REFORM Prison systems in the United States can be fixed from the inside
hip hop night Scarlet Pub hosted four rap artists who charmed the crowd with their beats
SEE opinions, page 6
SEE arts & entertainment, page 8
MEN’S LACROSSE Rutgers hopes to continue undefeated season against Fairfield
SEE sports, back
WEATHER Partly cloudy all day High: 73 Low: 52
Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
rutgers university—new brunswick
Friday, february 24, 2017
online at dAilytargum.com
Barchi faces student protests at town hall Stephen Weiss associate news editor
Students held their hands in “X’s” over their head as University President Robert L. Barchi spoke. They aimed to protest the University’s disregard for student input in hiring a new director of the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
The Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) held its biannual Town Hall meeting featuring University President Robert L. Barchi last night. The meeting began with general statements from Barchi regarding important issues such as the University’s stance on marijuana discipline, medical amnesty and sexual violence. When the floor was opened up to general inquiries, recurring questions regarding recent issues with the hiring of a new director of Rutgers’ Office of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) seemed to garner much of the meeting’s attention, as well as questions about actions being taken to further diversify the University. The first question was asked by Imani Ali, a member of the VPVA, who voiced her concern with the
lack of student input taken into consideration with regard to hiring a new director. The question was the initiating moment of a demonstration carried out by the organization. “The search for VPVA director was deemed a failed search. Dr. McGinty is proceeding with the search process without the search committee which means no student input. After meeting with Dr. Lasky, she implied the director would be hired within one week. This is a blatant disregard for student voice on the epidemic of sexual violence on our campus,” she said to Barchi. “How do you justify this?” When she stopped speaking, about 20 students representing the VPVA stood up with their arms crossed in an “X” formation above their heads. Barchi immediately redirected the question to Felicia McGinty, See Town
hall on Page 4
U. women’s history program ranks No. 1 Alexandra DeMatos editor-in-chief
The Department of History’s women’s and gender history graduate program was recently ranked No.1 in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report. Rutgers was one of the first universities not only in the nation, but most likely the world, to recognize and advance the study of women’s history, according to the School of Arts and Sciences. There were both difficulties and advantages associated with advancing women’s programs within multiple college faculties that created multiple programs in women’s studies, said Mary Hartman, the director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership (IWL) and a professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. Johanna Schoen, a professor in the Department of History, said half of the faculty members in the program are women, and that has been the case since the merging of the history departments at Douglass College, the Downtown campus and Livingston campus in the mid-70s and early 80s. “The merger brought a number of very strong and smart feminists who had been on the Douglass faculty into the then mostly male
department,” she said. “It considerably strengthened the department and helped it rise to the top. It has shaped the tenor of the department into a place in which male faculty members, too, are sensitive to issues of gender and sexuality.” When the faculties were reorganized in the early 80s, consolidating the disciplines into single New Brunswick departments, the University committee responsible for locating housing for the different disciplines assigned all the faculty from the five women’s studies programs into two small offices in the basement of one of the Douglass buildings. “As the new dean of the college then, I was informed of this situation by the new chair for women’s studies, and made it my business to ensure that women’s studies would not only get more space but also get space above ground,” Hartman said. “This visible focus on the field helped to encourage top scholars in women’s studies and history to come to Rutgers, and students to take classes in these fields.” Bonnie Smith, a Board of Governors professor, said that the scholars who have joined the program within the last few years will help keep the department at the top of the rankings for decades to come,
U.S. News and World Report ranked the women’s and gender history graduate program at Rutgers as the best in the country. In addition to having the highest academic ranking, the department was among the first to recognize women’s history as an academic discipline. RUTGERS.EDU according to the School of Arts and Sciences. “I was attracted to Rutgers because of the excellence of the program and because the faculty (has) a reputation of being very congenial,” Schoen said. “Everybody works really hard and they get along really well. Those two things are important.”
The program consists of a large faculty from which students can receive advice from a broad range of members that complement each other in their area of specialty, she said. “We teach our students with a global perspective in mind,” Schoen said. “This means that the readings students do cover the history of
VOLUME 149, ISSUE 15 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • arts & entertainment... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK
women and gender from all across the globe. This encourages students to think comparatively.” The topics of the program range from the treatment of sexual differences in medieval times, the role of women in the Civil Rights movement and France’s marriage See program on Page 5