kentuckykernel
Monday, February 8, 2021 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971 www.kykernel.com @kykernel @kentuckykernel
MEAN | MEDIAN
MODALITY
BLACK HISTORY EVENTS PG. 2, DIVERSITY VP PG. 4, SNOW PHOTOS PG. 14
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Opinion: Black Opinion: This Black History month History month...
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After promise, mural remains
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Early semester COVID-19 data
1/30/2021
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Monday, February 8, 2021
news
Campus orgs celebrate Black History month with slate of events By Hannah Stanley news@kykernel.com
University of Kentucky organizations will be hosting events throughout the month of February to celebrate Black History Month for students and faculty to participate in. Events ranging from discussions, speeches, and even a fashion show are to take place, most events taking place over zoom calls with the exception of a few. All events and Zoom links may be found on the Martin Luther King Center page on the university website or BBNvolved. Love In All Colors Honing in on relationships, the Office of LGBTQ* Resources and the Martin Luther King Center will collaborate to show ‘Monogamy Explained’ & ‘How the Economy Shapes Our Love Lives’ virtually on Feb. 11. With a new initiative named Shades of Pride, the goal of providing a safe space for QTPOC (Queer, Trans, People of Color) and their allies BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) is the primary focus of the event. With a similar mentality of Men of Color, to celebrate identity, build community, engage in dialogue, and find support the LGBTQ* and MLKC open their arms to all those interested. Bernice King: Woman of Virtue Taking place on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. the Martin Luther King Center and UK Student Activities Board (SAB) will host
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an annual Black History Month speaker, Bernice King. With a background in ministry, law, and being an author, the youngest child of the late civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King will share her efforts of educating her peers about nonviolent principles, the same ones modeled by her parents. The event will be available to attend in person at the Worsham Center or online with zoom. Life As a Black Women With Media The event ‘Invisible, Yet Visible: Black Women & Media’ will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23. “The purpose of this event is to recognize the stereotypes that Black women face and how not only media has influenced these stereotypes, but also how history plays an instrumental role as well,” said Black is Gold President Kennedy Brown. Hosted by the Black is Gold organization, whose main focus is providing community outreach to young women of color. “We hope that all attendees can take away a better sense of what can be done to decrease the negative stereotypes facing Black women and celebrate their successes over the years,” said Brown. UK Libraries UK Libraries is featuring a series of archives highlighting Black history and culture. Curated by Daneila Gamez and Adrianna Navia, an online exhibit showcases “Black contributions to bourbon, horse racing, STEM, and athletics, as well as civil
rights activists, notable Black UK graduates or faculty, centers/ museums and Kentuckians who championed legislation.” The Black Teacher Archive will be featured in an open house on Feb. 19 with records from the journals of “Colored Teachers Associations.” The library is also hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon and a special podcast featuring excerpts from an interview with Lyman T. Johnson, the student who broke the color barrier at UK. History Through a Fashion Show To wrap up the month, an in person fashion show will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26. The show being called, ‘The Art of Being: Black History Fashion Show’ will take place in the Gatton Student Center in Ballroom C. The theme is fashion of the African race. Such examples of traditional wear and retro streetwear will be highlighted in the show. Cofounder and co-president Brandy Jackson mentioned the partnerships with local vendors, Atlanta Black owned vendors, and even some from overseas. “We want to make our organization definitely for everybody,” said cofounder and co-president Yasmin Ogundepo. “We want everybody to be able to notice us, get to know us, and what we’re about.”
FILE PHOTO In honor of Black History month, Lextran and Lexington public libraries are resuming a tradition of reserving a seat for Rosa Parks on all public buses, including campus transit. QR codes lead riders to books about Parks and the civil rights movement.
Black Women’s Conference Convening for its 26th year, the Black Women’s Conference will be held virtually the final week of February. Hosted by
the Commonwealth of Black Institute for Black Studies and College of Arts & Sciences, twoday series will feature a keynote address from Nalo Hopkinson, a Jamaican-born fiction writer. The
second day will showcase the conference theme - “Literature, Digital Media, and the Afrofuture” with a community gaming event held on Twitch.
Monday, February 8, 2021
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
kentuckykernel
CONTACT Editor-in-chief: Natalie Parks editor@kykernel.com
FRATERNITY DISPUTE HEADS TO COURT
A rental dispute between UK fraternities Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Sigma Phi has now made its way to the courtroom. On Friday, Feb. 4, three SAE members appeared in a preliminary hearing on burglary charges related to a September incident where SAE members broke into a house rented by Delta Sig members. According to the testifying officer, 50 - 70 SAE members were involved. When Lexington police arrived on a large disorder call, the dispute had turned into a street brawl. Participants fled to houses on Waller and Crescent. Police located members of both fraternities, but the lawyer representing the SAE members charged with criminal complaints said the police did not confirm the identity of specific actions of his clients. Dylan Carrington, David Roth and Colin Malloy were all charged with burglary in relation to the incident. Lexington attorney Fred Peters represented the trio in court and argued the charge should be downgraged.
“Burglary second, which says they ‘unlawfully entered the house with intent to commit a crime’, and he just said under oath he doesn’t know what crime they committed, or if they committed one,” Peters said during the cross-questioning. The judge passed the matter to the Fayette Grand Jury.
TEAM GREENE’S TURN FOR TESTING As part of UK’s new mandatory testing program, students assigned to Team Greene should complete COVID-19 tests at university testing locations this week. Team Elzy kicked off the initiative last week; the other two teams will round out the month in an effort to conduct population surveillance at the university. Students on Team Greene have until Sunday, Feb. 14 to complete their test. Students can check their email for link to testing sign-ups through Wildhealth, offered at three locations on campus.
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Kentucky Wildcats guard Rhyne Howard (10) runs after a loose ball during the UK vs. Missouri women’s basketball game on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. UK won 61-55.
UK FALLS TO UT AT HOME AFTER EARLY LEAD - AGAIN
A tale as old as time for the 2020-21 Kentucky squad - but their 82-71 loss to the Volunteers stung just the same. Now seven games under .500, even the most faithful members of Big Blue Nation will be forced to acknowledge this Wildcat team is on its last legs. “I don’t know what to tell you at this point,” a slump-faced John Calipari told reporters postgame. “We are playing good enough to win, and then we hit a stretch where we don’t score a basket.” You know the story by now. The Cats come out of the gate wheels’ screeching, going stride for stride with their foe for about thirty-six laps before the gas tank dries in the last four. Except one key detail was different: Kentucky actually had Tennessee in its rearview for the first twenty-eight trips around the floor. But before anyone knew it, the Cats were choking on not only the smoke from the Volunteers’ exhaust, but that which spewed from their own engine. “We’re just not executing… once stuff starts to hit the fan, we don’t know how to snap back,” Keion Brooks Jr., who paced Kentucky in both points (23) and rebounds (11) said afterward. “I don’t think anyone is scared, like pissing down their leg or anything. We’re just not disciplined enough to close the game out.” The Vols were buoyed by the freshman backcourt tandem of Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, who racked up a 50 piece. Their outstanding effort stoked BBN’s preseason mirage of Boston and Terrence Clarke. While the Wildcat couplet has been unable to meet expectations, the Volunteer one has thrived. “They were the best two guards on the court… they bullied us,” Cal said. “[They] went wherever they wanted to.” At 5-12, Kentucky must win the SEC tournament to make it to NCAA selectionan absolutely miraculous turn of fortune, no matter the optimistic facade Kentucky’s head coach continues to sport.
Managing editor: Michael Clubb editor@kykernel.com Asst. news editor: Haley Simpkins Sports editor: Braden Ramsey sports@kykernel.com Asst. sports editor: Eric Decker Opinions editor: Sarah Michels opinions@kykernel.com Asst. Opinions editor: Gillian Stawiszynski Designer: Ryder Noah From Social media manager: Sarah Simon-Patches KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES 340 McVey Hall University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506
On the cover: JACK WEAVER | STAFF Jill Day lectures to her History & Philosophy of Physical Education & Sport class on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, at White Hall Classroom Building in Lexington, Kentucky.
spring 2021 | 3
Monday, February 8, 2021
features
‘Wright’ for the job: the man behind UK’s diversity office By Sarah Michels features@kykernel.com
At 70 years old, Wright is starting a whole new career. UK hired him as a visiting professor in 2019, the 70th anniversary of Lyman T. Johnson’s successful lawsuit which desegregated the university and the 400th anniversary of the first British slave’s arrival in Jamestown. As a UK alum and author of three book, and dozens of essays, and articles about history - particularly as it relates to racial relations and civil rights, - Wright was an obvious choice for the job. He gave about 15 presentations around Kentucky before COVID shut campus down in March. In the meantime, Wright picked up several new titles and responsibilities: Distinguished University Research Professor, senior advisor to President Capilouto and interim director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Most would be overwhelmed by this combination of responsibilities, but Wright enjoys variety. He describes himself as energetic, an avid sports fan who can’t stay put for an entire game—not even the Super Bowl. As Wright talks, he jumps from story to story, thought to thought, with the speed and easy
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navigation of a NASCAR driver. It’s not hard to imagine that quickly shifting between his teaching, administrative and research responsibilities on a daily basis comes just as naturally. When Wright was young, he knew he was going to be a big-time basketball star. As a perpetual benchwarmer in high school, he ended up pretty much as far away as possible, he said. Fortunately, Wright had a second love—history. He spent his childhood in the young biography section of the library, where he read about George Washington, Christopher Columbus and other famous figures. Later, he moved on to other biographies, both of women and men, Americans and non-Americans. He discovered geography and a fascination with far-away places, where amazingly, Christmas wasn’t always associated with the cold. Today, he remains a prolific reader of a variety of titles, from National Geographic to Sports Illustrated to Times to Newsweek. When Wright was 18, he asked God to let him be something. Half a century later, his prayer was answered. He credits the constant encouragement and pats on the back from mentors and peers for much of his
PETE COMPARONI | UKPHOTO Dr. George Wright on September 12, 2019.
career success, which includes professorships at the University of Kentucky, UT Austin, Duke and Texas A&M, an executive vice president and provost position at UT Arlington and a 14-year presidency at the historically Black Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). He’s also published
three books—”Life Behind a Veil: Blacks in Louisville, Kentucky, 1865-1930,” “Volume II; Racial Violence in Kentucky, 18651940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and ‘Legal Lynchings,” A History of Blacks in Kentucky: In Pursuit of Equality, 1890-1980”— along with other writings. Wright sees himself as
a person of average ability who is blessed with the capability to work extra hard. His accumulation of teaching awards, recognition and honors throughout his career is impressive by even the highest of standards, but he believes that everyone could achieve his success if given the same opportunities.
“Every time I’ve been acknowledged it meant that I had to work that much harder, that for the students who would take my class, if I won a teaching award, meant that I had to live up to that teaching award,” Wright said. After his successes, he See WRIGHT on page 5
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decided that was time to give back. At Duke, UK and UT Austin, there were already pushes underway to increase the number of underrepresented Black, minority and female faculty, but the universities always found ways to rationalize or excuse change away. Wright resolved to be the one fiercely committed to turning the momentum into action. Furthermore, he said he is determined to have just as many white students and faculty involved as Black students and faculty in everything he does, from Black history classes to his administrative efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. “(I’m) clear about trying to make sure that whatever I do includes everybody,” Wright said. Wright garnered national attention by “giving back” during his time at PVAMU. Even though he had a busy job as an administrator, he began teaching an American history class every semester—the largest class on campus—to help with a significant budget shortfall. Wright said that teaching and engaging with students on a daily basis gives him a better pulse on the student body. While he may have read an assigned book 50 times, a student reading it for the first time often offers a completely new perspective. Casual interactions with students show Wright a side of students that he isn’t always privy to as an administrator. Now back at UK, Wright has taken on part-time teaching. He leads a seminar, Global Black Freedom Struggle, that looks at racial issues in the United States and other countries like South Africa. Alongside Dr. Vanessa Holden, he is also starting a research institute, the Central Ken-
tucky Slavery Project, which will use city and county records to document the region’s history. No matter which hat he’s wearing at any given moment, Wright makes an impression. When he first recognized President Eli Capilouto at an NCAA conference, “minding his own business,” (both were representing their universities’ respective athletic conferences) he ran over and just started talking all about his love and knowledge of UK. The pair connected over their dedication to UK and generational experiences. Now, years later, Wright is Capilouto’s senior adviser. “It’s overload, that I do to people about that, but at some point, it makes something of an im-pression,” Wright said. Wright’s voice reverberates through every room—or Zoom call—of which he is part. But despite his strong presence, he is always creating a welcoming space for others to share, said Stephanie White, associate dean for diversity and inclusion in the College of Medicine. “He just presents himself very authentically,” White said. “That humanistic quality I think is something that that transcends the way he conducts himself, and even from the standpoint of making it very intentional to recognize others.” White and Wright work together on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Team, a 20-person panel charged with implementing UK’s DEI plan, announced over the summer. After the former officeholder, Sonja Feist-Price, left UK, Wright took over. White said the interim position is a difficult one, especially during this time. “He has to guide the conversation and keep the ball rolling because the University of Kentucky has made such strong commitment that it doesn’t want to
The majority of University of Kentucky students are white, according to data from UK’s enrollments page. Black, Native American, Pacific Islander and biracial students together - the four underrepresented minorities at UK - account for only 15.4 percent of the student population as of fall 2020.
just wait,” she said. “At the same time, he also comes from the perspective of being a new person in the University of Kentucky— not inexperienced, but in his current role and coming back to UK, he is a new entity for many.” Wright said that this push for racial equity and inclusion is more serious than ever. In the June Board of Trustees meeting, there were two main priorities:
reopening campus and DEI. Wright said he thinks that UK considering those two issues on the same level of urgency shows that the university is dedicated to real change. Some of these tangible plans include hiring, supporting and retaining more underrepresented faculty, redesigning UK101 to address important issues like race, creating more spaces like the
MLK Center for multiple identity groups so students can learn from each other, dedicating more funding to research on health disparities among underrepresented racial groups and intense anti-bias training for the president, provost and 50 additional administrators. Wright said Phase I of the DEI implementation plan will be the first of many. See WRIGHT on page 11
spring 2021 | 5
Monday, February 8, 2021
news
Modality numbers alter little for spring By Haley Simpkins news@kykernel.com
Spring 2021 is the third semester marked by COVID-19, and that means another semester of mixed course modalities. Across the university this semester, 40 percent of course sections are traditional in-person instruction, 37 percent are online and 21 percent are hybrid - with a small 2 percent represented by modalities like off-campus and compressed video. These numbers remained mainly the same as compared to last semester, with 2.8 percent more in-person sections, 5 percent less online sections, and 2 percent more hybrid sections. “As in the fall, we’ve tried to offer as much in-person instruction for students as possible, understanding that both students and faculty are interested in a variety of modalities – from completely online to hybrid and traditional,” UK Spokesperson Jay Blanton said. Colleges and departments were the ultimate decider of course modality, with some guidance from the university. “The University did encourage colleges and departments to offer courses with some level of face-to-face learning (Traditional or Hybrid modality), and also encouraged programs to be very intentional on student engagement in the courses, regardless of whether online or in modalities with face-to-face learning,” Blanton said. Even under this guidance, Blanton said that no faculty member “has ever been asked or required to teach in a format with which they were uncomfortable.” With more in-person sections this semester and the rise of the
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This semester’s course modalities break down similarly to the fall’s. Above, a graph shows that 37% of course sections are being held online and 21% are hybrid - meaning that 58% of all courses involve some online element. 61% of all course involve an in-person element.
COVID-19 vaccine, a question arose of whether faculty members teaching in person would be first in line to get the vaccine when it started rolling out on campus. Blanton said that would depend on state guidelines. “As we are able to vaccinate members of our campus community, we will – per the state’s guidelines – prioritize for factors such as age or, for example, whether someone is working on campus, whether that’s in-person instruction or custodial and dining workers or students working
in residence halls,” Blanton said. Blanton said that UK is confident that if all the recommended procedures are followed, in-person classes can be conducted safely as seen last semester. “Where everyone complies with healthy behaviors – in terms of physical distancing, mask wearing and other behaviors – we can safely conduct in-person classes and continue a residential experience. Our students, faculty and staff did an incredible job last semester in complying with these essential health standards,” Blan-
ton said. Second-year early education major Rachel Donahue said she is also confident that her in-person classes are being conducted in a way that keeps her safe. “I am comfortable taking in-person classes,” Donahue said. “My biggest class is like 20 people, and we have at least six seats in between us, so it’s perfect.” Donahue, who has two in-person classes, said that having this small return to normalcy made her realize how much she missed being in the classroom.
“I will admit at first I wanted to be all online this semester, but after going to in-person classes, I realized how much I miss it,” Donahue said. “I miss going to class and truly focusing. I miss getting up and actually getting ready and going outside.” Freshman pre-marketing major Caroline Yandell said she wasn’t as comfortable with in-person class yet. “Honestly, I prefer online. I don’t actually prefer online in the sense of receiving my education, but being in person and having possible exposures makes me uncomfortable, “ Yandell said. However, Yandell does have a class that meets in-person once a week. “The in-person class, though uncomfortable, gives me a stronger feeling of connection to the course and my classmates. That said, I am nervous about being in the classroom so I think one is enough,” Yandell said. Some students actually prefer to have this mixed modality style of learning, like freshman philosophy and political science double major McKenzie Ryan. “I like to mix online, hybrid and in person together, which I was able to do this semester,” Ryan said. Due to a visual disability, Ryan said that she prefers synchronous online or hybrid classes that have recordings to watch afterwards so that she can refer back to the material and take notes at her own speed. Ryan said that because of this she would like to see more of her upper level courses continue to be offered as an online option in the future. Ryan, who has two in-person classes, said, however, that this See MODALITY on page 7
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doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy or feel comfortable with in-person classes. “I don’t feel more or less comfortable with in-person class. They’ve done an excellent job with social distancing, so I don’t feel like I’m ever in a dangerous situation,” Ryan said. Regan Denham, firstyear human health sciences major, said she feels more comfortable with in-person classes this semester than she did last year, but that’s not because of any extra precautions taken by the school. “I somehow got COVID even though I never went out anywhere. Because I already had it, I feel fine to attend class since reinfection rates are very low overall,” Denham said. Denham said she prefers in-person classes over other course modalities, but she has six online and two hybrid courses. Denham said online instruction limits her resources and
motivation that she needs to complete her work. “The struggle I face when not having in person is the motivation to complete online work and, some days, even the motivation to get out of bed. Staring at a computer screen all day isn’t healthy for the mind or body,” Denham said. Denham said she would like to see more hybrid courses within her major, so she can have at least some portion of in-person instruction. “My major is pretty small, so my class sizes usually range in the 20’s. I don’t see why we couldn’t meet in-person when I have yet to see a large lecture hall used this school year,” Denham said. “There is definitely space to accommodate more hybrid classes this semester, but the effort is not being put forth to do so.” Overall, the university has increased course sections offered in hybrid modality by 2 percent this semester as compared to last semester.
JACK WEAVER | STAFF Students take notes in Jill Day’s History & Philosophy of Physical Education & Sport class on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, at White Hall Classroom Building in Lexington, Kentucky
Women’s tennis unbeaten so far By Hunter Shelton
For the first time since 2009, the Kentucky women’s tennis team will enter SEC play with an unblemished record. The Cats finished off their spotless non-conference slate by defeating Notre Dame 6-1 on Saturday morning at the Boone Tennis Complex. Doubles play has been kind to UK so far this season, and Saturday was no different. First-time pair Elizabeth Stevens and Carla Girbau kicked things off, taking care of Julia Lillen and Julia Andreach 6-2. On court three, powerhouse duo Lesedi Jacobs and Anastasia Tkachenko made their doubles debut for Big Blue. After compiling an 8-1 record in the shortened season last year, the No. 57 ranked team didn’t miss a beat, putting
Kentucky up 1-0 after beating Meghan Coleman and Ally Bojczuk 6-4. As the doubles point was being claimed, an upset was brewing on court one. Undefeated pair Akvilė Paražinskaitė and Fiona Arrese were on the verge of capping the point themselves, up 6-5 on the country’s No. 19 ranked tandem in ND’s Cameron Corse and Page Freeman. UK is a perfect 16-0 this year in double play. Carlota Molina was first to pad the lead for the Cats in singles action. Her 7-6 (9-7,) 7-5 victory over Freeman keeps her singles record pristine at 7-0. Paražinskaitė overcame adversity to make it 3-0, winning her match over Corse despite dropping the first set. The Lithuanian also remains perfect in singles play after her 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory.
The Fighting Irish got on the board next, as Bojczuk defeated Stevens in a three-set battle, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Jacobs closed the door on a comeback though, taking a three-set match of her own over Andreach 7-6 (7-4,) 3-6, 6-2. The match clinching win was a nice bounce back for the senior out of Namibia, who was coming off her first singles loss of the season. With the win in hand, Kentucky sealed the affair with unique set wins for their final two points. Girbau knocked off Maeve Koscielski 8-5, and Arrese ended things 10-6 over Lillen. After dominating non-conference play, the Wildcats will now prepare for SEC action. They’ll get eleven days to do so, as Texas A&M is first on their docket. Kentucky faces the Aggies Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. E.T.
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Monday, February 8, 2021
opinions
Celebrating was never an option: things to keep in mind this February By Kayla Woodson
Even after a year of protest against racial injustice, it’s important to recognize Black History Month. I don’t think it would be far off to argue that if we as a country would’ve acknowledged our racist history and given Black people the credit for everything we’ve created from the getgo, we wouldn’t be in this mess. However, this isn’t to say that just because white people pull out their favorite MLK lines and put black squares on their Instagrams, the cancer that is racism in our society is being cured. I made the conscious decision about a year or two ago to stop talking to white people about race. I can’t remember when I officially put my foot down and made that decision, but I know it had to be in response to something. Maybe it was another story of a police officer killing a Black person. Maybe it was a video of a school officer slamming a Black child to the ground in retribution for a minor offense. Or maybe it was when I realized a lot of people refuse to acknowledge this country was built on the commodity, pain, and suffering of Black and indigenous people. The point is that I don’t know when, but I do know that during that time, I was doing a disservice to myself. I realized in response to the murder of Breonna Taylor that I was in the wrong by keeping my mouth shut and letting people exist in spaces without feeling a tad bit as uncomfortable as I did. My whole reasoning was this concept that “Google is free,” a simple sentence my own mother tells me in a sing-song tone every time I ask her a question. But herein lies the issue of people not knowing what to Google about. We have gotten away with a watered-down version of history that has made it hard to know where to start in terms of unlearning rhetoric and propaganda in order to get to the truth of
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MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Protesters march on UK’s campus during a protest in response to the grand jury decision on the Breonna Taylor case on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Lexington, Kentucky.
the matter. And the truth is racism is more than slurs and supremacist ideology. So now, I talk about my experience as it is, no more, no less. Other Black people and I do not exist to trauma dump as if we’re writing a scholarship essay in order to beg white people to believe in racism. Racism is not a ghost or boogie man. It is blatant. It is in everyone’s face. Black people and other people of color owe white people nothing. Everything that we do as oppressed people in an oppressive society should be purely for self-pres-
ervation. Just because we had a “reckoning” in how we report and see racial injustice doesn’t mean we get to stop talking about it. I think if anything, this Black History Month will serve as a turning point in how we talk about the history of race in America. Maybe I’m being a bit optimistic, but I think white people are starting to clue in on why phrases like, “this isn’t who we are” in the face of predictable insurgence are not okay, and have started to shift the tide from the “perfect American image” hill people are willing to die on.
Reaffirming statements are tools, usually given to a person by a mental health counselor to use in order to rebuild confidence and ground themself. Black Lives Matter is a reaffirming statement, a statement that needed to be created because Black people were shown through the action of the government and social constructs that their lives did not hold the same value to their white counterparts. It’s great to celebrate Black history, but there’s still more Black history to learn about, and even more importantly, to be made.
Monday, February 8, 2021
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spring 2021 | 9
Monday, February 8, 2021
news
Mural still standing months after promise to remove
By Haley Simpkins news@kykernel.com
UK has not started the physical removal process of the controversial Memorial Hall mural. Following the killing of George Floyd and racial injustice protests in mid-2020, President Capilouto announced the removal of the controversial mural in early June 2020. Eight months later, the actual removal process has yet to begin. “This is a complicated issue and process. It’s better to do it right in the pursuit of a long-term answer than some quick fix,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said. Blanton said that the university is following through with their promise that students will no longer have to view the mural by keeping Memorial Hall closed. “We have continued to honor the promise that was made to students that they would not be required to view the mural by continuing to keep the facility closed for the time being,” Blanton said. Blanton said the building will remain closed “until a final solution is reached.” “In the meantime, we will continue to evaluate our options for moving forward,” Blanton said. Blanton said he did not have any information on what those options are at the moment. Blanton also said a committee to oversee the removal of the mural has not been formed yet. “I wouldn’t characterize it as a delay. We indicated we would take the time to thoughtfully consider a long-term resolution to this issue, but I don’t think we set a definitive timeframe for that process,” Blanton said. “ Moreover, as the building has not been utilized for some time now, we have made other arrangements for space and events, so there is no need to rush the decision because of some space utilization need.”
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Mural in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of Kentucky
In Capiloto’s email announcing the removal of the mural, he did not give a timeline for the removal. However, Capilouto did call for the mural’s immediate removal. “It’s against that imperfect and human backdrop that I am directing our facilities team to immediately begin the process of removing the mural in Memorial Hall,” Capilouto said in the June 5 announcement to the campus community. On July 6, 2020, Kentucky author Wendell Berry and his wife filed a lawsuit against Capilouto and the university to stop the removal of the mural for numerous reasons including that it was publicly funded,
therefore making it publicly owned, and the difficulty of taking down the mural due to it being a fresco. Frescoes are a type of painting where the paint is applied while the plaster is still wet, thereby integrating the art into the structure of teh wall itself. Because of this the removal of the mural would be extremely complicated to navigate - if the removal also attempts to conserve the work and the wall it is on. According to a research guide by UK Libraries on the creation of the mural, “The surface is nearly indestructible.” In a panel in the spring of last year, art historian Dr. Emily Elizabeth Goodman
suggested that could be digitized if the physical original were to be destroyed in the removal process. ““Yes, you’d be losing the original material, but you’d be still doing exactly what the conservation process is,” said Goodman, who added that the original is in good condition for reclamation. The Berrys initally filed for temporary and permanent injunctive relief to stop the removal but the injunctive relief was denied after the case moved to federal court, citing that “parties have resolved the issues See MURAL on page 11
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relating to the need for emergency and temporary injunctive relief so that the necessity of these Motions no longer exists.” Blanton said he is not aware of the lawsuit being a factor in the schedule for the removal process. Khari Gardner, founder of UK March 4 Black Lives, said the mural is not as big of an issue as it is to some of his peers, but it’s removal would have a symbolic meaning for Black students on campus. “I mean it would really just show that UK is listening to the concerns of their marginalized students and community and willing to move forward in discussion,” Gardner said. The mural’s removal was the only one of five demands not met in some way following a 2019 protest and occupation from Black student organizations. During a meeting with Capilouto, several students gave impassioned speeches citing why
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White added that this endeavor is more than a lofty “we want to be inclusive” statement of goals and visions, but an action plan. “But you also don’t want to just have a knee jerk reaction to do things without making sure that it incorporates as many perspectives as possible and so George is able to navigate those nu-ances of wanting a product, but then wanting to make sure that product is as holistic as possible,” White said. When the table is made more inclusive, there needs to be space for the new perspectives to be shared. Wright understands that, White said. He is not afraid to take a pause to allow more voices to chime in so that the team can come up with plans of which everyone can feel proud. He is sure to recognize people and groups when he sees them do good work, which White con-siders an admi-
they wanted it to be removed. Chandler Frierson, one of the occupation’s leaders, said the mural represented UK’s treatment of Black students overall - focused on superficial changes, not structural issues. Gardner said he believes the mural should be removed, but it should be placed in an art museum after the removal along with the 2018 reflective, contextual piece by Black artist Karyn Olivier. “It’s a bare minimum commitment to students who may not want to see that in that situation,” Gardner said. Gardner said that while the mural is a first step, the real change towards diversity lies in listening to the student organizations calling for. “[The university should] continue to move forward with what we at UK March 4 Black Lives, the African American and Africana Studies departments, and other organizations and groups on campus are pushing for in terms of diversity equity and inclusion,” Gardner said.
rable trait in a leader. Wright has never been one to let a 5% difference get in his way. In fact, whenever he heard someone commenting on how “different” another student was in undergrad, Wright made a beeline to that person. “I wanted to find out what was ‘different’ about them,” he said. “In most instances, they were not different than me at all.” Decades later, not much has changed. Wright tries to get to know everyone who walks through his office. He asks about their hometown, the origin of their last name, their favorite movies, music preferences and sports teams’ allegiances. His idea of a successful conversation is one where he makes the other person smile. Wright said he thinks he could have an hourlong con-versation with anybody, because people share many more commonalities than differences. However, Wright is concerned that many people have lost this ability to listen to the “other side”
Karyn Olivier’s work ‘Witness’ in the Memorial Hall vestibule was completed on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo from Kernel archives.
and concede when their viewpoint is just as, or more, valid than their own. He wishes everyone could be as sincere as him. “I have learned a lot from folks who I think are different and what I come to find out, and I know this isn’t true in every instance, a lot of times it may be 5% of the issue that we differ on, but yet we say where I’m in this corner and you’re in that corner— it’s only 5%,” Wright said. Wright said he doesn’t know what will happen to Gracyn Courtright, the UK senior charged and later released on bail for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. When he was an undergraduate UK student in 1968, four students were arrested for possession of marijuana and expelled before their day in court. After student protests, UK let the students back in, but promptly changed their student conduct policies so that they had some disciplinary control over future off-campus activities. Wright thinks that Courtright will
also likely be allowed back, but that UK will change its policy to make future student conduct similar to hers grounds for expulsion. “She is going to be given the same rights as students were given when I was in undergrad,” Wright said. Wright said he tries to represent remembrance and reconciliation everywhere he goes. For remembrance, he helps everyone understand the history of Black people, from Africa to today, including all the struggles and triumphs. For reconciliation, he points toward people like Nelson Mandela and Thurgood Marshall, who chose to sit down and work and reconcile with the exact people who had been opposing them all the way. Wright thinks this is about as radical as it gets. He is constantly trying to bring people together before it’s too late, such as before the tragic events that reactivated the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. “I tell folk that we have to talk about these things all the time,
that you can’t wait until the death of George Floyd, or the death of Breonna Taylor, to along racial lines have dialogues,” Wright said. “Whenever you start a new relationship you have to build up trust, and so here it is you’re talking about issues that might divide people, and you haven’t developed the relationship.” Wright said he’s probably learned more than he’s been able to share in his first year at UK. But he has big plans, and undoubtedly will shape the direction of the university moving forward. Wright shares a birthday with one of his role models, W.E.B. Du Bois, the first Black student to earn a PhD. But the resemblance doesn’t end with their mutual celebrations. De Bois didn’t stop writing about Black history until he died at age 95 in 1963. Wright said he plans to follow in De Bois’ footsteps. “I always gotta be doing something,” he said. “I think life is meant to be lived, and life is to be doing something.”
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news
Early data shows drop in student COVID-19 cases from fall By Natalie Parks news@kykernel.com
Another day, another update: with classes and campus life resuming following the break, UK is once again tracking COVID-19 cases among its student body on a dedicated dashboard. Data from the first two weeks of class paints a different picture than the start of last semester - cases among UK students are down compared to the same timeframe in the fall. In the first two weeks of the fall semester, the university and local health department reported 353 cases among UK students. Total new cases among UK students in the last two weeks amount to just over half of that, or 186 cases. Cases dropped from the first week of class, with 118, to the second, at 68. Lower case numbers have emerged in spite of more robust testing. In the fall, reentry testing was only followed up by a round of mandatory testing for Greek life students. Now, UK is conducting routine testing among all students even after reentry. Thousands will be tested each week as part of the new team-based approach, which will continue throughout the semester. “I think one of the real lessons we learned last semester is how central testing is because it’s not only that baseline of health, but that then is the platform from which we do all our tracing and assessment of benchmarking the status of our campus,” said UK spokesperson Jay Blanton. Students agreed that the regular testing is beneficial, though some questioned why UK didn’t implement it sooner. “I think it’s a lot better than last semester because before it was just the initial testing and then you just got it when you wanted to,” said Jill Steffen, a senior engineering major. Steffen said she thinks the required testing will catch cases earlier so they can quarantine and expose fewer people. “I think all my friends are ok with - it takes like five minutes, whatever you can do so we can have in-person classes,” Steffen added. Freshmen Campbell Greenawalt said it would have been better to have the required testing in the fall as well and thinks it is a good strategy. “A lot of my friends think it’s necessary and keeping our selves healthy, that’s the most important thing,” Greenawalt said. Though cases during the semester are lower than the fall, case numbers during the reentry period are higher
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PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF Jayden Riggs, a sophomore clinical management major, gets tested for COVID-19 on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, at K-Lair in Haggin Hall in Lexington, Kentucky.
than they were in the fall. UK’s reentry testing in both semesters began about two weeks before the start of class. In the fall, only 110 tests were reported prior to the first day of class. Nearly four times that many – 436 – cases were identified during the reentry phase for the spring. Most of the cases reported so far came from outside UK’s testing system and were self-reported by students. Of the 752 total cases reported as of Feb. 4, only 260 came from UK’s testing services. The remaining 65 percent of positives were self-reports, likely submitted to UK from students who tested positive over winter break in correspondence with a national surge. Despite the increased number of tests, UK’s Health Corps – which runs contact tracing and COVID-19 support services for students – has been able to reduce the
Data from UK’s COVID-19 dashboard.
lag on the dashboard updates. Previously, cases were reported on a three-day lag. Updates this semester have been occurring on a one or two-day lag instead. “We’ve just dealt with the data more and more our data folks felt comfortable that they could do it. It was one of the critiques I think, last semester and if we try to take the feedback, seriously that is probably I think the most substantive critique,” Blanton said. Preliminary data on student cases suggests that UK’s spring semester may not bring a spike to Lexington like the fall semester did. Lexington’s COVID-19 cases have shown an erratic decline in the last month. Last semester’s data showed the Health Corps where spread was – and wasn’t – happening on campus. See DATA on page 13
Monday, February 8, 2021
news DATA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
“We can tell you many of the places that we didn’t see that red happening, classrooms and other types of sort of structured learning spaces,” said Lance Poston, director of the Health Corps. Classrooms saw little spread because they have organized protocols and sanitization, Poston said, as opposed to unenforceable environments. “If you follow these protocols and use those spaces in that way, they’re going to be much, much safer. And I think we saw that play out again, in classrooms, we saw very little spread happen among within our residence halls,” Poston said – a byproduct of the university’s existing dorm plans. “Unlike many of our peer institutions, we’ve got spaces where most of our students in residence halls, even before this year, have their own bedroom and you can have a much more private on campus experience,” Poston said. Students think the university has managed the pandemic well. “I think last semester they did really well with everyone wearing masks everywhere and limiting in person activity as much as they could to just reduce cases, this semester, I think they’re doing a good job as well with more COVID testing, and the masks and still allowing more in person events,” said Kaitlin Saban, a freshman dietetics major. In addition to existing measures, students are hopeful that vaccines will make an impact on campus case numbers. “I think it’s a good idea to give students the vaccines, because it can help us get through the pandemic faster, just on our campus, and helping eliminate,” Saban said. According to Blanton, UK has vaccinated around 17,000 UK-affiliated people, the “lion’s share” of which are healthcare workers. “As we move into subsequent phases, we’ll be in a position, we hope and expect to vaccinate many more people on our campus. And hopefully, that’ll happen over the course of the next couple months,” Blanton said. Blanton said the university does not currently have plans to create a prioritization list for student vaccinations that would account for risk factors like housing occupancy and students with essential jobs off-campus. The university is prioritizing students in healthcare colleges, including medical students volunteering at the vaccine clinic. Poston and Blanton said that students who fall into other prioritized categories, like underlying health conditions, should fill out UK’s vaccine request form. “Let us know that information so that, when your time comes based on those state guidelines, we’ve got your information, you’re in the system, then you can get an invite,” Poston said. “It’s never too soon to go to ukvaccine. org.”
Daily new cases and daily active cases for the first two weeks of class in the spring semester (above) show a decrease compared to the same time frame in the fall semester (below). The fall semester averaged 32 new cases reported each day while the spring has so far averaged 18 new cases reported each day. The total number of cases reported in the first two weeks of class in the spring semester are just over half of the total number of cases reported in the first two weeks of the fall semester. Data from the University of Kentucky’s COVID-19 dashboard. Graphs by Natalie Parks.
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features
Snowy scenes
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF UK Grounds worker Ray Cortez scrapes off ice on stairs on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF UK students walks around a snow covered campus on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
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MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF A worker at the Kroger Field COIVD-19 testing site warms their hands up on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
Monday, February 8, 2021
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Monday, February 8, 2021
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