ACADEMIC FREEDOM Censoring faculty speech is a complex issue
see opinions, page 6
Hazelnuts Rutgers scientists tackle worldwide
FOOTBALL Rutgers suffers embarrassing shutout
SEE Sports, back
decline in hazelnut production
see SCIENCE, page 8
loss to last-place Indiana
WEATHER Mostly sunny High: 46 Low: 33
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017
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Rutgers organizations convene for transgender awareness week Sam Leibowitz-Lord Contributing Writer
Approximately 1.4 million individuals identify as transgender, according to The New York Times. In order to to help raise the visibility of transgender and gender non-binary people on campus, several organizations at Rutgers including RU Transmissions, the Center for Social Justice Education (SJE), LLEGO and Rutgers Queer People of Color came together this past week to host several events in honor of Trans Awareness and Empowerment Week. According to SJE, the events included a lecture from Hall of Fame Olympic Triathlete Chris Mosier, a transgender man, and a discussion forum titled “Allyship 101,” to discuss what cisgender students — individuals who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth — can do to support the trans community. The forum also included the discussion of the history and current status of the transgender community, as well as a general discussion about sex and gender. Other events explored gender in the Latino and Navajo communities, and a film about the life of transgender activist Major Griffin-Gracey. “We wanted cisgender students to have to think about gender as much as a trans person does,” said Lief Krutko, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore and secretary of the executive board of RU
Transmissions. “For trans people, thinking about gender is a constant thing. We wanted cisgender people to experience that too.” RU Transmissions is a discussion-based group that has weekly meetings to discuss issues pertaining to the transgender and non-gender-conforming community at Rutgers. It also hosts recreational events, such as movie nights. Its role in Trans Awareness and Empowerment Week was to host “Allyship 101.” The transgender community in the United States faces a high rate of murder and suicide — the Human Rights Campaign reported that 48 transgender individuals in the United States were violently murdered in 2016 and 2017, while a study from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality states that 41 percent of transgender Americans will attempt to end their life. The conversation with RU Transmissions focused on how cisgender individuals can be supportive of their transgender peers, such as referring to them by their preferred pronouns and understanding the complex intersections of sex and gender. Krutko, a non-gender-conforming student who goes by the pronouns “they/them,” said it was encouraging to see how many cisgender students attended. Krutko also said the keynote address from Chris Mosier was “very
In honor of Trans Awareness and Empowerment Week, several organizations on campus met to host a string of events. Group forums discussed topics like transgender history and the current status of the transgender community. FACEBOOK inspirational,” as it provided an example of a transgender person who was able to thrive in a highly competitive profession such as athletics. Kyle Silver, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, is a cisgender student who attended “Allyship 101” to make sure he was treating his fellow community members with the respect they deserved, he said.
Silver said that the event’s simple structure made it easy for a student who might not know a lot about transgender issues to get involved and show their support. According to Krutko, transgender students still feel there is more work to be done, such as expanding access to gender-neutral bathrooms and increasing
awareness of transgender issues in the student population. “(Rutgers is) a pretty good place to be trans,” Krutko said. “The University allows transgender students to change their student IDs to their preferred names rather than their legal names, and the atmosphere on campus is generally inclusive and open.”
U. president speaks with students regarding free speech policies Christina Gaudino Staff Writer
This year, Rutgers UNICEF will focus on World Children’s Day, raising awareness for children struggling with terminal illnesses and living impoverished lives. FACEBOOK
UNICEF spreads awareness for impoverished children Jacob Turchi Contributing Writer
More than 3,000 children die from cancer each year, according to the Amanda Riley Foundation. To counter this and other childhood terminal illnesses, the Rutgers UNICEF chapter
will host a fundraiser for World Children’s Day. The club has been working on informing the community about the work that UNICEF does by planning the fundraiser. The annually observed day of awareness See children on Page 5
On Thursday evening the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) invited University President Robert L. Barchi to speak with students, addressing a wide array of issues regarding academic freedom rights of faculty and the reported offshore investments by the University. Following his discussion of the University disruption policy and his confirmation that the swastika spray-painted on the wall of Stonier Hall in late October was a protected action under the First Amendment, Barchi spoke about the process the University takes when an incident regarding free speech arises. The Daily Targum reported on the incident earlier this semester. The determination of whether an action or statement is considered free speech is not made by the University, Barchi said. Regarding instances that concern the limitations of free speech
on campus, the University seeks an outside constitutional opinion before taking action. Barchi said that when responding to a questionable drawing or flyer on campus, “The very first thing that we do is we take a picture of that and in 15 minutes send it to the state attorney for a decision about whether it’s hate speech or not.” The University then removes the disputed item because of its posting guidelines, which dictate where and how flyers can be hung. Barchi encouraged students in the audience to develop a comprehensive understanding of what the First Amendment says, what it does and does not protect and how it relates to public versus private universities. Using his earlier discussion regarding First Amendment protections as a segue, Barchi then defended three University faculty members who have been in the press in the last few weeks surrounding issues of free speech.
VOLUME 149, ISSUE 112 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • SCIENCE ... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK
He said the one commonality between the three different cases was that they were all brought forward by “The Algemeiner,” a Jewish blog based in Brooklyn that succeeded a Yiddish language newspaper by the same name. Barchi began with Michael Chikindas, a professor in the Department of Food Science, to whom a Facebook feed displaying cartoons and crude jokes about Israel, Judaism, women and homosexuality was attributed last month. Regarding the posts, Barchi said there were “a whole lot of things which most of us would find repugnant,” but also included that they are covered by his First Amendment right to free speech. “That’s a problem. You may not like what the guy says, but you have to like the fact that he can say it,” he said. “We always say that. ‘I hate what you’re saying, I disagree with everything you’re saying, but See policies on Page 4