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Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
MONDAY APRIL 15, 2019
ONLINE AT DAILYTARGUM.COM
Rutgers union plans last bargaining session in wake of new athletic facility BRENDAN BRIGHTMAN & JAKE SCHMIED NEWS EDITOR & ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
Rutgers broke ground on the $65 million Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center that will serve approximately 650 student athletes at a ceremony on Saturday, promising top-notch academics for current and future Scarlet Knights. The new recruiting tool’s launch comes as the Rutgers American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT) prepares for a possible strike after today’s final bargaining session. A strike would
halt the teaching of approximately 7,700 faculty members. “We had several lengthy bargaining sessions with management last week and have one more scheduled for Monday,” said Marian Thorpe, a graduate worker, in an email to The Daily Targum. “The administration still has not agreed to a functional process for making sure female faculty and Newark and Camden faculty are compensated fairly. Management also doesn’t seem to understand why grad employees and part-time lecturers should make a living wage. If the administration continues to refuse to pay these
professors and TAs fairly, we will be forced to strike.” The Gar y and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center, located across from Athlete’s Glen of HighPoint.com Stadium, will house the men’s and women’s soccer teams, in addition to both of the lacrosse programs. The joint academic and athletics facility will also hold the entire athletics administration, the first building to put the departments under one roof. “To have a home for all of our students for all of their academic SEE FACILITY ON PAGE 4
Throughout the weekend there were training sessions for picketing captains, the union tweeted Saturday. Posts also showed signs that read “Rutgers Strike!” GARRETT STEFFE / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
U. unveils plaza to Murder happens in honor Paul Robeson New Brunswick 2nd CATHERINE NGUYEN NEWS EDITOR
Susan Robeson, Paul Robeson’s granddaughter, said the University was built on traditional Lenape grounds. Paul Robeson himself was part Lenape. CASEY AMBROSIO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Last Friday, under sunny skies, hundreds of students and Rutgers alumni gathered at Voorhees Mall to celebrate Paul Robeson’s legacy and watch the unveiling of the Paul Robeson Plaza in his honor. Before the official ribbon-cutting for the plaza, people were able to enjoy free food, games, inflatables and prizes from 1 to 3 p.m. Promptly afterward, participants gathered in front of a podium adjacent to Voorhees Hall, where Felicia McGinty, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, gave the opening remarks. “I can hardly contain my excitement,” she said. “Today, Paul Robeson returns to the Banks.” The next speaker on the stage was Reverend Gregory Smith Robeson, a foundation chief executive pastor and nephew of Paul Robeson. He first reminded the audience of Paul Robeson’s achievements as a scholar, an athlete and a linguist, highlighting Paul Robeson’s role in the fight for civil rights especially. “He used his prestige and talents as weapons for the struggle for freedom,” Gregor y Smith Robeson said. University President Robert L. Barchi also spoke at the event, acknowledging that while Paul Robeson was one of the most notable alumni to have graduated from Rutgers, what he fought for also brought to light the University’s dark history. Barchi said that Rutgers was currently at a “moment of reckoning” as an institution, because for the past few years,
it has been working to confront its histor y of involvement in race and equality. “We haven’t been shying from those facts,” he said during his speech. “We’ve been publicizing them, we’ve been discussing them and we’ve been memorializing them. We’ve not been taking names off of things, we have been pointing out why they’re there.” Paul Robeson himself had challenges while studying at Rutgers. For example, the University made him sit on the bench during a football game because the opposing team refused to play with a Black man on the field, Barchi said. The location of the plaza was also reflective of his legacy. Not only was the plaza located centrally between College Avenue and the vista between Seminary Place and Bishop Place, but it was also meant to be a space of introspection and contemplation. Jim Savage, a Rutgers alumnus and chair of the Class of 1971 45th Milestone Campaign Committee to build the Plaza, said it was in New Brunswick as opposed to Piscataway because that was where Paul Robeson took classes when he studied at Rutgers. Savage said the plaza also included photographs of Paul Robeson on black granite to provide a story of his life’s work, and a ground space in between the walls meant for people to inscribe words of their choice. Claude White, who served as president of the Class of 1971 while at Rutgers, took the time to also thank those who were involved SEE PLAZA ON PAGE 4
VOLUME 151, ISSUE 45 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8• DIVERSIONS ... 9• SPORTS ... BACK
time this month, prosecutors say BRENDAN BRIGHTMAN NEWS EDITOR
Two men were arrested Saturday morning and charged in the death of 36-year-old Lucas ReyesCardona, whose body was found in the basement of an abandoned residence on Welton Street on April 5, according to a Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office press release made public over the weekend. This is the second murder to happen in New Brunswick this month, the first was reported by The Daily Targum earlier this month, when a University-wide email announced the incident five days after it had occurred. Thirty-six-year-old Juan Carlos Chavez-Amaya and 28-year-old Jorge Barrios — both of New Brunswick — were arrested and charged with one count of first degree murder and one count of endangering an injured victim in the third degree, according to the release. The investigation is active and ongoing, both Chavez-Amaya and Barrios are presumed innocent until proven guilty, according to the release. The first murder this month occurred near the Paterson Street bus stop on George Street. The University did not respond in time for this article’s publication, so it is unclear if extra safety measures have been taken by the Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) since the incident.