NEWS Over the next few weeks, Tsarnaev’s fate will be determined by a specific list of factors. pg. 4
MUSE After some thank-yous, IFFBoston finished its week-long run Wednesday night with “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and its fitting themes of loss and love. pg. 5
46º / 56º MOSTLY CLOUDY
SPORTS Return of the Grizz — Junior defenseman Matt Grzelcyk foregoes an opportunity to go pro and returns for his senior year. pg. 12
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THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXVIII. ISSUE XV.
Students organize to address sexual violence at BU BY KEELA SWEENEY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
their members … that’s a pretty low bar if you ask me, and I asked their leadership to even go better.” A few weeks after the conversation occurred, Elmore said his office received an allegation about members of a fraternity who participated in hazing. Due to the ongoing investigation, the name of the fraternity hasn’t been released, he said. David Lugo, president of BU’s Interfraternity Council, said IFC governs fraternity chapters on campus to promote collaboration and ensure “scholastic excellence.” “We serve as a governing body, assembling judicial hearings to investigate allegations against any member chapter, and set rules, deadlines and standards for our recruitment period each semester,” Lugo, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences,
In response to a Letter to the Editor published in The Daily Free Press Tuesday, the Boston University Feminist Collective (FEMCO) hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday night to address the ways the BU administration responds to sexual violence reports across campus. A female student who chose to remain anonymous wrote the letter about her experience as a victim of sexual assault, and said the university didn’t handle the situation adequately. More than 100 people gathered in the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism to brainstorm the next steps for getting the administration to deal with issues related to sexual assault. Students worked in the meeting to create an action plan and list of tangible goals for the future. Jessica Klein, the president of FEMCO, said she wanted to host this meeting to reinvigorate dialogue that had been occurring on campus over the past several weeks. “The reason that I wanted to organize an event like this is because sexual assault awareness week ended about a week ago, and I was trying to find a way to keep this conversation going in a way that is sustainable,” said Klein, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, after the meeting. Klein said the conversation is aimed to ignite conversation about the ways the university handles reports of rape and to point out holes in university policy. Organizers talked about plans to create more outlets for advocacy, resources and further staff and faculty training. The group made a list of working demands based on what changes they want to see from the BU administration and what ways they plan to have university officials meet these demands. “You have to have peers talking to peers about this in order for the culture to change internally,” said Garrett Moore, a senior in the College of Engineering, during the meeting. Isabella Romano, a sophomore in CAS, told the crowd she wants to see greater nationwide awareness following the conversation had Wednesday evening. “This is not just BU. This is college culture, and it needs widespread recognition,” she said. “Make BU that school, that when you think of BU, it’s immediate that you know people are doing something about this.” After an initial brainstorming session, students split into groups to tackle various phases of the movement they want to start. Some focused on ways to address the administration through protests, letters and more conversations, while others talked about how to address sexual assault on a peer-to-peer level.
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PHOTOS BY SARAH SILBIGER AND MIKE DESOCIO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Left: Children hold signs near Boston Police Headquarters during a protest against police brutality Wednesday. Right: Protesters chant and hold signs during a march on Tremont Street Wednesday.
Hundreds rally peacefully against police brutality BY JULIA METJIAN AND OLIVIA QUINTANA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Hundreds gathered at the intersection of Ruggles Street and Tremont Street Wednesday to support the protests in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died on April 19 as the result of injuries he sustained while in the custody of Baltimore police. Mass Action Against Police Brutality organized the rally, which featured several speakers, including Wayne Dozier, who said his grandson DJ Henry, a Pace University football player, was shot and killed by a police office four years ago. Dozier spoke in front of the crowd and told his story about the pain that comes from losing a loved one to brutality. Dozier said he was grateful for the crowd’s support and the ability to speak about the issue of police brutality. “It’s been noted that it’s not a black thing.
It’s a society thing. We’ve got to change society,” Dozier said. “It takes everybody here to get together [and] push the vision for freedom without feeling intimidated because of the color of your skin.” The crowd showed support by clapping and cheering as speakers stood up to tell their stories. Some held signs above their heads reading, “Justice for Freddie Gray,” while others chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Brock Satter, an organizer of the event from Mass Action Against Police Brutality, said the rally was not intended to be violent or confrontational. “We are going to take the streets, and we’re going to march,” Satter said to the crowd. “We are not trying to get into a confrontation with the police today. We’re not trying to disrupt traffic, but we will take the streets. I’m not saying that it’s not ever necessary, but today, it isn’t necessary. We need to organize, we need to reach out, [and] we don’t just need hundreds. We need
millions.” Satter said Mass Action plans to organize further demonstrations in the future. “We need people in the streets. We need the masses. That’s what mass action is all about, action against police brutality,” he said to the crowd. “That’s the type of movement we think is needed, and that’s why we’re having this event, because it’s not going to be solved tonight, and we can’t solve all the problems in Baltimore here in Boston, but together, we can be part of the solution.” Bishop Filipe Teixeira, founder and member of the Franciscan Order of Saint Joseph Cupertino, addressed the crowd about facing the truth of police brutality. “I have seen so many young men and women being killed by the cops,” Teixiera said. “This is real. It’s about life. Our lives matter, black and brown people. We need to tell the truth about CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
University, Greek life community address multiple suspensions BY MINA CORPUZ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Three fraternities at Boston University have been suspended during the 2014-15 academic year, prompting campus officials and the Greek life community to speak more about problematic behavior and steps for moving forward. Sigma Chi, Delta Tau Delta and Kappa Sigma have all lost recognition as BU student organizations within the past academic year. Some of the issues that have led to their suspensions include hazing, underage drinking and promotion of questionable parties, said Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore. Elmore said the number of fraternity suspensions this academic year is not typical.
“This is a big number,” he said. “I try and think that what we do is to continue to raise the conversation as much as we can, but ultimately, this comes down to individual students and then collectively as a group doing the right thing and taking some moments to think.” After members from Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Oklahoma were caught on video singing a racist chant in March, Elmore said he met with fraternity and sorority presidents and their advisors to talk about behaviors and attitudes in Greek life. “We used [in] conversation the example with Sigma Alpha Epsilon out in Oklahoma where I’ve been asking ‘Are we above this?’” he said. “I have asked fraternities and sororities to give me, to give us a year where we don’t have these incidents. The leadership can manage people and