DePaulia
The
2017 Pacemaker Award Winner
Volume #103 | Issue #7 | Oct. 22, 2018 | depauliaonline.com
Provost takes medical leave, CMN dean named acting provost By Benjamin Conboy Editor-in-Chief
Provost Marten denBoer announced he is taking a medical leave of absence after revealing he has leukemia. The current dean of the College of Communication (CMN), Salma Ghanem, will take on the role of acting provost. Alexandra Murphy, a communication professor and associate
dean of CMN will act as dean of the college. “I’m concerned about the provost and I wish him a speedy recovery and I wish he will be back as soon as possible,” Ghanem said. “When I was asked [to act as provost], I was humbled that they have the confidence in me. But it’s definitely bittersweet, but definitely more bitter than sweet.” The provost’s office said denBoer was
unavailable to comment due to his leave. President A. Gabriel Esteban made the official announcement in an email to the staff, and asked that the university community “keep Dr. denBoer and his family in our prayers during his treatment, and ask for a full and swift recorver. denBoer, a physicist by trade, has been the provost of DePaul since 2015, and was previously the provost of California State
FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
Polytechnic University at Pomona for seven years. A provost acts as a university’s chief academic official. At DePaul, the provost oversees the offices of Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management and Marketing, Student Affairs and Teaching and learning resources. In DePaul’s organizational hierarchy, the provost is second only to the president.
Forced off campus, TPUSA event goes off without a fuss By Shane Rene Managing Editor
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TREY RENDON
Abby Purcell and Trey Rendon help build a latrine on a public health trip to El Paraiso, Honduras in 2017 for Global Brigades.
DePaul group counters stereotypes of ‘voluntourism’ By Adam Webb Contributing Writer
In a world where every single action is analyzed by the masses and there is seemingly no route to avoiding criticism altogether, even the best intentions have become controversially decried as problematic. Amid the criticism of an industry centered on making volunteer work a vacation excursion, DePaul’s chapter of Global Brigades is not only planning eight trips across the world for students this academic year, but are also actively trying to fight the problematic aspects of the growing phenomenon. Every Tuesday evening, the 28 members of Global Brigades’ executive board cram into a room on the third floor of the Student Center to update each other on their respective responsibilities. The national entity of Global Brigades
credits itself as the largest student-led movement for global health. The organization relies heavily on individual chapters at universities across the country to provide funds and manpower to complete the global projects designed by the non-profit. One might assume with five trips planned for locations in Honduras, Panama and Ghana before the end of the calendar year that the meeting would consist of hectic logistical planning, but rather, the group, who appear to genuinely care about one another, keep a light-hearted atmosphere and discuss opportunities to volunteer in Chicago before their “vacations.” While other voluntourist organizations prey on vacation-goers who want a sense of purpose during their extravagant trips to developing countries, Global Brigades utilizes the revolving door of undergraduate students to
recruit for their programs. The average tourist is naturally drawn to the exoticism of these distant lands, but the college-aged leaders of this organization are careful to not let peers sign up who are simply looking for a fun spring break. “We always ask potential volunteers how they plan to avoid being a voluntourist,” said Lynn Kannout, one of the DePaul chapter’s co-presidents. Kannout, alongside Megan Boone, serve as the leaders of DePaul’s Global Brigades and they are both very conscious of how the type of work they do has been portrayed in recent years and constantly try to counteract those notions. “Our biggest focus is sustainability,” said Kannout. “Virtually, Global Brigades is working itself out of a job.” One of the biggest criticisms of the voluntourist industry has been the lack of focus on long-term change. For example, while a week-long
trip to build a school is good in theory, the absence of foresight to staff it with teachers, provide supplies and put families in a position where they can send their children makes the project for naught. This is why Global Brigades’ commitment to ensuring community buy-in to their mission is necessary. “We don’t just give anything away. Part of the cost is also paid by the community,” said Boone. “They’re more likely to use (the things brought in by the Brigades) because they invested their own money in it.” While the tangible effects of the trips are a constant source of debate, so are the problematic implications of affluent students believing they need to save communities that are different than their own. H. Peter Steeves is a professor of philosophy and director of the Humanities center at DePaul. He believes these types of trips are not only not always helpful, but at times
See GLOBAL BRIGADE, page 5
DePaul University’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter was scheduled to host their “Campus Clash” tour event with conservative activists Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens Tuesday Oct. 16, but both the “campus” and “clash” failed to make an appearance. After DePaul denied the event permission to speak on campus last week, event coordinators relocated to the J.W. Marriott Hotel in the South Loop. The university cited issues with the organization's promotion of the event before it was approved by the university and the potential use of hate speech. DePaul’s very public and controversial history with conservative speakers on campus has drawn extra attention to security and safety from the administration for recent events. Kirk and Owens join a growing list of conservative speakers, including Ben Shapiro, Milo Yiannopoulos, Steven Crowder and Gavin McInnes, who have been prohibited from campus in some capacity. Charles Murray, the controversial Libertarian author of “The Bell Curve,” defied this trend last year, but a strong showing of civil protesters rallied outside his event on campus. Police stationed outside the J.W. Marriott in anticipation of protests this Tuesday said no demonstrations took place. “What is DePaul so afraid of?” Kirk, a greater Chicago area native, said during the question-and-answer portion of his speech. “Are they afraid of a room full of conservatives peacefully allowing people that disagree with them to come to the front of the line and have calm discussions with ideas? If they’re scared of that, they aren’t a university. They’re an island of totalitarianism.” Kirk invited those who disagree with him to skip the long line at the microphone multiple times during the question and answer portion of the event in an effort to incite debate, but only a handful of contrarians took the opportunity. Throughout the night, the crowd remained friendly to Kirk’s point of view. Owens, TPUSA’s communications director and a black conservative activist who rose to fame for speaking out against notions that all people of color should hold similar political
See TPUSA, page 7