THURSDAY March 29, 2018
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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$50,000 awarded to Black Girl Genius Week
Original claims made on Chinese social media BY JESSICA BURSZTYNSKY AND KAREN LIU
STAFF WRITER
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Vol. 147 Issue 51
Professor denies 20 years of assault
BY REBECCA WOOD
University professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, Ruth Brown, received the Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship of $50,000 to advance Black Girl Genius Week, a program impacting Black women from central Illinois, Chicago, San Diego and Columbia, South Carolina. Black Girl Genius Week was designed to promote discussion and to celebrate black girlhood through events such as art projects, discussions, speakers, concerts and dance parties throughout the week. “Black Girl Genius Week allows for organic knowledge to emerge and amplifies the power Black girls possess to name, critique and transform social conditions,” Brown said in an email. Brown said in 2006, she created another proj-
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MANAGING EDITOR FOR REPORTING AND NEWS EDITOR
University tenured associate professor Gary Xu has been accused of sexually assaulting students for nearly 20 years. The allegations were first posted on Douban, a Chinese online discussion forum, by a user who was identified as Wesleyan University professor Ao Wang. While the original post did not explicitly name the accused, a later post from the same user disclosed Xu as the professor in question. The original post claims Xu maintained inappropriate relationships with multiple students and made unwanted advances toward several female colleagues of the accuser over the years. According to the original post, Xu invited a student who was applying to study in the United States to his home in Beijing when he was in charge of admission and “forcibly cuddled” her upon meeting. The original post also
PHOTO COURTESY OF WEIBO
Gary Xu, tenured assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, has been accused on various Chinese social media platforms of sexual assault. Xu denied the claims and is resigning from his position in August.
said a famous Chinese writer commented on Xu as “a wolf leading a pack of sheep” when he led a group of female students on an exchange trip to Beijing around 2001 to 2002, allegedly referring to Xu’s longstanding reputation. “For the Chinese web rumors, I adamantly deny all accusations, which were spread by a third party who has no access to any true information or rights to say anything about me,” Xu said in an email. Xu said he is filing a criminal suit against Wang in a Chinese court. According to Xu, Wang has received the lawyer’s letter. Following the allegations, Xu was removed from his position as the curator of the Shenzhen Biennale, an art exhibition focusing on urbanism and architecture. Xu, a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, has been removed from the University directory. Robin Kaler, University spokeswoman, said in an email that Xu is not teaching any courses at the moment, but he will hold his tenured status until his resignation from the University on Aug. 16. “The University invesSEE ASSAULT | 3A
Outreach program addresses student veteran challenges BY GEORGE VASSILATOS STAFF WRITER
The University has launched a new outreach program to address the unique challenges student veterans face. Jason Sakowski, veteran services coordinator, and Nick Osborne, director of the Center for Wounded Veterans, reached out to all the community colleges in
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the state to recruit veteran transfer students. “99 percent of our (veteran) students are actually transfer students from other community colleges,” Sakowski said. “A lot of our students are getting out and starting at community college and then learning what they want to do.” Osborne said that in many ways, the Universi-
ty is designed for students coming straight out of high school, and veterans face unique challenges on campus. Tariq Khan, a military veteran and graduate student, said he doesn’t believe the support services for veterans go far enough in an email. “I can’t speak for all veterans, but I can say that I can-
not afford healthcare,” Khan said. “In the United States we glorify veterans with our rhetoric, but we leave veterans jobless, out in the cold to starve. This is a nation that uses poor and working class people as cannon fodder.” According to Sakowski, the University provides support services for the 350 active duty or veteran students on campus through
the Center for Wounded Veterans and Veteran Support Services. “The Center for Wounded Veterans provides a very comprehensive blend of services that are specific to each student’s need,” Osborne said. The center was started in 2015 to provide a model similar to Disability Resource Educational Services, but
specifically tailored for veterans. The Center houses 14 student veterans, and works closely with DRES and the US Department of Veteran Affairs to ensure students have access to therapists and counselors, Osborne said. Sakowski said Veteran Support Services will SEE OUTREACH | 3A
Stigma against veterans impedes mental health treatment Studies reveal public attitude toward veterans BY YASMEEN RAGAB ASSISTANT DAYTIME NEWS EDITOR
Growing unrest in White House PAGE 6A
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Two ongoing studies spearheaded by the Transforming Trauma and Mental Health Research Laboratory are seeking to understand how veterans make decisions regarding their mental health and how those who interact with veterans perceive and understand veterans’ issues. Assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, Robyn Gobin, is the research head of the two studies. The first study aims to assess the effect of online tools on veterans’ treatment-seeking behavior, mental health stigma and mental health literacy, Gobin said. Mental health literacy is defined as a person’s under-
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Student Colin Hec walks past photos of veterans on wall in Armory. Two University studies aim to explain mental health stigma.
standing of mental illnesses, the symptoms and how to get help, Gobin said. Veterans are asked to come into the Chez Center for Wounded Veterans in Urbana and are randomly assigned to a mental health tool. They are then asked a series of questions before and after engaging with the
resource. The researchers follow up with the participants one month later, then again three months later to see how the tool may have affected their behaviors in seeking treatment. Gobin said she and her research team are interested in the student-veteran
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perspective for this study and are seeking students at the University to participate, in order to strike a balance between community member participants and student participants. Right now, community member participants outnumber student participants. The second ongoing study
is concerned with how the people who interact with veterans at work, in school and at home perceive veterans’ issues. Participants are randomized into one of two three-hour long workshops that help them better understand veterans. Partic-
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