MAY 4, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
Unite Wins Student Government Exec Slate BY JAKE BIDERMAN AND KATHERINE VEGA NEWS REPORTER AND NEWS EDITOR
The results of the 2018 –19 Student Government election were announced on Wednesday, with the Unite executive slate winning 842 votes for a total of 47.71 percent of the votes. Unite ran against the satirical Moose Party slate, which received 408 votes (23.1 percent). All other votes were abstentions and write-ins. Moose beat Unite among constituents at the Institute for Molecula r Eng ineer ing Maroon Staff and tied at the Booth School of Business, although those divisions had low turnout. Zoe Kaiser The Unite ticket for Executive Slate included second-year The winning Unite slate celebrates with cake. They won with 842 votes, beating Moose Party’s 408 votes. Sat Gupta for president, secMore Winners... Community and government ’20 CC Reps: Jahne Brown, ond-year Natalie Jusko for vice liaison: Marlin Figgins Matthew Robinson, Rachel president of administration, Undegraduate Liaison to the Abrams, Eugene Miravete and first-year Malay Trivedi Board of Trustees: Kyle Shishkin ’21 CC Reps: Tony Ma, Myles for vice president of student ’19 CC Reps: Brett Barbin, Hudson, Raven Rainey, Alex affairs. Graduate Liaison to the Board: Ayling Dominguez, Daphne Continued on page 2
Chris Stamper
Levi
Courtesy of Vincent Disjarden
A ccord i ng t o data f rom the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the total cost of the U-Pass Program to students and the University is much greater than the value of rides taken. The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, indicates that students took 445,488 rides on CTA buses and trains during the 2016-2017 school year using their U-Passes. At regular ticket prices of $2.25 per bus ride and $2.50 per train ride, this amounts to just over $1 million in travel. The U-Pass Program re-
BY PETE GRIEVE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
quires a $95 fee each quarter, and since the program is required, over 6,000 College students participate in any particular quarter. Over the 2016 -2017 school year, this comes out to at least $1.7 million. The U-Pass Program was first implemented in the 20162017 school year, following years of debate and a 2015 student referendum in support of the program. In addition to students in the College, full-time masters and Ph.D. students in the School of Social Service Administration hold U-Passes. In a 2014 survey distributed by Student Government, Continued on page 2
Continued on page 2
U-Pass Program a Net Loss, CTA Ride Data Shows DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
UChicago Admits Record Low 7.2% The acceptance rate for the Class of 2022 was a record-low 7.2 percent, Dean of Admissions James Nondorf said at an admitted students reception in late March. The regular decision admit rate was 4 percent, and the admit rate for students who were deferred in the early round was just 0.5 percent, he said. A person recorded Nondorf ’s comments at the reception and anonymously uploaded the file online. T he University ty pically does not publicly comment on admissions numbers until fall quarter. However, a spokesperson responded to the audio recording and confirmed the numbers, noting that the figures are not yet final. T he number of students admitted this year, 2,329, is down from the approximately 2,410 students admitted last year when the acceptance rate was 8.7 percent. “ S t ud e nt s ad m it t e d t o UChicago’s Class of 2022 ref lect extremely high levels of diversity and academic ability,” University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus wrote in an e-mail. She said the University received 32,291 applications and admitted 2,329 students for a 7.2 percent acceptance rate. This is a steep increase compared to the 27,694 applicants for the Class of 2021. “ T h is is the best , most amazing class we ever had, I’m just gonna say it,” Nondorf said. “At least statistically speaking, you are the smartest, you are the most selective,
Xu, Bruce Li
BY SPENCER DEMBNER
VOL. 129, ISSUE 45
Experience the Experiment. The Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge (SIFK) is delighted to announce an unprecedented set of new courses: XCAP, The Experimental Capstone for rising fourth-year undergraduates.
The Case for Cultural Centers
Charting “Soundscapes of Color” With Michal Dzitko
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An open letter from student activist group UChicago United calls on the University to commit to creating cultural centers for students of color.
Over the course of a two-year B.A. project, Dzitko created a deterritorialized opera, set within an interactive art space.
Apply now at sifk.uchicago.edu/ courses/xcap
Experience a set of courses that emphasize practice as much as theory. Figure out what is “real.” Reflect on the nature of knowledge and examine your own beliefs and assumptions. Compare, contrast, and explore the cultural and scientific context of the human body in performance and medicine. End your University of Chicago experience with a different learning experience, and take it with you.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
Events 5/4 – 5/7
SG Announces Elected Liaisons, Class Reps
Today Photo Exhibition by Philippe Gras: Au Cœur Harper Memorial Library, 1 p.m. The West Reading Room in Harper Memorial Library will host a series of over 40 black and white photographs, part of a larger series of events organized by the France Chicago Center with the support of multiple departments within the University. Tomorrow TEDxUChicago 2018: Look Again International House, 1 p.m. Head over to International House tomorrow afternoon to engage with both arts and STEM voices from around the Chicago community. The speakers, who include Rohini Dey, Kelley Cambry, and Michal Dzitko, will discuss what “looking again” means to them. Community Stewardship Day Arts Incubator, Washington Park, 10:00 a.m. Join UChicago Arts and Public Life in one of its many cleanup, beautification, and service projects this Saturday. Burke Elementary and the KLEO Center are among the community partners involved this year. Saturday S out h A si a n Mu sic E n s e m ble : Spring Concert Logan Center, 7:30 p.m. Presented by the Department of Music and the Committee on South Asian Studies, the South Asian Music Ensemble will be hosting its annual spring event this Saturday, which will feature classical and folk Indian dance performances as well as instrumental interludes from throughout India.
APARTMENT: FREE RENT FOR A GRADUATE STUDENT RETIRED RESEARCH CHEMIST, AGE 90, SEEKS ROOMMATE IN TWO-BEDROOM COACH HOUSE APARTMENT TO HELP WITH CLEANING, LAUNDRY, AND BASIC ERRANDS. IN EXCHANGE, YOU GET FREE RENT AND FREE LAUNDRY! GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR A STUDENT WHO WANTS EXTRA MONEY FOR TRAVEL OR GOING OUT IN THE CITY. CHEMIST IS QUIET AND STILL WRITES RESEARCH PAPERS, RETIRES AT 7 P.M. APARTMENT LOCATED IN GATED COMMUNITY NEAR 51ST AND WOODLAWN. CANDIDATES MUST PROVE THAT THEY ARE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE STUDENTS AND UNDERGO A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK AND INTERVIEWS. TEXT, CALL, OR EMAIL LAURA: (312) 785-6420 (CELL); LAURA@FLETCHCOM.NET If you want to place an ad in The M aroon, please e-mail ads@chicagomaroon.com or visit chicagomaroon.com/pages/advertise.
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Audrey Teo
Second-year Marlin Figgins (left) will be community and government liaison. Fourth-year biological sciences student Chris Stamper (center) will be graduate liaison to the Board of Trustees, and first-year Kyle Shishkin (right) will be undergrad liaison. Continued from front
The community and government liaison will be second-year Marlin Figgins, who ran uncontested. Kyle Shishkin won the election for the undergraduate liaison to the Board of Trustees, beating out three other candidates with 419 votes (27.58 percent). The graduate liaison to the Board of Trustees will be fourth-year biological sciences division graduate student Chris Stamper, who ran uncontested. The College Council elections, which select four representatives per class, were mostly uncontested this year, with the exception of the Class of 2021. Tony Ma, Myles Hudson, Raven Rainey, and Alex Levi were elected from a pool of six candidates for the Class of 2021, with 560 total votes reported, or 32.18 percent of the class. The winning candidates received between 278 and 245
votes each. The Class of 2020 College Council representatives will be Jahne Brown, Matthew Robinson, Rachel Abrams, and write-in candidate Eugene Miravete. 474 votes were reported. The Class of 2019 College Council representatives will be Brett Barbin and Ayling Dominguez and write-in candidates Daphne Xu and Bruce Li, with a total of 347 third-years voting. College Council representatives for the Class of 2022 will be elected in the fall. In the Humanities Division, the only graduate division that elects their representatives during the school-wide elections, there was no clear winner for one of the two representative positions. While Jo Brill won the first with 16 votes, all other candidates received one vote each in a many-way tie for second place. “We will identify procedure for deal-
ing with such a tie, and then we will faithfully discharge such procedures,” Max Freedman, Election and Rules Committee chair, said at the vote count. “I’m really excited about [passing on the torch],” current Vice President for Student Affairs Chase Harrison said in a statement to T he M aroon. “I think that having continuity in Student Government can be difficult, because there’s new leadership every year, but Sat, Natalie, and Malay are so capable and have a wonderful vision for the school. I’ve known Sat since middle school, and I’ve seen him grow into an incredible leader. I trust them so much to pass the torch on to.” The Election and Rules Committee also elected their new chair. Max Freedman will cede the position to Taylor Fox. “I leave with a full heart knowing E&R is in good hands,” Freedman said.
Students Take $1M in CTA, Program Costs $1.6M Continued from front
CLASSIFIEDS
Courtesy of Biomedical Sciences
students said they expected to ride the CTA five times a week—but according to the U-Pass data, students only take about two rides a week using the U-Pass. The U-Pass does not cover the #171 and #172 CTA bus routes, which were already free to University students by a prior arrangement. The CTA data also detailed how students use the CTA. A majority of trips—around 2/3 of them—are taken on weekdays. Most rides were taken on buses, including nearly 100,000 rides on the #55 bus. The Jackson Park and Hyde Park Express buses also saw significant rider-
ship. The Red Line, with over 100,000 rides, accounted for most of the trips taken by rail. In addition, students took around 20,000 rides each on the Blue and Green Line trains. Student Government President Calvin Cottrell, in a statement, emphasized the importance of the program in connecting students to the city. “The U-Pass program is an investment not just in public transportation rides but in connecting students to the broader Chicago community,” Cottrell said. “When considering the costs and benefits of U-Pass the benefits of students leaving the Hyde Park bubble and gaining new experiences cannot be ignored…. Those budget numbers do
not change my mind as to the value of subsidizing students exploring a world class city.” In a statement, the University reaffirmed its commitment to the program. “ The University implemented the U-Pass program in response to overwhelming feedback from students,” University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus said. “ The U-Pass serves as an additional resource for UChicago students to access the City of Chicago beyond campus for varying activities such as internships, recreational, and attending cultural opportunities in conjunction with their Arts Pass. The University plans to continue the U-Pass program and plans to renew the contract with CTA.”
Acceptance Rate Dropped From 8.7 to 7.2 Percent Continued from front
you are the most diverse…. You name it, you are it.” He joked, “ Your average SATs were well above 1500 this year, which is insane, so you’re very good at cheating.” Nondorf said he believes the Class of 2022’s essay prompts will go down as the best UChicago has ever had. His favorite was a question that asked students to write about an imaginary major of their own design with a one letter typo, such as “Com[m]uter Science” or “[P]undamentals.” “I laughed, I cried…and everyone— at least everyone that was admitted— managed to stay away from the off-color things, like you know [f ]art history and things of that nature, although I
will tell you that many of your peers could not resist. That’s why they’re not here.” At the end of the recording, Nondorf said he hopes students and parents are excited about the positive press that President Robert J. Zimmer received from Bret Stephens (A.B. ’95), the conservative New York Times columnist who published an op-ed about Zimmer and his free-speech stances in October, titled “America’s Best University President.” Nondorf then celebrated the College’s No. 3 U.S. News ranking. You can listen to the full audio recording on our website at chicagomaroon.com.
Courtesy of UChicago
College Admissions Dean James Nondorf
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
Fifteeen Faculty Members Elected to Academy of Arts and Sciences BY JASON LALLJEE DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
Last month, 15 UChicago faculty members were elected fellows to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. UChicago claims the greatest number out of any university of the 177 fellows announced this year. The total number of current fellows
and international honorees total 213. The newly elected University faculty members include Fernando Alvarez, professor of economics; Katherine Baicker, dean of the Harris School of Public Policy; Lauren Berlant, English Language and Literature professor; Bill Brown, senior adviser to the provost for arts; Laurie Butler, chemistry professor; Cathy J. Cohen, political science
professor; Heinrich Jaeger, physics professor; Matthew T. Kapstein, Buddhist studies professor; Robert L. Kendrick, music professor; Susan Levine, education and society professor; Jacqueline Stewart, cinema and media studies professor; Jessica Stockholder, chair of the Department of Visual Arts; Melody Swartz, molecular engineering professor; Andrei Tokmakoff, chemistry professor, and
Linda Waite, urban sociology professor. Several UChicago alumni were elected to the Academy this year as well, including: John R. Bowen (A.M. ’77, Ph.D. ’84); Richard V. Kadison (A.M. ’47, Ph.D. ’50); Laurie Patton (A.M. ’86, Ph.D. ’91); David Reichman (A.B. ’92); Christopher A. Walsh (Ph.D. ’83, M.D. ’85); and Birgitta K. Whaley (S.M. ’82, Ph.D. ’84).
VIEWPOINTS Open Letter to UChicago: The Case for Cultural Centers The University of Chicago claims to have a long-term commitment to diversity and argues that this commitment has “contributed to groundbreaking work in a variety of disciplines” by people of color (POC). But the long history of racist incidents on campus and the current experiences of students of color reveal the hypocrisy behind these statements. We are calling on the University of Chicago to put its money where its mouth is. If the University claims that “commitment to diversity is central to [its] mission of discovery,” and if its Diversity and Inclusion Initiative claims to create “a more diverse and inclusive campus” by relying in part on “the individuals who comprise our campus,” then the University must listen to—and not just hear—its marginalized students. If the University is to use its students of color and their labor to posture a commitment to diversity and inclusion, advance its diversity
initiatives, and boost its own reputation, then it needs to provide a physical space to support and sustain these students as well. However, the University does not—and continually refuses to—support the creation of cultural centers. We want to establish University-funded and University-run black, Latinx, and Asian/Asian American centers because we need institutional structures that actively center and support us in order for us to learn, grow, and truly thrive at this university. We need a consistent, reliable community that will support us academically, professionally, and emotionally. As students of color at a predominantly white institution, there are few spaces on campus that do not isolate us in some way. Many of us have learned to suppress parts of ourselves, to endure microaggressions and sometimes outright aggression, and to perform a certain way to be accepted—or else face backlash that attacks
our capabilities and character as students and people. It is no wonder that many POC students and alumni use the language of “survival” when talking about their time at UChicago. It is clear that what we have now is not enough. Multicultural registered student organizations (RSOs) can only do so much as extracurricular student groups with limited funding, resources, and time. Campus housing may be a safe, supportive space for some students, but considering the number of racist incidents and microaggressions that have occurred in them, students of color cannot easily say the same. The retention rate for on-campus college housing, at about 55 percent, shows that the current housing communities are not enough. Spaces like the Center for Identity + Inclusion and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, while providing vital resources, cannot ade-
Sofia Garcia
quately provide for every one of us when they are tasked with accommodating all marginalized groups with limited space, staffing, and funding. Universities all across the coun-
try already have culturally specific centers, including Stanford, Yale,University of Pennsylvania, UIC, and Purdue. These centers provide programming around racial Continued on page 4
HEARING ONE ANOTHER WORKSHOP Help build a more inclusive UChicago campus community by participating in the Hearing One Another workshop! This innovative program pairs improvisational exercises developed by The Second City with behavioral research in order to help people build the skills necessary for creating inclusive communities. Workshops can accommodate a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 30 people and are free to all members of the UChicago community. Register now to attend with your friends, your organization, your department, or as an individual. The two-hour workshop is offered on Friday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m.
Second Science Project in partnership with The Second City
®
Learn more and sign up to participate in a workshop now! uchic.ag/hoa Hearing One Another was developed by the Second Science Project in partnership with the University of Chicago’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
“A physical space...is imperative for a stronger community” Continued from page 3 identity, build community, and provide other academic or career-oriented support that is targeted to each specific demographic. It’s clear that not just “top” schools have these centers—it’s a matter of prioritizing funding. UC Berkeley has established cultural centers with a fraction of our endowment. Lack of funding or space is not an excuse when we have a nearly $8 billion endowment. The importance of a physical space cannot be understated—it is imperative for a stronger community. Unlike cultural RSOs on campus where involvement often relies on personal connections and available time, having a center means that minority students know they have a place to go to find a cultural community before they even arrive on campus. Cultural centers would promote physical inclusion instead of erasure, allowing for a cultural community that is wider than just a circle of friends.
There is a persistent belief that the only way students can coexist is if we erase our individualities. The creation of distinct cultural centers as we imagine it will not promote segregation, will not be divisive, and will not obstruct free speech. We are not all the same. We are distinct groups with our own histories, issues, and needs. We can only build strength as individuals and as a community when we connect through and acknowledge our differences, through cross-cultural collaboration that can flourish with the establishment of cultural centers. This extends to allies, who will benefit by the cultivation of empathy and learning through intentionally inclusive programming that would be facilitated through the centers. It’s true that creating a truly anti racist, diverse, and inclusive university is a longterm goal that involves changes both inside and outside the classroom. But cultural centers act as an intermediary step in providing
refuge and support for students of color. Feelings of alienation and isolation as a result of attending a predominantly white institution affect the mental state and performance of students of color in a tangible, harmful way. Cultural centers will alleviate these effects by being an anchor for communities of color. Thus, far from promoting further isolation, cultural centers will equip marginalized students with the skills and community they need to better perform and remain at this institution, and to better face the world moving forward. If the University truly cares about its most marginalized students, it will prioritize using the money and space it already has and is continuing to accumulate for students of color. We know that cultural centers won’t spring up overnight, but we are asking for a clear commitment from the University to work with us and show that it truly cares about the well-being of marginalized students
on campus. This commitment could take the form of a search committee where paid student interns and staff are hired to look for space and gather input from students of color. It could also mean including an option of contributing to the creation of cultural centers on all letters and online portals used to acquire donations. Already, students on campus have engaged in generative dialogue about what cultural centers could be—suggesting facilities from a communal kitchen to culturally competent counselors. Each center would also be suited to each community’s needs. The possibilities are limitless when we collaborate, listen, and truly center marginalized people when it comes to making decisions, rather than compromising on intermediary, Band-Aid solutions for campus inclusion. — Liana Fu and Paola Del Toro on behalf of UChicago United
In Defense of Criticizing UChicago Alexa Perlmutter A few weeks ago, when prospective students flooded the quad, I asked a prospie who was interested in joining The Maroon if he decided to attend UChicago. “I was looking through the Viewpoints section,” he told me, “and there were so many articles criticizing the school. Is that the general attitude of the student body?” I thought back to the recent articles I’ve written and read. He was not wrong; much of what our Viewpoints contributors write about is UChicago’s controversial relationship with the South Side of Chicago, UChicago’s free speech policy, Student Counseling Services— the list goes on. Soulet Ali just this week argued that prospective students of color should think twice before committing. I think these criticisms, whether expressed in The Maroon, in a community meeting, or at a protest, can be understood as much more than just an exercise of free speech. With few exceptions, the criticism of the University over the past year—regarding the business major and grad school unionization, for example—has demonstrated that our school is filled with passionate, outspoken students who are confident enough to criticize authority and prepared to make actual change in the world. Thinking critically about this university—the place we all call home—seems bound up with and indicative of a broader commitment to think critically about the policies and struc-
tures in this country and in the world at large. I tried to explain this to the prospie. I told him that no school is not perfect. I told him that there is a wide array of opinions about the University and its politics, but the fact that there is so much criticism out there means the student body is socially and politically engaged and willing to work for the issues and causes they care about. Maybe it’s because I just finished reading The Communist Manifesto for the third time this year, but I see Marx as an important figure in a discussion of challenging authority. I recently read a New York Times article that cited him as one of the first true critical philosophers, mounting a critique of capitalism that has set the stage for current revolutionary movements. The author writes, “Racial and sexual oppression have been added to the dynamic of class exploitation. Social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, owe something of an unspoken debt to Marx through their unapologetic targeting of the ‘eternal truths’ of our age. Such movements recognize, as did Marx, that the ideas that rule every society are those of its ruling class and that overturning those ideas is fundamental to true revolutionary progress.” It seems like in this particular historical moment, many of the unspoken “eternal truths” of the past are being questioned and challenged.
MULTIMEDIA
Grace Hauck, editor BUSINESS
Antonia Salisbury, chief financial officer
Euirim Choi, Editor-in-Chief Pete Grieve, Editor-in-Chief Katie Akin, Managing Editor Kay Yang, Managing Editor The Maroon Editorial Board consists of the editors-in-chief and editors of The Maroon.
NEWS
Deepti Sailappan, editor Tyrone Lomax, editor Lee Harris, editor Alex Ward, editor VIEWPOINTS
Cole Martin, editor Urvi Kumbhat, editor ARTS
Brooke Nagler, editor May Huang, editor SPORTS
Michael Perry, editor Audrey Mason, editor DESIGN
Peng-Peng Liu, head designer COPY
Morganne Ramsey, copy chief
Michelle Zhao, copy chief Katrina Lee, copy chief Patrick Lou, copy chief GREY CITY
Wendy Lee, editor Greg Ross, associate editor Emily Feigenbaum, associate editor SOCIAL MEDIA
Hunter Morgan, editor ONLINE
Vishal Talasani, editor Hari Pingali, deputy editor PHOTO
Feng Ye, editor Zoe Kaiser, editor Brooke Nagler, editor
Alex Chung, director of development Micahel Vetter, Xavier Worsley, directors of marketing James Kon, director of operations Brian Dong, director of strategy
But what will follow this questioning of authority? Of course, communism in the idealistic way Marx described it no longer seems practical. Does this mean that the demands of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements are impossible as well? Does that mean that our demands that the University work in conjunction with the South Side instead of despite it is only a utopian dream? Surely not. Not only are our demands not as lofty as Marx’s, but many of them are common sense. If UChicago is going to continue to be the prestigious university that it is today, its policies must demonstrate care for the surrounding community and all of its students. I believe it is the responsibility of an in-
dependent college newspaper to criticize its university when warranted. The focus now, though, is to ensure that the discontent is being channeled into truly productive channels. Right now, student organizations like UChicago Student Action and UChicago United are taking active steps, either by putting pressure on the University to change their policies or by working among students to make the campus more inclusive. My hope is that more of the student body begins to mobilize, transforming their valid criticisms into institutional changes. — Alexa Perlmutter is a first-year in the College.
Elizabeth Anscombe on Living the Truth THURSDAY, MAY 10, 7PM Classics 110 Free and open to the public. Presented by the Lumen Christi Institute. Cosponsored by the Nicholson Center for British Studies and the Department of Philosophy.
Register at www.lumenchristi.org This talk will explore how Elizabeth Anscombe understands practical truth by relating it to her influential theory of the intentionality of action; its ultimate suggestion is that “doing the truth” just is living a good human life--that is, knowingly performing actions in accordance with true judgments of right practical reasoning.
Regina Filomeno, business manager Harry Backlund, distributor THIS ISSUE
Design Associates: Evan Kreinces, Jessica Xia Editor-in-Chief: Editor@ChicagoMaroon.com Newsroom Phone: (312) 918-8023 Business Phone: (408) 806-8381 For advertising inquiries, please contact Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com or (408) 8068381. Circulation: 2,000. © 2018 The Chicago Maroon Ida Noyes Hall / 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Jennifer Frey is Assistant Professor of Phi-
losophy at the University of South Carolina. She was previously a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts and an affiliated faculty in the philosophy department.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
ARTS
Charting Soundscapes of Color With Michal Dzikto BY JAD DAHSHAN ARTS STAFF
For his B . A . thesis, fou r th-yea r Michal Dzitko builds alluring Soundscapes of Color, completely renovating the traditional opera house into an interactive art installation— a journey listeners build for themselves. Soundscapes of Color, a contemporary opera composed by Dzitko, made its Chicago debut on April 22. Both his B.A. project and a commissioned artwork two years in the making, the piece reinterprets the 1874 typography catalog “ Specimens of Chromatic Wood T y pe” as a libretto. It explodes conventional operatic staging by scattering performers throughout the venue and liberating the audience from their seats into the performance space. Held at experimental art space 6 018 North, the show was preceded by a reception and discussion moderated by Associate Professor of Music Steven Rings. T he project all started when Dzitko, a year after releasing his first album Bokeh in 2015, was working as a business consultant for Purgatory P ie P ress, run by author Esther K . Smith and her husband, Dikko Faust. W hen Smith came across the wood ty pe manuscr ipt for the f irst time, she was fascinated by its near-operatic “over-the-top-ness” and commissioned Dzitko to compose an opera around it. To adapt “Specimens” as a libretto, a na r rative that tells the stor y of a musica l work, seemed at f i rst to be an impossible notion. No logic, let alone chronology, ties any of the typography book’s verbal contents together. Its meaningfulness lies in the formal qualities of the words rather than their denotations. Taken as they
are, the words seem to form a surrealist poem comparable to those of Gertrude Stein, featuring word combi nations l i ke “ ha nd some pic tu re / dark forests/ radiance/ mosaic.” Yet Dzitko uses the text’s poetic quality to his advantage; vocalists sing the nonsensical phrases aloud in performance, and, as Smith explained, the listener is able to ascribe any number of meanings to the ambiguous words. I ndeed , Dzitko’s work combi nes sound, space, and color to create an interactive and multi-sensory experience in which the listener, as opposed to the actor, is the protagonist. By composing based on the associative symbolism of colors, Dzitko reverses the usual relationship between actors and orchestra in an opera such that the music no longer ref lects the action onstage, but instead shapes it. “A plot was one dimension we were missing, and the idea of substituting in the dimension of space appeared as one great solution,” recounted Dzitko. Rather than arrange his music in time, he decided to do so in space. 6 018 Nor th prov ided the perfect venue for Dzitko’s creativity—it added a cer tain spatiality and mater ia l ity t o S oundscapes of Color that became quintessential to the work. Since its inception five years ago, the space has been run by former Museum of Contemporar y A r t A ssistant Curator T ricia Van Eck, who transformed the decrepit house into a home for multidisciplinary artistic collaboration while preser v ing its beautifully aged appearance and historical significance. In addition to the University and his commissioners, Dzitko is g rateful for the support Van Eck provided for his project. “ It honestly happened because many people believed in this,” said Dzitko.
With th ree f loors, secret rooms, and vestiges of past ex hibits, 6 018 North staged a perfect segmentation of the traditional operatic orchestra into its individual components. Working w ith lighting desig ners, Dzitko further transmuted the space into an ethereal world of color. With an alto stationed in a crystalline teal closet and a trombonist in an emerald room with half of its f loor missing, all that united the per formers was a ser ies of screens displaying the hidden conductor leading them. Given the dampening effects of the large crowd, performers could neither see nor hear one another. Tampering with this concept of remote conducting facilitated the audience’s movement throughout the space, a l low i ng each i nd iv idua l t o u n iquely c a r ve thei r way th r ough sound, light, and space. Dzitko’s novel staging created inf inite exper iences and soundscapes w ith i n a si ngle per forma nce. A s a result, attending the show is almost existentially dizzying, although otherwise quite aesthetically engaging. Wa l k i n g t h r ou g h t he r o om s , one might stumble upon a pa r ticu la rly intense moment, such as a soprano singing vehemently in a corner bathed in bright red. “ I prefer this to traditional opera because I ’m past the point of being educated by a story,” ref lected an attendee after the show. Distributed among the nooks and cra n n ies of 6 018 , per formers were d ressed i n wh ite sh i r ts w ith thei r musical roles pr inted on them. T he uniforms distinguished them from the aud ience but a lso de- cha racter ized them, reinforcing the fact that they drove no plot, acting only as vehicles through which the listener may construct their own personal narrative. Fashion is among Dzitko’s inter-
Courtesy of KDE Photography Inc.
Dzitko scattered his musicians across rooms lit in moody, evocative colors.
ests outside of music, though he is not blind to the intersections between the two art forms. The spirit of “copying and repurposing,” which lies at the heart of hip-hop and streetwear, formed the artistic scaffolding of this ver y project; w r iting the opera not only involved repurposing a typography catalog into a libretto, but also the recycling of other musical materials. These materials ranged from traditional Polish folk tunes and Franz L iszt ’s “ L a Lug ubre G ondola” t o a chord progression from Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost” and even Kanye West’s “ Wolves,” which is itself a remodeling of borrowed material. “ The best things come with time,” ref lected Dzitko on his two year-long project. “ I think we did exactly what we were trying to do.” Some potential commissioners even approached him at the end to inquire about possible collaborations. Dzitko looks forward to more ambitious iterations of the show, as well as pursuing new projects in the future. Despite the etymological ambiguity of the word “chromatic,” the fact that the A ncient Greeks dev ised a word suited both to the harmonies of music and the tonalities of the visual arts might point to a deeper connection between the two. It is this synesthetic audio-visual relation which Dzitko evokes in Soundscapes of Color, doing so in such a way that dismantles the operatic stage and grants the viewer the agency to chart their own course across infinitely variegated soundscapes. D zitko will be presenting at the TEDx Conference on Saturday.
Courtesy of KDE Photography Inc.
Dzitko (left) with Steven Rings, a professor of music in the College.
Roll Away the Known: Lyric Opera’s Jesus Christ Superstar Is Ascendant BY AMANDA WONG MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
Like its playwright, who penned the production when he was 23 years old, Jesus Christ Superstar needs no introduction. A revival of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice’s beloved, the biblical production is now playing at the Lyric Opera House. Directed by three-time
Olivier award winner Timothy Sheader, the Chicago show effortlessly continues the renewed wave of explosive energy, following the special live production earlier this year starring John Legend and Sara Bareilles, that was broadcast to about 9.4 million viewers. The musical is a retelling of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, but it is far from the Sunday school story. Jesus
(Heath Saunders) carries an electric guitar; Mary Magdalene (Jo Lampert) rocks a shaved head and raccoon eye shadow; disciples descend into hysteria like front-row fans at Lollapalooza. There is only room for rock screams and electric guitar riffs. With a robust orchestra in addition to a rock band, the Lyric Opera’s production features over 80 artists on stage—twice the size
of the original London production. That original show debuted in 1970, when the play’s choice to portray Jesus Christ as a rock star—especially one with doubts about his own legitimacy—and to give Judas an empathetic treatment bristled even some of the most devoted rock and opera fans. This production is a welcome, modernizing Continued on page 6
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
“This production is a welcome, modernizing update.” Continued from page 5
update. There is strong representation of black and brown folks onstage, an especially refreshing change from the consistently white casts of previous productions. Gone too are restrictive notions of gender; women eat at the Last Supper, and Lampert’s shaved head g ives Mary an unprecedented androgynous spin. The musical’s barn-burning vocal numbers, however, haven’t changed a bit. Despite a huge cast, soloists are still able to seize the stage. Lampert’s vo ca ls a re espe cia l ly str i k i ng ; i n “ I Don’t K now How to L ove Him,” Mary, alone on stage, wonders about her description-defying love for Jesus. Lampert’s heart-aching croon is
touching, but delivered with resolve. Ryan Shaw is just as enchanting in “Judas’s Death”; he conveys powerful grief and disbelief at Jesus’s cruel, faithless treatment. The vulnerability that f lickers through Shaw’s performance, along with his representation of Judas’s anguish, pays lip service to the humanity in history’s most notorious bad guy. The show wasn’t without its technical foibles; one-liners that function as comedic relief risk getting lost in actors’ polyphonic screams, in addition to the limits of the venue’s amps. The imperfections of the audio system, however, are also a touching reminder that one is, after all, in the Lyric Opera House, which was not intended to
host the likes of Prince and KISS. The show is undeniably a feast for the eyes. The fast pace of killer vocals a nd f u l m i n a nt chore og raphy — the stage, at some points, morphing into a hungry vortex of swirling gray clothing belonging to Jesus’s followers—is enough to hold audience’s amazement. But their radiance is matched by costumes that range from low-key hoodies to a 28-foot-long golden cape, the end of which recedes to the back of the stage, unseen. It comes as no surprise that costume designer Tom Scutt once collaborated with Sam Smith at the Tate Modern; the designs are instantly recognizable as the “effortless cool” of celebrities caught on their way to attend the next London fashion show.
The costumes drew inspiration from Chicago’s neighborhoods; Pontius Pilate’s ( Michael Cunio) leather jacket and combat boots make him look as though he just stepped off his motorcycle in Wicker Park. This may be the first time audiences see Jesus dressed in street-smart sweatpants and a long cardigan, an ensemble that resembles that of Kanye West—which, according to show notes, was no accident. The effect of the costumes and choreography is reminiscent of glam-rock maximalism; “excessive” may as well be emblazoned on the handbook of Jesus Christ Superstar. Ninety pounds of gold confetti, raining down in whorls, are tossed into the air in handfuls and cling to the clothes of performers. Watching the first round of glitter fall onto the stage may trigger some worry for the neat audience member, if only for the painstaking task of cleaning it up. The continuous f lurry of gold is of such magnitude that I suspect intermission is 25-minutes long so the crew has time to sweep away the confetti. The confetti also acts as an unshakeable reminder of the lasting power of performance. When Judas asks Jesus whether he is truly the son of God, Jesus replies, “ That’s what you say.” For a nanosecond, one can see the flash of remnant glitter clinging to his clothes, forgotten and unnoticed by its wearer. Jesus Christ Superstar is much the same. Its astoundingly delivered tracks and dazzling set design are sure to accompany audience members home long after the curtain has gone down.
Courtesy of Lyric Opera
Steve Coleman Plays With Sound, Plays for Community BY KYLE OLEKSIUK MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
The Jesse L. Rosenberger Medal is awarded irregularly by the University to someone who has created work “deemed of great benefit to humanity.” This year’s winner and the 53rd recipient of this award is the unconventional saxophonist Steve Coleman, who gave an acceptance lecture and performance last Sunday at the Logan Center. The Rosenberger Medal will be his latest in a long line of awards, which include the coveted MacArthur “Genius Grant.” The word “genius,” like many other superlatives, seems apt for Mr. Coleman, who plays masterfully and, as his lecture revealed, has a unique vision of what music is and what it can do. His lecture was titled “ The Eagle and the Lark,” which was also the name of the story with which he opened his talk. “ The eagle represents logic, and the lark represents intuition,” he explained. The eagle can soar into the clouds but cannot sing, while the lark has a beautiful song but cannot f ly very high. So the lark climbs onto the eagle’s back, and together the two bring a beautiful song to the heavens. For Mr. Coleman, this is the essence of creative music. Coleman aims for his audience to experience a relationship between logic and intuition. For him, rhythm and tone, two things we normally view as separate, are not physically different. Tapping a pencil in 4/4 time sounds like a rhythm, but if you speed up the tapping enough, it will start to sound
like a tone. And although humans intuitively grasp the two as different, Coleman is inspired by the fact that they emerge from the same phenomenon. While this is certainly very heady, Coleman’s dedication to teaching extends beyond the highly conceptual and into the realm of community work: wherever the band goes, they engage in work with the community. Most recently, this meant a partnership with the Chicago-based organization Free Write, which offers “tutoring and workshops in creative writing, visual art, music production, and workforce development for incarcerated youth.” Through Free Write, Coleman hopes to introduce children to new opportunities and expand their imaginations, increasing the possible paths they envision for themselves. Before giving his Rosenberger lecture, Coleman and his band, Five Elements, played three improvised songs over the course of an hour; the result, as one audience member put it, was “the sound of a brain at work.” Each band member was free to work in their own time sig nature and to choose any tonal or rhythmic direction while lyricist Kokayi rapped freestyle and drummer Sean Rickman played an anchoring rhythm. It was meditative and frequently disorienting, yet somehow never chaotic. For Coleman, what holds his band’s sound together, remaining unconventional but not incoherent, is years of practice. As they played, those years of practice allowed the musicians to provide new kinds of order while breaking down expected ones. By the end of the
Saxophonist Steve Coleman in 2014. night, it became clear that Coleman is working to give his audiences a new relationship to sound. This is, to be sure, not the sort of thing the average saxophonist attempts. Mr. Coleman himself has admitted that he’s “not trying to win any Grammys.” But for
Courtesy of The Morning Call
this kind of work, and for his community outreach, he certainly fits the bill for the Rosenberger Medal—an artist “of great benefit to humanity.”
THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
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RBIM Presents: The Cast
Rhythmic Bodies in Motion’s annual spring showcase took place last week, from April 27–28, in Reynolds Club. Titled The Cast, the showcase featured myriad dance styles such as ballroom, belly dancing, hip-hop, Bollywood, and tap. Photos by Sophia Corning.
SPORTS Senior Spotlight: Hill Bonin SOCCER
BY THOMAS GORDON SPORTS STAFF
The man that has become synonymous with UChicago soccer for the last four seasons has sadly finished his time as the starting goalkeeper. Hill Bonin, a four-year starter, has had as successful a career as any UChicago student-athlete. Walking by the wall of records in Ratner, all of the goalkeeping records are held by one man: Hill Bonin. Even now, he has hardly had a chance to reflect on his storied career, since he is “so busy trying to find professional opportunities,” as he put it. However, when given the opportunity to reflect on his career, Bonin is proud of what the team accomplished as a whole rather than his individual accolades. “When my class came to the soccer program we were an irrelevant, .500 record team and now we are a national powerhouse. We set out a goal to be the best in the country and we achieved that.” The proudest aspect of Bonin’s career is that the team was able to channel its ambition to be the best, and actually achieve its goals instead of leaving them unfinished. While talking to Hill’s teammates, the main characteristics that came up were his passion for the game and his ability to lead the team, while being an amazing teammate. Nicco Capotosto, a third-year midfielder, calls Bonin “one of the most passionate guys I’ve ever played with” and “a great teammate who lives and breathes soccer.” First-year Carter Romero agreed with Capotosto wholeheartedly, stating that
Bonin “was a great teammate, who brought energy to every practice and always worked hard to do his job.” This passion and drive was evident throughout Bonin’s last season, especially when faced with adversity. Near the end of the regular season, Hill suffered a potentially devastating injury with a high ankle sprain. However, instead of resigning to his fate and ending a storied career, Bonin fought through the pain and worked his way back to play in the Maroons’ Final Four run in North Carolina. While it was not the fairy-tale ending, the sheer desire to come back and play emphasizes the type of player and person that Bonin is. Bonin’s career did not end in heartbreak in North Carolina, as he is currently attempting to make it as a professional in Sweden. Capotosto and his teammates were not surprised by this opportunity: “We were never really doubtful he’d get the chance to play pro and we’re all pulling for him to do what he usually does and succeed.” Initially the adjustment to Sweden was a difficult one for Bonin, as it is for any soccer players going abroad. Bonin said, “It has been a hell of an adjustment. Coaches don’t care where you came from or how you got where you are now, it’s just a question of how well you can do the job. That has been a big adjustment after being told how great our school is for four years. It was weird at first but now I like it—I have an opportunity to show people what I can do without any preconceived ideas.” Bonin’s desire and optimism has shone through by focusing on the ability to make himself without any prepossessed notions.
Sophia Corning
There was also an adjustment in the style of how my skills compare to theirs and it makes play between Sweden and the U.S. as well. me excited about future opportunities.” There is an increased focus on tactical disciOverall, it is impressive that Bonin is pline in Sweden instead of the American fo- putting himself out there, trying to fulfill his cus on exciting and forward-thinking play. In lifelong dream. He states it perfectly, saying, fact, Bonin emphasizes that “even the least “There’s nothing to do but train very hard skilled players surpass many people that I’ve every day and hope I get seen by the right played with from a tactical and formation person at the right time.” With the right atstandpoint” and that it is “an entirely differ- titude, endless drive, and a deep desire for ent approach to the game.” Even with all of the game, Bonin has a chance, and that’s all these adjustments, Bonin is optimistic about someone can ask for in trying to make it as the future: “On our off days we train with a a pro following the conclusion of his great nearby team close to the top tier of Swedish Maroon career. football, and I actually feel comfortable with
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 4, 2018
SPORTS Maroons Go 1-2, Get Rained Out SOFTBALL
BY MIRANDA BURT SPORTS STAFF
The University of Chicago women’s softball team finished its stretch of home games this week, splitting a doubleheader against North Central and dropping the first game of a doubleheader to Elmhurst before the second game was canceled due to inclement weather. The first game against North Central College (30 –7) saw the Cardinals jump out to an 8 – 0 lead after three innings, due in part to a pair of tworun and three-run homeruns. Thirdyear Carly Schulz had an RBI single in the fourth to get the Maroons on the board. The fifth inning saw both teams add two runs to their total, thanks to RBIs from second-year Holli Jones and
first-year Abby Hayes. The Maroons tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 11–8. However, this is as close as the South Siders would get, as the final score would have them on the losing end of 12–8. The second game saw the Maroons prevail in a 2 – 0 shutout thanks to a stellar performance from fourth-year pitcher Molly Moran, who only allowed three hits and two walks while delivering five strikeouts. UChicago manufactured all of their offense in the first inning. Third-year Serena Moss drew a walk with the bases loaded to give the Maroons their first run. Firstyear Skye Collins added the last run for the Maroons with a sacrifice f ly in the same inning. S chu lz sa id of the doublehead-
er against North Central, “ We had a slow start versus North Central—it took us a few innings to catch up to their offense and start scoring runs to compete with them. We were really motivated to win the second game after dropping a rough first game to them, and we were able to pull out a nice win as a result.” UChicago dropped the f irst of a scheduled doubleheader with Elmhurst 5 –1 the following day. The Maroons’ only run came off of two Elmhurst slip ups, allowing Moss to score all the way from first base, bringing the score to 1– 0 in the second. However, the Maroons would not get any further than this, with the Bluejays scoring five runs in the final three innings to secure the win. The nightcap game was canceled due to weather.
Schultz spoke of the game plan against Elmhurst: “We know we have to start out strong and maintain energy throughout the games. We know that these games are important for the future of our season, so we’re hoping to do what we have to do to get these wins. Our mindset for the rest of the season is definitely about consistency and putting pressure on our opponents right away—as long as we can achieve these two things from the very start of our games going forward, we can beat anyone.” The Maroons will hope to have the opportunity extend their season in postseason play.
Maroons Take No. 2
Chicago Looks Forward
TENNIS
BASEBALL
BY TRENT CARSON SPORTS STAFF
This past weekend, the University of Chicago women’s tennis team took in the sunshine and warm weather in Altamonte Springs, Florida and came back to Chicago with a trophy. The Maroons finished as runner-up at the University Athletic Association (UA A) Championship tournament in their second straight appearance. The Maroons, who were the third seed heading into competition on Friday, stomped both New York University and Carnegie Mellon University before being defeated by the overall number one seed Emory University. On Friday morning, the Maroons took care of business against No. 6 N Y U, winning four of the six singles matches, and two of the three doubles matches for a final score of 6 –3. Chicago started off strong, with first doubles duo of second-year Marjorie Antohi and first-year Claire Handa easily dismissing the Bobcats 8 –1. After the second doubles team lost in a hard fought battle, the Maroons’ third doubles duo composed of second-years Alyssa Rudin and Estefania Navarro brought the team score to 2–1 with an 8 –5 victory. The Maroons needed three more victories to defeat N Y U, and found them in the middle of the singles lineup. The Maroons clinched victory with wins from Navarro and Rudin at the fourth and fifth singles positions and from first-year Catherine Xu at third singles. Even with first and sixth singles falling to their opponents, the team breezed through the first round. Antohi fended off her opponent 13–11 in a tight tiebreak. With momentum on their side and revenge on their mind, the team advanced to play Carnegie Mellon in the semifinals. Earlier in the season, the Maroons faced the Tartans at the ITA Indoor Championships, where Carnegie Mellon swept UChicago 5–0. The Maroons channeled this motivation and came out strong with two easy victories in first and third doubles, where Antohi and Handa defeat-
ed their opponents 8 –6 and Rudin and Navarro defeated their opponents 8 –4. First-year Xu punched the teams ticket to the next round with a 6 –3, 3 – 6, 6 – 0 takedown at third singles, following wins from Handa and Rudin. With the team win already clinched, Antohi added on the final point to finish the competition at 6 –3, winning her match 5 –7, 7–5, 1– 0 (10 –2). Looking back at the Carnegie Melon match, Rudin said, “I couldn’t be more proud of the team this weekend! We aren’t an overwhelmingly better team than them on a talent level but I thought our intensity on every court was absolutely unmatched which is what pushed us over the edge.” On Sunday, for the second season in a row and the third time in UChicago history, the women’s tennis team fought against Emory in the final and fell just short of taking home the championship. The Maroons fell behind early, losing the first two doubles matches, but the duo of Rudin and Navarro pulled out an 8 –6 win over the Eagles’ third doubles pair. The team fought tooth and nail throughout the singles matches, but only Antohi was able to pull out a win, beating her opponent 6 –4, 6 –3. UChicago placed second in the tournament, losing to Emory 7–2. Overall, Rudin speaks positively of the outcome of the UA A tournament, saying, “I think our performance was everything we could’ve asked for! We had so many obstacles coming in, from not getting a lot of outdoor play time to having midterms during or after the tournament that we were up late studying for, so the fact that we did better than expected is a huge testament to our hard work and mental strength.” The Maroons will play in the NCAA DIII Tennis Championship in a few weeks. They will know who they face when the draw is released on Monday, May 7.
BY ANNA ROSE SPORTS STAFF
On Tuesday, May 1, the University of Chicago baseball team lost a hard-fought battle to the DI Flames of University of Illinois in Chicago, coming up short with a score of 6–3. The loss marked the end of the team’s five-game winning streak, and put them at an overall record of 22–10. Third-year duo Brady Sarkon and Josh Parks led the offense for the Maroons with one home run each. Fourth-year Max Larsen, third-year Connor Hickey, second-year Payton Jancsy, and firstyear Brian Lyle also contributed with one hit each. Although they came up short in the end, the team is proud of the way they played. Parks commented on the team’s performance on Tuesday. “I thought we attacked well early in the count, but to score runs we have to get guys on base and we could not seem to do that consistently,” Parks said. “I thought we threw the ball as well as I have seen us all year,” he said. “From top to bottom, I thought the pitching staff gave us a great chance to win, and that’s all we can ask for.” The Maroons are ready to redeem themselves, and, with their upcoming schedule, they will definitely get a chance to do so. The squad will play four games in two days this weekend in Grinnell, Iowa. On Saturday, May 5, the team will play Luther College at 1 p.m.,
and Grinnell College at 4 p.m. They will then play a doubleheader against Grinnell on Sunday, May 6, with a game at noon and a game at 3 p.m. The Maroons played Grinnell College once before in the beginning of their season, winning 16–0 in seven innings. However, they know a lot can change over the course of the season, so they are not underestimating their abilities. The squad is working hard every day in practice to prepare. Focusing on themselves and honing their skills has been the priority. First-year catcher Jake Fauske commented on the team’s preparation: “We’ve been focusing on playing small ball this week and mastering the little things to ensure we play as a welloiled machine this weekend,” he said. “We will need our pitchers to keep us in the games so that our offense can attack.” Parks echoed his teammate’s sentiments, saying, “Looking ahead to this weekend, if the pitching staff can continue to give us good outings, the offense is going to find ways to get them run support. Despite the loss against UIC, I love the way we are playing right now and I think we are all ready to get back out there.” This weekend will be an exciting and busy weekend for the Maroons, and their performance will determine their fate for the rest of the season looking ahead into postseason. The hard work they have put in all season relies heavily on these few games.
UPCOMING GAMES SPORT
Track & Field Baseball Tennis
DAY
Opponent
TIME
Friday
Loras Dr. Tucker
3 p.m.
Saturday
Luther
1 p.m.
Friday
Carnegie Mellon
3:30 p.m.
M AROON
SCORE BOARD Softball Softball Baseball Softball
W L L L
North Central North Central Illinois-Chicago Elmhurst
2–0 12–8 6–3 5–1