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OCTOBER 24, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

VOL. 129, ISSUE 9

Coates Headlines Humanities Fest

BY MAY HUANG AND BROOKE NAGLER ARTS EDITORS

The line outside Rockefeller Chapel stretched around the corner of East 59th Street and all the way up South Woodlawn Avenue last Thursday night, as over 1,500 people waited to hear a live

recording of Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast with author and educator Ta-Nehisi Coates.

A staple in the radio and podcast world, On Being features thought-provoking interviews with individuals from a range of professions: doctors to activists, artists to historians. Since 2001, Continued on page 5

“I don’t know how you measure that against the very human practice of repeating brutality over and over again.”

Ta -Nehisi Coates speaks with public radio host Krista Tippett in Rockefeller Chapel.

“Insufficient Evidence,” Quick Conclusion for Title IX Case

BY PETE GRIEVE

DURATION OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TITLE IX CASES A case opened last month was closed last week after 42 days

Of two cases opened in February 2016, one was closed after 547 days...

A case opened in June 2013 is still open after 1,578 days.

TODAY

... and another is still open.

JUNE 28, 2013 Adam Thorp

NEWS EDITOR

The Department of Education (ED) resolved a Title IX investigation into the University of Chicago this month just 42 days after the investigation was opened The Title IX complaint that prompted the investigation alleged three violations. The ED dismissed two of the allegations, determining that only the third was timely and under its jurisdiction. The ED ultimately closed the investigation citing “insufficient evidence.”

The attorney who filed the April 18 complaint on behalf of a female student, Legal Director of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CA A SE ) Ch r istine Evans, said in an interview that this was “not entirely surprising,” as the ED loosened its enforcement of Title IX under EducaContinued on page 2

Board of Distrustees Page 2 Our columnist gets lost in a blizzard of administrative titles.

Homecoming Wallop Page 8 A resounding victory against Beloit greeted Hyde Park Blues Fest alumni returning to campus Page 7

Brooke Nagler

SG Talks DACA, New Election Rules

BY TONY BROOKS AND BRAD SUBRAMANIAM NEWS REPORTER

The Student Government (SG) Assembly met Monday in the Charles M. Harper Center, where they discussed steps that the University has taken in response to the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and other topics related to student life.

T he meeting included a brief discussion with Michael Hayes, the assistant vice president for student life.

He spoke about steps that the University has taken to aid students affected by DACA. The school will sponsor several events throughout the school year for students affected, including a “Know Your Rights” workshop at the Center for Identity and Inclusion on November 6.

“I chair a group right now that’s been working on responses to DACA ,” he said.

“We have been meeting weekly

Paula Martinez

Assistant Vice President for Student Life Michael Hayes. since about the middle of last year.”

The University held a workshop in September to offer legal screenings and aid DACA renewal for students. “There’s this really robust website, undocumented.uchicago.edu,” he said. “ There’s a fairly robust FAQ about DACA on that website.” The website clarifies that the University police will not

be engaging in immigration enforcement work, as it is not part of their mission.

He also spoke about how the University is planning to enhance student life, including the possibility of consolidating the administrations of the Reynolds Club and Ida Noyes Hall to make them more like student centers at other Continued on page 2

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - OCTOBER 24, 2017

Two Title IX Cases at the University of Chicago are Still Open Continued from front

tion Secretary Betsy DeVos in interim guidance issued on September 22.

“The new guidance that was issued and the rollback of the guidance from the Obama administration shows that the Department of Education is going to be taking a very reduced role in addressing violations of sexual assault,” Evans said Friday, before receiving notice of the investigation’s closure.

“There seems to be renewed interest at the Department of Education to protect perpetrators of sexual assault.”

The complaint alleged discrimination on the basis of sex and retaliation after the complainant made a report to the University that appears to have alleged some form of misconduct by another student.

The case was opened on September 1 and the ED had yet to respond to a September 14 request for case documents when the case was closed on October 13. T HE M A ROON received redacted documents on October 18.

Evans confirmed Monday that she received notice from the ED that it closed the investigation finding no violation.

“It’s very disappointing, but what I can say is there are still open investigations into the University of Chicago.

We here at CA ASE currently represent

three other complainants in the two investigations still open with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR),” she said in an e-mail.

The investigations that appear to remain active were opened on June 28, 2013 and February 3, 2016. The ED closed in August an additional investigation that was opened in February 2016.

The University was notified of the most recent investigation in a September 1 letter to Senior Associate General Counsel Theodore Stamatakos. The letter read, “Specifically, the Complainant alleges the University discriminated on the basis of sex from [redacted] when it failed to provide a student (Student A) with a prompt response to her report of [redacted] (Student B).”

The letter requested a significant amount of information from the University within 20 calendar days, though the 12-item list of requested information was redacted in the document the ED sent T HE M A ROON. The ED informed Evans in a letter that day that the ED was opening an investigation into one of the three allegations that she reported on behalf of her client. The three reported violations were: 1.

“The University subjected her to a hostile environment on the basis

of sex from [redacted] and another student [redacted] following her report of [redacted]” 2. “ The University and another student retaliated in respect to [redacted]” 3.

“The University discriminated on the basis of sex from [redacted] when it failed to provide her with a prompt response to her report of [redacted].”

The ED dismissed the first report, saying it was not filed promptly, and it dismissed the second report “for failing to state a violation of one of the laws OCR enforces.” The ED opened an investigation into the third reported violation, finding it timely and under its jurisdiction, though ED spokesperson Jim Bradshaw confirmed in an e-mail Monday that the investigation was closed on October 13 due to “insufficient evidence.”

“It is not a surprising result, as the complaint fell under guidance that has unfortunately been rescinded,” Evans said. “It is still a disappointing result, however, for our client and other survivors seeking a fair response to their complaints at the University of Chicago.”

The University has touted recent improvements to its policies and practices related to Title IX. Evans said that based on her experience representing

University of Chicago students, there are lingering issues with UChicago’s handling of sexual misconduct cases.

University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus provided a general statement to T HE M A ROON Monday, stating that the University “cannot comment on any open investigations” and listing a number of actions it has taken it recent years. With the resolution of the OCR complaint, there is no open investigation in relation to the Title IX complaint.

“The University recently received a notice on October 13 that the OCR dismissed the complaint with a finding of no violation,” she wrote. “In addition, the OCR concluded that the University’s response to the Title IX complaint was reasonably prompt and consistent with the requirements of Title IX.” “As provided to T H E M A R O ON before, the University is committed to addressing and preventing unlawful harassment, discrimination, and sexual misconduct and continues to make substantial steps to enhance efforts to prevent such incidents and to respond in a prompt, equitable and thorough manner whenever they occur.”

A longer version of this article, including a full list of the steps cited by the administration.

Assistant Vice President for Student Life Michael Hayes Spoke on Behalf of the Administration Continued from front

schools. As of now, those spaces function independently despite their similar aims.

“Both of those spaces are very student-facing. Most of our RSOs’ big student events happen in those spaces,” he said. “We’re trying to create a way to see those more closely aligned as what

you would classify as campus life centers.”

In addition to discussions about student life, the Assembly voted in favor of several proposed changes to their nomination and election process, including amendments to policy regarding printing access. They also added that SG officials can be impeached for leaking

ballot results, in part as a response to a recent incident at Northwestern University where their student government officials leaked election ballots.

The Assembly voted in favor of all Student Government Cabinet nominees and the nominees for the Student Government Finance Committee, which distributes funding from the Student

Activities Fee to various RSOs. The meeting ended with a discussion on the intended use of the Slate’s discretionary fund, which will mostly be focused on subsidizing the steps that the University and Student Government will be taking with regards to mental health, diversity, and inclusion.

VIEWPOINTS Board of Distrustees The University’s Administrative Functions Are Obscured by a Veil of Ambiguity

Soulet Ali

The University has been at the forefront of controversy in the past, sparking widespread debate on issues such as unionization, Title IX, free speech, and the Kalven Report. More specifically, the unstable nature of the University’s rela-

VIDEO

Grace Hauck, editor

tionship with its own community stems largely from the ambiguity and lack of communication between the University’s leadership and other members of its community. And to put it frankly, the dilemma at the center of this boils down to one

main question: What does the administration of our university actually do?

If one looked up the online UChicago directory for deans and other administration members, one would fi nd a list of their roles and responsibilities in the

University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra with the Hyde Park School of Dance

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - OCTOBER 24, 2017

What does the administration of our university actually do?

Continued from page 2

form of general summaries. For example, one such vague summary would be: “ They represent their faculties to the president, provost, and other governing bodies and work with their faculty members to develop, propose, and implement program and policy initiatives.” While it is true that directories do not necessarily have to report every project that members of the administration are working on, one could also point out that the University has offered very limited access to information regarding the details and duties of admin members. Any information offered to the campus community on matters pertaining to the functioning of the administration usually consists of empty “fluff ” titles, such as Chair and Board of Trustees, which say little of what people in these positions are actually responsible for doing.

From what I have experienced during my four quarters on this campus, students on this campus generally have, at best, a vague understanding of the University’s administrative responsibilities and roles. Often times, the University will attempt to defl ect the concerns of community members by enforcing a whimsical image of admin members, as exemplified by the deeply ingrained culture of Dean John Boyer memes on campus. Even though these memes are seen as humorous, comedy can sometimes be a lethal political tool used by higher-ups for deflection. The administration often uses comical tactics to distract other members of the University community when it comes down to important student issues, and we as students are quick to fall prey to such tactics without thinking critically about their deployment.

To investigate the ambiguous nature of administrative roles, I sat down with Dean John Ellison two weeks ago.

We discussed the nature of his position along with his daily schedule. “My role as the dean of students here is different from many institutions. I manage several offi ces; the College Programming Office, the College Advisers, the Center for College Student Success, and the College Center for Scholarly Advancement,” he explained.

Dean Ellison then went on to discuss the specifics of his schedule: “Everyday I work with my senior team, which is the directors of CPC, CPO, CCSS, CCSA, and the advising office, and my deputy dean; we meet every morning for about 15 minutes to talk about what the day looks like and the projects we have. I do interact with the advisors weekly…. My executive team, every day...we talk about policy issues.” Ellison confi rmed that his role as a dean mainly consists of managerial functioning.

Upon asking Dean Ellison about his involvement with the Odyssey Scholarship and fundraising for the Center for College Student Success, however, I was met with an opaque response: “We have people who support us, and sometimes

it’s just helpful to meet with me or Dean Boyer….And a lot of our support that comes from parents and alumni, and then of course just people who like what UChicago is doing…. [Odyssey is] one of those really great things that we do to support students that are qualified to be here, that need some kind of assistance.”

I then pressed him on the issue of fundraising for fi nancial assistance and asked about the “people” who supported the University’s mission and whether or not they were representatives of big corporations. “Well, it can be, but it’s generally not. It’s usually individuals…. And sometimes it’s specific for some things, like the Maroon Mentorship program,” he replied.

Our interview was fi nished after a 20

minute discussion of more generalities and opaqueness on his part. I left feeling as though I had been served a rehash of the directory for deans.

The demand for increasing transparency must be met by the University administration. The root of many campus confl icts stems from the general UChicago body feeling alienated from the distant University administration. The path to negotiation and clearer communication simply cannot be reached if the administration will continue to maintain its aura of ambiguity.

Soulet Ali is a second-year in the College.

Sofia Garcia

Separation of School and State UChicago Is Often Hypocritical in its Attempts to Foster Free Speech and Discussion

Aaron Katsimpalis A Maroon article published October 19 reported on the “Conference on Freedom of Expression” recently hosted by the University of Chicago. “Those principles apply irrespective of the ideological perspective of the speakers” stated Daniel Diermeier, provost of the University and former dean of the Harris School of Public Policy. He stated that all in attendance were in “strong agreement” with the importance of upholding the ideals of free speech. This statement is consistent with recent propaganda from the University, cementing its position as a leader among elite colleges regarding issues of freedom of expression. Nearly everyone with any kind of connection to the University, whether that be student, parent, or professor, is aware of the school’s supposedly endless commitment to free speech, to the arousal of rich, conser-

vative and corporate donors everywhere. But is this stance actual practice or just preach?

My own experience calls this into question.

This issue first became apparent to me during an O-Week Campus Life Meeting on sexual assault, at which, ironically, Provost Diermeier was speaking. There, standing before the entire bright-eyed first-year class, the provost cracked a joke about the Trump administration—the terrible, chaotic, completely childish and incompetent presidency; the “Republican” administration which controls the Senate and the House but has yet to pass any comprehensive party platform; the White House defined more by Twitter than legislation. The crowd loved it. Devoured it.

One could almost see a collective validation in those joyous faces, many of whom had come from areas where they had to deal with people who actually supported Trump.

“Ah,” those faces said, “a place where I belong, where I will never have to deal with grandparents who watch Fox News or worry about being called a ‘libtard’ by Jimmy during an election ever again!” Or perhaps people who did not come from places with Trump vot-

ers thought to themselves: “Those degenerates! How could they vote for change when they lost all of their well-paid jobs to robots and Mexico? Maybe all the rust from those abandoned manufacturing plants is getting to their head.” There was a real sense of complacency in the air: Nothing needs to be argued because of course we are right. It comes from statements like Provost Diermeier’s, which had essentially denied the validity of an entire conservative political stance. In fact, the vast majority of students probably agreed with, laughed at, and even supported Provost Diermeier’s joke, but somewhere in the crowd—somebody who at the very least is conservative, at the very most voted for Trump—likely would have felt uncomfortable expressing their beliefs.

This kind of sweeping assumption leads to “closet conservatives” who proceed with unchallenged ideas that may be fundamentally wrong but later gain a platform with the general public (i.e. Richard Spencer, M.A. ’03), or the infamous “silent majority” in the 2016 election, who were too afraid to explicitly express their Trump support until the day

of the election. Not to mention this de facto gag order encourages an elitist and distant culture enveloping liberals, who then ask how something such as the 2016 election came to pass. Is this passive, seemingly innocent form of silencing different opinions really what the University is aiming for?

If there were a debate, I would definitely not be on the side of Trump and company, but I do believe that there should be a debate. I believe this for many of the same reasons the University cites in its free speech pamphlets, and comments like Provost Diermeier’s suppress, rather than stimulate, open discussion.

Considering the University “has always been committed to creating an environment of open discussion and debate,” administrators should take more caution if “intellectual diversity” is to be truly valued in the campus community.

Aaron Katsimpalis is a first-year in the College.

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ARTS Catching Up With Ta-Nehisi Coates Continued from front

Tippett has prompted conversations that illuminate the vastness of human experience, earning her recognition with the National Humanities Medal, awarded by former president Barack Obama in 2014.

As a national correspondent for The Atlantic and an author of three books and a comic series, Coates has written a great deal about cultural and political issues, focusing largely on their relations to race. In 2015 he won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for Between the World and Me and received a “genius grant” from the Macarthur Foundation. Coates has just released a new book this month, titled We Were Eight Years in Power, and began working with Marvel to write a Black Panther comic series.

A n i nt ensely i l lum i nati ng a nd provocative interview, last Thursday’s event highlighted Coates’s views on the current state of the nation and shed light on the influences and experiences that brought him to those conclusions.

Tippett traditionally begins her conversations by asking her interviewees about their spiritual background, a subject that segued into a discussion of how Coates challenges the “myth of providential progress”—the idea that history naturally bends towards justice through divine intervention.

“I don’t know how you measure that against the very human practice of repeating brutality over and over again,” remarked Coates, who believes that the notion of linking historical “progress” to providence is always wrong. To him, thinking of cruelty as a “long-term historical process” does injustice to the individuals whose “history ended the minute they were snuffed out.”

“Providential understanding makes them bricks in a road in order to give it a happy ending, to say it was all worth it,” Coates said. Later, he wondered aloud why the compassion that people are demonstrating now was absent before. Without asking this question of ourselves, he said, the brutality of his-

beautiful and brilliant. tory repeats itself.

“I felt like I could fight anybody,” he Such thoughts are decisively pessimistic, but Coates made it clear that said, reflecting on the newfound sense his aim is not to locate hope, although— of self he found after graduation. “I felt as Tippet remarked—white people of- so armed and confident.”

Alongside his college years, Coates ten seem to ask that of him. Trained as a journalist, Coates explained that also found empowerment in Malcolm X. “ I listened to his lectures, and I “there’s not a criteria” for hope in journalism, a profession that asks writers just felt free,” he explained. Malcolm X to “write” the wrong in the world. (As showed Coates that he did not have to a history major, he also quipped that change the way he moved through the those who want to be depressed should world to accommodate other people. He “go to the University of Chicago’s history could own his writing style—to “write as you hear it.” department.”)

“If you’re black in this world…noAlthough Coates could not speak to his own hope, he nonetheless described body slows down for you,” said Coates. experiences that imbued him with an When his journalist colleagues made unbreakable confidence. He discussed jokes about indie bands he did not know, his time at Howard University, a his- Coates told himself that he needed to torically black college, where he met— “catch up.” And now he gives the same after growing up in a culture where advice to his readers.

“If they have the right to talk and “black people are not depicted as beautiful”—black students who were both write like that, I have the right to write

about Wu-Tang like that,” he said. “I can say catch up! That is a kind of freedom.”

But the extent to which people—especially white people—are “catching up” was also a subject of discourse.

During the conversation, Tippet gestured to the irony of how she, as someone who “carries the heritage of cruelty in her white body,” is in dialogue with Coates about that very heritage. “I’m a white person,” she asked. “What do you want me to do?” “ You and I are in the cage,” he responded. The structures of oppression in America took so long to build; no one trapped within them can immediately escape.

A lthough Coates initially spoke about the universality of the power dynamics he writes about, in response to Tippett’s question about why white peoContinued on page 6

Brooke Nagler

Krista Tippett, host of podcast On Being, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, an author and columnist at The Atlantic discuss race and Coates’s experience reading Malcolm X.

On the Road Makes a Pit Stop at the American Writers Museum

BY JONATHAN MANDEL MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Chicago’s newest museum is currently showcasing one of the U.S.’s most enduring texts: the 120-foot original scroll of Jack Kerouac’s Beat doctrine, On the Road, now on display with an accompanying exhibit at the American Writers Museum.

The museum opened on Michigan Avenue in the Loop this past May. It is the culmination of eight years of tireless work by its founder Malcolm O’Hagan, who was inspired by the Writers Museum in Dublin, which highlights the Irish literary tradition.

Since its opening, the A merican Writers Museum has featured the temporary exhibit, The Beat Journey: Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road”. The scroll is on loan from Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, who purchased it at an auction in 2001. In addition to compiling photographs, maps, and other information to illuminate Kerouac’s travels, the museum has also created the first-ever digitized version of the

scroll, which will remain there permanently. The Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture, based at the University of Chicago, organized a tour of the exhibit this past Friday.

On the Road is one of the seminal literary works of the Beat Generation, whose prominent members included Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady. The Beats were known for their defiance of sexual norms, interest in Eastern spirituality, and general lack of conformity to post-war American culture. In many ways, the Beat Generation prefigured the countercultural revolution of the 1960s, which some of them went on to pioneer.

Although it went through several rounds of revisions before its publication in 1957, On the Road was originally written by Kerouac in a short burst of inspiration in April 1951. For three weeks, Kerouac sat in his Manhattan apartment, typing at a rate of 100 words per minute, producing sheet after sheet of margin-less tracing paper covered in dense blocks of black text. He taped these together as he went, creat-

ing the original 120-foot scroll of On the Road.

On the Road is a predominantly autobiographical account of Kerouac’s travels across the U.S. and Mexico between 1947 and 1950. These adventures were shaped primarily by his friend Neal Cassady. Kerouac—or rather, “Sal Paradise,” as he names his character in On the Road—is attracted to the excitement and spontaneity with which Cassady—renamed “Dean Moriarty”— approaches life. Together, they search for the sublime in the everyday: dancing the night away at jazz clubs, hastily planning romantic trysts, and connecting with friends old and new. Even Kerouac’s most mundane experiences, like sleeping at bus stations and ordering apple pie for breakfast at small town diners, acquire a magical aura as they fit together to form the narrative of his grand journey.

The original scroll of On the Road is the perfect ref lection of this magic. Though composed of nothing more than tracing paper, ink, and tape, its physical form as a scroll connotes eso-

teric myth. As the paper has yellowed, ripped, and become famous over time, the scroll’s enchanting ambience has only intensified. The fact that Kerouac typed On the Road in such a short time seems to suit the spontaneity and passion that makes the narrative so enthralling. Writing itself assumes a sort of duality in On the Road. On one hand, writing is the subject of reverence that unites Kerouac and his friends. On the other, there are multiple instances in On the Road in which Sal Paradise reports in a single sentence that he has written a book as a means of supporting himself. A similar duality exists when one imagines Kerouac chugging away at his typewriter on West 20th Street, becoming a machine as he pumps out the first draft of On the Road, while at the same time channeling a sort of divine energy into the scroll that would inf luence generations of artists, writers, and readers.

The scroll and its accompanying exhibit will remain at the American Writers Museum until November 4.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - OCTOBER 24, 2017

Blues and Jazz Bring Suits With Pizazz

BY DAVID NORTH & YAO XEN TAN MAROON CONTRIBUTORS

“I think if it wasn’t for the blues, there wouldn’t be no jazz.” –T-Bone Walker Blues found its home in Chicago during the “Great Migration” of the 20th century, as African Americans left the rural South for the urban North. The South Side soon became a hub for the Chicago blues, hosting greats such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Willie Dixon in blues clubs there.

Last weekend, the Logan Center Bluesfest celebrated this rich cultural legacy. This three-day festival featured concerts, workshops, films, food, and conversation with local and national musicians.

“I’ve been careful not to say we’re ‘ bring ing blues back to the South Side,’” said Leigh Fagin, associate director of UChicago Arts. Instead, she hopes to “keep the conversation about the blues alive on the South Side.”

The festival told the stories of artists, featured musicians who reflect the diverse history of the blues tradition, and hoped to inspire the next generation of blues musicians and aficionados.

Bluesfest kicked off on Friday night with a pre-show conversation with Dick Shurman, a record producer and a 2014 inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame, and Elvin Bishop, a blues and rock musician and a 2016 inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Known today for featuring “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” on Guardians of the Galaxy’s Awesome Mix Vol.1, Bishop was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, a group he formed with his friend Mark Naftalin while they were studying at UChicago together. Bishop and Naftalin performed weekly at “twist parties” in Ida Noyes Hall. Bishop matriculated as a physics major, although he later admitted that education was really a guise to explore the blues. The Butterfield band would go on to record some of the most celebrated blues albums of the century and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

“I was from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I

wanted to go somewhere where things were a little bit cooler,” Bishop said in a statement to UChicago News. “UChicago was an island in the middle of the South Side, and the South Side was really cool in those days. Within a week, I was at Pepper’s Lounge checking out Muddy Waters. It was pretty amazing.”

The opening performance at Bluesfest kicked off with a loud, electrifying performance by Wee Willie Walker and Terrie Odabi with The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. In true blues spirit, Wee Willie Walker was unapologetically soulful, performing in perfect sync with the Soul Orchestra’s exhilarating beats and riffs, in color-coordinated red suits. Wee Willie Walker and the powerful Terrie Odabi alternated on vocals and sometimes performed duets. Likewise, their pieces similarly alternated from slow Ray Charles throwbacks to funky social statements such as “Gentrification Blues.”

Next was Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio, a band consisting of Bishop and his friends Willy Jordan and Bobby Welsh.

The trio occupied the stage with such a calm,yet seasoned presence—cracking jokes with the audience and tugging their heartstrings (and funnybones) with lyrics like, “Don’t send me no email, send me a female....” At times, Bishop looked like he was battling his guitar, pulling faces mid-guitar riff. He dedicated his performance to Chicago blues, playing tunes that made members of the audience stand from their seats and the production crew dance. The night concluded with Bishop inviting Wee Willie Walker and Terrie Odabi with The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra back onstage for a joint Sam Cooke cover that garnered a standing ovation.

Saturday night’s headlining set “Bringing the Blues Back to the South Side” was playful and optimistic, but also deeply serious and reflective. The set’s star-studded cast included Billy Branch and his band, Sons of Blues, with features from Eddy Clearwater, Corky Siegel, Lil’ Ed, Melody Angel, and Jimmy Johnson. The set opened with a performance from Melody Angel who somehow managed to sing, play guitar, and operate two pedals (one for hitting a tambou-

Yao Xen Tan

Bishop and Lil’ Ed deliver electrifying performances, engaging with the audience and cracking jokes on stage. rine, the other for hitting an instrument case) at the same time. The combination of her powerful voice and moving lyrics made for an excellent introduction. It was a clean, easy-to-understand primer for the blues adventure we were about to go on.

Next, Billy Branch and Sons of Blues took the stage. The ensemble featured two guitarists (including Branch), a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist.

After introductions and a few thank yous, their set began. In addition to being a talented guitarist and vocalist, Branch was an incredible band leader.

His communication on stage during the performance was especially missed when Corky Siegel took over. It was clear that the band was familiar with each other, and the success of their set was in no small part due to Branch’s leadership.

The fi rst featured artist was Lil’ Ed, whose on-stage character was phenomenal. Between his over-the-top facial expressions and his metaphor involving dipsticks and oil tanks, Lil’ Ed was able to elicit consistent laughter from the audience. This set up Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater’s arrival. Though less mobile than Lil’ Ed, Clearwater was no less exciting. His performance of “I Came Up

The Hard Way” was the counterpoint to Lil’ Ed’s humor. Just when the set was getting settled, out came Corky Siegel.

Despite a few miscommunications, Siegel gave a passionate performance. At one point, Siegel jumped off the stage and into the aisle, all while displaying an unrivaled technical mastery of the jazz harmonica. Siegel left the stage with electricity in the air. The fi nal feature was living legend Jimmy Johnson, still performing at 89 years old. Age hasn’t slowed Johnson yet. He played classics as if he were 20 years younger. For the final song, everyone rejoined the stage for what was a crazy combination of styles, color, and personality. It was the perfect closure to such a great evening.

“A lot of my formative career was spent on the South Side with the Sons of Blues,” said Billy Branch in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “Hopefully [the Bluesfest] will stir some interest in getting the blues on the South Side and encourage young people to see what the blues are all about.”

The Logan Bluesfest painted a vivid and poignant picture of the blues in Chicago, speaking to those who care about music on the South Side.

“I listened to his lectures and I just felt free” Continued from page 5

ple like his work, he later questioned the premise of her assumption. He clarified that white people do not necessarily “like” his work (he joked that was the reason why attendees had to pass through security).

The question one should ask is not why white people like his work, just as the question is not where one may find hope. Tippett perhaps recognized this, but could not seem to stray from it, resulting in certain moments that missed the mark or lacked understanding.

Eventually, she rephrased her question, asking why Coates has become “a voice.”

In many ways, Coates shares her curiosity, and expressed his bemusement during the Q&A section of the podcast as to why he felt that he had no authority to answer many of the questions. He admitted he was stumped when asked for advice about teaching history or identifying the most pressing legal challenge of coming years. Demonstrating a humility that was palpable throughout the evening, Coates said he believes that people cannot truly know everything, and that he did not want to

be known as a “public intellectual.

Coates nonetheless made an effort to answer the last question, posed by middle school teachers who wondered how to help students remain optimistic under the current administration.

Coates’s response brought the conversation full circle. One should not be looking for hope, he argued. Instead, we should ask, “Why is this okay?” and look for the truth. As he said at one point during the conversation, “What we need to do…is get to a place where citizens are encouraged to see their history critically.” He advocated for a serious examination of the influence of the past and its implications on the present.

In We Were Eight Years in Power, Coates writes: “Our story is a tragedy. I know it sounds odd, but that belief does not depress me. It focuses me.”

What we need to do is focus, looking not for reasons to hope, but rather reasons why the world is in its current condition. Change is not a matter of optimism or ignorance; it requires understanding, persevering, and catching up.

Maria Krunic

Anthony Paule of the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra brings funky riffs and stylish red suits to the stage. To see more photos of the event, visit chicagomaroon.com.

7

THE CHICAGO MAROON - OCTOBER 24, 2017

An Education on MASSEDUCTION

BY JAD DAHSHAN MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

“It’s MASS-SEDUCTION, not MASS-EDUCATION, which is a noble and worthy cause for sure, but it’s not the title of my record,” announced St. Vincent in a Facebook livestream.

M ASSEDUCTION is as much a contemporary piece of performance art as it is a musical record. Musicians have been seizing upon the intertextual possibilities of album releases for decades now, collaborating with visual artists on LP covers, filmmakers on music videos and fulllength features (à la Lemonade), and even programmers on interactive mobile apps like Björk for Biophilia. However, St. Vincent’s latest album, MASSEDUCTION, truly capitalizes on the myriad media available, creating an immersive (anti)social media experience which truly embodies her pre-campaign claim: “The personal is political.”

An early harbinger of this Armageddon of an album took the form of an Instagram video claiming to be “A Very Special Announcement” that didn’t actually impart any information. The snippet featured the latest incarnation of Annie Clark: dressed in a futuristic green jumpsuit, her spectral face framed by curtains of sleek, black hair. Over the next three months, this new persona would be solidified as more promotional material was released on the account. Most of these were interview segments in which the questions were supplanted by generic “insert” statements, perhaps to scoff at the shallowness

of the celebrity interviews that Clark herself has endured—as if saving herself the trouble of being asked another “question about being a woman in music.”

Next came her first single, “New York,” uploaded as a YouTube video in which the audio superposed a saturated image of thigh-high stiletto boots protruding from a blank backdrop. The same monochromatic, minimalist aesthetic is apparent in the Facebook livestream the guitar virtuoso hosted a few months later, in which she stood behind a podium overwhelmed by microphones and commenced to take “questions in the style of Sarah Huckabee Sanders: brusque, defensive, and with the subtle threat of physical violence in each response.” St. Vincent cast an absurdist light on the media practice with her vague, eccentric responses, one of which being, “I didn’t answer your question, but I did give you a lot of food for thought.”

Later, in October, a select group of people were allowed to venture through a labyrinth of art-installation-puzzle hybrids that lead them to MP3 audios of the unreleased songs, each room reifying one of the 13 songs on MASSEDUCTION. Clark’s latest “archetype” then emerged from the social media cocoon in which it had been incubating for months and spread its sinister, seductive wings. Of her metamorphosis, Clark notes how her 2011 Strange Mercy featured a “housewife on pills,” her subsequent album was headed by a “near-future cult leader,” and now MASSEDUCTION reflects a “dominatrix at the mental institution: sexy but

very arch, and very, very absurd too.”

In addition to this Bowie-esque transformation, MASSEDUCTION represents St. Vincent’s musical and lyrical growth.

While songs like the post-apocalyptic “Fear The Future” signal a faithfulness to the angularly alien atmosphere that pervaded most of St. Vincent, others, like “Dancing With A Ghost” and “Slow Disco,” exude a symphonic sadness and simplicity that seem derivative of her older work, often described as sonically shyer than her current oeuvre. An analogous, thematic continuity is apparent in the opening track, “Hang On Me,” in which Clark pursues the sense of kinship between outsiders, reconciling alienation with acceptance in much the same way that the lyrics alternate between first and second person and her soft, muffled croons melt into the deep, assertive bass in the background.

A similarly self-destructive tone dominates the title-track, where a vocally acrobatic chorus laments a Sisyphean struggle: “I can’t turn off what turns me on.”

Perhaps the least aesthetically stimulating but most emotionally engaging song is “Happy Birthday, Johnny.” This is a personal piano ballad that contextualizes fame by situating it within a single, socially imbalanced relationship threatening to tear itself asunder. Instrumentals are humbler here, allowing more leeway for St. Vincent’s untampered vocals to expose an emotional complex that is at once affectionate, self-loathing, and apologetic.

In the second single, ambitious guitar riffs coalesce with satiri-

cal lyrics in “Los Ageless,” where absurdist sound complements the flamboyant settings of the music video.

While some may decry the vast divergences between the songs on this album, I fi nd the diversity comforting and quite relatable. What better than the contrast between kinky skepticism in “Savior” and the deceptively upbeat “Young Lover,” a tragedy about an overdosed partner, to illustrate the intricate nuances of the human experience? If the tracks on MASSEDUCTION seem slightly more intimate than Clark’s previous works, that’s because they are. “You can’t factcheck it,” she said in a press release, “but if you want to know about my life, listen to this re-

cord.” Yet, while the tabloids ambushed the possibility of references to her past relationship with model/actress Cara Delevingne in songs like “Young Lover” and even “New York,” she maintains in a Vogue interview that “songs are Rorschach tests anyway. They say more about you than the person who made them.”

Mobilizing installation art and Instagram posts, Facebook livestreams and “cartoon scroll[s],” St. Vincent presents to the world a multimedia masterpiece teetering between the profoundly private and the prominently political, arguably her most confessional and most relatable album.

Courtesy of i-D Magazine

St. Vincent hosting a “press conference” on Facebook Live.

MCA Celebrates 50th With Renewed Commitment to Chicago

BY ABIBY KUCHNIR ARTS STAFF

Celebrating its 50th birthday, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) gave a gift to the community: a renewed commitment to be a space for learning and engagement with art. In this spirit, the museum held a two-day festival entitled “MCA Hearts Chicago” this past weekend, with free admission

and several free events, including a concert highlighting Lupe Fiasco.

Other big names will extend the celebration throughout the fall, including artist talks with Solange, Vince Staples, and Chance the Rapper.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the MCA opened a new threepart show, titled We Are Here, referencing its relationship to the city of Chicago and the intrinsic effect of the city on the Museum’s collec-

Courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Art

One of Jeff Koons’s instantly recognizable shiny balloon sculpture instalations.

tion, programming, and mission.

For Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director of the MCA, the exhibition “tells an extraordinary story in a very, very, fresh manner.” The three parts of We Are Here, designed to be viewed in order, highlight the Museum’s permanent collection with a specific focus on artists from Chicago; each part was designed by one of the MCA’s staff curators, each of whom brings a unique perspective to the collection and to the theme of being present.

Curated by Naomi Beckwith, the first part (entitled You Are Here) encourages viewers to interact with the art. It begins with fun and levity: as viewers walk into the exhibit, they whisper their full name to an actor standing by the door who then bellows it into the gallery. Interactive and bright, the first two galleries encourage museumgoers to walk on, sit on, move into, and touch the sculptures. Several mirrored pieces reflect patrons back into the space and cast colored light onto them, making their visages an integral part of the art. The later part of the exhibit is darker, as Beckwith extends the idea of the art object integrating with the body to more political works that allegorize power structures and social issues through bodily imagery, referencing the oppression of people’s bodies in the world. You Are Here

makes a bold claim about contemporary art as a movement: that it, unlike the classical art that came before, actively engages the viewer actively instead of having them view the work from a distance.

Curator Omar Kholeif designed the exhibit on the fourth floor, We Are Everywhere. This part of the show focuses on artists who appropriate popular images in order to critique the culture that produced them. Because it focuses on toxic societal norms and sociopolitical structures, Kholeif’s contribution was less joyful than Beckwith’s.

However, the layman art appreciator on his floor will recognize pieces happily; I was delighted to see works by celebrated artists Jeff Koons, Jenny Holzer, Takashi Murakami, and Andy Warhol. This curation is a unique opportunity to see the gems of the MCA’s impressive permanent collection in conversation with one another.

I Am You is the third part of the exhibition, curated by Jose Esparza. This deeply emotional gallery explores the connections between people: between lovers, between parents and children, between strangers on the street, and, in each piece, between artist and viewer. The centerpiece of I Am You is “Kiss,” a performance piece by Tino Sehgal that has also been performed at the Guggenheim and the

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, New York. Taking its title from Rodin’s sculpture, the performance involves two actors moving through different kissing poses depicted in classic works of art. This amazing performance will take place during all museum hours and is truly worth seeing.

As the centerpiece of the MCA’s commitment to learning and engagement, the Commons, perhaps the largest project the MCA is debuting this month, is an open space in the heart of the museum. It will serve as a space for artist workshops, lectures, conversations, concerts, and other community events. A piece by local artist Edra Soto titled “Open 24 Hours,” created using bottles she found while walking her dog near her East Garfield Park home, is currently on display (despite the name of Soto’s piece, however, the Commons is only open during regular MCA hours). Furbished by Chicago decorators Pedro y Juana, the Commons also features dozens of metal lamps that shine from the ceiling and double as hanging planters. Grynsztejn said that the MCA is seeking to “create citizens, not consumers.” With this innovative new space, new exhibition, and dozens of community events lined up for this fall, the MCA is clearly committed to its goal.

8

THE CHICAGO MAROON - OCTOBER 24, 2017

SPORTS Football Goes Above & Beyond in Victory FOOTBALL

BY AUDREY MASON SPORTS STAFF

This past Saturday, countless parents and alumni attended the homecoming football game against Beloit College. They were not disappointed, as the UChicago team saw its best rushing performance in 10 years, winning with a final score of 55–12. At the end of the game, UChicago averaged 8.8 yards per carry and racked up a total of 433 rushing yards, the most yards they have rushed since 2007. This outstanding performance improved the Maroons’ season record to 4–3 overall and 2–1 in the Midwest Conference.

Fourth-year running back Chandler Carroll first carried the ball 28 yards, and then scored the first touchdown of the game with a 12-yard carry. Soon after, he jumped into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Already leading 14–0, the Maroons then saw first-year Riley Trettel carry the ball 22, 25, and 48 yards in his last three touches, with the last 48yard carry leading to a touchdown that would put the team ahead 21–0. Trettel ended the game with 115 rushing yards, although he had just five touches.

Carroll then came back for a third

touchdown with a 28-yard carry, racking the score up to 28–0 well before the end of the first half. With 12 touches, he accomplished 123 rushing yards. After these plays, he averaged 10.2 yards per carry and rested for the duration of the game. In just one drive, first-year Vittorio Tricase carried the ball 57 yards to prepare the team for their fourth touchdown. First-year quarterback Campbell Garrett threw the ball 15 yards to second-year wide receiver Dante Nepa on third down, scoring again and raising the score to 35–0 at halftime.

The Maroons began the second half of the game with a 31-yard touchdown by first-year Mike Martinson, racing up the sideline out of reach of the opposing team. Soon after, third-year Henry Imburgia ran 59 yards in three carries and University of Chicago Athletics Department scored yet another touchdown, increasing Fourth-year Floyd Pitts rushes the ball as he is surrounded by the opposing defense. the score to 49–0. UChicago scored their last points of the game with fourth-year played soccer my entire life. I wanted to were up by a lot and in the fourth quarter, Floyd Pitts completing a 10-yard run into try something new, but to continue play- coach Wilkerson pulled me over and said the end zone, his first career touchdown. ing sports at a varsity level, so I decided that if we scored one more touchdown, I Beloit was completely shut out until the in August that I would try to walk onto would be kicking off. We scored and I got last four minutes of the game. the football team as kicker,” Ducic said. to kickoff once. It was the first time I had Second-year kicker Daniel Ducic re- “After making the team, I had a blast get- ever played in a football game and it was cently joined the team, and had his first ting to know all of the guys and getting really exciting to be a part of the team.” chance to participate this weekend. “I adjusted to a new sport. On Saturday we

Men’s Basketball Set to Start

Ready, Set, Go!

MEN’S BASKETBALL

BY ALYSSA RUDIN SPORTS STAFF

Boosted by individual record-setting performances last season, the Maroon men’s basketball team looks to build on its past success this winter. Last year, UChicago fi nished the season at 16 –9, and 8–6 against University Athletic Association (UA A) opponents. This mark included some notable wins against top teams including an 81–74 win against No. 5 Wash U in their last game of the season, and a 90–87 win against No. 4 University of Rochester.

Several returning starters are also looking to build on their excellent previous season. In a tight race to break a school record and set a new one, thirdyear Jake Fenlon and second-year Noah Karras both surpassed the former school record, 71, of three-pointers in a season. Fenlon came out on top with 76, and Karras was close on his heels with 75 three-pointers. Karras was named UAA Athlete of the Week for one of his exceptional shooting games. Additionally, Fenlon was named as an Honorable Mention All-UAA shooting guard for his efforts. He fi nished the season shooting 12 points per game and shot 40.9 percent from the three-point range. The team was also no stranger to academic accomplishments as eight players, in-

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

cluding six returners, earned UAA Winter All-Academic Recognition.

As a returning member, Karras is looking forward to the challenge of increased leadership. “The younger guys look up to me, so it’s very important to lead by example and set a great tone that they can follow. On the court, I need to be more vocal and communicative. But my role also changes in that the team will look to me to make plays on both sides of the floor, more so than last year.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, fourth-year Collin Barthel has high expectations for the team. “Our class as a whole has a lot of motivation to push towards accomplishing our goals because we know this is our last year and we want to leave our mark on the program. We have our sights set on winning the UAA and making a deep run into the [NCAA] tournament, which we haven’t accomplished since we have been here, and I believe we have the talent in place to make that happen.” While it is difficult to predict the success of a fi rst-year class, Barthel believes they have the potential to do great things, “as three big guys will really add to the depth we already have.” Overall, he believes, “the whole team is off to a great start and we are all looking forward to having a successful season.”

BY THOMAS GORDON SPORTS STAFF

The women’s basketball season is quickly coming around the corner as the leaves are changing color to maroon. To recap, last year was an extremely successful season, with the Maroons reaching the NCA A tournament for the first time since 2012 and for only the sixth time in the entire history of the program. Sadly, UChicago was knocked out in the second round by St. Thomas, who was undefeated at the time before losing in the final four. The team was led in scoring by recently graduated forward Britta Nordstrom, whose impact on the game and leadership will be missed in the locker room. Additionally, the loss of starting guard Stephanie Anderson to graduation means that some younger players will need to step up for the upcoming season. Luckily, all remaining players who started a game last year are returning. There is some transition, but it is not a complete transformation from the team that made it to the tournament.

The Maroon women are looking to build on last year’s successful season and become a team consistently in the tournament. “ The whole team is very excited to

start off the new season, and hopefully we are gonna build on the tournament berth from last year,” first-year Ionie Banner said. For it to be another prosperous year, second-years Taylor Lake and Miranda Burt will need to take a bigger jump in scoring to make up for the loss of Nordstrom. Both players had a very promising start to their college careers as the second and third leading scorers on the team. The players will be hoping to see improvements with their first college offseason under their belts.

Additionally, it will be necessary for the team to continue its home dominance from last year with an impressive 10–1 record with the crowd behind it. A home-court advantage will be pivotal to the Maroons to achieve the season that they are hoping for. UChicago starts off the season with four out of their first five games as home games. It sets up a perfect opportunity for the team to get off to a solid start to instill a high confidence in the team as it heads into the thick part of its schedule. It is vital for the fans to come out for these matches and create the atmosphere for the season to be successful. The season is coming up quickly, and it is time to get behind the Maroons for the upcoming months.

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