GERRYMANDERING Proposal of Democrats will
FAUX FUR FASHION Animal rights groups
BASKETBALL Knights get the best of their Ivy
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open NJ to manipulated redistricting
celebrate as houses like Chanel swear off skins
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League opponent
Weather Sunny High: 40 Low: 20
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Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
MONDAY DECEMBER 10, 2018
ONLINE AT DAILYTARGUM.COM
U. to build academic hub for athletes BRENDAN BRIGHTMAN STAFF WRITER
A new building, the Barbara and Gary Rodkin Center for Academic Success, was approved at Rutgers University’s Board of Governors meeting on Thursday. The new $15 million addition received its most major contribution from Barbara and Gary Rodkin, according to a Board resolution released in February. “Among my highest priorities has been to improve the academic resources for all our students,” said Rutgers University President Robert L. Barchi. “This gift from Gary and Barbara will further our aspiration to be recognized as one of the world’s premier universities. I want to thank the Rodkins for their remarkable leadership in helping our student athletes achieve the highest academic standards.” The building will consolidate all academic support services for Athletics in a single building and will also house training facilities for the men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse programs, as well as offices for Athletics administration. The facility will be located on Busch campus across from HighPoint.com Stadium, according to the resolution. The building’s resources for athletes will include academic advising, learning specialists, one-on-one and group tutoring, workshops and seminars, team study halls and a computer lab, according to the resolution. The facility will also have a
The Barbara and Gary Rodkin Center for Academic Success will include resources for student athletes such as academic advising, learning specialists, one-on-one and group tutoring, workshops, seminars, team study halls and a computer lab. RUTGERS.EDU lounge to foster peer-to-peer interaction among student athletes. “The great state universities pride themselves on excellence, both in academics and athletics,” Gary Rodkin said. “Being a successful student athlete is a difficult balancing act.
These young men and women represent us. We feel a responsibility to help provide the resources necessary for them to achieve on the playing surface and in the classroom.” The Board meeting also celebrated women’s basketball head
coach C. Vivian Stringer’s 1,000th victory and stressed the increased need for online course offerings, as they are more financially feasible for students. The Daily Targum reported last week that the meeting was met
with protests from faculty and students who, in a combined effort, were advocating for a $15 minimum wage and a new faculty contract that would promise increased benefits, job security and greater staff diversity.
Paul Robeson, Rutgers’ 3rd Black graduate, topic of Byrne Seminar CATHERINE NGUYEN STAFF WRITER
Susan Robeson, Paul Robeson’s granddaughter and professor of the Byrne Seminar about him, explores his struggles for social justice across the world. RUTGERS.EDU
Last week, first-year students presented their research about the life of Paul Robeson in a Byrne Seminar called The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Celebrating the 100-Year Anniversar y of Paul Robeson’s Graduation from Rutgers, a course taught by Robeson’s granddaughter Susan Robeson, according to Rutgers Today. Robeson was Rutgers’ third Black graduate and was a renowned athlete, human rights activist and actor. During the course,
students explored Robeson’s life and legacy. “It has been rewarding to see the lights go on in the younger generation of students who haven’t experienced the hardships of my grandfather’s time, but got a grasp of global issues and the importance of his position, not just in America, but in the world,” Susan Robeson said. “There is a river to the freedom struggle and so much of that flow comes from Paul Robeson.” The course is par t of a series of classes to introduce students to research. Some of the topics explored were Paul Robeson’s
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fights for social justice across the world, his acting and singing career and the struggles he faced such as blacklisting in the McCar thy age. Specifically, students examined how in 1938, Paul Robeson tweaked his song “Ol’ Man River,” which he had written a decade earlier. Jordan Davis and Olubukola Lana, School of Arts and Sciences first-years, said he changed the song from one of Black suffering to one of Black empowerment. Paul Robeson replaced the lyrics “I get weary and sick of tryin’ / I’m SEE SEMINAR ON PAGE 5