dedicated gluten-free kitchen and pantry –– glutenfree students could only eat at
works for them,” Riley said.
Jay Dolmage, a professor of English at the University of Waterloo, said society should view people with disabilities as researchers instead of people who are just research objects.
“If we intervened a little bit in how we build our society, in how we frame education … then I think we could really change our culture and society,” Dolmage said.
“ There’s this idea that disability is a worse fate than death. “
LEELA MUNSIFF
the Warren Towers and Marciano Commons dining halls.
Lisa’s son wrote a letter to former DAS Director Lorre Wolf in 2023. As of December, Lisa’s son said there is still a low variety in the food offered in the pantries, raising concerns about proper nutritional intake.
For students with more “invisible” disabilities –– such as learning or food disabilities ––seeking accessibility can be more daunting.
Lisa, mother to a 2027 BU student, who asked for only her first name to be used to protect her son from consequences, said while disabilities like celiac disease can be addressed with gluten-free stations in the dining halls, there is “more work to do.”
“It was hard seeing him be frustrated, hungry and stressed because the school didn’t do its job,” Lisa wrote in an email to
“I had microwaveable mac and cheese from the GF pantry almost every meal,” Lisa’s son wrote in the letter. “We want the same foods as everyone else, they just need to be GF.”
BU Dining works with Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and its nutritionists to plan menus and test recipes, according to Riley.
“[Students] should reach out and have a personal conversation with one of the [Sargent] nutritionists, because they’ll be able to assist that person in what
For Munsiff, community is another important part of navigating inaccessibility.
“Finding other disabled people was really helpful,” Munsiff said. “This is a human being who has actually put this into practice and has figured out exactly how it works and how they integrate it into their life.”
As for the future of BU’s accessibility, students and advocates want to see more gender-neutral bathrooms, class recordings on Blackboard and a change in student mindsets as to what “disabled” can mean.
“There’s just a ton of space there for us to redefine what disability is, and we really need to because it’s not just a medical problem, it’s also a way of being,” Dolmage said.
Being disabled is not a choice, and for students like Murcia and Munsiff, accessibility has a long way to go.
“People see accommodating disability as a gift to disabled people. It is not a gift to give somebody access to the basic care that they need,” Munsiff said. “Accessibility benefits everyone.”
SPORTS
The Post-Up: Jimmy Butler doesn’t have to play nice on his new team, but he does have to get real
BY KAILYN SMITH DFP Writer
Jimmy Butler’s campaign to garner the most attention this season has failed, and not just because it was overshadowed by the blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Butler’s six years with the Miami Heat — which included two NBA Finals appearances — came to an end when the six-time All-Star was traded to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday as part of a five-team exchange which granted him a twoyear, $111 million extension, but not without dramatics.
Just two days ahead of the move, Butler made it clear in trade talks that he was not interested in joining the Warriors. This is just one of several times that Butler has reversed course in his tumultuous trade saga, which was nearly a year in the making.
In May 2024, Pat Riley rejected the possibility of trading Butler over the summer. The team president explained that his contract would not be extended because the investment would have been a “big decision” for someone who wasn’t playing every night, due to injury or otherwise.
The tension grew as the months passed and Butler publicly lamented, saying he wanted to find joy in basketball again.
The Heat did not indicate their desire to trade Butler until Jan. 3 when they issued a statement about their decision to suspend him for seven games because of conduct detrimental to the team.
On their official X account, the team went on to state they were open to hearing trade offers for Butler, after writing, “through his actions
and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team.”
The announcement’s tone was unusual for an official statement. The passive-aggressive sentiments were made, not just to the press, but to the team’s global audience of fans and the broader NBA community.
Following the initial suspension, Butler ramped up his detrimental conduct, posting a humorous video of his card being declined with a person in the background, joking that it was because he was unemployed.
After issuing a two game suspension Jan. 22 for missing a team flight, the Heat ultimately had enough and suspended Butler indefinitely and without pay Jan. 27.
The Golden State Warriors — who have somehow maintained a record close to .500 — picked up Butler, despite his antics, because of their need to pair Steph Curry with a veteran with substantial postseason experience.
It is clear that Butler not only wanted a trade, but craved attention. What Butler failed to realize is that the kind of attention he desires cannot be manufactured.
The trade window has been plenty entertaining independent of Butler.
Aside from his departure and the AD–Luka swap, DeAaron Fox was traded to the Spurs from the Kings, Brandon Ingram to the Raptors from the Pelicans and Zach Lawvine to the Kings from the Bulls.
Several analysts and insiders have tried to make sense of Butler’s behavior, looking at his psyche in tandem with his financial incentives.
While covering the feud between Butler and the Heat front office, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne attempted to draw parallels to the player’s upbringing and personal relationships.
Shelburne suggested that Butler has “made a career out of bending the universe to his will,” which she deemed was the impetus that brought him out of his childhood experience of homelessness and ultimately into the NBA.
While he has previously opened up about the personal journey that led him to the NBA, it’s inappropriate and insensitive to resolve his fortitude in those circumstances with his current lack of respect for his teammates and team staff through his repeated absences in all the ways that matter.
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley had a tense exchange about the Butler situation; the former repeatedly saying it was a matter of “human nature,” while Barkley contended that Butler was responsible for remaining professional.
Ironically, Barkley said in his 1993 “Not A Role Model” commercial that just because he dunks a basketball, doesn’t mean he should “raise your kids.” It’s not the first time Barkley has contradicted that sentiment in favor of respectability politics.
Of course, it would be nice of Butler to show up for young fans who traveled at their
own expense to see him play — but Butler’s contract is not contingent on being a role model.
Even more, front offices generally aren’t concerned with the behavior of players when they’re integral to a team’s chances of winning.
We know that because Jaxson Hayes is still contributing to the Lakers — despite a reopened investigation into his role in a November 2021 domestic violence altercation.
Further, Isaiah Stewart recently received a one-game suspension following his sixth flagrant foul this season, but that doesn’t make the center any less versatile as a defender.
What distinguishes Butler from other players with poor reputations is not just that the circumstances are
different, but that he fails to accept that the powers that be owe him no loyalty.
Case in point: the Warriors front office was willing to give up Dennis Schroeder after uprooting him from Brooklyn on just Dec. 15. The Mavericks offered to refund season ticket holders after trading franchise hero Doncic, who did not request a trade.
While Butler was able to have his way and leave Miami, Riley and company maintained their composure, focusing on their new additions and continued success.
No matter how Butler responds, he is still subject to league executives who aren’t interested in playing his games.
No clause in his contract will guarantee him the last laugh.
Miles Brewster erupts with career-best 25 points as men’s basketball wins eighth-straight home game, 87-65
BY JOSE RODRIGUEZ Senior Writer
Case Gymnasium has been good to the Boston University men’s basketball team this season.
The Terriers (12-12, 6-5 PL) secured an eighth-consecutive home victory led by graduate student guard Miles Brewster’s career-high 25 points, defeating Navy 87-65 on Wednesday night.
“I’ve been struggling offensively, especially shooting the ball, and I just keep telling myself that I’m right there,” Brewster said. “It was the perfect storm today, but I’m not surprised. I wish it happened earlier, but you can’t control those things, so you just gotta keep knocking.”
That is exactly what he did. Brewster had never scored more than 21 points in his five
seasons at BU, but he found a groove against the Midshipmen (8-16, 5-6 Patriot League), shooting nearly 91 percent from the field and 83 percent beyond the arc in a career outing.
Sophomore guard Michael McNair also played a big role for the Terriers, shooting 7-for8 from the field, including four 3-pointers.
“Both those guys came in with a lot of confidence knowing that [sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander] was out,” head coach Joe Jones said. “Those guys took it upon themselves to be more aggressive because we were going to need guys to step up, and they did.”
BU won the tip-off and was off to the races early with a layup from McNair. With the exception of a one-point lead by Navy less than two minutes into the game, the Terriers never trailed.
The Midshipmen kept it close through the first seven minutes, but BU went on a 12-point run, including five from Brewster, to go up 25-11 with 11 minutes left in the half.
Navy guard Austin Benigni answered, scoring 12 points in the first half as the Midshipmen
tried to rein the Terriers in, shrinking the lead to seven by halftime.
The momentum was still very much in the Terriers’ hands.
“I was really impressed with our mindset,” Jones said. “These guys came out and they attacked the game right away…The whole thing [was] to try to be more tough than they were, and to get loose balls and get offensive rebounds, and we were playing hard.”
McNair set off the scoring in the second half as he had in the first, this time with a 3-pointer.
Junior forward Otto Landrum started an 8-0 run for the Terriers, including McNair’s second threepointer of the period, increasing their lead to thirteen.
The Midshipmen ended this run at the free-throw line, trying to regain control with under 15 minutes to play. The teams exchanged baskets for the next couple minutes until junior guard Ben Roy set off another 9-0 run.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Brewster said. “Navy went on runs during that stretch, and they hit a lot of tough shots. You just got to be able to respond back on the defensive end and the
offensive end.”
The Terriers pushed their lead to 22 by 6:18 of the second half.
BU’s ball handling slipped up near the end of the second half, committing five of its nine turnovers in the last six minutes of the game, giving the Midshipmen extra chances to claw back.
The Terriers shaped up to close the game, making every shot they took in the last three minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers from Brewster.
After shooting just 4-for-13 behind the arc in the first half, BU bounced back to shoot 80 percent from deep in the second half.
“We shot the ball very well tonight,” Jones said. “That was a major difference in the game… We had a guy go 7-for-8, another guy go 10-for-11. It’s hard to lose that game when [that happens].”
This shooting performance proved instrumental as the Terriers secured their highest win margin in the conference so far this season.
They will now hit the road to take on Holy Cross on Saturday at noon as they sit in fourth place in the conference with seven games left in the regular season.
Sophomore guard Michael McNair (20) watches as junior guard Ben Roy (30) steals the ball from a Navy player during a game Wednesday. Boston University secured an eighth-consecutive home victory, defeating Navy 87-65.
