The Huntington News October 15, 2021
The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community
@HuntNewsNU
AFTER TWO YEARS, ATHLETES RUN IN PERSON AT 125TH BOSTON MARATHON Photos by Marta Hill The historic 26.2-mile race returned with roughly 18,000 athletes.
By Annah Chaya | News Staff After cancellations, postponements and a “virtual experience”, the Boston Marathon finish line returned to Copley Square Oct. 11. For John Guilfoil, CEO of John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC and adjunct professor of journalism, the return to an in-person race was a sign of strength for the city. “The marathon being held is an encourageable sign of life in our community,” Guilfoil said. Benson Kipruto and Diana Kipyokei, both Kenyan natives, won the men’s and women’s professional divisions with times of 2:09:51 and 2:24:45 respec-
tively, making it the eighth Kenyan sweep since 2000. Marcel Hug and Manuela Schär of Switzerland won the men’s and women’s wheelchair races with Hug finishing with a time of 1:18:11 and Schär finishing in 1:35:21. It had been 910 days since runners and spectators last congregated in the streets of Boston for the world’s oldest continually run marathon — the last in-person race was held April 15, 2019. The April 2020 marathon was postponed from its annual Patriot’s Day date because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an effort to maintain a sense of normalcy, the Boston Athletic Association instead held a “virtual experience” in September 2020. This virtual format was a first for the marathon and only the second modification the event has experienced. The first major modification was during World War I, which changed the marathon to a military relay race. While there were hopes of a normal race in the spring of 2021, fears of COVID-19 once again led to the cancellation of the April date and the eventual postponement until Oct. 11. 26.2 MILES, on Page 12
Mills College merger creates uncertainty, hope Northeastern University announced Sept. 14 that it had finalized its merger with Mills College, a women’s college in Oakland, Calif. The agreement will change Mills to a coed institution, rename it to Mills College at Northeastern University, and bring its 135-acre campus into Northeastern’s “global network”, according to a statement
by President Joseph E. Aoun. Established in 1852, Mills is “the oldest women’s college west of the Mississippi,” said Elizabeth Hillman, the president of Mills College. “That’s an era that’s coming to an end here with this merger with Northeastern, and that’s a loss for our community, and, I hope, a gain for our mission, in order to sustain
things going forward,” Hillman said in an interview with The News. In the past, Mills’ policy has been to admit “self-identified women and people assigned female at birth who do not fit into the gender binary” as undergraduates and all genders as graduate students, per its website. In 1990, students at Mills College
stopped an attempt by the college to become fully coeducational in response to declining enrollment. The merger will establish the Mills Institute which is “dedicated to advancing women’s leadership and to empowering BIPOC and first-generation students.” “Mills has an extraordinary campus. That makes Mills special,
honestly. Mills’ location in California has shaped Mills tremendously,” Hillman said. “Mills was the first women’s college to recognize that gender was more fluid than what women’s colleges have thought in the past and welcomed nonbinary students and trans women to its campus community.” SATELLITE CAMPUS, on Page 3