Yale Daily News — Week of Oct. 15, 2021

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NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · VOL. CXLIV, NO. 3 · yaledailynews.com

SPECIAL INSERT

INDIGENOUS

AWARDS

CELEBRATING LATINX COMMUNITIES

YALIES CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY

ALUMS TAKE ON THE TONYS

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CROSS CAMPUS

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1935.

A "sleek, black Curtis Condor" flies over New Haven, piloted by flier Clarence Chamberlain, who is preparing for the start of New York-Boston air service.

Sigma Nu declares reforms amid culture concerns Sororities issue concerns, cancel upcoming mixers

BY LUCY HODGMAN STAFF REPORTER Two Yale sororities have canceled upcoming social events with Yale’s Sigma Nu chapter and one is considering the change amid concerns over the fraternity’s culture.

In response, Yale’s chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity has instituted a series of steps designed to improve safety and accountability within the organization. The fraternity announced that its executive board would hold elections to replace all leadership positions, institute safety policies for social events and establish an honor board responsibwle for handling allegations of sexual misconduct.

Sigma Nu leadership announced these changes in a Tuesday night email sent to the presidents of Yale’s Alpha Phi, Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities. The email was obtained by the News.

“We have been deeply disturbed by the concerns raised about the culture of our fraternity and the behavior of some of our members,” the email reads.

“The complaints speak to our character as an organization and we are in the process of instituting a series of crucial changes.”

These decisions come in the wake of Yale’s sororities reconsidering their social engagement with Sigma Nu. The conversations stemmed from an encounter at the Sigma Nu house on Friday night between a student in a sorority and a student affiliated with Sigma Nu — both of whom have since told the News that the interaction was consensual.

Still, in response to the event, three sororities started up conversations regarding Sigma Nu’s broader

YALE DAILY NEWS

The fraternity pledged to institute new safety policies for social events and will hold new elections for the entire executive board. culture and handling of alleged sexual misconduct. According to messages obtained by the News, the leadership of the Yale Alpha Phi sorority confirmed to members on Monday afternoon that the semes-

ter’s remaining events with Sigma Nu would be canceled.

Yale Kappa Alpha Theta president Meghan Backoo ’23 told the News that, in line with the sorority’s national policy, Yale’s Theta

chapter would be cancelling coming events with Sigma Nu. In a statement to the News, Backoo said the cancellation came after the sorority became aware of “practices that jeopardize the safety of guests in social spaces on campus.”

“For the well-being of our members, we must reevaluate our relationships with those social groups in violation,” the statement reads. “Through these actions and policies Theta intends to advance positive social climates that Yale women enter into, as the safety and empowerment of our broader Yale community are of the utmost importance.”

Yale Pi Beta Phi president Annabel Sotomi ’22 told the News that they are holding a chapter-wide meeting tonight to discuss whether to cancel the semester’s remaining social events with Sigma Nu. Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler referred the News to SEE FRAT PAGE 4

Endowment hits $42.3B A year on, Salovey reports

progress on diversity aims

Highest rate of return posted since 2000

BY PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH STAFF REPORTER

BY ZHEMIN SHAO STAFF REPORTER The University’s endowment soared to $42.3 billion during the 2021 fiscal year, the Yale Investments Office announced Thursday afternoon. The 40.2 percent return was the highest in two decades.

During the 2021 fiscal year, the endowment increased by $11.1 billion, up from $31.2 billion as of the end of the 2020 fiscal year. This year’s 40.2 percent return rate was the third highest since 1970, and vastly surpassed last year’s return of 6.8 percent.

Over the ten-year period ending on June 30, 2021, the University’s average annual endowment return was 12.4 percent.

“It was an extraordinary year for the endowment, which will benefit the Yale community now and for generations to come,” Matt Mendelsohn, the University’s Chief Investment Officer, said in a press release. “While we are pleased with this gain, we define success over

JOSE ESTRADA/PRODUCTION & DESIGN EDITOR

The endowment had a rate of return of 40.2 percent, on par with peer institutions and marking a significant increase from recent years. longer periods of time, measured by our ability to provide stable and growing support to the university so that it can carry out its mission.”

Yale’s peer institutions have also posted record-breaking return rates at similar or higher levels. Among other Ivy League universities that have posted their 2021 fiscal year return

Faculty, students question fundraising priorities

YALE DAILY NEWS

Activists both on and off campus have advocated for Yale to allocate its endowment more equitably by increasing its investment in the city of New Haven.

BY LUCY HODGMAN STAFF REPORTER Yale’s latest capital campaign, which launched on Oct. 2 and aims to raise $7 billion, has generated discussion among students and faculty about Yale’s rising

emphasis on the sciences, as well as how Yale’s $31.2 billion endowment can be most effectively and ethically allocated.

The capital campaign occurs once during each President’s term. UniSEE CAPITAL PAGE 5

rates, Brown University returned 51.5 percent, Dartmouth College returned 46.5 percent, Cornell University returned 42 percent and the University of Pennsylvania returned 41.1 percent.

Other schools whose 2021 return exceeded Yale’s include WashSEE BILLIONS PAGE 4

In a Thursday announcement, University President Peter Salovey detailed progress made over the past year on the University’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. In particular, Yale has grown admissions programs geared at diversifying the student population, and the commission examining the University’s historical connection to slavery has continued work.

Salovey’s announcement detailed what the University has done since his announcement last October of the Belonging at Yale initiative, which is meant to advance the issues of racial equity and inclusion on Yale’s campus.

He broke down nine areas in which Yale is working to improve equity and inclusion, including “increasing the diversity among top staff leaders” and “shoring up financial aid for all students with need.”

According to the announcement, which came in the form of a cam-

pus-wide email, 150 University employees have spent the last year working on this issue.

“Addressing systemic racism, inequality, and injustice is crucial to improving the world today and for future generations,” Salovey wrote in the email. “We have much to do, and together, we will continue to make progress.”

In the first section of the announcement, titled “Understanding Yale’s History,” Salovey drew attention to the continued study of Yale’s historical ties to racism. The Yale and Slavery Working Group, which Salovey established last year, has been studying the University’s connection with slavery under the direction of history professor David Blight, and has joined the Universities Studying Slavery group, which includes around 80 other institutions across the country engaged in similar work.

In February, the working group released its initial findings, which noted that Yale used enslaved perSEE DIVERSITY PAGE 4

Students criticize Yale law firm

BY PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH STAFF REPORTER Yale students have called on the University to sever ties with Day Pitney LLP, a law firm that represents both Yale and Remington, a gun manufacturer being sued by the parents of students killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting and has drawn criticism for practices including the subpoena of the academic records of first graders who were killed.

Day Pitney, a national law firm with an office in New Haven, has served as the University’s outside legal counsel in a number of issues, from defamation lawsuits to real estate litigation. However, while benefiting from its association with the University, the firm has represented Remington in a manner that has drawn criticism from the judge in the Sandy Hook case and the Washington Post Editorial Board. Day Pitney’s practices include send-

ZOE BERG/PHOTOGRAPHER EDITOR

One of the University’s law firms also represents a gun manufacturer’s lawsuit against the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. ing over 30,000 allegedly irrelevant documents, memes and cartoons as part of discovery and subpoenaing the attendance and academic records of the murdered children, as well as employment records of the teachers killed in the shooting.

“You don't really have to have been involved in gun violence prevention, advocacy or even politics to just find what Day Pitney is doing here so disturbing,” said Matt Post ’22, the co-auSEE COUNSEL PAGE 5

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

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OPINION G U E S T C O L U M N I S T JA S O N S TA N L E Y

GUEST COLUMNIST CHRISTINE RAMIREZ

A university or a billionaires’ toy Being manly enough “É

l es mi macho.” A phrase that seems harmless and is in this respect.

However, the same cannot be said when a man completely embodies what it truly means to be a “macho.” “Machismo” has been ingrained so deeply in hispanic/ latino culture that there are certain words in the language dedicated to describing it. The word “machismo” is defined as a strong or exaggerated sense of masculine pride. While there are some qualities of masculinity that can be seen in a positive light –– such as being strong, courageous and protective –– there are also qualities that can negatively impact others.

Some examples of these are being dominant, lashing out and being the head of the family. These qualities have the potential to turn into behaviors such as verbal and physical abuse. All of these traits can be exaggerated by males if they are in an environment that encourages machismo.

Machismo does not have a sole cause. Instead, it stems from various factors, such as cultural values and the psychology of the individual as well as in their interactions with others. Psychologically, it is said that machismo is a result of an inferiority complex men have.

The only way to satisfy their psychological state of insecurity or attempt to hide it, is to react in an extreme manner in the other direction and hyper exaggerate the traits that should make them a man.

The hyper-exaggerated traits of machismo are often learned from family and culture. Men in general, but especially Latino men, have expectations and assumptions in the roles that they should have in comparison to women. They are taught by their fathers and reinforced by the community that they must follow the expectations of being tough, self-sufficient, and in control. Many times, these expectations are supposed to be met from a young age. If they do not meet those expectations, they are considered “not manly enough.”

The expectations of machismo also led Latino men to suppress their emotions, causing them serious psychological harm. As a result of being taught from childhood that they are not supposed to ask for help, especially if they are not doing well, many Latino men are afraid to be vulnerable and honest. If they are vulnerable, it is seen as sacrificing their pride, which is heavily looked down upon in Latino culture.

Another lens through which we can view this issue, is in a cultural perspective. Familism is the construct of how relationships and attitudes related to the family are placed higher in significance over individuality. It is a core value that Latinos embrace and take pride in, as do I myself. Our strong sense of community is how our ancestors were able to go through burdensome times and trauma, and what

allows us to continue to go through difficult times. However, many times this pressure to be strong for our family can be too much for some, especially men. The expectation to be the protector and provider of the family, to be tough during adversities, while having to hide their struggles and pain, can be too much for them to handle.

Another central value of Latin culture that has a connection to machismo is our strong work ethic. The members of the community are taught to always be hardworking and continue fighting even in the midst of adversities, because one never knows when they can lose everything and should never take their success for granted. However, many times we forget that it is important to know how to take a pause and take care of ourselves. The Latinx community also has a negative view of pain or being hurt. Many Latinos believe that feeling pain should be without complaint. Not only should one hide their pain, but they also should not accept or admit that they were hurt. However, admitting that one was hurt or in pain is a crucial first step to being able to heal and grow. Denying people the opportunity to understand their pain and heal creates deep and long lasting trauma, disproportionately for Latino men.

Now I am in no way giving men who exhibit machista traits the benefit of the doubt. Exuding traits of a macho not only inflicts harm to the people around them, but also impacts the men who exhibit these traits. These traits can get passed onto the next generation and create an endless cycle of hypermasculine men hurting others. We need to give Latino men the space in our culture to be vulnerable. Doing so is not only helpful for the men themselves but also to the people around them. The men’s relationships with themselves and their interactions with the people around them would be more honest, trustworthy, and healthy. We also need to change how Latino men are raised. Instead of placing men on this pedestal and making them feel like they should be superior, they should be raised to understand that they are equals with women. This provides them the ability to share the pressures, pain and struggles life gives us sometimes, while also remembering they are not struggling alone.

They should be raised in an environment that encourages balance and teaches them that it is possible to be open about their emotions and still be masculine. They should be raised in a culture that allows them to be both vulnerable and manly. Because it is possible to be vulnerable and manly enough.

CHRISTINE RAMIREZ is a junor in Saybrook College. Contact her at christine.ramirez@yale.edu . This piece is a part of the Latinx special insert.

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Y

ale University is a central democratic institution, a fact recognized by its tax-exempt status. It provides a forum in which society’s most difficult issues can be confronted and freely discussed. The University educator is thus tasked with presenting their students with intellectually rigorous foundational challenges to tradition; that is the role of education in fostering autonomous thought.

Fulfilling this mission will always threaten those in power, and that is why academic freedom is the University’s core principle. A university with no firewall between a society’s billionaires and its academic program is no university at all. Yet, a disturbing pattern of behavior by this University’s administration over time suggests the absence of a firewall, which is an existential threat to the University mission.

In April 2016, Yale President Peter Salovey, at Battell Chapel, addressed the assembled undergraduate body about his decision to retain the name of Calhoun College. Then, he also explained his decision to name one of the two new colleges after Benjamin Franklin, following the hopes of billionaire donor Charles Johnson, who had donated $250 million to the University. The administration had scheduled the event at Battell Chapel at the same time as the regular University faculty meeting, which they had especially pleaded with us to attend. As a result, I was one of the few faculty members to attend the Battell Chapel address anyway. In Battell Chapel that day, the undergraduates, already in the crosshairs of a national media war against them for supposedly being against free speech, mounted an extraordinary defense of the autonomy of the university.

At various times during Salovey’s remarks defending the donors, the students in the balcony showered the floor with fake one million dollar bills. When students pressed Salovey on giving in to donor demands, he replied by saying that donors help pay their tuition. According to the YDN article on the event, Salovey added that following donors’ wishes is “part of what it means to be a university.”

President Salovey’s behavior provides the backdrop to the most recent, and most worrisome, actions of this administration. In September, Yale history professor Beverly Gage resigned from her position as the head of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy — named in part after Johnson. Gage told the New York Times that her resignation was because “the University failed to stand up for academic freedom amid inappropriate efforts by its donors to influence its curriculum and faculty hiring.”

After a New York Times op-ed

by Yale political science professor Bryan Garsten calling Trump a demagogue, donors demanded that the University appoint an advisory board to practitioner appointments of the program, concerned about Garsten’s affiliation with Grand Strategy. The advisory board was part of the original agreement of the program, but it was never implemented, likely because the past administration recognized it conflicted with the University’s core mission. The advisory board suggested by the donors was to be stocked with older conservatives, including Henry Kissinger.

The administration agreed to these demands, including inviting Kissinger to join the board. Somewhat ironically, these events perhaps vindicate Garsten’s long standing concerns about “cancel culture”.

In reaction to this grave scandal, in speaking to the YDN, President Salovey reiterated his view that donors’ wishes are central to what a university is: “There’s probably two principles that are really important to honor,” Salovey said. “The first is [that] academic freedom to teach and do scholarship in an unfettered way … is sacrosanct at the University.” The second principle, he added, is that the University “[has] an obligation to our donors to meet the agreements to honor the agreements we make with them.”

Let’s be clear: Salovey here posits an entirely fake “conflict of principles.” The only principle here is academic freedom. Someone who donates to a university is supporting the university’s mission, including

this principle. An analogy may help: someone who pays another person not to produce their film is not a donor to the film, but rather they are preventing the film’s production.

Similarly, a donor who demands oversight over a university’s program is not truly a donor to the university.

They are preventing the university’s core functions from being realized.

Authoritarians recognize that universities are challenges to their rule. As my father, the sociologist Manfred Stanley, once wrote, “everywhere the true educators are the first to be censored, tortured, shot and silenced when a society decides the time has come for ‘order’ to be restored.” Private universities can be targeted by governments via pressure on their donors, which is why it is of utmost importance to ensure a firewall between donors and the academic program. A university that does not preserve academic autonomy is not a university, and not deserving of its tax-exempt status.

Yale is one of the two or three wealthiest universities in the world, with an endowment well in excess of $30 billion.

No amount of money should be enough for a university to betray its sacred mission. And for a university as wealthy as Yale to do so should offend all.

If Yale University cannot meet the minimal requirements to be a university, what hope is there for this sacred institution?

In 2016, our students recognized the existential danger the president’s money-first mindset posed to our institution and its core values. Our students’ actions then should be a model for our current faculty.

In the face of this grave threat to our very identity as a university, will Yale’s faculty join Beverly Gage in defending it? Or will we capitulate, signaling to current and future donors that Yale is not a university, but simply another commodity to be bought and sold?

JASON STANLEY is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy.

Contact him at jason.stanley@yale.edu .

The wind beneath our wings M

y childhood obsession with chocolate started with Munch chocolate bars.

Violently tearing open the striking purple wrapper, gently biting into the fragile, flaky c h o c o l at e s h e l l , d ro p p i n g crumbs over my grandparent’s carpeted floors — all the great joys of a peaceful childhood.

Soon, my love for Cadbury — a brand that felt stiflingly local — was supplanted by a pretentious adolescent desire for “worldliness”. I grew to appreciate Lindt and Lindor, Godiva and Ferrero Rocher, often at the exclusion of my once beloved Dairy Milks and Kit Kats.

I would eagerly await dad’s return from every work trip, accosting him as soon as he returned, throwing his handbag on my bed and begging him to open the chocolates he had dutifully collected for me. Later, I began to venture into the capricious, murky waters of dark chocolate before I finally settled on alcoholic desserts — chocolate and rum balls, black forest cake.

My changing tastes in chocolate were a triviality. I forgot about them as I grew out of my sweet tooth. However, my grandparents — Aji and Ajoba — did not. And even today, every time I leave their house, I open the top drawer of their fridge — as is custom — and pick up one Munch chocolate bar and one rum ball before the ride home.

I grew up immersed in my grandparent’s boundless love, a love that was often communicated to me gustatorily through food.

My best days of middle school were the ones when I’d come home from school to the smell of a mutton pattice or a mava cake that Ajoba had picked up for me from our favorite Iranian bakery. He conveyed his love to me not simply with hugs and aphorisms, but also with fresh pom-

fret from a local market and freshly caught comments from our fisherwoman about how coastal food ran through my veins.

My favorite memories with my g randparents may very well be the meals I shared with PRADZ them: prawn SAPRE curry at their dinner table Growing and chicken sandwiches pains f rom RTO. Their food was my conduit to a culture that could otherwise feel inaccessible, to the flavors of home.

And yet, it took me leaving for the United States and returning home for the first time this summer to notice both how much I missed their food and this permanent reminder of their unconditional love. It was only now that I noticed the hours spent cooking, driving and toiling over a kitchen stove to prepare the beloved puran polis I ate so thoughtlessly.

I have been incredibly blessed to be surrounded by people — my grandparents and my parents — whose waking moments are, more often than not, occupied by the things that make me happy, whether it be the clothes they buy for me or my latest chocolate obsession.

While food may not be a ubiquitous love language, I am confident that many students here have been lucky enough to speak the language of unconditional love with someone from home; kind notes from a high school teacher scribbled along the margins of every essay reminding you of your talent, yearly trips with your parents, notes from your best friend that you carry to college.

If unconditional love is the foundation of an amorphous notion of family, this is what we honor on family weekend. These are the giants whose shoulders we stood on to see the tolling bells of Harkness, the green of Cross Campus.

It often takes going away from home, school and friends — removing yourself from an atmosphere saturated with love — to realize how much harder it is to breathe without it. Family weekend is then a reminder to reach out to these loved ones, to remind them of your gratitude for all they have done and comfort them with the notion that separation can be difficult for you too.

More importantly, a realization like this speaks to the dangers of unconditional love that is exploited, neglected and left to fester and die. If you are the immutable center of somebody’s universe, their love for you is a weapon if wielded incorrectly.

It gives you the power to wound with thoughtlessness, to irrevocably hurt those with the mere notion that you have forgotten them. And while the thought of hurting a loved one might sicken me to my core, it is easier done than said — pushing off a phone call indefinitely because midterm season is coming.

I hope, then, that family weekend has been the perfect reminder of how we feel, or how we see our friends change, when surrounded by the people who make us the best versions of ourselves. I hope too, that it can be a reminder to express our gratitude to the people on whose wings we flew to Yale.

PRADZ SAPRE is a sophomore in Benjamin Franklin college. His column, titled ‘Growing pains’, runs every other Monday. Contact him at pradz.sapre@yale.edu.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

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NEWS

“You know what southern women are? Whiskey in a teacup.

We’re strong in the inside, but ornate on the outside.

HANNAH BROWN THE BACHELORETTE

FAS welcomes most diverse set of ladder faculty

YALE NEWS

Yale was one of few universities in a financial position to hire last year and heralded the diversity of its new cohort of 26 new faculty members, about half of whom were appointed in humanities departments.

BY ISAAC YU STAFF REPORTER Yale welcomed 26 scholars to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences this fall — its most diverse cohort ever.

The new academics joining the ladder faculty — otherwise known as the tenure track — reflect the University’s continued commitments to diversity, according to FAS Dean Tamar Gendler. She credited the diversity of the new class in part to efforts from professor of physics Larry Gladney, who joined the University in 2019 as the dean of diversity and faculty development and instituted new diversity guidelines in the hiring process. Since his hiring, Gladney has implemented reforms to the search process, with departments adding diversity statements to their applications and placing employment ads in more accessible venues.

Four more faculty members will come to campus in January, and another five will hold visiting appointments before joining the ladder next fall. The 2021-22 cohort is notably smaller than pre-

vious years, down from 44 during the 2019-20 academic year and 51 in 2017-18. Last year’s March 2020 hiring freeze brought a recent low of 30 new hires in 2020-21.

Still, Gendler told the News that this year’s faculty are particularly strong because of an overall “soft market” for jobs in academia last year. Although many searches were paused or canceled at the onset of the pandemic, the University resumed hiring in Sept. 2020 after administrators deemed the University to be in a “financially responsible” position to continue searches for new faculty, particularly in junior positions.

“It was an extraordinary year, because we were one of the few universities in the nation that was hiring last year,” Gendler told the News. “Almost no one else was searching for faculty.”

Of the 30 total faculty members who joined or will join during the current academic year, 11 identify as nonwhite, four of whom are underrepresented minorities — Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx or American Indian or Alaska Native — according to an email Gendler sent to faculty

on Thursday. Forty-three percent identify as female or nonbinary.

Gladney told the News that this is the third cohort of professors who have been hired according to new rules, which include his approval of diversity search plans that aim to broaden each position’s applicant pool.

“Diversity equals excellence,” Gladney said. “The more diverse your faculty is, the more capacity you actually have for engaging students along different viewpoints.”

Half of the new faculty were appointed in humanities departments, including three joint appointments of junior professors in the African American Studies Department. Both the history and English departments also brought on three new members, while women, gender and sexuality studies gained five. Social science departments, meanwhile, picked up a combined three.

The cohort includes twelve tenured professors recruited laterally from other schools as well as recently-graduated junior faculty.

In her email, Gendler cast the new professors as the “next era” noting that the proportion of tenure-track

faculty in the first decades of their careers has increased significantly.

Assistant professor of African American studies and English Eliaza Kelley, who recently earned a doctorate from Columbia researching Black geographies in African American literature, described her new appointment as a “dream job.” She will begin teaching in the spring and noted the increased diversity of both the student and faculty populations.

“I’ve heard that this is the most diverse undergraduate class, so I would think of those things together as being deeply related, hopefully something that will … shake things up for the better,” Kelley said.

Meanwhile, science departments and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences gained a combined 12 faculty members, including three each in computer science and mathematics.

Lu Wang, a mathematics professor, became only the third woman to gain tenure in her department. The geometric analyst attributed her move from the California Institute of Technology to Yale’s recent investments in the sciences.

“That change actually attracted me to Yale because I was interested in contributing to this trend, to this big campus investment,” Wang told the News.

Wang added that she hopes more female hires will follow.

Professor of computer science Yongshan Ding, who recently earned his doctorate and studied quantum computing at the University of Chicago, also praised the University’s focus on sciences. He likened current excitement in the quantum computing field — one of the five science areas of focus of Yale’s current capital campaign — to that of classical computer science in the 1970s.

“I’m so glad that Yale has recognized this second revolution in the digital age, which is to harness quantum mechanics to process information,” Ding said. “Yale is absolutely one of the best places in the world to do that.”

In the 2019-20 academic year, there were 217 female and 464 male professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Contact ISAAC YU at isaac.yu@yale.edu .

Elicker and NHPD discuss gun violence, officer vaccination rates

BY SYLVAN LEBRUN STAFF REPORTER Though 78 percent of city employees have received COVID19 vaccinations, only 65 percent of the New Haven Police Department was partially or fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, pulling down the city’s average.

The remaining 35 percent of the force must receive weekly testing, per a “test or vaccinate” mandate for city employees. There is 100 percent compliance with this policy, Mayor Justin Elicker said at a Wednesday press conference. Since the mandate’s implementation, 84 people have been newly vaccinated.

At the press conference, which featured Elicker, NHPD Chief Renee Dominguez and Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson provided updates on law enforcement recruitment efforts and vaccination compliance numbers in the Elm City. Elicker told the News that there was particular difficulty in encouraging compliance among NHPD employees, but that outreach efforts had ultimately led to success.

“It was a little bit more of a challenge getting people registered and to do the regular testing,” Elicker said. “Department heads proactively engaged with employees individually to encourage them to comply, and that hands-on approach helped us get compliance....I’m happy that we didn’t have to tell someone, ‘Don’t come to work.’”

The press conference began with updates on the progress of recent police force recruitment efforts in

response to an officer shortage. Last Thursday, NHPD officials said that they were hoping for 1,000 more applications during the period.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Dominguez said that the target number had been reduced to 500.

But with just over a week until the application deadline — which has been extended from Oct. 15 to 22 — Elicker said the department has still only received 330 applications.

“We did several recruiting canvasses last week,” Elicker said at the press conference. “I was out in the morning at the Hill knocking on doors, talking to a number of people that were interested in applying.

It’s amazing how personal conversations can help people realize the opportunity that’s available there.”

Dominguez said at the press conference that the NHPD has seized six guns within the past week and that two shots fired have been resolved with warrants for arrest. She pointed to these statistics as proof of the effectiveness of a larger effort by the NHPD to crack down on gun violence through confiscations, arrests and more vigorous investigation of gun-related cases.

“The individuals arrested potentially are perpetrators of future violence, and then also those guns that they’ve stolen have already been taken in a crime,” Dominguez said at the press conference. “We’re taking them off the street so the other people aren’t able to commit further crimes with those weapons.”

The department has dedicated increased energy to investigating

cases of shots fired without a victim and has made expanding its shooting task force a top priority. It was this task force that resolved one of the two cases announced at Wednesday’s conference.

Both Elicker and Dominguez spoke to the benefits of camera surveillance across the city as a tool for identifying perpetrators. In late September, Elicker announced an intention to place 500 more surveillance cameras around New Haven.

On Oct. 5, according to Dominguez, a 35-year-old man was spotted with a stolen gun at the intersection of Columbus Street and West Avenue before fleeing the scene and leaving the weapon behind. Through video footage from cameras in the area, officers identified the individual and were able to make the arrest, pressing charges for possession of the firearm.

“I wanted to highlight that story because it underscores why having cameras is important to helping us make sure that we hold people accountable and make arrests where they are warranted,” Elicker said.

Another crime prevention method discussed at the press conference was the NHPD’s collaboration with Project Longevity, a local initiative dedicated to reducing gun violence through connecting at-risk individuals with community support and resources such as housing, employment and mental health services.

Beyond these preventative services, Project Longevity still self-identifies as a law-enforcement initiative, closely linked to police

SYLVAN LEBRUN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

NHPD is intensifying its efforts to crack down on violent crime. department efforts. According to Project Longevity’s website, leaders attempt to convey to participants that if they continue to get involved with gang-based violence or homicide, they “will be met with the full force of the law.”

Dominguez said that a participant in Project Longevity was arrested on Oct. 9 after being caught with narcotics and an unlicensed gun in a stolen motor vehicle, soon after missing a “call-in,” or a check-in for the project.

Jacobson added that the individual was being tracked through a GPS monitoring device placed on him by Project Longevity as a deterrent for

criminal activity — this helped the officers in making the arrest.

“It’s a Project Longevity situation where we would have liked to give him services, but the enforcement end of Project Longevity actually worked in this way,” Jacobson said. “By monitoring him and keeping track of him we were able to get him in custody, get him with a gun, and now he’s safely off the streets.”

The headquarters of the New Haven Police Department are located at 1 Union Avenue.

Contact SYLVAN LEBRUN at sylvan.lebrun@yale.edu.

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“I remain faithful to bourbon sour. It's absolutely delicious. You'd have to ask a bartender what's in it, but I think if you know you might never have a drink. CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN FASHION DESIGNER

Fraternity to reform in wake of canceled mixers FRAT FROM PAGE 1 the Title IX Sexual Misconduct Guide when asked for comment on the University’s policies on misconduct in Greek life.

In a statement to the News, the Sigma Nu executive board affirmed the fraternity’s commitment to ensuring a safe environment within the chapter.

“Sigma Nu is committed to being a safe and inclusive space for everyone on campus, and we are working with our partner organizations to fully investigate and understand all concerns,” the statement reads.

“That commitment and understanding will guide and determine our actions, including any appropriate disciplinary, educational, and/or operational responses.”

Sigma Nu President Adam Rothman ’22 referred the News to this statement.

Representatives from Sigma Nu declined to comment to the News about whether the reforms were related to the sororities’ ongoing conversations around canceling social events with the fraternity.

However, a current member of Sigma Nu, who requested anonymity due to potential repercussions due to his ties with the fraternity, said that he believes the proposed changes came as a direct result of the sororities canceling mixers.

“If Yale’s sororities hadn't decided to cancel all future mixers, I don't think any actions

would have been taken to reverse the direction the organization's culture is headed, so it's hard for me to accept the sincerity of those actions,” the Sigma Nu member wrote in an email to the News.

The member added that he was unaware of any organized disciplinary system previously in place within Sigma Nu to check inappropriate behavior.

As part of their reforms, Sigma Nu members announced in the email that they will hold elections for all leadership positions “in the coming days.”

“These elections will give our fraternity the opportunity to implement these reforms with a clean slate of leaders committed to changing the culture of our space,” the email said.

According to the current member, Sigma Nu presidents typically fulfill the role for the spring semester of their junior year and fall semester of their senior year. Rothman has been president since the start of the spring 2021 semester, with the newly-announced elections cutting his term short.

In addition, Sigma Nu will implement an honor board consisting of eight members, several of whom have served on the Title IX Undergraduate Advisory Board, according to the email. An anonymous reporting form will be made available prior to all social events, enabling anyone at the event to file a complaint to the honor board.

YALE DAILY NEWS

Sigma Nu leadership announced these changes in a Tuesday night email sent to the presidents of three sororities.

“The Board functions with the purpose of collecting information related to misconduct claims, investigating the complaint, deliberating on appropriate actions, and enforcing necessary punishments,” the email reads. “At each and every step, input from the complainant and/ or their points of contact will be critical. Investigations and deliberations will expressly hinge on the comments made by the complainant, their representatives, and their points of contact.”

The email also said that Sigma Nu will establish new safety policies for social events, including designated “sober monitors,” options for drinks that are low in alcohol or nonalcoholic, the inclusion of TIPS certified bartenders, a more “respectful and

consistent” presence at the door of the fraternity during events, “bathrooms designated to affiliated organizations” and trainings tailored toward a fraternity setting discussing alcohol, consent and bystander intervention, held in collaboration with Yale’s Community and Consent Educators program.

As an additional reform, Sigma Nu said in its email that the organization is planning to take disciplinary action against all of their members who appear on other organizations' blacklists — lists of individuals who are barred from entering social events. Sigma Nu plans to place such members on social suspension until they can conduct an internal investigation, according to the email.

Still, the anonymous member expressed concerns that the reform may not address a broader culture problem within the fraternity.

“I think the boy’s club culture of Sigma Nu that prioritizes mixers and masculinity has come to a head and the sororities on campus are realizing it,” the member told the News. “I hope this culture changes, because, as it stands, this is not an organization I am proud to say I'm a part of.”

Sigma Nu did not respond to requests to comment on the member’s allegations.

The Sigma Nu house is located at 37 High St. Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu .

Yale posts highest rate of return since 2000 BILLIONS FROM PAGE 1 ington University in St. Louis at 65 percent, Duke University at 55.9 percent and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 55.5 percent.

On Thursday afternoon, Harvard University announced a 33.6 percent return on its endowment.

Some institutions, such as Dartmouth, have used their endowment growth to make immediate changes that impact the

student body. Following Dartmouth’s Monday announcement of its record-breaking endowment growth, the school’s administration announced it would expand financial aid, increase student minimum wage and give bonuses

AMAY TEWARI/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Yale’s peer institutions have also posted record-breaking return rates at similar or higher levels.

to faculty and graduate students with stipends.

Yale did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether the University would make similar changes.

Yale’s investment strategy emphasizes long-term performance with careful balance of risk exposure and return, the press release reads. The University invests across asset classes, including absolute return, public equities, real assets and venture capital. Mendelsohn told the News that the endowment had particularly strong returns in venture capital, though the market’s general elevation benefited Yale.

The returns for fiscal years 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were 5.7 percent, 12.3 percent, 11.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

The endowment is the University’s largest source of revenue. Last year, spending from the endowment accounted for 35 percent of Yale’s $4.3 billion operating budget, according to the press release.

The University targets an annual endowment spending rate of 5.25 percent, but the annual expenditures are determined by a spending rule designed to smooth shortterm fluctuations in the endowment

value, per the press release. The University does not spend more heavily during times of high investment returns so that it has support for future generations during “periods of stress,” the press release reads.

“The goal of Yale’s investment and spending policies is to be equitable in providing resources across the generations of the university’s students, faculty, and staff, now and far into the future,” University President Peter Salovey wrote in the press release. “Strong long-term performance of the endowment allows Yale to remain vital for future generations.”

Still, both students and members of the New Haven community have repeatedly called on Yale to increase its voluntary contribution to the city, which currently stands at $13 million per year.

Additionally, students have staged high-profile protests calling on the University to divest from fossil fuels. In September, Harvard announced it would no longer invest in the industry.

Last spring, Yale unveiled new principles for fossil fuel investments.

Contact ZHEMIN SHAO at zhemin.shao@yale.edu .

Salovey reaffirms Belonging at Yale initiative DIVERSITY FROM PAGE 1 sons to build Connecticut Hall and trained ministers who went on to own enslaved persons.

Salovey also reaffirmed Yale’s support of the New Haven community, and added that Yale is continuing its study of differential police response within the Yale Police Department. The email states that as part of new YPD policy, a mental health professional may be sent in response to a call as opposed to a police officer.

However, not all students were pleased with the announcement.

Callie Benson-Williams ’23, the executive director of Black Students for Disarmament at Yale told the News that the “section about policing is very short and very vague.”

“He’s not in any way responding to what we’re talking about: why the YPD exists at all … why they have jurisdiction in New Haven or any consideration of the fact that New Haven citizens have no recourse against the officers despite being able to be arrested by them,” Benson-Williams said.

She noted that while the decision to incorporate mental health

professionals into police response is “a good step forward,” the notion that police officers are called to respond to medical or mental health issues is “crazy.”

Benson-Williams pointed out that the University's progress on policing has been slow, as it has been more than two years since the YPD was involved in a shooting of an unarmed couple — which touched off conversations on campus about the role of the police department — and “there still hasn't been any change.”

“I'm yet to see any concrete change in the way that YPD exists and functions,” she said.

Beyond policing, Salovey said in his announcement that the University has seen some of its clearest progress in the hiring of a more diverse tenure-track faculty, with 15 percent of new tenure-track faculty coming from “underrepresented groups” as opposed to seven percent in 2014.

“The excellence of our faculty defines Yale,” Salovey wrote. “Our future depends on being able to recruit and retain exceptional educators, scholars, and researchers who bring diverse experiences, expertise, and viewpoints.”

Salovey added that the commitment to diversity in hiring is also being translated to staff leaders, where the University is prioritizing hiring and promoting people from historically underrepresented groups. Kristen Beyers, the director of community and inclusion at the Yale School of Management, said that the University’s commitment to staff diversity is one of the most important parts of the recent announcement.

“I am happy to see there is progress around developing and retaining under-represented staff, with the newly created staff leadership initiative,” Beyers wrote in an email to the News. “We need to accelerate the development of diverse talent across the university.”

Salovey also noted that the University has prioritized increasing the diversity of student backgrounds, and in the last five years has nearly doubled the number of Eli Whitney students that matriculate each year and has more than doubled the numbers of students who participate in the First-Year Scholars at Yale summer program.

Over the last year, the University has also pushed to increase academic research on issues of racism, justice and equality.

In an email to the News, Lily Sutton, DEI council co-chair and director of student affairs for the Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, wrote that the Jackson Institute views diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging as “fundamental to our values and core mission.”

“It’s incredibly important to us to understand and support the diversity of perspectives and experiences of our entire community, and DEIB initiatives are a critical part of this commitment,” she wrote to the News.

In the Jackson Institute specifically, Sutton told the News that they have recently launched the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council which is made up of faculty, students and alumni and chaired by director of the Jackson Institute, Jim Levinsohn.

Jackson and all other graduate and professional schools plan to share a summary of their full DEI plans with the University by November.

Larry Gladney, FAS dean of diversity and faculty development and physics professor, could not provide specifics on the FAS’ diversity initiatives, since they are currently being “worked out by the implementation team.”

Instead, he said that a number of principles are guiding their actions on this issue, including mentoring for faculty “from a fresh perspective and based on evidence of what works best to build inclusivity and equity."

Gladney also noted that the action taken by the FAS on diversity and inclusion will be guided by measurable targets and metrics.

“The various constituent communities within FAS (e.g. departments) will have to define what they want to do and, while there will certainly be central help for them to carry out what they want, they will have to be accountable to themselves for progress,” Gladney wrote in an email to the News. “The emphasis is on changes in culture, not simply changes in policies.”

According to Gladney, the FAS submitted its preliminary selfunit plans and self-assessment in May, when it was first due.

They plan to submit a completed, revised plan on Oct. 29.

There are a total of 22 units at the University.

Contact PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH at philip.mousavizadeh@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

FROM THE FRONT

Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.” ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA

$7B capital campaign incites frustration

LUKAS FLIPPO/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Some members of the Yale community have taken issue with the campaign’s concentration on the sciences, and other raise concerns about town-gown relations.

CAPITAL FROM PAGE 1 versity President Peter Salovey’s campaign, which seeks to raise $7 billion to be directed towards various scientific and leadership initiatives, is titled “For Humanity.” Members of the Yale community have taken issue with the campaign’s concentration on the sciences — given Yale’s historic strength in the humanities — as well as the size of the University’s fundraising goal relative to its voluntary contribution to New Haven.

“This campaign is looking to raise $7 billion, and the annual contribution to New Haven from Yale is $13 million,” Logan Roberts ’23 said.

“If they’re successful in this capital campaign, they will successfully raise 538 years’ worth of contributions to New Haven. It’s wonderful to want to serve humanity, but humanity starts here. It starts with listening to unions and to students.”

Roberts, who is the financial accessibility director of the Yale College Council and the president of the Yale First-Generation and/ or Low Income Advocacy Movement, pointed out that Yale’s prior capital campaign, which ended in 2011, came on the heels of a recession. Since the current campaign is beginning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Roberts said, the University should proceed in its fundraising efforts with the interests of low income communities in mind.

Activists both on and off campus have advocated for Yale to allocate its endowment more equitably by increasing its investment in

the city of New Haven. In the past, University officials have pointed out that Yale has increased its voluntary payment to the city during times of need — the figure grew to $13 million last year, a 50 percent increase from several years ago. But residents contend that the contribution remains a small fraction of the University’s endowment.

People also objected to where Yale allocated money within the University.

Philosophy professor Jason Stanley took issue with the campaign’s launch event in particular, noting that the event’s main faculty speakers came overwhelmingly from STEM fields. For Stanley, this erasure of the humanities in the opening speakers of the campaign was indicative of a broader “attack” on humanities fields in the United States that Yale is not doing its part to help prevent.

“The humanities at Yale are tough, are incredibly sterling,” Stanley said.

“They're just remarkable, and you can't take that for granted. I think that science is expensive and you need a lot of money for science. We should actually raise money for science. Let's bring sciences up to the level of the humanities. But constantly putting scientists as spokespeople for what humanists do is wrong. And Yale does that all the time.”

While Stanley acknowledged that scientific fields also deserved recognition in the capital campaign, he suggested that Yale was “hiding the humanities,” rather than sufficiently elevating them.

However, Josien van Wolfswinkel, assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, pointed out that fundraising efforts geared towards the sciences were more immediately necessary because of the price of reagents, equipment and analysis services. In a January article by the News, Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean of humanities Kathryn Lofton said that Yale’s humanities programs already receive all the resources they need from central administration.

“Other institutes have long jumped in and started funding their science departments and graduate student programs from endowment,” van Wolfswinkel said. “Frequently, successful science faculty leave Yale because they find [a] better environment for science elsewhere. If Yale wants to retain sciences they have no option but to start spending money on this.”

Van Wolfswinkel added that a typical research lab spends about $50,000 each year on materials for each science student.

Associate professor of the history of science Bill Rankin proposed, however, that Yale could benefit from a conversation among the humanities faculty, as well as between the faculty and the administration, about the impact of financial support on the humanities.

“I have my own thoughts, mostly related to the issues that I see daily as a faculty member, but the point is to have the broader conversation, not just to fund my own ideas,” Rankin said. “My guess is that the Univer-

sity can put money into the sciences and the humanities, and that transformative support for the humanities will turn out to be pretty cheap in comparison.”

Rankin still emphasized the importance of funding Yale’s science programs, noting that funding the sciences often involves making decisions about immediate needs, such as equipment, lab space and research staff, as opposed to the more longterm nature of humanities funding.

In general, Rankin said, Yale’s fundraising mission is overall worthwhile, offering opportunities for more faculty and research, and a more substantive partnership with New Haven.

“If we think that Yale should devote more of its energy and resources to certain priorities over others, or should do more, say, to defend academic freedom, then I think that’s a good argument for working to influence Yale’s priorities, not an argument against fundraising,” Rankin said.

Students told the News that they had general issues with the size and allocation of the University’s endowment.

“Yale’s endowment is rooted in the displacement of Indigenous people and the Atlantic slave trade,” Josephine Steuer Ingall ’23 wrote in an email to the News. “At its current value of $31 billion dollars, it is worth more than the GDP of a hundred sovereign nations. Yet Yale refuses to pay its fair share in taxes.”

Ingall, an organizer with the Yale Endowment Justice Coali-

tion, said that more than half of Yale’s real estate value is not subject to property taxes because it is owned either by the nonprofit University or by Yale New Haven Hospital, and therefore qualifies for an exemption.

University spokesperson Karen Peart told the News that Yale’s endowment was made up of donations made to the University over its lifetime, often accompanied by restrictions on how the earnings from invested donations can be spent.

“Yale’s endowment is restricted to support various aspects of the university’s core mission — from financial aid to faculty salaries, to research and scholarship, and student activities,” Peart wrote in an email to the News. “The endowment supports thousands of good jobs in New Haven – faculty and staff, union and non-union jobs.”

Peart added that the University spends about one quarter of its endowment every five years.

The Endowment Justice Coalition advocates for Yale to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry or from other industries that members see as unethical. According to Ingall, members of the coalition recently declined to pay their $100 student activities fees, redistributing $4,000 collectively to local organizations and mutual aid projects.

“Yale spends significantly below its projected ranges of returns on investment every year,” Ingall said.

“If they wanted to contribute to city services and fund climate-resilient infrastructure in low-lying Black & brown neighborhoods at particular risk of warming-induced natural disaster, they could, and they could do it right now. If they wanted to invest in Yale’s academic mission, improve accessibility & health services, get rid of the student income contribution, even eliminate tuition, they could.

If they wwanted ‘to transform society, deepen human understanding and open doors to greater prosperity and well-being for millions,’ as Salovey said at the [campaign] launch, they could.”

Peart told the News that the University was already spending as much as it could on supporting the New Haven community “without unfairly taking from those who will come after us.”

Peart added that no city in America receives a larger voluntary payment from a university than New Haven does, and that the University continues to support the city through “various programs and volunteer efforts.”

But for EJC organizer Moses Goren ’23, the University’s continued investment in the fossil fuel industry is a problematic contrwadiction of the theme of the capital campaign, “For Humanity.” In September, Harvard University committed to divesting from the fossil fuel industry.

Salovey’s campaign is set to end in June 2026.

Isaac Yu contributed reporting.

Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu .

Yale-affiliated firm defends gun-maker in Sandy Hook suit COUNSEL FROM PAGE 1 thor of the open letter. “The reason I felt so compelled to get involved is the idea of my tuition dollars being used indirectly for the intimidation [and] harassment of these victims’ families … disgusted me.”

According to Vice President for Communications Nathaniel Nickerson, Day Pitney has represented the University on issues concerning real estate, zoning work and bond offerings. He added that Day Pitney has also served as local counsel defending Yale in an affirmative action lawsuit brought on behalf of Students for Fair Admissions.

Nickerson said that “when Yale learned of this action on Sunday, [University General Counsel Alexander] Dreier expressed his views to the management of Day Pitney in the strongest terms.”

“Yale is waiting to hear what Day Pitney intends to do to address this situation while we consider Yale’s ongoing relationship with the firm,” Nickerson said.

Elizabeth Sher, Day Pitney’s general counsel and partner, told the News that the firm has enjoyed a “long-standing relationship” with

Yale, and has been “privileged” to represent the University in a number of legal matters. “We have much respect for the institution, its employees and its students,” Sher wrote in an email to the News.

Sher declined to comment on the Sandy Hook lawsuit, as the litigation is ongoing.

Post emphasized that Day Pitney is failing to hold themselves to the “values that Yale claims to hold” and said that the firm should therefore not be able to profit from its business with the University or “pay their lawyers with [students’] tuition dollars.”

The Sandy Hook families sued Remington Arms in 2014, alleging that the gun manufacturer dangerously marketed a military style weapon — the AR-15 — to the public, in particular targeting younger males prone to violence in its marketing.

Adam Lanza, who was 20 years old at the time of the shooting, used an AR-15 when he killed his mother, 20 elementary school children and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012.

“I personally find the decision to subpoena the records of these young children to be completely beyond the pale, and as a prac-

ticing lawyer I would never take such an action nor would I allow any lawyer to do so in the course of representing Yale,” Dreier wrote in an email to the News.

In a Sept. 9 editorial, the Washington Post Editorial Board similarly wrote that the lawyer’s decision to subpoena these records is “beyond comprehension.”

In early September, Josh Koskoff, the lawyer for the victims’ families, filed a motion to protect the information revealed by Day Pitney’s subpoena for records related to the Sandy Hook victims.

In Koskoff’s motion, he called into question the motivations behind the demands of Remington’s lawyers — Day Pitney employees. Koskoff declined to comment for this story.

“There is no conceivable way that these children’s ‘application and admission paperwork, attendance records, transcripts, report cards, [and] disciplinary records,’ to name only some of the things sought by the subpoena, will assist Remington in its defense, and the plaintiffs do not understand why Remington would invade the families’ privacy with such a request,” the motion read.

Post described Day Pitney’s justification for demanding these records “bone-chilling.”

Thaddeus Talbot LAW ’22, the other co-author of the open letter, said that the University’s decision to keep Day Pitney as its legal counsel despite its well-documented ethical issues in this case contradicts the ethical and professional rules and guidelines that he is learning at the Yale Law School.

“It's very clear to me that Day Pitney is stretching the outer limits of ethical rules in order to intimidate these families,” Talbot said. “Yale should not be doing business with a law firm that’s willing to stoop this low.”

In 2020, Remington filed for bankruptcy in a move that the plaintiffs in this case argue would prevent the company from paying damages and accepting responsibility for its actions. In July 2021, Remington also offered the plaintiffs a $33 million settlement, coming out to around $3.6 million per family, which the families of the victims have not yet rejected or accepted.

Talbot said that as a result of the settlement not being immediately accepted, Remington is try-

ing to prolong the process enough for the families to drop their case.

He said Remington is also trying to use intimidation tactics to get the families to drop their case, with these efforts being conducted by Day Pitney lawyers.

Some, however, argue that there ought to be no restrictions on who a lawyer represents. In 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union condemned Harvard students who successfully protested for a faculty member to lose his position in a residential house following his decision to join Harvey Weinstein’s legal defense team.

Still, 103 people have signed onto the open letter. Post spoke with the News about what he sees as the University’s obligations in this matter.

“So everyone absolutely deserves legal representation,” Post told the News. “But when that legal representation crosses the line into intimidation of the families of murdered first graders … I think [that] is unconscionable.”

Read the full story on our website.

Contact PHILIP MOUSAVIZADEH at philip.mousavizadeh@yale.edu .

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

CELEBRATING LATINX COMMUNITIES Marietta Vazquez first Latina named YSM assoc. Dean

COURTESY OF MARIETTA VAZQUEZ

Marietta Vazquez appointed associate Dean of YSM.

BY MAI CHEN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Marietta Vazquez ’90, a professor in pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, has made strides to connect the medical institution and the community she calls home.

Born in Puerto Rico, Vazquez first came to Yale as an undergraduate, and later returned as a pediatric resident after acquiring a medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico.

Vazquez said that acclimating to Yale came with many obstacles, particularly the feeling of being disconnected from home.

“There were many challenges, one of which was language, as well as being the only minority in my training program and not having role models that I shared

a background and culture with,” said Vazquez. “I felt like I was in the middle and didn’t know which way to go.”

In her 27 years of hard work, she has made sure to honor her roots. Along this journey, she has achieved many milestones: becoming the first Latina to be named a voting member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices by the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the first Latina vice chair in the Department of Pediatrics, and now — in 2021 — the first Latina to be named associate dean at the Yale School of Medicine.

Vazquez was also appointed to the board of the medical school in 2020. She was one of five new members who increased the gender diversity and racial equity

of the board. Paula Kavathas, one of the leaders of this initiative and professor of laboratory medicine, immunobiology and molecular, cellular and developmental biology, emphasized that diversifying the board was a pivotal first step in increasing inclusion in the medical school.

“A goal is for the diversity of the board to reflect the diversity of the clinicians comprising the medical group,” said Kavathas. “This will require a greater proportion of female chairs at the YSM.” Vasquez was inspired to connect two groups that felt like they were fairly distant from each other: the institution and the vibrant community she grew up in and calls home. Vazquez realized that her dual identities were a great asset, helping her to connect with patients with

whom she shares a similar identity to.

“I’ve realized that a lot of my community is here now, and finding a cultural group with my language and work has allowed me to find the part that I thought I was giving up on moving away from Puerto Rico,” said Vazquez.

When she first heard of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, as a space within the medical institution, it struck her as an “aha moment,” in which an abstract sentiment she was passionate about finally took on a real form.

To Vazquez, getting involved was an organic transition after having experiences advocating for diversity without recognising what it was. This was what made her want to develop expertise and contribute to the DEI field.

“I’ve always been attracted to things that aren’t completely packaged and are evolving to have space and a palace for people to work hard and be creative,” said Vazquez. “The field of DEI is rapidly evolving, and I feel very privileged to be a part of helping to develop educational components and strategies. It’s not a job, it’s a passion.”

In her role as the vice chair of DEI within pediatrics, her efforts led to that department becoming the first to make diversity training mandatory.

Maryellen Flaherty-Hewitt, one of Vazquez’s colleagues and associate professor of clinical pediatrics, stressed the significance of Vasquez’s initiatives in increasing attention to diversity training education.

“I am proud to be part of this trailblazing Department and am honored to work with Dr. Vazquez, and other amazing faculty and residents who were critical in making this training mandatory,” said Flaherty-Hewitt.

“However, while having mandatory diversity training is important, I would say that what I find more impressive is that through Dr. Vazquez’s hard work, diversity and inclusion goes beyond mandatory training and is truly embedded in the culture of our Department.”

To Vazquez, building a strong foundation for discussions about diversity and inclusion is a key priority.

She said that the first step in understanding DEI is being introduced to the concepts and vocabulary of the issue. Understanding each other’s values is only possible if everyone can process the conversations that are occuring.

“One of the first things that I did was start training events in DEI,” said Vazquez. “The best commitment to this cause is to say we stand behind it and believe that every member of the Pediatrics [Department] should not be taking care of patients unless they have these basic building blocks.”

Her goal for the next three to five years is to improve the inclusivity of the medical school climate to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds feel like they belong. She feels that having difficult conversations is quickly becoming part of who the school is as a community and hopes to further integrate that into the medical school.

One of her main pieces of advice is that students should not come to Yale just to study, but to treat the city of New Haven as home and assimilate into the community. She hopes that she can show others the love she has for New Haven so that there is increased community involvement for students, faculty and staff.

“I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude and honour for those who came before me. For the Latinos and women in the school of medicine, pediatrics and leadership positions; and for all of my mentors and sponsors who have helped me get me where I am,” said Vazquez. “I have benefited from walking the road they paved, and because I was once a recipient, I feel like I should do the same for the next generation. I hope that when I look back on my career, I will see successors that perceive me as someone they can identify with and are inspired by.”

Contact MAI CHEN at mai.chen@yale.edu .

Students, faculty reflect on Latin American studies major

BY ISABEL MANEY CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Though the Latin American studies major is small — with between three and 12 seniors graduating each year — four affiliates underscored its importance, particularly for providing interdisciplinary education on Latin America.

“The LAS major provides students with an interdisciplinary foundation to understand the societies, cultures and institutions of Latin America,” said Ana De La O Torres, director of undergraduate studies for the Latin American studies major. “We cover languages, literature, social sciences, history, history of art, among other disciplines across the campus. With a strong foundation and a comparative approach, LAS students can examine global challenges, such as democratic erosion, climate change, global poverty, inequality, the rise of populism, among many others, from the perspective of the region.”

De La O Torres highlighted the Latin Studies Undergraduate Fellows Network, which is run by the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies and gives students priority funding to attend conferences or conduct research.

The Council also organizes career conversations to connect students with alumni and broadly introduce them to different professions that might be open to them.

Richard Cardoso ’24, who is part of the undergraduate student network with the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies and a prospective Latin American studies major, said that many people seem unaware the major exists, noting that a friend told him how they wished they had known about the major earlier. Even he was not aware of an opportunity in the major to learn an Indigenous language with a private tutor, and missed the deadline to sign up, he said.

“I really enjoy being a part of Latin America studies because what I teach is more holistic views of life and the world and history in Spanish,” said Margherita Tortora, a senior lecturer in Spanish.

“Latin American studies leaves you open. You could concentrate on political science. You could concentrate on history. You could concentrate on art. You could concentrate on anthropology or sociology. It’s all within Latin American Studies.”

Toratora, who teaches “Spanish in Film: An Introduction to the New Latin American Cinema,” said that the program’s broad scope complements the holistic learning featured in film classes. She said that students learn linguistic views in film, since they are exposed to different accents.

Students also have the opportunity to learn about the filmmaker’s background and motivations when they visit classes. “Here in the United States we usually get a pasteurized version of what is going on in other countries,” Tortora said while reflecting on a recent conversation with her former students.

As a faculty member associated with the Latin American Studies program, Tortora has prioritized enriching her students’ understanding of Latin America. She said that the independent films she shows her class and screens through the Latino and Iberian Film Festival, of which she is a founder and executive director, help her achieve this goal.

Chase Daneker ’24 is part of the undergraduate student network with the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies, which sponsors events, research and courses with support from the History, Political Science, Anthropology, Spanish and Portuguese Departments. Daneker is currently taking professor Moira Fradinger’s film class.

YALE DAILY NEWS

Professors and students spoke about initiatives and academic offerings of the Latin American Studies program.

“They’ve been some of the most interesting classes I’ve taken at Yale,” Daneker said.

“The professors, you can tell, care a lot about the material.

They’re always very excited that people want to take these classes with them.”

Both of Cardoso’s parents come from Mexico, but he said that he did not learn a lot about Latin America through his formal education in Dallas, Texas.

“My end goal is learning more about Latin America, its culture, its roots, and more so, its importance in the world today,” Cardoso said. “I feel like it’s an area of the world that is very much

overlooked. Because of that, I might want to create a kind of focus on it.”

C a rd o s o i s c o n s i d e r i n g focusing on international law with the intention of practicing law in Mexico. He said that he has always felt a connection to Latin America, but has not had the opportunity to visit the region for very long. Through the classes he’s taken, he has developed a list of places where he wants to visit and people he wants to meet. The Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico are one of his most recent interests. Cardoso’s interest in going to Mexico developed while at Yale.

“I’m from South Dallas which is very much a Black and Brown community and so coming in as a PWI, it feels like a very different place,” Cardoso said. “So I think that really showed me how important a Hispanic community was to me. Even though I’ve experienced a Hispanic community where I am from, it’s very much a Hispanic community diaspora, so I really want to see and live in a Hispanic community originally in Mexico.”

The Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies was established in 1962.

Contact ISABEL MANEY at isabel.maney@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

THROUGH THE LENS

I

nitially, I intended my visit to Fair Haven to be quick: take general photos of the neighborhood and rush back to study for midterms. But as soon as I walked into Justin’s Deli, located at 304 Grand Ave., three warm faces greeted me the same way I am greeted in my Mexican home. Anthony, Sergio and Domingo kindly accepted me into the back with their grill, taught me how to make their classic steak and cheese and gave me snacks and drinks to take on the road. Even more, Sergio, the manager, walked me to a neighboring restaurant “Delicias Mexicanas” and bakery, “La Tapatia Bakery.” I was given pan dulce, traditional Mexican sweet bread, and a plato de fruta con picante, a fruit plate topped with chili and lime. My last gift ended with an invitation to Sergio’s niece’s quinceanera. I’ll now be going back whenever I feel homesick.

REGINA SUNG reports.

PAGE 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

ARTS New Haven Notables: commemoration through mural art was not only the first African American to be awarded a Ph.D., but he was the sixth American to earn such a distinction in Physics. Later in life, as a teacher, he inspired While strolling down Chapel Street, passersby will find several Black students to pursue STEM. themselves greeted with Meryl Streep’s smiling lips and “I wanted to memorialize him to the public — he Adam Clayton’s steady eyes as part of the “New Haven deserves more than a painting within the confined walls Notables” mural display — a of Yale,” Adae said. collection of banners celebratO t h e r i m p o r ta n t New Haven figures featured in the ing 31 renowned New Haveners. collection include Robert Installed in 2016 by comMoses, who played a critical missioned mural artists, each banner showcases one of the role in transforming the landindividuals and includes a scape of 19th century New York through infrastructure brief blurb fanfaring their leg— bridging, housing, highacy to the public. The project was established by the ways and tunnels. His portrait Chapel West Special Services is immortalized in a monoDistrict, which, according to chrome portrait in which his steely-eyed gaze pierces Operations Manager Anthony through the left of the banGiano, handles the district’s day-to-day operations such ner as if he can see beyond the as street cleaning, general brick walls of Chapel Street. surveillance and economic Giano, a long-time New Haven resident, hopes to see a development projects.

“These [murals] don’t just second round of murals go up. make the city a brighter and “People come in just to ask more welcoming place to live about the murals,” he said, … they also remind us of our noting that they were a “focal history and our humanity in point” of the city. Giano has the most vibrant way posset up a display in his office sible,” Lucy Gellmen, editor on Chapel Street that features of the Arts Paper of the New copies of many of the murals.

Haven Arts Council, wrote in Passersby pause as they make their way down Chapel an email to the News.

Street, spending a moment Current district President with Paul Giamatti and then Tom Strong ART ’67 and forsharing a quick exchange with mer President Vincent Romei Karen Carpenter before conwere seeking an opportunity to both adorn the streets of New tinuing on their way.

LILY DORSTEWITZ/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Haven and educate the com“If you have a beautiful munity. Their solution was a space,” Adae added, “then you In 31 art banners strung around the city, notable New Haveners and their legacies are being celebrated. collection of 31 murals celebrathave a happy community.” ing famous figures who have passed through the city.

Edward Bouchet — one of the 31 notables who was The Chapel West Special Services District was founded According to Strong, the murals, which vary in size, valedictorian of the Hopkins school in 1860 and the first in 1986. typically last around three to four years before requir- Black man to be named Phi Beta Kappa at Yale — was also ing replacement. Each banner includes both a black and recently featured in a mural by New Haven artist Kwado Contact ARIEL KIM at white high-resolution sketch of the individual and a short Adae that’s located on Dixwell Avenue. ariel.kim@yale.edu and “He was the first Black Ph.D. recipient in the country,” description of their story. Many of them hang on the sides ELIZABETH DEJANIKUS at of apartment buildings and other local establishments. Adae noted enthusiastically. Indeed, Edward Bouchet elizabeth.dejanikus@yale.edu .

BY ARIEL KIM AND ELIZABETH DEJANIKUS CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS

According to Strong, the University will not allow banners on its buildings.

“I love that, through muralism, I can run into Dr. Edward Bouchet, the first Black man to get a Ph.D. in the country, while I’m waiting for the bus by Henry Street,” Gellmen said.

Five Yale Alumni acknowledged at the Tony Awards intertwined. The play is separated into two parts, each of which are approximately three hours long. The play follows themes of sexuality, the effects of the AIDS crisis, companionship and love. Burnap plays writer At this year’s Tony Awards, five Yale Alumni took home an award.

Tony Darling.

The Tony Awards — which aired on Sept. 26 — have “Tony Darling is a lot of things, and boring is not been held annually since 1947, and actors, directors and one of them,” Burnap said. “[Performing] ranged from others involved in the theater community recognize the being the most thrilling experience to unbearably frustrating. Doing the play for almost three years, year’s best work in live Broadway theatre. This year’s ceremony was held in the Winter Garden Theatre in New eight times a week was the most physically and emoYork City with hosts Leslie Odom Jr. — known for his role tionally demanding thing I have ever experienced. I didn’t have much of a personal life outside of [perin the Broadway musical “Hamilton” — and “Respect” actress Audra McDonald. There were many nominaforming] every night. But the reward of meeting auditions, including familiar ence members and hearing names such as Jake Gyllentheir stories made everyhaal and Jane Alexander. thing worth it. I will never Among the winners were five forget them.”

Yale Alumni from the David Many other nominees Geffen School of Drama, or were once students at the YSD: Derek McLane DRA drama school, including Jeremy O’ Harris DRA ’84, Andrew Burnap DRA ‘16, ‘19 for Best Play for “Slave David Alan Grier DRA ’81, Play”, and Emily Rebholz Alex Timbers DRA ’01 and DRA ‘06 for Best Costume Catherine Zuber DRA ’84.

Design of a Musical for “I am thrilled that so many of this year’s nomi“Jagged Little Pill.” nees and winners are curGrace Zandarski, an assisrent faculty and alumni who tant professor adjunct of acting who has been teachattended the School decades ing at Yale since 2002, said apart,” YSD professor James Bundy said. “Because of that the faculty feels sincere COVID-19, they waited a pride in having taught such long time for such deserved talented members of the recognition, and their cretheater community. ativity is inspiring to our “This year’s awards were a reminder of the last time community and the field.”

The awards consist of a audiences were able to come variety of prize categories, together to share air and separated into 26 competiexperience complex stotive awards and four special ries of the human condiYALE NEWS discretionary awards. The tion before pandemic isolaThe Tony Awards recognized five alumni from Yale in a variety of artistic fields, including set design and lead acting. competitive awards include tion limited us to the small screen,” Zandarski said.

Best Play, Best Musical, Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Director of a Play and Best “Moulin Rouge” follows the suspenseful love story “The David Geffen School of Drama’s mission is ‘to train Performance of a Leading Actress in a Play. The special between a young Englishman and a singer at the Moulin and advance leaders in the practice of every theatrical discretionary awards specifically commemorate a long- Rouge nightclub in Paris. McLane’s set is both large and discipline making art to inspire joy, empathy and understanding commitment to the theater world. grand, defining a different theme for every scene. The standing in the world.’ To see so many Yale alums across McLane, who won an award for Best Scenic Design opening stage is fit with a giant heart — a detail meant to our programs nominated and awarded Tonys was also of a Musical for “Moulin Rouge/The Musical,” talked make the audience feel like they are transported to the a celebration of the strength, depth and breadth of our about the “joyous” feeling of winning, particularly after heart of Paris, France, which is also known as the “City training, our community and the stories these artists experiencing the setbacks in the theater world due to of Love.” want to tell.”

COVID-19. He explained that at the start of the panBurnap, who won Best Actor in Leading Role in a Play The Tony Awards can be watched virtually on Parademic, artists did not expect live performances to be for “The Inheritance,” took home his first Tony Award mount +. shut down for more than a month. When performance this year. venues remained closed for over 18 months, they began “The Inheritance” follows the story of a multi-genContact RUTH LEEat facing financial difficulties. erational group of gay men whose stories become ruth.lee@yale.edu .

BY RUTH LEE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

“It really becomes an existential crisis after a while — somebody like myself who spent 40 years working in this business wonders, is it over? Do I need to find a new profession?” McLane said.

According to McLane, the timing of the Tonys was “particularly sweet.” Since the Tony Awards took place two days after Moulin Rouge’s reopening performance on Sept. 24, the production team felt both the joys of reopening the show after 18 months and being honored with 10 Tony awards, including Best Musical.

“For me, that was the biggest treat of all.” McLane said. “It wasn’t just for me — it was all of my colleagues on the show. And that was such a joyous night.”

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 9

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY Yalies celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day

SARAH COOK/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Association of Native Americans at Yale planned cultural celebration and advocacy events for the week.

BY LUCY HODGMAN AND SARAH COOK STAFF REPORTER AND CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The Association of Native Americans at Yale — through the Native American Cultural Center — organized multiple events for Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, balancing cultural celebration with advocacy for Native American communities.

ANAAY planned programming throughout the week of Indigenous Peoples Day. Events ranged from an open rally and fundraiser to Stop Line 3 to more intimate events held at the NACC. Faculty and students who spoke with the News characterized the holiday as a time of community celebration, reflection and visibility for Indigenous students.

“It’s an opportunity to share and talk about Native people in a contemporary time and really make visible Indigenous people who are often invisible,” said Matthew Makomenaw, Director of the Native American Cultural Center and Assistant Dean of Yale College.

“To talk about how we’re still here and how we’re still thriving as a community, as a culture, as a people, as students and as a campus.”

According to ANAAY president Evan Roberts ’23, the association has been focused on planning Indigenous Peoples Day events for the past three weeks.

One central initiative is a fundraiser held in collaboration with the Yale College Council in opposition of a proposed expansion to the Line 3 oil pipeline. The pipeline, which was proposed by the Canadian Oil

Company Enbridge, would run from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin — through the treaty territory of Anishinaabe peoples.

“ANAAY saw our place in advocacy against Line 3, especially at this point in the process, to raise funds for those on the frontlines fighting this issue and awareness about this issue,” Roberts wrote in an email to the News. “We launched a fundraiser in collaboration with the YCC because often when just ANAAY publicizes a fundraiser, it doesn’t have the reach we knew the YCC would, and we wanted to spread this as far as possible.”

By Thursday, the most recent time the YCC updated the results of the fundraiser, the initiative had raised $750 from students and $300 from alumni. Roberts added that ANAAY will host a teach-in about the pipeline expansion for the broader campus community later in October.

The NACC also planned a dining hall takeover in collaboration with Yale Hospitality, which took place on Monday night in the Branford and Saybrook dining halls. The event featured an Indigenous-centered menu prepared by the Yale dining staff, as well as performances from the a capella group Shades of Yale and WORD: Performance Poetry at Yale.

“The goal of the takeover is not to feature pre-colonial meals and romanticize pre-colonial times — rather, this menu celebrates contemporary takes on indigenous ingredients,” Catherine Webb ’23, the Yale Sustainable Food Program

Seedkeeper and Programs Liaison for the NACC, wrote in an email to the News. “We hope that this dining hall takeover punctuates indigenous presence at Yale and creates another space for indigenous students to celebrate our diverse cultures and histories together.”

Items on the menu included roasted turkey, wild rice pilaf and amaranth cookies.

Webb added that the NACC hoped to collaborate more with Yale Dining in the future, perhaps by incorporating Indigenous-inspired menu items into regular rotation or by holding additional Indigenous dining hall takeovers.

“It’s just really good to come together around food again after the year that we’ve all had,” Makomenaw said. “Just being able to be around each other and share stories and catch up with people and see how people are doing.”

ANAAY also commemorated the day through a public rally held on Old Campus midday Monday.

Students, faculty and administrators gathered for the rally at noon, and some ANAAY members walked from Saybrook with posters. The rally began with Roberts and ANAAY vice-president Hema Patel ’23 introducing the event.

Patel spoke about the importance of recognizing Indegenous Peoples Day and Yale’s failure to do so.

“All of us here believe that Indigenous Peoples Day should be celebrated and these two events cannot coexist, so that’s part of what we are protesting today,” Patel said. “It’s a celebration but it’s also a protest.”

The event was attended by students and faculty, including Dean of Yale College Marvin Chun.

At the rally, attendees gathered in a circle, and a drumming group played three songs with Indigenous students singing along. The first song, “Smilin,” included a round dance, and the second song was a traditional Ojibwe song entitled the “Strong Women’s Song,” which only women sang. The last song was called “Meant to Be.” Matthew Cline ’23, peer liaison at the NACC, told the News he was excited to see non-Indigenous students at the rally and hoped the rally showed the presence of Indigenous students on Yale’s campus.

“Often Indigenous people are imagined as existing in the past, or being part of something you learned in history class,” Cline said.

“I think that the message of today’s event is that we’re still a presence on campus and these issues haven’t gone away just because people stop talking about them. This isn’t just about activism, it’s an event about joy, and about community coming together.”

Inssia Ahmed ’25 attended the event and told the News that coming from Canada — where there has been significant recent discussion surrounding Indigenous activism after recent revelations about Canada’s historically oppressive residential school systems — Ahmed thought it was important to learn how Indigenous culture in America is different and the same as in Canada.

After the rally, Indigenous student attendees gathered in front of Sterling Memorial Library for a picture, where they held signs with messages such as “This land is our land” and “White supremacy has no place on stolen land.”

“Yale should recognize Indigenous Peoples Day,” Roberts told the News. “At this point, with so much student and faculty support, they have no excuse to not recognize this holiday ... Yale needs to recognize this holiday and support Indigenous students and communities on campus and beyond.”

President Joseph Biden this month declared Indigenous Peoples Day a national holiday. ANAAY member Sunni Parisien ’25 reflected on how the University can extend its allyship beyond acknowledging Indigenous Peoples Day, suggesting that Yale accredit Indigenous languages and consider how they contribute to Indigenous communities in the area. Currently, Brown University and Cornell University are among the Ivies that accredit Indigenous languages.

On Oct. 12, the NACC — in collaboration with the University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University — is hosting a Zoom panel on Indigenous experiences in higher education. From 8:30-10 p.m. on Oct. 12, the NACC will host a series of workshops on improvisation, poetry, lei-making and beading.

Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu and SARAH COOK at sarah.cook@yale.edu .

Community gathers on the Green to support Indigenous people

BY WILLIAM PORAYOUW AND BRIAN ZHANG CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS On Tuesday, community voices rang out across the Green as New Haveners led a ceremony celebrating Indigenous culture and calling on Congress to welcome migrants.

The event — which was hosted

by Black and Brown United in Action alongside Unidad Latina en Acción, or ULA — featured speaker presentations and dance performances. It culminated in a march to Representative Rosa DeLauro’s (D-CT) office — with demonstrators holding signs in opposition to antiimmigration sentiment — as well as the unveiling of a sculpture honoring Nepaupuck, a Quinnipiac warrior who was executed by colonists in 1639 on the same site as Tuesday’s protest.

“We’re more than dishwashers. We’re more than cleaners.

We’re more than administrative staff,” said Catherine John, one of the event’s organizers and a leader of Black and Brown United in Action.

John Jairo Lugo, one of the event’s lead organizers, spoke to the lack of Indigenous curriculum in Elm City’s current education system — which he said capitalized on a colonizer perspective and left out Native history.

Connecticut has become the first state to require that public schools offer ethnic studies

curriculum — which will include topics such as the diversity of Latino cultures, the suppression of Indigenous languages in the Americas and the legacy of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico.

Catherine John expressed similar sentiments, questioning how immigration could be “illegal” when the land was stolen in the first place. John said that Indigenous groups had inhabited the city for centuries and the term implied discrimination against migrants.

Throughout the event, pamphlets and brochures titled “You’re Standing on Stolen Land” were passed out to public attendees.

According to organizers, the protest was also meant to capture the struggles of other marginalized groups. Lugo compared the deportation of undocumented immigrants to racial profiling of African Americans.

“It’s always the squashing of a culture that is not convenient to recognize,” said Ku’ Bibiri Sari, who is Taíno, explaining that racism persists across different times.

John said that there are flaws within New Haven’s schools that influence how Indigenous and other marginalized communities are portrayed in media and literature.

“We need to make sure people are educated about this … we need to take our space back,” John said.

“Yale shoved us out of the way.”

But change should occur beyond the institutional, Lugo said. He

BRIAN ZHANG/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Community members gathered on the Green to celebrate Indigenous culture and call on Congress to welcome migrants. reminded attendees of the importance of steps that people could take to preserve Native languages, educate children on cultural traditions and show pride in their roots and identities. In addition to personal commitments to upholding these values, Sari mentioned that Indigenous groups in the city

needed to come together to “resist now and educate ourselves.”

John added that New Haven Public Schools should prioritize multilingual instruction and programs that cater to the unique struggles of Black and Brown children.

ULA’s next event is a screening of “It Was a Coup,” a film about

“the interruption of democracy in Bolivia.” The screening will be held on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the New Haven People’s Center.

Contact WILLIAM PORAYOUW at william.porayouw@yale.edu and BRIAN ZHANG at brian.zhang@yale.edu .

PAGE 10

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

SPORTS

“If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren’t willing to do.” MICHAEL PHELPS AMERICAN SWIMMER

Yale releases NIL policy

JILLY MEHLMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The decision comes after Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-132 on June 30.

NIL POLICY FROM PAGE 14 ize on the opportunities they have through their NIL opens a lot of doors,” Gianchandani said. “Being part of the social media generation works in student-athletes’ favors here because student-athletes can build up a following on their own platform where they can reach thousands or more people with one post. Many popular deals consist of student-athletes posting content on their various social media accounts which is a very flexible, low-time-commitment way for a student-athlete to make money.”

Gianchandani, who is the co-founder and CEO of Accel Golf, also told the News that she is excited to be able to ramp up marketing for her venture because of her ability to attach her name, image and likeness to the brand.

The University wrote that the NIL policy is subject to change as “the new NIL landscape for collegiate student-athletes is still developing.” The Yale policy also states that student-athletes may be represented by a “duly licensed attorney or sports agent in connection with their NIL activity,” although the University strongly recommends that student-athletes exercise “proper due diligence” when doing so.

A clause in the Yale policy, under the heading “Financial Aid,” states that students receiving need-based financial aid “should understand that income of any kind, including compensation received for NIL activity, may reduce their eligibility for University and/or federal financial aid.”

“Every family's financial situation is different,” Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Scott Wallace-Juedes told the News when asked how NIL-related compensation would affect a student’s financial aid package. “The Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid works with families to understand how their financial need is determined and how a Yale financial aid award meets 100 percent of that need.

Financial aid officers also work with students and families to understand how changes to student and parent income, as well as their level of family financial need, are reflected in changes to their financial aid award in future academic years.”

The NCAA began permitting student-athlete use of their NIL for commercial purposes on July 1.

Jordan Fitzgerald contributed reporting.

Contact JAMES RICHARDSON at james.richardson@yale.edu .

O’Gara and Howe to coach Yalies MEN'S HOCKEY FROM PAGE 14 on, to dive all in 100% and give it everything I got.”

Prior to graduating in 2016, O’Gara made his mark on the Yale men’s hockey program. During his time in the blue and white sweater, O’Gara dressed for 133 contests and notched a total of 51 career points.

As the most decorated defenseman in the history of Yale hockey, the blueliner was named to two All-American teams, two firstteam All-ECAC selections and was the only player in Yale history to be a three-time recipient of the John Poinier Award for best defenseman. Furthermore, the Boston Bruins’ 2011 5th round NHL draft pick played in all 37 games during the Elis’ historic 2012-13 campaign, when the team won the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

In addition to his impressive varsity minutes, O’Gara’s experiences in the NHL with the Bruins and New York Rangers have given him the knowledge and understanding to serve as a mentor for a new generation of Bulldogs.

“There's going to be turmoil, there's going to be losses, you name it,” O’Gara said. “Knowing how to handle that and turn it into a positive learning experience… I think [it] is something that I can promote because

Contact TRISHA NGUYEN at trisha.nguyen@yale.edu .

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

FIELD HOCKEY FROM PAGE 14

W. Golf finishes second at home WOMEN’S GOLF FROM PAGE 14

COURTESY OF SAM RUBIN '95

Despite a close matchup that resulted in a loss, the Bulldogs are gearing up to face Columbia.

Despite the team’s offensive core scoring 22 goals in their first six games, the Lions have lately been struggling to generate and capitalize on scoring opportunities.

“Every loss recently has felt different,” Columbia head coach Katie DeSandis told the Columbia Spectator. “I think the takeaway from today is that we really just need to work for each other and give 100 percent in training this whole week coming up so we can actually bring that to the field on the weekend.”

The Yale field hockey team’s leading scorers include forward Lena Ansari ’24 and midfielder Théodora Dillman ’23, who have established themselves as two of the top eight goal scorers in the Ivy League. On the other side of the field, starting goal-

“It’s proven it can be done here and I wanted to go to a winning program as well,” Howe said over the phone. “Those combinations of things were very attractive to me: the elite school, Coach Allain and just the ability to put out a competitive hockey team at the national level.”

At Yale, Howe will be focused on working with the forwards, goaltenders, and the powerplay.

During his stint with Alaska, Howe was also tasked with coaching the forwards and powerplay.

Similar to O’Gara, Howe told the News that he is excited to make his Yale coaching debut at the Whale in what he described as “one of the best rinks in college hockey”.

Despite the Bulldogs’ young and inexperienced team, Howe explained that he hopes to harness their youthful energy and excitement to compete for an Ivy League championship and secure a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“We've got a great group of young men on the team that are hungry for that as well, to get to competing and prove some people wrong.” Howe said.

Yale’s home opener will come against Quinnipiac on Nov. 5.

Before graduating, O’Gara doned the blue and white sweater, amassing 51 career points on the men's hockey team .

Bulldogs to face Columbia 3–1 win over the Elis. The second matinee match of the weekend took place on the road against No. 24, University of Massachusetts Amherst. After a scoreless first half, the Minutewomen broke open the floodgates with a goal off a penalty corner. UMass ultimately blanked Yale after adding two more unanswered goals.

"We played very well," Yale field hockey head coach Pam Stuper told Yale Athletics after the match on Sunday. "UMass comes up with great corners and executes them well — we knew that going in. The goals they scored on us were well-earned."

With six straight wins to start the season, the 2021-22 Columbia field hockey team etched its name into the program’s history book. Following this monumental start, however, the Lions have yet to bounce back from their Sept.

24 1–4 defeat to Havard, losing four games straight since.

Yale will also enter the matchup having been unable to find victory in its last four outings. The Lions were shut out by its opponents in three out of four of their defeats, while the Bulldogs managed to get on the scoreboard in three of their games.

On the offensive end, the Lions are led by senior midfielder Kelsey Farkas and first-year midfielder/forward Sophie Rockefeller who have combined for a total of seven goals and nine assists this season. Senior goaltender Alexa Conomikes has been in net for all ten of Columbia’s contests.

The Academic All-Ivy League recipient recorded a total of 51 saves this season, posting a .739 save percentage.

I really do understand how important that is.”

O’Gara emphasized that he wishes to be a figure who the players can reach out to for anything and hopes to provide the young skaters with whatever they need to be successful, both on and off the ice.

Yale men’s hockey head coach Keith Allain '80 also believes that O’Gara’s wisdom and experiences will be of great help and praised him for his evident continued commitment to the game.

“He brings tremendous passion to this position, and I am certain that he has a bright coaching future ahead of him.” Allain said in a statement to Yale Athletics.

In addition to O’Gara, the hiring of Howe also brings collegiate national championship experience to the Blue and White’s coaching staff.

The Plymouth, Minnesota native joins the Bulldogs after clinching the 2017 NCAA title with the University of Denver and spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

When asked about his decision to join the Blue and White, Howe cited Yale’s academic prestige, Allain’s coaching pedigree and the Elis’ 2013 national championship success.

tender Luanna Summer ’24 has been an irreplaceable presence in goal and currently leads the Ancient Eight in saves, with 67 in 11 appearances.

The Bulldogs will look to maintain their historical record against Columbia as they have secured the victory in three of their last four meetings with the Lions. In their most recent matchup, the Blue and White took home a memorable, comefrom-behind 4–3 win in overtime. This upcoming game in New York will mark the first of five games over a 15 day stretch.

The Yale field hockey team is set to take to the pitch in New York at 6 p.m on Friday.

Contact TRISHA NGUYEN at trisha.nguyen@yale.edu .

weren’t able to come out on top,” Gianchandani said. “We were able to stay in contention the whole time and have a lot to learn from how we played. We are excited to have come in second place but are even more motivated to win the next event now.”

Overall, five Elis placed within the top twenty: Chai tied for 13th place while Alexis Kim ’25 and Ashley Au ’24 tied for 18th.

This home tournament comes two weekends after the Bulldogs placed fourth at the Princeton Invitational and after their season-opening win at the Boston College Intercollegiate at the beginning of that same week.

Additionally, this home invi-

tational comes after Yale Athletics announced an agreement with Hanse Golf Course Design to restore the Yale Golf Course.

“The support we have received from Peter Palacios and Jeff Austin and their staff at the Yale Golf Course is really setting us up for success at home and on the road,” Coach Lauren Harling told the News prior to the tournament. “We are really enjoying working with them day in and day out.”

The Bulldogs will travel to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York to play their final invitational of the fall season from Monday, Oct. 25 to Tuesday, Oct. 26.

Contact HAMERA SHABBIR at hamera.shabbir@yale.edu .

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

The women's golf team placed second, tying with Boston University, at the Yale Invitational.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 11

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY University study shows increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates can save lives spoke to the study’s usefulness, particularly as a way to demonstrate the human cost of insufficient interventions.

Omer also detailed strategies that policymakers can implement to encourage vaccination and reduce the Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health published a study modeling the number of deaths and virus’ spread. He emphasized that vaccination mandates hospitalizations that could be prevented by acceleratfor travel could be an effective way to reduce the spread ing the pace of vaccination against COVID-19. Across of the virus in anticipation of the holiday season, and he the 10 states included in the study, the researchers found noted that personal physicians can be influential figures that 19,500 hospitalizations and 6,900 deaths could in nationwide vaccination efforts. be averted through March 2022 by “We need to have a national proincreasing daily vaccination rates gram to train healthcare providby 50 percent starting in September. ers, who remain the most trusted Epidemiology professor Alison source of vaccine information from Galvani and associate research scithe beginning of this outbreak through now, to empower them entist Pratha Sah both worked on with evidence-based approaches the paper, published Oct. 5 in the to communicate around vaccines,” Commonwealth Fund. The team used a previously-developed comOmer said. putational model to project the Sah said that vaccination rates number of hospitalizations and could be increased by improving deaths that would occur over the confidence in vaccines in communext six months if statewide vaccinities that have low vaccination rates, as well as by making vaccine nation rates increased by 50 percent, and then compared this number to appointments more accessible. She a projection if the vaccination rate added that financial incentive proholds steady. Galvani and Sah were grams have been shown to increase among the paper’s authors, alongvaccination rates, and that private companies can boost vaccinations side Eric Schneider, senior vice by enforcing their own mandates president for policy and research at the Commonwealth Fund. for employees.

“Recently, states with lower The researchers obtained daily vaccination rates have seen much vaccination data for each state higher rates of hospitalizations from the Centers for Disease Conand deaths compared to those with trol and Prevention. The model higher vaccination rates,” Schneiwas calibrated with reported incider wrote in an email to the News. dences from Oct. 1, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2021 in order to simulate the “We wanted to quantify the potenimpact from Sept. 1, 2021 through tial benefit of accelerating the pace of vaccination in states with both Mar. 31, 2022.

REGINA SUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR low and high rates of vaccination.”

According to Sah, the model used Yale researchers quantify the benefits of an increase in vaccination rates.

In the study, the researchers looked current information about vaccine effectiveness and did not account at five northern states with upward for potential changes in the landtrends in daily infections and five southern states with declining trends that have already strate the potential impact of current and future inter- scape of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The possibility of new reached their peak. They simulated two different scenarios: ventions. Additionally, the researchers explained the variants emerging could interfere with these numbers, one scenario modeled a 50 percent increase in daily admin- feasibility of the simulated 50 percent increase in vac- and highly transmissible ones could further increase istered doses compared to the final week of August, while cinations, and pointed out that vaccination mandates the need for vaccinations. the other scenario modeled this number remaining con- have been effective in the face of vaccine hesitancy. “[Because] vaccines are available, the future of the panstant. The projected infections, hospitalizations and deaths “Accelerating the pace of vaccinations would pre- demic is not written in stone,” Schneider wrote. “It can be due to COVID-19 between the two simulations were com- vent a significant number of hospitalizations and improved by even modest increases in vaccination.” pared, and the difference between the two was reported as deaths from the continued Delta wave,” Sah wrote According to the CDC, 56.4 percent of the United the number of deaths and hospitalizations that could be in an email to the News. “With the ongoing threat States population is fully vaccinated as of Oct. 9, 2021. that new highly transmissible variants will emerge, potentially averted.

On a state level, the highest number of averted hos- increasing vaccination pace now is critical.”

Contact AISLINN KINSELLA at Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health Saad Omer pitalizations projected was 5,056 in Texas, and the aislinn.kinsella@yale.edu .

BY AISLINN KINSELLA STAFF REPORTER

most averted deaths projected was 1,441 in Florida.

New Hampshire had the smallest projected impact for both measures, with 10 deaths and 65 hospitalizations averted in the model. According to Sah, this analysis will be expanded in the future to include the entire United States.

While similar studies have covered vaccination efforts taken thus far and simulated what could have occurred differently, this work looked ahead to demon-

‘Everybody’s friend’: School of Medicine Director of Admissions Ayaska Fernando dies at 35

COURTESY OF ROBERT LISAK VIA YALE NEWS

The late Ayaska Fernando created a lasting impact on the Yale community with his kindness, passionate involvement and friendship.

BY VERONICA LEE, MAI CHEN AND SOPHIE WANG STAFF REPORTER AND CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS Following a battle with cancer, Yale School of Medicine Director of Admissions Damith “Ayaska” Fernando, 35, passed away on Oct. 2.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Fernando studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate student in Yale College. Upon graduating in 2008, he dedi-

cated 10 years of service to Yale’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions — climbing the ranks to serve as the inaugural director of science and engineering recruitment. After his appointment as Director of Admissions for the School of Medicine, he received his master’s in electrical engineering from the University in 2018.

Alongside his career and research interests, Fernando was active in the Yale community as a member of the advisory board of the Yale Scientific Magazine and resident fellow for Jonathan Edwards College. A public celebration to honor his life and legacy will be held on Oct. 29 at the New Haven Lawn Club.

Those who interacted with Fernando reflected on the support he offered to all members of the community, from academic advice to cheering on the University’s sports teams. “​​Ayaska was a friend, a faithful JE Fellow, a proud JE alum, and a bright light in every room he entered,” Head of College Mark Saltzman told the Jonathan Edwards College community. “I already miss his strong and confident voice, his immediate and bottomless empathy, his sharp and subtle intelligence, and his willingness to do what is needed for others.”

As a resident fellow, Fernando advised students in the Great Hall, arranged the Paskus Mellon Fellowship dinners for seniors, organized study breaks and remained active in many aspects of campus life.

Saltzman wrote that he was heartbroken over the loss of Fernando, who he called “beloved in all of the Yale communities that he touched.” He encouraged students to “approach the world as Ayaska did” — with energy, enthusiasm and vigor.

J. Nick Fisk, a doctoral candidate in computational biology and bioinformatics, expressed similar sentiments. He characterized Fernando as charming, resilient, patient and with a strong sense of duty and humor.

“If the phrase ‘everybody’s friend’ applies to anyone, it would be Ayaska,” Fisk told the News.

The two met while Fisk was a graduate affiliate and Fernando was a resident fellow. Fisk said that Fernando had “an uncanny ability to know what you

needed,” and that there was “nothing quite like” being introduced to someone like Fernando.

One graduate, Yeonsoo Sara Lee ’17, remembered Fernando visiting her high school as an undergraduate admissions officer. She called him a “big reason” that she applied to Yale.

“He came to visit my High School for a Yale information session as part of the admissions office and spoke so strongly about how much he valued his friendships formed there, and the community that he was a part of,” Lee wrote to the News. “I remember going back to English class after that and just thinking how wonderful it was to interact with him and that I probably would end up applying to Yale.”

Lee said that upon matriculation, Fernando was a friendly face on campus who she’d have occasional meals with, catching up on topics ranging from her family at home and the sports scene. She added that Fernando — who was a well-known sports fan — congratulated her for walking onto the women’s crew team.

During his time as the School of Medicine’s Director of Admissions, Fernando helped promote inclusivity — his life and legacy setting the tone for future cohorts of students.

“As Director of Admissions for the School of Medicine, Ayaska advanced the excellence and diversity of our students,” Nancy Brown, Dean of Yale School of Medicine, wrote in an email to the News. “He was instrumental in facilitating input into the revision of our mission statement. Ayaska was one of those rare human beings, who by virtue of his generosity, creativity, and passion for his work and life, made the world a better place every day.”

In its September season opener, the football team held a sign that read: “Team 148 is on Team Ayaska.”

Contact VERONICA LEE at veronica.lee@yale.edu, MAI CHEN at mai.chen@yale.edu and SOPHIE WANG at sophie.wang@yale.edu .

PAGE 12

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

NEWS

“Extra-dirty vodka Martinis - they’re so easy to drink! I should really just drink olive juice; it’d be safer.” CECILY STRONG AMERICAN ACTRESS

Yale lawyers file to dismiss Bandy Lee’s free speech suit

YALE UNIVERSITY

The University and lawyer Alan Dershowitz assert that Yale was within its rights to not reappoint Lee in May 2020.

BY ISAAC YU STAFF REPORTER Yale’s lawyers have filed to dismiss a free expression case brought against the University by Bandy Lee MED ’94 DIV ’95, a psychiatrist and former School of Medicine-affiliated faculty member.

Lee filed her original complaint in March, alleging “unlawful termination … due to her exercise

of free speech about the dangers of Donald Trump’s presidency.”

Yale, her lawyers argue, fired Lee in May 2020 in response to a complaint from lawyer and Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz LAW ’62. In a January 2020 letter to Yale, Dershowitz alleged that Lee had violated the ethics rules of the American Psychiatric Association by tweeting that same month that he and other supporters of former

president Donald Trump experienced “shared psychosis.”

Yale unsuccessfully filed to dismiss the case in June. On Sept.

17, the University’s lawyers once again asked for the case to be dismissed. Their associated memorandum describes Lee’s behavior and comments as “teaching deficits” and argues that Lee’s yearly reappointment was entirely within the University’s discretion.

Lee has tied her case to the state of academic freedom at Yale and said she hopes that University President Peter Salovey will reexamine her case in light of his recent statement on academic freedom, which he made in the wake of professor of history Beverly Gage’s resignation due to donor interference in the Grand Strategy program.

While numerous former colleagues and psychiatry professionals protested Lee’s firing in letters to the University that Lee posted on her website, Lee told the News that Yale officials have not taken her complaint seriously. When she initially appealed her firing to Salovey last spring, Salovey called her firing a “reasoned decision,” per the court case.

Lee has until Nov. 8 to respond to Yale’s dismissal filing.

“Needless to say, [Yale’s filing] disappointed me, but it did not surprise me,” Lee told the News.

“Trying for seven months and failing just to have a discussion with colleagues I have known for 17 years, and then the president of Yale … was puzzling.”

Central to the case is the concept of academic freedom. Lee’s supporters contend that her termination, as well as the APA rules on which her firing was based, violated her First Amendment rights. Her complaint explicitly argues that Yale failed its commitments to academic freedom, citing the 1975 Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale — commonly referred to as the Woodward Report — which is meant to dictate Yale’s policies regarding freedom of expression.

In its dismissal filing, however, Yale described the Woodward Report as a “statement of principles’’ rather than a “set of contractual promises.” Lawyers argue further that principles of academic freedom are instead implemented through the Faculty Handbook, which explicitly excludes School of Medicine voluntary faculty, such as Lee, from its appeals processes.

Lee also contends when she was not reappointed in 2020, the School of Medicine failed to submit a report to its Office of Academic Affairs required by the Faculty Handbook.

In an email to the News, University spokesperson Karen Peart wrote that Lee’s lawsuit has “no legal basis.” She, as well as the University’s filing, noted that Lee was a voluntary professor not on the tenure track, and that her reappointment was entirely at the University’s discretion.

“Dr. Lee was a voluntary faculty member in the School of

Medicine, and her request for reappointment was considered in accordance with Yale’s policies and practices,” Peart wrote. “Yale does not consider the political opinions of faculty members when making appointment decisions.”

In response, Lee noted a much larger majority of medical school affiliates — more than 85 percent — are voluntary or non-tenure-track compared to other Yale schools.

Dershowitz echoed the University’s argument and said that academic freedom goes beyond individual faculty members.

“Yale has its academic freedom as well as she does,” Dershowitz told the News. “No University could ever be forced to allow a person who doesn’t meet any scientific standard of competence to teach. The idea that the school must allow someone like that to teach its students would violate all standards of academic freedom.”

Lee’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.

“I consider my lawsuit not only to be of personal concern but a critical one of academic freedom as well as the freedom of professionals, who have a duty to the public, to speak freely on matters of public interest,” Lee wrote.

During her time at Yale, Lee created a Yale College course titled “Violence: Causes and Cures.”

Philip Mousavizadeh contributed reporting.

Contact ISAAC YU at isaac.yu@yale.edu .

Disparities in COVID-19 restrictions trouble performing arts community

BY LUCY HODGMAN AND OLIVIA TUCKER STAFF REPORTERS As the University relaxes COVID-19 restrictions on athletics teams, some members of Yale’s performing arts groups have expressed frustration with the regulations that continue to restrict in-person performance.

Currently, performance arts — including theater, a cappella, dance and comedy groups — face stringent COVID-19 restrictions.

Yale requires that masks be worn for all indoor performances and rehearsals. Indoor performances can only be held in theaters at 75 percent capacity, and the production team and audience together cannot exceed 50 people. Outside visitors cannot attend performances. When groups perform outdoors, many restrictions are lifted, but singing groups are required to maintain 12 feet of distance between members should they wish to perform unmasked.

By contrast, student athletes are not required to wear masks while playing or practicing.

“The safety of the Yale community and the surrounding New Haven community are always the first consideration,” Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Boyd wrote in a statement to the News.

In late September, the University lifted some restrictions on all registered student groups, including performing arts groups. Before those restrictions were lifted, students could not gather in groups larger than 20, and performing arts groups had to wear masks indoors and outdoors.

According to Boyd, the University’s ability to loosen restrictions on extracurriculars has been dependent on vaccine availability and the increasingly high undergraduate vaccination rate. The most recently-available data shows that 99.5 percent of undergraduates are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. High vaccination rates have kept cases low, with 24 cases at Yale in the last week. Still, Dean of Yale College Marvin Chun explained that the Delta variant figures heavily into the University’s planning, leading to the “semester start[ing] very differently from what we were planning.”

Cassandra Hsiao ’22, a theater and performance studies major currently producing her senior thesis performance, expressed her frustration with the continued uncertainty surrounding COVID19 restrictions.

“All of this uncertainty for the [theater and performance studies] seniors especially have been wearing down our nerves,” Hsiao said.

“How are seniors supposed to pre-

REGINA SUNG/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Yale’s performing arts community has taken issue with the restrictions that the University continues to enforce on in-person performances and rehearsals. pare for a thesis production when so much is up in the air, and Yale seems on the slower end in responding to our requests and concerns? A lot of our energy is going towards figuring out logistics instead of focusing on the creative.”

Bibiana Torres ’22, president of the Yale Dramatic Association, explained that COVID-19 restrictions affect every element of theater production.

Not only must performances be masked and limited in size, cast and crew sizes must be reduced so that rehearsals can be held in person, and the Dramatic Association is unable to hold full board meetings, Torres said.

“For some people, the arts are like their safe haven,” Torres said.

“It’s how they take care of their mental health. For some people, going to see our performances is a really valuable part of their experience and something that’s essentially missing when that’s not allowed.”

On Sept. 2, the Spizzwinks(?) a cappella group wrote a letter to Boyd — that members of the Alley Cats, Mixed Company, New Blue, Out of the Blue, Baker’s Dozen, Red Hot ’n Blue, Something Extra and Doox signed onto — arguing that the University’s restrictions on a cappella were inconsistent with other public health policies.

But not all performing arts students take issue with the regulations.

The Yale Symphony Orchestra, whose annual Halloween show typically packs Woolsey Hall to full capacity, will be taking place in Woolsey again this year, Chun said, though not at full capacity. Tentative planning will allow for a small in-person audience in the theater itself, while additional watch parties will take place around campus.

“The restrictions placed on us during rehearsal are fair; we’re a large group that performs indoors, and some of us play instruments quite literally by blowing air, so it’s only reasonable that we should take precautions with our masks,” said YSO student president Supriya Weiss ’24. “I hope that we will be allowed to have some kind of live audience with us in Woolsey Hall, but after spending a whole year without even rehearsing in-person, I’m grateful that Yale has approved for us to play together at all.”

Still, Hsiao told the News that she sees the University’s restrictions on the performing arts as problematic when contrasted with the comparatively relaxed constraints on athletics.

Non-Yalies are currently not allowed to attend theater performances, according to Hsiao, but

sports players and coaches are permitted to invite up to four non-Yale guests to athletic events. Hsiao suggested that non-Yalies should be allowed to attend performances with proof of vaccination.

There is no readily available list of COVID-19 restrictions on the Yale Athletics website. Mike Gambardella, associate athletic director for strategic communications, told the News that the department “follows the Yale University [COVID Review Team] approved policy for all fixed-seat venues.” Gambardella expounded on the application of those policies in a September interview with the News.

Customizing public health precautions to individual operations across the University has been “critical,” Boyd wrote.

According to Boyd, there has been “useful synergy” between arts and athletics, as both are aerosolizing activities.

“Both areas have been able to open up to co-present audiences, with careful guidance and restrictions; the experiences with those events will help guide refinements to these and other policies, too,” Boyd wrote.

In a joint statement from Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president Chelsea Kung ’23 and the Yale Athletics Commu-

nications team, athletics leadership at Yale affirmed the safety of their COVID-19 regulations and their enthusiasm to return to in-person play.

Kung added that all athletics teams were excited to return to representing Yale across and beyond the Ivy League.

“Yale Athletics and Yale as a whole have done everything in their power to bring back safe extracurriculars, including athletic practice and competition,” the statement said. “While things are different from years prior due to COVID, the essence is the same and competition among student-athletes is welcomed back with a fierce desire to represent ourselves and Yale.”

Similarly, Boyd voiced her appreciation that extracurricular activities could continue in-person at all.

“These activities have been sorely missed and the hope is that more and more activity will be possible over the course of the year,” Boyd wrote.

The University’s full COVID-19 policies with regard to registered student groups are available online.

Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu and OLIVIA TUCKER at olivia.tucker@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

NEWS

PAGE 13

“Language is wine upon the lips.”

VIRGINIA WOOLF ENGLISH WRITER

Families flock to campus defying visitor restrictions

YALE DAILY NEWS

After the decision to move Family Weekend online, many parents opted to visit campus anyway, although Yale offered virtual programs throughout the weekend.

BY ALESSIA DEGRAEVE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Yale’s Family weekend took place virtually from Oct. 8-10, yet parents still flocked to campus to visit students in-person despite the prohibition of visitors within campus buildings.

Family weekend was originally scheduled to be in-person, but was abruptly moved online in early September due to COVID-19 concerns.

Throughout the weekend, the Uni-

versity hosted a plethora of virtual events — including tours, lectures and presentations — aimed at giving Yale families a way to engage with and understand student life. Still, numerous families came to campus. While visitors are allowed within University public spaces — such as Cross Campus and the Broadway Shops at Yale — and the city of New Haven, residential colleges and other campus buildings are closed to guests. “[The cancellation] was mainly with regards to the typically indoor

events of 200 to 300 people,” Marvin Chun, Dean of Yale College, told the News. “We knew we could not do that. However, our message did not say ‘do not come to New Haven.’

This is not a prohibition to not come to town.”

Though visitors were allowed to New Haven, they were not permitted to enter the residential colleges without permission from an administrator, Health and Safety Leader or other managerial employee.

Still, at least one Yale residential college took note of the influx of visitors, and particularly of students bringing their families into dorms and shared common spaces.

In an email to all Saybrook students, Head of Saybrook College Thomas Near noted that visitors were not authorized to enter the dorms due to COVID-19 precautions.

“We have been seeing visitors in our college spaces that include the courtyards and entryways to student suites … I want to remind everyone that visitors who are not Yale students or Yale staff and faculty are not allowed in our spaces,” the email read.

The weekend’s virtual offerings ranged from a prerecorded collection of videos of the Yale Ballroom Dancing team to a live presentation

entitled “Permission to Feel’’ with psychology professor Marc Brackett.

However, many Yale parents skipped the virtual options to spend the weekend in New Haven with their children. Tess Levy ’25 said her entire family opted to visit in person, allowing them to see her participate in extracurricular activities, such as an open rehearsal for her sketch comedy group.

Extracurricular groups, including Yale’s sketch comedy clubs, a cappella groups and Yale Political Union parties, all provide showcases for parents. Clementine Rice ’25, a member of The New Blue of Yale, explained how the group was able to “perform for a small group of parents in a small setting.”

The Yale Campus Bookstore profited from the weekend, by marketing itself toward the great influx of parents who visited. Yale Bookstore employee Pablo Sanchez-Levallois told the News that the bookstore hosted a special clearance and sale section out on the sidewalk and also employed “much more people than normal” to compensate for the influx of Yale families visiting.

Campus Customs hosted a special class ring tent — a typical staple of family weekend — where families

could purchase specially licensed Yale class rings and fine jewelry on the sidewalk of Broadway Street.

“This has been a Yale family weekend tradition for the past 20 years, and we are not stopping just because family weekend went virtual,” Tim Migneco, Signitas sales director, told the News. “While we have seen less business this year, we are still shocked by the amount of families making purchases. Many families have told me they are making their purchase to commemorate the ability to travel to campus again.

Everyone’s excited to be back.”

Whether by leading their grandparents through Cross Campus, siblings through The Shops at Yale or helping their parents sign up for a Zoom lecture, Yale students found ways to show their families the campus.

“I was with my parents all weekend,” Kennedy Anderson ’25. “It felt wonderful to be able to show them my home.”

Some students will have an additional opportunity to visit with their families during October recess, which lasts from Oct. 19 to Oct. 25.

Contact ALESSIA DEGRAEVE at alessia.degraeve@yale.edu .

Alders pass resolution supporting Transportation Climate Initiative

BY ANASTASIA HUFHAM STAFF REPORTER After a public hearing on Thursday evening, the New Haven Board of Alders’ City Services and Environmental Policy Committee unanimously passed a resolution supporting a progressive Transportation and Climate Initiative package. The program, if approved at the state level, would reduce emissions, lead to greener transportation initiatives and potentially ameliorate public health issues in New Haven.

The resolution now heads to the full Board of Alders and, pending approval, will be sent to the state government to signal New Haven’s support of the program.

A multi-jurisdictional effort, the Transportation Climate Initiative Program is a collaborative effort between 13 east coast states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. States participating in the program will impose a “cap” on carbon dioxide emissions from carbon-intensive fuels, like gasoline and diesel, which will decline over time to facilitate a corresponding decline in emissions. The cap requires fuel companies to purchase “allowances” in an auction process for emissions produced by their fuel.

The resolution supporting TCI-P aligns with this year’s Board of Alders legislative agenda, which prioritizes policy working toward environmental justice.

“Our city needs cleaner air, more good-paying jobs and state tax reform that takes the burden off of our city residents,” said Ward 1 Alder Eli Sabin, who introduced the resolution. “We also

need to address the threat of climate change and build better transit, like pedestrian infrastructure, in our city. A progressive transportation climate initiative will help us achieve all of these goals.”

The resolution calls for the Connecticut General Assembly to pass legislation that will enter the state into TCI-P while also creating progressive financial offsets to keep gas, electricity and energy affordable for low-income residents. Sabin referenced an “upside-down tax structure” in Connecticut that requires low-income residents to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than wealthy residents.

By making carbon-intensive fuels more expensive, TCI-P’s market signal to move away from such fuels could impose a financial burden. But alders mentioned several measures that could help offset the burden, including subsidizing electricity bills and increasing the earned income tax credit.

“We have to acknowledge that, to start off, this is going to be another nickel on a gallon of gas,” Ward 21 Alder Steven Winter said.

“For some folks that might seem small, but for other folks, that’s a serious burden if it’s coming on top of your daily commute. It’s really wise that the resolution and members of the legislature are looking at ways we can offset that regressive impact on the folks in our community with the least.”

Community members who spoke at Thursday’s public hearing identified reducing transportation emissions as a public health issue as well as an environmental one. Because New Haven is situated between the Merritt Park-

way, Interstate 91 and Interstate 95, transportation emissions directly affect the city’s air quality and cause public health problems for residents. The city ranks as the fifth most challenging city for people with asthma to live in the United States, according to this year’s Asthma Capitals report.

Asthma rates in New Haven’s lower-income neighborhoods — Dixwell, Fair Haven, Hill North, Newhallville, West River and West Rock — increased from 20 to 23 percent between 2009 and 2015, with asthma rates higher for female, Black and Latinx residents. As a result, New Haven reports the highest rate of asthma hospitalizations in Connecticut: 75 per 10,000 residents compared to the state average of 14 per 10,000 residents.

“The pandemic really underscored issues of respiratory health and how they impact our most vulnerable residents … often Black and brown residents,” Winter said.

“We really need to look at systemic changes to address that public health crisis and at the same time address the climate crisis.”

Aaron Goode, a board member for the Farmington Canal Rail-toTrail Association, voiced frustration with those who cast TCI-P as a gas tax and nothing more.

To him, there already exists a “massive unseen pollution tax” on low-income communities in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven levied by those using nearby interstates.

“Every time suburban motorists drive through New Haven on I-91 or 95, they’re racking up an exorbitant tax bill that they’re not paying,” Goode said. “TCI-P is an

ANASTASIA HUFHAM/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Board of Alders’ City Services and Environmental Policy Committee passes resolution in support of a progressive Transportation Climate Initiative package. attempt to rectify this hidden pollution tax that urban residents are currently paying to subsidize the very pollution that is making our children sick.”

TCI-P researchers have predicted that the program will raise $1 billion over the next decade, which will go toward environmental transportation initiatives like electric buses, crosswalk construction and increased pedestrian infrastructure. Half of that revenue will be funneled into communities that have been historically overburdened by air pollution and underserved by the transportation sector — including New Haven.

The construction of such infrastructure is also expected to create jobs for Connecticut residents.

Ward 12 Alder Gerald Antunes

and Ward 30 Alder Honda Smith voiced concerns about the actual availability of such jobs, since contractors make final hiring decisions and some jobs require specific levels of education.

In response, Winter pointed out that some TCI-P revenue would specifically help New Haven to implement green transportation initiatives.

“There’s an opportunity for us to steer some of that money towards local businesses that will be employing more of our residents,” he said.

The next steps for the resolution are a first reading before the full Board of Alders, and after a second reading, all alders will vote on the resolution.

Contact ANASTASIA HUFHAM at anastasia.hufham@yale.edu .

W SOCCER Harvard 4 Cornell 0

VOLLEYBALL Columbia 3 Princeton 0

SPORTS

FOOTBALL Brown 31 Colgate 10

FIELD HOCKEY Dartmouth 6 Princeton 0

FOR MORE SPORTS CONTENT, VISIT OUR WEB SITE goydn.com/YDNsports Twitter: @YDNSports YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

CROSS COUNTRY TOP SEVEN IN NEW ENGLAND The Yale men’s and women’s cross country teams finished in the top seven at the New England Cross Country Championships. Varun Oberai ‘25 and Kyra Pretre ‘24 led the Bulldog pack, finishing 21st and 27th, respectively.

SAILING QUALIFICATION SECURED The Yale co-ed sailing team finished first at the Atlantic Coast Championships qualifier last weekend. This was the first time the Bulldogs maintained a three-digit winning margin since 2013.

Athletes allowed to profit from name NIL POLICY

“A student-athlete’s ability to use their NIL and capitalize on the opportunities they have through their NIL opens a lot of doors” AMI GIANCHANDANI ’23 W. GOLF

Bulldogs add two new assistant coaches

BY TRISHA NGUYEN STAFF REPORTER The Yale men’s hockey team has hired former University of Alaska-Fairbanks coach Joe Howe and Yale alumnus Rob O’Gara '16 to assistant coaching positions.

MEN’S HOCKEY

VAIBHAV SHARMA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The University informed student-athletes in an email Tuesday of the new Name, Image, and Likeness Policy.

BY JAMES RICHARDSON STAFF REPORTER Yale announced a new policy on Tuesday that will allow student-athletes to begin receiving compensation for their name, image and likeness.

Bulldog student-athletes were notified of the University’s new Policy on Student-Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness, or NIL, in an email from Associate Athletic Director of Compliance Jason Strong that was obtained by the News. The policy outlines how students “may enter into agreements and engage in activity with external parties that provide compensation in exchange for use of their NIL.” “We strongly encourage you to take time to review and understand the policy before engaging in NIL activities,” Strong wrote.

“You are ultimately responsible for ensuring your NIL activities do not violate NCAA regulations or applicable state law.”

M SOCCER Penn 2 Drexel 1

The implementation of the policy comes in response to a provision included in Public Act 21-132, signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont on June 30, which allows student-athletes in Connecticut to use their name, image and likeness in exchange for compensation by engaging in paid advertisements.

The bill was first introduced by the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, and the provision took effect on Sept. 1.

“For decades, student-athletes have been unfairly prevented from being compensated for use of their own image, while other organizations have made billions from the performance of these college students,” Lamont said in a press release. “I’m glad to have signed this bill into law and add Connecticut to the growing list of states that say student-athletes should be able to be compensated for their talents.”

The Yale policy states that NIL arrangements are to be “unrelated

to any intercollegiate athletic program,” and any compliant NIL activity will have no impact on a student-athlete’s eligibility.

Furthermore, Yale’s NIL policy “applies to all varsity student-athletes,” not just those competing in NCAA sports, according to Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications Mike Gambardella. This includes the squash, sailing and men’s crew programs, which compete outside of the NCAA. Yale women’s golf captain Ami Gianchandani ’23 told the News that NIL rights come as a “positive change for student-athletes nationwide,” as high-profile student-athletes will have the ability to sign large-scale deals, while other student-athletes who are not provided with the same platform will be able to “create a stage of their own.”

“A student-athlete’s ability to use their NIL and capital-

Yale looks to tame the Columbia Lions

SEE NIL POLICY PAGE 10

After the departure of former assistant coaches Josh Siembida and Paul Kirtland in May and August earlier this year, two vacancies were left behind the Bulldog’s bench. Following two separate searches, Yale Athletics officially announced that Howe and O’Gara would join the men’s hockey program on July 1 and Sept. 22, respectively.

According to O’Gara, the COVID-19 pandemic presented itself as an inflection point in terms of his career. The New York native had previously played in the 2020-21 AHL season for the Hershey Bears prior to his appointment to the Bulldogs’ staff. Following his professional stint, O’Gara knew that he wanted to remain involved with hockey and expressed great interest in coaching.

“I think I would have regretted not trying to coach and to get this opportunity at this level with this team, it's still a little surreal,” O’Gara said during a phone interview with the News.

“I'm looking forward to taking it SEE MEN'S HOCKEY PAGE 10

YALE ATHLETICS

Rob O’Gara '16 and Joe Howe join the Yale men’s hockey coaching staff following the departure of both previous assistant coaches.

Bulldogs tie for second at Yale

BY HAMERA SHABBIR STAFF REPORTER The Yale women's golf team tied for second at the Yale Invitational over the weekend with two players placing within the top ten.

WOMEN'S GOLF The Bulldogs hosted 10 other teams at the historic Yale Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday.

Boston College finished first with a team score of 14 strokes over par, while Yale and Boston University tied for second place with final scores of 25 over par. Yale led the five Ivy League teams present and Elis Ami

Gianchandani ’23 and Kaitlyn Lee ’23 ranked fourth and tenth individually, respectively.

“I feel like our team played pretty well this past weekend,” Lee said. “It was definitely nice to have our friends, family and alumni out there supporting us and cheering us on. We came into the weekend with a positive mindset and were well prepared for our home event. I think we all definitely left some shots out there, but overall I’m proud with how our team performed and am excited to see how we can grow from this experience as a team.”

The Bulldogs started off strong by finishing first at the end of the first round with a score of eight shots over par. Captain Gianchan-

dani tied for first place in this round with a score of three shots under par and Coco Chai ’23 tied for seventh with an even score. The Blue and White dropped to third by the end of the second round, but came back on Sunday to tie for second place in the final round.

The team overall had the second-best par-4 average (4.22), the second-most birdies (33) and the second-most pars (163). In all of these categories, Yale led the Ivy League teams present. Gianchandani had the second-best par-4 average in the tournament with an average of 3.97.

“We played a lot of good golf this weekend but unfortunately SEE WOMEN'S GOLF PAGE 10

COURTESY OF SAM RUBIN '95

The Yale field hockey team will travel to New York to face Columbia on Friday in their fourth conference matchup of the season.

BY TRISHA NGUYEN STAFF REPORTER After surrendering four consecutive games, the Yale field hockey team (4–7, 1–2 Ivy) looks to get back in the win column as they square off against an offensively struggling Columbia (6–4, 0–3 Ivy) squad.

FIELD HOCKEY In their first meeting with another Ivy League lineup, the Bulldogs were edged to a 1–3 loss by No. 28 Princeton. Despite an excellent

rally and last minute goal by midfielder Maddy Wong ’24, the Blue and White dropped yet another heartbreakingly close match in overtime to Quinnipiac.

Last week, Yale took to the pitch at Johnson Field for games against two Massachusetts squads. The first contest of the week featured a hard fought battle against Harvard on the Bulldogs’ first Alum Day since 2019. A myriad of offensive opportunities that favored the Crimson ultimately handed them a

STAT OF THE WEEK

SEE FIELD HOCKEY PAGE 10

67

MUSCOSPORTSPHOTOS.COM

The Yale women’s golf team added to their strong record with a second place finish over other Ivy League teams present.

NUMBER OF SAVES MADE BY FIELD HOCKEY GOALTENDER LUANNA SUMMER ’24 IN 11 APPEARANCES THIS SEASON.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

WEEKEND // KAREN LIN

Under the skin // BY LUCY HODGMAN

“Only gang members get tattoos,” a classmate of Isabelle Han ’24 told her in middle school. It was a hyperbolic expression of the stigma that still surrounds tattoo art, affecting whether young people get tattoos in the first place, and, if they do, their concern with being able to hide them.

Now, Han has two stick and poke tattoos that she got from a friend during her senior year of high school. They’re both Chinese characters that connect to her Chinese name. The tattoos are on her ankle and stomach, places Han chose because they could be easily covered up.

Han thinks her sense of the stigma around tattoos originated with her parents, who are Chinese. She explained that there is more stigma surrounding tattoos in China, where it is viewed as inherently ugly to mar your body by making any modifications to it, she said.

Han, who plans to go into either the medical or financial fields, also noted her anxiety about how tattoos are viewed professionally, acknowledging that while a slow transition is occurring among those with hiring power at these jobs, she wants to be able to hide her tattoos in the meantime.

“Specifically in finance and medicine, things are so close in terms of technical ability that you want any edge you can get,” Han said. “If a tattoo gives you a negative edge, and that’s minus just one point quantitatively, then you don’t want that.”

According to Zoe Chance, an assistant professor of marketing at the School of Management, about 30 percent of people in the United States have tattoos, a high enough proportion that employers cannot entirely rule out tattooed people as potential hires. However, Chance noted

that many employers still have rules against hiring applicants with clearly visible tattoos.

“For the most part, employers are smart to consider tattoos on an individual basis, taking into account things like size, content, placement and the job,” Chance said. “If someone has a giant penis tattoo on their face they probably won’t get hired to play Cinderella at Disney World. But within the range of current norms, tattoos should be no big deal.”

Emma Seppälä ’99, a lecturer in management at the School of Management, suggested that the professional stigma surrounding tattoos could be reduced by more people working remotely.

According to Seppälä, remote work makes it easier to hide body modifications — unless they are on your face — making concerns about their professionalism irrelevant.

“Working from home gives you the freedom and flexibility to express yourself in ways you might not otherwise feel comfortable doing given corporate conformist outfits and such,” Seppälä said.

Chance said that job applicants to many positions would nevertheless be wise to cover their tattoos in interviews, explaining that applicants want to be considered based on talent and experience rather than a defining physical characteristic.

For Lydia Monk ’24, however, the social expectation to get tattoos in discreet places can defeat their purpose.

When she got her first tattoo last fall, a frog on her shoulder, she was conscious of the placement, choosing a spot that she could hide in a job interview.

When she got her second tattoo this spring, however, a ladybug inside her

elbow, she chose a more visible place, explaining that she wanted to see her own tattoo.

“Personally, I enjoy seeing people in professional roles — like a doctor or a teacher — with tattoos,” Monk wrote in an email to the News. “It’s always a good reminder that those people are more than their jobs and probably so much more interesting outside of their jobs.

Although I am considering some professional paths, I don’t want to work in a place that has such a narrow view of professionalism.”

Perhaps because of the professional risks associated with tattoos, many of the students I talked to felt that they needed some justification to get one — their tattoos, either real or imagined, had to have some emotional or artistic value.

Because of their permanence, Han said that it was important for her tattoos to have personal significance, although she respects people who get them for aesthetic value alone.

“I don’t think tattoos have to have emotional significance, but I always enjoy when people have cool stories about their tattoos,” Monk said. “I definitely see some tattoos as pieces of art.

Sometimes I worry about regretting the tattoo later on, but since it’s something on my body I don’t think I can ever let myself think that.”

Joy Liow ’24 also said that she sees tattoos as primarily an art form, rather than something that needs to be inherently meaningful. Liow does not have tattoos yet but plans to get multiple — although she knows where she wants them, she wants to consult with a tattoo artist before deciding on a design.

But for Liow, tattoos, as well as other body modifications, are also a means of

establishing her autonomy.

“I think for me personally, I always will get a piercing or cut my hair if I want to reassert control over my circumstances,” Liow said. “If I feel like my life is spiraling, at least I can decide what I want to do to my body.”

My conversations with these students often petered off into talking about the tattoos we had seen on other people — tattoos we liked, tattoos we might want to get.

I don’t have any tattoos yet, but almost every time I take a trip with my friends, I become suddenly taken with the idea of getting one. It’s the same manic instinct that’s led me to sometimes eat ice cream for dinner in the dining hall or stay up all night for no reason — the childlike, intoxicating freedom of being away from my parents and completely in control of myself.

The tattoos I’ve flirted with getting are laughably unrebellious: a line from a Mary Oliver poem; a heart copied from a letter my best friend wrote me when I graduated high school; a lightning bolt like the one Patti Smith has on her knee.

They’re all a far cry from the tattoos that, as Isabelle’s classmate argued, “only gang members have.”

I think the reason why I’ve never gotten any of them is that I’m much less interested in having a tattoo than I am in having the power to get one. I’m excited just by my own ability to commit some tiny rebellion — against my own body, against popular perceptions of professionalism and against outdated cultural definitions of what tattoos signify about the people who have them.

Contact LUCY HODGMAN at lucy.hodgman@yale.edu .

PAGE B2

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND GOOD

BOYS

Good-Boy Cologne // BY RAFAELA KOTTOU

He wears good-boy cologne. The type that reminds me of sweet tulips and red berries and honey. The type that my mom would like and my best friend would approve of.

He walks slowly, as if he’s in no rush at all, as if he’s got nowhere to go and no place to be, as if the entire world is waiting on him.

He holds his cell-phone tightly in his hands, fingers sliding across the screen. He’s texting somebody.

Perhaps his father. He wishes they were together now, sitting on the edge of the dock like they used to sit when he was a little boy, legs hanging into the cold water, catching fish and sharing a bag of salty potato chips.

His cheeks tighten – he misses home.

Or perhaps it’s his sister. She’s younger than him, maybe ten or eleven years old. She tells him about school, about her new friend

and her theatre class and the way she wants a pet puppy or, at the very least, a pet goldfish.

He tells her to be patient.

Maybe it’s a lover. That beautiful blonde from his biology class. That spunky brunette from his Latin class. He smiles ever so slightly as if he were still in middle school, flirting with his crush, dreaming up their wedding.

As we pass one another on the sidewalk, he looks up for just a moment. His eyes are green. The shade of green that reminds me of leaves floating in a glassy pond and a freshly-mowed lawn and summertime. Our eyes lock for just an instant — his green eyes meet my brown eyes, like a Granny Smith apple dipped in milk chocolate, like a baby caterpillar climbing up a piece of old tree bark.

And then the moment passes, and he’s

gone. But still, his cologne stays, sticking to the air like honey, smelling of sweet tulips and red berries. Good-boy cologne.

I will probably never see him again. But, in this moment, as we walk past one another, our feet touch the same ground and our hair blows in the same wind, and we share the same scent of his good-boy cologne. It feels oddly wrong — the fact that we are sharing the same ground and the same wind and the same scent, yet we don’t even know each other. I don’t even know his name. For a second, I think I should ask him. I should turn around and run back towards him — backpack slapping against my shoulders, hair brushing against my ears, feet pounding against the sidewalk — and ask him for his name. But that would be strange.

And, even if it weren’t strange, I wonder

if I really want to know. I wonder if I really want to know his name. Because, if I knew his name, he couldn’t be whoever I wanted him to be. He couldn’t be just a collection of leaves floating in a glassy pond, of freshly-mowed lawn, of fathers and sisters and lovers, of summertime.

I turn my head, watching as he crosses the street, and I think that there’s something wonderfully mysterious about sharing the sidewalk with a stranger. Because, as the soles of my shoes touch the cold concrete, I remain convinced that he wears good-boy cologne — perhaps naively so, but nevertheless, I remain convinced.

Contact RAFAELA KOTTOUAT rafaela.kottou@yale.edu .

// CAILIN HOANG

HOT TAKES NOT Yale Health *cough*

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND LATINX

PAGE B3

SPISSUE

Hoy dedico este poema— Today I dedicate this poem // BY ZENAIDA AGUIRRE GUTIERREZ

Introduction: When I think of my culture, I think of vibrant colors: orange, yellow and cyan blue. I think of the Brown people who echo these colors everyday through hard work, music, cooking and conversations.

This poem is an attempt to celebrate the beautiful Hispanic/Latinx culture via my personal experience.

I love sharing this poem and, although I can not share it out loud, I hope my pride and emotions are conveyed and relatable.

Hoy dedico este poema—Today I dedicate this poem Zenaida Aguirre Gutierrez Hoy dedico este poema The first dedication goes to La valentía de los Cubanos Who, despite censorship and maltreatment, Persistently fight for their freedom El compromiso Colombiano Where struggles of police violence and corruption Are contested no matter the cost La fuerza Nicaragüense, Puertorriqueño, Argentino, Dominicano, Guatemalteco Venezolano, Hondureño, Chileno El mundo hispano Hoy dedico este poema To my family’s home México The state of Michoacán Pueblo Taixtán Where tree trunks are bridges And dirt roads playgrounds Where my uncles janky red truck fits the rustic aesthetic Two houses to the left you’ll find la señora que vende bolis Hielitos de tamarindo, vainilla, y fresa Walk a mile to the right Then turn left where the cows graze There’s the río Where the trail of rocks lead you To the realm of infinite uses A laundry mat A lazy river water park An obstacle course Hoy dedico este poema A mis papás Where my culture stems from Guadalupe, my mom Went to school only to sell dulces and fruta One of the first of her siblings to move to the north Crossed the border pregnant A dedicated woman

Standing tall at 5 foot 1 Accompanied everyday by an irritated expression And a hint of love Juvenal, my dad Wears the trival boots religiously The pointy ones of 2010 subculture Dances to cumbia and stomps to zapateado A man that cries at my every milestone Machismo where?

He’s my soccer mom Two immigrants Who aren’t criminals or rapists But who are diligent Mexicans Navigating through The busy streets of Los Angeles Working their way through Conversations that don’t validate “I no speak English” Using everyday to comprehend What it means to be an immigrant in the US And unsurprisingly They do this so Quietly And gracefully Hoy dedico este poema A la raza Immigrant parents, grandparents Who saw beyond their country’s horizon Made a home away from home Made money moves in a country that forbid their W’s To hispanos, hispanas, and hispanx Doing it big Personal translators to mamá y papá In charge of remembering el password de faceboo Self-hired to educate our parents Somos de diferentes lugares Con costumbres distintos Y dichos originales Aun así Compartimos el corazón hispano // ZENAIDA AGUIRRE GUTIERREZ

Portrait on Grand Avenue // BY DANI FLORES

// REGINA SUNG

Cars rush past me as I wait for the 212 bus on the corner of Blatchley and Grand avenues in the Fair Haven neighborhood.

The music rumbles so loud from the cars that you can feel the reggaeton and hip hop beats in your feet. These streets make me dance and the sweet smells from the Mexican bakery down the street make me hungry.

I’ve grown up in Fair Haven for my entire life. One of our most iconic streets, Grand Avenue, is the center of travel, commerce and vibrance in this predominantly Latine neighborhood. It’s where we march for immigrant labor rights, where we celebrate every year for Día de Los Muertos, where we wait for our clothes to dry in the laundromat and where we pick up our orders of chicharrón at El Coquí.

I used to be ashamed to live here. Many people frown in disgust at the mention of Fair Haven, as it is known for crime and violence. I don’t look past these flaws of my neighborhood, for they make me more appreciative of the sparks of happiness that you can find here. The people of Fair Haven are refreshed when they eat a spoonful of helado de parcha from the Italian ice stand with its tangy taste, much needed after a day of work without breaks. The children here know there are brighter days ahead when they bite into their elote con chile, a snack they begged their parents for.

Grocery store owner Don Felix cheerfully restocks the shelves of his grocery store as he sees more customers cycle through.

From a distance, you may notice the avenue’s abandoned buildings, dry patches of

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grass and congested streets. But on closer inspection, you would begin to notice the mothers walking their children to school, volunteers planting in the garden behind the public library, bright young people rushing to their work shifts, Cositas Deliciosas preparing their first smoothie of the day.

Cositas Deliciosas is a Mexican food restaurant that serves fresh bowls of fruit, tacos, omelettes and Mexican delicacies like mangonadas — mango ice cream and mango chunks mixed with a sweet and spicy sauce. It is a small shop usually packed in the mornings before the workday begins and evenings when families come home. When I am lucky, my parents will offer to buy me a cemita and agua de mango from Cositas, knowing this is one of my favorite places to eat.

Even my sister, who has now moved to a suburb in Connecticut, still comes back to Grand Avenue for a snack at Cositas or a meal at another restaurant like arroz con habichuelas from El Coquí. Fair Haven has the power to pull you back in because it is where it feels the most like home. My sister and I grew up with a strong sense of community because of the presence of Latino culture on Grand Avenue. Everyone here knows how to roll their r’s, say buenos días and dance bachata. Spanish music and prayer fills the air every Sunday morning, every storefront has a sign in Spanish and there is always a carne asada somewhere around the block.

Contact DANI FLORES at daniela.flores@yale.edu .

PAGE B4

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND CINEMA

MOTH DISCOVERED IN TD DINING HALL SALAD

// OLIVIA TUCKER

// BY OLIVIA TUCKER A Waldorf salad is typically composed of apples, celery and walnuts, but when Carigan McGuinn ’25 took a bite of her dinner, she was surprised to discover another crunchy ingredient: a moth.

The first-year, who was having dinner in the Timothy Dwight College dining hall on Monday night, said that she had already eaten several mouthfuls of the salad before discovering the moth. She spotted the creature impaled on her fork before taking her next bite. Yale Hospitality expressed in a statement to the News its regret over the incident and emphasized its rigorous food safety standards.

“My initial reaction was a mixture of shock, disbelief and disgust,” McGuinn told the News. “I felt nauseous knowing that I had eaten bites of the salad that the moth had touched. I also felt lucky that I had managed to see that the moth was on my fork before sticking the entire thing into my mouth.”

The Silliman College dining hall made headlines in April 2019 when a student found a live parasite in her fish at brunch.

Yale Hospitality launched an investigation in response to the incident.

In a statement to the News, Christelle Ramos, senior manager of marketing and communications for Yale Hospitality, wrote that her team was “shocked” by the moth incident. She emphasized Yale Hospitality’s high safety standards, noting that the department has over 300 ServSafe-certified team members on staff, exceeding the state of Connecticut’s requirements for designated certified food protection managers.

Ramos highlighted other quality-assurance procedures, including triple-washing fresh produce even after it arrives pre-washed from vendors.

In the instance of “identifying unintended matter among fresh ingredients,” Ramos said, Yale Hospitality employs a practice of fact-gathering, localizing the incident and notifying the safety managers of sourcing partners. The University followed this procedure in response to McGuinn’s report, she said. Ramos added that the vendor in question has not received any associated complaints to date.

“While our team’s number one focus is student safety through ensuring the highest standards for wholesome food – when

it comes to providing the freshest ingredients, situations like these are extremely rare, although not impossible,” Ramos wrote.

The moth in question is most likely of the Estigmene acrea species, according to Lawrence Gall, entomology collections manager at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

The species is more commonly known as a salt marsh moth. Gall made his identification based on several features in a photo provided by the News, including white coloring on the abdomen tip and abdomen sides, white and orange coloring on the forewings and hindwings respectively and wing spot patterns consistent with the species.

Gall added that it was more challenging to identify the species because the moth in the photo was both “extremely mangled” and likely covered in salad dressing.

“It looks loaded with eggs and very nutritious,” Leonard Munstermann, a senior research scientist in epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, told the News.

Brooke Shapiro ’23, who was eating dinner with McGuinn, said that while she “usually [trusts] Yale Dining, this was pretty concerning.” Shapiro said that as a result of the

incident, she now has questions about the freshness and provenance of food served in the dining halls.

It is “simply impossible to discount” the occasional bug in fresh produce, according to ecology and evolutionary biology major Chase Brownstein ’23. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits the presence of insect parts in food in low quantities, he said.

“I’m vegan, so the salad and the fresh produce in the dining halls is a big part of what I eat here at Yale,” McGuinn said. “Finding such a huge insect in my food was slightly traumatizing and when I eventually eat salad again I will definitely be sifting through it to make sure there are no unexpected ingredients.”

McGuinn added that she hopes the incident was “isolated and random” and that she appreciates the “sincere apology” she received from the TD dining hall team.

Timothy Dwight College is located at 345 Temple St. Contact OLIVIA TUCKER at olivia.tucker@yale.edu .

“Shang-Chi”

From a Chinese-American Point of View // BY RENA LIN When I first watched the trailer for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” I remember being excited, but also the slightest bit afraid.

Sure, Shang-Chi is Chinese, but how Chinese can a Marvel movie really get?

It’s cheesy to say that I felt proud after walking out of the theater, but I did.

Besides the flex that I could understand the Mandarin spoken in the film without looking at the subtitles, it was also a shock to see a family so fundamentally similar to my own. I have an older brother, with two parents who love us and each other very much. Assassin storylines and action scenes aside, I think some of my favorite parts of “Shang-Chi” are the relatability of the family dynamic and the depth of the sibling relationship.

When it really comes down to it, the “fiction” in this film lies mainly in the magic forest and the family of assassins. While I obviously can’t sit here and tell you that I was the same as Shang-Chi when I was growing up, I can tell you that if you take away the fiction, there is a normal Chinese-American family, an older brother and younger sister, and there is a weight on all of their shoulders.

I won’t say that Shang-Chi is perfect, and I don’t think it even could be — even the subtitles were wrong at times. But I’ve watched in theaters most of the Marvel films I’ve been alive for — not only have I watched them, I’ve been a huge fan of them ever since I was a little kid.

There was something remarkable about sitting in that theater seat, staring up at the screen and the logo that I’ve seen countless times before and then watching an Asian superhero and hearing the language that I speak at home. It brought up feelings in me that I never thought I would feel after seeing a Marvel movie.

My brother and I don’t know any assassination techniques — that would be concerning. We’ve never driven through a forest that tried to kill us — equally concerning. But we are about 2,900 miles apart, and after we watched Shang-Chi, the very first people we texted were each other.

“I want to show Mom and Dad,” he’d said, seconds after the film had ended. “I feel like they’d enjoy it.”

Contact RENA LIN at rena.lin@yale.edu .

Morse-Cow Mule Ingredients: 1 part of lime juice 3 parts of gin 9 parts of ginger beer Instructions: In a glass, pour in half a can of ginger beer, one shot of gin, and a few dashes of lime juice.

Stir and serve cold.