JANUARY 30, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
VOL. 129, ISSUE 25
BUSINESS ECON MAJOR IN WORKS BY KATIE AKIN NEWS EDITOR
Brooke Nagler
Students protest a Booth professor’s invitation of Steve Bannon to campus.
CAMPUS REACTS TO ZINGALES’S BANNON INVITATION Goolsbee to provide counterpoint, sources say
Pete Grieve
Eyler-Driscoll resigned last week.
ProMarket Senior Editor Resigns Over Bannon BY PETE GRIEVE NEWS EDITOR
Samantha Eyler-Driscoll, who has stepped down from her position as Senior Editor of the Stigler Center’s publication ProMarket, warned her boss around November: Don’t bring Steve Bannon to campus.
Stigler Center director and Booth professor Luigi Zingales went ahead with inviting Bannon despite her objections, at which point she asked to recuse herself entirely from the event’s planning. “ The request was granted, but then v iolated —whether knowingly or unknowingly— by my bosses,” she said in an Continued on page 3
Booth professor Austan Goolsbee was asked to be the person to debate Steve Bannon, T HE M AROON has learned from conversations with three sources close to the event. In an e-mail yesterday afternoon, Goolsbee said—only speaking hypothetically—that the debate is something he would be interested in doing. “I consider the views espoused by Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and the like to be outrageous, hatefilled, nativist nonsense,” he said. “If they ask me to oppose him in a debate (or any other way), I will do so with everything I have.” It’s unclear if Goolsbee will ultimately be the counterpoint to Bannon even though he has been invited, because the event’s logistics are unfinalized and changing. Luigi Zingales, who invited
Bannon and will be the moderator, said in response to THE M AROON ’S request for comment on Goolsbee: “There is no further development as of now.” Bannon will not be paid, according to Zingales and two sources. The Stigler Center does not pay speaker fees, although it typically pays for travel and accommodations for its guest speakers. Protests continue Students scheduled a walkin protest at Zingales’s 8:30 a.m. class this morning, and a second one at his 6 p.m. class downtown at Booth’s Gleacher Center tonight. Second-year Madeleine Johnson, who organized the event on Facebook, told THE M AROON that it will be a silent protest: “We don’t want to be detrimental to his teaching; we want to comContinued on page 2
Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light Page 6
Business As Usual
MAB Annual Comedy Showcase at Logan Splits Sides
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The Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business have created a joint proposal to introduce a business economics major to the College. John List, chairman of the Department of Economics, said the major would be “economics with a business flavor” and would allow students an increased amount of specialization. According to List, the major would be “more applied in nature” than the current economics major. “[The economics department has] roughly 25 to 27 percent of majors on campus,” List said. “When you get that large, it’s important to allow your students to have a voice.” List has presented plans for the major to several faculty committees, but does not know when it will go to a vote. The College Council, a group of 40 faculty in the College, would be ultimately responsible for deciding to implement the major. (This organization is distinct from Student Government College Council, which consists of undergraduates.) A spokesperson of the College Council told a MAROON reporter Thursday that proceedings of the Council were confidential but that this issue would be within their jurisdiction. Posters have gone up across campus urging professors to vote against the new major, although the individuals behind this campaign have not identified themselves. Last fall, a parent told THE MAROON that Dean of Admissions Jim Nondorf, at an admitted students reception on April 4 in Excelsior, MN, said that the College was planning on introducing a business economics major. This was corroborated by three other students who had attended the event. When THE M AROON asked the University to confirm this plan in mid-October, a spokesperson said that “no changes to the College’s academic program are planned at this time.”
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 30, 2018
Events 1/30–2/1 Today What Makes a School Great? Kenwood Academy, 5015 S Blackstone Ave, 7 p.m. Jack Schneider, a professor at College of the Holy Cross and the author of Beyond Test Scores will host this forum on the impact of school rating on Chicago schools, and the alternatives available. Political Speechwriting and State of the Union Watch Party Institute of Politics, 7 p.m. On the evening of the State of the Union, Larry McEnerney, director of UChicago’s Writing Program, leads a workshop on political speechwriting. Stick around after the discussion for a livestream of President Trump’s first State of the Union address. Wednesday How I Became a Renegade Bibliographer Swift Hall, 12 p.m. Anne Knafl, the bibliographer for religion, philosophy, and Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago Library, will discuss her attempts to reflect contemporary issues in her exhibitions at the Library. The event is part of the Divinity’s School’s Wednesday Lunch speaker series. A vegetarian meal will be provided. Email divinitylunch@ gmail.com if you plan to attend. $5.
Thursday Gallery Talk: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Oriental Institute Museum (Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery), 12 p.m. Dr. Foy Scalf, Head of the Research Archives at the Oriental Institute, will elaborate on how the ancient Egyptians used magical texts to draw them closer to the gods. Two Book of the Dead papyri, each over 30 feet long, will be on display during the talk.
Alexander Melkinov performed Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues Sunday in Mandel Hall. His album of the same pieces was ranked as one of the 50 best recordings of all time by BBC Music Magazine. Photo of the Issue by Zoe Kaiser.
“One invitation from one professor should not implicate our entire institution” Continued from front
municate our thoughts clearly, but it’ll be a silent protest,” she said. “The class can continue—it’s on cryptocurrency, I think, so we’ll probably learn something before we get kicked out.” These protests are the latest in a series of demonstrations opposing Bannon’s invitation. At a public forum Friday, three campus groups—UChicago Socialists, Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), and UofC Resists—outlined a plan for demonstrations, but stopped short of organizing walk-ins and instead organized protests outside the Booth school. A larger protest scheduled for Friday at 3:00 p.m. in Booth is organized by UChicago YDSA, UofC Resists, UChicago Socialists, and UChicago Student Action. SG leadership pledges to support demonstrations
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This week in M AROON podcasts: a special report on Bannon’s scheduled appearance on campus, and The Maroon Weekly’s coverage of University projects south of the Midway.
Student Government’s (SG) Executive Slate is organizing funds and resources to support counterprogramming and demonstrations for the groups advocating against Bannon’s visit. At SG’s assembly meeting on Monday, members confi rmed the funds will stem from both the University and Slate. However, the amount has not yet been designated. “We just want to make sure that students feel empowered to share their opinions in a really productive way,” fourthyear and SG president Calvin Cottrell said. According to Cottrell, the University will help facilitate all “reasonable” requests for counterprogramming efforts, such as inviting other speakers to campus or organizing events on campus grounds. Slate’s funds will be allocated towards supporting counter-demonstration costs— posters, banners, bullhorns, for example— to help “different views be heard.” The criteria specifying which events will or will not be funded has not yet been defined. In order to help streamline funding requests, Slate will also release a graphic outlining which forms of demonstrations follow University policy. “[W]e as a slate will be announcing resources and funding that students can leverage to send a strong and clear message to Bannon and the entire country,” Cottrell said. “One invitation from one professor should not implicate our entire institution in actively elevating a white supremacist.”
Other Campus Groups UChicago Socialists, YDSA, and UofC Resists held a public meeting on Friday afternoon to start planning demonstrations against Steve Bannon’s campus visit. At the end of the meeting, attendees passed a resolution to hold a protest outside the Booth School of Business this coming Friday afternoon, followed by another public meeting. Around 95 people attended the planning meeting, held in University Church. UofC Resists organizer and associate professor in philosophy Anton Ford described it as a preliminary discussion of activist responses to Bannon, both leading up to and during his visit. The meeting was conducted as an open forum, with University students, staff, and faculty and community members able to voice suggestions. A vote held at the start of the meeting decided that all speeches made during the open forum would be off the record. Associate professor in history Amy Dru Stanley, who spoke during the forum, wrote in an e-mail to THE M AROON that the concerns she expressed at the meeting include the importance of nonviolent tactics in protesting Bannon’s visit. During the meeting, Stanley also cited the Charlottesville riots as an example of
“deadly chaos generated by white nationalists on college campuses” and discussed the dangers of framing the controversy surrounding Bannon’s appearance “as one between protection of civil liberties and condemnation of white nationalism.” Assistant professor in English Zachary Samalin, who spoke during the forum and also signed the faculty letter opposing Bannon’s visit, raised other objections. “As our school continues to legitimize racist and exploitative right-wing politics, it seems likely to me that we will begin to lose colleagues to other institutions that are more willing to listen to and to respect their concerns, and that we will have difficulty attracting and recruiting new faculty and students, especially minority faculty and students,” he wrote in an e-mail to THE M AROON. “I think the people of Chicago have sent a clear message that Steve Bannon is not welcome in our city,” said second-year and YDSA organizer Sam Joyce, one of the meeting’s facilitators. “It was great to see a room filled with so many people enthusiastic about standing up and protesting white supremacy.” Euirim Choi, Spencer Dembner, Pete Grieve, Lee Harris, Tyrone Lomax, and Deepti Sailappan reported this story.
Alexandra Nisenoff
Hyde Park’s state senator Kwame Raoul, son of Haitian immigrants, is attending the State of the Union address tonight as Representative Robin Kelly’s guest (D-IL). “As a first-generation Haitian-American, his presence and voice at the State of the Union is greatly needed,” Kelly said of Raoul, “especially in light of the president’s recent racist and derogatory comments about Haiti and other nations.”
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College Launches Summer Research Program BY YUEZHEN LI NEWS REPORTER
UChicago is launching the College Summer Institute, a program designed to provide research opportunities to students in the humanities and social sciences. The Institute is open to rising fourthyear students and will take place over a four-week period in June and September. Students will receive $2,500 of funding to work on a topic of their own choice under an umbrella theme. “We are starting this program in response to a perceived need for undergraduate research opportunities in the humanistic disciplines,” said Christopher Wild, master of the Humanities Collegiate Division. Wild highlighted the need for a new research scheme for students of humanities and the humanistic social sciences (such as qualitative political science, sociology, or anthropology, as opposed to more quan-
titative sciences, such as economics or computational psychology). He noted that currently students in those disciplines have some access to research experiences, but that all existing methods have notable drawbacks. While many students take up research assistantships for faculty projects, for example, those jobs are usually more tailored toward the faculty members’ needs rather than students’ own intellectual interests. Wild said that students in these fields who write B.A. theses can feel solitary in that process, because they don’t usually receive as much support from supervisors as graduate students working on their dissertations. As a result, students may find it challenging to produce new ideas that don’t merely summarize existing literature. Wild said the Institute would aim to solve these challenges by creating a collaborative setting where students will be able to do original research. “It’ll sort of be like
a lab, where you work alongside with others in a larger project and you learn from each other,” he said. After learning essential research techniques (such as archiving and source identifying) in the June session, students will come back in September to work on projects of their choice in seminar-style discussions. During that time, students and faculty supervisors will share the progress in their research with each other and receive feedback. This year, the program will focus on the archival study of the city of Chicago. Wild explained that topic was chosen not only because it represents the interests of this year’s teaching team, but also because it is interdisciplinary enough to support students from different academic backgrounds. “We’d encourage students to collaborate and work in small groups; that’s why there’s a unifying theme for this pro-
gram— we want them to have a common ground of discussion,” Wild said. Wild expects the participants to produce real findings in their research projects, instead of repeating the footsteps of preceding researchers. That would be made possible through the level of individual attention given by the faculty supervisors to the projects of the students’ own design. Those findings may later be incorporated into the students’ B.A. theses. Looking ahead for the future classes of the Institute, Wild expects new topics to be introduced and will allow for more interdisciplinary collaboration. For example, for a possible topic on “Game,” a media studies major may study video games as a form of media under the supervision of a professor from the English department, or a Germanic studies student may compare the notion of playing in Schiller with a philosophy major’s similar project on Wittgenstein.
“The idea of it being a debate takes as a possibility that Bannon might come out victorious” Continued from front
interview, explaining that Zingales asked her to do research for the event and post promotional tweets from ProMarket’s account. Eyler-Driscoll then resigned from the editorial board of ProMarket. After more than two hours of “grueling” negotiations on Friday, she agreed to continue to produce and manage content for other parts of the blog with the title of Managing Editor. Zingales invited Eyler-Driscoll back on the editorial board, but she declined because she says her main grievance all along has been that staff who speak out against this event or possible future events with speakers they consider white nationalists are not protected by the University’s speech policies, and that issue has not been resolved. She sees this as a case where the University’s “de jure notion of an absolute right to freedom of expression conceals a de facto reality in which the right to free expression of the powerful is enforced at the expense of that of their subordinates,” she wrote in a public statement. University spokesperson Jeremy Manier responded in a statement: “Staff members are free to express their personal views. Any change in a staff member’s work duties must be approved by that person’s supervisor, with review and approval by Human Resources.” But Eyler-Driscoll worries about her job security, and she feels like Zingales and Bannon’s speech is more protected by the University than her speech. Booth’s human resources department told her that the University’s speech protections don’t extend to staff in the way they do to faculty and students. Booth is telling her this as the administration is collecting praise for its speech policies from places like the Tribune’s editorial board. “When I went to Human Resources to ask if I had any protections for conscientious objection—basically what rights I had because I wasn’t sure — they told me that I don’t really have any rights. The freedom of expression principles that the University of Chicago is so famous for don’t apply to staff,” she said. Eyler-Driscoll said her job as an ed-
itor “requires the ability to have free debate without fear of any kind of retaliation from the people I work with.” She asked to take a leave of absence from her job but she was told that would not be possible. For now Zingales is allowing her to protest, but she said that her freedom to speak out is not in any way contractually secured. “Luigi might grant me the right to free speech, but it doesn’t matter contractually—he could change his mind at any time—and it doesn’t help anyone else.” Eyler-Driscoll said Zingales refused to publish her public statement of dissent even though ProMarket published his letter explaining why he inv ited Bannon. (The stated reasoning is that she was no longer on the editorial board at the time.) “When Luigi issued the statement, he sent it to me and asked what I thought,” Eyler-Driscoll said. “ I replied saying, ‘Do you really think Nazism can be defeated by reason? Do you think we could have avoided the second World War by having more conversations? There is no empirical basis for this belief that hate can be defeated by reason. There is none. It is literally like almost a quasi-religious belief amongst people that ‘Oh we can talk with our Nazi friends’— and not only is that not true, it actively is creating more harm done to people. “ Last year the number of white supremacist murders doubled in this country. In the past 10 years the vast majority of terrorism has been done by far right extremists. To act like this is somehow innocuous and that we’re just, you know, having a friendly argument over a couple of pints is morally irresponsible.” Eyler said that the event’s logistics have been changed to try to appease people who object to the invitation. The University announced that the event would be a debate moderated by Zingales, not a speech. “I feel like they came up with the debate idea to sort of assuage people like me who were opposing. But the idea of it being a debate takes as a possibility that [Bannon] might come out victorious, like having made white nationalism look reasonable. And that’s unconscionable,” she said. “ It would
be easier in terms of deniability of our moral responsibilities to just put Steve Bannon on a platform and give him 10 minutes to say his piece, because we could at least point and laugh or whatever. But to debate him, there is a false equivalency implied from the outset.” Zingales has the right to host Bannon, she said, but the Stigler Center has a responsibility to use its platforms to highlight the best voices, not the most outrageous. “ The way that it’s being presented is an insult to me to the concept of editorial responsibility,” she said. “ This
is itself concerning,” she said. “ This is terrible, terrible white savior syndrome. Like, sorry Luigi. He’s my boss. I do respect him, but this is a problem.” “Hate cannot be defeated by hate, but only by reason,” Zingales wrote. “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that,” King said famously in a 1957 sermon. One thing is clear: Even though Zingales and Eyler-Driscoll issued a joint statement Friday that made some public amends, there are still serious unresolved issues that are making it difficult for her to work at ProMarket
“When I went to Human Resources to ask if I had any protections for conscientious objection—basically what rights I had because I wasn’t sure—they told me that I don’t really have any rights. The freedom of expression principles that the University of Chicago is so famous for don’t apply to staff” idea that literally everybody should have exactly the same platform is antithetical to the existence of my job.” The Booth administration is fully supportive of the event, Eyler-Driscoll said, while many lower-level employees share her anger. “Speaking in broad strokes—trying not to generalize unduly—the whole top-level of the University of Chicago appears to be super excited about this.… We have high-level Booth administrators saying, ‘Oh we’re so delighted about this. This is such an opportunity.’ A nd people on Twitter being like ‘Congratulations to Professor Zingales for being brave enough to invite Steve Bannon,’” she said. “Who cong ratulates someone for inv iting Steve Bannon to a University? Literally, these people live in a different world from the one that I live in. I don’t understand how they think.” Eyler-Driscoll pointed out on Twitter Saturday that Zingales appears to have inadvertently misappropriated a Martin Luther K ing Jr. quote in his statement. “I don’t think that he realized he was quoting Martin Luther King, but the fact that he’s sort of presenting himself as a gambit to give a voice to the disenfranchised without realizing he is misquoting Martin Luther King
in good conscience. Zingales wrote in an statement to T HE M AROON: “Samantha Eyler-Driscoll and I came to a mutual agreement Friday on a joint statement and definition of her work duties, which we both saw as resolving this question. She disagrees with the event we have planned, and I respect her position. There have been no new developments since our agreement, therefore I see no reason to comment further.” Booth’s public relations team contacted the Chicago Reader yesterday after they published an article sharing Eyler-Driscoll’s statement, informing them that they needed to update the story because the situation has been resolved, she said. “They wanted them basically to say this is a non-story anymore. I’m like ‘No!’ I’m still off the board, everything that I said in the letter still stands…. The issue of freedom of expression of University staff is totally on the table,” she said. “So I don’t really understand why they immediately just tried to hush the story…. I don’t think that’s healthy. We can talk about Bannon, and we can talk about what comes with Bannon.”
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VIEWPOINTS UChicago’s Legacy of White Supremacy The Steve Bannon Invitation is Only the Latest Event in a Long History of UChicago Upholding White Supremacy BY ARAM GHOOGASIAN MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
A professor at the Booth School of Business recently caused a stir by inviting former Trump ally Steve Bannon to speak on campus, an invitation Bannon has reportedly accepted. The morning after the news broke, roughly 100 people protested outside Booth, calling for the invitation to be rescinded, sparking yet another debate about whether inviting rightwing speakers to college campuses signifies an embrace of liberal values or a tacit endorsement of the opinions such speakers espouse. Bannon’s potential presence doesn’t necessarily mean the school supports his odious worldview. Nor does one professor’s request, while tolerated by the administration, define its stance vis-à-vis racism. A look at its 162year history, however, paints a clearer picture: The University of Chicago has always been a white supremacist institution. Though the current campus opened
in 1890 with the support of infamous robber baron John D. Rockefeller, the original Bronzeville campus—which shut down a few years prior—was established in the antebellum period. As three University scholars clarify in their research, the first University of Chicago’s 10-acre land endowment was provided by none other than Stephen A. Douglas, one of Lincoln’s main rivals in the 1860 presidential election and the university’s first president of the board of trustees. He was also, of course, a prominent member of the slavocracy, holding more than 140 Africans in bondage on the Mississippi cotton plantation he inherited from his father-in-law. Decades later, the University leveraged the land endowment to borrow the millions of dollars it needed to build its iconic Hyde Park campus, according to the researchers. In other words, the school’s material wealth, represented today by its more than $7 billion endowment, has its beginnings in profits extracted from the forced labor of enslaved human beings.
Lest this history be relegated to the somewhat distant past, the story doesn’t end at the school’s founding. The University’s anti-black practices continue to this day, even if they don’t seem overt to many students. The University of Chicago Police Department surveils a large number of black Chicagoans. From its headquarters in Woodlawn—a neighborhood that is 84 percent black—it holds jurisdiction over six square miles and more than 65,000 people, less than a quarter of whom are UChicago students. Since it is a private force run by the University, it operates in secrecy despite holding the same powers as a municipal or county sheriff’s department. It isn’t subject to the Freedom of Information Act nor is it required to release statistics about stops its officers make. The Independent Review Committee—an unelected group of 13 students, faculty, staff, and community members appointed by the provost—reviews UCPD annually, although it is powerless to make any changes to the way it operates. From 2005–
2016, 148 official complaints were filed against the department. Of the 109 the IRC reviewed, 83 of the complainants were black and only eight of the total were students. These statistics corroborate the obvious: UCPD directs its unchecked police powers against the black community in the vicinity of the predominantly white campus. At a university with a 4.3 percent Black student population, many of these tensions are rendered nearly invisible, despite the efforts of organizations like the Reparations at UChicago Working Group. But they are very much a part of our campus’ past, present, and, barring some unforeseen radical upheaval, its future. Steve Bannon can’t bring white supremacy to the University of Chicago; it already lives here. Aram Ghoogasian is a first-year MA student in Middle Eastern Studies.
Business As Usual Offering an Undergraduate Business Major Goes Against UChicago’s Liberal Arts Spirit BY EERO ARUM MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
Recently, the Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business presented an upcoming measure to create an undergraduate business major to College Council, a governing body composed of select faculty in the College.For as long as this university has existed, it has distinguished itself from other institutions of higher learning by insisting that education is not a means of acquiring certain technical skills, but an end in itself. The foundational idea of the University of Chicago is that a liberal arts education develops habits of thought and standards of criticism that enable students to become thriving, well-rounded human beings. If the measure passes, the University of Chicago will abdicate any claim it may once have held to defend this classical vision of liberal education. It will have capitulated to the prevailing credentialist ethos of the modern American university system, which defines the value of a college degree in terms of the future earnings it yields. The Uni-
versity of Chicago will begin to look more like a technical vocational school than the university of Robert Maynard Hutchins, who believed that primary aims of education consist in cultivating the intellectual virtues, recognizing enduring human problems, and fostering independence of mind. To many current undergraduates, such aspirations might sound trite or hackneyed, in large part because the University’s representatives are no longer capable of espousing them in good faith. Despite President Robert J. Zimmer’s aggressive posturing in national debates on free speech, anyone who has been paying attention over the past few years can recognize that the administration is no longer committed to the core principles that once animated the vision of its founding figures. The introduction of a business major—and, indeed the total professionalization of undergraduate education—is a natural outgrowth of the economic-technical agenda that has dominated the University’s decision-making process for at least several decades. Since curtailing the Core Curriculum
in the 1990s, the University has, in the past three years, made significant budget cuts and layoffs in the humanities, and has assigned a growing share of teaching to graduate students and underpaid employees in non-tenure track positions. Over the same three years, the University opened an international business school in Hong Kong, erected a $148 million student dormitory, began construction of a 90,000 square-foot state-of-the-art “social space,” and, on Tuesday, announced plans to build yet another opulent student housing complex. The University of Chicago functions organizationally as a highly efficient multinational corporation. In the pursuit of money and prestige, Zimmer, Vice President Jim Nondorf, and Dean John Boyer have f inanced ongoing construction and renovation projects, relentlessly advertised the College to high schoolers, and now seem intent on rebranding UChicago as a luxurious technical academy for the country’s ruling class. Administrators and trustees measure their success through numerical metrics such as the undergraduate
acceptance rate, the school’s place in the national rankings, and the size of its endowment. As such, those responsible for running the affairs of the University have lost interest in the humanistic ideals that once guided its vision. By pursuing these narrow objectives, the administration sees itself as advancing the economic and professional interests of its students, whom it increasingly treats as consumers. Under the dominant technocratic paradigm, the relationship between students and the university is reduced to a transactional exchange between rational actors seeking to maximize economic self-interest. Students agree to pay skyrocketing tuition rates under the assumption that their college degrees will earn them prestigious jobs that will make their investments worthwhile in the long term. Many students at the University thus choose to pursue careers in business—indeed, over 20 percent of graduates take jobs in finance and consulting directly out of college. This decision is, in many cases, perfectly understandable. Often, it is the only way Continued on page 5
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“UChicago... will have betrayed the humanistic principles on which it was founded” Continued from page 4 for middle-income students to pay off the staggering debts they take on to subsidize their education. But from its inception (until quite recently) the University of Chicago has been committed to the view that the best preparation for professional success consists not in the transmission of rote technical skills, but in the cultivation of the ability to read, write, speak, think, and understand—that is, in the practice of the liberal arts. This outlook is broadly supported by empirical research. Sociologists of education who seek to measure “critical thinking skills”—the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate logical arguments and complex information—find that students in business programs show
less improvement during college than students in any other discipline. The possession of these skills turns out to be directly correlated with measures of labor market success, including income, likelihood of employment, and job retention. Thus, the business major cannot be convincingly defended even on the economic-technical grounds that are meant to justify its creation. Law schools, g raduate prog rams, and employers broadly consider undergraduate business programs unserious and disreputable. Thus, no academic institution of the caliber of the University of Chicago offers a business major—unless one includes the Wharton School, which, lest we forget, spawned Donald Trump. If the administration succeeds in in-
troducing a business major, it will have committed a disservice to thousands of students who will be jettisoned into a pre-professional track that is certain to be less academically demanding and intellectually rewarding than the existing economics program. UChicago will have betrayed its students, and it will have betrayed the humanistic principles on which it was founded. Should the measure pass, the University of Chicago will have completed its transformation to the archetypical Business University. The Business University is governed by the logic of the marketplace: Its primary goals are economic productivity and expansion. It is not even an educational institution, as it lacks any coherent notion of human excellence by which to orient its stu-
dents’ moral and intellectual maturation and growth. The creation of a business major represents the beginning of the end of the University of Chicago—a process which, perhaps, has already begun, but which one hopes can at least be deferred, so long as those who still cling to a positive vision of liberal education vigorously resist the technicizing fervor of the modern university system. Eero Arum is a fourth-year in the College majoring in philosophy and political science.
ARTS MAB Hosts a Night of Knee-Slappers and Gluten Rallies BY PERRI WILSON ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR
This Saturday, the Major Activities Board (MAB) hosted its annual comedy showcase at the Logan Center for the Arts. The event was intimate, but not in the slightly pathetic way that the word often implies. Packed into the black box theater, I felt like one of the lucky few, fortunate enough to see the impressive lineup of comedians scheduled for the night. And by the lighthearted anticipation in the sold-out room, it seemed like the rest of the audience felt that way too. There was no agenda other than entertainment and no objective other than making us laugh. As a student-run show, it was only fitting that some of UChicago’s own up-andcoming comedians took the stage. Zavior Phillips, a second-year member of OffOff Campus, emceed the show, elegantly weaving together each act with his own standup. He fi rst introduced Ella Fredrickson, a fi rst-year and another Off-Off member. Touching on subjects like “wasting calories” as much as she wastes time and the infuriating behavior of “skinny friends,” her performance was relatable to students in the crowd, and held its own in a lineup of professionals. Following Fredrickson was Jillian Ebanks, the co-creator and co-producer of Beautiful and Powerful Sistas (BAPS), a comedy variety showcase for women of color. Her absurd story of going on a date with her Lyft driver and the decision to
refrain from sleeping with him in “his cubicle” had the audience in stitches. She deftly touched on the experiences of being biracial, though her act never became heavy. Dave Helem, a former high school teacher and a writer for Comedy Central’s Hood Adjacent, snuck up on the audience with his surprising and often cringe-inducing stories. “Maybe Trump is not so bad,” he began with an entirely straight face, immediately causing the chatty audience to fall silent. Only when he finally reached the punchline, asking, “What if Trump’s just doing a Make-a-Wish for a little racist kid?” did the audience burst into laughter. Throughout his act, Helem built up vivid images and ridiculous scenes. His description of an “anti-gluten rally,” complete with rallying cries of “Hands up, don’t glut!” and the guilty confessions of his worst teaching moments were as hilarious as they were absurd. Compared to Helem’s consciously ridiculous stories, Alex Kumin, who puts on a monthly showcase at the Chicago Laugh Factory, stuck to the grimy details of her own life. Shamelessly taking on the unromantic realities of being a woman, it was not hard to see why she has earned so much recognition recently. A ball of energy—or as she would eagerly add, a chronically sweaty ball of energy—Kumin happily made the crowd (and particularly the men in the audience) laugh uncomfortably. Once she began discussing the trials of being chronically sweaty, farting, or going to the gynecologist, she committed to
a full exploration of the topic, almost aggressively so. Her performance can only be described as fearless, and if a few male audience members were offended along the way, the consistent laughs made up for it. Calvin Evans, the final act of the night, is a frequenter of college stages around the country. Like the other acts of the night, he spoke about issues of race with comic genius. Talking about how hard the lives of white, straight men in America must be, he concluded that their only option when blamed for anything is to claim to be a “kangaroo and just hop
away.” While the audience laughed uncontrollably at his jokes, he seemed unimpressed with the crowd that night and left in a disappointed huff when the audience was reluctant to participate in the last part of his set. The night provided a much-needed break from the self-referential jokes and redundant memes of UChicago’s bleakly self-deprecating culture. While the comedians’ material ranged from the universal to the personal, it never resorted to the cheap laughs of name-dropping.
Courtesy of Major Activities Board MAB Board members, and the student emcees, Zavior Philips and Ella Fredrickson, joined by the evening’s performers.
USO Celebrates Spanish Music From Across the Pyrenees BY RENA SLAVIN MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
On Saturday evening, the University Symphony Orchestra (USO) presented “The French Connection”—a program dedicated to Spanish-style works by French composers. Through four such pieces, USO director and conductor Barbara Schubert tackled the concert’s guiding question: Do French composers write the best Spanish music? The program began with an iconic French composer, Georges Bizet. The two Carmen suites were compiled after the composer’s death by Ernest Guiraud, and they reflect orchestral selections from Bizet’s 1875 opera of the same name. By far the most recognizable of the four programmed works, it certainly capitalized
on its accessibility. However, it also might have been the weakest execution of the night, both in terms of rhythmic cohesion and subtleties of tone. The Intermezzo began with a wonderfully delicate flute solo accompanied by harp. The gradual buildup of the rest of the orchestra could have been warm and expansive, but instead felt somewhat thin and aloof. The horn entrance at the beginning of the Nocturne was awkward, but the movement recovered quickly, and the Danse Bohème was a spirited and lively fi nal movement. The USO proceeded with an exceptional performance of the “Ballet Music” from Jules Massenet’s Le Cid. Though the opera itself is not particularly wellknown, this selection is fairly prominent in the body of orchestral literature. It consists of seven movements, each an exam-
ple of a different form, which appear in the middle of the opera as a celebratory moment. The prominence of percussion throughout the work reflects Massenet’s own experience as a percussionist. The opening Castillane was animated and— particularly in the beginning—precise in execution. The Andalouse was sensual and had the warmth of the string sections that the Bizet lacked. However, the highlight was the third dance, Aragonaise, which was full of a sense of spectacle. The lightness of the waltz-like meter in contrast with the bold percussion cues lent the movement a wonderful spirit. It was perhaps even more sparkling when the theme returned in the fi nal movement, the Animé. Ibéria, the second of Claude Debussy’s Images pour Orchestre, was another great
success for the USO. The fi rst movement, Par les rues et par les Chemins (“Through the streets and byways”), featured crisp triplet figures and a melodic theme in the clarinet section. For a movement with as dense a counterpoint as this one, it can easily be unintelligible. The USO, however, approached the movement with great thought and precision. Ibéria’s second movement, Les parfums de la nuit (“The fragrance of the night”), was marked by a beautiful oboe line as well as rich textures in the lower strings. The seamless transition into the third movement, Le matin d’un jour du fête (“The morning of a festival day), was done brilliantly. The movement lived up to its celebratory name, particularly when all string players employed the pizzicato technique Continued on page 6
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 30, 2018
“The musical elements ... that have come to be associated with socalled Spanish music were popularized by non-Spaniards” Continued from page 5
(plucking the strings as opposed to using the bow), evoking the sound of a guitar. The final movement also featured a brief violin solo by concertmaster Frank Wen, who was playing on a violin made in 1761 by Carlo Fernando Landolfi of Milan, given to the Department of Music by an anonymous donor. While the opening question may be rhetorical, it merits some thought: Do
French composers really write the best Spanish music? There is no shortage of great Spanish composers—Albéniz, Falla, Granados, Rodrigo, Turina, and many more. But the musical elements (certain rhythmic figures, and use of percussion) that were so prominent in this program and that have come to be associated with so-called Spanish music were popularized by non-Spaniards. This phenomenon is not limited to these works or Frenchmen:
Ravel and Chabrier both wrote in the “Spanish” style, as did Russian composers Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov. There are many exceptional compositions of this nature, each beautiful and deserving of its position in the Western canon. Together, they form a genre, while not Spanish, that has enjoyed great success throughout 19th-century Europe and continues to be programmed today. The program concluded with Gabriel
Fauré’s Les Pas Espagnol, part of his Dolly Suite. The suite was originally written for piano four hands and dedicated to Hélène Bardac, who was the daughter of Fauré’s mistress. This short, joyful piece embodies the Spanish (or really, French) style, that the USO explored throughout the evening. It was certainly a charming way to close out a largely cheerful and vibrant program—perfect for a midwinter concert.
Arts Incubator Exhibit Explores Shades of Political and Social Darkness BY OLIVIA LONG MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light, presented by the University of Chicago Arts and Public Life office at the Washington Park Arts Incubator, challenges the notion of eclipse as a metaphor for disempowerment. Moreover, the display creates a platform for local artists who have found inspiration and strength in their individual definitions of darkness. Artists Amira Ross and Justin Chance curated the exhibit to create a dialogue about power, landscape, language, space, and visibility. Featured artists include: Carris Adams, Bethany Collins, Cream Co., Terrell Davis, Angela Davis Fegan, Sabrina Granados, Deana Lawson, Kelley Lloyd, Shala Miller, and Liz Mputu. The artists are organized together to threaten, suspend, reshape, and revise expectations between light and dark. The pieces mainly served to create a dialogue about systems of power, accomplished through their interactive nature. Many of the works commented on the turmoil of the current political climate but maintained a hopeful attitude for the future. Donald Trump’s election as president embodies the conflicting psyches of a racially polarized country, exacerbating social and racial divisions. However, as hate crimes against marginalized communities have increased, activists from various social movements have rallied in response. Social movements such as Black Lives Matter and Women’s Marches mobilize support in the face of hateful rhetoric, transforming darkness into lightness and connecting the political atmosphere to the theme of the exhibit. This defiantly hopeful attitude was pivotal in the curation of Eclipsing. “In dealing with darkness, these artists, performers, musicians, and healers dissect power,” Ross said. “Power as it is defined and perpetuated by the systems that be, and a deeper power that may re-
side in the depths of a dark night sky or the pitch-black pupil of an eye.” Cream Co.’s piece “One Becomes Many “is part of a large, multipart installation and an expansion of a preview work: “Suffering Succulents.” Viewers are encouraged to leave a note answering the prompt: “How Does One Become Many?” The work is composed of various succulents in textured pots, featuring the message: “When deprived of soil and water, a succulent will tap its inner resources and sprout new roots...a withering leaf bursts forth with a fresh set of leaves and a succulent is born.” The piece is meant to inspire hope of rebirth after a period of depravity and create a conversation about mobilizing community support for marginalized communities. A similar call to action is evident in Angela Fegan’s work “patRIOT,” which comprises 100 letterpress posters, featuring the words “griot,” “compatriot,” and “ovariotomy” in various overlays. “Griot,” a storyteller in West African oral tradition, establishes storytelling as a means to enact change. The use of storytelling by local artists removes the locus of power from systemic curators of history. “Compatriot,” a fellow citizen of a nation, illustrates the integral role that American citizens have in using their privilege in support of marginalized communities. Finally, “ovariotomy,” the surgical incision of an ovary, demonstrates a reclamation of the female body. Words such as “ovariotomy” are not part of the typical vocabulary for a political movement, but when used next to more common revolutionary phrases like “riot,” their potential for change shines through. Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light is part of the Eclipsing Festival that converges around the first lunar eclipse of January. Other displays feature workshop mini-series, performance festivals and lectures, and film screenings. This exhibit is on display through March 16 at the Washington Park Arts Incubator. Olivia Long Cream Co.’s piece is one of many currently on view at the Washington Arts Incubator.
EXHIBIT [A]rts TUESDAY [1/30] 6–7:30 p.m. Hear two critically acclaimed poets read from their latest works at the Seminary Co-Op. Chris Glomski, an English professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, will read from his third collection, Lit Up, and Patrick Morrissey (Ph.D. ’17) will read from World Music. Free, Seminary Co-Op Bookstore. WEDNESDAY [1/31] 4–7:30 p.m. The IOP will be screening All the Way, a film about Lyndon B.Johnson’s first year in office. The screening will be accompanied by a discussion about arts and politics with director Jay Roach and Hamilton: The Revolution co-author Jere-
my McCarter. Free, The Revival Theater. THURSDAY [2/1] 7–10 p.m. As part of the Counter Cinema/Counter Media Project at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the Film Studies Center will be hosting Transitioning Publics, a conversation with artist Chase Joynt on the subject of trans representation and history. In conjunction with the discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to view three of his short films. Free, Logan Center for the Arts. FRIDAY [2/2] 7:30 p.m. Listen to Hungarian percussion group Amadinda and the contem-
porary classical Eighth Blackbird come together for an exciting celebration of both Hungarian music and the American composer, Steve Reich. Sam Pluta will lead a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. $38, $30 faculty and staff, $20 under 35, $10 students, Logan Center Performance Hall. 7:30 p.m. Sit back and enjoy some theater at “A Weekend of Workshops,” University Theater’s quarterly performance of short, student-directed plays. $6 advance, $8 door, Reynold’s Club. 9 p.m. The Organization of Black Students’ publication, Blacklight Magazine, will be celebrating the release of its fall issue “unpolished,” a publication “by POC, for POC.” The release party will include
performances beginning at 9 p.m. $1 at 9 p.m., $3 after 10:30 p.m., 5319 South Ellis Avenue. SATURDAY [2/3] 12 p.m. View a collection of sculptures titled Gordan Hall’s Brothers and Sisters as part of the Intermissions series, in which Hall creates ambiguously-designed sculptures made from various mediums including brick and dyed fabric. Free, The Renaissance Society, on view on Sunday as well. 8 p.m. Enjoy a performance by the University Chamber Orchestra for its annual winter quarter concert. Free, Logan Center Performance Hall.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 30, 2018
Strong Showing at Invitational
Quadruple Win in the Pool
WRESTLING
SWIM & DIVE
BY KEVIN JOHNSTON SPORTS STAFF
This past weekend, the UChicago wrestling team competed at the Pete Willson-Wheaton Wrestling Invitational, the largest wrestling meet in the nation for smaller universities. The invitational brought together an enormous group of wrestlers from a wide variety of schools, ensuring that the competition would be fierce. With over 38 teams at the tournament, UChicago managed to place a very respectable 14th over the two-day competition while fighting against some elite competition, all the while scoring 48 team points. The standout performers for the Maroons were second-years Steve Bonsall and Kahlan Lee-Lermer, who both managed to place in the top eight in their respective weight classes. Both Lee-Lermer and Bonsall managed to better their results from last year’s Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational, where both placed seventh. Lee-Lermer had a tough schedule in the 165-pound weight division. He faced off against five opponents on the first day of the invitational, winning four of those matchups. Those four wins included two third-period pins, a crushing 11–0 major decision and a close 3–1 decision victory. His one loss came to the No. 2 seed wrestler from Olivet College, a matchup that would be repeated during the next and final day of competition. The next day, Lee-Lermer managed to win his first two duels, with scores of 7–2 and 13–6, including a revenge victory over the same Olivet wrestler who had handed him his only loss the day before. Unfortunately for Lee-Lermer, the No. 6 wrestler from Wiscon-
sin-La Crosse managed to defeat him in the third-place bout, ending Lee-Lermer’s run with a very respectable fourth-place finish. Second-year Steve Bonsall made a similar run to Lee-Lermer in the 157-pound weight division. Bonsall entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in his division, and he certainly lived up to those weighty expectations. Bonsall triumphed in his two opening matches, coming out victorious with a 9–5 victory and an excruciatingly close 2–1 victory. However, Bonsall would fall out of the winner’s bracket in the quarterfinals, which meant he would have to make a run in the consolation ladder to place on the podium. Bonsall managed another victory after that loss, allowing him to continue wrestling the next day. Although Bonsall was only in the consolation ladder, he still faced a difficult lineup of opponents. On his march toward third place, Bonsall had to fight off the No. 4, No. 7, and No. 2 seeds. Each of those matchups went in Bonsall’s favor, including a 16–1 technical fall victory over the No. 2 seed from the University of Mount Union. Third-year John Jayne praised Bonsall’s performance, saying, “Once again, some of the lads were in impeccable form. Steve ‘The Wolf’ Bonsall really impressed me, fighting his way to third place.” Jayne also remarked on how he felt the team was shaping up as the Maroons begin to eye the end of the season. “The team is upping the intensity in the wrestling room as we get closer to the final stretch of the season,” Jayne said. The next matchup on the Maroons’ docket will take place this Friday at Augustana College.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BOOK COLLECTION
BY THOMAS GORDON SPORTS STAFF
The UChicago swimming and diving team cruised through their meet this weekend with a dominating performance. The Maroons swept both DePauw University and Lake Forest College, winning a total of 37 events and continuing their momentum from their last couple of meets. At DePauw, the men’s team completed a commanding performance over the Tigers by a score of 151–125. It turned out to be a successful meet for thirdyear Michael Todd, who claimed two individual events in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard breaststroke. Todd was also a member of the men’s winning 200-yard medley relay team. The women’s team dominated the Tigers by winning every single event except for one with a final score of 179 – 87. First-year Nadia Redza led the way by winning three individual events with the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley. Nadia was a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team as well. “ T he swim and dive team had a great performance this weekend, especially with split-squad dual meets. A fter a hard week of training, the women’s team won all but one event at DePauw University, and the men won a majority of the events at both meets,” Redza said. While half of the team enjoyed their time at DePauw, the other half swept
Lake Forest. The men’s team topped the Foresters 114.5 – 89.5, while the women’s team won 142 – 87. A nother school record was broken this weekend, with second-year Agnes Lo scoring 298.95 in the three-meter diving event. For the men’s team, first-year T ucker Rivera won two ind iv idual events in the 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard breaststroke. Tucker also helped the 200-yard medley relay claim a first-place finish. For the women’s team, third-year Daria Wick performed admirably in her freestyle events. Wick claimed first place in the 50-yard freestyle and 100yard freestyle, and she helped the 200yard freestyle relay team come out on top. With successful results this weekend, Redza hopes this momentum continues in the coming weeks. “It gives a boost of confidence going into championship season as we have UA As in about two weeks. We’re all feeling good about our training, and hopefully we can place in the top three at UA As,” Redza said. The Maroons anticipate keeping up their solid performances in their next meet this upcoming weekend at UIC.
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DEADLINE March 16, 2018 APPLY lib.uchicago.edu/brooker
Coming Wednesday: Artscast sits down with Shubha Vedula, a singer, songwriter, and University of Chicago student.
8
THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 30, 2018
SPORTS
Mixed Results for Maroons MEN’S BASKETBALL
BY AUDREY MASON SPORTS STAFF
The UChicago men’s basketball team finished another double-game weekend with a loss to Emory University and a win over the University of Rochester. The team traveled to Atlanta for the Friday game, then made a quick turnaround to New York for their second game on Sunday. The Maroons now have a record of 8–10 overall and 4–3 in the UAA conference. The Emory game showed a strong start for UChicago, who opened the game with a quick 15–4 lead finished by a three-pointer by third-year Justin Jackson. Third-year Noah Karras and fourth-year Jake Fenlon each added a three-pointer, but Emory made a quick comeback to decrease the Maroons’ lead to
two points, 28–26. Just as Emory began to catch up, however, Fenlon scored five straight points to end the first half with a 33–26 lead. The second half began with a layup by first-year Dominic Laravie, boosting the score to 45–32 and giving UChicago its biggest lead of the game, 13 points. Emory was not giving up easily. The opponents caught up to 47–42 for the Maroons. Another set of back-to-back three-pointers by Karras increased UChicago’s score to 53–44, but soon, the score was tied 53–53. After three minutes without a basket, second-year Jordan Baum made a triple, but Emory soon took the lead for the first time, with just over three minutes left in the game. A Fenlon layup gave UChicago the lead, but the opponents soon took it back for the remainder of the game, eventually coming out on top over UChicago 71–66.
The Maroons fared better in New York against Rochester on Sunday, holding the lead for the entire game. UChicago took control from the beginning, with the first of Fenlon’s six three-pointers starting a 15–0 run for the Maroons. Karras, Fenlon, Baum, and thirdyear Ryan Jacobsen added points, leaving Rochester scoreless seven minutes into the half. However, the opponents made a comeback, cutting UChicago’s lead to five points, 32–27, by the end of the first half. Rochester scored a quick four points to come within one point of UChicago, but fourth-year Collin Barthel brought the Maroons back with a jumper and Fenlon made two more three-pointers. In the middle of the second half, UChicago led by 12 points, 51–39, due to another three-pointer by Fenlon. Rochester never touched the Maroons,
and the game finished with a 72–65 win for the away team. “We started off really strong in both games, playing tough defense in the first half of both games and making the other team adjust to our style of play,” said second-year Mattia Colangelo. “Against Emory we couldn’t sustain it for the full 40 minutes and ended up losing by five, after they made some really tough shots down the stretch. We learned from our loss and bounced back against Rochester, jumping out to an early 15–0 lead and never trailing once. The team is definitely improving as the year goes on and we’re currently tied for third in the UAA. We play Emory and Rochester again this weekend at home and hopefully go 2–0 and cement ourselves as UAA contenders.”
Women Dominate UAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
BY DIESTEFANO LOMA SPORTS STAFF
The University of Chicago women’s basketball team captured their 14th-straight victory after dominating performances in the second halves against Emory University and the University of Rochester. With a record of 16–2 (7–0 in UAA play), the Maroons are ranked No. 1 in the University Athletic Association, as they end the Rochester Yellowjackets’ 11-game winning streak. While the visitors were up 19–14 in the first quarter, the Emory Eagles rallied to cut the lead to one point (40–39) as the first half ended. The second half was in the Maroons’ favor, as they outscored their opponents in the two quarters that remained, with the third quarter being their most explosive. UChicago outscored Emory 22–8 in the third, with contributions from third-year Olariche Obi and second-years Mia Farrell and Taylor Lake.
This game also saw action from first-year Marissa Igunbor, who scored 10 points and six rebounds in the 18 minutes she played. The Maroons led by as many as 21 points in their 79–61 victory. Obi ended the night with 22 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Lake added 17 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. The Maroons shot an impressive 55.6 percent from the field, while the hosts shot 37.3 percent. While Emory had the advantage in assists (13–11 margin) and bench points (19–13 margin), both teams were neck and neck in rebounds (34), with turnovers (20) leading to the Eagles’ defeat. The Maroons struggled early on against No. 7 Rochester, who took a 9–2 lead. However, they immediately erased this deficit with a 13–3 run, where layups made by Obi and Lake gave UChicago the lead at 19–14 as the second quarter started. Obi went on to lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists,
with 22, 11, and two respectively. This was her 10th double-double this season. The effort Obi put in was seen through how she maintained pressure on the offensive side, scoring 12 points and having seven rebounds in just the first half. Rochester was not fazed, playing to their abilities and lowering the deficit to one. Obi and Farrell responded with points of their own to give UChicago a 32–26 lead at halftime. The Maroons increased their momentum in the third quarter with second-year Miranda Burt scoring from three-point range and Farrell scoring a jumper and making two free throws. Farrell would end the game with 16 points and three rebounds. The Maroons continued to control in the fourth quarter, outscoring their opponents 21–15 for the 74–59 victory. The Maroons shot 42.3 percent from the field, driving and scoring more inside the paint by a 48–32 margin. They also shot 33.3 percent from the three, compared to Roches-
ter’s 15.4 percent. UChicago took advantage of the 21 turnovers the Yellowjackets had in order to score 20 points. When asked about the strategy employed in these games, Burt said, “We play a tough style of defense that really wears our opponents out. We really just go in at halftime and commit to still playing as hard as we did in the first half. We wear our opponents down and it really shows in the second half. Both Emory and Rochester are incredibly talented teams. Winning this weekend the way we did definitely increases our confidence. We will look at the film and see what we can improve on, but we want to play even better this weekend. I think they will both come in wanting to avenge their losses, so we are excited to get an even tougher challenge from them.” The Maroons will face off against Emory University on February 2 at 6 p.m.
Strong Weekend on the Track TRACK & FIELD
BY ANNA ROSE SPORTS STAFF
This past weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to compete against 17 other schools at the Grand Valley State Invite. The women placed sixth of 18 teams, and the men finished seventh. Second-year Laura Darcey captured the only event title and led the way for the Maroons with a first-place finish in the high jump. Though it was a challenging weekend for the Maroons, both the men’s and women’s teams performed well, with 12 and 11 top-eight finishes, respectively. Top-eight finishes for the men included, among others,
Joe Previdi in the 600-meter, Andy Kates and Jake Gosselin in the 5000-meter, Alex Scott in the shot put, and Obi Wamuo, Elliott Paintsil, Ben Chaimberg, and Tyson Miller in the 4x400 relay. Top-eight finishes for the women included Mary Martin in the long jump, Grace Penders in the triple jump, Isabel Garon in pole vault, and Emma Koether, Alisha Harris, Mary Martin, and Nicole VacaGuzman in the 4x400 relay. “I think that the team is rather pleased with their performance this week,” Darcey said. “We held our own against some DI and DII teams and even managed to place pretty highly in some events.” Darcey herself performed exceptionally well this past weekend, matching her ca-
DAY
Opponent
Women’s Basketball Men’s Basketball Wrestling
Friday Friday Friday
Emory Emory Augustana
think it’s really important to move around and support everyone, no matter the event.” This upcoming weekend will be an exciting one for the Maroons, as the team is hosting a meet. “We have a really long season and I think the main challenge for the team is going to be keeping the momentum going. I think that having the meet at home this weekend and having our friends out to support us will give us the extra boost in morale to strive for some personal records,” Darcey said. This weekend the Maroons will host the Windy City Invitational Indoor meet. The two-day meet will take place at Henry Crown Fieldhouse at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, February 2, and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 3.
M AROON
UPCOMING GAMES SPORT
reer-best indoor high jump height of 1.62 meters. “I’ve been really happy with how I’ve been jumping so far this season and I’m proud that I managed to maintain my form in the meet this weekend,” Darcey said. Moving forward, the team is looking to buckle down for the long season ahead and continue their success. Supporting each other on the track and on the field is a priority for the team, especially with the upcoming meets ahead. “I think that our team would benefit from getting out and supporting each other,” Darcey said. “At a track meet, it is very easy to finish your event, and sit down by the finish line and watch the runners go past. I
TIME 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
SPORT Wrestling Men’s Basketball Women’s Basketball Women’s T & F Men’s T & F
SCORE BOARD W/L Opponent W W W W W
Wheaton Rochester Rochester Grand Valley State Grand Valley State
Score 14 of 38 72–65 74–59 6 of 18 7 of 18