OPINION

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 tuftsdaily.com

VIEWPOINT The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell offers hope of delayed justice for many victims

by Gian Luca Di Lenardo

Contributing Writer

Content warning: This article mentions sexual abuse and self-harm.

Justice delayed is justice denied. For the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and his romantic partner turned associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, this maxim expresses a painful reality. However, after countless years of trials and depositions, the chance for a long delayed justice may have finally arrived. On Nov. 30, betraying no sign of emotion, Ghislaine Maxwell marched defiantly into the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in Manhattan to begin her trial. She stands accused of six criminal counts in her indictment ranging from conspiracy to entice minors to engage in illegal sex acts to perjury.

The fall of Maxwell — who was once regarded as the epitome of an Oxford-educated, high-minded British socialite — could not have been more stunning. The names implicated in her and Epstein’s sexual enterprise run vast in both number and scope, as a number of well-known individuals have been accused of having flown on Epstein’s private plane notoriously called the “Lolita Express.” This list of names includes powerful politicians such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and celebrities such as Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.

The jury in the Maxwell trial must decide how integral Maxwell was to Epstein’s sexual enterprise. Was Maxwell merely an unknowing employee beholden to the whims of Epstein, or was she a master manipulator who was proactive in her efforts to procure underage girls for Epstein?

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell met in New York after the death of her father, powerful publisher Robert Maxwell, in 1991. What began as a romantic relationship quickly turned into a businesslike rapport between the two. Beginning in 1994, in what would become a wellworn pattern, Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly began to lure in young girls for Epstein. Maxwell would approach girls as young as 14 with the assurance and charisma of a middle-aged woman. She would then groom the girls — taking them on shopping trips or going with them to movie theaters. Once Maxwell felt that she had built sufficient rapport with the girls, she would then bring them to Epstein, where they would be forced into providing sexual favors for him and his powerful, well-connected friends.

Annie Farmer, one of the victims who testified in court, described meeting Epstein on a trip to New York City to visit her sister. She initially described Epstein, who later invited her to New Mexico where she was falsely told she would be joined by other students, as “friendly and down to earth.” While Farmer, at first, had felt distressed by Epstein’s inappropriate behavior, she explained that Maxwell’s presence had made her feel more comfortable until her visit to New Mexico. While there, Maxwell used the trust she had built with Ms. Farmer to normalize a nonconsensual sexual relationship between Farmer and Epstein.

Another victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, described her encounter with Maxwell while working at Mar-a-Lago when she was only 16 years old. Giuffre described Maxwell as ostensibly being a nice woman and that she gave her the first cell phone she ever had. Maxwell promised Giuffre glamorous job opportunities as a massage therapist and even went so far as to meet Giuffre’s father, promising him that she would take good care of his daughter. Giuffre was then taken to Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, where she was sexually abused.

Maxwell’s once stable position began to spiral when Giuffre filed a defamation lawsuit against her in 2015 after Maxwell claimed that Giuffre’s claims of sexual abuse were lies. The case was eventually settled with no admission of wrongdoing on Maxwell’s part.

However, Maxwell was not able to evade justice forever. In July 2020, Maxwell was arrested at her luxurious mansion in Bradford, New Hampshire and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn without bail where she awaits the conclusion of her trial.

The picture of Ghislaine Maxwell, painted by her victims, is one of a tried-and-true conspirator who used her warm and friendly demeanor to attract and manipulate young girls into exploitative and sexually abusive relationships with influential individuals. Maxwell’s involvement in Epstein’s affairs was necessary for the abuse to continue and arguably could not have occurred without it. It is unconscionable that it took almost 30 years for the victims of Maxwell’s abuse to have their day in court. This reflects a larger issue in how cases like this one can often get caught up in legal bureaucracy at the expense of timely justice for the victims.

In these cases of abuse and sexual exploitation, it is imperative that deeper investigations are carried out swiftly and that all abusers are held accountable. For the women testifying against Maxwell in this particular case, the justice they may receive will never be proportional to the crimes that were committed against them. Nonetheless, this trial has the potential to vindicate their claims and encourage more women to come forward with their stories.

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured.

HOCKEY

continued from back the first. Tufts came out of the break with a good sequence of play, but quickly lost steam. Bowdoin picked up momentum and was able to put lots of shots on the Tufts goal. Sophomore goalie Ryan Welch was vital in keeping the score at 2–1.

“He [Welch] played an unbelievable game and really stepped up and took ahold of the moment,” Scott said.

Welch made multiple saves on breakaways from the Polar Bears’, and effectively kept the Jumbos in the game.

Bowdoin maintained their momentum heading into the third period and found themselves outnumbering the Jumbos at the back. In an effort to be more aggressive, Tufts began to send up their defenders into the attacking zone, but they were frequently getting caught out and left Welch vulnerable. Welch couldn’t keep out the Polar Bears relentless attack indefinitely, as they scored to tie the game with 10 minutes left to play in regulation.

The two teams remained tied through the end of the third period, and the game was sent into overtime. In the dying minutes of the third period, Tufts was called for a penalty for hitting from behind, and Bowdoin entered overtime with a four on three power play advantage. Tufts managed to survive the power play without surrendering a goal, but Bowdoin continued the trend from the third period and put high pressure on the Jumbos’ defense. The pressure paid off as Bowdoin scored from the right flank to win the game 3–2.

In the Colby game, the play was very one-sided. Tufts struggled to generate any offense throughout the game.

“We didn’t really show up, and we didn’t really play our best game,” Cam Newton said.

In the first period, the Jumbos gave up a penalty less than a minute into the game. Colby capitalized on the power play, scoring within the same minute later to take the lead 1–0. The Jumbos were then able to hold the Mules off until the end of the first period, when, with 4 minutes to play, Colby found the back of the net again to make the score 2–0. The Jumbos only managed four shots throughout the first period.

In the second period, the play evened out a little bit more, as the Jumbos saw chances on a power play and a breakaway right at the end of the period. The Colby goalie managed to keep both attempts out to sustain the shutout of the Jumbos. Senior goalie Josh Sarlo kept Tufts in the game throughout the second period, making 17 saves to keep the score 2–0.

Heading into the third period, the Jumbos were still hanging in the game only two goals down. However, the Mules quickly quashed those hopes, as they scored a shorthanded goal only three minutes into the period to make it 3–0. Colby scored once more towards the end of the third period to make the final score 4–0, putting the finishing touches on a shutout against the Jumbos.

“Our effort was not where it needed to be as a whole, and that was a game we were looking to forget about and move on,” senior forward Angus Scott said.

The Jumbos will look to regroup and sort out some of the issues they have been facing heading into winter break.

“We have a lot of talent, and we think we really are going to come out really well after break, we just have to fix some of the little things,” Newton said.

The Tufts daily alumni advisory council is pleased to announce the first in a series of regional alumni events.

Our first meetup will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 at 6 p.m. in New York City. Daily alumni will be gathering at Logan’s Run, which is located at 375a Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn.

Logan’s Run requires proof of vaccination and a photo ID. All Tufts Daily alumni and current students are welcome! RSVPs are not required, but if you do expect to come, it’d help us to have a head count, so please email Alumni Council Chair Maureen O’Brien Klautky at moklautky@ gmail.com. Then bring your vaccination card, your war stories and even your resume, if you want to do some networking, and when you get there just ask for Bret Thorn or Jonathan Larsen or the Tufts Daily Alumni meetup. The Tufts Daily Alumni Advisory Council is interested in creating events wherever Daily alumni live and work. We’re focusing initial efforts on large metro areas such as New York, D.C. and Boston, but we want to hear from you wherever you are about holding one near you! You can also find us on Facebook.

A playoff team

As New England Patriots fans, we truly do not recognize the magnitude of greatness that this franchise has sustained over the past two decades. Since 2000, the team has been to nine Super Bowls and has won six Lombardi Trophies; they’ve missed the playoffs only four times in that span and have produced some of the greatest seasons in NFL history. Even with Tom Brady’s upsetting departure from the Patriots to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the former team strategically retained most of its core and treated the 2020 season as a re-tooling year to develop a few young prospects. After drafting quarterback Mac Jones 15th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Bill Belichick slowly developed a talented and experienced depth chart. Free agent additions Matthew Judon and Hunter Henry excelled in the offseason and only offered more promise for this revamped Patriots team. Now, with four games remaining in the season, the Patriots lead the AFC East at 9–4 and hold the AFC’s first overall seed.

This recent surge in the standings did not seem evident for this Patriots squad; through the first six weeks the Patriots were 2–4 with wins over the New York Jets and Houston Texans — two teams fighting over the first overall pick in 2022. Although the Patriots kept pace in their four losses, poor game management and head-scratching mistakes doomed this team in September. To add more salt onto the wound, the mistakes that the Patriots committed were uncharacteristic of the team and reminded this fanbase of the dreadful 2020 season. The only bright spot from that six-game stretch was the development of rookie Mac Jones, who seemed to be the perfect fit for this Patriots system.

With various absences to the offensive line and secondary, many Patriots fans lost hope and blamed the coaching staff for the team’s woes. While Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick deserve some of the blame for the slow start, the roster was simply underperforming; most players were still adjusting to the playbook and many veterans were committing horrific mistakes on both sides of the ball.

However, after a “get-right” game against the New York Jets in Week 7, the teachings that the Patriots’ brass instilled into the roster during the offseason began to appear. The uncharacteristic miscues diminished to a minimum. Mac Jones began to develop solid relationships with the Patriots receivers, and the secondary started to suffocate opposing quarterbacks. After winning seven straight games, the Patriots have a 98.9% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

Unlike the 2020 Patriots, this roster does not need to be perfect to squeak out victories. Mac Jones has had his fair share of his “Welcome to the NFL” moments, but he does the little things to keep this team afloat. With an upcoming game against the Indianapolis Colts, the 2021 Patriots have solidified themselves as a playoff contender. It’s foolish to consider this team having a possibility to hoist the Lombardi Trophy come February, but the thought isn’t out of the question. This team is rolling on all sides of the football right now. If they can continue their hot streak for the next month, never say never.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021 tuftsdaily.com

Ice hockey loses two conference games

COURTESY KRIS DUFOUR

Williams College defeats Tufts hockey 4–5 on Saturday, Dec. 4.

by Arielle Weinstein

Contributing Writer

This past weekend, Tufts ice hockey team was swept in the two NESCAC games they played. In Friday night’s match against the Colby Mules, the Jumbos fell 4–0. In Saturday’s game, they lost 3–2 in overtime to the Bowdoin Polar Bears. Tufts’ record now sits at 1–7–1 overall and 1–4–1 in the NESCAC.

Entering the weekend, the Jumbos were coming off of a mildly successful previous series in which they beat Middlebury 3–2 and lost to Williams 5–4. The Jumbos were fifth in the NESCAC standings and looked to improve upon their position in conference play.

During these past two games, the Jumbos changed their lineup, hoping to generate more offense. With Bowdoin’s record at 0–4–1, Tufts was hoping to get another conference win on the board. The changes quickly paid off, as the Jumbos maintained possession of the puck for the majority of the opening minutes of the game. Tufts was able to get early shots on goal and test the Bowdoin goalkeeper.

With 10:30 left in the first period, sophomore defender Cam Newton flipped the puck from the right side towards the goal to bring the score to 1–0 in favor of Tufts. The Jumbos continued the pressure on the Bowdoin defense and earned a power play with seven minutes left in the period. Following a faceoff, senior Angus Scott fired the puck into the roof of the Bowdoin net to double the Jumbos’ lead. It was his fifth goal of the year, and puts him among the top ten players to score the most points this season in the NESCAC. Although Tufts was dominating control of the puck, with just over a minute left in the period Bowdoin earned a power play and was able to capitalize to make the score 2–1.

The second period told a drastically different story than the first. Tufts came out of the break with a good sequence of play but quickly lost steam. Bowdoin picked up momentum and was

see HOCKEY, page 9

Henry Gorelik The End Around

Way too early look at the 2022 coaching carousel

It is only Week 14, but reports of Urban Meyer-created dysfunction in Jacksonville and speculation about offensive-wonderkid Joe Brady’s next destination has already begun to fuel the 2022 NFL coaching carousel. While teams will likely have household names such as Eric Bieniemy, Brian Daboll and Todd Bowles at the top of their lists, I am going to dive into some of the underrated head coaching candidates and their best fits around the NFL.

Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator

Best Fit: Jacksonville Jaguars

Bruce Arians was so impressed by Byron Leftwich in their time with the Cardinals that he brought the young-offensive mind with him when he was hired to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While many have simplified the Buccaneers’ offensive success to Tom Brady’s greatness plugged into Arians’ system, Leftwich is the one who actually calls plays and has a lot of input in play design too. In addition to leading a Super Bowl-winning offense, Leftwich, in his first season as an offensive coordinator, helped Jameis Winston have a season in which he threw for 5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. It is confusing why Leftwich has not yet gotten an opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL and, in a lot of ways, resembles the league’s discriminatory treatment of Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bienemy. Leftwich was a quarterback in his playing days and was the 7th player drafted in the first round and picked by the Jaguars in 2003, making a reunion with Jacksonville so fitting. Leftwich is the perfect candidate to develop Trevor Lawrence and help the Jaguars start over (again) after the Urban Meyer debacle.

Nathaniel Hackett, Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator

Best Fit: Las Vegas Raiders

Nathaniel Hackett does not fit the prototype of young, innovative Sean McVay- and Kliff Kingsbury-looking offensive coordinator; he is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL today. Similar to Leftwich, he has been underrated due to the assumption that Green Bay’s offensive success is due to partnership between Head Coach Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers. The reality is that Hackett is loved within the Packers’ organization, as Rodgers has said that, “No one brings me more joy [than Hackett].” Similarly, left-Tackle David Bakhtiari said that, “There has never been a day where I have not seen him come in without greater energy and enthusiasm. He’s literally a walking culture.” These are two pretty strong endorsements from two of the league’s top players. In addition to his stellar reputation in Green Bay, Hackett has revamped the offenses in his previous stops, including Syracuse University, the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars. His work in Jacksonville is particularly remarkable, as he led an offense highlighted by Blake Bortles and a receiving core of Keelan Cole, Marqise Lee and Dede Westbrook to the AFC Championship in the 2017–2018 season. I see Hackett as a great fit for the Las Vegas Raiders, a franchise that is in desperate need of a face-lift after the Jon Gruden and Henry Rugg III’s incidents this season. Furthermore, his offensive accent will serve as a nice complement to the defensive leadership provided by Gus Bradley.

Kellen Moore, Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator

Best Fit: Chicago Bears

Kellen Moore is the token young and innovative offensive tactician amongst this group of head coaching candidates. With experience as a quarterback at Boise State University and the NFL, Moore has quickly become recognized as a rising star within NFL coaching circles. At the ripe age of 32, this is the kind of candidate you would rather be a year early on rather than being a year too late and missing out. While it is true that he is endowed with an extremely talented group of offensive skill players in Dallas, he has definitely maximized their abilities in a creative and dynamic offense. Moore crafted an offense that helped backup quarter-back Cooper Rush take down the Vikings in Week 8 and created a game plan that allowed Dak Prescott to throw for 375 yards on Thanksgiving. Moore has crafted a distinct role for Tony Pollard this season, who is beginning to resemble a similar skillset as Austin Ekeler. There is a reason why Moore was one of the few people retained during the Cowboys’ transition from the Jason Garrett to the Mike McCarthy regime. I think Moore would be a great fit for the Chicago Bears, where he could develop Justin Fields to his full potential. I also see Moore and young Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai as a strong partnership that could bring the Bears franchise back to relevance.