ChicagoMaroon093016

SEPT 30, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

VOL. 128, ISSUE 1

AFL-CIO LAWYER Revived Dis-O Week BUCKS ADMIN LINE Provides Alternative ON GRAD UNION to “Curated” O-Week

BY JAEHOON AHN

BY OLIVIA ROZENSWEIG

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

The lawyer for America’s federation of labor organizations appeared on campus Wednesday in order to respond to the University administration’s arguments against graduate student unionization.

Craig Becker, General Counsel to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and previous member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), was invited to speak on campus this Wednesday by the American Association of University Professors advocacy chapter at the University of Chicago in response to the recent University administration’s campaign to discourage graduate student unionization.

While the University administration sent out e-mails counseling faculty and graduate students against unionization, “the University has not provided a platform to the full campus community to discuss the implications,” wrote the University AAUP chapter in flyers promoting the talk.

President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier’s e-mail was sent out on August 24, a day after the NLRB ruled that research assistants and students teaching at private universities have the right to unionize in their capacity as workers. “...it is vital that we maintain the special and individual nature of students’ educational experiences and opportunities for intelContinued on page 3

This O-Week, first-years were presented with an alternative guide to campus that was not University-sanctioned: Disorientation Week.

Disorientation “week”—which in actuCourtesy of the Institute of Politics ality encompassed O-Week and part of first Alicia Garza, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, speaks at an event hosted by the week—featured alternative programming IOP. for incoming first-years relating to current events and activism on campus. The Dis-O Book, an alternative to the College’s O-Book, was distributed online on Sunday. “[Disorientation is] an alternative to orientation. It’s a supplementary set of events Garza said, “If we want to get to that and perspectives that aren’t encompassed by

BY ANJALI DHILLON place where all lives matter, then we have to the very curated version that the University MAROON CONTRIBUTOR acknowledge that black lives matter too.” puts out. It’s a student-generated introducGarza first used the phrase “Black Lives tion to campus life,” said one of the book’s The woman who helped coin the term editors, second-year Baci Weiler, who is on “Black Lives Matter” (BLM), Alicia Garza, Matter” in a Facebook post responding to a leave of absence but living in Hyde Park. gave a talk Wednesday about that move- the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who Disorientation Week and the Dis-O Book ment, police abolition, and intersectionality shot and killed Trayvon Martin. The phrase is commonly used to refer to protests and are not novel initiatives on campus, but they in activism. have been dormant for several years. The Garza began the conversation by clarify- activism around police killings and other instances of racial injustice, but it is also the first Dis-O Book was published in 2010 and ing what BLM is. was updated in 2011 and 2013.

“It is the very notion that black lives mat- name of an organization Garza co-founded Disorientation was a product of the col- ter in a world where black lives are being tar- with two other activists.

The moderator asked Garza about the aplaboration of many students who were in- geted systematically for demise for destrucplication of the phrase to other projects and terested in reviving the project. Weiler and tion for disregard,” Garza said. fourth-year Kiran Misra compiled and edited She emphasized that BLM is the idea organizations.

“This conflation of everything being black the Dis-O Book. Fourth-year Juliet Eldred that black people are deserving of dignity, planned events for Disorientation Week. respect, and humanity and have contributed lives matter creates a lot of conflict…. There Many other students contributed articles or to the building of the nation. Garza respond- is a distinction. We do not make [the] distincvolunteered as “Dis-O Aides” for the week. ed to a common retort from the movement’s tion to be competitive. We make distinctions critics.

Continued on page 5 Continued on page 2

Activist Who Coined “Black Lives Matter” Talks Organizing, Police Abolition

Online Courses for Alumni Launch

BY GREG ROSS NEWS STAFF

AlumniU, the University’s experimental online education initiative, was officially launched on September 21. While several hundred participants have taken courses on AlumniU’s pilot program over the past year, this month’s official launch hopes to bring more alumni on board.

Consisting of courses led by UChicago faculty of various disciplines, AlumniU aims to offer alumni the UChicago academic experience via its online platform.

AlumniU is headed by the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, in conjunction with Alumni Relations and Development.

“There was a significant amount of alumni who were interested in some kind

Campus Reacts to Dean Ellison’s Letter Page 6

Ear Taxi Festival Gives Local Composers a Lyft

Women’s Soccer off to Historic Start

Page 11

Page 14

“I think the contemporary classical music scene in Chicago is the best in the United States.”

The women’s soccer squad is off to an incredible start with a No. 3 national ranking.

Message to the Now: Zooming out With Danny Lyon Page 12

Diverging interpretations of “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces.”

of academic experience that could replicate in some small way the experience that they had here at the U of C,” said Mark Nemec, Dean of the Graham School.

In addition to courses, the platform offers discussion forums for users to connect and discuss University news.

“One of the critical things is that [AlumniU] is meant to be an experiment in digital alumni engagement,” Nemec said. “It’s not about credentialing; it’s not simply about courses; it’s not an exercise in nostalgia.”

Online education is nothing new— UChicago faculty have taught online courses in the past, and many other universities have made forays into online education.

Wide-reaching websites like Coursera and EdX offer lectures and coursework to subscribers. MIT OpenCourseware, a 15-year-

Lyon dedicated much more time to CORE than the Core.

Continued on page 5

Contributing to THE MA ROON

If you want to get involved in THE M AROON in any way, please email apply@chicagomaroon.com or visit chicagomaroon.com/apply.

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All rights reserved. © The Chicago Maroon 2016

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

CFO Announces Departure Amid Layoffs and Cuts

BY JAEHOON AHN ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

In the middle of substantial budget cuts and layoffs, the University’s Chief Financial Officer has announced that he will leave his position by the end of the month.

Rowan Miranda has been CFO as well as vice president of operations at the University since 2014, when he moved from a similar position at the University of Michigan. Crain’s Chicago Business reported his exit last week based on an e-mail sent out to some University employees.

Miranda was at the helm of the University’s “Shared Services” initiative, which administrators say will cut costs and eliminate administrative redundancies by consolidating routine service and administrative functions in various departments.

The initiative, which entails large

numbers of layoffs, has been the subject of heated debates at various universities such as the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley.

Before coming to the University, Miranda led the Shared Services initiative at the University of Michigan. At both Michigan and the University of Chicago, the initiative proved controversial.

Before Miranda left Michigan in late 2013, more than 1,100 faculty members signed a petition opposing the initiative.

At the University of Chicago, protesters objecting to Shared Services organized a demonstration in the spring after layoffs were announced in the humanities.

The University appointed John Kroll, senior adviser for fi nance and administration, as the interim CFO on Friday.

David Fithian, executive vice president, will temporarily fi ll in Miranda’s operational role. The search for a permanent successor is currently ongoing.

Courtesy of Leadership for a Networked World Rowan Miranda, the University chief fi nancial officer, addresses an audience.

Miranda said in the e-mail that he anticipates going back to strategy and management consulting for government

and nonprofit organizations as well as teaching at the Harris School of Public Policy, from which he holds a doctorate.

“If we want to get to that place where all lives matter...we have to aknowledge that black lives matter too” Continued from front

to be able to lift up the work people are doing and to give credit where credit is deserved,” Garza said.

To Garza, it is important to understand the nuances and different strategies that activists are using to achieve the common goal of black freedom. She encouraged the audience, and the media alike, to research the different organizations and not combine them as one.

Next, Garza touched on the question of reformation versus abolition of the police. Of-

ten seen as mutually exclusive, she instead believes that reformation and abolition can influence and impact one another in many ways. Rather than an ideological question, she sees reformation and abolition as a strategic one. She discussed the importance of using reformation as a strategy to immediately deal with issues people are facing, but to also work to move beyond it to the end goal of abolition of the police.

“We also have this dynamic where once you come in contact with the criminal justice system you are forever a pariah. That’s not

the kind of world I want to live in, and I don’t think that it’s necessary to have people who steward that process of disenfranchising people from our society.”

According to Garza, many people have a difficult time understanding how abolition of the police is possible. She thinks that more work needs to be done to make abolition less theoretical.

“What I see this movement doing is making the impossible possible. This question of abolition fits right inside that for me,” she said.

Garza then moved on to talk about in-

tersectionality within the BLM movement.

She stressed that intersectionality is not about identity politics and at times the lack of political spaces for people can be reflected in movements. People can disregard and alienate the experiences of others even in a common movement for freedom.

Garza said, “It is about experiences and the way our experiences shape our movements. It’s about the way our experiences are taken into account, factored into the building of a new society and a new economy and a new democracy. It is not identity politics.”

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

A Union Would Not Come Between Students and Professors, Lawyer for Labor Group Says Continued from front

lectual and professional growth. A graduate student labor union could impede such opportunities and, as a result, be detrimental to students’ education and preparation for future careers. It could also compromise the ability of faculty to mentor and support students on an individualized basis,” the e-mail read.

The University AAUP chapter, on the other hand, welcomed the NLRB ruling and challenged Zimmer and Diermeier’s claim that unionization would be detrimental to graduate education.

“Many world-class universities—both public and private—have student employee unions. If unionization is damaging to graduate student education, there should by now be some evidence of that. The e-mail from President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier provides no such evidence,” stated the University AAUP chapter in their written response to the e-mail.

Zimmer and Diermeier’s e-mail made a case against graduate students unionizing on the grounds that graduate students’ role is different than those who typically engage in unions, that collective bargaining imposes a third party between faculty and students, and that unionizing makes the graduate student experience inflexible to individual circumstances.

Becker provided a point-by-point refutation of the e-mail, stating that Zimmer and Diermeier’s case for those who engage in unions is no longer true in the current labor landscape.

“Most collective bargaining is no longer by blue collar workers, but by knowledge workers.

Engineers at Boeing, reporters at Washington Post, writers in Hollywood, teachers, and professors,” Becker said.

Becker challenged the notion that unionizing would create a third-party that would come in between students and faculty.

“Who is this union that is going to come between students and faculty? Who is this union? The union is student organizers, they choose their representative, they sit at the bargaining table, the only way an agreement is reached is if they wish to have that agreement,” Becker said. “[A graduate student union] receiving technical assistance from the union should be no different than the university receiving technical assistance from its lawyers. There is no third party here.”

Becker also emphasized that the required subjects of bargaining were wages, hours, and working conditions and thus, the relationship between faculty and students wasn’t really the contention point in unionization. Further, he emphasized that even if that were the case, the parties—graduate students and the faculty—could decide what the relationship looks like. “[If] the first thing everyone needs to make clear is that the relationship between faculty and students is sacrosanct and can’t be interfered with, that’s a perfectly appropriate thing to put into agreement,” Becker said.

He pointed to frequent uses of direct dealing in unions, in which employees collectively bargain on some subjects, but agree to deal directly with employers on an individual basis on other subjects.

Finally, Becker addressed concerns that unionization could standardize graduate experience.

“The NBA, Hollywood, and traditional print workers, all unionized, top to bottom. So what would LeBron James, Meryl Streep, and Bob Woodward say if we told them your collective bargaining is preventing your employers from rewarding merit?” Becker said.

The event was attended by over a hundred faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students on the third floor of Swift Hall.

Students Can Suggest Topics for Meetings With Trustees

BY FENG YE NEWS STAFF

Through October 3, students can suggest topics for a series of conversations between student representatives and members of the Board of Trustees.

Starting this year, Student Government (SG), Campus and Student Life, and the University’s Board of Trustees are collaborating on an initiative called the Student Perspectives Series (SPS). The series will provide undergraduate students and graduate students with an opportunity to meet with three or four trustees to discuss campus issues. The SPS is currently collecting topic proposals from undergraduate students through an online application.

The deadline to submit a proposal is Monday.

Up until last year, the undergraduate and graduate liaisons sat in on the Board of Trustees meetings. From this year on, there will be no student representative present at these meetings. “…the change removes the only students that had access to these decision making spaces. I think it will be a topic of continued discussion with administration as to how students can play a role in institutional governance,” current Undergraduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees Kenzo Esquivel said.

One trustee per quarter will continue to meet with students at luncheon meet-

ings, which are typically attended by 25 to 30 students.

The SPS will provide a more intimate space for discussion. The meetings between students and the Board will also take place once every quarter. The fall quarter session will be exclusively open to undergraduates, the winter session only to graduates, and the spring session to both. Each meeting will last for one hour and consist of one to two topics. The total number of students attending will depend on the topic chosen and how many students proposed the topic.

Three or four trustees will attend each SPS meeting. One of the trustees, Thomas Cole, will be present throughout the year and is responsible for inviting other trustees.

SG will be responsible for selecting the topics discussed at each meeting. According to Esquivel, the selected topics should be within the purview of the Board and immediately relevant to student life.

After each meeting, a report will be generated internally and made accessible to the public. The reports are expected to be succinct summaries of the content of the meetings instead of line-to-line scripts.

“I’m excited about the opportunities that the SPS will create for students to have a clear and tangible way to access members of the board. In past years, there has been a disconnect between the student body and the Board, and this represents an important first step in creating a more accessible Board,” Esquivel said.

Graduate Students Vote to Select Union Affiliation

BY GARRETT WILLIAMS NEWS STAFF

Graduate students at the University of Chicago have taken the next step toward unionization by initiating an affi liation referendum. This vote will decide which labor union Graduate Students United (GSU) will affiliate with, should its push for unionization succeed.

On Tuesday evening, GSU began voting to decide whether the graduate-run organization will remain affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), or affiliate with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. GSU’s referendum is scheduled to run until midnight of this coming Tuesday, with results being announced soon thereafter.

AFT and SEIU are both major labor unions with about 1.6 million and 1.9 million members, respectively. Non-tenure track faculty at the University of Chicago chose to unionize with SEIU Local 73 this past December.

The union chosen by GSU will contribute resources and organizing muscle to GSU’s push for union certification. Once an affiliate union has been decided upon, GSU will proceed with the election process. This process will begin with a preliminary petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); if 30 percent of graduate students sign, the NLRB will schedule an election. A majority vote at this stage would complete the unionization process.

“GSU members are making a decision regarding our current union affi liation.

Whatever the results, we look forward to continuing to organize in a legal environment sustained by the recent NLRB ruling, which has recognized something that has been obvious to graduate students for quite a long time: that we work here,” wrote several members of the GSU Organizing Committee in an email to THE M AROON. GSU’s efforts toward unionization come as a result of the NLRB’s recent ruling that graduate students are workers under federal labor law.

College Rs, Debate Society Square Off on Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces

BY HILLEL STEINMETZ ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

On Tuesday, University of Chicago College Republicans (CR) and the Chicago Debate Society (CDS) debated the University’s position on safe spaces and trigger warnings as described in Dean of Students Jay Ellison’s letter.

Two students from each club argued over the motion, “This House believes that the U of Chicago is taking the wrong stance on trigger warnings and safe spaces.”

Ellison was invited by Kelton Anderson, the president of the CDS, to attend the debate, but according to Carson McKay, the vice president of operations of the CDS, Ellison respectfully declined the offer.

According to McKay and Anderson, other organizations may have been reluctant to sponsor or have debaters participate in the event as it could be construed to mean that they are taking a side on the issue.

Paul Drexler, a fourth-year in the College, began speaking for the CDS team arguing for the motion. He argued that trigger warnings are fair warnings to students who have suffered serious trauma and make the discussion more inclusive by providing tools for these students to participate in the classroom.

“The people who are most likely to holistically avoid classes that deal with these delicate topics at a fear of being triggered are those that are most likely to be able to contribute meaningfully to the conversation,” Drexler said.

He addressed worries about censorship by stating that that self-regulation by students and professors is enough to ensure that trigger warnings are only issued in appropriate circumstances.

James Miller, a third-year in the College, then spoke against the motion for CR. He contended that the University is adopting an uncontroversial position on trigger warnings and safe spaces and that they are harmful to students. He also said that in the wake of the letter it is important that the University continue its policy of not intervening in the classroom on the issues of trigger warnings and safe spaces. Otherwise, he warned, trigger warnings could marginalize certain ideas by removing them from debate.

CDS member Liya Khan, a second-year

in the College, responded that trigger warnings and safe spaces are especially important at the University because the administration fails to appropriately handle traumatic events that might occur on campus such as Title IX complaints. She argued that trigger warnings are relatively easy to issue, with minimal negative effects on those who have not experienced trauma.

Meredith McDonough, a second-year in the College, then argued against the motion, questioning how well trigger warnings actually work. She stated that the general use of trigger warnings can be interpreted as an assurance that students will not feel triggered in a classroom. She said that this may lead to an even stronger reaction to the triggering content as it can be all the more surprising for certain students. She also said that trigger warnings could be assigned to one side of a controversial topic, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, marginalizing that viewpoint.

“The University has a duty to its foundation and identity to reiterate the idea that at no point will freedom of debate and expression be sacrificed for comfort,” McDonough said.

After the debate, audience members were allowed to ask questions to the debaters about their positions.

McKay hopes that debate can foster the discussion of different issues on campus.

“The best thing we can do is empower people to make these decisions on their own,” McKay told THE MAROON in an interview after the debate. “There’s an agreed upon idea that this is an issue we care about, and we’re going to facilitate discussion for this.”

UChicago College Republicans came out in support of Ellison’s letter in late August.

In a statement sent by president of CR Matthew Foldi over e-mail, CR supports both Ellison’s letter and the debate on Tuesday night.

“UChicago College Republicans is proud to endorse Dean Ellison’s letter and to stand for free speech. We’ve seen trigger warnings and safe spaces used at other universities to stifle debate and exclude diverse opinions,” the statement read.

“It’s absolutely critical that the student body engages with both sides of this argument, and we know that when both sides are presented, the virtues of free speech win out.”

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

NEWS IN BRIEF Noam Chomsky Warns of Sixth Extinction, Donald Trump The linguist, philosopher, and political radical Noam Chomsky spoke at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on Monday evening.

The event was hosted by Haymarket Books, a non-profit that publishes radical books, and the Lannan Foundation.

Rockefeller was filled to capacity and over 1,200 people watched via livestream, according to a Facebook post by Haymarket Books.

Chomsky, a professor emeritus at MIT, spoke about how he believes that the human race is inducing what he called “a sixth mass extinction” event through climate change and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“For the fi rst time in human history, it’s necessary to make a crucial decision: will organized human life continue to exist on this Earth, or will it not,” Chomsky said.

Chomsky discussed the several accidents that have almost

resulted in global nuclear war since nuclear weapons were fi rst used in 1945. He said that nuclear proliferation still poses an immense threat to life on Earth.

He then talked about how plants and animals have seen incredibly high extinction rates in recent decades and how the increasing use of fossil fuels is accelerating changes to the climate.

Chomsky also stressed the importance of this election in the United States, saying that it could determine the fate of humankind, expressing special concern about Donald Trump’s environmental policies. “ The two most important questions in human history on which the fate of the species depends are virtually missing from the extensive commentary on choice of leader for the most powerful country in world history,” Chomsky said.

—Hillel Steinmetz

University Hosts “Hamilton” Lectures, Offers Subsidized Tickets Fans of Hamilton should not throw away their shot to win a heavily subsidized ticket to the hit Broadway musical’sChicago run. A chance to win the tickets will be offered at a series of lectures on the musical itself.

On October 13, Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law, and William Baude, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Law, will present lectures that tie the story of America’s first Treasury secretary to broader themes. The first will discuss the

difference between envy and ambition in the light of Alexander Hamilton’s fatal duel with his political rival Aaron Burr, and the second will relate the musical’s theme of ambition to America’s constitutional framework.

Allison Lacroix, Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor, and Ken Warren, Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law, will give another joint lecture on the musical on October 16. In May, Lacroix wrote in the New Rambler Review that Hamilton is a “Gesamtkunstwerk, in which

different forms are combined into a single unified whole.” She is also, unabashedly, a fan.

“First things fi rst: (1) Yes, it is brilliant,” Lacroix wrote.

Students can only attend one of the two lectures. Any student that does will be entered to win a $25 ticket to Hamilton on October 20 (online tickets for that date currently sell for more than $300). An online reservation is required to attend the lectures. Reservations open Wednesday, October 5, at noon.

—Adam Thorp

Library Cuts Hours Regenstein Library and Crerar Library will close an hour earlier this year.

On September 23, the University of Chicago Library announced changes to its hours for the current academic year.

Starting this Tuesday, from Sundays to Thursdays, Crerar and Regenstein libraries will close at midnight instead of 1 a.m. and

Mansueto will close at 11:45 p.m. instead of 12:45 a.m.

The All-Night Study in Regenstein will now open at midnight Sundays through Thursdays, one hour earlier than before.

The Special Collections Research Center made changes to its hours on June 21, eliminating Saturday hours and extending hours on Tuesdays and

Wednesdays.

The University of Chicago Library said that this change has caused the Special Collections reading room to host twice as many researchers in each extended Tuesday or Wednesday evening than it had been hosting last year during each average Saturday hour.

—Olivia Rosenzweig

Stone Addresses Trigger Warnings and Safe Spaces in Aims Address

BY JAEHOON AHN ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

One of the University’s most prominent advocates of free speech focused on the issue in his rendition of the annual Aims of Education address last week.

The Aims of Education speech is an annual tradition of the University that started in 1961. Every year a faculty member is invited to address the incoming first-years on their views on the aims of a liberal education.

When professor Geoffrey Stone was invited to be this year’s speaker, Dean of the College John Boyer suggested that the speech be focused on the subject of free speech, according to an email from Stone. Stone is a prominent First Amendment scholar and was one of the seven faculty members who drafted the 2014 University of Chicago report on its stance on free expression.

A letter about freedom of speech and academic freedom written by

Dean of Students John “Jay” Ellison to incoming first-years in late August prompted strong reactions on and off campus.

Stone’s speech directly addressed the issue of trigger warnings and safe spaces that sparked controversy in Ellison’s letter.

While Ellison made clear the University “[does] not support socalled ‘trigger warnings,’” Stone emphasized that judgments to give trigger warnings should be left to each individual and that such judgments were at the core of academic freedom.

A statement by the University News Office after the letter was released also emphasized the importance of faculty autonomy in deciding how to accommodate students in the classroom.

However, Stone echoed Ellison’s sentiments in rejecting the notion that the University be a safe space. He celebrated the presence of the University’s broad array of student organizations such as the Asian Student Union, the Orga-

nization of Black Students, and Students for Justice in Palestine, stating that “they are meant to be empowering, intellectually robust and, when necessary, safe.”

Nevertheless, “what is clear, as I noted earlier, is that the University of Chicago does not itself aspire to be a safe space that shields members of our community from challenging, difficult, and sometimes unnerving issues and arguments,” Stone said.

Stone’s speech highlighted the University of Chicago’s history of upholding academic freedom, and asserted that students and the University were responsible for continuing that tradition.

In tracing the history of academic freedom, Stone emphasized that while we take academic freedom for granted, it was not until the late 19th century that academic freedom was properly established.

Only when heated debates arose between traditional creationism and Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution did academic

freedom overcome the dominance of religion and “doctrinal moralism,” under which the worth of an idea was judged by the moral values embraced by an institution’s leaders.

Even so, Stone said that academic freedom has constantly been challenged, beginning with wealthy trustees who felt their business practices were being questioned, then by patriotic zealots in World War I, and by McCarthyism during the Cold War. Stone said that freedom to question, challenge, and inquire should not be taken for granted and that “academic freedom is, in fact, a hard-bought acquisition in an endless struggle.”

In outlining the University’s role in upholding academic freedom, Stone brought up past presidents and students. He mentioned President William Rainey Harper, who was caught in the middle of bitter conflicts between trustees and professors, as well as the students who traveled to Springfield

to oppose the “Broyles Bills” in the age of McCarthy. Stone also mentioned the 2014 University of Chicago report on freedom of expression on campus, which has been lauded by prominent media organizations and adopted by a range of other colleges and universities.

Stone listed three imperatives for students and the University today: the importance of civility and mutual respect; encouragement of free, open, and robust debates; and recognition that the cost of free speech most often falls on the most marginalized groups.

Stone also gave an Aims of Education speech in 1995 on the topic of free speech on campus, which was heavily drawn upon in his speech this year. Stone replied in an email that the 1995 speech dealt with the same theme and that it made sense to reuse parts of the earlier speech that were still relevant today.

This article was originally published online on Monday, September 26.

University Sexual Assault Investigation Into Student Can Go Forward, Judge Rules

BY ADAM THORP NEWS EDITOR

The University can continue its sexual assault investigation of a student who filed a lawsuit accusing the University of anti-male bias, the judge in the case ruled Thursday.

The student, referred to as “John Doe” in court documents, sought a ruling from the judge that would have temporarily stopped the University from proceeding with its investigation. His lawyer argued that the investigation’s rules were unfair and that

allowing it to continue could pose a risk to “John Doe’s” mental health.

“John Doe” has been accused of sexual assault by two female students. The University’s investigation into the first accusation was decided in his favor in 2014.

The investigation into the second accusation, filed earlier this year by a student referred to as “Jane Doe” in court, will continue after Thursday’s ruling. “John Doe” filed suit in August against the University, which he said demonstrated a “gender-based, hostile environment against males” in its handling of the two cases.

He is also suing “Jane Doe” for pursue its investigation was not defamation based on her posts to in keeping with its stated commitsocial media, which implicitly ac- ment to due process and threatened to inflict “irreparable harm” cused him of assaulting her.

“Jane Doe” filed her complaint on “John Doe.” In a court appearance on Sepagainst him this June. “John Doe” filed his own complaint later that tember 14, Judge Edmond Chang month, saying that her accusation considered arguments for a prewas retaliation for his earlier at- liminary injunction, a legal intempt to file a complaint accusing strument that would have prevented the University from continuing her of harassment.

When “John Doe” filed his law- its investigation. At that hearing, suit, he asked for a court order to “John Doe’s” lawyers asked that temporarily halt the University’s the University’s investigation into investigation into “Jane Doe’s” “Jane Doe’s” complaint be stopped complaint. His lawyers said the until his lawsuit is resolved. In the way the University planned to hearing and later filings, “John

Doe’s” lawyers presented evidence that “John Doe” had committed self-harm as a result of the stress brought on by the investigation and that continuing the investigation would further threaten his mental health.

The University’s counsel argued in the hearing that the motion was an attempt to “micromanage” internal University processes.

Chang suggested at that hearing that in light of the evidence presented on “John Doe’s” mental health, the University should proceed carefully, and said he would Continued on page 5

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Two-hundred Page O-Book Alternative Features Student Takes on University Issues Continued from front

The Dis-O Book features articles on a range of topics, including gentrification and development, classism, graduate student unionization, being an ally, partying, and spiritual life.

“The book is a lot bigger this year, I would say twice as long,” Misra said. “The content in it has reflected the changing climate on campus, so there’s a lot of sections that have been added due to incidents on campus [and] events that have happened on campus.”

Another big change to this year’s Dis-O Book is the inclusion of author names. “A lot of the pieces [in the 2013 book] didn’t have names on them…but we thought it was very important to put everyone’s names on their pieces because it was just their perspective,” Misra said.

Weiler stressed that the Dis-O Book is not meant to be an objective guide to campus life. “Even I, as editor, don’t agree with everything in this book, we are just trying to give the writers a place to express their voice and

expose others to those views as well. We encouraged collaborations because we thought they would allow for more balanced perspectives that are still useful to the reader.”

There was a larger set of programs than in years past. “[I] figured that people will definitely find the book and share it online, but there are other ways to communicate information, and having events is a good way to do that,” Eldred said. “We wanted Dis-O Week to be a counterpart to O-Week, and since O-Week consists of a lot of different welcome events from our University we figured for our counterpart it would also make sense to have welcome events.”

Highlights of the past two weeks included an alternative sex education workshop, a Dis-O Disco party, an RSO and community activist meet-and-greet, and a walking tour of the peripheries of campus, with a focus on

student activism initiatives.

The group’s leaders identified very strongly with the project. “2013 was my first year on campus so [the Dis-O Book] had just been revised…and I remember that all the alternative programming was very important to me for basically figuring out what type of campus I was on,” Misra said.

Misra, Weiler, and Eldred all pointed out that Disorientation is not only a criticism of the University. “What drives us to do what we do doesn’t come from a place of despair but it’s rather out of hope,” Eldred said. “We’re not just trying to complain. We do want to improve it and make it a better place going forward and share resources with people who would have a much harder time with finding them otherwise or just want to know about a lot of these things.”

“John Doe” Alleges Anti-male Bias in University Application of Title IX Continued from page 4

The front and back cover of this year’s Dis-O Book.

Courtesy of Molly Robinson

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consider the injunction.

On Thursday, Chang ruled that the University’s investigation could proceed.

“John Doe’s” lawsuits against the University and “Jane Doe” will continue; another appearance before the judge is scheduled for November 1. The reasoning behind the decision to reject the injunction will remain under seal until all parties have had an opportunity to argue as to what portion of the decision should be permanently withheld.

Editor’s Note: Based on information available in now-public court documents,

AlumniU Looks to Extend University’s Educational Experience Past Graduation Continued from front

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it is possible to identify the parties in this lawsuit. THE MAROON chose not to identify them because “John Doe” is a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit, and reporting his name might further this alleged defamation, and because “Jane Doe” alleges that she is a victim of sexual assault, and THE MAROON, like many media organizations, does not report the names of alleged victims of sexual assault without the victim’s permission in cases when the victim’s name is not widely known.

This article was originally published online on Sunday, September 25.

old platform, offers thousands of free, recorded lectures to the public. AlumniU, however, is unique in that it only allows UChicago grads to access the site.

The restriction to alumni appealed to Daniel Burnham (A.M. ’14) who works for an online education startup. “While [AlumniU] has very similar hallmarks to these giant course providers, the membership is highly curated. I wanted to see what courses were like when you could exclusively guarantee a certain type of user,” he said.

Last spring, Burnham took Critical Issues in Urban Education, a pilot AlumniU course taught by professor Sara Ray Stoelinga, who is director of the Urban Education Institute and a clinical professor on the Committee on Education. The course consisted of weekly blog posts by Stoelinga, to which participants would respond during the week and discuss in live Q&A sessions.

Leah Rutchick (A.M. ’81, Ph.D. ’91) took professor Peggy Mason’s Neuroethics course last winter. “I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with people who shared something in common,” Rutchick said, noting that her classmates not only shared a UChicago background, but many also worked in fields related to neuroscience.

AlumniU is not intended to “export the classroom,” but rather to “rekindle what is unique about UChicago inquiry,” Nemec said. Nemec also emphasized the broader picture: with people living longer lifespans and having access to an ever-expanding sphere of technology, platforms like AlumniU will become more popular. “To be a leading university, I would argue that you need a robust lifelong learning strategy,” he said.

While AlumniU is a new, tech-driven approach to alumni engagement, it also reaffirms the value the University has placed on lifelong learning. The University Extension—a department created at the outset of the University’s founding—was one of the country’s first continuing education programs. At the time, educators delivered lectures aboard Pullman train cars as they chugged across the country.

In the 1930s, Robert Maynard Hutchins’s presidency pushed the College to embrace perennial education, a belief that students should be instilled with that values that are timeless, human, and principled.

This theme of knowledge for the sake of knowledge remains evident in today’s Core and is now embraced by AlumniU. This fall, professor Agnes Callard, an assistant professor in the philosophy department, will teach Plato’s Meno on AlumniU. “I’m doing it on the expectation that it will be a lot like doing a discussion class in Hum,” said Callard. The six-week course will involve a weekly “virtual classroom” in which participants interact via video.

This this does not mean AlumniU will necessarily replicate the give-and-take of a UChicago classroom. “It’s amazingly hard to talk to a computer,” Callard said. Pulling out her laptop, she signaled to a smiley face sketched on a post-it note. It was taped just above the webcam, supposed to imitate the student with whom she would normally engage in a discussion of the meaning of virtue, but is now behind a screen, and perhaps on the other side of the world.

To access AlumniU, all that is needed is a CNetID and password. The platform is free. Callard’s course begins Monday, October 3.

6

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

VIEWPOINTS Speak Up, UChicago

Saving Spaces

Ellison’s letter is a sign of hope in a campus climate that consistently silences voices

Safe spaces and trigger warnings are essential for open discussion

BY MATTHEW FOLDI MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

T he welcome letter that Dean of Students Jay Ellison sent to the Class of 2020 was far from the classic form letter that freshmen around the world have been receiving every year for decades. In his letter, Dean Ellison set the University of Chicago apart from colleges across the country by clearly and forcefully stating the University’s strong policies in support of free speech, and explaining the legacy and morals behind it.

T his letter is the latest manifestation of the University of Chicago’s long commitment to free speech, as well as a response to several events that occurred on campus last year. As the dean highlighted in his letter, this is far from the University of Chicago’s first foray into protecting controversial speech. T he University has a long history of supporting free speech, dating back to at least the 1930s when it hosted the Communist Party’s presidential candidate on campus, against the wishes of many across the campus and country. This was continued in 1967 with the University’s Kalven Report, which further institutionalized the importance of the administration’s political neutrality, despite external pressures.

Perhaps the University ’s most important contribution to academic freedom, however, was Law School Professor

G e of f r ey St one ’s s o - c a l le d Stone Report. In it, Stone described exactly how the University’s history demonstrates its “commit[ment] to free and open inquiry in all matters,... guarantee[ing] all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge,

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UChicago has a long history of graduate workshops, which aim to bring students from different disciplines together in order to facilitate intellectual exchange. This autumn, the U.S. History Workshop has a

Sarah Komanapalli

and learn...fully respect[ing] and support[ing] the freedom of all members of the University community ‘to discuss any problem that presents itself.’”

T he lett er ’s th ree ma i n Continued on page 7

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new policy, affirming that it is “committed to enabling the free exchange of ideas, which hinges on providing participants a safe and open space that fosters both rigorous inquiry and compassionate respect.” As the workshop’s coordinator and long-time participant, I believe this gesture of offering a safe space represents the consensus of the workshop’s participants.

For me, it was a no-brainer.

Additionally, I will be calling a special session of the workshop where participants can democratically decide if the workshop will offer the oft-demonized content disclosures (popularly referred to as “trigger warnings”). This discussion will be one small part of a much larger exploration of “The Politics of Writing History.” I would encourage all other workshop coordinators to follow a similar path and declare their workshops safe spaces while freely discussing the merits of content disclosures.

They should also become certified as safe spaces with the Office of LGBTQ Student Life and seek affiliate status with the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

In a strange way, I would like to thank Dean Ellison for prompting this action. His letter to the Class of 2020

has now become a national touchstone, prompting us all to consider a number of vital questions concerning both free speech and academic freedom.

W hile I cannot speak for the workshop in toto, I felt compelled to follow the lead of a number of faculty members in expressing my own personal concerns with the dean’s letter and its appropriateness. As faculty members made clear, Ellison is not the arbiter of classroom practice. Students and their professors will collectively decide the nature of their pedagogical relationship.

All else from the dean is effectively superfluous.

Our professors also remind us that safe spaces, inclusive env i r on ment s , a nd de c ent wages for student workers are things that we, as students, must create for ourselves. Education, like democracy, is not a spectator sport. Safe spaces cannot be not dictated from above nor are they passively received by empty vessels from below. They must be imagined, built, and nourished by participants committed to collective, ongoing action. In this respect, the administration is as impotent as it is misguided.

I n t erms of spe ci f ics, I have yet to hear a compelling argument in favor of un-safe spaces or a lack of content transparency. Can a professor reasonably be barred from telling their class: “ This clip contains graphic sexual violence? ” Is there evidence to suppor t improved outcomes in pedagogical environments where students are subjected to personal attacks, microaggressions, and open harassment? T his does not str ike me as a question of political correctness or coddling an allegedly self-indulgent generation. This is a matter of basic human decency, good manners, and common sense.

Contrary to the administration’s implications, the promoters of safe spaces on this campus a re not suggesting censorship or a retreat away from difficult conversations.

In fact, it is quite the opposite.

These difficult conversations can only take place through civility and mutual respect.

They require each individual’s identity to be freely expressed in its fullness, without being subjected to ad hominin attacks or charges that one’s social position makes them incapable of making a purportedly “objective” academic inquiry.

A truly safe space is the apex of open inquiry and academic freedom—not its antithesis.

Safe spaces include otherwise

excluded speech. They make a conversation whole.

But this moment is about much more than what constitutes a safe space or the particulars of content disclosures. Also at stake here is a much larger question of the role of the modern university in the 21st century—and who controls it. Why do universities exist at all? To produce cutting edge research to be monetized by the highest bidder? To isolate idiosyncratic geniuses from the rest of society? To generate multi-million dollar salar ies to academics-tur ned-bureaucrats?

To enable university trustees to funnel endowment money to their golfing buddies’ hedge funds?

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I still believe that the university is a magical place.

A place where the pursuit of tentative truths and the mutual exchange of ideas among a nd between students a nd teachers should trump everything. But building such an environment is not automatic.

It must be constantly tended to and fought for.

So why would the administration wade into this question at all? Many have speculated that the dean’s letter was an attempt to appeal to politically conser vative donors. T he plea was certainly a deeply gendered posture sig naling that the administration can talk tough, even as it knows full well that the university already supports safe spaces and possesses no mechanism capable of policing their further creation by students and faculty. The role of the administration here should ideally be one of absolute neutrality until an overwhelming, clear consensus of the campus community demands action. For example, it would be entirely inappropriate for the administration to deliberately act against the popular will and interests of its students by hiring a corporate law firm to wage an anti-union campaign against unionizing graduate student workers (which, by the way, it recently did). Students surely know what is best for themselves in this regard.

I am proud to affirm that the U.S. History Workshop is a safe space. We might even believe in love. And there is nothing the administration can do to stop us.

Guy Emerson Mount is a sixth-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of History, a Mellon Fellow, and the Coordinator of the U.S. History Workshop.

7

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Wei Yi Ow

Continued from page 6 components — tr igger wa r nings, canceling speakers, and intellectual safe spaces—each have a place here and in the national discourse. Opposing views should have the opportunity to be expressed, even if they are unpopular, and Ellison’s letter rightly expresses a clear and firm stand against the possible major restrictions that have happened on far too many campuses.

Surprisingly, too many in the student body don’t agree with these seemingly innocuous policies. The basic right of free speech was not always guaranteed this past academic year. Both A nita A lvarez and Bassem Eid were unable to speak during two events on campus after protesters shut them down. Eid’s life was even threatened when a protester shouted that he wanted to blow up Eid’s car. A few weeks later, I proposed a resolution as the president of College Republicans to the General Assembly of our Student Government that had almost 50 faculty signatories condemning these protests. Surprisingly, I had to explain to several members of Student Government that it was bad for events to be shut down; the resolution was almost voted down outright and was then tabled for the year, meaning that it may never see the light of day. Interestingly enough, the members of Student Government did not attach their names to how they voted (which is highly unusua l), probably be cause they understood that their actions would be immensely unpopular. This incident was shocking to students, faculty, and alumni alike, and the problems continued as its lesson went

unheeded. A few weeks after I proposed my resolution, a group of students (including a Student Government representative who voted against my resolution) attempted to shut down an Israeli Independence Day celebration on campus!

Shutting down speakers on campus is not a new phenomenon, but last year marked our first appearance on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s “disinvitation database” this decade. This is a worrisome trend, and the Ellison letter made it crystal clear that protests such as the ones that shut down events last year will not be tolerated in the future, despite Student Government’s failure to take a stance on the issue.

With regard to the other aspects of the letter, it is impor tant to understand that Ellison is not banning trigger warnings. If he were to do so, he would be in violation of the University’s free speech policy. Instead, the University remains neutral, with “professors maintain[ing] broad latitude to engage in teaching practices as they see fit or to accommodate student requests.” This is an important distinction; the Ellison letter does not ban trigger warnings, but rather trusts professors to use them as they see fit. This stands in contrast to other schools that actually require trigger warnings. At Drexel University, for example, it “is expected that instructors will offer appropriate warning and accommodation regarding the introduction of explicit and tr igger ing mater ials used.”

Other schools, including Bay Path University, Colby-Sawyer College, North Iowa Area Community College, and St.

Vincent’s College have nearly identical policies regarding trigger warnings.

Similarly, the term “safe space” as it is employed in the Ellison letter deserves greater clarification. The letter states that “we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” We have sa fe spaces on campus, but those are social safe spaces, and thus do not fall under the purview of Ellison’s letter. Ellison’s concern deals with intellectual safe spaces, which have all too frequently become places where dissenting viewpoints are unwelcomed. T hese are safe spaces such as the one set up by Case Western University during the Republican National Convention this summer, and at Brown University that featured “cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies.”

I n the a f termath of the Ellison letter, schools such as American University, Claremont McKenna, and even B r ow n h ave s e nt s i m i l a r statements to their own student bod ies. Hopef u l ly, we are witnessing the start of a movement that will change the face of free speech on college campuses across the country.

Unfortunately, College Republicans remains the only group on campus to support the letter, but we will be working to ensure that the University of C hicago remains a beacon for the rest of academia.

Matthew Foldi is a thirdyear in the College majoring in political science.

Letter: Faculty Respond to Ellison With a Letter of Their Own Dear Students of the Class of 2020: As you have undoubtedly noticed, you and your new institution have been in the media spotlight lately. We want to take this opportunity to voice our own welcome as members of the faculty. You will find the University of Chicago to be a diverse place full of strong-minded people. We encourage you to become one of them.

Those of us who have signed this letter have a variety of opinions about requests for trigger warnings and safe spaces. We may also disagree as to whether free speech is ever legitimately interrupted by concrete pressures of the political. That is as it should be. But let there be no mistake: such requests often touch on substantive, ongoing issues of bias, intolerance, and trauma that affect our intellectual exchanges. To start a conversation by declaring that such requests are not worth making is an affront to the basic principles of liberal education and participatory democracy.

Foremost, we are committed to our students and to the free exchange of ideas. As teachers, we understand ourselves to be engaged in a collaborative experiment in the classroom. For that to work, mutual respect is indeed indispensable—all the more so since the practice of academic freedom can sometimes be contentious, difficult, perhaps even painful. But the crucial point is that such contention has to be based on a commitment to learning from a wealth of histories and experiences—to more discussion, not less; to openness, not closure.

The history of “safe spaces” goes back to gay, civil rights, and feminist efforts of the mid–20th century to create places protected from quite real forces of violence and intimidation. They also served as incubators of new ideas away from the censure of the very authorities threatened by these movements. It would be naïve to think that the University of Chicago is immune from social problems. Yet the administration confusingly disconnects “safe spaces” it supports (see the list of mentoring services on the College’s own website) from “intellectual safe spaces” that it does not, as if issues of power and vulnerability stop at the classroom door.

The best spaces for independent thought and action may be those you create yourselves. For example, graduate student instructors at the University of Chicago have just won the right to organize as a labor union. We applaud their contributions to this national effort. Please see the statement of the University of Chicago chapter of the American Association of University Professors for further evidence of widespread faculty support of student activism and student rights.

The right to speak up and to make demands is at the very heart of academic freedom and freedom of expression generally.

We deplore any atmosphere of harassment and threat. For just that reason, we encourage the Class of 2020 to speak up loudly and fearlessly.

See the online edition of this letter for all 174 faculty signatures.

8

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Letter: J Street Wants Campus to Unite in Favor of Two-State Solution Welcome back to campus, UChicago!

As the new school year begins, we at J Street UChicago would like to look back upon the UofC Divest campaign and its aftermath. When UofC Divest launched last March, students split into like-minded groups and the campus dialogue around the Israeli-Palestinian conf lict, unlike the occupation itself, came to an end. Students exchanged insults and accusations as the campus climate grew increasingly polarized.

Though the College Council voted in favor of UofC Divest’s resolution calling for divestmentfrom companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in its occupation of the Palestinian territories, the campaign produced no improvement to Palestinian lives. The administration came out against divestment, and, like similar divestment campaigns, the only change that resulted from UofC Divest was the deep chasm that now separates the pro-Israel and pro-Palestine communities on campus.

This summer, J Street UChicago members spent time on the ground in

Israel and Palestine learning about and working against the occupation. We engaged with Palestinian students active in the organization Zimam, whose lives and aspirations are impeded by the occupation, and heard about their efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israeli student activists in groups like Darkenu, Young Labor, and Young Meretz are similarly advocating for two states. Thanks to UofC Divest, the anti-occupation movement at UChicago is nowhere near the level of productive engagement we experienced in Israel and Palestine. Our campus can and should be able to unite to take concrete steps to end the occupation and work toward a two-state solution.

At the end of the summer, the Israeli government announced that a decision was imminent regarding the demolition of the Palestinian village of Susya, in Area C of the West Bank. Weeks earlier, we visited with residents of Susya and walked with them back to the site of their previous homes, from which they

had been displaced. They remembered growing up and raising their families in these homes. They recalled the fear and trauma of losing their homes so suddenly and watching settlers take over. Encountering the place where his children used to play, one man said, “this feels like seeing the dead.” The children of Susya are now at risk of experiencing the same trauma as their parents. Demolishing the village would be another injustice against Palestinians struggling to live their lives, and yet another setback for the prospects of ever reaching a negotiated two-state solution.

J Street responded by mobilizing activists across the country to weigh in against the demolition. We lobbied Secretary of State John Kerry and leaders in the American Jewish community to come out in support of Susya. Thanks to our efforts and those of other groups standing up for Susya, we saw important results. The State Department made it clear that the U.S. government strongly opposes the demolition of Susya.

Thanks in large part to this pressure, the demolition decision has been delayed to November 15, and we are still urgently organizing to prevent over 100 residents of Susya from losing their homes. As we begin the new school year, the student body must stand up for what is right and just. We ask all students who support human rights and a better, peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians to help us #SaveSusya, and to stand up to the settlement expansion that threatens to derail all hope of a solution.

—J Street UChicago Board Members Zachary Spitz ’19, Isaac Johnston ’19, Rikki Baker Keusch ’17.

Letter: Professors Support Grad Student Unionization In the wake of the recent NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) ruling that graduate students, in their capacity as workers, have the right to unionize, we have heard from various members of the University of Chicago administration about what President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier describe in their August 24 e-mail as the “challenges and potential negative consequences of a union.” The President and Provost conclude that e-mail by urging us to “participate in dialogue around these issues.”

In the spirit of such dialogue, the University of Chicago AAUP (American Association of University Professors) Advocacy Chapter drafted the following response, which we posted on our webpage: As professors at the University of Chicago who value, on the one hand, the special relationship between faculty members and graduate students and, on the other hand, the important work done by all those who teach and do research on our campus, we welcome the recent decision of the NLRB affirming that teaching and research assistants at private universities are employees under federal labor law, and thus can form and join unions. In their August 24, 2016 e-mail to faculty and graduate students, President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier express their opposition to a union of graduate student employees at the University of Chicago. Notably, they do not dispute the NLRB’s claim that “a graduate student may be both a student and an employee; a university may be both the student’s educator and employer” (Case 02–RC–143012, p. 7). It is therefore striking that although President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier say a good deal about the possible effects of unionization on the student-teacher relationship, they have chosen to say nothing about its possible effects on the employee-employer relationship.

As a result, they appear to concede the principal contention of those who favor unionization: namely, that unionization would lead to improved working conditions for student employees. The President and Provost limit their critical remarks to expressions of concern that a labor union “could” undermine “the special and individual nature of students’ educational experiences” and

“impede students’ overall educational goals.” In response, we draw attention specifically to the following paragraph in the NLRB ruling, which observed: “The Brown University Board failed to demonstrate that collective bargaining between a university and its employed graduate students cannot coexist successfully with student-teacher relationships, with the educational process, and with the traditional goals of higher education. Labor law scholars have aptly criticized the Brown University decision as offering ‘no empirical support’ for its claims, even though ‘those assertions are empirically testable.’” (Case 02–RC– 143012, p.

7) Many world-class universities—both public and private—have student employee unions. If unionization is damaging to graduate student education, there should by now be some evidence of that. The e-mail from President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier provides no such evidence.

Reasonable people may disagree about the wisdom of the NLRB’s ruling.

There can be no disagreement, however, that student employees now have the right to collectively determine how they will relate to the university that employs them.

We sent this statement to the president and the provost, asking them to share it with the same members of our community to whom they had sent their own e-mail. In reply we were told that, “The administration does not distribute messages on behalf of campus organizations.” This administration has advertised its commitment to “freedom of expression,” telling our incoming freshmen that “we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement.” But since the NLRB decision, the members of our community have been sent a series of anti-union e-mails—not only by the president and the provost, but by the Deans of the Physical Sciences Division, the Social Science Division, and the Humanities Division— while no one with an opposing view has been given a platform to speak. That is not the structure of a “rigorous debate.”

While the AAUP is currently organizing a series of public discussions, information about which can be found on our website, we urge the administration to approach

this matter in a collegial way that accords those who support unionization the same opportunities to express their views as has been granted those who have expressed their reservations. The NLRB has determined that graduate students have earned the right to be called workers and to unionize; this university owes it to them, and to the scholarly tradition it represents, that they be engaged first and foremost as colleagues and intellectual peers.

Sincerely, Willemien Otten, President Ken Warren, Vice President Denis Hirschfeldt, Vice President Anton Ford, Secretary-Treasurer

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

ARTS THE CHICAGO MAROON 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 (773)702-1403

Dear [Student], Congratulations! It is our great pleasure to inform you that you have arrived at the University of Chicago. With its storied history, vibrant RSOs, and happenin’ arts scene, campus has distinguished itself as one of the cultural epicenters of the Midwest. We’d say “the whole city is your campus,” but truthfully, stuff’s far AF (U-PASS! Hooray!) and Charles Lipson taught us not to plagiarize from NYU. We invite you to explore all that these arts pages have to offer. Join us for Kenny’s upcoming coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival; MJ’s bombastic recaps of the Lyric Opera; May’s well-honed eye for campus art—we’re not the final arbiters of good taste, but we’re not not the final arbiters of good taste, either.

For more than a few years, the College’s Arts Pass has allowed students like you to explore over 70 of Chicago’s museums, galleries, and theaters for free or at reduced rates. We can picture you at the Museum of Science and Industry, browsing the permanent collections without paying cash or card. As a holder of UCID, you’ll access Arts Pass Exclusives (transport included) to see Hamilton, spend a night at the Art Institute, or sit rapt at Longer! Louder!

Wagner!, an upcoming Second City and Lyric Opera collab. Follow this link for more details about Arts Pass: arts.uchicago.edu/arts-pass.

Truly, honesty, Chicago is an amazing city for art, however defined—we hope you make the most of it these years you’re here. Consider our content a seed for you, budding aesthete.

Sincerely, MJ “Stiletto” Chen and Eva “Womansueto” Reid

[Friday]

[Monday]

11 a.m. Watch Wolf Vostell’s sculpture Concrete Traffic return to campus via a symbolic procession from the comfortable seats of Logan Café. Free.

All day. Visit the Robie House, free to UChicago students the first Monday of each month.

[Saturday] 8 p.m. Catch student plays that came together in a mere 24 hours at the quarterly Theater[24]. Third Floor Theater, Reynolds. $4.

7 p.m. Mingle and enjoy light refreshments under the doobie-doo of Chicago jazz musicians at First Jazz Monday.

Arts Incubator. Free.

[Sunday] 7 p.m. Enjoy the uncensored version of Varieté, a 1925 German film, scored live by Alloy Orchestra, known for its found percussion.

Performance Hall, Logan. Free with UCID.

HEAVY SCHEDULE Puzzle by Daniel Ruttenberg

You’ll have no class if you are unable to solve this one!

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Ear Taxi Festival Gives Local Composers a Lyft

BY REBECCA JULIE ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR

While walking through Millennium Park three years ago, Grammy Award–winning composer and University of Chicago professor Augusta Read Thomas had an idea.

“I was thinking about the vibrant contemporary classical music scene here,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I should really step up to the plate and put together a massive festival that celebrates all of these artists and composers.’”

Three years of arduous work and composition have created the Ear Taxi Festival, which runs from October 5–10. The festival, a celebration of Chicago’s vibrant contemporary classical music community, features local ensembles, composers, and performance venues, with over 300 musicians and 54 world premieres.

“I think the contemporary classical music scene in Chicago is the best in the United States. I feel very strongly about it,” Thomas said. “There are amazing groups and amazing composers, but in addition there’s a sense of spirit and collaboration. It’s very diverse, tons of different aesthetics, points of view, coloristic shadings of sound and timbre.”

Thomas aims to showcase the diverse artistic expertise reflected in Chicago’s contemporary classical music scene. For example, Ear Taxi will include five public sound art installations placed throughout the city.

Each installation has a set location and time slots during which it will be active. All are free and open to the public.

Thomas’s work will also be featured at Ear Taxi, along with a world premiere by UChicago composition student David Clay Mettens, who studied with Thomas. Both will be performed by Civitas Ensemble, a chamber group comprised of Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) musicians J. Lawrie Bloom, Ken Olson, and Yuan-Qing Yu, as well as pianist Winston Choi.

Yu straddles the worlds of classical and contemporary classical music in Chicago, through her dual roles with Civitas and the CSO. “I think Chicago is a very active platform for new music,” she said. “Mainly because we have great schools that are producing great composers, and we have great local composers. For me it is extremely rewarding because I know [Thomas] well and I love her effort and I love her music.”

Civitas Ensemble is no stranger to performing in unique spaces. The group explores

a variety of venues and locales to better connect with the community. It recently played an all-Russian programme at a retirement home serving mostly Russian immigrants.

Concerts by ensembles like Civitas are just one facet of the program for Ear Taxi, a name derived from Thomas’s fateful walk in the park three years ago. “Way, way back, when I had the idea for this, I had the idea of the famous bust of Beethoven’s head, and then out of each ear are coming little taxis,” Thomas explained. “Of course we wouldn’t use Beethoven’s bust, but it would be the head of a composer, out of which all these little sonic taxi rides are flowing. And so if you come to Ear Taxi you’re going to take lots of little taxi rides.”

“I was open to allowing everything in the contemporary classical art tradition,” Thomas continued. “No censorship of any kind.” As such, Ear Taxi is entirely not-for-profit.

The freedom Ear Taxi’s artistic spirit is evidenced by this not-for-profit approach.

Each ensemble is paid the same amount, in an effort to create a sense of artistic community and collaboration rather than competition.

“When somebody buys a festival pass, what they are doing is supporting the artists of their city,” Thomas said. For students, an unlimited festival pass is $100, and provides access to 27 hours of music. Individual concerts are just $5–10.

In an additional effort to make Ear Taxi accessible and very much in the city, musicians will play around bus stops and train stations in Chicago, through a program called transfer(to). The initiative, described as “a series of public art micro-performances” aims to introduce Chicagoans to the festival and “expose the public at large to performances in an unconventional setting by weaving works of art into the fabric of everyday life.”

“I wanted people to just sort of run into the festival—to get off the subway and there are musicians playing right there,” Thomas explained. “The musicians will be very casual, and you can talk to them, and they’re playing world premieres written by Chicago composers.”

To help as many people as possible experience as much music as possible, Ear Taxi worked with the Sharing Notes program, an organization that brings classical music to hospitals, to commission a world premiere. The winning piece, writContinued on page 12

Courtesy of Augusta Read Thomas

University of Chicago professor of composition and Grammy Award–winning composer Augusta Read Thomas is the creator and head curator of the Ear Taxi Festival.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

UT’s Season Falls Into Place

BY EMILY EHRET MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Un iversity T heaters ( U T )’s up coming season embraces the classics.

The fall lineup consists of plays by the Bard and reimagined Greek tragedy, but with conceptual twists. This season aims to deliver fresh ideas while championing UT’s commitment to student involvement.

The quarter opens with Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, produced by the Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) department under the professional direction of Shade Murray.

Running through second week, this 60-minute adaptation of the classic romance is set as promenade theater—in which actors intermingle with audience—and boasts a “never before seen twist.”

Later in the quarter, UT will put on four other main stage productions directed, designed, and performed entirely by students. Second-year Jacob Goodman is director of The Comedy of Errors, produced with Shakespeare troupe The Dean’s Men. “There’s something incredibly unifying and thrilling about building a show with people,” he said. “ They want you to put on a show you believe in and that requires a lot of energy and time, but it’s amazing.”

By setting the show in the early 1930s, Goodman hopes to reenergize the plot with not one, but two sets of twins, a mix-up with a golden chain, and a variety of mishaps surrounding identities. “I thought by setting it in [this time], a point at which Vaudeville had watched itself fall from a very hallowed place in entertainment to a kind of cheaper, outdated form of itself, it would help explore this idea of f luid identity,” Goodman said.

Iphigenia and Other Daughters, directed by fourth-year Lexi Turner, retells the stories of the daughters of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon in a modern setting. According to playwright Ellen McLaughlin, Iphigenia explores “redefining the concept of history from a female perspective,” and presents an opportunity to revisit and reimagine the Greek myths.

Another generational tale is told in After the Revolution by Amy Herzog, directed by third-year Megan Philippi.

In this show of family drama, politically motivated Emma Joseph grapples with her beliefs when she discovers a long-concealed family secret. As familial turmoil unfolds, Emma must confront her identity.

Third-year Seph Mozes will close the quarter with The Merchant of Venice, a complex comedy with a dramatic edge. Jewish moneylender Shylock loans A ntonio a large sum to assist his friend, Bassanio, in winning the affections of wealthy Portia. Mozes’s minimalist production focuses on the tension that develops between characters under the pressures of a market economy. “ They’re both very different interpretations of Shakespeare,” said Goodman. “[ Mozes] has a fantastic, very subtle and abstract staging of his show, which really highlights the text.”

As students call for greater diversity in perspectives in University life, UT is conscious of its responsibility to be a platform for a variety of stories.

Zooming Out With Danny Lyon

BY GRACE HAUCK ARTS EDITOR

Eighteen hundred students crammed into Rockefeller Chapel on the fi rst day of classes last fall when then-Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders took a break from the campaign trail to give a speech at his alma mater. Campus reveled in the candidate’s UChicago past as fans circulated a handful of black-and-white images on Overheard and Twitter: Sanders, book in hand, leading a packed sitin; Sanders seated among fellow activists; Sanders on a podium. The speech, along with the photos, was a hit.

A photo Lyon took in 1962 featuring Bernie Sanders speaking to students at a sit-in protesting housing discrimination.

G oodman maintained that, despite this season’s focus on Shakespeare, these efforts are alive and well. “ The people in UT think theater should be ref lective of the world around them,” he said. “ The spirit is there—but the outreach and growth of the art produced should always be changing and progressing.”

For more information, visit arts. u c h i c a g o . e d u/t h e a t e r - a n d - p e r f o r man c e- stu di e s/performin g-g roups/ university-theater.

But amid the fanfare, few wondered: who was at the other end of that camera lens? This invisible student had attended all the same rallies. He had stood on the same stages. He had known Sanders—they had even shared a roommate.

And his photos? They were just on view at New York’s W hitney Museum of American Art. Photographer, filmmaker, and writer Danny Lyon is, like Sanders, a Jew from New York. He entered the College in 1959 at age 17, just two years before the senator. Lyon was young, eager, and armed with a new camera—an

Exa 35mm SLR he had purchased in Munich that summer while backpacking in Europe. Lyon’s father, a German-born physician-photographer who fled to the States to escape Nazi rule, remembered the local photography shop from his youth and suggested his son check it out.

“I didn’t think of myself as having any talent. I couldn’t paint—or draw. I was no musician. But put a camera in my hand—I was a natural,” Lyon said.

By the time Lyon got to campus, he had only been shooting film for a few months, but he had already developed a knack for the craft. Desperate for access to a darkroom where he could develop his rolls, Lyon quickly joined T HE M AROON as a staff photographer and spent hours in the 100-square-foot darkroom in the basement of Ida Noyes Hall.

“I learned to develop film in that darkroom,” Lyon said.

A prolific writer and diarist, Lyon never wrote for T HE M A ROON. (“Student papers are like self-publishing. No one really cares about it.”) Instead, he stuck to images. Lyon would frequently go to the darkroom to make “murals”—largescale prints on Kodak paper five feet across. To fund his work, Lyon won a scholarship for his photographs, worked on the college yearbook, and moonlighted for the Alumni Magazine. It wasn’t long before Lyon became known on campus as a photographer—and, soon thereafter, the photographer.

Lyon, however, didn’t study art or photography. He majored in history with a minor in philosophy. Over the course of our hour-long conversation, he name-dropped nearly every theorist studied in the first two quarters of Classics (“Actually, Herodotus is much more interesting than Thucydides”), spoke lovingly of Burke’s On Conciliation with the Colonies (“You know, this wasn’t written on a street corner”), and quoted Jefferson, Lincoln, and—why not—Doctor Zhivago.

While Lyon was a decent student, he dedicated much more time to CORE than to the Core. By his third year, the civil rights movement was in full swing, and the student arm of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was mobilizing against segregationist policies in University-owned housing.

See online for the full story and more information on the Whitney’s recent exhibition, Danny Lyon: Message to the Future.

Ear Taxi Celebrates Contemporary Classical Music in Chicago Continued from page 11

ten by Parisa Sabet, will be performed at the La Rabida Children’s Hospital as a part of the festival.

Its casual dress code helps defy the expectation that classical music must be formal and inaccessible to the lay listener. Audience members are further invited to bring their drinks with them into the performance space.

“This music is fun,” Thomas said. “Some pieces are jazzy, some are rock-oriented, some pieces are really dreamy, some are abstract, some are ritualistic and rhythmic, some are pointillistic, they’re so varied and really compelling. In a certain way, the whole thing is a discovery. The audience will never hear just one 50-minute piece.

Rather, they may experience several short-

er pieces, most of which are no more than a year old, and many are being played for the first time.”

The festival, while very much a celebration of this unique art form, is just as much a celebration of the artists and the Chicago community. Ear Taxi will include a number of panel discussions, and artists will be available to speak with the audience during and after performances.

“You can really interact with them,” Thomas said. “Every single artist is from Chicago and lives in Chicago. These people live right next to you and [they’re] changing, transforming, and renewing music,” Thomas said. “I think that for our city to feel that energy and see where music is being taken by all of these different [local] points of view is very enriching.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Siebel Scholars Class of 2017 The Siebel Scholars program was founded in 2000 to recognize the most talented graduate students in business, computer science, bioengineering, and energy science. Each year, over 90 outstanding graduate students are selected as Siebel Scholars based on academic excellence and leadership and join an active, lifelong community among an ever-growing group of leaders. We are pleased to recognize this year’s Siebel Scholars.

BIOENGINEERING JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO JACOBS SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Adriana Blazeski Lindsay Clegg Berk Gonenc Shiva Razavi Quinton Smith

Akshay Chaudhari Gerald Maxwell Cherf Christopher Madl Aaron Mitchell Patrick Ye

Armen Gharibans Gabriela Guzman Jae-Young (Jerry) Jung Jinxing Li Ya-San Yeh

MIT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Brittany Goods Chen Gu Ryan Kelly Kelly Moynihan Novalia Pishesha

Matthew Bakalar Benjamin Epstein Elena Kassianidou Sylvia Natividad-Diaz Kevin Yamauchi

BUSINESS MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

STANFORD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Alex Burns Sebastian Cubela Brendan McCook Sarah Vick Weiyuan (Wendy) Yuwen

Katherine Archibald Carolyn Kooi Federico Mossa Sebastian Serra David Zhang

Sruti Balakrishnan Christopher Cruickshank Max Gelb Jonathan Pack Craig Poeppelman

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Jonathan Goldstein Bo Gustafsson Jackie Laine Iris Tian Austin Vanaria

COMPUTER SCIENCE CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Akash Bharadwaj Kristen Gardner Timothy Lee Anqi Li Jennifer Olsen HARVARD JOHN A. PAULSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & APPLIED SCIENCES

Ofra Amir Gaurav Bharaj Pao Siangliulue Lillian Tsai Ming Yin MIT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Brian Axelrod Karan Kashyap Chengtao Li Ruizhi (Ray) Liao Srinivasan Raghuraman

Kevin Boutarel Ohad Fried Tengyu Ma Rafael Mendes de Oliveira Shuran Song STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Brandon Azad Bradley Girardeau Jonas Kemp Vayu Kishore Samantha Steele

Paul Bramsen Wesley Hsieh UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Chamila Amithirigala Spencer Gordon Wenqi (Maggie) He Dengfeng (Davis) Li Vipul Venkataraman

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Ye Chen Boya Wu Guiyong Wu Ruobing Xie Xiaowei Zhu

ENERGY SCIENCE CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Jingkun Gao ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Paul Narchi MIT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Hung Nguyen POLITECNICO DI TORINO DOCTORAL SCHOOL

Maria Ferrara

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Janam Jhaveri

Hao Jan (Max) Liu

STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EARTH, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Masahiro Sato

Lewis Li TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY LABORATORY OF LOW CARBON ENERGY

Zhaowei Geng UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Caroline Le Floch

www.SiebelScholars.com

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Maroons Ride Ten-Game Winning Streak MEN’S SOCCER

BY RHEA BHOJWANI ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

After a long summer leading up to a highly anticipated season, Chicago kicked off the season with a bang on a sunny Thursday afternoon on Stagg Field. With the season beginning on September 1, the Maroons posted their best season-opening offensive performance in the past 10 years with a 4– 0 win against Dominican University. This was just the beginning of a 10-game winning streak that is still standing untouched.

Following the stellar shutout victory courtesy of thirdyear goalkeeper Hill Bonin, the Chicago men pulled through a penalty-riddled match with a 1–0 triumph in overtime. Thirdyear Andre Abedian proved to be the MVP of this match as he converted on a one-on-one situation, burying the goal effortlessly. Abedian came in clutch once again the following Wednesday when he kicked in another vital goal to secure a win against Knox College following long delays due to harsh weather conditions.

The squad also got a massive scoring punch from its young first-year class in tandem with stellar defensive play during a 3–0 win at North Park University on Friday, September 9. First-year Dayo Adeosun

scored the first two goals of the game with assists from fellow fi rst-year David McBroom.

The nationally fourth-ranked Maroons (5–0 record) fi nished their game on Tuesday, September 13, with their fi fth straight shutout, the longest in UChicago history. They beat Wheaton College with almost perfect defense and an impressive offensive performance.

After falling behind by one goal against Elmhurst, the team came soaring from behind to win 4–1 on September 16. McBroom erased the team’s defi cit and was followed by another fi rst-year goal, this time courtesy of Sam Drablos, who also gained an assist on the third goal of the game as well.

Following Friday’s victory, second-year Max Lopez came to impress as he supplied his team with a hat trick in the second half of the game, which was all that was necessary to pull off University of Chicago Athletics Depaartment the victory against Wartburg.

In one of the numerous wins this season, fourth-year George Voulgaris clears the ball on defense.

The Maroon men finished off the last three games of second-year Matthew Koh. “We field, and stay motivated.” when your time to play comes.

Fourth-year Chris Mathis Off the field, I and the rest of their preseason with a 4–0 win still have many areas that we against North Central Illinois, can improve in, but coming out also pitched in on what he the seniors and upperclassmen a 2–0 victory against Rose-Hul- 10-0 is defi nitely a good feeling thinks is important to maintain make a concerted effort to culman, and a 6 –2 triumph over and a good improvement from as the season blows into full tivate the team’s culture,” he No. 19 Carthage College. They last year.” When talking specif- force. “Maintaining a high level said. ended their streak of pre-class ically about what improvements of intensity in training and in The team heads to Atlanta, games with a stellar 10 – 0 re- needed to be made, Koh said, games is something that I work GA, this weekend to take on “I really just hope I can stay on improving every day. While Emory in its first conference cord.

“The fi rst 10 games preced- healthy and keep helping this it’s difficult at times to stay fo- match of the season. The game ing our conference games have team win. I also want to become cused, it is vitally important to begins at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. been extremely successful,” said a better communicator on the be ready at a moment’s notice

Women’s Soccer off to Historic Start WOMEN’S SOCCER

University of Chicago Athletics Depaartment

Explosive second-year Jenna McKinney leads the squad in goals this year with seven.

BY KATIE ANDERSON SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s soccer squad is off to an incredible start in its 2016 campaign, boasting an undefeated record (9–0) and a No. 3 national ranking.

Chicago’s slew of victories has come over Calvin, Aurora, Kalamazoo, Illinois Wesleyan, Milwau-

kee School of Engineering, North Central, Wheaton, Augustana, and Carthage. Even more impressive, the Maroons started their season with four straight shutouts, their longest streak since 2010, when they had tallied six in a row.

Not only are the South Siders winning, but they are dominating by significant margins. The single game in which they won by

less than a two-point margin was against Kalamazoo, which the Maroons still won 1–0.

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of the squad’s defensive prowess was shown against No. 20 Augustana on September 24. The Maroons dominated every relevant statistic, not only taking 15 shots on goal but also only allowing two on their end. Corner kick attempts

were also lopsided 8–0 in favor of the South Siders.

Their most recent game against Carthage on Wednesday night proved to be one of their most challenging thus far, as the Lady Reds fired 11 shots, eight of which were on goal. This marked the first time all season that UChicago allowed double digit shot attempts. Fortunately, however, the South Siders were able to pull off a 2–0 victory, with goals by second-year defender Sydney Mathis and third-year midfielder Mia Calamari.

Contributing greatly to the team’s early success has been the arrival of 11 talented first-years, many of whom have made an immediate impact on the field. For instance, first-year goalkeeper Katie Donovan, from Connecticut, has already tallied five impressive shutouts, and as a result was named UAA Athlete of the Week in mid-September.

Third-year Caroline Olivero, who recently returned to the field after suffering an ACL tear last year, attributes early success to the team’s ease on the field. “We are playing much more fluid, creative soccer,” she said. “I think that environment is allowing all of the talent that we have to real-

ly shine through. We also have a really deep team this year, which is exciting.”

The start of October also marks the start of conference play for the Maroons, which means more competition and higher intensity matchups with more time spent on the road. This weekend, the South Siders will travel to Atlanta, GA, to face off against Emory. The Eagles now sit at a 5–3 record, but most recently defeated No. 23 Centre College, proving that they are not a team to be taken lightly.

Further, at this time last year, Chicago was also squaring off against the Eagles and managed to escape with a 1–0 win. Emory was ranked 24th in the nation at the time; however, the 2015 Maroons were heading into the game at 7–4, a far cry from their perfect record this year.

On moving into conference play, Olivero said, “We will need to focus on maintaining composure and sticking to our plan in the face of better and better teams. We’ll have to be very disciplined in that regard.”

If the first month of the season is any indication for the rest of the season, the Maroons have the ability to do just that.

15

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Men’s, Women’s Tennis Serve Up Strong Start MEN’S & WOMEN’S TENNIS

BY MICHAEL PERRY SPORTS STAFF

This past weekend, UChicago dominated the men’s portion of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Championships for the third straight year, bringing both the singles and doubles titles back to Hyde Park. Third-year David Liu won in singles while fourth-year Max Hawkins teamed up with fi rst-year Tyler Raclin in their first official matches together to win the doubles side. All three athletes were named UAA Athletes of the Week.

In a field of 128 players, Liu was the eighth seed and had to take down some of his own teammates on the way to the title. In the title match, Liu played fellow Maroon third-year Peter Leung.

Liu said this is not the fi rst time something like this has happened. “The fi nal last year

was also an all-UChicago match, “I still can’t believe we won the despite the fact that we hadn’t Liu. “We have one goal this year, and there were plenty on the way tournament. I didn’t think I was played much over the past ten which is to win the University’s to the final this year. The way I even going to play in it a few days,” she said. fi rst-ever NCAA title, and after Hopefully that trend con- our last two Final Four finishes, see it is that while it isn’t ideal weeks before, so it really hasn’t that we have to compete against sunk in. I have to give a lot of tinues to Kalamazoo, MI, this I know it’s possible.” each other, it’s certainly better credit to [coaches] Jay and Kris, weekend as the Maroons look to “We know what we need to than losing to other schools,” and my teammates for putting complete the sweep of the ITA improve, and we look forward to he said. “Peter played great Tyler and I in a position to do Central Region Championships. getting everyone’s best shot since “We’ve learned not to ‘expect’ to we’ll be one of the favorites going throughout the tournament and well.”

The women’s side hopes to win anything, but we feel confi- into this year,” added Hawkins. it was a hard-fought fi nal, and I just happened to come out on follow the men’s lead in its ITA dent that we can do really well “We have a big team, but everytop on that given day. Maybe if Central Region Championships at ITAs. The boys just had all one who’s on the team wants to we played it a day later, or if the this upcoming weekend. In their UChicago singles and doubles fi- be here and is willing to push weather was a little different, the only outing of the season so far, nals at ITAs, so we are definitely each other and sacrifice for each result could have been different.” the Maroon women dominated going to try to match them,” add- other which wasn’t true my first ed Bynoe.

For the fourth-year Hawkins, Carthage in a 9–0 sweep. year.”

Second-year Kaela Bynoe teaming up with a first-year was “We had a pretty successful Both the women and men a pleasant surprise as the duo pointed out that it was not just believe their respective early season last year; we made it to went from unseeded to doubles the score of the matches against season success bodes well for the quarterfi nals of NCAA. So champions. “Playing with Tyler Carthage, but the team’s ap- the season to come, but the two our goal this year is to top that,” was awesome. He doesn’t real- proach that stuck out. “I think sides emphasize the amount of said Bynoe. “We’ve got four very ly seem like a freshman. He’s the team is feeling really good work they have left to do. good new players on the team, so a great doubles player who was about the win over Carthage.

“With our team this year, I I think it’s very possible.” really easy to play with because Not only did we dominate with think we have the firepower The women will be back in of his personality, intellect, and the score, we had a really great to compete with anyone on all action again this weekend. ability,” he said. Commenting attitude and great energy that fronts and we will be a strong on his surprise, Hawkins said, I think helped us play better force to be reckoned with,” stated

Chicago on Pace for Success at UAAs MEN’S & WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

BY FRANCES MCDONALD SPORTS STAFF

Both ends of the cross-country team have put on a tremendous show throughout the start of their season, giving them great momentum with only a few meets left until conference action kicks off. The women’s team has finished first in all three of its meets thus far at the St. Francis Invitational (5K), Aurora Invitational (6K), and Augustana Invitational (6K). In the first meet of the year, third-year Cassidy McPherson earned her first career win with the top finishing time of 18:24.2.

At the Aurora Invitational, third-year Kelsey Dunn was the top runner for Chicago, taking third place at the invitational with a time of 23:03.62. Three other Maroons placed in the top ten, including fourth-year Madeleine Horvath (5th, 23:11.47), third-year Claire Costelloe (6th, 23:16.16), and third-year Cassidy McPherson (8th, 23:19.09). The Augustana Invitational was an impressive showing as the Maroons placed seven racers in the top 26 and finished with 39 total team points. In her first race of the season following a nagging injury, third-year Khia Kurtenbach won the women’s 6K with a time of 22:27.4, earning herself UAA Athlete of the Week honors.

When asked about the season so far, McPherson stated, “I think in general we are pretty optimistic about where our season is headed. We raced very well in general during preseason as a team, and are hoping to keep the momentum going into our more competitive meets. We are getting healthier and have been having really solid workouts the past few weeks, so we

are looking forward to putting it all together in the bigger meets like Oshkosh and conference a month down the road. One of our biggest challenges will be continuing to stay healthy, as we don’t have a very big team, so it will be important to have everyone able to contribute and performing our best when it really counts. We are trying not to look too far ahead, and want to stay focused day to day on what we can be doing to get better as a team and continue to improve throughout the season.”

McPherson seems hopeful but wants to stay focused as the Maroons move out of preseason and into more intensive and challenging competitions. McPherson herself has been awarded UAA Athlete of the Week following her performance in the first meet of the season.

Looking at the men’s team, the Maroons placed first at the St. Francis Invitational and the Aurora Invitational while placing third at the Augustana Invitational. Chicago’s top runner for the first meet of the season was fourth-year Timofey Karginov, who posted his highest-ever finish in his collegiate cross-country career.

Karginov had a repeat performance in the next meet, this time finishing in first place for the fi rst time in his time at UChicago. The third meet, once again, featured Karginov as the top runner for the Maroon men. Rightfully so, Karginov has garnered three UAA Athlete of the Week honors since the beginning of the season.

Coming up next, the Maroons will head to Bourbonnais, IL, to compete in the Illinois Intercollegiates meet this Friday, September 30.

The Lumen Christi Institute presents Two lectures by

Francis Oakley Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of the History of Ideas Emeritus at Williams College

Kingship: The Politics of Enchantment Thursday, October 6, 4:30PM Classics 110 | 1115 E. 59th St.

The Conciliar Heritage: The Politics of Oblivion Friday, October 7, 3:30PM Swift Common Room | 1025 E. 58th St.

These events are cosponsored by the Department of History and the Medieval Studies Workshop. For more information visit: WWW.LUMENCHRISTI.ORG

16

THE CHICAGO MAROON - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

SPORTS IN-QUOTES... “Happiness comes with such a warm feeling while sadness has no temperature.

Think about that.” —Former MLB All-Star Jose Canseco on Twitter

Maroons Look to Rebound Following Rocky Debut FOOTBALL

BY OLA OBI SPORTS STAFF

L ast season marked the first year the Maroons moved out of the UA A conference and into the Southern Athletic Association (SA A). T he South Siders are looking to improve on their previous 2015 season record of 6 –4, and their previous standing as fourth in the SA A. This year, the Maroons welcomed back 71 returning players to the field: 17 fourthyears, 28 third-years, and 26 second-years. New to Stagg Field, 27 first-years joined the squad and quickly got into the swing of things. With a full roster of 98 players, Chicago is looking to boost past standings and get things done this season.

Preseason started for Chicago mid-August, as the Maroons arrived on campus a month prior to the arrival of their fellow students. For the next month and a half, the team was given the unique opportunity to keep its focus solely on the field, whereas its competitors had already started the academic year and would have to split their focuses between athletics and academics.

After preseason camp and

weeks of training, September 3 came and Chicago set off for Cleveland, Ohio for its first game. Playing out of conference against previous UAA competitor, Case Western Reserve, the Maroons went in for the win, hopeful due to their narrow victory against Case in the 2015 season (31–30). Unfortunately, after a rocky start in the first quarter, the Chicago Maroons fell short in a 45–17 loss.

Starting the season 0 –1 fueled the Maroons’ hunger as they went on the hunt for a conquest; and with two weeks until their next competition, the South Siders trained hard.

When September 17 arrived, Chicago proved that it was ready for its competitor: SA A rivals, the Millsaps Majors of Jackson, Mississippi. A fierce match resulted in a victory for the Maroons, and although the Majors tried to keep pace, it was Chicago’s game from the start. Setting the tempo from the beginning, Chicago outscored the Majors 14– 0 in the first quarter. Trying to regain ground, the Majors managed to match the Maroons with seven each in the second quarter. The third quarter proved less effective for Chicago, as the Majors outscored them thanks to two

University of Chicago Athletics Depaartment

Wide-reciever Chris Mason makes a move against a defender this season.

interceptions and an incompletion in the end zone. Fortunately for the Maroons, the Majors’ efforts were in vain. The Maroons came out victorious, 35–16 over the Majors.

Now with a record of 1–1 overall and 1–0 in their conference, the Maroons looked forward to their next SA A game, when they would travel just below the Mason-Dixon line to

meet their opponents of Centre College in Kentucky. The Maroons fell 49–27 in a tough battle. Second-year safety Jeremy Vincent said in reference to this loss that the team “started slow and didn’t come out as fast as they wanted, and by the time things had started picking back up it was a little bit too late.”

In preparation for Saturday’s game, Vincent said, “As

a team, as far as defense goes, we’ve focused on stopping the run and also being sound in the secondary.” Although anxious, Vincent is “ready and looking forward to playing at home again, and being able to bounce back from last week’s game.”

Chicago’s first home game since the academic quarter started kicks-off at noon on Saturday at Stagg Field.

Team Chemistry Spurs Comeback on the Court WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

University of Chicago Athletics Depaartment

Second-year Jessica Wang completes a dig earlier this season.

BY BRITTA NORDSTROM SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

While many UChicago students were still slaving away at their internships and summer jobs, the Maroons were slaving away on the court, playing 12 of their 26 regular season matches before classes started on Monday.

Although the season started out a bit rocky, as Chicago lost three of its first four matches, the squad was able to bounce back, taking seven of their last eight, with the one loss coming in a

nail-biter against No. 17 Illinois Wesleyan.

First-year Bella Pinton attributes the change to the fact that the team needed to get used to playing games together. “Once we gained experience in a real game setting, everyone started to feel more confident and comfortable, and we began to play at our level of volleyball,” she said. Pinton has certainly contributed to this success, as the outside hitter has posted double digit kills in five of the last six matches and made the Cornell Classic All-Tournament

Team this past weekend.

Fourth-year Katie LaPorte echoed Pinton’s excitement at the squad’s success, but brought a different perspective on the turning point in the season. “We honestly just look a lot different than we did last year; a lot of fresh faces and people playing new roles out on the court,” she said. “One could say we needed to warm up a little bit and get used to playing next to new people.”

Another notable hitter for the Maroons is second-year Audrey Scrafford, who has posted solid

numbers throughout the season and earned Carthage Invite All-Tournament Team Honors. As the Maroons move into UAA play, Scrafford will look to replicate her second-team All-UAA and UAA Rookie of the Year finishes from last year.

Looking forward to the UAA play, Scrafford said, “I think everyone’s been clicking together well lately and that there’s a lot more confidence in our play.

We’ll be sure to be rested up for Brandeis, which shouldn’t be too hard since it’s still the first week of school.”

The Maroons will certainly need things to click this weekend at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA with their fi rst UAA Round Robin. They start out against Brandeis on Saturday, but then face two ranked opponents in No. 16 Carnegie and No. 15 Wash U. Although the team has lost both matches they have played against ranked opponents this year, their upward trend may be a sign of great things to come.

Pinton certainly seems to think so. “I feel very confident heading into the weekend, especially after coming from a strong performance at the Cornell Col-

lege Classic,” she said. LaPorte echoed her sentiments, saying, “I think our team energy and talent is there and will continue to help us against our competitive conference opponents.” However, both women emphasized that effort in practice and the strategies that they form later in the week will be key to success this weekend.

However, while the squad is focused on winning matches, they are also invested in the development of the team for years to come. Fourth-year Mary Claire Tuohy said on her approach to the game in her final year, “I’m trying to be the best teammate and player I can be.” Tuohy, who leads the team in digs at the all-important libero position, certainly seems to be doing just that. LaPorte agreed. “I try to look at it from my viewpoint as a first-year looking up to those fourth-years and how much they set the groundwork for my experience here,” she said.

Chicago will begin its UAA campaign on Saturday at noon as they face Brandeis. Also on Saturday, they will take on No. 16 Carnegie Mellon at 2 p.m., followed by a rivalry match-up against No. 15 Wash U at noon on Sunday.