CHRONICLE THE HARVARD-WESTLAKE
Los Angeles • Volume XXV • Issue III • Nov. 24, 2015 • hwchronicle.com
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SABRINA DE BRITO AND SACHA LIN
Alums respond to college campus racial tensions By SAMMI HANDLER
Before Halloween, Yale’s Intercultural Affairs CommitAlex Copeland ’15, a fresh- tee sent an e-mail to students man at Yale College, said his advising them to not wear cosimmediate instinct is to say tumes that could be considthat he has not experienced ered offensive. Lecturer Erika Cristakis racism at the campus in New responded with her own e-mail Haven, Conneticut. Oct. 28 to students But then he and administrators thought for a mosaying that while she ment. praises those goals in “I really haven’t theory, she fears that experienced blatant college students have racism at all here,” he turned to censoring said. “But, for examregressive ideas and ple a couple of weeks that campuses were ago, I forgot my key becoming “places of to my residential ’ censure and prohibicollege, and when I Alex tion.” asked someone to let Copeland ’15 That day hunme in, they said they dreds of students, inweren’t supposed to let people in that don’t go to cluding Copeland, surrounded Yale. You just get used to little Yale’s first black dean Jonathings like that, being a black than Holloway, sharing how minority students feel undermale.” Soon after Copeland’s ex- represented and sometimes perience, tensions came to a marginalized. “Dean Holloway went in the boil over issues of race and middle of campus and heard culture. NATHANSON S
criticism from students,” Co- ing underneath the gilded surpeland said. “Students poured faces of any of these colleges,” their hearts out to [him], crit- as she is in the midst of the icized him and pleaded that application process. “Although I am glad that he represent them. That was really powerful to see. But racism at these institutions before that, there were just a has come to light and is being lot of students talking openly, stopped, it still scares me to sharing stories think that this is the world and supporting that my classeach other.” It still scares Amid a semates and I me to think that this are going to be ries of racially is the world that my charged proentering next tests and epyear,” Schack classmates and I are said. “It’s 2015, isodes at colgoing to be entering for Pete’s sake.” lege campuses next year.” At the Uniacross the naversity of Mistion this fall, —Shannyn Schack ’16 souri, most noticeproably at the Unitesters said versity of Missouri and more administrators did not aderecently at Yale, Claremont quately respond to complaints McKenna and Amherst, some of racism. Members of the students at Harvard-Westlake football team, backed by their are now reconsidering which coach, tweeted they would recolleges they are applying to. fuse to play until Mizzou PresShannyn Schack ’16, a ident Tim Wolfe stepped down. activists, calling black student, said that she Student worries about “what’s happen- themselves Concerned Stu-
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dent 1950, confronted Wolfe and called for walkouts after the administration’s lack of response. One graduate student vowed to stay on a hunger strike until Wolfe left. The university president and chancellor resigned Nov. 9. Afterwards some students used the anonymous messaging app Yik Yak to threaten black students. Phaedra Robinson ’17 said problems at Mizzou were “especially disappointing” for her as a black student, and she is concerned for her brother, a freshman at Brown University. “I feel as though your home and your school are supposed to be two safe spaces for people our age, and when you’re away at college those two places become one,” Robinson said. “I feel that I have a pretty deep connection to these events, not only because I am a minority myself, but also be• Continued on page C2
College Board sends scores late, almost misses deadline INSIDE
• Continued on page C2
By JONATHAN SEYMOUR
The College Board was delayed in sending many seniors’ SAT, SAT Subject Test, and AP exam scores to colleges by Nov. 1, the early application deadline of most colleges, causing extra stress during the college application process. The situation resolved itself as almost all colleges extended their deadlines since the delay was not the students’ faults, Upper School Dean Beth Slattery said. “At this point, there is no evidence that the delay negatively affected anyone,” Slattery said. “But it is possible that there are scores missing from schools that we have not yet heard from.” Slattery said that this is the first time in recent years
that this score delay has occurred. “My understanding is that a handful of applicants accidentally double-clicked their score submissions, perhaps at the exact same time, and this caused a chain effect through the system,” Upper School Dean Adam Howard said. “[It] sounds like a glitch that was just waiting to happen due to the huge amount of traffic during this time of year.” The College Board sent an e-mail to students who had requested that their scores be sent to colleges in time for early applications notifying them of the delay. “Processing of SAT score report orders placed on or after Oct. 14 is taking longer than expected, and your score reports are among a set that
have not yet been sent to the colleges,” the College Board said in the e-mail. “This communication is most relevant for students who are using scores to meet immediate deadlines. “We are working diligently to deliver all SAT score reports to colleges as soon as possible in order to meet college application deadlines. We will keep you updated on our progress. In the meantime, we are reaching out to colleges with deadlines of Nov. 1 to make them aware of the circumstances and are encouraging them to be flexible should scores arrive late.” Though this delay was would not have been a problem for most schools that Harvard-Westlake students apply to, the worry was about some schools such as the University
of Michigan that only consider applications during the Early Action period if all aspects of the application have been received by Nov. 1. “Our only concerns were schools that require all materials in house by due-date, and that’s only a select few,” Howard said. “Most schools posted on their admissions sites about the issue and that they would not hold students accountable for a CB website error.” However, even schools with more rigid policies responded to the score delay by extending their deadlines. “At first I was worried since one of the places I applied to is very strict with deadlines,” Arjun Mahajan ’16 said. “I • Continued on page A2
A5 ESHANIKA CHAUDHARY/CHRONICLE
SEND SILENCE PACKING: Nicole Bahar ‘18 reads the story of a college student who committed suicide. A guest speaker spoke to the community to spread awareness.