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ISSUE NO.
Comic relief
3, OUR 108th
YEAR
Tiger beat
Monday, September 11, 2017
Previewing Homecoming comedy act Hasan Minhaj, Diversions, p. 10
Terps top Towson, 63-17, in convincing home opener, p. 14
community
campus
campus
Reveal of dean draws grad ire
Title IX probing ed prof’s ouster Office investigating whether dismissal was retaliation for complaint or driven by discrimination
Snap announcement of graduate school head catches some students off-guard
The University o f M a r yl a n d ’s Natalie Schwartz Office of Civil @nmschwartz23 Rights and Sexual Senior staff writer Misconduct is investigating whether an education professor’s contract nonrenewal was retaliation for filing a grievance against the college, and whether her nonrenewal was based on religious, political or national origin discrimination. Francine Hultgren, chair of the education college’s Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership department, sent an email on June 8 to Melissa Landa, an assistant clinical professor in the college, telling her that her contract would not be renewed, according to documents obtained by The Diamondback. Landa filed a formal faculty grievance in February against Hultgren and TLPL Associate Chair John O’Flahavan in response to O’Flahavan removing her from the college’s language arts instruction team in May 2016 and Hultgren’s support for this decision, according to emails. Landa said she attempted to resolve the issue “amicably” with the help of this university’s ombuds services and Jennifer Rice, who at the time was an education college associate dean. O’Flahavan declined to comment for by
See title ix , p. 8
the now-suspended bus stop outside Montgomery Hall, near where Lt. Richard Collins was killed in May, has become a makeshift memorial since the murder. DOTS has relocated the bus stop to outside of Annapolis Hall. tom hausman/the diamondback
‘not a bus stop’ Univ relocates bus stop at scene of Collins’s death as memorial plans percolate By Natalie Schwartz and Noah Fortson | @thedbk | Staff writers
T
he University of Maryland’s Montgomery Hall bus stop — where 23-yearold Bowie State University student Richard Collins was killed in May — has been moved to near Annapolis Hall. “We want to memorialize and honor the life and the memory of Lt. Collins,” said university President Wallace Loh, who added that officials waited to move the bus stop because they wanted to get consent from Collins’ family. “It would be incredibly rude [and] disrespectful for us to do anything without the consent and engagement with the family,” Loh said. University spokeswoman Katie Lawson wrote in an email that the stop has been relocated “temporarily.”
“The university has received preliminary consent to begin discussions regarding a memorial to honor Lt. Collins, pending further discussions with his family,” Lawson wrote in a statement. DOTS Executive Director David Allen said there have been no complaints about the bus stop being treated as a temporary memorial. “This is a good stand-in until they find an appropriate place to put a permanent memorial,” said junior communication major Chris Egbunine. “Sometimes I see people will open up the binder there and read about the man’s life and unfortunate, tragic death ... It’s sad, but [it’s] a good thing to keep students notified about the dangers that See stop, p. 6
campus
Counselors see patient spike amid unrest After year of political division, racial tension, emergency appts rise Following a yea r f i l l e d with political d iv i s i o n a n d racial tension, the University of Maryland’s Counseling Center’s intake and emergency appointments increased by as much as 24 percent, according to its annual report. The center had about 250 more intake appointments during the 2016-17 academic year than the one before — an increase of about 11 percent. The number of emergency appointments jumped to 299, which is up about 24 percent from the previous school year. Emergency appointments are called for situations involving suicide, panic attacks, or other personal crises. Last school year’s intake appointment uptick represents a 24 percent increase from the three-year average. Noah Collins, the center’s associate director, said some of this increase could possibly be attributed to the political climate since the 2016 presidential election, “increasing incidents of hate” and national “divisions in culture,” among other trends, such as the lowering of stigma associated with seeking services. The fatal stabbing of Richard Collins, a black Bowie State University student, near the Montgomery by
Natalie Schwartz @nmschwartz23 Senior staff writer
the counseling center in Shoemaker Hall has seen a 24 percent uptick in emergency appointments following a year filled with political division and racial tension. The center had about 250 more intake appointments in the 2016-17 academic year than the year before. file photo/the diamondback Hall bus stop in May has left many students shaken. Sean Urbanski, a white former student at this university, has been indicted on one count of murder in connection with the stabbing, which is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The center’s report described the 2016-17 academic year as “unpredictable, unusual, and transformational,” citing Collins’ death, as well as “hatefilled assaults against marginalized communities on and off campus.” Last school year, there were five reports of white nationalist posters found around the campus, and a noose was found inside a fraternity house. All are being investigated as hate bias incidents. “We have seen students coming in [with] feelings about the election,
calendar 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 city 7 diversions 9 SPORTS 14
feelings about hate incidents that have happened around campus, the murder of Lt. Collins, so there have been people specifically coming in due to those things,” said María Berbery, a staff psychologist. In April, chalkings were found outside Stamp Student Union that included messages such as “Build the wall” and “Deport Dreamers.” “[The chalkings] did get some anxieties up about students wondering who they’re with and whether they feel like they can disclose their status as an undocumented student here, even with professors, feeling nervous about disclosing that, what might be done with that information, whether it will be kept confidential or if it could See counseling, p. 6
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University of Maryland Presid e n t Wa l l a c e L o h ’s s u r p r i se announcement of the pick for the graduate school’s new dean in a campuswide address has some graduate students asking the administration for more transparency. On Aug. 28, Loh sent an email to the campus community discussing the state of this university, first commenting on recent cases of hatred and white supremacy, and later introducing new projects, faculty and staff. In a short paragraph welcoming the newest members of this university’s academic leadership, a single line announced Juan Uriagereka, a linguistics professor, had been appointed to dean of the graduate school, which houses some 11,000 students. “Welcome to three new members of UMD’s academic leadership, all longtime faculty colleagues: Jennifer Rice, Dean, College of Education; Gerald Wilkinson (Biology), Interim Dean, CMNS; and Juan Uriagereka (Linguistics), Dean, Graduate School,” Loh’s statement read. “And thank you to Jeffrey Franke of the Graduate School for serving so ably as Interim Dean this past year.” “I was making a whole bunch of announcements and just thought, ‘Well, I’ll just toss that one in,’” Loh told The Diamondback. “The only announcement I’ve made is that, and I said, ‘Congratulations, he was offered the position.’” While Uriagereka has been offered the position, the university has not announced whether he has accepted the position, and Loh said the process was ongoing. Officials from the dean’s office declined to comment on the dean selection or the appointment process. Some graduate students were unhappy with the statement and expected a more formal and detailed message from the provost, who had made the decision to offer the job to Uriagereka, Loh said. “This way of announcing the new dean of the graduate school summarizes the attitude of the president and the provost towards grad students and where we are on their priority list,” said Graduate Student Government mechanical engineering students representative Roozbeh Bakhshi. Interim Dean Jeffrey Franke, who has by
Noah Fortson @nofo34 Staff writer
See DEAN, p. 2