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Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016
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Chancellor’s Task Force prepares to submit report CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ CORRESPONDENT
Simmering racial tensions across college campuses have forced many university administrations to enact reforms to address them. Rutgers University is no exception. Towards the end of last semester, University Chancellor Richard L. Edwards established the Task Force On Inclusion and Community Values. Made up of faculty, staff and students, the group is responsible for “exploring inclusivity” across the University and promoting “conversations about race, bias and identity,” Edwards said in a statement released February. The announcement came shortly after race-related protests overwhelmed academic institutions like Yale University, Ithaca College and the University of Missouri, where University President Timothy Wolfe was forced to resign.
“The idea of the task force started … because the administration realized that there was a growing concern on campus regarding racial tensions and tensions between communities,” said Yasmin Ramadan, a member of the task force representing the University’s Muslim community. “Some students were feeling marginalized.” Members of the task force — who were chosen as representatives of various ethnic, religious and intellectual communities at Rutgers — began meeting in February to gather information on the racial climate around campus and to analyze possible areas of improvement. Ramadan, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said the group will compose a preliminary report of recommendations based on their findings that will be sent to the Chancellor’s office before the end of the semester. SEE REPORT ON PAGE 4
Students prayed during the weekly service hosted by Rutgers Jumu’ah. This past Friday, the group also had their “bring a friend” day, which occurs once a semester and lets non-Muslims learn more about the religion. CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ / CORRESPONDENT
Rutgers Jumu’ah invites guests to weekly service to learn about Islam CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ CORRESPONDENT
For a group of Muslim students, the best way to teach others about their religion is by inviting them to pray alongside them. More than 200 people gathered in the Cooper Dining Hall on Douglass campus on Friday afternoon to participate in Jumu’ah — a weekly prayer service for Muslims. The event, officially titled “Bring your friend to Jumu’ah,” welcomed people of all faiths and backgrounds. The organizer, Rutgers Jumu’ah, has been holding a traditional sermon every Friday afternoon since
2013. Last year its members decided to organize a special event that encouraged non-Muslims to attend. “We want to open up dialogue with the community of Rutgers and give them a glimpse to what it is like to be a Muslim,” said Haris Farooqi, co-president of the group and a School of Arts and Sciences senior. Fellow co-president Zahra Khan noted that before Rutgers Jumu’ah began their work, there was was no place on campus where the University’s large Muslim population could gather and pray. She recalled the days when she was forced to find awkward places to pray – including under stairwells and in library cubicles.
After initially hosting their prayer services in the Second Reformed Church on the College Avenue campus, the group has now found a permanent home in the Cooper Dining Hall. “This is going to be the home for the Muslim community (on campus) for years to come,” the School of Arts and Sciences senior said. “We hope to set a precedent here.” The event’s Khutbah — or prayer sermon — was conducted by Imam Khalid Latif, a prominent Muslim cleric and the executive director of the Islamic Center at New York University. SEE SERVICE ON PAGE 4
Website assists off-campus students locate housing by networking with landlords Rutgers—New Brunswick Chancellor Richard L. Edwards formed a task force last semester to determine how inclusive Rutgers is of LGBTQ+ rights. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR
Office hosts discussion groups on U. violence ERIC WECK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Office of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance is taking steps to help include men in the conversations on masculinity, homophobia and sexual assault by hosting a series of meetings dedicated to their discussion.
The string of gatherings, called “Knights’ Roundtable: Men’s Discussion Group,” is being led by Prevention Education Coordinator Jean Semelfort, who was hired to the job just two months ago. “Part of my position is our approach now to start to engage SEE VIOLENCE ON PAGE 5
SAMANTHA KARAS CORRESPONDENT
When students are down to the final hour of the off-campus housing hunt, suspicious postings and difficult-to-maneuver websites only make the search more complicated. An online platform, uCribs, hopes to make that search easier for college students, especially at Rutgers-New Brunswick. The site’s goal is to provide a good resource for students to find great off-campus housing close to school, said Colin Kish, vice president of strategic partnerships at uCribs. “The whole purpose of going to school is to try and be involved and immersed in the college lifestyle and be around campus,” Kish said. “We don’t want to have properties that are 20 miles away — nobody’s going to use them.” The platform started in 2013
with one college, the University of Delaware, and about 50 property listings, Kish said. Today the website has property listings at virtually almost every college, totaling more than 200,000 listings. Rutgers joined the group of colleges on the website in the earlier part of 2015, he said. It is also a target area. “We want to help the college students out,” Kish said. “The off-campus housing search can be a nightmare and pretty difficult at times. We’re really trying to increase the (number) of properties (in New Brunswick) and how much we have at Rutgers to help you guys out.” While many students use Facebook or Craigslist to find housing or sublets, it may not be the wisest decision when it comes to safety, Kish said. The uCribs app focuses largely on making sure those safety concerns are addressed.
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The platform establishes relationships with landlords and managers of property listings, as opposed to random postings like Facebook and Craigslist, which allow anyone to post anything at anytime. “I’m sure you’ve heard of all the horror stories with Craigslist and the sketchy listings,” Kish said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s an apartment or you’re trying to get shoes, some of it can be really sketchy. With our listings, safety is of utmost concerns, so we have that ace in the hole, so to speak.” There are features on uCribs that separate the platform from the sites Rutgers students already use to find off-campus housing, Kish said. “We have an interactive map that works really well and you’re able to scroll through listings and organize your search efficiently,” he said. SEE LANDLORDS ON PAGE 5