October 30, 2015 | The Miami Student

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ESTABLISHED 1826 – SPOOKIEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

The Miami Student FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015 Volume 144 №18

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

MIAMISTUDENT.NET

MU releases criteria for next president

Black Lives Miami alumnus Paul Ryan elected U.S. Speaker of the House Matter founders met with racism GOVERNMENT

PRESIDENT

EMILY TATE

MANAGING EDITOR

Miami University announced earlier this week that it’s looking for a president committed to diversity, transparency and quality education. These qualifications, and several others, are strikingly similar to the core values Miami’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) laid out in a petition last month. The petition, signed by 143 faculty members and presented to the Board of Trustees, requested at least two presidential finalists visit campus in the spring and outlined seven criteria it hopes the next president will meet. Although the trustees denied the request for multiple finalists at the Sept. 25 board meeting, the 18page position profile does reflect virtually all of the criteria presented by the AAUP. Deborah Lyons, AAUP secretary, attended several meetings with the representatives of Isaacson, Miller over the last few months, where she pushed for diversity and shared governance, among other things. For example, Lyons told the representatives she would love to see a woman of color fill the position. Members of the AAUP spent

most of those meetings urging Isaacson, Miller to consider an open, public presidential search, but Lyons said the firm was unwavering on that matter. “We fought the good fight [on the closed search],” she said. “I think we made our point, but at a certain point we had to move on to other issues.” Now, the AAUP is focused on the end result: hiring a qualified, competent president. “We’re pretty happy with the description [of the position profile] because it does seem they’ve taken our concerns to heart,” Lyons said. “The qualities listed are entirely consistent with what the AAUP is hoping for in a president.” The document, released Tuesday, will assist the board, the Presidential Search Committee and executive search firm Isaacson, Miller in identifying Miami University’s next president. In addition to indicating the skills and qualities desired in a presidential candidate, this document describes the university, its history and its values, as well as opportunities and challenges the next president will face, according to Ted Pickerill, secretary to the Board of Trustees. The position profile was drafted by Isaacson, Miller and reviewed PRESIDENT »PAGE 8

EMILY WILLIAMS

ACTIVISM

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Miami alumnus and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan is officially the nation’s 54th Speaker of the House. His election Thursday morning resolved a period of uncertainty following the resignation of former Speaker and Butler County representative John Boehner. The House Republicans nominated him for the position Wednesday. He won the votes of 236 members, only losing nine votes from House Republicans. In his first address to the House as Speaker, Ryan acknowledged several issues within the House and introduced some of his initial goals. “We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean,” Ryan said in his speech. “Neither the members nor the people are satisfied with how things are going. We need to make some changes, starting with how the House does business.” Ryan went on to encourage more openness and clarity within the House, as well as a stronger focus on allowing all members to contribute equally and having committees retake the lead in drafting legislation. In a statement today, President David Hodge congratulated Ryan and praised Miami’s political history. “Miami has a long history of pro-

ANGELA HATCHER THE MIAMI STUDENT

CREATIVE COMMONS

Alumnus Paul Ryan (‘92) was elected Speaker of the House.

ducing leaders in service to their country, from members of Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet to Miami alumnus Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, to the current sitting members of Congress,” said Hodge. “We celebrate this new role for Paul Ryan and wish him well with his new responsibilities.” President of Miami’s College Republicans Charlie Meyer said he’s excited to so see how Ryan’s national success will inspire younger students, especially within his organization. “It’s going to be awesome to tell incoming freshmen that Paul Ryan was in their shoes when he was at Miami,” Meyer said. “Now he’s one of the leading policy makers in the country.” Ryan, who graduated in 1992 with a degree in political science and economics, returned to Miami PAUL RYAN »PAGE 8

Residence hall haunted by ghost of Helen Peabody LEGENDS

ALISON PERELMAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

After 144 years and two fires, Peabody Hall is still standing. And still haunted. Peabody was once part of the Western Female Seminary, Miami University’s neighboring campus. Helen Peabody, principal and namesake of the building, was an opponent of coeducation and, protective of her students, disliked the men that wandered onto Western campus. To this day, it is said that Helen roams the building’s halls, targeting the men that are now allowed to live there. Many students claim to see the ghost of Helen, as well as the body of a student who hanged herself in the attic. When anything unusual happens within the walls of Peabody, Helen is automatically to blame. Through the years, there have been numerous accounts of sightings and strange happenings. From hearing screams on the phone to objects seeming to move on their own, to feeling someone else’s presence, the students living in Peabody have experienced it all. On her first night here, first-

year Akosua Boadi-Agyemang was alone in the lounge and, just as she was leaving, the piano started playing on its own. “The building in itself is creepy,” she said. “There are a lot of sealed-off doors.”

And students never forget its history. “You just remember, ‘Oh yeah, it’s the haunted one,’” said Boadi-Agyemang. Most students don’t seem to mind that Peabody is haunt-

NEWS p. 2

NEWS p. 3

CULTURE p. 4

THE OXFORD DIVIDE ON HALLOWEEN

MIAMI FAMILY CREATES A RAINBOW HOUSE

Oxford parents discuss the pros and cons of Halloween in a college town

Son of a Miami employee decorates house with thousands of rainbow pictures

TODAY in MIAMI HISTORY

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

BOOTIFUL A rare spotting of Helen Peabody, who is known to lurk under the Western bridges late at night, along with the spirit of the student who hanged herself in the attic of Peabody Hall. ed, and some play into it by pulling pranks and watching scary movies. Some students even dare to say rude things about Helen Peabody near her portrait, but they are still careful to whisper.

Monday morning, Mona-Mae Juwillie was sitting on her bed scrolling through Yik Yak. She was horrified by what she saw. “If there was a movement called white lives matter it would be shot down immediately even though it would be the same damn thing as black lives matter. The black community is the most racist now.” Then: “As a white student I enjoy this school as it is mainly white upper middle class students like me. If I went to a historically black college I would feel like I was discriminated against.” And another: “We give black people prime inner city living locations so that they are set up to succeed. But they don’t even have to work for it, it’s just given to them. Just like the month of February.” Juwillie, a sophomore, was quick to exit out of the app. She sat, shocked as she processed what her peers — what her fellow Miamians — were saying. Monday evening, 7:30 p.m., marked the moment Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, were to speak on behalf of Miami’s Lecture Series in Hall Auditorium, the event that sparked all the backlash on Yik Yak. Lana Kay Rosenberg, associate professor of dance and Lecture Series Committee chair, said those behind the posts don’t understand the purpose of the movement. “No. 1, it isn’t ‘Only Black Lives Matter,’ it is Black Lives Matter,” she said. “If this person would’ve gone to the lecture — quite sure that this person did not — and had stayed through the whole lecture, they would’ve heard the message from the founders.” The night of the event, Garza, Tometi and Cullors did not tiptoe around the subject. They addressed the criticism of their hashtag head on. “Questions come up to us a lot about ... ‘All Lives Matter,’ so let’s just deal with that,” Garza said. “What? You’ll say it on Yik Yak tomorrow, but won’t say it now?” After much audience applause, Cullors chuckled “Yak this,” she said. “All lives do matter,” Garza said. “We are all working for a world where every single person’s life does matter. But that’s not the world we live in right now. So to deny the existence of a phenomenon where some lives actually do matter more than others means that you refuse to be grounded in reality.” Juwillie stood after this moment and applauded the three founders BLM »PAGE 8

OPINION p. 6

SPORTS p. 10

WRITERS TELL MIAMI MYTHS AND LEGENDS

SAFE CAMPUS ACT COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

THURSDAY NIGHT LOSS AT YAGER STADIUM

In the spirit of Halloween, writers explore Miami’s frightful folklore

Editorial board highlights the negative consequences for sexual assault victims

Special teams dooms RedHawks football in 25-29 loss against Buffalo.

Today in 1962, The Miami Student reported that Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev announced his intention to dismantle all offensive missile bases in Cuba, leaving students and U.S. citizens asking “What’s next?” Student Staff Writer Jon Schiller wrote, “Only one thing seems certain: the Cuban crisis ... will not precipitate into nuclear holocaust.”


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October 30, 2015 | The Miami Student by The Miami Student - Issuu