The Vermont Cynic FEBRUARY 6, 2018
VOL. 134 – ISSUE 19
VTCYNIC.COM
Pat Brown to retire at end of year
PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic The old Burlington City Arts building, the Memorial Auditorium, sits unoccupied on Main Street. At the end of the building is 242 Main, an arts nonprofit, which will host its final concert series Feb. 8.
Group rallies to revive venue Allie O’Connor Arts Staff Writer “Hope,” is graffitied in large silvery letters in front of the dull brick walls and dirty windows of Memorial Auditorium. The old Burlington City Arts entrance is littered with soda cans and cigarette butts From the looks of the auditorium, hope for its return to the Burlington community seems even more misplaced
than the lively graffiti. Memorial Auditorium, a multi-purpose arena and studio space, was built in 1927. Since its closing in December 2016, community members have attempted to revive its former arts and music scene. “Memorial Auditorium was a run-down, unsafe old building, but it was comfortable: it was spacious,” artist Elise Whittemore said. Her printmaking studio used to be
located there before she was forced to move. “People just wandered in occasionally to see what was going on. It felt like old Burlington,” she said. The local initiative to re-establish Memorial Auditorium as a community space and musical and artistic haven breathes a new vitality into the building, thanks in no small way to 242 Main. A youth music space that
Students fight for racial equity Lindsay Freed Senior Staff Writer Students put up posters reading “#Don’tShootUVM” around campus early Thursday morning. NoNames4Justice, a social justic group, posted the signs in response to the dismissal of a recent court case in which a student was overhead making threatening statements about students of color, the group’s Facebook page stated. NoNames4Justice was formed in response to bias incidents on campus, according to a Feb. 1 open letter posted on the groups page titled “Case Closed for White Student at the University of Vermont Who Wants to Shoot ‘Niggers.’” The flyers also read “People of color shouldn’t have to be targets, but we are living in the world where we are.” The group provided the University with a list of demands in spring 2017, and “until each demand has been addressed and met with sincerity and genuity, NoNames4Justice will continue advocating for justice,” they stated. “Students of color at the University of Vermont do not feel safe, welcomed or included,” the letter stated. #Don’tShootUVM was created to highlight racial dis-
Joey Waldinger Assistant News Editor The director of student life will retire after 39 years at UVM at the end of this year. Pat Brown has many memories from his years from “rock n roll shows at the gym to student protests on Waterman,” he said. But his most treasured memories are those of students he has worked with who have done great things after graduating, he said. His days are busy, stacked with meetings, he said. “I have a collection of meetings back to back...helping make things happen at UVM,” he said. Brown plans to stay busy. He will teach at Community College of Vermont, he said. “I’m gonna take the first six or twelve months to just enjoy it, and then figure out what the next step is,” he said.
was located in the basement of the auditorium, 242 Main taught and entertained for decades before it closed. It began as a city-endorsed project to give local teens a space to organize their own events, said James Lockridge, Memorial cont. on page 6 Watch the video online vtcynic.com/memorial
OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic
Faculty union and SGA clash over salary raises Emma Jarnagin Staff Writer
The Vermont Cynic A poster was hung by NoNames4Justice, a social justice group advocating for racial equity on campus, on a sign outside of Waterman Feb. 1. crimination on campus, they stated. First-year Kayley Noterman supports NoNames4Justice in advocating for equity on campus. “I think it’s good in all cases to speak up for the things that you think are right,” she said. “They’re not attacking anyone back, they’re not tearing other people down — it’s peaceful.” The group letter ended with a summons for all students at UVM to fight racial injustice on campus. “This is a call to action for white people to actively
fight racial oppression and for People of Color to disrupt the current status quo, speak their truth and to demand racial justice,” the letter stated. Junior Juls Sundberg said that it’s time that everyone rally to fight injustice on campus. “NoNames4Justice is advocating for an incredibly important cause, and we should all be responding to their call of action,” they said. There will be a march for racial justice on campus Feb. 26 in front of Bailey/Howe Library.
The faculty union is asking for a raise which could potentially increase tuition, said SGA president Chris Petrillo. United Academics, the faculty union at UVM, negotiates its contract with the university every three years. The negotiations will determine whether or not they will get a raise, UA president Thomas Streeter stated in a Jan. 29 email. UA is advocating for modest raises that can help keep salaries at UVM competitive, “so [faculty] do not leave UVM for institutions with better pay,” Streeter said. Petrillo said the salaries UVM pays full-time faculty are on par with or above national averages. The administration is now considering raising student fees to help pay for a proposed new $80 million dollar multipurpose center, Streeter said. “As a student, would you rather your money go to keep good faculty and smaller courses, or to pay for a basketball stadium?” he said. The argument UA is making about how the University spends money incorrectly is not fully valid, Petrillo said.
COURTESY/Tom Streeter United Academics President Thomas Streeter stated in an email that UA is asking for a 4 percent raise for faculty. The money that comes for any sort of new building is from a foundation that raises money from private donations that are designated for specific things, he said. “When receiving donations, the University does not say, ‘we’re going to build a new stadium, we’re going to shortchange faculty,’” Petrillo said. “UA is comparing things that are incomparable.” Sophomore Scarlett Moore disagrees, and said that Petrillo missed the point of the comparison. “It’s saying that the priority UA cont. on page 2