The Statesman 11-04-19

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Volume LXIII, Issue 10

sbstatesman.com

Monday, November 4, 2019

Journalist speaks at Presidential Lecture

By Maya Brown

Assistant News Editor

Dr. Jelani Cobb, an American writer, author and educator, spoke as part of the University’s Presidential Lecture Series on Monday, Oct. 28. During the lecture, Cobb discussed microaggressions and the pursuit of equity in the U.S. He has been an Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism at the Columbia University Journalism School since 2016 and a staff writer for The New Yorker since 2015, where he covers race, politics, history and culture. “Our conversation focuses on a topic of extreme importance,” Interim President Michael Bernstein said at the lecture. “Being on a campus as diverse as ours and understanding the psychological and physical effects of microaggressions is important.” Dr. Jarvis Watson, Interim Chief Diversity Officer, added that picking Dr. Cobb as a presidential speaker was part of the Stony Brook University Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, published in May 2016. The Diversity Plan aims to improve inclusivity on campus and includes the goal to invite more speakers who will “cover concepts of inclusion and anti-bias in campus lecture series events.”

EMMA HARRIS / THE STATESMAN

Redshirt freshman middle blocker Enitain Omolewa spikes the ball over the net during Stony Brook Volleyball's game against Binghamton on Friday, Nov. 1 in the Pritchard Gymnasium. The Seawolves won in three sets. “We realized we needed to do something on a presidential level and we wanted someone who brought the message and set the tone,” Watson said. Cobb opened up the lecture with a remark on the connection between college campuses and issues in the outside world. “College campuses are a microcosm of the problems we see outside in the world,” he said. “If we had any questions about this, it became impossible to avoid this connection two years ago in the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Va.”

The “Unite the Right” rally occurred on Aug. 12, 2017 in the college town of Charlottesville. Hundreds of white nationalists and their supporters gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville’s Lee Park. The rally led to violence between protestors, counter-protestors and the police — including swinging, punching and pepper spraying — ultimately leading to three deaths and about 34 injuries. Cobb spoke about the accusations and violent clashes that occurred on the University of Vir-

ginia’s campus following the rally, and how they were an effect of the acts of hatred and racism that occurred off the campus. He believes that microaggressions and hate crimes happen often on college campuses, showing the connection between what occurs within campuses and outside of the campuses. Cobb shared that he wasn’t surprised to see the same kind of problems occurring nationwide also occurring on college campuses. “In the aftermath [of the rally] we were forced to question the relationship between freedom of expression and signs of oppression,” Cobb said.

Cobb used the Charlottesville tragedy as an anecdote to demonstrate the overall rise of hate crimes and acts of racial bigotry across the U.S. According to the 2017 Hate Crime Statistics from the FBI, hate crime reports were up about 17% from 2016 to 2017 with more than 7,100 hate crimes reported, marking a rise for the third year in a row. There were increases in attacks motivated by racism, religious bias and homophobia. Specifically, there was about a 23% Continued on page 4

SBU invests $1.6 million in diversity plan Student starts nonprofit By Brianne Ledda News Editor

Stony Brook University will invest more than $1.6 million into its Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, according to updates linked in a campus-wide email sent on Friday, Nov. 1. The implementation plan divides its investments among four broadly-defined “goals,” which include recruitment, hiring and other measures to foster a more inclusive campus climate. “These investments help to recruit and retain students, staff, and faculty, as well as improve the lived experience on campus and encourage engagement with our local communities,” Interim President Michael Bernstein said in the email. “They also en-

rich the research, academic, and healthcare missions of our University and hospital network.” The Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was set in motion in 2016, after SUNY launched its own 2015 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy with the goal to make SUNY “the most inclusive state university system in the country.” So far, the university has been focused on building a foundation for implementation, including establishing working groups such as an Advisory Council and a Steering Committee, which prioritize initiatives and programs that highlight Stony Brook’s commitment to diversity, according to the email. “These groups developed suggestions for policy change, an

infrastructure for discourse with senior leadership, and a set of action steps that have been updated annually,” Bernstein wrote in the email. The university is also implementing several working groups, including a Community Task Force and Student Inclusion Leadership Council, which will “analyze how local, state, and national issues impact diverse groups on campus” and “engage with the campus community about DEI policies and procedures that affect the student experience,” respectively. Stony Brook University currently holds a diversity index of .69, according to U.S. News, which lists Stony Brook among the top 50 most ethnically diverse national universities.

Multimedia

Arts & Culture

Local elections are set to take place on Nov. 5.

New Kanye album divides his audience.

2019 Local Election Guide.

MORE ON PAGE 6

By Sherin Samuel Contributing Writer

When Cautney Nelson, 23, first created her nonprofit Millennial Science in December 2018, she wanted to put a fun twist on making research articles more digestible for readers. Nelson soon switched gears to bringing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs to children in low-income areas. The Stony Brook senior biochemistry major was intrigued with science from a young age. She wanted to go to STEM summer camps as a child, but her mother — a single parent — struggled to afford it. Nelson wants her nonprofit to offer children opportunities that she didn’t have growing up.

“It would have helped me so much more had I been given the exposure at an early age,” she said. That gave Nelson the idea to help younger students explore the STEM field, free of charge. Her goal is to attract children who are not only minorities but are also at an economic disadvantage. “Not enough underprivileged areas receive attention or the support to make sure kids don’t fall through the cracks. This program can help bridge that gap,” Catherine Justice, an alumna from Farmingdale State College and the Director of Strategic Planning for the nonprofit, said. Millennial Science partners with libraries from different communities, specifically in Nassau Continued on page 4

Opinions

Sports

Too many Democratic candidates cause confusion.

Deflating 30-10 loss puts playoff odds in jeopardy.

Kanye West releases “Jesus Is King.”

Democrat overload in 2020.

MORE ON PAGE 8

MORE ON PAGE 9

Football falls on road to Richmond. MORE ON PAGE 12


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